July 26

A New Life?

    When John appeared on the scene with his “fire and brimstone” preaching, great crowds responded to his plea.

“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” [Mark 1:4-5 (ESV)]

    What happened next is not something we might expect a successful evangelist to do. He criticized, even denounced, his new congregation: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” [Luke 3:7 (ESV)] But there was a purpose to his “madness.” He caught their attention by bringing into view their true nature, vipers “enslaved to sin” (compare Romans 6:6). Then he informed them of how to change that status.

    Remember, John was proclaiming “a baptism of repentance.” If these folks were accepting that baptism, they needed to accept the idea of repentance that came with it. John describes how that life will look: [Luke 3:11-14]

• To people in general: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
• To tax collectors: “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
• To soldiers: “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

    Notice the significance of these instructions: Each statement is asking people to do something contrary to ordinary popular actions. Think about it:

• Do people work hard to be able to provide nice things for themselves and their families and then ordinarily give it away to others?
• Collectors of Roman taxes were notorious for collecting well above what the government required, keeping the excess for themselves. Without John’s instructions, were any of them likely to forego this opportunity to get rich when “everybody else is doing it?”
• At this time in history, soldiers acted more as the local police force than as an advancing army. They were used to abusing their authority in the community for their own gain. Again, without John’s instructions, how many were likely to change that lifestyle?

    Is this what repentance means? Changing our lives in a way that makes us different from the rest of society? Well, Paul did say that we are raised from baptism to a new life, that the old life died in the process [Romans 6:3-6]. In that same letter to the Roman church, he later wrote: we must “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,…walk properly as in the daytime, not in (the activities of darkness),…put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:12-14).

    The difference between darkness and light could not be greater. The new life is to be Christ’s life, wholly dedicated to God’s purposes so that there is no room for any “provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” That doesn’t mean we don’t take care of our bodies and our secular responsibilities. Food, drink, and rejuvenating pastimes are necessary to be able to live for any purpose. The pleasure of family and friends is part of our spiritual relationship with them, including the training of children, the loving of spouse, the care of aged parents, etc.

    But, when our pastimes and priorities are determined without regard for God’s plans and purposes in our lives, we have reneged on our commitment to repentance. We have instead supported Satan’s goal to keep the world focused on its own selfish desire rather than attuned to the goodness that God created in it.

   So, Christian, how different is your way of thinking from that of the world around you?

 

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” [Romans 12:2]

Gary Greene

6:22 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 10

Is It Over?
In John 19:30, we read that Jesus said, "It is finished!"

I'm sure that he, and in some small measure also those that were watching, were relieved that it was over. The ordeal of the crucifixion, that is.

Or was that at all what Jesus was talking about?

We will explore this question during Sunday morning's lesson at the Brentwood Church of Christ.


7:16 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 07

It's who you know...
Guest blog post:

It’s Not What You Know...
but whom you know.

    We see it all the time. At work, a well-connected employee climbs past a well-trained one. A politician gets his ticket dismissed over lunch with the judge. Influence can matter more than merit. “It’s not fair!” we think.

    But when it comes to eternal judgment, having a Friend in high places is our only hope.


    No one can earn their salvation, because everyone is a sinner. If we want what we deserve at the judgment, we should prepare for
the same sentence as every other sinner. Death is the price of sin.

    Our only hope is the influence of Christ, who has all power and all righteousness. He grants favor to the unworthy through His death.


    Salvation comes down to a single question: Do you know Jesus?


    None of us are good enough to be saved. On Judgment Day, the only influence that will matter is the righteousness of our Savior. And He has all that we need.



12:52 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

April 19

Is the Bible Practical?

     Every person in the world, whether religious and spiritual or secular and worldly, has to learn to deal with the problems of everyday living. Everybody has to deal with sickness, injury, and bereavement at some point in their life. Every person has to learn to navigate the pitfalls of adolescence, adulthood, middle age, retirement, and old age. Every person has to deal, at some point or another, with those that would take advantage of him, those that would offend, and those that are offended by us, whether intentional or not. Each of us must learn to deal with difficulties of many different types.

