Tag: Christ

“NO MATTER WHAT” OBEDIENCE

(video by Wes Autrey)

Neal Pollard

I cannot imagine anyone present yesterday morning to witness Janice Lee baptized into Christ could have failed to be touched at a very deep level.  J.J. and Lila Brennan had been studying the Bible with Janice, and she came to the conclusion that she needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of her sins.  So, she came to the front after my sermon and made that desire known.

She was in a wheelchair because she suffers left side paralysis as the result of a stroke.  She is also on oxygen.  Several ladies and a few of us men took special measures to help her into the baptistery.  She could walk, slowly, gingerly, and with much difficulty.  The ladies helped her up the stairs, while we stood in the water to receive her and help her the rest of the way.  Each step was tenuous and required the utmost effort on her part. Once she was finally in the baptistery, we carefully lowered her under the water and brought her back up.  Very quickly, her deeply felt emotions gently bubbled to the surface.  She softly cried, recalling difficult things from her past, and she said, “I forgive those who’ve sinned against me.”  The joy and peace on her face is something impossible to adequately describe.

What did this new sister in Christ demonstrate yesterday?  Resolve!  Afterward, I found out not only that she had to deal with the consequences of the stroke, but she is afraid of water.  Yet, she saw the need of her soul as preeminent over any obstacle she might have cited.  The constant need of oxygen, the paralysis, and the phobia were outweighed by the Lord’s command.  Her faith was so strong that they were not insurmountable barriers.  She refused to let them be!

The difference at the Judgment, in part, will be that some will offer excuses for why they did not obey the Lord while others, through genuine, trusting faith, will not need to make excuse.  They will stand before Christ, who will see His blood covering their transgressions.  What does it take to go to heaven? A “no matter what” obedience!

V__7BB1(Photo taken by Kathy Pollard)

FURIOUSLY ENRAGED

Neal Pollard

Paul recounted his conversion on several occasions and spoke of his attitude toward  Christianity before embracing it himself.  Of the many ways he described his pre-Christian life, think about what he said in Acts 26:11.  He describes it as being “furiously enraged” at Christians. He ravaged the church (Acts 8:3). He breathed out threats against them (Acts 9:1).  He had the power and desire to punish them (Acts 22:5).  He was a violent aggressor toward Christians (1 Tim. 1:13).   What changed him?

The word of Christ did (Acts 27:14).  Jesus taught that among the conditions of heart is the good and honest one (Luke 8:15). The teaching of Christ can change people’s minds and attitudes.

A changed view of Christ did (Acts 27:15).  Though Scripture does not explicitly tell us his view toward Jesus before his conversion, His vicious reaction to “The Way” (Acts 9:2; 22:4) reveals that he was absolutely opposed to the view of Christ asserted by the disciples, that He is Lord (cf. Acts 2:36).  Yet, on the road to Damascus, encountering Jesus, Paul immediately begins to acknowledge Him as “Lord” (see how Luke emphasizes the Lordship of Christ in Saul’s conversion in the account in Acts 9—1,5,10,11,13,15,17).  A person will have a dramatic attitude adjustment toward Christ who comes to acknowledge and appreciate Him as Lord and Master.

A more profound life’s purpose did it (Acts 27:16-21).  Christ outlines His purpose for Saul—a minister (16), a witness (16), opening people’s eyes (18) as his own were.  Whatever the focus of a person’s life, it is not as meaningful as when Christ is in the center of that focus.

16th-Century Scottish historian, John Knox, wrote, “No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other man has been so devoutly loved” (Haythum Khalid).  That is true for those who come to take Him as He is presented in the Bible. In the public marketplace where ideas are sold and traded, we will encounter people whose mindset toward Christ and His Way mirrors that of Paul’s before He was converted to Him.  Our task is to live Him in our lives and, if possible, share His Word.  If their heart is good and honest, the Word will change their view of Christ and their view of their life’s purpose.  If that happened so frequently in the unfriendly environment of the Roman Empire of the first-century, it can happen in our current culture!

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Selling What You Don’t Own

Neal Pollard

One of the more ingenious and amusing entrepreneurial moves I’ve ever heard is the company that offers to sell you a star.  For a price, you can buy a star and name it for a loved one.  The company will send you a gift pack along with registering the star in the name of the one you, the buyer, designate.  I have never been able to figure out how that company earned the right to sell something no one will ever visit, hold, or otherwise show tangible ownership of.

When I think about some of the new, strange religious ideas along with some long held, established ones, it reminds me of the folks selling the stars.  Preachers and whole denominations offer salvation on their own terms, altering and subtracting from the Lord’s established will as if salvation was theirs to offer.  They urge people to pray a prayer or accept Christ in their hearts, guaranteeing them salvation by so doing.  Or they tell a seeker that the Holy Spirit will irresistibly come upon them, filling them and by so doing indicate an experience of grace.  Or they urge parents to sprinkle their babies, saving them from what they call inherited sin.  The problem in all these scenarios is that people are offering what is not theirs to give.  Christ has already established the plan that saves the lost person—hearing the gospel (Rom. 10:17), believing it (Rom. 10:10), repenting of sins (Rom. 2:4; 6:17-18), confessing Christ (Rom. 10:10), and being buried in water in order to enjoy the new life in Christ (Rom. 6:1-4).

