while today

Endowed by Their Creator

July 4, 2016

July 4th, Independence Day, celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The document did more than declare that the thirteen colonies were now states independent from Great Britain. The declaration announced some important principles which have touched all of our lives.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The desire for freedom and an understanding of inalienable rights led to the Bill of Rights in order to secure the approval of the U.S. Constitution. Citizens wanted their rights spelled out.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — The Bill of Rights, Amendment I

By basing rights on something higher than the state, this country became a place of freedom and opportunity. It has not always lived up to those ideals, but those ideals have led to self-correction and have held up to us what we should be. It is still a place to which many long to come.

As we approach this important national holiday, it is a good time for us as Christians to pray. First, we should pray because we have been commanded to pray:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1–2, ESV)

Second, we should pray because we have been greatly blessed. We have enjoyed freedom and prosperity. We have been able to practice our faith without interference from the state. Our freedom of religion is more than just the freedom to worship, but it is also the freedom to evangelize. We enjoy the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly.

Third, we should pray because no people can stand unless they are moral. The lesson of history is that moral decay is dangerous. Pray for revival. “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1b, ESV).

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Posted by Russell Holden

Fatherhood Truths

June 17, 2016

Truth #1. Christian fatherhood (as all fatherhood) is on the job training. I didn’t have to pass a test to become a father. No classroom work followed by apprenticeship before doing the real thing. We may wish it were that way at times, but it is not. No user manual was twisty-tied to the umbilical cord at any of my children’s births. I have tons of user manuals for various consumer products with special readme sections before you dare try using this product, but fatherhood is on the job training.

Fortunately, we have probably learned some things about being a parent from our own family of origin. (Hopefully, that is more good than bad.) The Bible is in many ways the owner’s manual for living. If we let it, it can be a great source for learning about family. I’ve also known some great Christian men who have modeled family life for me. I read baby books as a young father which instructed me what to expect at various ages, and I read some good books on being a Christian father (focusonthefamily.org is a great source for some ideas).

Truth #2. Christian fatherhood is not always perfect but should be principled. We juggle the work-a-day world and other issues of life all while being a father. Few (if any) of us would claim to be perfect fathers. We make mistakes. We are always adjusting the balance under the pressures of life’s demands. But there should always be principles guiding the Christian father. We are pointing our children beyond ourselves to God and his word.

I think the reality is that Christian morality works. If you follow the Bible’s teachings, I believe you will be happier, better adjusted, and lead a more productive life. If we instill Christian principles in our children, they will be better prepared for life and will also be prepared for eternity. You will dramatically reduce the chance of your children living in poverty, if you get them to do the following in the right order: education/preparation for a job, marriage, sex, and children.

Truth #3. Christian fatherhood (as all fatherhood) is a time sensitive role. Older people will tell you how quickly time passes, and you may not believe it until you are an older person telling the younger generation how quickly time passes. Life is like that. Children will not wait. Enjoy your moments with them now because time is fleeting. Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord now, because later may be too late. Discipline problems as children, if not dealt with, can grow into great headaches and heartaches when they are teenagers. The time for Christian fathers to be fathers is now. It is a time sensitive role.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Submission to God’s Written Word

June 3, 2016

Dr. Harvey Floyd was my Greek teacher at Lipscomb as well as having him for many important Bible classes like Romans. I recently came across an interview of Floyd from the Gospel Advocate (October 1993). His words are still instructive though said over twenty years ago.

My greatest emphasis in life is to convince everyone of the complete authority of Scripture. If churches of Christ ever abandon submission to God’s written Word, we’ve lost everything.

Restoration only makes sense with an authoritative source. Without the guidance of Scripture, life becomes a sea without a shore.

Today’s religious leaders are far too interested in trendiness. They float from one fad to another without any clear emphasis or substance. Instead of the Bible, they fill their teaching with insight into “many things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings” very entertaining, perhaps, but not distinctively Christian.

In the past, you could accept that our brethren were inerrantists — that cannot be assumed today. We are moving into a vague religiosity instead of a passion for restoring New Testament Christianity. This is more dangerous than anything else.¹

Rodney Stark gives a memorable illustration of the loss of confidence in the authority of Scripture in his book, The Triumph of Faith. After World War I, the majority of missionaries to Africa came from the United States. At that time, ninety percent of these American missionaries came from Congregationalists (today known as the United Church of Christ), the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and the Episcopalians. By 1935, they were only sending half of all American missionaries. By 1948, it dropped down to 25 percent, and today, the number is only 4 percent. Stark explains:

Why the decline? The liberal denominations stopped sending missionaries because they lost their faith in the validity of Christianity.²

If there is one thing Floyd taught me, it is that there are good, satisfying reasons for believing in God, the Bible, and the resurrection of Jesus. When questions are raised about our faith, you only need to search for answers, and they will be found. Making fun of faith is nothing new (“a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles”), but the wisdom of God is always stronger. It is a vital thing to learn submission to God’s written Word.

