as i travel thru ThisPilgrimLand

What Would Campbell Say?

I find myself often wondering what the great reformers of European Christianity or the restorers or American Christianity would say about some of the “new revalation” that many of today’s word-faith teachers proclaim.  Judging from the overall message of many of these people, specifically the New Apostolic Reformation bunch and those who look to milk from their bosom, I think this quote from Alexander Campbell’s The Christian Baptist Vol. 1 would suffice.

“We have often heard the leaders of devotion, in popular assemblies, confessing their great ignorance, praying for more light and anxiously looking for a more desirable time; when knowledge, truth, and holiness should abound. This circumstance clearly argues that every thing is not right amongst them, themselves being judges. Yet, we have often heard those same leaders of devotion vindicate themselves from error, and attempt to justify themselves, and all their measures, as soon as any reprover presented himself.  This, though a common occurrence, is a singular proof that many deceive themselves as well as their simple hearers, ‘by good words and fair speeches.’

We are very certain that to such as are praying for illimination and instruction in righteousess, and not availing themselves to the means afforded in the Divine Word to obtain an answer to their prayers, our remarks on many topics will appear unjust, illiberal, and even heretical; and as there are so many praying for light, and inattentive to what God has manifested in His word, there must be a multitude to oppose the way of truth and righteousness. This was the case when God’s Messiah, the Mighty Redeemer of Israel, appeared.  Ten thousand prayers were daily offered for his appearance, ten thousand wishes expressed for his advent, ten thousand orations pronounced respecting the glory of his character and reign; and, strange, to tell, when he appeared the same ten thousand tongues were employed in his defamation!  Yea, they were praying for his coming when he stood in the midst of them, as many now are praying for light when it is in their hands, and yet they will not look at it.

TEACH THE WORD!!!!

Book Review: “Alexander Campbell and Christian Liberty”

I love reading old books.  While I find myself reading tons of new publications from tons of 21st century authors, I always find it rewarding to temper some of the new information with old.  I especially find this beneficial in studying about Christianity, and American Christianity in particular.  While many of the best old books come with a steep price, one can find many of the more obscure works of the past online and often for free.

One such book that  I have completed recently is Alexander Campbell and Christian Liberty: A Centennial Volume on His Controlling Ideas – Enforced by His Own Words, by James Egbert.  Published 100 years ago, Egbert shares his understanding of Alexander Campbell’s teaching.  Interested in Campbell because his father was a contemporary of Campbell, Egbert reveals something that I am learning more of everyday; what Campbell taught and believed is not very similar to what many in the Church of Christ today believe. 

This book focuses on Campbell’s desire that human minds be unbound in order to expereince and find the truths that are found in the Bible.  Campbell felt that Christians should be allowed to explore the Bible and should they find truths therein which contradict denominational creeds or demand further study, they should be allowed to ask those questions without fear of being removed from the church.  All thought, all teaching, and all new revelation was to be tested by scripture, not creed.

Labeled a heretic by many, Campbell sparked a revolution in American Christianity that at its peak was just what many in this country were looking for.  As man was becoming more educated, thought and understanding was becoming more sought after, even in the churches.  Alexander Campbell and Christian Liberty provides a detailed and historical account to the thoughts of the man who really flamed this movement while giving credit and time to the readings and teachings that Campbell was influenced by at the time. 

This book should be a must read for all Christians.  More so, any member of the Church of Christ should read this book.  We may no longer know or care who we are because we have forgotten where we came from.  Egbert’s work in this book serves as a stark reminder that we may be allowing ourselves to become bogged down in tradition while at the same time forgetting Christ Jesus.  Let us never teach tradition of man over gospel as this is the heart of what Campbell fought against. 

To read this wonderful book which is available for download at this time on Google Books, click this link.

“He [Campbell] was only calling attention to the much neglected fact of man’s freedom, that man is active, not passive in coming to God.  The fact is that there are two sides to the great fact of union with God, the Divine drawing and the human coming.  But to recognize the human coming does not destroy the divine grace.  Nor does the recognition of the divine grace destroy the human activity.”

Despising the Youth

I grew up in a home in which one of the first lessons taught was “son, respect your elders.” My mother instilled in me that to older people, always respond “yes sir,” “no sir,” “yes mam,” & “no mam.”  I realize that this sort of teaching and thought has been somewhat lost on youth of today and the evidence is normally obvious.  I only questioned why I had to be respectful to people who were older than me once and I was taught that their wisdom and simply their experience in life demanded unwarranted respect from those who were younger.  Therefore, I gave it and as I grew older I began to understand this lesson.

Respect given, no questions asked, no reason to doubt that it was deserving.  All the while I grew and became older myself, I heard in conversations with older people their disdain for younger people.  I can remember hearing my father remind me that the decisions I made at times or my passions were based on the fact that I was young and did not fully know what it was I thought I wanted or desired.  He, and others older than I, attempted to teach me from their own life experiences and lessons they have learned the hard way.  Did I always listen?  Of course not.  Do I often wish that I had?  You betcha.

