Archive for the ‘ Bible ’ Category

Bad Teacher

First of all, do not forget to get some wisdom from Proverbial Thought!

Today’s post is not about a movie starring Cameron Diaz. Rather, true to this blog, today’s post is about theology.

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience(and a sincere faith.Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
1 Timothy 1:5-7

To tell you the truth, this passage scares me.

I am a big believer in God speaking through dreams (but not all dreams). I am big believer in God speaking through visions. I believe prophecy still happens.

I have had dreams and visions in which I speak to a large audience (perhaps blogging will be that realization?). I have had others (both Christians and non-Christians) say or speak over me (either specifically as prophetic or “in passing”) that they see me one day leading ministries and/or a congregation (or congregations) or speaking to large groups.

This scares me simply because I know my past and how I have treated theology and teaching. What if God eventually calls me to be a pastor/priest over First Church of Hometown, USA?

I hate to break it to you (tongue-in-cheek), but there are many teachers and preachers today who simply should not be. These are men and women who replace love of God and/or people with a love of money, power, influence, or popularity. These are men and women who either do not have or have lost a pure heart and good conscience. These are men and women may or may not have a sincere faith, but the question becomes where that sincerity or where that faith truly lies.

I may step on some toes and perhaps offend here, but here are some examples of things people teach and confidently affirm without really knowing what they are talking about:

  • God wants you happy and financially rich in this life. There is never a biblical guarantee that all godly people will have both or either of these in this life. In fact, there are promises of the opposite for the believer in Christ.
  • There is no Trinity. Quite frankly, Christianity falls apart without the Trinity. My Catholic brother Richard has begun covering this over at CatholicBoyRichard.
  • Women have no place in ministry. Let me just say that people who believe this are complete idiots. They may be very intelligent, but they really stupid.
  • Jesus sinned. The faith falls apart if this is true. I cannot express enough how important this is and how false and straight from the pits of Hell this is.
  • God hates ... This one is taken specifically from Westboro Baptist Church, the people who say “God hates fags” along with many other people. It is this kind of “christian” (not just those who blatantly call for the destruction of others, but also those who promote hatred through favoritism, indifference, and bigotry [misunderstanding mixed with fear]) who gives the Church the bad name we seem to see and hear about today.

There is a long, long list, and I know I have been guilty of at least all of these at one time or another. Paul listed a few others to Timothy:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
1 Timothy 1:3-11

How can we – how can I – know we are staying true to good teaching? How can we know our teachers and preachers are staying true to good teaching?

The simple answer:

We must continue studying together. We must not give up on the traditions from Church history (and before some complain, where do you think our Bible and even most of our liturgy, keeping in mind I currently attend and serve in a non-denominational church, came from? Why do we know many of the facts we know about the early Church? From what did Christianity arise?). We must always strive to express the love of God to all people.

2012
06/05
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Traveling Mercies

For most of the month of June (already started!), my wife and I are traveling around Illinois and Wisconsin to visit family and friends.

This has reminded me of a few things.

  • Youth trips in high school, when we would pray before setting out on each trip.
  • Driving around with the youth leader and praying as we got in the car.
  • Big family trips which would start out with a prayer.
  • Going to Morocco and praying with the church before we set out.
  • A particular message the pastor shared about seven years ago.

A new church was going to be launched out of our church. He led up to the announcement by sharing about Ezra taking Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. I am sure you can see the connection: Ezra went out to rebuild the Temple; some of us were going out to build a new congregation.

Something he said really stuck with me, however. It came from Ezra 8:21-23:

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

 The first part that stuck with me was the call to a fast.

We need to remember that God is the one in control, but He wants to hear from us. He desires to hear us ask Him for things.

The second part that stuck with me was that even in our shame and pride, God listens.

Ezra pointedly says “I was ashamed to ask the king . . . because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him.” This pride was not one of a personal nature. Oh, no! This was pride in the promises of God, of which Ezra knew to be true.

Therefore, Ezra prayed, and “he answered our prayer.”

The final part that stuck with me was that this was a “biblical institution of praying for traveling mercies!”

This one may not be the most holy, per se, but that is a direct quote from Pastor Scott. “And here we see the biblical institution of praying for traveling mercies!”

This reminds me that God wants us to ask Him for anything and everything. To be fair, though, we need to remember that His answer is yes when we pray according to His will (see John 14:12-14, and really all of John 14-16). (He may say yes to things “outside of His will,” but that is a matter for another day!)