¹Gregory Alan Tidwell, “An Interview with Dr. Harvey Floyd” Gospel Advocate (Oct. 1993):14. The quotation in Floyd’s interview is from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.

²Rodney Stark, The Triumph of Faith, Kindle location 2260.

Leave a Comment » | authority, Bible, faith, missions, truth, unbelief | Permalink
Posted by Russell Holden

The Effort to Remember

May 27, 2016

My wife does not allow me to go to the grocery without a list, if there are more than two items on that list. She knows from experience I may or may not remember everything on the longer list. Remembering is not easy. It takes effort. I sometimes joke that my phone and laptop are the halves of my brain which actually remember things. I set appointment alarms and write task lists. It takes effort to remember.

The effort to remember is the reason for Memorial Day. It is a national holiday to honor those who have died in military service. It is a reminder that our freedoms are not free. Some have paid the ultimate price. It is appropriate to remember. But even with a national holiday, it takes effort to remember. It would be easy to grill out, enjoy recreation, and take advantage of Memorial Day sales and still not remember why we have a day called Memorial Day. There is a reason that human beings write histories and create memorials. It is too easy to forget.

The effort to remember is also the reason for the Lord’s Supper. There is a reason why Jesus instructed the apostles: do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24). People forget without memorials.

Jesus instituted a very simple memorial. He took two very common things: bread and fruit of the vine. He gave them meanings.

This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me…. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:24-25, ESV)

I suspect that I need this weekly memorial more than I realize. It is a time of reflection and examination. In this simple act, we as community proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. This reminder within the fellowship of the church helps me stay on course in my daily walk, because Christianity is an ongoing relationship:

I need to pick up my cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
I need to continually consider myself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).
I need to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. (Romans 8:13).
I need to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

Memorials serve an important purpose. Make the effort to remember!

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Posted by Russell Holden

A Significant Step

May 20, 2016

Congratulations to our graduates! The word graduate has an etymology that comes from the Latin gradus meaning degree or step. You can see the idea of degree or step in graduate meaning successfully completing an academic course of study and graduate meaning mark out degrees or steps for measurement as in the Pyrex measuring cup in our kitchen. To graduate is to take a significant step in life.

Most students can’t wait for graduation to come. Eager anticipation awaits this next step, which to the student may feel like it was a long time in coming. To parents it may feel like time has moved past them too quickly. They have just turned around twice. My mother tells the story of when she and my Dad dropped me off at college. She said, “You couldn’t get rid of us fast enough,” and they drove away with my mother in tears. And I’ve now been on the other end driving away from a college and watching my wife in tears. Graduation is not only a transition for the student but for the parents as well.

The next step for high school graduates is usually college, trade school, the military, or the work-a-day world. This next step has its challenges. Your parents have provided you with external discipline. If parents are doing their job correctly, you are supposed to be internalize this discipline. They are supposed to be training to let go. You may not have them to wake you up in the morning or remind you to get ready for church. My prayer is that you are ready to stand on your own.

The next step may bring challenges to your faith. The reality is that faith always faces challenges. My encouragement to you is simple: there are good answers to these challenges if you will seek them. The process will make your faith stronger.

When I was in college, John Lennon’s song Imagine was released: “Imagine there’s no heaven / It’s easy if you try / No hell below us / Above us only sky / Imagine all the people / Living for today …” It was an anthem for a secular viewpoint. Opposition to faith is not new. Many people believe that modernization and technology will inevitably bring about a decline in religion and maybe its extinction. Today, many are proclaiming that the secular outlook has won the “culture war.”

Rodney Stark in his book, The Triumph of Faith, notes that the opposite is true if we look worldwide: “the popular notion of an increasingly secularizing world is not merely wrong but actually the opposite of what has been taking place.” Faith isn’t losing. The Christian worldview provides intellectually satisfying answers if you will seek them. As you take this significant step, guard your faith, because it will guard your life in this world and the world to come.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Why Did So Many Jews Reject Jesus?

May 13, 2016

The first thing to note is that there were believers who were part of the Sanhedrin: Nicodemus (John 3:1, 4, 9; John 7:50; John 19:39) and Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57, Mark 15:43, Luke 23:50, John 19:38). That is two out of 71 members of the Sanhedrin. We have no idea whether others could have been converted after Jesus’ resurrection. Further, Acts does note priests becoming Christians (Acts 6:7). So there were those in positions of leadership who did become Christians. But I think it is safe to assume that the majority did not. So why not?