The same things occurs with worship.  People claim to stand in the place of Christ and tell others what is and is not acceptable to God.  They propose changes in who can lead in worship (cf. 1 Tim. 2:11-12), how worship music is to be done (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), and when the Lord’s Supper can be taken (1 Cor. 11:23-26; Acts 20:7).  Some would say that dance, weightlifting, incense-burning, drama, and the like are acts of worship God will accept, though they do so without a scintilla of appeal to the New Testament.

When it comes to the will of God, He has exclusive rights over that.  Christ does not share His authority with anyone (Mat. 28:18).  He makes the rules and determines right and wrong.  Beware of anyone who is selling anything else (cf. 2 Cor. 2:17).

BEGGAR IN A BENZ

Neal Pollard

Melissa Smith contacted KGTV in San Diego, California, to make an interesting report.  She had watched a pregnant woman and her little boy beg for money at a local shopping center.  Many people gave the woman money.  Melissa happened to watch the woman, who held a sign reading “Please Help,” get into a car with a man driving a Mercedes Benz. A follow up story, a few months later, found what appears to have been the same couple driving a brand new Mini-Van that still had dealer plates.  The address for the Benz owner was an upscale apartment that rented for $2500 per month (10news.com). There are many people in legitimate need of financial help, and there are many more legitimate ways to contribute to their assistance than handing money out of a car window.

Yet, there’s an application I want to draw from this extreme case.  As incongruous as it is for a Benz owner in a fancy apartment to stand on a corner and beg, there is something more out of place.  In Colossians, Paul describes Christians as those qualified to share in an inheritance (1:12), attaining to all the wealth attached to that (2:2), partaker of all treasures (2:3), and owners of an unparalleled prize (2:18).  Do we ever live like spiritual paupers?  We do when we allow worry, doubt, immorality, fear, guilt, or any similar thing to cause us to live like and act like the impoverished world who has no access to these wonderful spiritual blessings.  We have a place in glory reserved with Christ (3:4).  We have no need to beg for the scraps the world can offer.  Let us live like the rich children of God that we are!

“CONTRADICT: THEY CAN’T ALL BE TRUE”

Neal Pollard

Kathy just called me and told me she saw this bumper sticker on a truck as she fought traffic on Wadsworth Boulevard.  How clever!  It uses the same religions that the infamous “Coexist” bumper sticker uses, including Hinduism, Daoism, Shintoism, Unitarian Universalism, Satanism, Atheism, Islamism, and Judaism. There is a website where these bumperstickers can be purchased (http://www.contradictmovement.org; warning: I do not endorse everything on this web site, whether message or method).

The “Coexist” campaign is meant to promote pluralism,  a theory or system that recognizes more than one ultimate principle. The very idea is contradictory.  The Koran says, “And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers” (3.85).  Shintoism says that humans become gods (kamis) after death, and they do not believe in absolute right and wrong with the soul losing individual identity and becoming part of one great guardian spirit (Japan-Guide.com; litesofheaven.com).  Atheism believes, since there is no God, that there is no judgment and no accountability to a higher power. Taking any number of tenets about conduct, salvation, our nature, deity, afterlife, and the like, one sees inescapable and frequent contradiction between these faiths and philosophies.  Yet, even without all of this, there is the exclusive truth claim of Christianity in Scripture.  The “Contradict” bumper sticker has a passage that says much.  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).  Jesus speaks of an exclusive way, calling it “the” way and saying there is “no other” way.

The “Coexist” mentality is founded, for some, upon a noble enough desire, the desire for peace and harmony.  Yet, it seeks the wrong way to peace and harmony, letting mankind devise their own way for this to exist. We do not have that prerogative.  The Bible reveals God, the Creator, in a specific way, revealing His nature, His will, and His expectations.  With that, there is human accountability and an expectation that people will follow that way or suffer the consequences of disobedience.  Conflicting, opposing positions contradict one another, and they cannot all be true!

“Freedom Is Not A Luxury. It Is A Necessity”

Neal Pollard

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke to a joint-session of the United States Congress. It was an impassioned plea, from beginning to end, as he spoke in his broken English about the trials his people have endured for many months now.  He gave poignant examples of brave men who were killed for their courageous stand against ruthless enemies.  One of his imploring calls for help invoked our own past path as a nation and our pursuit of liberty.  It was about then that he exclaimed, “Freedom is not a luxury. It is a necessity!”

Poroshenko was speaking not of the Ukrainians but of the Russian people, who he believed had been fed the idea that freedom is a luxury that they should not necessarily expect to enjoy.  He rebutted such a view.  We have such a hard time in our nation comprehending life in a land where freedom is such an elusive commodity. But, for those people, it is a daily battle!

In the spiritual sense, this stated idea is most true and important. Sin is a horrible dictator and master, brutalizing and bringing death to those who are under its power. Eternity is in the balance for us.  Will we leave this life as free men and women or as slaves?  What makes this so much more paramount is that it is harder to discern spiritual bondage than physical bondage.  We may think ourselves perfectly free all while toiling in the chains of darkness!

Paul made his own impassioned plea to the saints at Galatia.  He wrote them, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (5:1).  Can you imagine a nation or even an individual who had endured torture and seen loved ones murdered now enjoying the rights and privileges of freedom but volunteering to return to that former way of life?  It is unthinkable, unless we speak in the spiritual sense.  People continue to run toward and embrace the enslaver of souls.  To any one, we would implore, “Freedom is not a luxury. It is a necessity!”

