THIS SATURDAY’S DOOR-KNOCKING

Neal Pollard

Two wonderful upcoming events should have us excited! Vacation Bible School is a prime opportunity for us to be evangelistic with our neighbors, friends, and co-workers.  It showcases the many talented people we have in our education program for children and it is always pulled off in an impressive way.  Our seminar/gospel meeting will be conducted by one of the most engaging, genuine preachers among us.  Steve Higginbotham will do an outstanding job.  There are several things we can do, but this Saturday’s door-knocking can accomplish so much to try and draw our nearest community neighbors to both these events.  May I make a personal appeal to you to be at our building this Saturday at 1 P.M.  To encourage you, consider three brief and true statements.

• It Is Easy.  We are not setting up Bible studies.  We are simply inviting (or leaving fliers at the door if they are not home).  A quick, pleasant “hello” and statement of what we are inviting them to attend is all you need to know.  If you have access to small children, they always serve as an excellent buffer.  But, no matter your age or degree of cuteness, you will find this the easiest evangelizing you will ever do.
• It Is For You.  Door-knocking is not just for the students, preachers, elders, or teens.  Parents, deacons, men, women, middle-aged folks, young adults, professionals, unprofessionals, blue-collar, white-collar, tall, short, fat, skinny, and if there be any other category, your presence is vital to the success of this.  So often, we assume others will do the work.  Please do not make this assumption.  If you are tempted to feel that way, know that others share that struggle.  Encourage somebody else.  Call or email them and tell them you are coming and ask them to come, too.
• It Is Important.  You may be helping somebody take their first step toward heaven.  You might find somebody who has been searching for truth.  You may knock the door of somebody who has been struggling and looking for answers.  God may use you this Saturday to save a soul!  How wonderful to be able to face our dear Savior some day having taken opportunities like this Saturday to expose people to the Lord’s church.

I feel pretty confident that you will not regret participating in this Saturday’s mass inviting. It will require a little time, gas, and energy, but it is also one of those things that just leaves you feeling like you have helped the Lord a little in His mission of reaching the lost.  My highest hope is that I will see you this Saturday at 1 P.M. as we try to take greater Bear Valley for Christ!

“Does The Bible Really Teach That?”

Neal Pollard

Perhaps you have had a chuckle at the “chimney corner Scriptures”–those things that sound like or we think that are in the Bible but are not (“Let your conscience be your guide” or “confession is good for the soul” or “God works in a mysterious way”).  It is not as funny when our hearts and minds are not adequately protected from a teacher or preacher who promotes something as biblical that is not.  It may be someone who touts a thing as acceptable to God which the Bible teaches is not.  It may be someone who asserts that something must be believed or done, though the Bible does not bind it.  Either way, God holds each of us accountable for knowing His will.  We are cheating ourselves and our souls who allow a teacher or preacher to dictate to us how we should feel or think about a given matter.  I am not saying we should be suspicious or distrusting.  Instead, I am saying we should be like the Bereans.  One of the most powerful, positive statements made about any group of people is said of them in Acts 17:11: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” You have likely read that passage before, but what is the Holy Spirit saying about them?

They Were Characterized By EXCELLENCE.  They were noble-minded. Notice that it began here.  All else positive that is said about them began with their mindset.  Jesus praises people who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt. 5:6). These people were predisposed to accept God’s Word.  What higher praise can be lavished on anyone?

They Were Characterized By EAGERNESS.  The antithesis of this would be apathy and indifference.  These were “word-receivers.”  They were sponges, anxious to know God’s Word.  The Bible, from cover to cover, touts itself as the message of salvation.  Doesn’t it deserve our greatest enthusiasm?

They Were Characterized By EXAMINING. But, they were not uncritical, undiscerning students.  They were listening to one of history’s greatest Christians, borne along by the Holy Spirit, but they still checked after him.  Every man who purports to be God’s proclaimer deserves that same level of scrutiny.

They Were Characterized By EVERYDAYNESS.  They were not content to wait for the next Bible class or sermon.  They were daily devourers of these Divine dictates!  Aren’t there things you feel compelled to do on a daily basis (eat, sleep, brush your teeth, check your Facebook)? We prove to God we are serious about the blessing of having a relationship with Him by constant, consistent consultation of His revealed mind and desires–we only find that in His Word!

How can we tell whether something is just a man’s conviction or is God’s command?  How do we know that some strange, new doctrine is true or false? Do not be content to let somebody be your sole source of gauging that!  Be a Berean!

CONDITIONAL LOVE

And she still loves us anyway!

Neal Pollard

In every area of life I can think of, conditions are necessary.  Contracts almost always contain clauses, caveats, and quid pro quos.  Jesus even provided conditions for the marriage “contract,” allowing one whose mate commits fornication to divorce and remarry an eligible person (Mat. 19:9) or one whose mate dies to marry an eligible person (Rom. 7:1-4).  Though making no allowance for remarriage, as some say, Paul does add that one does not have choose marital obligations to a mate over Christ (1 Cor. 7:15).  Further, one is not required to remain in a situation where abuse and physical danger is a viable threat either to that one or whatever children are involved, even if such reprehensible conduct does not allow the victim the right of remarriage (cf. Mat. 5:32; 19:9).  Love does not act unbecomingly (1 Cor. 13:5), and those who are lazy, lustful, selfish, demeaning, wrathful, and the like may bear the fruit of disdain and distance from a fed-up or heart-broken spouse.

