Balaam

Balaam is one interesting character. There is no way he wanted to disobey God directly but he was willing to have other people disobey God so that he could get money. Greed is an awful vice. It makes people do things that they know are wrong. Balaam wanted riches more than he wanted God. Are we any different?

Seducers

"With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!" 2 Peter 2:14
We had a pastor one time in a former church we attended that when my wife met him she felt very uncomfortable. She felt that he was undressing every woman he met with his eyes. After a short time it was revealed that he had left his former church because he was having an affair with one of the women of the church.
Peter says that these false teachers look upon every woman as a possible adulteress. This was the way this pastor was.

Brute animals

Peter compares false teachers to brute animals. They love the thrill and confuse the thrill with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now I know that the Holy Spirit is not bound by man made rules but I also know that He works more often in the quietness of the moment than in the radical displays.
The Lakewood Florida revival is an example of this. Todd Bentley did some bizarre things that he claimed were the action of the Holy Spirit. He kicked people and used inappropriate language. Somehow I cannot contribute that the Comforter, the One who comes alongside. Maybe there are times that He will shake us out of our comfort zone but to claim that this is a manifestation of the working of the Spirit seems out of line with Scripture.
Why is it that those who get caught up in the wildness regard the orthodox as devoid of the Spirit? We can quench the Spirit when we deny the wild fire but we can also quench the Spirit when we say He must act in a certain way.

Why I blog

Someone asked me it anyone read my blog. I know that there are people who do and I have appreciated all the comments even those that I don't agree with or don't agree with me. It makes me take a good look at why I believe what I believe. However, the main reason I blog is one of the lessons I learned from 2 Peter as he used Noah as an illustration. Noah was kept pure in a time of ignorance and apathy because he continue to proclaim the truth. I will proclaim the truth so that I will not be led astray. Noah may not have had any converts but he remained faithful.

A Riddle

My father often gave us riddles that related to the Bible. Here is one. If you know the answer please post it and I am sure there is a wonderful prize for the first to post the answer.

I walked on earth,
I talked on earth,
Convicting men of sin.
I am not on earth
Or in heaven or hell
Or likely to enter in.

Prepared soil

I live in a very fertile area of the country. In a few weeks the farmers will be out preparing the soil for planting. What would happen if the soil was prepared but nothing was planted? Surely something would grow. However, I am sure it would not be what the farmer wanted.
Today as we worked through 2 Peter 2:4 - 11 I learned something about false teachers. They look for soil that is ready for their teaching. Do the people have a disobedient rebellious heart? Are they ignorant and apathetic? Are they look for ease, affluence and pleasure? When they find such soils they are ready to plant their false seeds. Our hearts are like soil and we must guard that soil so that the seeds of righteousness and truth may be planted.

Trading our tomorrows

The third example that Peter uses is the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. "He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly." 2 Peter 2:6
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were soft, affluent and immoral. They wanted the pleasures of the day at the expense of their future. There were false teachers in Peter's day and there are false teachers in our day who live in luxury and even fall into immorality because they have taught that God wants us to be happy rather than to be holy.

Is there a why?

Peter's second example is the people in Noah's day. "if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others." 2 Peter 2:5
What was the sin of the people in Noah's day? They were ignorant of God's truth and they didn't care. As Peter says in verse 12 that they "blaspheme in matters they do not understand". Today we have people who do not understand doctrine and they don't care that they don't understand. They love to say, "No creed but Christ" or "Doctrine divides, Christ unites." However, without doctrine do they really know Christ? Remember the Holy Spirit inspired God's Word and that is not for us to ignore.

I do it my way

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." 2 Peter 2:4
What was the sin of the angels that condemned them to hell? It was the sin of rebellion and disobedience. At the root of rebellion is pride and the desire to do it my way. It is to question the justice of God.
How does rebellion work? Read this article concerning Bart Compolo and you will get the picture.
http://battle4truth.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/bart-campolo-disturbing-article/

Bumper Sticker Theology

When we reduce our theology to bumper stickers and t-shirts I think we are in danger of being mislead. Theology is about God and to know God we need to know His Word which cannot be reduced to bumper stickers.

