Some things are non-negotiable

A lot of things in this world are negotiable.  Some that often even cause wars, murders and other great hardships, can be solved with negotiation.  Negotiation has become a main political priority in most of the modern world.  It Is a bit of an art form, with many significant universities offering training in negotiation tactics to assist people in their leadership.  But not everything is open to be negotiated.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-10 ESV)

The Bible teaches that there are a lot of things that are not negotiable because they are from the Almighty God and His instruction is perfect and will stand when all else fails.  We don't have room today to talk about all the non-negotiables in the Bible, so we will focus on one.

The Gospel is not open to be negotiated.  It is plain.  If is simple. Yet it is vast its depth and application.  The Apostle Paul warns that if someone twists, changes, alters, adds to, takes away from, or teaches a blatant different Gospel, that such a person will be cursed.  The message about Jesus, God the Son, who came, lived and willingly suffered and died to satisfy the wrath of God in payment for our sin.  This same Jesus who after 3 days rose again displaying His power and authority, this Jesus now sits in Heaven at the right hand of the Father holding all authority to judge the living and the dead.  The message that if you recognize your sin, asking God to forgive you based on your belief in the name of Jesus.  He will not only forgive you but will give you the very righteousness of Jesus, this is so full of the Grace of God.  You cannot earn it you cannot negotiate it, it is a free gift of grace.  In this process you are repentantly surrendering your life to your new Lord, Jesus.  Your life is now for Him and He gives you His Holy Spirit to take up residence in you to guide, empower and help you along the journey of transformation in this life.  When this life is over Jesus has made a home in Heaven for to enjoy the bounty and blessings of God for eternity.

Anyway, here is the reminder.  To teach a different Gospel or a message contrary to the Gospel as found in the Bible is wrong.  It is something we all need to take seriously or we will be cursed.  I do not believe that Paul is warning those who are on the journey of understanding what the Bible teaches about the Gospel, that they better hurry up and get it right.  No instead I am certain that Paul is referring to those who would teach a different Gospel which leads people astray.  

Recently I read a book that talked about how the purpose of the Gospel is for us to love the nation of Israel.  In fact in that book (I will not name it here that is a different blog) the author seems to believe that all of Gods purposes are centered on Israel.  Yet the Biblical Gospel finds us centered on Jesus.  We find the purposes of the Gospel to be about the Golry of God, the supremacy of Jesus, how we need to be reconciled to God through Jesus so we can begin to love God and be a part of His family.

So beware of those who try to set your focus away from Jesus, it may sound nice and innocent enough but if it takes away from the Golry of God or the supremacy of Christ then it stinks of a false Gospel.

Stay focused on the Biblical Truth of the Gospel of Jesus.

Pastor Bruce

Valentines Day - Selfless Love

Valentines Day, a day in our culture of hearts, cards, flowers, chocolate and of course love.  So many things are written about this day and its origins that are not totally correct.  Many legends have emerged over the centuries.  Yet when we look back at the early reasons for this day being a celebration maybe we will gain a different understanding of the day.

Since we do not have a lot of 1700 year old texts that provide a lot of detail for us about the "saint" that Valentines Day is named after, we use the best information we can find and the oldest to help us.  What we learn is that St. Valentine was a leader in the early Church that still endured an amount of persecution from the political leaders of the day.  Valentine was known to be martyred for dis-obeying the edict of the Emperor regarding marriage and soldiers.  So that regular troops would not feel the urge to leave the battle to go to their families, they wife and children.  The Emperor made it illegal for common soldiers to marry.  This created a difficulty for any of these men who were drawn to Christianity and the Biblical teaching on marriage and relationships.  So against the direct command of the Emperor, St. Valentine performed marriage ceremonies, bringing together these common soldiers and the love of their life to be a married couple.  When he was found out and caught, he was tortured and eventually killed.

Valentines Day needs to be a day where we are reminded to express our love to those we care about.  It is a day to celebrate the marriage that St. Valentine died to protect and teach.  Biblical marriage should be a part of our remembering why this day is on the calendar.  But also that as a leader, he would be willing to suffer and die to do what was right.

So even if you are single and have no "valentine" as our culture defines it, you can still live to celebrate the remembrance of Valentine.  You can live to benefit others, you can live to stand for what is True and Biblical.  You can seek to do what is right no matter what the cost and how others might respond to you.  You can show selfless love and care for others.