Our Brethren Are Suffering

Neal Pollard

The United Nations’ very conservative estimate is that well over 2,000 people have died in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine in fighting between that nation’s government have clashed with separatists.  So many of the towns and cities in the region have congregations of God’s people, many of their preachers trained in our foreign extension school that for years was in Kramatorsk and of late has been in Gorlovka. One of our graduates reports that two gospel preachers have been kidnapped this month, though one of them has since been released.  Our brethren in Ukraine have been facing the terror of daily bombing and shooting as well as fear for their safety when they assemble.

The ebola outbreak is an ongoing health concern and it is not yet contained.  Nations affected include Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and even Nigeria.  One of two Americans on medical missions in Liberia, Dr. Kent Brantly, is a member of the church.  While its not clear whether any of our native brethren in these African nations have gotten sick or died, they certainly feel the threat and concern of a disease that claims between 50 and 90 percent of those who contract it. 

Around the world at any given time, we have brothers and sisters who face health scares, hunger, harm, and hatred.  Persecution, natural disaster, famine, and war are no respecter of persons, and “our people” are often affected.  How they need our constant prayers as well as whatever assistance we can prudently provide.

On our pews in the local church, though without the drama and press coverage, there are always those who are struggling with hurts, heartaches, health, home, and hardship.  They may not trumpet their complaints or even publicly ask for encouragement, silently suffering.  As we interact with each other, let us keep in mind the potential hidden concerns and burdens being borne.  

Paul encourages us, in the spirit of unity, to “have the same care for one another” (1 Co. 12:25). He tells Colosse, “Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Col. 3:12). He tells Philippi to to look out “for the interests of others” (Phi. 2:4).  Are we busy and bothered by our own concerns? Certainly! But may we ever cultivate greater sensitivity toward the silent suffering of our spiritual family, both near and far.

Members of the Slavyansk church of Christ (including a BVBIU graduate from our first class) holding bomb shrapnel that exploded near the church building. Photo Credit: Jeff Abrams.

Don’t Preach!

Neal Pollard

What an odd thing to say, especially when our Lord (Mark 16:15; Acts 10:42) and Paul (2 Tim. 4:2) say to preach!  I’m not saying don’t preach at all, but there’s too much “preaching” that is not really preaching.  We must not preach that way.

  • Don’t preach self!  No matter how funny, folksy, charismatic, creative, good-looking, glamorous, smart, or suave I might be, it’s not about me.  I am no Savior. I am a sinner proclaiming the Savior.
  • Don’t preach doubt!  People already wrestle mightily with doubts.  Don’t reinforce them.  Clear away such cobwebs with the definitive, hopeful, concrete message of truth.
  • Don’t preach man-made doctrine!  It’s a foundation of sand.  It will land countless people on the Lord’s left hand at the day of reckoning.  If a doctrine is at odds with the gospel, keep it from the message.
  • Don’t preach unprepared!  Every hearer deserves a well-planned, well-thought-out, and well-practiced sermon.  They are giving their time.  Make sure you have put in yours.
  • Don’t preach in a pandering way!  Audience analysis is helpful, but don’t “play to the crowd.” It seems insincere and disingenuous. Don’t carry the standard down to the people. Call the people up to the standard.
  • Don’t preach philosophy!  Philosophers prefer questions without answers more than answering questions.  “What ifs” may be fun with sports teams and political elections, but they too often tear down rather than build up faith.
  • Don’t preach arrogantly!  The preacher, George Bailey, would often say, “A man wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package.”  How many times have people echoed the sentiments of the Greeks, “Sir, we want to see Jesus!” (cf. John 12:21).
  • Don’t preach timidly!  Should we apologize for the Lord’s message?  We never want to be harsh, antagonistic, or in any way present an obstacle with negativity or our presentation, but we must have the courage to share what the Lord said. If the Lord commands it, we must convey it, even if it’s difficult to do so.
  • Don’t preach indistinctly!  Truth stands out. We must let it.  We cannot hide the parts that may make the church or the preacher seem in the minority or at odds with prevailing views.  We must be Micaiahs, intently committed to preach with this philosophy: “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that shall I speak” (1 Kin. 22:14).

Instead, preach the Word!  Saturate your message with His message.  The late Wendell Winkler would say, “Fill your lesson with Scripture. At least that much of it will be right!  Let God get a word in edgewise!”  Some have convinced themselves that they know better than God does what makes sermons effective.  The old song, “None of Self and all of Thee,” is in order here.  Hide behind the cross and lift Him up.  Being thoroughly biblical, applicable, and practical, we will grow the church and we will grow people.  If one is prone to veer from His pattern and example of New Testament preaching, may we ask such a one is genuine, loving candor, “Don’t preach!”

(Carl preaching the word in Cambodia last month)

I REMEMBER CALE VERSUS DONNIE

 

Neal Pollard

1979 was the year I discovered sports, developing a fledgling interest in my home state’s greatest football team, the Georgia Bulldogs, watching Dale Murphy and Bob Horner, young stars on a woeful Atlanta Braves team, learning names like Steve Bartkowski, William Andrews, and Greg Brazina. I started collecting baseball, football, and basketball cards.  But my clearest memory and biggest sports’ memory in that seminal year of sports-fan-man-ship came when I walked into our living room in Cairo, Georgia, at the end of the Daytona 500.  I can’t remember how many laps I watched, but I watched them all in utter fascination—including the historic final lap.  The suspense, drama, and excitement was palpable, climaxed by Cale Yarborough coming down the inside in an attempted “slingshot” move and triggering a crash between himself and Donnie Allison.  The maneuver cost them both the victory as Richard Petty took the checkered flag.  But what I remember was not Petty’s win, but the altercation between Cale and Donnie’s brother, Bobby, who had stopped to check on his brother.  Cale hit Bobby in the face with his helmet, then, as Bobby famously recounted, Cale went to beating Bobby’s fist with his nose.  That moment (“the fight”) is credited with putting NASCAR “on the map” and leading it into the mainstream of American interest.

