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"If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free...So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed!" (John 8:31-32,36)

Moral Relevance – The Rabbit Trail to Dissipation

September 14, 2017 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

“The great business of Satan at the present time is to seek to deceive the people of God with things that seem to be in accordance with His mind, but which are really deceitful imitations…Let the precious truth of the indwelling and gifts of the Holy Spirit be declared, and Satan will follow with false gifts and another spirit, leading even earnest souls into the wildest fanaticism. Let the truth of the new birth be insisted upon, and the devil will raise up teachers after his own heart to tell men that being born again means simply ‘rising out of the self-life into the spiritual, reaching out after the higher ideals, seeking to make that which is highest, noblest and best of ourselves; thus saving ourselves by character.’ This is a sample of the teaching heard in many a supposedly orthodox pulpits at the present time.” (H. A. Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, p. 182, 187, 1920)

In a promotional statement from the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, we are told, “In his new book, The Power of I Am, Joel Osteen shares the secret to changing your future. Osteen encourages readers to think positively and improve their lives by speaking the promises of God. Filled with practical advice and encouragement, The Power of I Am shows readers how they can redirect the course of their lives through the words they say. When you speak the right ‘I am’s,’ you’re inviting the goodness of God. I am victorious. I am blessed. I am talented. I am anointed. Your words have creative power. With your words you can bless your future!”

The greatest myth ever propagated by religionists of any flavor for centuries has been the simple statement that one can get to God for success and blessing by lifting themselves up by their own bootstraps and endeavoring to live a good life in relation to others.

You might ask, “What is moral relativism? Well, it’s a mindset and lifestyle that says, “My sense of morality is whatever I think it to be according to whatever is happening around me. My morality depends on my present circumstances in relation to everything and everyone around me. It may change from time to time, depending on how our culture changes.”

At one time in America, morality was based on the Ten Commandments found in the Judeo-Christian religion. Those commandments express the moral character of the God of Jews and Christians. Devout Jews are rigid in their efforts to keep the Law God has placed upon them in Scripture. Christians are faced with the words of Jesus Christ, who said, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Christ’s commandments expanded the Ten Commandments to a deeper moral responsibility, imposed upon those who would profess belief in Him. Added to the moral degradation observed in our current culture, we now have a form of moral relativism that insists on tolerance and inclusivism. To be considered acceptable we must abandon the exclusivism of Biblical morality.

It really doesn’t matter what you think as an autonomous individual. Believe whatever you want. One is a bigot who says a candidate for high federal office should have to refrain from using what was once termed “filthy language” and boasts of a lifestyle based on the moral depravity embraced by many starting in the 60s and 70s. And what’s worse is that many in the Evangelical World care not what a presidential candidate’s lifestyle and past are. Isn’t morality relative to the times in which we live? Is there really anything wrong with wanting to have our ears tickled, accumulating for ourselves teachers in accordance with our own desires; and what’s wrong with turning away our ears from the truth, and turning aside to myths? Isn’t this the way we should all do things in this age of myths?

We American evangelicals and biblical fundamentalists had better wake up and smell the roses. I fear we are satisfied in smelling what is normally put under the roses and are willing to accept the judgment God is sending us through our devolving culture and ungodly leaders.

The time has come for believers to get into their closets and onto their knees. It’s time we believers speak out, lifting the Biblical standard of righteousness. Our nation is sliding into dissipation and ruin.

Belief, Christian Witness, Culture, Emergent Church, Evangelical Church Tagged: culture, Evangelical Church, theology, witnessing

Things That Go “Thump” in the Night – Part 2

May 2, 2016 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

Continued from Part 1

6. Robbing God in a world of plenty:

We are told that less than 6 percent of today’s churchgoers tithe, that is, give at least one tenth of their gross income to the Church. We explain away God’s question and answer in Malachi:

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.” (Malachi 3:8-9)

We no longer build beautiful churches in which to worship. We build what looks like a warehouse or a lecture hall. Why? It’s quite simple: our churches are filled with thieves – professing Christians who fail to give what belongs to God – His tithe. Our church attendees think they can tip God and get away with it. We allow ourselves to join our highly commercialized and pleasure seeking culture and get smothered in either things or debt. Then we convince ourselves that we cannot “afford” to tithe. And the “devourer” – Satan – laughs at our affluency, lust for things, and failure to please God by giving Him tithes and offerings. As a result, we miss the message of God through Malachi:

“I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of Hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for your will be a land of delight, says the Lord of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:11-12)

[Read more…]

Belief, Christian Vocation, Christian Witness, Culture, Devotion, Evangelical Church Tagged: culture, doctrine, Evangelical Church, revival, Spiritual Truth, witnessing

David Livingstone – Giant of the Faith

February 14, 2016 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

David Livingstone In 1873, the Apostle to Africa, was found dead in the jungle, on his knees, as if in prayer. For 33 years in Africa he had walked, crawled, climbed, waded, canoed, had ridden and been carried some 40,000 miles through the “white man’s grave.” He took notes and made maps every step of the way. He told every African he saw the good news about Jesus Christ.