I am often reminded of selfless love when my wonderful wife Brenda shows such great care for me, even when I am not deserving of her love.  She will make me a card, give me a gift, a hug, encourage me in so many things she says.  She will patiently wait for me to wake up and become bearable for the day.  She will wait up with me and for me when there are things that keep me up late.  She sticks with me through the hard times and the good.  She does her best to share with me reminders from God's Word and the wisdom of life to help me stay on track.  She really seeks to serve me sacrificially to help me be a better man.  It challenges me and reminds me to look at how I am to love, care for and serve her. 

So whether it is Brenda and I or any of you, may we be reminded today to express a Christ-centered "selfless" Love for others like Valentine did.  Valentine is  not our ultimate example of this, Jesus is.  So may Valentine point you toward the True source of selfless Love, Jesus the Son of God our Savior and Lord.

Pastor Bruce

Olympic Motivation?

We are well into the Winter Olympics as I write this.  I find myself pondering the reality of the life of many of these great athletes and how much they focus and train as well as the amount that they compete.  I find myself being challenged by this concept of their lifestyle.

Don't worry, sure I try to exercise and eat right but I am not going to be writing today about some new training kick I am on to become a great athlete.  Instead I have found myself being challenged about how we as Christians are to be like those athletes in our Faith.

We are to be training and equipping ourselves and one another to be able to walk well in our lives.  We are to receive strong Biblical instruction so that our minds are renewed and we are prepared to share the Truth of the Gospel to those we encounter.  We need to practice these things with others in the Church, fellowshipping well in the Love of Christ, sharing testimony of how the Gospel has changed us, praying with and for eachother.  We are also to compete, not against each other but with each other, it is a team event.  We compete together as we put this all into practice seeking to intentionally give the Gospel to the lost around us.  This means we need to apply our lives to this endeavor, it is not a simple religion or a one day a week go to church type of idea.  Instead this is a life commitment to be an active and radical disciple of Jesus.  

So I urge you to be one who truly loves Jesus as the Lord of your life, displaying that love in your obedience to Him and His Word.  Hold fast to the community of Faith, the local Church and serve the Lord together, not in a ritualistic and empty way, not in traditions that no longer have effect, but with a fresh view to engage the culture around us with the living Truth of the Gospel as taught in the Bible.  May we actively love others and serve one another as a display of what the Gospel does in our lives.  If Jesus died for your sins and mine, if we have repented of our sin and received forgiveness through His name and placed all our faith and trust in Him, then we are to live in thankful response to this great gift by following Him and His teaching.  Do what He says, read the Bible and go to a Bible teaching Church that holds to the True Gospel as its core.  Be a part of serving Him.  

For those who have made up their minds that they do not need to be a part of a local Bible believing Church and that they do not need to actively serve Jesus or talk about the Gospel.  Read John 14 and ask yourself "If Jesus said that those who love me will do as I have commanded" then do I really Love Jesus if I refuse to follow what He has said about His Church?  About His Mission for us to make Disciples to follow Him?  

May we take seriously the life we have been given and not loose heart but apply ourselves diligently to the task we have received.

Amen

Pastor Bruce

Optional Christian?

As I ponder many things this morning, one thing that has been brewing in me lately is this issue of how many "Christians" view so much of their faith as optional.  Let me try to briefly explain.

The first thing is that so often I have found in not only others but my own ministry that we treat the Gospel as optional.  We present it as a "you decide, take it or leave it" kind of message.  Yet I am troubled by such an approach.  God has not given us options.  The message is you must embrace the True Biblical Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  To refuse it is to accept your fate of utter destruction.  Really it is not some light, flippant, choice to make.  It is the one who is in the electric chair to be executed and they are told exactly what to do to avoid what comes next.  Sure they must choose but it is not an idea of choice that has equal weight or standing, to refuse God's wonderful Grace is the choice of the fool.  We need to take the urgency of the Gospel seriously.

The second is how so many "Christians" view different parts of how they are to live out their faith as optional.  We are to take all of Jesus teaching as something we are to follow, not teachings we may choose to follow.  Our Lord gave us His Apostles to continue that teaching to ensure we have understanding.  None of this instruction is intended to be optional.  So when the Word of God teaches us about marriage, family, sin, Church, etc... We are to follow ALL of its teaching as much as we are able.  And in any area where we seem to lack ability we are to rely on Him, through the Holy Spirit to provide the ability in us so that we can be obedient.  

Repenting of sin, not an option.  Going to Church, not an option. Getting baptized, not an option.  Humbly submitting yourself to Jesus, not an option.  Living to honour and glorify God putting death to selfishness, not an option.  These things are required of the disciple of Jesus.  This is not about earning favour with God or about some form of works based faith.  Rather it is about who you are called to be as a disciple, a follower of Jesus.  Our lives are to be an out flowing of the Sprit of God in us.  

