Holiday Mesages and Invitations

One of the newsgroups I'm part of was having a discussion about whether or not pastor's should preach "holiday messages" on Mother's Day, etc, and whether every message must have a gospel invitation. For what it's worth, here are my two bits.

As far as holiday sermons are concerned, after 16 years of pastoring the same church, I think I've said about all I can about "Mother's Day", etc...and I have rarely seen any real Kingdom benefit come out of giving into Hallmark Card Sentimentality . Instead, it's long been my practice to preach verse by verse through God's Word. When a message coincides well with a Holiday, like it did this past week (We were in Romans 13:1-6 and it was near the 4th of July!) that's wonderful. If not, I may mention the cultural event, but little more. Above all I want to make it my goal to build solid truth into the lives of our people with the same balance and emphasis that I find in the Word. Now, having said that, I may sometimes take advantage of a Holiday to speak on biblical themes related to them, but I do not feel bound or constrained to do so. As a baptist I do not feel bound by any sort of liturgical calendar (catholic or cultural)

As far as 'invitations' are concerned, it surely must come down to what is meant by such. I have seen some so-called invitations which were ungodly, manipulative attempts to wrest a "decision" out of people who'd not been told the Gospel and had no idea what they were "deciding for". Ever since Charles Finney introduced his so-called "new measures" with the idea of developing methods that could be used to 'draw the net" and "bring people in"...ever since those days some preachers have believed it was in their own power to force a change upon the heart and so press for that which only God can give through the power of the Gospel.

But, if by invitation what is meant is calling on people with passion to hear and apply the Gospel Word they've just heard, and turn from sin to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who lived, died nad rose again, to flee from the wrath to come and put their whole hope in nothing but Christ's finished work on the cross -- well then, praise the Lord -- and why wait to the "end" of the sermon for such urging? Why not at any and every point in the message where the Scriptures point to Christ?

Just my two bits....

Pastor Scott
To God be the Glory,

Real Love

Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9

What do Christians do? Christians love each another. At least, that’s what Jesus said in John 13:35. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is the authenticating mark of real Christianity. By that I mean, the way you know you’ve been in the presence of real Christians – and not just people who pretend to know Jesus – is by the love they share for one another. The apostle John said the same thing in 1 John 4:7-8,

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

How important is it to have love for fellow believers? It’s so important that having such love is proof that you belong to Jesus and not having it shows that you don’t. That’s why Paul says that “love must be without hypocrisy”, that is, it must be genuine and unfaked. A fake love, like a pretend faith, does nothing. And that’s the point.

Real love – genuine Christian love – is active! It’s not just a feeling you get once in a while, it’s a motivation for ministry. It moves you to take action for the good of those you love. People who love one another share in each other’s burdens. They join together to fight the evil and confront the sins they know would bring harm to each other’s lives if left unchecked. By their actions they seek to bring good to one another, to meet each other’s real needs; and to heal each other’s hurts with the grace and compassion of Jesus.

May God fan such love into a flame in our fellowship here at Rockport!

Learning to love you for His sake!
Pastor Scott Lee

Sexual Sins

Flee immorality.
Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body,
but the immoral man sins against his own body.
1 Corinthians 6:18

Sin is sin. But not every sin destroys in the same way or carries the same consequences. Some sins are “worse” than others because of the destruction they bring into our lives, or the harm they cause other people. For example, if I get angry and shout an unkind word at my friend, Tom, that’s sin. I shouldn’t have done it. But if in my anger I shoot Tom in the head, that’s much worse! Now I’ve committed murder and the consequences for myself and others will be far more serious (especially for poor Tom!).