The Gospel of Greed

What has Jesus Christ and a TV evangelist have in common? It would appear 'not much'. Jesus lived in poverty while the TV evangelists live in luxury. It is reported that John Hagee is paid $2 million annually as the highest paid pastor. Joyce Meyers has five homes worth at least $1 million each. Pat Robertson is reported to be worth over $140 million. The list could contain many more. Now not all TV evangelists are fakes but those that live in luxury while asking for more should repent.

A. W. Tozer

There are factors that are changing the church. Not necessarily for the better. The three main factors are entertainment, marketing and psychology. A. W. Tozer said, "If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christianity. The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned, the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it."
Rob Bell, one of the neo-evangelicals said that when Peter was walking on the water and then began to sink that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for his lack of faith in Christ but his lack of faith in himself. I wonder what Tozer would say to that?

Heart stirring Stores

When we lived in the Philippines we found that religious broadcasting to be very entertaining. It seemed to me that many of the prosperity preachers saw that as a market to be exploited. These people were poor so a message that said that if you come to Jesus then you will be rich was a message they wanted to hear. Maybe this was a way that they could break out of the poverty cycle.
These teachers often had stories that pulled at your heart strings. A widow who was down to her last dollar sent it to their ministry and then very next day an unexpected cheque arrived for $100. Then they would turn to the example of the poor widow from the Gospels to show that this is what they could expect. However, we do not know what happened to that woman. Did she receive one hundred times her gift or did she die in poverty. That is not the point of Jesus' teaching. The point is that God received glory.
2 Peter tells us that false teachers are marked by greed. Look at the lifestyle of these teachers and then draw your own conclusions.

Coming to a bus near you

The above is an ad that is running on buses in some major cities. It says, "There is probably no God so now stop worrying and enjoy life."
Is that the best that they can do? Probably. They are not sure there is no God. Maybe it is not such a bad thing. If it gets people thinking then it can open the doors for an intelligent conversation.
We need to show that believing in God is not a cause for worrying but rather it brings joy and peace. I believe that only one who truly knows God can enjoy life and stop worrying.
Why do the atheists have this misunderstanding about believers? Are we the problem. As Pogo said, "We have seen the enemy and it is us."

Humanism

The most dangerous false teaching in my opinion is humanism. The reason I think it is so dangerous is that it takes the focus from God and puts in on man. Humanism is evident in the church when we look at the methods that are used for evangelism and worship.

Nooma

Yesterday my wife and I brought a couple of Nooma videos home from our church library. Peter warns about false teaching but false teaching is hard to detect sometimes because it is close to the truth. I believe from what I saw that Rob Bell's Nooma videos fall into this category. He sounds scholarly with his deconstructive teaching but on closer examination it is nothing but humanism. Humanism is the most dangerous of all false teaching as it sounds close to the truth but it takes God from the center and puts man there. I wonder if we should be concerned that we are exposing our youth to this teaching? I think we should take a closer look at Rob Bell's theology.
One reason we fall for this kind of teaching is that we don't really know the truth. We all need to know the truth so well that we can smell heresy coming.

Happy Birthday

Today I would like to wish three special people Happy Birthday. Two I know well the third I have never met.
My granddaughter turned six today. She is a special, sweet young lady who was born while we were on the other side of the world.
My friend and fellow Bible teacher turned 53 today however he likes to celebrate his birthday on February 14 as it was that day, 41 years ago, that he learned that he was going to live and not die. For 41 years since that day he has lived cancer free and is a testimony not only to God's mercy and grace to to how God can redeem the what someone else may consider of no value and make it beautiful. Last night he reminded us again from the lessons of 2 Peter that not only we should continue to proclaim the Gospel while we are alive but even after we have died.
The beloved Gospel singer George Beverly Shea turned 100 today. What a testimony he has been over the years.