Today though, at 33 years of age, I find myself in an intermediate area of life.  I am at the point where if a younger person other than my own children were to say “yes sir” or “no sir” to me, I might be offended while at the same time appreciative to the parents of that child for teaching them respect.  I am not old, but I am not young.  I know that as a person, Christian, and man I have much much more to learn while at the same time knowing some unchanging truths in this world that, often due to teaching from elders, I know will never change.  The most important of these truths being the perfect gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ sent to seek and save a lost people to call His own.

I believe that Paul foresaw the fact that because of this tendency of old to reject young, that he had to prepare Timothy for the fact that although Timothy would teach the truth, that many older people would reject his teaching simply based upon his age.  In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul is seeking to remind his young protege’ that Timothy must never deviate from teaching people the hope of God found in Jesus Christ.  While doing so, Paul writes to Timothy “let no one despise you for your youth…” in verse 12.

This word despise in the original language is literally defined as “to contemn, despise, disdain, think little or nothing of.”  Paul, being raised himself by great teachers, must have had an ear as a youth in which he knew that Timothy’s teaching risked being rejected based upon the fact that Timothy was a young man.  As a young man preaching I find these words encouraging.  If a man trained by Paul himself underwent disdain from older people because of his age, then why would I become upset when the same happens to me.  Do I change the message of the gospel to please them?  No.  Do I change the message of the gospel to be more pleasing to my contemporaries and turn my back upon the elderly?  Of course not.

The proper response, as instructed by Paul, is to continue in the teaching of God’s word, ignoring the disdain of the elderly in the hope that at some point, the gospel will do what the gospel says it does.  It pricks, it hurts, and at times it blows the dust off of a heart that possibly had closed itself to hearing the need for Jesus in their life.  Recently feeling “despised” myself by an older element in my own historically great congregation, I turned to the eldership of our church.  Concerned that I am saying or doing something wrong, God placed the following words in the mouth of an elder that reassured me that this despising is based upon something other than me presenting the gospel wrong.  The elder said to me: “the message you are preaching is pricking hearts that maybe have not been pricked in a long time and they are unsure how to react to it because it hurts.”  My response: “yes sir, thank you sir.”

May God continue to bless our churches with elders who understand the working of the gospel of Jesus Christ and may God bless the preachers who have not sold the gospel message in order to be pleasing to the masses and the hard of heart.  Second only to Christ, it is in my opinion based upon the study of God’s word, these two elements that will assure a continuation of our great churches.  May we refuse to be like the world who rejects the opinion and wisdom of our older members and patiently work with them.

A Small Victory for Pro-Life Movement

Those interested in having life defined as beginning at conception won a small victory in Mississippi.  This is a movement started by one man in hopes of having the state of Mississippi amend their bill of rights to state that life begins at the time of conception.  Today, they won an important legal battle in their state.  Research this and read more about this matter beginning here:  Click here for story.

Book Review: “Who Really Goes to Hell?” by David Rudel

Let me start this review by saying that I did not finish this book.  I got about 3/4 of the way through it and then threw it where it belongs, in the trash can.  Therefore, I cannot openly and honestly say that I have any idea what David Rudel’s conclusion is in this book.  I can share with you what I do know though.

Let me start by simply discussing the title of this book.  Strap your seat belt on as I spell out the entire working title of this book is: The Gospel You’ve Never Heard: Who Really Goes to Hell: What a Protestant Bible Written by Jews Says About God’s Work Through Christ: (A book for those in the church and those offended by it).  ugh.  That is the front cover and it is exhausting itself.  Sadly, as you get into this book, you find that the author’s ideas about the Bible and Christianity are just as scattered and unresolved as his thoughts on what the title should be.  The portions of this book that I read are simply a strain of unanswered (and dare I say unanswerable with scripture) questions that have no bearing on the Christian life lived by New Testament Christians.

The author is attempting to place Jesus as found in the gospel writings, in opposition to the writings of Paul.  He bases much of his argument primarily off the fact that since Christ does not really discuss Hell and salvation that much in His teaching, that Paul must have been mistaken when he discussed these issues in his letters written to the churches he helped establish.  Also, since Christ did not really stress the fact that He is the only way as much as Paul did, then Paul could have gone a little over board and been wrong.  Jesus versus Paul for the sake of salvation is the heart this book is written in.

Stressing the love message of Christ, Rudel is attempting to further a theology of universalism.  His position holds by the thread that when someone does loving acts to others, even if that are not doing them in the name of Christ, that they are being pleasing to God.  In other words, this is the deeds not creeds doctrine of Rick Warren taken to an extreme.  According to this book, people who never confess Christ as Savior, can work their way to Heaven.  Rudel wants the reader to believe that all good people, of which Bible believing people know there are NONE, go to heaven.