Contrary to what most think today, sexual immorality is that kind of serious sin that always brings devastating consequences. You play with fire, you will be burned. That’s true whether we’re talking about the man who views pornography, the young couple engaging in premarital sex, or those caught up in adultery and homosexuality, the result of all such sins is a form of spiritual suicide (see Romans 1:18-32)

Does that sound too harsh? Listen to what the apostle Paul said in 1 Thess 4:8. As he was urging fellow believers to stay clear of all immoral behavior he warned that the one “who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” In other words, when you choose to engage in sexual sin, you choose to reject God! You show that you’d rather have the temporary thrill that titillates the body for a moment, at the expense of the infinite satisfaction that comes from the God who made your body and gave it to you so you could glorify and enjoy Him forever!

I think maybe that’s why 1 Cor 6:18 warns that such sins are “against” the body. It is taking what God made for our good – our sexuality – and using it as a weapon to reject Him and cheat ourselves of the ultimate satisfaction that can only come by embracing the purity of Christ (a purity that includes the joy of sexual experience in the confines of marriage). This past weekend at Rockport, we attempted to teach our men many of the basic Gospel principles for walking in the joy of biblical holiness. That’s not easy in a perverse culture like ours where temptations jump out from every dark corner. So pray for our men (and women) as we seek to be conformed to the beauty of Christ and to see our marriage and lives transformed into His image through grace.

Growing with you by His Holiness.

Pastor Scott Lee

New Life

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24

The Christian life is a completely new kind of life. It’s not just the old life dressed up a bit where the regenerate believer– poor sinner that you still are – must spend your time and effort trying to be good so you can become something you're not. It’s a whole new kind of life that grows out of the fact that God really has done something wonderful for you in Christ. He's really saved you out of your old life of sin, and brought you to a whole new life in Christ. That old person you used to be is gone forever (2 Cor 5:17) He or she died with Christ, and by the power of His resurrection, a new life has risen to take place of the old. Romans 6:5-11 says it this way:

5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

(and then the pay off verse....)

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Now that's the truth about the person who is born again through the supernatural grace at work in the Gospel. You are a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). You've died with Christ to your old life and have been raised up with Him to walk in a completely new life.

For that reason, the Bible constantly commands us to consciously take up the new life we have been given "in Him."

"Be who you are!” is God’s command to the Christian; not “Try to become something you’re not!” The Christian doesn’t pretend to be holy. He or she really is holy in Christ -- set apart by Him and for Him to live for His glory. My goal in life now is to live out the truth of what God has done for me in Christ. That means that I am being truest to my (new) self when I’m walking with Jesus and living in His holiness to the glory of God, confessing my sins when I do stumble while being renewed day by day through His power at work in me.

That’s why the apostle commands us, in Ephesians 4, to do three things. Notice how these go together

1) He says, “Put off your old self.”
You’re no longer that person you used to be. So just like you would throw away an old pair of jeans that are full of holes and no longer fit, take off that old life and throw it away. It no longer fits who you are in Christ. (See Ephesians 4:17-24)

2) He says, “Get a new attitude about yourself.”
Let the Bible (not the world) tell you who you are and teach you how to live. Believe what God says is true of you in Christ, and then act on it. (see Romans 12:1-2)

3) “Put on your new self” which is your “true self” in Christ.
Begin to live and act like someone who really does belong to God; who really has been redeemed by Christ; and really is indwelt with the Holy Spirit of Grace. Why? Because all that's really true, if you've been born again by the power of the Gospel and brought to faith in Christ.

It is through these “baby steps” -- as you set your mind on being what God really has made you in Christ -- that you begin to see the power of this new life at work in you. Through faith in Christ and what Christ has actually done (both objectively on the cross and subjectively in our lives), you and I are being equipped to live out the life that is truly ours because of Him!

Loving the journey as we learn what it means to walk together with Him!

Pastor Scott Lee

Final Romania Post

Dear Family and Friends,

Of course, by now I realize that I've done this all backwards. OK, I'm new at blogging. I didn't think about the fact that my blogs would be listed in the order I posted them...so that if you read through them the way they are arranged, you'll be going backwards. Oh well.....