A large part of the ruling class was made up of Sadducees. The Sadducees as a sect of Judaism did not believe in the resurrection, spirits, or angels. Since they had wealth and power, they were primarily concerned about the maintenance of the status quo. So I think their reasons for rejecting Jesus were largely political. They didn’t want anyone upsetting things with the Roman Empire. They wanted to continue in their positions of prominence. Pride and possessions got in their way.

For the Pharisees and the rest of Judaism, politics also plays a part in the rejection of Jesus. It is just the politically opposite side from the Sadducees. This side wanted revolution and ultimately got it. They wanted to kick the Romans out and have Israel be in charge of Israel. This would lead to the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66-73), which included the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, and the Bar Kochba Revolt (about AD 132-136). Jesus was offering them a kingdom, but not the kind of kingdom they wanted. I think this played a significant part in the rejection of Jesus.

We must also consider Paul’s statements in Romans 10 and 11. Paul writes: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” (Romans 10:2–3 ESV) Ignorance of scripture and spiritual pride played a part.

Paul reminds his readers that a “remnant” out of Judaism did in fact respond to the gospel and were saved (Romans 11:5), but Paul does note a hardening:

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” (Romans 11:7–8, ESV)

The question then is how does hardening work, whether in the case of Pharaoh in Exodus or the Jews of the first century? I take as a given: “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34). People are morally responsible for hardening their own heart. Yet, there is some sense in which God hardens hearts. I think it is in the fact that God presents us with his saving acts and a choice. The condition of our heart determines whether we will respond favorably to God or reject God. As the saying goes, the same sun hardens clay and melts wax.

They are very human tendencies: materialism, ignorance of scripture, and spiritual pride. God and his saving acts in history present all of us with a choice.

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Posted by Russell Holden

A Special Mother

May 6, 2016

It’s mind boggling: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14, ESV). The Son of God “emptied himself taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men and being found in the appearance as a man” (Philippians 2:7). All of that meant being born as an infant to a human mother.

Have you or your spouse ever tried to think of who you would like to raise your children, if both of you were to die in an accident? Selecting someone is a difficult and awesome task, because you not only think of the physical needs of the child, but the emotional and spiritual needs as well. That leads me to believe that Mary had to be a very special mother to have the privilege of giving birth and raising the Messiah.

We know so little about Mary, but the few glimpses of her that we have are revealing. She was a woman of faith. When the angel, Gabriel, announced to her that she would give birth even though a virgin and that “nothing will be impossible with God.” She responded in faith, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38, ESV). Consider the risk! She was engaged, but not yet married. To fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 involved an incredible burden. Can you imagine Joseph’s first response? But God was with her. An angel of the Lord appearing in a dream convinced Joseph.

We see glimpses of Mary practicing her faith. Mary and Joseph appear in the temple for the appropriate offerings following Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:22-24). Mary would have been ceremonially unclean the first seven days following the birth, and then Jesus would have been circumcised on the eighth day. After that she would continue for 33 days as days of purification. Following the days of purification, they would travel to Jerusalem with the newborn. Later, when Jesus is twelve, we see the family traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. Mary practiced her faith.

Mary’s hymn of praise (Luke 1:46-55) betrays a great familiarity with God’s word. Many note comparisons with Hannah’s prayer (1 Samuel 2). God’s word was treasured in her heart.

Mary did the mundane and daily tasks of raising a child: preparing meals, washing clothes, sweeping the floor, and giving the care and comfort that only a mother can give. Mothers shape character and instill principles to live by in those teachable moments. Mary’s spiritual concern shows her to be a special mother. She demonstrates the most important quality that any mother can have.

Today is a great day to say thank you to your own special mother!

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Posted by Russell Holden

Be Diligent

April 22, 2016

While recently reading 2 Peter, I noticed that Peter begins and ends 2 Peter with an appeal to his readers to be diligent. To be diligent is “to be especially conscientious in discharging an obligation, be zealous/eager, take pains, make every effort, be conscientious.”¹

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (2 Peter 1:10, ESV, emphasis added)

Diligence in confirming one’s calling and election has to do with practicing the qualities Peter had just enumerated: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, piety (godliness), brotherly love, and love. In fact, the noun form of this word occurs in 1:5. The NASB reads, “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence…” (2 Peter 1:5, NASB). Clearly, Peter doesn’t want us to be haphazard or careless about Christian living.

