Tag: church

Are you a responsible and accurate theologian?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, PracticalLeave a comment

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,” (Acts 16:25)

What strikes me about the apostles is there rejoicing in the midst of persecution. Paul and Silas found themselves in prison for helping a poor innocent girl. She was being used and abused for profit by local business men. Possessed by a demon she was able to reveal the fortunes of others. They were content to allow her to continue in this state of darkness for their own gain. Paul and Silas were not. They exercised the demon, freeing her from bondage.

Once these men realized their cash cow was gone, they lied about and slandered Paul and Silas to the local authorities. They had them beaten and thrown into prison. Even though they were wounded and shackled in the inner prison, they prayed and sung hymns to the Lord. Not to themselves but openingly so that all the other prisoners could hear.

  • Would we rejoice in the Lord openly in a situation like they were facing?
  • Would we praise God even as we were being persecuted by Him?
  • Would we continue to be a witness for him as we were being punished by the local authorities for following the Lord?

These are tough questions. Ones we won’t know the answer to until we are in the situation.

That, however, doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for the situation. I believe Paul, Silas, and others rejoiced in the Lord because they knew the Lord. They didn’t just know of Him, but they knew Him. Their relationship with Him was real and intimate. As well as they knew His character and His actions. They were theologians. We should be theologians as well.

No, you don’t need to go to seminary to be a theologian. Everyone is a theologian because everyone has an opinion about God, which means right now, no matter what degree you have or don’t have, you are a theologian.

The question is: Are you a responsible and accurate theologian?

If we are going to stand firm for Christ in the midst of persecution we must be responsible and accurate theologians because what we know about God will determine how we respond to difficult situations.

God is doing an amazing work in our day!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.'” (Acts 13:41)

Paul, preaching to the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, tells the Jews that they should expect the Lord to do a work that they would not believe. The work is that their wise men will perish (Is 29:14). In other words, God will do something among the people that will astound them – He will save the Gentiles. He bring those who they thought could not experience salvation to Himself. He will do it through their belief in a crucified Messiah. While at the same time, He will give the Jews over to their enemies (Hab 1:5-6).

After the Jews rejected their teaching, Paul explicitly tells them the work God is dong in verse 47 when he says,

“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” (Acts 13:47)

Again quoting from the prophet Isaiah to show that this has always been God’s plan. A plan that was hidden but is now revealed (Col 1:26-27). Salvation has come to the Gentiles. God’s plan has always been to unite them as one man in Christ (Eph 2:11-22).

Through Jesus we are all united to one another – Jew and Gentile, poor and rich, slave and free. In Christ, we are all equal. We are all brothers and sisters. We are adopted into the same family through the death of Jesus for our sins and the forgiveness extended by the Father and the work done by the Spirit to draw and regenerate. Because of the Work of God, an amazing work we cannot even fathom, we all experience salvation in Jesus alone.

God is doing a work in our day. A work no one would believe if told beforehand. God is uniting us all in Christ. He breaks down divisions. If we want to experience unity, we must turn to Christ. We must recognize that at the foot of the cross all men and women are equal. No one is greater than another. No one is loved by God more than another. We are all one, a new humanity, a new people in Christ.

Are you prayerfully depending on the Spirit to build your church?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, EvangelismLeave a comment

“And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”” (Acts 8:29)

The book of Acts follows directly from the gospel of Luke. It is a continuation of the story. One of Luke’s purposes is to show how the promised Spirit guides and directs Jesus’ disciples so that the church is built.

In Acts 8, the church is scattered as Paul begins his reign of persecution. Philip finds himself on the way to Gaza. As he travels, there is a man, a Eunuch, who worked in the Ethiopian queen’s court. Traveling in a chariot, he was reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit directs Philip to join the Ethiopian in his chariot. He has the opportunity to explain the passage he was reading, connect it to Jesus and the good news of Jesus life and death for us. The man believed and was promptly baptized as a public profession of faith. After baptizing the Ethiopian, Philip was directed once again by the Spirit to another place.

Today’s passage teaches us to rely on the Spirit. He is the One directing and guiding us as we live “on mission” for Jesus. If we are going to be disciples who make disciples, we need to prayerfully depend on the Spirit to guide and direct us to those in whom the Lord is at work. We are Jesus’ instruments used by Him to build His church.

Are you prayerfully depending on the Spirit to build your church? Are you praying that the Spirit would provide you an opportunity to minister to someone today? Are you hopeful that the Spirit is at work in your life, your family, and your community, drawing people to Christ? Do you long to be a part of the work the Spirit is doing?