It took natives 9 months to carry his body to the coast, where it could be prepared for shipment to England. When his body arrived, it was examined by pathologists; they found scars and bone damage where he had at one time been mauled by a lion. His heart and internal organs lie buried in Africa under an mvula tree. His body was buried in Westminster Abbey, among the legends of Britain.

When a teenager, he wrote this prayer in his journal: “Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me; Lay any burden upon me, only sustain me; Sever any tie, but the tie that binds me to Thy service and Thy side!”

Livingstone said he was sustained by the promise of a gentleman of sacred character who said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

When I consider the life of David Livingstone, I am convicted of being a spiritual failure – a pigmy, as compared to this Giant of the Faith. Perhaps it might be my privilege, when in the New Heaven on the New Earth, to be assigned as one of the gardeners, working among the flowers in the garden that surrounds his estate throughout eternity. What an honor that would be!

I wonder if we see the Celestial City, as David Livingstone saw it!

Beryl's Blog, Christian Vocation, Christian Witness, Courage, Devotion, Discipline, Life Struggles, Mission, Suffering, Trials, Vocation Tagged: Divine Providence, faith, heaven, prayer, suffering, trials, vision, witnessing

A Kind Of Shapeless Idleness

February 8, 2016 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“And you also shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
(John 15:27)

What Jesus said to His disciples in the upper room has applied to every believer regenerated by the Holy Spirit from that day until Jesus returns to take us to be with Him at His second coming. It is my studied conviction that the devolution of American culture can be traced to the apathy and fruitlessness of American believers who have failed to be ambassadors for Christ to our post-Christian culture. We are His witnesses. We have been with Him from our choice by the Triune God before the foundation of the universe to be His witnesses to our time and place in His world.

Statisticians tell us that less than five percent of professing evangelicals have ever sat with a repentant sinner to whom they have witnessed the life-saving good news of Christ’s gospel. Too few have heard in their spirit the singing of angelic beings rejoicing in the conversion of a sinner saved by God’s amazing grace in response to their witnessing on behalf of their Lord.

A gifted writer and attorney said:

“To live our lives and miss that great purpose we were designed to accomplish is truly a sin. It is inconceivable that we could be bored in a world with so much wrong to tackle, so much ignorance to teach and so much misery we could alleviate. It seems that ambition and avarice know no boundaries. Yet life goes on with too many living in a kind of shapeless idleness. Recreation becomes the goal in life. Pubs abound, sports are perpetually proliferating, gambling consumes many, and almost any form of entertainment is pursued to fill the void created by a meaningless life. Year after year goes by in unprofitable pursuit. Young and old alike live for things that do not satisfy and ignore the very things that bring fulfillment. We are not criminals or murderers or thieves. Our sin is not so obvious. We live according to the standards of society, drifting along on this world’s ideas of living, oblivious to the consequences.”[1]

That statement was not uttered recently. It was stated in 1797 by William Wilberforce, the Christian, English attorney and graduate of Cambridge University, who died three days before he learned that Parliament would pass the law abolishing from the British Empire the dreaded slavery trade. He knew what it meant to be a witness for his Savior!

The imperative of personal evangelism has been erroneously centered in the professional clergy. From Acts 8, verses 1 through 4, we learn that it was the witness of the laity that turned the world upside down by being “scattered abroad going everywhere preaching the Word.”

The Evangelical Church in America must return to the spiritual purpose, the imperative of personal evangelism. Jesus said, “As My Father has sent Me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). Until the clergy starts preaching the Whole Counsel of God and the laity starts witnessing the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, the church will be historically noted as the “age of shapeless idleness.” We will indeed be spoken of as the “Laodicean” church of Revelation 3, the lukewarm church deserving to be spit out of the mouth of God’s stated purpose.

To Ponder:

  1. Do you believe that it is your responsibility to be a witness for Jesus Christ to those God has placed in your path of life?
  2. Does your pastor or preacher teach the imperative of personal witnessing on behalf of Christ?
  3. Have you ever knelt with an individual to hear them open their heart to God in repentance and confession, placing their trust in the work of Christ for the salvation of their life?
  4. Are you willing to take another look at the imperative or Christian witnessing?
  5. Will you ask God to place before you people who need Jesus Christ and give you the courage to “say a word for Jesus”?