     The New Testament book by James is a letter written to Christians that were learning or needed to learn how to face these difficulties. By including this type of instruction the Bible is shown to be extremely practical. James not only shows how the gospel makes a difference in handling everyday trials but proceeds to discuss many other everyday subjects like self-esteem, the unfairness of life, how to keep on getting out of bed every morning, life philosophy, hot tempers, etc. While we don’t have formal discussions on each of these every day, we know that our view of each of these items dictates how we live every day.

     So let’s look at the first topic James covers:

(James 1:2)  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  (3)  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  (4)  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  (5)  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  (6)  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  (7)  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;  (8)  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

     As stated before, everyone encounters problems in life. The gospel teaches us that we can actually benefit from having faced these difficulties. If we don’t allow these obstacles to deter us from our course, we develop the kind of character that will carry us far.

     This requires that we “count it all joy” to be in such challenges. This is what Jesus did (“for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross,” Hebrews 12:2). He had opportunities to choose an easier, happier path (Matthew 4:8-9) but instead found joy in what he could accomplish by fulfilling his sacrifice. The apostles likewise found joy in suffering dishonor (including beatings) as long as it advanced the gospel (Acts 5:40-41).

     James also notes that we must “know” this truth, in other words, don’t forget it! He also implores that we “let” these trials and the resultant personal growth “have its full effect.” We tend to be impatient to get on with our own agenda. James here implores that we let God’s timetable run its due course.

     Finally James reminds us to ask God for the wisdom to handle these situations. We all realize we need wisdom as we walk through this world. We must decide where we will find that wisdom. God stands so ready to give if we will only ask him with trust in our hearts.

 

Gary Greene

9:53 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

June 08

Life from Scratch?

“For almost two weeks those in the evolutionary community have been claiming that scientists have made life “from scratch.” At Apologetics Press, we have received numerous requests to write an article on the subject. One of our outstanding auxiliary staff scientists, Joe Deweese, who has an earned Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Vanderbilt University, has given a response. You can read his excellent article on our home page at www.ApologeticsPress.org.”

     The above was posted on Apologetics Press’ Facebook page this morning and caught me by surprise. I had not heard any report that any scientist was claiming to have “created life from scratch.” But Deweese’s article (available at http://apologeticspress.org/articles/240389) gives references and abundant details of the claim.

     Deweese also reveals the, what I believe should be obvious, flaw in the scientists’ claims. First, in order to “make life,” the researchers borrowed a prototype. They used existing DNA structure as a model of how to create their own. Now, synthesizing DNA is an amazing feat. They had to know what genes could be manipulated without compromising the life sustaining qualities of the organism. They had to synthesize about 1080 base pair of genes in 1000 sequences. Then they had to stitch those together into 1,000,000 base pairs. (Incidentally, this is for a bacterial cell. Human cells require 3000 times that many base pairs.)

     So they are growing synthetic DNA and we come to the second problem: they used living material as a place to grow their synthetic DNA. The individual genes were placed in yeast where they were able to grow together to become DNA double-helixes ready to be used. (Once again, an amazing feat.) Now the DNA needs a cell to control.

     Third problem: The synthesized DNA was placed into an existing bacteria cell that had its original DNA expunged. The cell did proceed to “live,” that is, it processed nutrients and reproduced itself as it would have normally. As the resultant cells continued to reproduce, the original enzymes and proteins that make up the structure of the cell were transformed to carry the markers that had been imbedded in the synthesized DNA, thus “proving” that scientists had “created” life in a laboratory.

     I am sure you see why I have called these steps problems:

1. They did not design a living organism. Instead they copied the necessary information from an already living organism.

2. They could not make their copy without using a living organism as a host (active yeast).

3. They used an already living cell! They only thing that was not from already existing life was the DNA instructions of how that cell was to carry on its life. The enzymes, proteins and RNA that are required for a cell to be living were already there before the scientists began their work!

     So they did not create life from scratch. They did prove how complicated living organisms are. They did provide proof of the minimal number of genes necessary for life to exist (which brings the question, could these multiple hundreds of genes have occurred in nature simultaneously without divine intervention?). They did display amazing technical skill at manipulating DNA (in my opinion, supporting the Intelligent Design argument).

     But they did not “create life.”

9:01 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)