While it’s ultimately a matter of indifference that a fight led a sport to success, it’s profoundly sad that the religious world is often known for its division and difference rather than its being united in truth.  One of the biggest arguments against Christianity is that “Christians” (as the world sees them and understands the term) argue with each other.  As world religions spread and as secularism and atheism grow in our world, the strife and division among us is more negatively noticeable than ever.

This fragmentation could not be farther from heaven’s desire.  Jesus prayed for His followers to be united (John 17:20-21).  Paul condemned religious division (1 Co. 1:10-13) and called for the body of Christ to be one (1 Co. 12:13; Eph. 2:16; 4:4).  The world is heading toward eternal punishment and religious people who follow manmade doctrine are said by the Bible to share that tragic fate (Mat. 7:21-23; 15:8-9; John 12:48; Gal. 1:6-9; Rev. 22:18-19).

When the world looks at those professing to be Jesus’ disciples, what should they see?  I know what Jesus wanted them to see.  He said, “”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).  Let’s be known to the world as lovers, not fighters!

Evel Knievel At Snake River Canyon

Neal Pollard

Today I took a picture of a famous pile of dirt.  It was the “launch site” for an infamous jump made by an infamous figure of the ’60s, ’70’s, and ’80s.  On September 8, 1974, almost 40 years ago, Evel Knievel used a rocket-powered cycle known as the Skycycle X-2 to jump the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho.  Having now seen this foreboding span between the north and south rim with my own two eyes, I can only wonder why he would have even attempted it. If you aren’t familiar with how it turned out, it was a dud.  His chute deployed at the beginning of the jump and he fell to the canyon floor narrowly missing the river in what would have been a certain drowning due to a malfunctioning harness. Tim Woodward, a now retired columnist for Boise’s Idaho Statesman newspaper, was there covering the event.  He describes the atmosphere, saying, “It was, in the terminology of the day, a ‘happening.’ Spectators and groupies came by the thousands from all over the country, bringing drugs, alcohol and nudity in profusion. It was Woodstock without the music. Or the peace and love” (Woodward, Idaho Statesman, 12/1/07). A local member of the church says that the event cost the city untold money, due to vandalism, theft, and other destructive acts.  He also says the common belief is that the daredevil lost his nerve and panicked, triggering the parachute himself.  Whether that was the case or not, it was a much-anticipated event at which many raucous spectators gathered only to be disappointed.

As I heard and read these details, it made me think of an event that will be far different from this one.  It will involve a figure who has been the center of far greater controversy than any other—one who some love but many more hate.  It will involve a promised event infinitely more spectacular than anything man has devised.  It will include the largest crowd ever assembled to witness any other event, and it will include raucous rabble-rousers as well as righteous religious people.  But it will be neither a dud nor a flop.  Its magnificence defies adequate words of description.  The second coming of Christ will be no mere “publicity stunt.” It will be at the center of the ending of time and the ushering in of eternity.  It will draw every person from every nation for all time.  It will bring everyone to our knees.  God has foretold us of this day and we cannot afford to take it lightly (cf. John 5:28-29; 2 Pe. 3:10).  We must be prepared for it (Mat. 24:44).  We have never seen anything like it, but we can be ready for it!

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A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC

Neal Pollard

MERS is the latest pathogen to seize the world’s attention, and this middle-eastern sprung virus, having a 30% mortality rate, is cause for some concern.  Yet, it is the latest in a long line of alarming diseases that have struck fear in people—AIDs, Asian Flu, Spanish Flu, smallpox, bubonic plague, and leprosy, just to name a few.  Whether the horrific presentation, swift action, or painfulness of these conditions, just the names of these diseases raise the shudders of those informed about how deadly they are.  An ailment that commonly brings about mortality gets our attention.

Sin, however, often does its work on the individual without the dramatic presentation and many times in a way that feels painless to the “sufferer” until it is too late.  But, nothing is deadlier or more serious.  That is why God made it a prominent subject in the only book He ever wrote.  He identifies it in its every form, reveals the symptoms, warns of the potentially deadliness of it, and provides the cure.

The majority do not recognize it for what it is, they incorrectly identify it, offer the wrong cures for it, and a great many just ignore what it is doing to them.  They call it by other names, thinking that by doing that they are eradicating it from themselves.  While that may numb them through this life, it will not serve them well in eternity.

Variously, the Bible says “sin is exceedingly grave” (Gen. 18:20), “sin is unhealthy” (Psa. 38:3), “sin is a disgrace” (Prov. 14:34), “sin brings guilt” (Mark 3:29), “sin brings spiritual death” (Rom. 6:23; Jas. 1:15), “sin enslaves” (Rom. 7:14,23), “sin is deceitful” (Heb. 3:13), “sin entangles” (Heb. 12:1), “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4), “sin is of the devil” (1 John 3:8), and “sin is unrighteousness” (1 John 5:17).  Yet, despite this, we know “fools mock at sin” (Prov. 14:9).  A vicious disease is at work in them and, unresolved and untreated, it will lead them to eternal pain, but because it afflicts the unseen part of a person they cannot see the damage to their souls.  They often see its effects in their own lives and in others’.