To Pray:

“Father in Heaven, please forgive me for my failure to be your ambassador to my friends and neighbors…my unsaved loved ones. Please teach me to be an effective witness of your saving grace to others who desperately need you. Please teach me the joy of seeing my life be a light to those in darkness, to those lost and without hope in this dying culture. I ask this for Your glory alone and the praise of your Son’s substitutionary death on my behalf. Please, blessed Spirit of God, cleanse me of my self and use me for the glory of the Kingdom of God.”

“Give me a passion for souls, dear Lord, a passion to save the lost;
O that Thy love were by all adored, and welcomed at any cost.
Though there are dangers untold and stern confronting me in the way,
willingly still would I go, nor turn, but trust Thee for grace each day.
How will this passion for souls be mine? Lord, make Thou the answer clear;
help me to throw out the old life-line to those who are struggling near.
Jesus, I long, I long to be winning men who are lost and constantly sinning;
O may this hour be one of beginning the story of pardon to tell.”[2]

[1] William Wilberforce, Real Christianity (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1973), pp. 71-72.
[2] Herbert G. Tovey, Special Voices, No. 3 (Kansas City: Lillenas Publishing, 1914).

Beryl's Blog, Christian Witness, Church, Discipline, Evangelical Church, Mission, Witnessing Tagged: Evangelical Church, mission, witnessing

Another Look at the Emergent Church

December 10, 2014 by Beryl Smith 1 Comment

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize that about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Self-examination is usually a positive thing. I am Type 2 diabetic. I frequently check my blood glucose level to assure that I am in a healthy range. I go to my cardiologist to get a checkup on how my ticker is doing. Are the particular blood tests within a healthy range? Do I need a medication change? It’s always nice when I can walk out of his office, having heard him say, “Your cholesterol is looking good and I see you’ve lost some weight.” Wow, having reached three-quarters of a century in age, that’s enough to make me sing, walking back out to my car.

Then it always makes me wonder, “How is the Evangelical Church doing in our nation? A nation which appears to be declining morally, spiritually, economically, politically and culturally.” My opinion of the status of the Evangelical Church has been declining for almost four decades.

The visible Evangelical Church in America moved through several transitional periods: the invasive liberalism of the 20’s and 30’s, the increasing separatism of the 40’s and 50’s, the cultural isolation of the 60’s and 70’s, the political joy of the 80’s, the thrill of the mega growth of the 90’s, and the emergent mish-mash of 2000 and beyond. What are some of the current characteristics of the Church, now somewhat embedded in its “emergent” state of affairs? I see several. And they continue to disturb me.

First: A continuing abandonment of the teaching of theology. Liberalism scared us with its quest for higher scholasticism, so we decided to simplify the doctrinal aspects of our teachings. The Gospel became watered down to where the average church deacon could not define for you what the Word teaches about justification.

Second: The almost total lack of catechism – teaching what we, as Protestants, believe. Pastors avoid catechesis, and most parents don’t even press their children to memorize Bible verses, let alone memorize a catechism and understand the fundamentals of Protestant belief. “After all, we’ve got so many other projects and activities demanding the kid’s time; and we can’t seem to get their hand-held communication and entertainment devices out of their hands.”

Third: The continued embrace of the methods of secular marketing to try to get people into church. Our culture’s emphasis is youth driven. Hype up the advertisement, jazz up the music, provide some pastry and coffee, and try to talk folks into considering the Christian faith as though it was an insurance policy for heaven, without any payment of repentance. Besides, that’s a sticky theological word and we avoid those today. Let’s all just be happy.

Fourth: Mediocrity in the Pulpit. Jack Van Impe, with whom I served as an Associate Evangelist in the early 70’s, used to grieve over the ministerial mediocrity he saw in his nation-wide ministry. So it’s said today, whatever you do, don’t say anything that might offend someone. Don’t preach on hell. Goodness, that might make you have to explain why most folks are going there – and already have the sentence of eternal death on them. So what if Jesus preached on hell more than anyone else recorded in Scripture. Do we have to, also?

Fifth: Identity Avoidance. What’s the name of your church? “The Gathering,” “Celebration,” Freedom Church,” “Ocean View,” “Real Life,” “The Crossing,” “Bayside,” “The House,” “Cornerstone,” “Elevation,” “Friends,” etc., etc. Emergent churches often avoid any identification with a particular denomination. Quite often the church is either “independent” or built around a charismatic man. Some emergent churches are quick to avoid describing the sheep and the goats in the audience. After all, we have turned the sheepfold into a zoo. We’ve got to make folks go home feeling good about themselves, not that they are sinners needing a savior. Don’t all churches desire to make people more morally upright and helpful to the community?