I did not stick around in this book to read the conclusions as I agreed to review this book expecting to receive a Christian book.  This is not a Christian book but instead a tool that will drive people out of the church and out of fellowship with their Lord Jesus Christ.  This book is a study in hypothetical thought based on carnal and human wisdom taken to its most nauseous point.  This book has found its way into my garbage as I would not want my children to pick it up and read it and be led astray by such false teaching.  Also, I would not want them to read this and think that this is the sort of scattered mess that should be published as professional writing today. Honestly, even outside of the theological realm, this book is a real mess and will numb your brain while reading it.

Who Really Goes to Hell?  People who are led astray by this book is who.  Do not buy this book.

Book Review: Laughing With Sarah by Gene Jennings

Many people are looking to start small group studies to pursue Christ outside of the Sunday and Wednesday night church setting.  In response to this trend, Gene Jennings has provided his new small group discussion guide and book, Laughing With Sarah: Thoughts on the Journey With God.

Jennings, a long time pastor, sets out in this book to provide insight to help individuals overcome the valleys and peaks that seem to come with the Christian walk.  Actually, Jennings divulges that this book of essays is actually a grouping of his sermons from the past that he wants to use to show Biblically that even some of the people we consider of great faithfulness struggled.  Hence the title, Laughing with Sarah, a reference to Abraham’s wife.  Actually, the title essay was my favorite of all found in the book.

I didn’t really personally enjoy this book.  Jennings’ writings are very short on gospel and very long on allegory.  If you like Joel Osteen’s preaching, you will love this book.  While there is some good teaching intertwined at points in this book, Laughing With Sarah is more life coaching than it is doctrinal instruction for believers.  I understand that this is the kind of book that some say would be good for a small group (which begs to question the validity of small groups that seek such resources), but a small group should be where people come to dig deeper into scripture, not hear allegorical tales about other people’s faith and lives.

While at the end of each essay Jennings provides “spiritual” questions that help tie the essays to the reader’s own life, these questions are set up to render “what does this passage say to you,” answers rather than “what does God’s word say about this” answers.  While this is a very encouraging book and will give a Christian some good stories to share about their faith, I don’t see this book helping someone carry out the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My recommendation is to pass on this book.

Book Review: The Life Book by Carl Blunt

Carl Blunt saw a problem.  He saw that the high school students in his area were no longer interested in Christianity.  He wanted to reach high school students of today’s world with God’s word while remaining within the boundaries and laws of today’s society.  According to Blunt, in the press release for his solution The Life Book, “studies show that only 4% of today’s teenagers are Bible-believing Christians.”  That is a definite problem for the future of a nation that proclaims to be Christian.

In order to help stem this tide, Blunt, along with The Gideons International, developed a strategy.  That strategy was to send the students in their churches on a week-long mission trip to their local high schools.  The students are all armed with a book and a small amount of evangelism training.  This book is titled The Life Book and the students are asked to hand this book out to their classmates in their high schools.  So far, they have distributed almost 300,000 copies.

The Life Book is a very small book that contains the story of creation and a very brief synopsis of the remaining Old Testament.  Following this is the printed New Testament book of John in its entirety.  Also, at the end are some questions that many kids of today’s world would probably have in regard to being a Christian teenager and handling temptations that they face.  All throughout the margins of the book are notes written by various teenagers about their thoughts that come from reading The Life Book.

I think this is a very good idea.  In an age where students are the only ones allowed to really discuss faith (especially Christian faith) with other students, this book serves a real purpose.  I especially enjoy the fact that in the short chapter on the Old Testament, Blunt points out that the whole Old Testament points to the the story of Christ that is laid out in the book of John following.  This book does not burden the reader with laws and must dos (except toward the end) but instead points the reader to the fact that you are and always will be a sinner, damned for hell, should you not repent and accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

My only complaint is the fact that Blunt points the reader toward praying a sinner’s prayer at the end.  There is no discussion of baptism and its role in the salvation of man.  I fear that some who read this book and never follow up with a Bible teacher, could walk away believing they are saved because they said a prayer, when they may actually remain lost, having never had their sins washed away.  I suppose this is where the evangelism training of the kids sent out with this book could come in to play.  Regardless, this is at least something, and it is far more work and far more scriptural than any effort I have seen recently to reach the goal Blunt has.

I find this book and mission to be fascinating.  The package is small as the book is printed in a small 5 x 5 square that could easily fit into a large pocket.  The design is eye-catching yet simplistic at the same time.

I would encourage churches to take a look at this and to consider arming their youth with this excellent resource to help reach the masses in our government schools today.  With proper training and a commitment from the leadership of a church, The Life Book could possibly help change your local community and stop the trend of unbelief that is flooding our schools.  This book does present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a very teenage-friendly yet mature way.  Blunt has a goal of getting this book into the hands of 18 million high school students.  You may possibly want to help with that goal.  Is it more than you and your church are doing now?

To learn more about this resource, visit:  www.thelifebook.com