That’s where Christians come in, Physician’s assistants for the Great Healer.  We are to get healing to as many as are willing to take the cure.  We may be treated hostilely by some of those eternally ill, but we must risk sharing it for their good.  We face a terrible epidemic but we have a cure that is 100% effective when properly applied!

“THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA”

Neal Pollard

Sostratos the Cnidian built this world-famous lighthouse in 297 B.C., located on the coast of the island of Pharos (Negev, The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, Rev., 1986: 27). It made the Greek poet Sopater’s list of the original seven wonders of the world. Examined with the other six, this lighthouse seems to have been the only wonder which also served a practical purpose. It would have towered nearly 400 feet above the sea, about forty stories tall. What an imposing figure it would have been, and some, though these claims are mildly disputed, said its light could be seen from as far as 100 miles away on the sea. Its architecture and inscription were rooted in Greek mythology, dedicated to Poseidon and various protectors among the gods. Eventually, it suffered the structural damage associated with aging. Two earthquakes in the fourteenth century damaged it and made it unsafe to explore. It was finally torn down by a sultan in the fifteenth century, who used stones from its ruins for part of the wall of an Egyptian fort that remains to this day. Diving expeditions in the last ten to fifteen years have discovered ruins in the sea that almost certainly include remnants of this famous lighthouse (see also http://www.touregypt.net, http://www.new7wonders.com).

Though it was impressive for a time, this lighthouse suffered the fate inevitable for material things on this earth. The once imposing figure of this lighthouse was eventually eclipsed by time, war, and natural events. This beacon lives now only in the ancient writings that recall it.

There have been many ideas and philosophies of men that have been erected throughout human history. Each of them have purported to point the way of man toward his purpose. Solomon spoke of some of them in Ecclesiastes: wealth, pleasure, education, occupation, etc. So many have lived and died following a guiding light that ultimately could not stand the test of time.

Jesus mentions another light–Himself! He calls Himself the light of the world (John 8:12). The apostle John wrote to testify of this light (John 1:4-5). In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus illuminates the way for His disciples and says that His followers would reflect His light and be light to the world (Matt. 5:14ff). This is the light for all people, places, and times. Only it will endure and stand the ultimate test in eternity. It will not be destroyed, ravaged by weather or catastrophe, or successfully overtaken by men. Let us be thankful that we have been given this timeless, illuminating light to show us the way from earth to heaven.

Unity In Ukraine

Neal Pollard

My first mission trip was to eastern Ukraine.  Ironically, years before coming to preach at the Bear Valley congregation, I was in attendance with many other American brethren at the first graduation of a Bear Valley Bible Institute extension in the city of Kramatorsk.  Despite mildly corrupt practices at the airport and in some local governments,  Ukraine was a seemingly peaceful country.

If you watch or read the news, you know that tension, violence, and instability is currently a daily occurrence in that nation. At least dozens of protesters were killed by ousted president Viktor Yanukovych and his security forces.  A new cabinet was elected, an interim president named, and asylum was granted to Yanukovych in Russia. Russian president Putin seems inclined to interfere, given that there is pro-Russian sentiment in parts of eastern Ukraine and pro-western sentiment in much of western Ukraine.  Now, there are dark clouds gathering in the Crimean region bordering southeastern Ukraine.  Russia and the European Union seem to be engaged in a tug-of-war over this nation that has tragedy draped like a pall over its storied history.

Despite all the friction and fighting, the citizens continue to speak of their desire that Ukraine remain one nation.  That may prove difficult (some facts gleaned from BBC.com and The Washington Post, Will England and William Booth, 2/27/14).

What a dramatic illustration of the need of unity and the external forces that threaten to undo it.  The Lord’s church has faced the threat of internal and external forces intent on trying to divide and hurt the body of Christ.  The devil has been a constant force to that end.  The early church faced Judaizers, gnosticism, and false teachings about the resurrection, the deity of Christ, and the second coming.  A few centuries was all it took for a new, false church to form.  Ultimately, protestant denominationalism was spawned from it.  Cults, world religions, skepticism, and unbelief challenge us.  So does worldliness and immorality.

We get to choose how we respond, both locally and on the whole.  We can splinter and divide, or we can rally around the supreme authority of Christ.  There will always be pressures seeking to push us apart from one another.  We must have even greater determination to stick together, bound by the banner of the Bible!

An Honest Obituary

Neal Pollard

It was the early 1990s, and I, as a green, inexperienced preacher, was asked to do a funeral for a man from the community with no real religious roots.  It was my first funeral for a non-Christian and I went, armed with the knowledge gained from Wendell Winkler’s Preacher And His Work class, prepared to preach to the living neither giving false hope nor crushing the hearts of people I was trying to reach.  I remember standing nervously in the back of this old denominational church building out in the country.  A group of men gathered there, who I later learned were the pall bearers, were talking caustically about someone.  One said he had made a pass at his wife. Another said he had stolen two of his cows the previous week.  He was a good-for-nothing snake in the grass. Honestly, I was now listening very closely.  I was shocked when one said, “If he hadn’t died, I might have killed him.”  They were talking about the deceased, the man whose funeral I was about to preach.  Needless to say, I felt no pressure to “preach him into heaven.”  Five minutes before the funeral, I wrestled with whether or not my words were too plain or off-putting. Five minutes after it, one of those pallbearers told me, “Preacher, you gave him a better funeral than he deserved.”