So when we fin ourselves treating our Faith as optional, we need to humbly repent of our self centred ways.  We need to acknowledge the Truth we have been given in the Bible and whether we "like" it or not, we need to receive it and respond to it.

Let us walk together.

Pastor Bruce 

--
Bruce Taylor

Optional Christian?

As I ponder many things this morning, one thing that has been brewing in me lately is this issue of how many "Christians" view so much of their faith as optional.  Let me try to briefly explain.

The first thing is that so often I have found in not only others but my own ministry that we treat the Gospel as optional.  We present it as a "you decide, take it or leave it" kind of message.  Yet I am troubled by such an approach.  God has not given us options.  The message is you must embrace the True Biblical Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  To refuse it is to accept your fate of utter destruction.  Really it is not some light, flippant, choice to make.  It is the one who is in the electric chair to be executed and they are told exactly what to do to avoid what comes next.  Sure they must choose but it is not an idea of choice that has equal weight or standing, to refuse God's wonderful Grace is the choice of the fool.  We need to take the urgency of the Gospel seriously.

The second is how so many "Christians" view different parts of how they are to live out their faith as optional.  We are to take all of Jesus teaching as something we are to follow, not teachings we may choose to follow.  Our Lord gave us His Apostles to continue that teaching to ensure we have understanding.  None of this instruction is intended to be optional.  So when the Word of God teaches us about marriage, family, sin, Church, etc... We are to follow ALL of its teaching as much as we are able.  And in any area where we seem to lack ability we are to rely on Him, through the Holy Spirit to provide the ability in us so that we can be obedient.  

Repenting of sin, not an option.  Going to Church, not an option. Getting baptized, not an option.  Humbly submitting yourself to Jesus, not an option.  Living to honour and glorify God putting death to selfishness, not an option.  These things are required of the disciple of Jesus.  This is not about earning favour with God or about some form of works based faith.  Rather it is about who you are called to be as a disciple, a follower of Jesus.  Our lives are to be an out flowing of the Sprit of God in us.  

So when we fin ourselves treating our Faith as optional, we need to humbly repent of our self centred ways.  We need to acknowledge the Truth we have been given in the Bible and whether we "like" it or not, we need to receive it and respond to it.

Let us walk together.

Pastor Bruce 

--
Bruce Taylor

Cessationist or charismatic .... Maybe there is a different answer?

With so much being discussed on the gifts of the Holy Spirit lately I have thought about what position I find myself in.   Many scholars that I enjoy and tend to agree with are sitting on either side of the discussion.   But like so many of these theological discourses it can become quickly a forming of camps and a piling of Bible verses.   I cannot in good conscience jump into either side.    So  where does this leave me?

Well I think the answer is that I will remain committed to teach the whole Bible and sick to what it says as the foundation for my belief in these matters.   This means that until I can receive a clear piece of the Scripture the speaks of the gifts ceasing  then I will seriously consider that position.   It also means that when I encounter those who talk of the miraculous gifts and works of the Spirit of God I will make sure it is fitting with the Bible before I accept it as being true.
We are not to base our belief  on experience or feeling  but on the Word and its Truth.  
So whether you have seen and experience the abuse of what some call gifts or  if you have felt that people have tried to quench the Spirit,  neither is to be how we find the Truth.
So I encourage you to stick with the Bible and what it clearly teaches.

Amen

Pastor
Bruce

Why We Love the Church

I have been reading a book lately titled "Why We Love the Church" by Kevin De Young & Ted Kluck.  It is a great reminder of the importance of the Church and how we need to look seriously at what the Bible teaches about the Church and properly apply it.  Too often today I hear about people casting the Church aside for a variety of reasons because it is seen as being optional.  This is not what the Scripture teaches.  I will be talking more about this on Sunday so if you want to hear my view check out The sermon that should be posted for January 26 2014 from me on youtube.  I would encourage everyone who is a Christian to read this book, especially those who are leaders in Churches or who aspire to be leaders.  

Link below to find the book easy on Christian Books Distributors.

Have a great day!

Pastor Bruce

Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion By Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck Whether you're committed, disgruntled, hesitant, or disconnected from the body of Christ, this passionate resource will help you renew your love for the church in all its real-life guts, gaffes, and glory. DeYoung and Kluck's valuable resource provides a solid reminder of the biblical mandate to participate in our local congregations. Relevant and encouraging! 224 pages, softcover from Moody.