Tuesday, September 19, 2006

With a Vexed Heart

I am extremely concerned about all that is going on within the SBC. I think that we have all been drawn into a fight that is, from the vantage point of heaven, eternally useless. I wonder what Christ thinks of the fighting and discent that is taking place. As I sat in my office today, having had to come back from vacation early because of a death in my church, I was reminded of the words of Paul in Ephesians 6. I was reading the blog of Wade Burleson, Ben Cole and others, and my heart was broken because we have all failed to see the big picture. God wants our total vision outwardly, while we seem to have it focused continually inwardly. There seems to be great concern over the IMB and the Conservative Resurgence and all that has taken place in the SBC in the last 30 years. And so our focus seems to be directed on a "fleshly enemy" yet Ephesians 6 tells me that my enemy is not flesh and bone but spiritual in nature. Our enemy is very smart and crafty by nature; he did convince one-third of the angels in heaven to follow him rather than God. He continually seeks to drive us to settle for Satan's substitute rather than the Savior's strategy (Herb Hodges). I am not arguing that these issues do not need to be addressed; I am saying that using a means by which all the world may see is not very wise and most definitely not honoring to our Lord and Savior. Most who are blogging about these devisive issues within the SBC are airing dirty laundry that the lost world is using to reject the faith that we are so adimate about defending, yet are we damaging our witness in this manner. I believe that God has given us a means of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world by means of the internet and yet we seem more intent on damaging His name instead. Let me state once again that I believe we need to debate these issues and determine what the Word of God says, keeping in mind that Peter said in II Peter 1:20-21. God's Word says what it says, not what you and I think it says. It is the responsibility of the exegete to determine through study what God says, it is not about what he thinks. God also tells us to respect our elders and learn from them, yet there are some in our convention who seem intent on tearing down those whom God has used, in spite of faults and sins, to accomplish great things for the Kindgom. The last time I checked we have all fallen short of God's glorious standard (Rom. 3:23, NLT). Jesus told me to remove the plank from my eye before I worry about the speck in the eye of my brother (Matt. 7:1-5) I pray that we will all prayerfully consider how we portray ourselves and more importantly the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his ambassador's, His representatives. He has left us here to re-present Him to a lost and dying world.

I want to encourage those who might stumble on this blog to know that Jesus loves you no matter who you are or what you have done. You are worth more than anything to God. Your value is determined by the price that was paid for you. The price that was paid for you was the life of Jesus Christ, God the Son. He took your place and stood judged before God so that you would not have to be judged by God for your sin. Jesus died on the cross and endured God's total wrath for the sin of every person so that you could receive a gift from the heart of God. That gift is life everlasting in heaven. The only way to receive this gift is to give your life to Jesus Christ. He said in John 14:6 that He is the only way to get to heaven. Receiving this gift is a matter of believing on Jesus Christ. If you want more information contact me. I would love to talk with you.

2 comments:

Jeremy Green said...

Michael,

You make some excellent points. May we all seek to bring praise and honor to the Lord Jesus in all that we do and say. God bless!!!

In Christ,
JLG

Jeremy Green said...

Michael,

BTW, here are a few blogs that I thought you might be interested in reading:

http://guardian-ministries.blogspot.com/

http://praisegodbarebones.blogspot.com/

http://nathanfinn.blogspot.com/

http://fromthehill.wordpress.com/

http://lespuryear.blogspot.com/

http://southernbaptistinnc.blogspot.com/

God bless!!!

In Christ,
JLG