If you are prone to read obituaries or as you reflect on every funeral you have attended, everyone speaks of every dead person as if they are the most wonderful, saintly individual who has ever lived.  Some, considering the circumstances of the deceased’s lifestyle, brashly speak of them being in heaven even if the one never made mention of or made preparation to go there.  It is a significantly disgusting thing to hear people blithely pronouncing people saved in death who were disobedient to God’s saving plan in life.

A few months ago, the children of Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick defied this common trend upon her death. They literally celebrated her passing by publishing a “scathing” obituary in their local Nevada newspaper. The obituary, published in September, 2013, begins, “”On behalf of her children who she abrasively exposed to her evil and violent life, we celebrate her passing from this earth and hope she lives in the after-life reliving each gesture of violence, cruelty and shame that she delivered on her children” (via Newsmax.com).  The article gives details of her horrific abuse of the six children, which abuse she regularly inflicted before she lost custody of them to a Nevada Children’s Home.   While they gave no speculation about her eternal destiny, neither did they sugar-coat or white-wash her life.

Who knows what will be said about us when we die?  However naughty or nice it is matters little next to what our Lord knows and sees. He will “judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1).  He will be the “righteous Judge” (2 Tim. 4:8; Acts 17:31).  He will tell it like it is concerning each of us as we are gathered with all the nations (Mat. 25:31ff).  Heaven keeps, if you will, a perfect, accurate obituary on file for each of us when we die.  The Bible calls it “the Book of Life” and the dead will be “judged according to their works, by the things which [are] written in the books” (Rev. 20:12b).  Let us live so we are not ashamed for that record to be revealed.

The Blood of Christ

Neal Pollard

The topic above should cause one’s mind to focus on some precise areas. Naturally, the blood of Christ implies thoughts of the “incarnation” of Christ (that Christ took on the form of man, while all God, and thus had blood coursing through His veins; Philippians 2:8). The blood of Christ further induces from one’s thoughts the atonement Christ made for all mankind through the shedding of His blood on the cross (cf. Hebrews 9:12-14). The blood of Christ also elicits reflection upon the suffering and death of the sinless man from Nazareth (1 Peter 2:24). And on one might reflect.

The phrase, the blood of Christ, appears verbatim in the New Testament in four verses. With each reference one finds important lessons about the function and significance of His blood. Christ’s blood is central in the Father’s plan of salvation and life within His favor. What does the blood of Christ bring to needy man?

The Blood of Christ Brings Redemption (1 Peter 1:19)
In 1 Peter 1, one sees the inspired apostle speaking to persecuted (1), predestined (2), purified (2), and pliant (2) people of God. What would cause a Christian to suffer wrong for doing right? What would cause a Christian to search out from the Scriptures the term of election, accept the terms of pardon, and follow the terms of Christian living? Simply, an understanding of redemption.

Perhaps the verse most loved and quoted is John 3:16. Yet, so be known and familiar, this verse is sorely misunderstood and under applied. Jesus, the speaker of the words recorded in this verse, foretells the act of redemption. With His divine foreknowledge, Christ understood that the gift of the Father’s only begotten Son (Himself) meant the shedding of His blood at Calvary. The purpose of that shed blood, He knew, was to redeem the lost race of man from the power and hopelessness of sin. Paul says, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5). By inspiration, Paul reinforces this with Titus (Titus 2:14).

The Blood of Christ Brings Removal (Hebrews 9:14)

The King James Version uses, in this verse, the word “purge” in translating the effect of the blood of Christ upon the conscience of one to whom that blood is applied. Purge means “to purify, especially of sin, guilt, or defilement” (The American Heritage Concise Dictionary, 1994). Thayer shows the original word translated “purge” in this verse means “free from the guilt of sin” (The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, 312). Clearly, the Spirit-guided writer of Hebrews speaks of the effect of the applied blood of the Savior. The audience of Hebrews, of which modern man is a part, needs some agent to remove the guilt of sin (dead works) from their lives. The blood of Christ is that agent. For the agent to be effective (to do the job as it was intended to do), one must come in contact with it. Where does one come in contact with the blood?

Jesus shed His blood when He died (John 19:34). Paul writes “that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). One cannot literally go over to Jerusalem to a hill called Mt. Calvary and find the man Jesus bleeding to death on a cross. Furthermore, because one cannot do this, one cannot in some literal way reach up to Him and take some of His shed blood and apply it to himself. Thus, there is no literal, physical way for today’s man or woman to contact the actual, shed blood of our Lord.

Yet, Revelation 1:5 reveals that Christ, on His cross, washed us from our sins in His shed blood. God would not allow His Son to shed His life-blood and then provide no means for mankind to contact that blood in some way. And, there is a way and only one way. In identifi[cal] terminology, Acts 22:16 says that baptism washes away sins. In summation, Christ shed His blood in His death. We are buried with Christ in baptism. Christ washed our sins with His blood. We wash away our sins in the act of baptism. The blood of Christ and baptism, inseparably joined, remove the sins of those who recognize and submit to the authority of Christ in being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21).

