FAQ

Some Christians see no need to make an effort to change public policy because, they say, “You can’t legislate morality.”  They argue that before the hippy movement of the sixties, people were hypocritically doing the same things under cover that the hippies were doing openly.  True.  But it was not openly acceptable before that.  In one sense it is also true that you can’t legislate morality.  Only God can change the heart.The hippies argued that their parents were doing the same things in the “underworld,” so they might as well do them openly, so they belched out of the bottomless pit into the open. The law restrains evil.  So the new morality threw off the restraints.  Let me illustrate how that works.  I did not know it at the time while growing up, but my mother was committing adultery with a man for about ten years.  If it had been socially acceptable she would not have covered it up.  That would have caused me to lower my standard.  If I had thought it was okay, I would not have believed the Holy Spirit’s effort to convince me of sin, righteousness and judgment as easily. Because I feared my dad’s displeasure, I would have unleashed my urge to fornicate.  That, in turn, would have would have enslaved me even more.  That also would have led to my corrupting many young girls and damaging them for life.  I could give other examples.The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.  The law can’t save us but without the Holy Spirit using the law to bring us to Christ, there would be no salvation. When the restraints of public standards (God’s laws) are taken away, less people will come to Christ and lawlessness will abound.  Examples: When Alfred the Great and others established overt Christian laws and governments, the result was conversion to nominal Christianity.  The establishment of America is another example.  That, in turn, resulted in more born again Christians.  The law cannot save, but without it, there is no salvation.Without being convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment no one will come to Christ.  Without that conviction no one would see the need for the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  And because every true convert has been convinced of his depravity, it is impossible for him to think he is a good person. Unbelievers do not see that need because they are not totally convinced they are bad enough to need the Savior.  Thus, they are by nature hypocrites.  But to avoid being hypocritical, the hippies did openly what they had been doing (or wanted to do) under cover.  They think that keeps them from being hypocrites.  They think it is hypocritical to resist temptation. When the little boy was forced to sit down in church, he was still standing up inside.But I am glad for it.  “Fake it ‘til ya make it.”It will make a more lawful and peaceful society. This brings us to another reason why some see no need for an effort to change public policy.  It is the idea that the nominal “unconverted” church or society is not relevant.  The idea is that only true converts matter.  But we see from the Old Testament pattern that nominal Israel was important.The vast majority of Israelites were probably not saved.  But they were still under the covenant shelter. They were circumcised in the flesh, but not in the heart, but God still had a covenant with them that brought great blessings and true salvation to many at that time and later to the whole world.  Just because common grace is not enough does not mean common grace is bad.  Common grace is good and special grace is better. The flesh concludes that because nominal Christians under common grace are hypocrites, that therefore common grace is bad. To separate the secular from the sacred is dualism.  Jesus Christ demands that all governments come under the Lordship of their King.  The purpose of redemption is not to take us all to heaven.  The purpose of redemption is to bring heaven to earth.“Thy will be done on earth.”  But to demand perfection now is to demand utopia. There will be no utopia until Jesus comes.  But the path of the just is as the shining light that shines more and more to the perfect day.We have seen that progress in history. The U.S. Constitution is not perfect, but it is the result of the Gospel.  If we do what our Puritan fathers did we will see even greater results.  But if we don’t even vote or get involved in politics, America will continue to decline into even more decadence.  Christians are the salt to preserve nations. Martin Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him.  Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

I hear there are many Christian men that are enslaved by pornography. Why? Could it be a symptom of a false conversion? There are two kinds of Christians: true converts and false ones. If one is addicted to porn, for example, he might better question whether he is a true convert. Anybody dominated by sin has a good reason to doubt his salvation. Which is more dangerous, to presume you are okay or to doubt it? If he presumes it he will not bother to examine himself to see if he really believes. But if he doubts it he will not be more likely to make his calling and election sure?A bad tree can’t give good fruit. A good tree does not bear bad fruit. Do not marvel that I say, “You must be born again.” With men this is impossible, but be of good cheer. There is hope. With God’s mercy & grace all things are possible. As long as one is addicted to scandalous sin, he is still under the condemnation of God’s law. But God’s grace sets men free. Dealing simply with symptoms a new tree will not make.  Are you addicted to pornography, for example? Pornography involvement is symptomatic of a far greater problem. Don’t you feel the condemnation of a secret life that only God knows about? Do you have a desire to quit? Trying to quit has not worked in the past for you, so why do you now think you can will yourself away from such a damaging influence in your life? A man, like a tree is known by the fruit it bears. What kind of person are you? Do you need a new beginning?  