Here is the last entry (if you want them in order, skip down to #1 and work your way up)
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I've been unable to write to you again since we were traveling from place to place in Romania. I'm home now. We got back last night, I spent a little time with my family and then passed out for about 11 hours of much needed sleep. There's a ton of stuff on my desk that needs attention -- as you can imagine -- but I had to take just a minute to jot a quick note of praise to God!

The Lord was with us every step of the way! After my last email we finished the conference in Brasov. The Lord helped in such a powerful way -- I really do think we were able to offer the students some help in dealing with sin and growing up into this new life that God has give through Christ. They were very appreciative and there were many tears as we left. Many pastors in Romania, it seems, do not shepherd in the sense that they do not take time to nurture the lives of the people. Many have become administrators. I do not mean to imply that they are not good men. I have met very many who are deeply committed to Christ. But they have taken on so many responsibilities -- often for administrating American backed "causes" and para-church endeavors -- that they are left with little or not time to be shepherds in any biblical sense of that term. So when we come and take time to teach and to talk with young people and pray with them, is a bit overwhelming for them. Pray God will bring biblical change to the churches in Romania -- they have picked up a lot of bad habits from American churches -- many of the same things we're concerned about here have been carried over there by the bucket load! I fear a lot of our "church growth" silly-ness has been imposed on them.

After Brasov we traveled across the tops of some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen -- snow covered peaks and 1800's type alpine villages for miles all around us. We then descended down in to Cumpalung to stay with a dear family -- one of the sweetest I've ever known. They were an important "pipleline" for Bibles and funds being smuggled into Romania back under communism (their daughter was one of our translators -- and boy is she good at what she does!). I preached to the church there. God really helped me to give a message on the reality of a God-sent conversion as opposed to someone merely making "a decision for Christ". When God does it, it's real. As I say, God really helped. The family we stayed with were thrilled. They are so tired of American "decisionism" and said they were so happy to finally hear the Gospel preached clearly. What a gracious God to let me experience such friendship and kindness!

From there we went to Putuasa (it means brimstone). A friend, Bro Mike Durham was supposed to preach there and we were to have supper with him -- as so often happens in Romania he was late so Bro Mike and I each spoke a few words to the congregation and then, just as our friend arrived had to leave to get back to Bucharest and prepare for our flight early the next day.

Got to Bucharest late -- about 11:30, could not sleep. Had to get up at 3 AM to get to the Airport by 4 AM. Flew for about 18 hours total -- got home, got some really wonderful sleep. And now......can't wait to see you all

God is so good to treat a sinner like me so very well for Christ's sake!

S. Scott Lee
Soli Deo Gloria

www.RockportBaptist.org

Romania Report #5 - Saturday April 21st

Dear Family,

Another two wonderful days of conference. We have about 75 students crammed into a very small upper room. They were expecting about 50. They are like the others -- very hungry for truth and filled with questions. I've really experienced the help of the Holy Spirit here as I've taught. There has been great freedom to speak on our freedom in Christ from Romans 6. It has been amazing to see God at work.

Tomorrow we finish this conference (Sunday morning). Then we will load up and travel to Cumpalung (I'm not sure of the spelling). We will then preach in the evening service in the church in that town.

We've been able to spend some great time with old friends (Ruxi, Bagdon, Ionutz, Little Adi, and Alex). It's been good to get to know Alex's three children. The boys (10 and 12) said they like having us with them. Also, I beat them both at pingpong! I'm just glad there are no Lovings here!....that way I can win!

I will write again if I am able.

Love to you all.

Love especially to my girls!

Romania Report #4 - Thursday, April 19th

Dear Family,

We are now in Brasov. One of my favorite Romanian cities!! For those who know him, Ionutz is here with us. We had quite a time getting here. Romanian roads are tough any way, but this time there was constant construction. But we are here. Praise the Lord

Our conference begins tomorrow. I will write you more then

God bless you all