To whom is He directing you today?

Why do I have to join a church?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Discipleship, Practical, QuotesLeave a comment

To relate to God, you must do it “covenantally.” He wants all of you; he wants every aspect of you; he wants every bit of you.” It’s silly, but it’s natural that American Christians will say to me, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Why do I have to join a church?” I say, “What do you mean?”

“Where does it say in the Bible that I have to join a church?”

“On every page,” if you understand the covenant. All joining a church means is you’re willing to make a public vow that makes you accountable for your whole life. That’s what we don’t like because, “Who needs that? The most important thing is the personal and the spontaneous.”

No! The most important thing is every part of you has to go to him. You’re supposed to make yourself a whole burnt offering on the altar. That’s what it says in Romans 12 where it says, “Make yourself a living sacrifice, a whole burnt offering, to the Lord.”

 Keller, Timothy J., The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013)

It is never too late

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

2 Chronicles 33:13

It is never too late to turn to the Lord. Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Judah. He reversed the reforms of his father Hezekiah, leading the people away from the Lord and to worship false gods.

The Lord humbled Manasseh. From captivity in Babylon, Manasseh prayed to the Lord and the Lord forgave him. He actually did more than forgive him. He brought him back to Judah restoring Manasseh’s reign as king. Manasseh then led the people to worship and follow God.

It is never too late to turn to the Lord in repentance and belief. He is the one true God who provides salvation to those who humble themselves by recognizing they can’t save themselves. Only through Jesus can we experience a reconciled relationship with the Lord and accomplish our God given purpose — to bring God glory.

Where is the Lord?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Where is the Lord? Has He forsaken us? Why isn’t He acting? I know these are questions each of you have asked at one point or another because they are questions I have asked too. You might even be asking these questions now, especially given the difficult days in which we find ourselves.

At the core of these questions is the idea that God is distant because He has not immediately delivered you from the difficulty you are experiencing at the moment. But does a lack of immediate deliverance mean God is not there? That He is distant and doesn’t care?

The Exodus

The Exodus serves as the primary motif of deliverance in God’s Word. The Exodus is a powerful deliverance motif because God delivers His people out of the hands of the powerful Egyptians, releasing them from bondage and slavery so that they might serve and worship Him as His own people.

What, however, is remarkable about the Exodus is that God did not act instantaneously nor did He act unilaterally. Look at the text with me:

“Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

(Exodus 3:7–12)

Notice, God tells Moses He has seen the affliction of the people in Egypt. He has heard their cries for help (vs 7). Seeing and hearing God has come down to deliver His people and to bring them to a favorable land (vs 8). But notice in verse 10 how He is going to deliver the Israelites:

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

(Exodus 3:10)

I will send “you”

Who is the “you”? It is Moses. God is going to send Moses to Egypt to deliver “my people”. Certainly, God is not sending Moses alone. Instead, God promises in verse 12 that He will be with him as he seeks to deliver Israel. What follows in the narrative is exactly that — God rescues the Israelites from Egyptian bondage through the work of Moses.

God could have act miraculously and unilaterally, rescuing the Israelites in a matter of seconds from the Egyptians. He could have transported them to the wilderness to worship Him. He could have killed all the Egyptians right then and there allowing the Israelites to walk out of Egypt at a leisurely pace. He could have intervened in a number of ways to rescue Israel, but He chose to send Moses to rescue His people.

To be sure, Moses did not deliver Israel by his hand alone. If you have read the Exodus story in full, you know Moses was not alone. God was there and He worked in miraculous ways. But God worked through Moses’ interactions with Pharaoh and the people.

God’s primary means of rescue

At times, God does perform miracles and He does instantaneously rescue those who are suffering, but what we see in the Exodus event and in other events throughout redemptive history is that God primarily works over a period of time and through those He has commissioned on His behalf.

Our God is a commissioning God

He commissioned Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, etc to work and speak on His behalf. He has even commissioned us, Christians, in the Great Commission (Matt. 28). We are to tell others the good news in order to rescue mankind from slavery and bondage.

Our God is a commissioning God who primarily works through His people to rescue, discipline, encourage, bless, mend, uphold, etc.

The next time you are tempted to ask: Where is God in all this? Why is He silent? Why isn’t He working? Look around at the people God has recently brought into your life. Think about the conversations you have had with others.

God is present, He is not silent, and He is at work. Even though it might feel like it at times, God has not abandoned you. He is just not working in the way in which you think He should. Instead of working miraculously and unilaterally, God primarily works through the community of people with whom you are associated.