John Owen shows that it is possible to be addicted to sin and still go to heaven. I agree. But I would not count on it. But the point is not about heaven. Why would the preacher want to assure someone he’s going to heaven if he is under the condemnation of both his own conscience and God’s law? Just to make him feel good? His salvation is held in doubt as long as he has no victory. (I am not talking about dealing with the symptom. I am talking about getting rid of the cause of the symptom.) If the argument is that I might discourage him and he will quit serving God because he now thinks he might be hell-bound, it seems to me that he would have had good reason to doubt. When one is truly converted, he does not serve God for fire insurance. He serves God like Job did… for nought, and not on the condition that he be allowed to go to heaven. Or, if the argument is so he can have peace, I ask, “Why should he have peace as long as he is in bondage?” Would that not be like saying, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace?” What’s heaven got to do with victory now? Should the preacher tell him he should have victory, but he will be saved anyway? He may or may not be going to heaven, only God knows that, but why does he need that assurance when he is living in scandalous sin? How can I possibly make that judgment (of whether he is saved or not)? The secret things belong to God. The point is, he is under condemnation now, and that is not a secret. The question of heaven or hell is irrelevant.  If comfort is what we want for him, the best way to comfort him is:(1.) to encourage him to believe that God can and will deliver him. (2.) to confess his sin and bring it into the light by having an accountability partner.What is happening to the professing Christian in bondage to habitual addiction to scandalous sin is that he feels guilty, cries for forgiveness, and trusts God to forgive. Let me tell the story of Wally. Wally was the produce manager in an independent grocery store. While standing in the produce aisle he told me his story of how God delivered him several years previously. He had been an alcoholic. His wife “got saved” and he followed her, got baptized, and joined the church. He quit drinking but still had the physical compulsion to drink. After several months of resisting he lived in misery constantly resisting the physical compulsion. But pressure was building up inside until it was ready to explode. He knew he could not resist much longer.One night Wally went home and went to bed with an impossible urge to drink. But he knew that if he did he would lose his job and his family. He was at the end of his rope. He was now fully persuaded only God could deliver him with a miracle. He clearly saw that short of a miracle his life was over. As he lay there he suddenly heard a voice that said, “Wallace! NOW I am going to do something for you.” The physical compulsion left and he no longer wanted to drink. As we stood there in the produce aisle with customers walking by, he burst out weeping as he shared. It still brings tears to my eyes. I fear that many modern so-called converts are simply awakened and not truly converted. The Puritans specialized in the doctrine of saving conversion. They taught that there are four kinds of sinners: careless sinners, awakened sinners, convicted sinners, and converted sinners. Wally’s deliverance is an example of true conversion. While he struggled to resist the physical compulsion to drink he was still under the law. He was trying and trying to not sin. But it was a miserable effort. It was not until he was thoroughly convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment that God said, “Wallace! NOW I am going to do something for you.” No longer did he try and try. Salvation is of the Lord and not of self-effort. The Holy Spirit had convinced him that he

Wayne Grudem edited a book titled, “Are Miraculous Gifts For Today?” He shows that among Christian scholars there are five views on the subject. They are (1) the cessationist view, (2) the open but cautious view, (3) the Third Wave view, (4) the Pentecostal view, and (5) the charismatic view.  Grudem gathered scholars from each of the positions and they all wrote and defended each of their stands on the issue. The Pentecostals believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation and is accompanied by speaking in tongues. The Charismatics do not all agree on “whether baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to conversion and whether speaking in tongues is a sign of the baptism in the Spirit. The Third Wave people, like Peter Wagner at Fuller Seminary, “teach, however, that baptism in the Holy Spirit happens to all Christians at conversion and that subsequent experiences are better called ‘fillings.’”  The open but cautious people “are open to the possibility of miraculous gifts today, but they are concerned about the possibility of abuses that they have seen in groups that practice these gifts…. They think churches should emphasize evangelism, Bible study, and faithful obedience as keys to personal and church growth, rather than miraculous gifts. Yet they appreciate some of the benefits that Pentecostal, charismatic, and Third Wave churches have brought to the evangelical world, especially a refreshing contemporary tone in worship and a challenge to a renewal in faith and prayer.”  Signs and wonders have always been one of God’s tools, “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit” (Heb 2:4 NKJV). To say that signs and wonders passed away when the Canon was completed is to insert into the text something not found there. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away (1 Cor 13:8-10 NKJV). Did knowledge pass away when the Bible was completed? Do we know even as we are known now? Obviously, that which is perfect is the resurrection. Then, and then only will knowledge, tongues, and prophecies pass away because perfection shall have arrived. To say otherwise is to deny the miracles of Columba and many other saints of history. How about the prophesies of John Knox? (This, however, is no endorsement of the “Elmer Gantry” approach of many “Charismatics” today.) Some Cessationists say, “If prophecy has not ceased, why not add your prophesies to the Bible?” The answer to this question is because: 1. Many prophecies were made in Bible days that never made it in the Bible or were never written down. Saul met a band of prophets who were prophesying and the Spirit of God came on him and he also did it. Phillip had four daughters that prophesied, but not one of their prophecies is found in Scripture. These are just a couple examples out of thousands of possible instances. 