So, on this fine day, I remind you to take prayer seriously, believe that God will answer, and do not be afraid to ask for His protection on your journeys.

Also, please pray for us as we travel!

2012
05/29
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 05/27/2012

The Bible is full of events in which angels fight, celebrate, mourn, and proclaim (perhaps even sing). Today’s poem is about one of those moments when … not much happened … while the greatest miracle in history was happening.

When Heaven Was Silent

Throughout time

God has spoken

Angels celebrated

Or they mourned

New believers

Brought them joy

Satan winning

Made them cry

There was a time

They were silent

All forgiven

One Man spent

This one Man

Was the reason

He is the one

To silence Heaven

For this Man

Gave His life

And in the moment

That He died

There was no noise

To be made

During the time

Our debts were paid

This was respect

Shown for Him

The only time it was

Silent in Heaven

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 68.

2012
05/27
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 05/13/2012

First of all, HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY to all of you mothers out there! Do not forget to honor your mother(s) not only today but every day. Also do not forget to call your mother (or other mothers/mother-figures) today!

Have you heard that song by Bluetree (and now other artists) called “God of This City“?

I wrote a poem about five years ago that follows the same thought. We have been called to be a city on a hill, a light that shines for all to see.

Your City

We want to see a city set up;
A city established for Your Name.
Where is the place for Your Glory?
Where do we go to see Your Face?

You have called us to be Your light.
We are to be Your city on a hill.
With a singular vision through Your Grace
We become a people after Your Will.

When we are focused on Your Life
We are a light shining on Your Earth.
We can be Your Holy City of God
Shining throughout the universe.

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 61.

2012
05/13
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“The One Who Bites Your Skin Is Dead”

For more than a week I have been sick with a cold. It is rather miserable, but if this is the biggest of my worries then life is pretty good.

Now for an intimate confession.

In this last week I also had to confess to my wife that in my tiredness and even exhaustion from work, ministry, and school, I have struggled with lust for the past few weeks. This is something that was “defeated” years ago, so you can imagine my surprise to finding it an issue. The thing that usually brought me back to my senses was the thought of my wife.

When I got sick enough to have to miss work last week, I had a lot of time to focus on prayer. One of my prayers was “Lord, there is so much going on in life. I do not need this temptation attacking me again. Take me back to that place of repentance, learning what it really means. Help me daily to defeat this lust.”

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I had trouble sleeping due to my congestion and headaches, but I had a lot of dreams. They were interesting and even silly, and I woke myself (and my wife) up because of acting out the end (running) and talking out loud.

Throughout, however, I kept hearing this one line, kind of like from the movie-voice-over guy:

“The one who bites your skin is dead.”

I did not know what it meant. It made absolutely no sense to me, whatsoever. Simultaneously, I was tired and disoriented from my head cold-induced dream-filled, sleep-deprived night.

It was not until Saturday night (after watching The Avengers!) that it finally occurred to me.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[g]

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[h]

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Firstly, God definitely heard my prayer. My lust has not been a problem since last week.

The initial thought is not a sin. Entertaining the thought and then acting on the thought is a sin. Yes, our thoughts can be a sin, but only when we dwell on them.
God has given me the way out promised, but He has also given me His strength and healing.

Secondly, I was reminded of this passage.

It is through Jesus Christ we have victory! Our Lord and God deserves all the praise.

Also, I have little problem with universalists, but this is one of their prized passages showing all people will enter paradise someday. However, this is written to believers. If I were to write a letter to my youth group saying “we all get to go on a retreat this summer because the fee has been paid,” everyone not in the youth group (children, adults, non-attendees/people from other churches) who read the letter and assumed they were going would be understandably laughed at (in love, of course) as misunderstanding the context. I firmly believe this to be the case.

(I do not “laugh at” universalists because I disagree with them. They are still brothers and sisters in Christ unless God says otherwise or their conduct proves otherwise. In fact, I understand where they are coming from, but I think they are missing the full context. I know there are times I do the same, so I have grace as I know our Lord does.)

However, this is not the point of today’s posting. This is:

We have freedom from sin through our Lord’s sacrifice, and He gives us the strength to endure temptation.

At the end of history we will be free from temptation, and our Lord can help us with temptation during this life. But we must also remember we will have temptation in this life. We were never promised freedom from temptation until Christ Jesus returns in glory.

I am evidence that we still fail. Peter and Paul admitted to failing. This is why we are told to take every thought captive. I failed for a time, but our God is full of grace and mercy.