The Blood of Christ Brings Return (Ephesians 2:13)
At the creation of man, there was no need for means whereby man could return to a right relationship with Jehovah. The idea in Ephesians 2 that, specifically here, the Gentiles were “far off” implies the need to return. How could they come back to God? Paul stresses the fact that Christ’s blood was the only means whereby reconciliation could be made. Thus, Paul penned the glorious fact that Christ “made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself” (Colossians 1:20). As if an inseparable gulf was crossed by Adam and Even through their sinning at Eden, that gap of sin separated man from God (cf. Isaiah 59:1, 2; Note: This is not to suggest that all inherit Adam’s sin – the false idea of Hereditary Depravity – but rather that through Adam sin entered the world, Romans 5:17; and, consequently, all have sinned, Romans 3:23). Not with acts of goodness or meritorious works could man ever earn his salvation (Titus 3:5). Yet, there are conditions that God expects man to meet in order to have past sins forgiven and the restoration of a right relationship with the Father (Titus 2:12; Hebrews 5:9; Ephesians 2:8). By shedding His blood, Christ paved a road of return (i.e., the “narrow road” of Matthew 7:13, 13) to take us back to God. There was no access before and without Him and after sin was in the world (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5; John 14:6). How did Christ affect this return with His blood?

He took the first, old covenant God made with Moses and Israel out of the way by dying on the cross (Ephesians 2:12, 14-15). He placed all believers in the faith into one body [the church] (Ephesians 2:14, 15, 16; 4:4). He provided the message of reconciliation in commissioning the preached word to all men (Ephesians 2:17; Acts 1:8). He opened the avenue of prayer by His death on the cross, encouraging petitioning the Father to enhance our relationship with Him (Ephesians 2:18). He sets aside a place in the Kingdom [the church] for all the faithful obedient into which all spiritual blessings flow (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1:3; Matthew 16:18-19). To all who obey the commandments of God relative to entrance into His church, reconciliation and return to God are provided.

The Blood of Christ Brings Remembrance (1 Corinthians 10:16)

As Eden shows the importance God stressed in mankind before the cross to anticipate that great event, this verse shows the importance God stresses in mankind after the cross remembering it. Those washed in the blood of Christ, contacted in baptism, are added to the church (Acts 2:41-47). Therein, those added (Christians) are governed by the Word of God in worship and conduct. A vital part of New Testament worship is the weekly participation in the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7). Why has God authorized that Christians do so, and with such frequency?

The answer is “communion.” In connection with the Lord’s Supper, this word is translated “communion” only once in the New Testament. Yet, the original word from which it is translated is koinonia, among the most recognized of all Greek words even among those who have little knowledge of that language. Most often, koinonia is translated as “fellowship.” “Fellowship” is also employed by the inspired New Testament writers to make reference to the “Memorial Feast.” The apostles and early Christians continued steadfastly in the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42). The fellowship of the Lord’s Supper was not to be defiled by the presence of idolatry at Corinth (1 Corinthians 10:20), but rather the communion was to be exclusively with the Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 10:16, Paul stresses that there is communion. That fellowship is with the blood of Christ, which suggests a multitude of things. First, the blood of Christ places one into the one body (the church – Colossians 1:18; Acts 20:28). Therefore, the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper involves corporate (collective) activity. Together, children of God are drawn closer to one another remembering the Savior whose blood purchased them from sin. This communion, then, is a means of expressing encouragement and thanksgiving together as the redeemed. The Lord’s Supper cannot, then, have significance to those not members of the body as there is no celebration and fellowship with Christians. Also, the Lord’s Supper provides a communion between the individual Christian and his Lord. Thus, Paul instructs each to “examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). None other can obey the command of self-examination and remembrance for another in the Lord’s Supper or in any spiritual matter. Yet, the Lord’s Supper is special because of both the sharing with others and the individual responsibility. As an institution, the Lord’s Supper is, in both regards, a crucial means whereby Christians remember the sacrifice, suffering, and death of Christ in shedding His blood on the tree.

The blood of Christ purchased man’s pardon (1 Peter 1:19). The blood of Christ purges man’s conscience (Hebrews 9:14). The blood of Christ propels man closer to God (Ephesians 2:13). The blood of Christ provides recollection of atonement (1 Corinthians 10:16). His blood was important in prophesy (Isaiah 53:3-5). His blood was important [physically] (John 19:34). His blood is important in perusal (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:28).

IF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WILL TRULY BE UNDENOMINATIONAL

Neal Pollard

The Restoration Plea is valid, vital, and victorious!  It urges every believer in Christ to throw off the shackles of humanly-devised traditions and beliefs that undermine and contradict the sole, supreme authority of Christ.  Religious division has been spawned through time because of men’s preference for their own creeds and doctrines.  Reason and rationale becomes, “We’ve always done this” or “We prefer this” rather than “Thus saith the Lord!”  With human nature, we are often prone to see such faulty thinking in others while being blinded to our own potential guilt.  This happens to us individually and it certainly can happen to us collectively.  Painfully aware of my own limitations and shortcomings, may I offer some cautions to us out of a sincere love of Christ and His glorious bride?

If the church of Christ will truly be undenominational,

  • We must build our faith and beliefs from the “text out” rather than assert our beliefs and then find verses to support it.
  • We must avoid blind loyalty to any individual, congregation, school, work, and the like.
  • We must determine not to press our inclinations, preferences, judgments, and opinions to the extent that such divides brethren or becomes matters of fellowship.
  • We must strive to preach and practice “the whole counsel of God,” even in unpopular matters or those we may have neglected (church discipline, evangelism, marriage, divorce, and remarriage, moral purity, first-century-like benevolence, etc.).
  • We must be patient and loving within and towards congregations, be they Thessalonicas or Corinths.
  • We must avoid unconditionally venerating and idolizing men above the Lord.
  • We must repent of our intensely “in-reach” philosophy and rededicate ourselves to intense “outreach” in our communities.
  • We must avoid convenient silence in our pulpits and classrooms regarding New Testament distinctiveness and doctrine.
  • We must increase our faith in the absolute, unqualified Lordship of Jesus.

