Author: Warren Berkley

From Gary Henry

Since life is a growth process, we need to see the pursuit of excellence as a continual effort, an ongoing work. There will surely be days when the quality of our efforts is disappointing, perhaps grievously or tragically so. But those who truly wish to excel will not be defeated by individual disappointments. As long as life lasts, there is at least some of our story that remains to be written, and we should determine that the next part will be better than any we’ve written yet.

Enthusiastic Ideas (WordPoints Daybook Series 1)
Gary Henry

Note – Yesterday’s blog post was not written by me. The author of that article is Jacob Hudgins. The source tag was somehow dropped. My apologies.

The Plow Is Manual, Not Remote Or Automatic!

Warren E. Berkley 

“But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’,” (Lk. 9:62).

What if your life was somehow submitted to the Lord on paper? After looking over the report, He stamps on the top sheet: “Unfit!” Imagine the disappointment and shame. You have been rejected and you cannot transfer the guilt, deny the content of your life or make any appeal.

In this verse the Lord is telling us that an absence of commitment will cause Him to declare us unfit. The advantage we have is, we can read this now and change the content of the final report. So long as we are alive there is opportunity to put our hands back on the plow and look straight ahead, living daily as a citizen in the Lord’s kingdom.

What we do or neglect that is visible and tangible shows to the Lord and others, our commitment.

Attendance is a commitment issue. People want preacher’s and elders to become like truant officers. The problem is not an isolated matter. Reading Heb. 10:25 over and over and over will not suddenly solve the problem – because the issue is not ignorance; it is lack of commitment. Ask the 18 people who regularly come to Laurel Heights Sunday evening services why they come back on Sunday evening. The answer will show they are committed! Absence is a symptom. The root cause has always been commitment. [I understand legitimate reasons. Most non-attendees cannot claim they can’t be there for some legitimate reason. Commitment gets people out.]

Giving is a commitment issue. Giving, all through the New Testament, is an expression of the content of one’s heart. Those who give grudgingly, sparingly or merely out of necessity, are in trouble with God. And it is not an issue of pocket. It is directly related to commitment. “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver,” (2 Cor. 9:­­6-7). See in this passage where good giving originates: purpose of heart.

Evangelism is a commitment issue. I’ve never heard any Christian argue that we don’t need to talk to people about the Lord or tell them what the Bible says. You don’t hear that because the New Testament is so clear about God’s people being the ones who are charged to preach the gospel. Many of the first Christians “did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ,” (Acts 5:42). They were committed. If we are indifferent, uninvolved and negligent about evangelism, our problem is commitment. We may have touched the plow, but we haven’t stayed on the job.

Responding to the spiritual needs of your brethren is a commitment issue. If you have read Gal. 5:13, “serve one another,” but you just don’t do that, the issue at hand is not your ability to digest what the text says. The problem is not that there are no brethren to serve. You cannot claim you have nothing to give. Dismiss all the excuses and understand the core issue: Commitment of heart to the Lord.

This list could be continued. Whatever the command, the activity, the participation – behind everything God asks us to do and everything provided for our spiritual welfare, there is this basic: Commitment. If you don’t have that right, open your eyes, open your Bible, renew your commitment. That plow the Lord spoke of has no automatic setting or remote control.

My apologies – source info. did not copy over; this was written by Jacob Hudgins. – web

Let God Be True

“For what if some did not believe?  Will there unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?  Certainly not!  Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar”

(Rom 3:3-4)

We enjoy safety in numbers.  We laugh at TV shows because we hear a recording of other people laughing.  We attempt to justify breaking the speed limit by arguing that everyone else is doing it too.  Many a college student has been comforted by the thought that “The professor can’t fail all of us!”  Because of this tendency, we need to remember that numbers don’t impress God.  With God, there is no “safety in numbers.” “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar”(Rom 3:4).

How do we respond to the fact that God’s law condemns all of us?  That it does is clear:  “There is none righteous, no not one” (Rom 3:10).  “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:22-23).  Do we follow majority rule—like the naïve college student, thinking “God won’t condemn all these people!”?  Do we question God’s faithfulness and justice—as if somehow it’s unfair for Him to condemn us when we are the ones who sinned?  Do we reason from results—some good comes of it, so it must be alright with God?  We must recognize that all these responses are simply glorified forms of denial.  Paul’s answer to the problem is that God must be true, even if that makes every man a liar.   

Anticipating objections to the fact that we have all sinned, Paul asks, “For what if some did not believe?  Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?  Certainly not!  Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.  As it is written:  ‘That you may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged”(Rom 3:3-4).  Some or all people being unfaithful does not indict God.  They chose such a fate, and He dispenses punishment, or mercy, according to His good pleasure.  Like the landowner paying wages, He may say, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matt 20:15).  What gives us the right to question God’s justice when we well know we are guilty and deserve punishment?

Reasoning from results doesn’t work either, since God will always be glorified and proved right regardless of what we do.  “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?  Is God unjust who inflicts wrath?  (I speak as a man.)  Certainly not!  For then how will God judge the world?  For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I still judged as a sinner?” (Rom 3:5-7)  Is it wrong for God to punish since He is shown righteous by our sin?  Is it unfair that He is shown to be right, and on top of that punishes us?  No!  God will always be righteous, but that doesn’t excuse us or reflect on us!  To think that we are OK because some good things have come out of our lives is to delude ourselves and deny God.

We desperately need a proper view of the incorruptibility of God’s justice.  It is not affected by the number of people who deserve punishment.  It is true even if it makes everyone else a liar.  Not only that, it is so perfect that it would not be satisfied by God simply pardoning our sins with a wave of His hand.  His justice had to be satisfied by Jesus’ sinless suffering for our sin.  Justice demanded punishment for sin (“a propitiation”, Rom 3:25), and so now God sits as “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”(Rom 3:26).  Remaining eternally just, He is now eternally gracious to those who believe and obey His Son.