Do you trust God to help you? Do you believe He has enough grace and forgiveness for you?

He does.

It may be hard to believe at times, but He helps our faith grow through practice and endurance.

Endure, brothers and sisters.

2012
05/08
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Causing Another To Sin

First of all, a reminder to head on over to Proverbial Thought. Amazing commentary on Proverbs that blows my mind every day is sure to be a blessing to you. Read Pastor Baker’s words for today, and make sure to catch mine tomorrow. Again, every contributor is amazing (apparently even this simple man), but only because of the Amazing One who dwells within us!

A week ago last weekend I joined many men from my church and many other churches at a Men’s Retreat. Out of 27 churches, less than a handful were not affiliated with any Baptist denomination.

I tell you that simply for this reason:

Some of the young men from our little church (including myself) decided to go play a game of cards and talk with each other. As we sat down, I jokingly said, “Guys, we can’t play cards! We are in a Baptist camp surrounded by Baptists!”

Now, keep in mind that we were not gambling. We were just playing a card game and talking, often needing to remind each other to actually play the game!

About an hour later, a man we dubbed “Squirrel-Hat Guy” because of a squirrel tail hanging from the back of his hat came up to our table. He asked “Are you all from the same church?”

“Yes.”

“What church are you from?”

“FHL – Faith, Hope, Love Community.”

“That explains a lot.”

And he walked away. (He did the exact same thing to another table of young men several feet away.)

We were kind of stunned.

A couple guys asked “Were we just judged?” There was some joking about asking him about his hat or asking what church he came with and then saying “That explains a lot.”

I later thought about more …

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Matthew 18:6-7

Had I not warned them, albeit through a joke, that we might stir up trouble? Had we not willingly continued on a path knowing it might lead to others stumbling?

Who was more guilty here?

Granted, Squirrel-Hat Guy could have handled the situation better.

Granted, we could have played our games somewhere less likely to attract so much attention.

However, both parties (all three parties) involved could have controlled themselves better. Though we had the freedom to play a card game, we could have heeded my joking warning and done something different:

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. . . . So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:9, 11

And we could have done a better job of following the verse that says “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:22, KJV)

Further, he may not have been judging us for playing cards. He could have just thought we were playing the wrong kind of card game or were playing it like a bunch of n00bs!

In any event, while both parties are guilty of something, we definitely take the larger portion, for we set up the circumstance and then even continued to judge the perceived judger.

Now ask yourself:

How might I be causing others to sin/stumble?
How am I judging others, whether accurately or unfairly?
How do I lift up others?
How do I share God’s love and grace?

We are called to not judge, but to love unconditionally. I obviously still fail, but it just helps prove to you that I am a fellow human!

May we learn to rely on our risen Lord to make us ever more like Him, that we might love and give grace without making judgments. May we just love as He loves.

2012
05/01
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 04/29/2012

Today’s poem, I think, is fitting for the month of Easter/Resurrection Sunday. Perhaps it would have worked better on the actual day, but a) I am doing my best to post poems from the book in order (though not all of the poems will be posted) and b) the Resurrection is celebrated every Sunday! So there!

Prodigal

All of creation at our disposal
Through our actions, deserve Your refusal
Thousands of years in disobedience
Living in sin, refusing repentance
With all of Your judges, leaders, and prophets
All of mankind never really getting it
Then You made a way to get into heaven
All that we need in being forgiven
Born again by faith in the Messiah
And a Spirit to lead and guide us
Through a death we are redeemed
Through new life we join Your team
The crucifixion showed us Your love
The resurrection invites us to live for above
With a new hope and covenant
We are shown a future of grace abundant
Take our lives and bring us home
Help us build up Your earthly Kingdom

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 54.

2012
04/29
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Not About Sanctification

I received a multimedia message the other day. I am pasting it below (edited for spelling and grammar … I am not a fan of text-speak!):

We are saved by grace (God’s undeserved favor) by believing in Jesus! We all know this! He has provided a way to heaven even though we are sinful people! We don’t have to DO anything to get to heaven except believe in Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection! Now that we are destined for heaven by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul says that we are to become more like Jesus through a process called “sanctification.” There are 3 types of sanctification: 1. Positional (when you believe in Jesus you are immediately “set apart” & destined for heaven) 2. Progressive (living the Christian life & becoming more like Jesus) 3. Ultimate (in heaven w/ God) We are SAVED by grace – positional (you will get to heaven). We are SANCTIFIED by works – progressive (you will become more and more like Jesus “Practice makes perfect.”) James says “faith without works is dead” because when you believe in Jesus, he changes your heart and you begin to want to obey him and become more like him. Our challenge today is this: Become more like Jesus!