This list is inevitably incomplete and imperfect.  How could it not be, since it is put forward by one who is certainly both those things?  Yet, it is put forward to emphasize that there is an urgent need for us to continually examine our beliefs and practices making sure our allegiance is to the Christ and not men—however great and noble they seem to us.  Our Lord said, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day” (John 12:48).

Is Your Life “Award Winning”?

Neal Pollard

CBS News reports on 19-year-old Chris Strickland, a very ordinary young man who seems unaware of how heroic his split-second action was. In his first job, Chris, working at a Home Depot in Anchorage, Alaska, happened to turn around and face a shopping cart at the moment an unattended baby fell out of a baby seat sitting atop it.  Store surveillance video captures the whole thing, as Strickland rushes over and reaches out to catch the falling infant.  For this simple, profoundly important act, Strickland will receive the Home Depot Angel Award, “reserved for those who perform exceptional acts of heroism” (via http://www.cbsnews.com/news/quick-thinking-home-depot-employee-saves-falling-baby/).

If all goes well, some day that baby will grow up, maybe get married and have children, and, optimists might say, do some great thing—become president, save an entire burning building full of people, or, better yet, become a faithful Christian responsible for scores of folks getting to heaven.  No matter what happens with the child, it will not diminish the heroism of this young man who, at the right place and right time, chose to save another human being and one literally helpless.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul speaks of Christ giving an unequaled reward on the Judgment Day.  It will be for those heros and heroines who loved His coming and appearance, who fought, finished, and kept the faith (7).  In a parable about the Judgment, Jesus speaks of the award winning “sheep” who will enter heaven.  What did they do?  Cared for those who had needs.  James 1:12 speaks of a reward Christ will personally give to those who persevere under trial.

You didn’t consider yourself a “hero,” did you?  Passages like those above speak of how ordinary folks like us can receive the highest honor of all time and eternity.  How?  By faithful endurance, service, and response to Jesus, the Lord!  Congratulations!

Church Cooperation

Neal Pollard

I have become more acutely aware of the importance of “church cooperation” working with a congregation that operates a school of preaching.  To get every student here and to support every teacher who prepares them for ministry, several congregations and individuals must give to make this a reality.  Those who contribute range from the very wealthy to the financially struggling, the highly educated to those not as much, the urban to the rural, and from the west coast to the east coast.  Congregations who give may be large or tiny.  But, all are needed and each works together to help produce men prepared to fulfill their ministry.

“Church cooperation” also is a term which applies to a necessary, internal function.  Within the church, there must exist a spirit and willingness to work together despite our differences—be it race, societal status, religious background (whether raised in the church or converted), and the like.  God anticipated such diversity, but still expects unity.  He is displeased with multiple, divergent “agendas” and frowns most emphatically upon self-seeking and self-serving individuals.  Whatever would fuel division, pride, fleshly lusts, greed, or worldly philosophies, must be identified and scuttled.  Paul wrote one congregation, saying, “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phi. 2:1-4).  Why cooperate?  Because of Christ and what He has done. How cooperate? Positively, by oneness of mind, love, spirit, purpose, and humility. Negatively, by avoiding selfishness, conceit, and serving self-interest.

How easy it is to read that divine guidance, but how hard to practice!  Yet, it is essential to a congregation thriving and growing…together!  The sobering thing is that each of us is either a cooperator or a coagulator (hardening and hindering).  That is determined by our attitude, words, and decisions.  May we each resolve to be a “church cooperator”!

TIPS FROM JESUS

Neal Pollard

These are far from comprehensive, but they form a sample of Jesus’ vast wisdom:

  • “Come to Me and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28-30)
  • “Give and it will be given to You” (Luke 6:38)
  • “Seek the Kingdom first and all these things will be added to you” (Mat. 6:33)
  • “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself” (Mark 8:34)
  • “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16)
  • “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35)
  • “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:11)
  • “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15)
  • “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Mat. 6:14) “Do not worry” (Luke 12:22)
  • “All men will know you are My disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35)
  • “Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:26)
  • “Take heed; keep on the alert!” (Mark 13:33)
  • “Be on your guard against every form of greed” (Luke 12:16)
  • “Unless you repent, you will perish” (Luke 13:3)
  • “First take the log out of your own eye” (Mat. 7:5)
  • “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27)
  • “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Mat. 6:19)
  • “All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Mat. 21:22)
  • “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all” (Mark 10:15)

This is truly just the “hem of the garment.” Spend some time with the gospels and the life of Christ. It will enrich you with infinitely more than money. It will allow you to bless others, but none will be more blessed than you if you take these to heart and live them out in your life!

Happiness (POEM)

Photo by Ying Prinyanut

Neal Pollard

What do I need to make for joy?
To beat those troubles that annoy?
Can it be bought or taken from others?
What would I get if I had my druthers?
Would I find it in possessions, investments, land?
A car that’s new or a house that’s grand?
That perfect someone to make me satisfied?
A high position to feed my pride?
When I have seen some with hardly a possession
Who know nothing of materialistic obsession
Anonymous to paparazzi and heads of state
Facing perils and diseases with no way to abate
Living contentedly, day after day
Trusting God gladly to provide them a way
Loving their neighbors and spiritual siblings
All without virtue of a bevy of things
That tells me something, I’d better take notice
Of something the apostle Paul long ago wrote us,
“Whether you have or don’t, or you spend or are spent,
Whatever you face, in life be content.”