Sixth: The lack of Biblical teaching and preaching on evangelism. Have you heard a sermon on soul winning lately? What is it, anyway? Is Proverbs 11:30 applicable to our day? What is a “tree of life,” anyway? Isn’t that why we hire a professionally trained pastoral staff? Is it really true that less than 5% of professing Christians feel it is their personal responsibility to share the Gospel with those with whom they come in contact?

Seventh: The increase of Christian Theft. Less than 6% of professing Christians observe the Biblical requirement to tithe ten percent of their income. Today is the day of the “tipper” not the tither. Did Jesus really say that tithing is the responsibility of a believer? (Matthew 23:23). Did God really say that His people are robbers? (Malachi 3:8-11). No wonder we resort to building warehouses for churches instead of cathedrals. No wonder we can’t afford to tithe. We don’t believe in it. Our churches are filled with thieves! Or perhaps you don’t think it matters to God any more.

Eighth: The abandonment of prayer. As a youth and up to the 70’s, it was a common practice to go to prayer meeting at church on Wednesday nights. No longer. Prayer meetings are a thing of the “traditional” past. Today, pastors are too busy performing their duties as “life coach,” and promoting “recovery” as opposed to prayer for spiritual revival. They may suggest that people pray; but they don’t command it. Should the imperative statement of I Thessalonians 5:17 be changed to a suggestion? It’s only my opinion; but the Evangelical Church in America has abandoned personal and corporate prayer for God to revive His people from their lukewarm, apathetic state.

Ninth: Forsaking any concept of traditional liturgy. Our good old American sense of individualism and entrepreneurship has led some pastors to throw out any type of traditional liturgy (like praying the Lord’s Prayer). Liturgy is simply defined as “a rite prescribed for public worship.” Many of today’s church leaders say, “Let’s do it my way. It will help bring in the un-churched.” So they prescribe their own order of service, establishing their own liturgy. After all, if it’s new, it must be true. But it’s only the liturgy of the contemporary. Nothing unique. Only a parody of the inferiority of a devolving, dying race, in some cases, a ridiculous imitation of something that had more beautiful, theological substance.

Tenth: Surrendering to our culture’s passion for youth dominance. It has been wisely said that our culture, including the church, has been juvenilized. We’re just a big bunch of kids trying to get by, having a good time. Let the old folks step aside and the young and the restless lead the way. And juvenilization leads to a failure of transmuting the wisdom of older, mature believers to the current crisis.

“Dwarfed by the vast complexity of the universe, towered over by technology and its environment, people see themselves reduced to insignificance and their initiative is drained…people lose their sense of individuality. Inaction becomes elevated into a principle. The result is a generation suffering from cultural failure of nerve.” [1].

In his remarkable book, The Dust of Death, published twenty years ago, Oz Guinness spoke pointedly about the state of the church:

“The Christian community needs first to put its own house in order and regain its integrity and clarity from its compromise with the present confusion…Christians face a subtle danger of creating a new Christian subculture, long-haired instead of short, but equally narcissistic and self-contained…What is needed is nothing short of reformation and revival in the church, a rediscovery of the truth of God by his people and a renewal of the life of God within his people. This is our crying need individually and corporately. Needles to say, both are the prerogative of God, so the probability of revival is beyond the scenarios of futurology. But it is exactly I these nonhumanist hands that the future of Western civilization lies.”[2]

With the decline in our nation in so many ways, one wonders just how long the Ship of State can stay afloat. And what has happened to the faith that once turned the world upside-down with the preaching of Christ by Christian converts? But for any true believer there is always hope.

Things that encourage me: 1.) A return on the part of some preachers to preaching the whole counsel of God and a return to a renewed emphasis on the five Solas of the Protestant Reformation. 2.) An awareness that abandoning theology has sprung open the door to all kinds of doctrinal aberrations and wholesale ignorance on the part of the laity as to what we should believe and why we should believe it. 3.) A realization that God is still on His Throne and that Jesus Christ is still building His church. 4.) Another look at the concept of liturgy. Some are realizing that abandoning traditional liturgy and replacing it with a more “modern” or culturally acceptable liturgy has forced older generations of believers to flee the church or surrender to the dominance of today’s youth culture.

So, we ask the question, “Is there any hope”? I can only answer with the Word:

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within s, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Christian Vocation, Culture, Emergent Church, Evangelical Church, Holy Spirit, Spiritual Truth, Worldview Tagged: culture, Evangelical Church, Postmodern Christianity, theology, witnessing

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Beryl Smith

AvatarBeryl has a great love for studying the Bible and Christian theology. Beryl is a 12th generation descendant of Ralph Blaisdell, an English Puritan who came to America from Bristol, England in August, 1635 on the sailing ship “The Angel Gabriel.”
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