This entry is not about sanctification, even though the bulk of the message I received was about sanctification.

Have you thought about the salvation offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

This may seem like a rather quick and perhaps even cop-out type of thing, but I just want to keep the main point simple:

We have all treated God with disrespect and have sinned against God. God loves us so much, He came to earth, taught about loving God and others, and died to forgive us. He rose to life again and rose to heaven with a promise to return to spend eternity with those whom love Him.

As a challenge and some homework for this week, read Matthew 26-28 and Ephesians. It is always a good reminder and a great read.

Let us remember and share the great love and grace of our Lord and Savior, not only this week, but every day. To be honest, that will truly help us in our sanctification.

What do you know, it did become about sanctification!

2012
04/03
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Passion Week Briefly

How fortunate are you?!  Today is my first entry over at Proverbial Thought, and I wrote a new poem this week. I actually wrote it on Palm Sunday, which this year fell on April 1, 2012.

Passion Week Briefly
daniel m  klem

Celebrated and welcomed as Messiah and King
Worthy of worship and praises to sing
Ushered into the city by adoring crowds
Nothing could keep them from praising in voices loud
Until a few days later they called for His life
They had the King of the Jews beaten and crucified
The One welcomed days ago with happy and open arms
Opened His arms for the forgiveness of those causing His harm
Quickly His death came after a few short hours
But only three days later He showed His real power
Being killed on a cross and buried in the ground
Could not stop the Son of God     Death could not keep Him down
The triumphal entry just a mere week before
Can not compare to seeing the Resurrected Lord!

As we celebrate this week the great life, death, and resurrection of our God and Lord, may we remember that it was our sin which caused the need for Him to come. It was our sin which held Him on the cross. It was our sin that killed the Son of Man.

May we also remember that it was God’s love that He came to us. It was God’s love that He willingly endured the cross. It was God who removed our sin and lives forever!

He deserves our love and praise. He deserves our lives. He deserves it all!

He is risen!

2012
04/03
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Who quotes from Philemon?!

The other day my wife was looking for a card for her Secret Sister at church. They were able to grow a little closer to each other over the months before the big reveal … last night, as of this posting. Her Sister has been through some tough emotional times, as of late, so she wanted the card to express love, joy, and encouragement. I helped her look, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that it had a quote from Philemon. I told her “You have to get that one. Who quotes from Philemon?!” It was also a beautiful card that expressed the intent. But it got me into thinking that perhaps my little series over the previous three weeks is not quite over, so I am going to quote from Philemon.

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
Philemon 6-11

For starters, how do we understand “every good thing we have in Christ”? It is by actively sharing our faith. I recently re-readTortured for Christby Richard Wurmbrand. People who are persecuted for their faith get caught primarily through witnessing to others. They also understood the peace and joy of Christ in any circumstance.

This leads to the next question: What is the best way to be active in sharing your faith?

See my previous posts (here, here, and here, as well as my re-blog of someone else’s post) for more detail, but I think I can sum it up in a few sentences.

We must live by a standard above that of this world. We must be willing to share in not only the joys of others but also the pains, trials, and difficulties of others. We must be willing to die for others in the hope that they will know the truth. Of course, we must tell others the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and all that this message entails. (Grace, love, forgiveness, and peace indeed are prominent, but there are also commands and warnings)

But I cannot tell you to do this. Christianity is not about just following a bunch of rules. Following Jesus is not about just praying and being nice. “Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do . . .”

It takes a commitment, a desire to know and love and grow in the knowledge of and love of God. “. . . yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.”

I have seen people throughout the church bicker and complain about each other and those outside of the Church. I have seen people throughout the church refuse to forgive and hold grudges. I have seen people throughout the church hate.

What good is using the authority of Christ to command if it could cause more sin and push more people away from God.

I can tell you until I am blue in the face that you need to forgive, love, and help others, but if you do not have that love in you it will never work.

Instead, I plead with you:

Seek God. Ask for the love of Christ to grow within you. Ask for the peace of Christ to grow within you. Ask for the grace of Christ to grow within you.

Only then will you be able to love others as they need. Only then will you be able to bring others to Christ.

2012
03/27
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