That said, there is an alarming amount of “conditional love” that defies sympathy.  Through the years, I have known those before and after marriage who made the physical weight and appearance of their loved one a condition of their love.  For others, it was money or salary.  For others still, it was social status and social-climbing.  Perhaps, with some brainstorming, we could grow this list of “provisos” much longer.  This approach to “love” that says “I will love you if…,” “I will love you when…,” “I will love you unless…,” or “I will love you until” runs contrary to the spirit of Christ.  He is the standard of love.  Husbands are to love their wives like Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25).  Wives are to be taught to demonstrate selfless love to their husbands, too (Ti. 2:4).

Consider Christ’s love.  He loved us when we were helpless, sinful enemies (Rom. 5:6-10).  He loved us before we loved Him (1 Jn. 4:19).  He continues to love us, though we fall short (Rom. 3:23; 8:38-39).  That does not mean that He will unconditionally save us, but the Bible’s clear indication is that He will continue to love us no matter what.  Certainly, that will revolutionize our thinking as a Christian, but we should allow it to revolutionize our earthly relationships.  As John says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 Jn. 4:11).

SPLINTERS HURT

Neal Pollard

It was late summer, 1980, about a mile south of the thriving metropolis of Glenn, Georgia.  Our family had just bought some land and brought in a Jim Walters home, and with this there was some minor construction work to be done.  That is why there was some rough sewn lumber laying in the backyard.  Coupled with a sturdy sawhorse, the board was irresistible for two young boys.  My brother and I were blissfully seesawing for several seconds when he decided to make a sudden departure.  The shift in weight was enough to make me shift on our makeshift playground toy.  The end result for the soft inner part of my left leg was a sliver of wood that seemed twelve feet long. An initial reaction of disbelief was quickly followed by involuntary hopping, hollering, and howling.  I didn’t want the splinter to stay there, but I dreaded pulling it out of me.  Finally, after a seeming eternity, we were able to extricate the small tree from my chubby gam.  For a few days, the leg stayed tender to the touch–a reminder of the last time I ever got on a homemade teeter totter.

Paul wrote the Corinth church, a body that was hurt by splinters.  Paul gives a vivid description of the wound in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.  Members were splintering into different groups, lining up behind men rather than THE Man.  Paul pleaded with them not to let that occur.  The basic reason was that these splinters hurt.

Division hurts the church.  Feelings are hurt.  Spirituality is hurt.  The promotion of truth is hurt.  The church’s purpose is hurt.  Babes and weak Christians in the church are hurt.  The innocent as well as the guilty are hurt.

Division hurts the world.  They are offended. Or they feel vindicated in staying in the world.  They are repelled and repulsed.  They are confused.  They lose interest.

Division hurts the Christ.  The church is His body, and splinters bring Him pain.  The Christ that once hung on a rugged piece of wood is more wounded when that for which He died is splintered.  Read John 17:20-21, and see how strong Christ’s feelings about unity are.

Truth must be defended to honor the Christ, even if those in error fight and resist.  Beyond that, though, what is so precious and dear as to make us prone to splinter His body?  The answer is in the question.

Shakespeare And Jesus

Neal Pollard

On April 23, 1564, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, England.  While we do not know all the details of his life, it is clear that he is one of the most famous figures of history.  There are 38 plays and 152 sonnets attributed to him that survive, but not much of his personal life is known.  It is known that he married Anne Hathaway when he was 18, and she was already pregnant with their first child.  His son, Hamnet, died at age 11. He had two other daughters.  He died at the age of 52.  His contemporary, the poet Ben Johnson, said, “He was not of an age, but for all time.”

Jesus’ birth was a millennium and a half before Shakespeare’s.  We have some glimpses into His personal life through the inspired gospel writers.  We read an account of His lowly birth, His circumcision and first trip to the temple, His trip to the temple at age twelve, and the last three years of His life.  He did not marry.  The only writing we know that He did was on the ground, and its content is unknown (John 8:6,8).  He died a young man in His 30s, and that was by execution.  He was poor (2 Cor. 8:9).  So far as Scripture tells, He never traveled–during His public ministry–more than a total of 500 miles. Yet, Johnson’s word more aptly describe Jesus than any other person to ever live.

Jesus is not of an age, but for all time because as the Son of God He is deity and, as such, timeless (John 1:1).  Jesus is not of an age, but for all time because His teaching is timeless and relevant to all people of all places and times (Mat. 24:35).  Jesus is not of an age, but for all time because what He offers all humanity in history needs (1 John 2:2).

Whatever great contributions men continue to make in this world, the best one can hope to do is finish second to Christ.  He, more than all, influenced, changed, and improved this sinful world.  His words and will must be placed above all else!

IRONIES ABOUT THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

Neal Pollard

The blood that cost Him His life means life for me.

The blood that brought Him pain in shedding it brings me eternal peace.

The blood that, when He shed so much of it, surely caused Him sickness and fever heals my sin-sick soul.

The blood that was lost to Him is applied to me.

The blood that surely was hard to look at on that day is a beautiful sight for the eye of faith today.

The blood that was shed in wrath by man reconciles man to God.

The blood that poured out from His wounds is what mollifies and binds up my wounded soul.

The blood that was shed to His ridicule and shame brings me the highest possible place of honor.

The blood that came from an unblemished, perfect sacrifice is essential to cover my blemishes and imperfections.

The blood from the Son of God is needed to make me a child of God.

Blood and water came from Jesus at His death, but I contact His blood through the waters of baptism.