2. The way one can tell a false prophet is if his words contradict the other prophets (Scripture). 3. Many times God reveals things to come that are current. Savonarola prophesied the fall of the Medici power in Florence, the invasion of France, and other events that he promised would happen soon; and they all did. John Knox made many prophecies. John Welch (Knox’s son-in-law) said, “Observe what God is going to do to this young man” (a Catholic guard who was mocking his words with facial expressions). The young man immediately dropped dead. Columba’s life by Adamnán records about 100 miracles and visions. Don Richardson, in his book, Eternity In Their Hearts, tells about the ancient prophecy in the tradition of the Karen tribe of Burma. The oracle went something like this: they had left God and lost His book; but one day a white man would bring God’s book back to them and God would receive them again. One day one of their “prophets” told two men to saddle a pony and follow it wherever it led them; he said it would take them to the white man with God’s book. They followed the pony for 200 miles through jungle and mountains until it walked through the gates of a mission compound. It walked up to the well where they found a white missionary digging below. They asked, “Do you have the book?” 75,000 tribesmen were soon baptized by Baptists. Ten different tribes in the same area had the same tradition.  Bruce Olson tells a similar story about the Motilone Indians. They had an ancient tradition of a prophecy that said a white man would come and God would come out of a banana leaf. Olsen asked, “A banana leaf?” Then one of the Indians cut a banana leaf and it unfolded like the pages of a book. He then pulled his Bible out of his back pocket and began to preach the gospel. The entire tribe was converted. God has not left Himself without a witness. If the gift of prophecy did not pass away with the completion of the Canon, should not those prophecies be included in the Bible? Of course not. Should the ancient prophecies of the Karen tribe be included in the Bible? Should the prophecies of Columba, St. Francis, St. Benedict, Antony of the Desert, and countless others be included in the Bible? When God infuses light saving conversion, should his revelation be included in the Bible. The answer is obvious. Those who say the day of miracles is gone or that God does not work through the gifts of the Spirit must deny the miracles of Columba, St. Benedict, Francis of Assisi, the record of the Venerable Bede, and others. On what basis is this denial made? Is it on the basis of

Some people think Jesus was (is) a socialist. Socialism favors state control of the economy and the re-distribution of wealth. In other words, “rob the rich to feed the poor.”Socialism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Socialism refers to any of various economic and political concepts of state or collective (i.e. public) ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods and services, some of which have been developed into more or less highly articulated theories and/or praxis. In a Marxist or labor-movement definition of the term, socialism is a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done with the goal of creating a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. This control may be exercised on behalf of the state, through a market, or through popular collectives such as workers’ councils and cooperatives. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state, cooperative, or worker ownership of the means of production, goals which have been attributed to, and claimed by, a number of political parties and governments. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in From Under The Rubble, traces the history of socialism and concludes by saying that since it is a fact and not an opinion that socialism has failed every single time it has been tried in history, he poses the question, “Why, then, would anyone want to be a socialist?” His answer: Because “there is an organic unity between socialism and evil.”How so? Was Jesus evil? Those who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity believe that Christ was the I AM who appeared to Moses and gave him the Law of God. Socialism breaks some of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not steal.” “You shall not be partial to the poor or to the rich.” Since socialism depends on class envy, it thrives on covetousness. “Thou shalt not covet.” Since the state pretends to be the savior, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name Caesar.” The state is the beast, Caesar. Every religion except Christianity ends up worshipping the state as god and savior. “What shall we do with your King?” “We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him and give us Barrabas!” (Barrabas represents those who want to overthrow Caesar. He had killed a man in an insurrection. Liberation Theologians like Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright want to do the same. When, at age 30, I returned from the mission field, changed careers, and was struggling in the transition to feed my wife and four daughters, we borrowed money to buy a used trailer for $3400. I had to work two jobs to barely make ends meet. Then I saw an ad for government assisted housing and called the realtor. The realtor asked how much I was making and, totaling both jobs, I told her. She said I did not qualify because I was making too much. She said I would qualify if I quit one of the jobs. I said, “You mean it would pay me to work only one job? Never mind. I’ll trust God and do it myself.”Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:12). He promises to prosper us if we keep the Covenant, work six days, and do not take on a “victim” mentality. To do otherwise is a tendency toward taking the mark of the beast (Caesar).