Peter ends his letter with another appeal to be diligent:

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (2 Peter 3:14, ESV, emphasis added)

If we live in a world that will end, and we await a new heavens and new earth, then Peter wants us to be diligent so that we are prepared for the world to come in which righteousness dwells. The stakes are too high for negligence in the Christian life.

Peter doesn’t just encourage diligence in others. He notes that he will be diligent in fulfilling his ministry as an apostle.

And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. (2 Peter 1:15 NASB, same word as in 1:10 and 3:14, emphasis added)

It is a mistake to think we are earning our salvation. That somehow, we are attempting to outweigh our bad deeds with good ones. But it would also be a mistake to think that diligence is to be equated with the attempt to earn salvation.

Diligence is an appropriate response to faith. If I trust God, then I must believe that the things of God are of eternal consequence. God must have the first priority in my life as one seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Faith should lead me to be zealous, eager, diligent, and conscientious. Because of the worthiness of God and the eternal

¹“σπουδάζω (spoudazō),” BDAG, 939. The Strong’s number for this word is G4704.

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Posted by Russell Holden

The Resurrection Body

April 15, 2016

Paul’s tour de force on the resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15. It was prompted by the denial of the resurrection by some in the Corinthian congregation (15:12). Paul first gives evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Paul notes the Scriptures and the many eyewitnesses which include himself. To deny the resurrection is to deny Christ’s resurrection. For Christ not to have been raised, then faith is futile, we are still in our sins, and we are of all people the most to be pitied. But Paul will have none of that: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The resurrection of Jesus is connected with the future hope of Christians. Jesus is the basis of our hope.

But questions remain: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” (1 Corinthians 15:35-58) Maybe the deniers were troubled by these questions. Greeks typically believed in a life after death without resurrection. Many Jews had a crude conception of resurrection. If you died lame or blind, you were raised lame or blind. Paul gives us our best glimpse at the resurrection body.

Paul provides us with an analogy. Our physical body at death is like a planted seed. There is continuity between the seed and the plant to come, but there is also transformation. Paul reassures us that God knows how to create different kinds of flesh for different kinds of purposes, and He can bestow varying degrees of glory. In other words, resurrection is not a mere resuscitation but a glorious transformation.

Paul illuminates by a series of contrasts. Our physical bodies are perishable, but the resurrection body will be imperishable. Our physical bodies face the dishonor of death and decay, but the resurrection body will be raised in glory. We experience weakness now, but we will be raised in power. We have a natural body now. One suited to the current natural world. We will have a spiritual body.

We need to be careful when we see this word “spiritual” that we don’t think immaterial like Casper the Ghost. We need to hold on to the word “body” and remember that Jesus in the resurrection was solid and touchable. The spiritual body will be animated by God’s Spirit and suitable for the transcendent realm of the age to come.

We have to admit the details are few. We still likely have many questions about the resurrection. But the resurrection body is not a mere resuscitation of the old. It is a transformation. It is something more glorious and suited for eternal life with God.

It is enough to trust our Maker. Jesus conquered death in his resurrection. And death will be conquered for each of us in our resurrection. With that hope we live in encouragement knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain.

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Posted by Russell Holden

A Man Who Didn’t Trust God

April 1, 2016

Jeroboam son of Nebat was a man who didn’t trust God. He was an official under Solomon and rose to the position of being in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph. One day the prophet Ahijah met him. Ahijah tore his new cloak into 12 pieces and gave Jeroboam 10 of the pieces. Ahijah prophesied that Jeroboam would become King of Israel. He would rule over the ten northern tribes. Jeroboam was given this promise from God:

And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. (1 Kings 11:37–38, ESV)

Jeroboam had to flee from Solomon who made an attempt on his life, but after Solomon’s death, he returned from Egypt and became King of Israel just as God had promised. Yet, Jeroboam worried that he would loose his kingdom because the people must worship in Jerusalem. Because of his lack of trust in God’s sure promise, he rebelled and set up the golden calves in Dan and Bethel and commanded the people to worship there. He established an alternate feast and an alternate priesthood using men who were not Levites.

God warned Jeroboam. A prophet predicted that Josiah would someday offer Jeroboam’s priests on the altar at Bethel. A sign was given that altar would be split apart and the ashes would be poured out. Jeroboam ordered that the prophet be seized, but when he stretched out his hand it shriveled. When the prophet interceded for him his hand was restored. To top it all, the sign came true as well. Certainly, this should have made Jeroboam change his ways, but it didn’t. (1 Kings 13:1-6)

Jeroboam had evidence of great blessing in his life, and God’s sure promise if he but obey. Yet, he turned away—he was a man who didn’t trust God.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4, ESV)

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Posted by Russell Holden