The good news is that if we stop living in denial and place our faith in Jesus for our salvation rather than our empty righteousness, God has provided a way for us.  Give up the “safety of numbers” and trust and obey Jesus—regardless of its implications for everyone else.  “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar”!

God, the Perfectly Impartial Judge

(1 Pet. 1:17)

Warren E. Berkley

“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

If I’m going to respond to God and have a relationship with God, it is imperative that I know Who I’m dealing with. I cannot respond to God effectively, until I come to know the simple truths about who He is. It is a case where acquaintance with God enables reverent obedience to Him.

So the “Father” we deal with through Jesus Christ, Peter says: “…without partiality judges according to each one’s work.”

One of the problems in our American justice system is partial judges.  There are some judges who – before they hear evidence – habor favoritism toward a certain people, or prejudice against a certain group. Friends of mine who are lawyers tell me, one of the constant subjects of conversation among attorneys is – the record of certain judges, who are not impartial; who favor or oppose certain kinds of people,  before a case is heard. Partial Judges are a well-known fact in our judicial system. And attorneys prefer to present their cases before certain judges, based on their record or reputation.

We need to know that God, our Father, judges “without partiality.” Whether you are black or white…Male or female…Rich or poor… Handsome or ugly…God only wants to know that are you an obedient disciple of Jesus Christ! God looks at your work, at my work – at every one of us – and He knows perfectly, if we are an obedient disciple of Jesus Christ.

So What? What does this mean?  “conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear.” We are not here on the earth for long; we are sojourners or visitors here. Since God is perfectly impartial, we must conduct ourselves “in fear.” That fear is reverential awe; it is a deep and abiding respect for God.

Many people just want to put in a little time going to a church building. If nothing else is going on, they may show up for the Sunday morning assembly periodically. But never come to a Bible class; never think of attending Sunday night. And, no daily Bible reading discipline; just pretty much wedded to the world. That kind of mediocrity does not reflect a deep and abiding respect for God!

One paraphrase of verse 17 (The Message, Eugene Peterson):

You call out to God for help and He helps –

                        He’s a good Father that way. But don’t

                        forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and

                        won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your

                        life is a journey you must travel with deep

                        consciousness of God.

What Is Preaching?

by Jess Hall, Jr.

Fundamental to any discussion of preaching is an understanding of what preaching is.  Ask the Greeks and you will receive five or six words, each of which is translated “preaching.”  A technical analysis of each provides the dryness of a mouthful of sawdust and the satisfaction of a plate full of lettuce.  Attempting to feed the soul on such morsels undoubtedly accounts for one dictionary definition of preaching – “. . . to give moral or religious advice, esp. in a tiresome manner.”

What is preaching?  “Biblical preaching is still that unique method by which God through His chosen messenger reaches down into the human family and brings persons into fellowship with Himself.”  (Lloyd M. Perry, Biblical Preaching for Today’s World, Chicago: Moody Press, 1990, p. 19).  Probably the most famous definition of preaching is that of Phillips Brooks, 19^th century preacher and writer, who defined “preaching” with simple eloquence in his Lectures on Preaching: “Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men.”

1. Preaching is communication. A preacher in the pulpit is no guarantee that preaching will occur.  A preacher in the pulpit speaking truth is no guarantee that preaching will occur.  Preaching occurs only when there is communication between the preacher and the hearer.  Communication is derived from the Latin communis, meaning “common.”  Thus, unless a “commonness” is established with the hearer – a sharing of information, ideas, and attitudes – preaching does not occur.
2. Preaching is the communication of truth. Though it comes from a pulpit or from one who calls himself a preacher, if it is not truth, then it is not preaching.  God’s preacher does not proclaim speculation.  God’s preacher depends neither on entertainment nor on eloquence (though both may sometimes be appropriate).  God’s preacher does not seek to convince men of his own cleverness.  His message is grounded in and seeks to persuade based upon God’s truth, which alone can make man free.
3. Preaching is the communication of truth by man. God could have formed his message in the clouds or framed his missive in the colors of the rainbow; he elected to spread his gospel through man.  Thus, though sermons may be printed, preaching never is; though words may be spoken by one man over the air waves and heard by another, without the unfiltered impact of personality on personality, true preaching does not occur.  Paul recognized that some ministries can only be accomplished in person.  Indeed, even the reading of an inspired letter could not substitute.  “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome” (Romans 1:15).  Preaching is the communication of God’s truth through God’s man, filtered only through a genuine love and a holy life.
4. Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. On any given Sunday most worshippers can probably pull something off the shelf and find something more sagacious and well presented than they will hear from the pulpit.  Why, then, should they go to worship?  Why not “meditate alone with God”?  Phillips Brooks, whose definition of preaching we have used, answered well:

. . . [E]ven if preaching should grow obsolete, there would still remain reason enough why Christians should meet together for worship and for brotherhood.  But even if we look at preaching only, it must still be true that nothing can ever take its place because of the personal element that is in it.

                  No multiplication of books can ever supersede the human voice.  No newly opened channel of approach to man’s mind and heart can ever do away with man’s readiness to receive impressions through his fellow-man . . . .

                  Let a man be a true preacher, really uttering the truth through his own personality, and it is strange how men will gather to listen to him.  (Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, Kregel Publications: Grand Rapids, 1989, p. 29.)

Hebrews 12:3-11

Discipline is “For Our Good”

³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

– Heb. 12:3-11.

To run the race God has set before us, this passage brings to our attention three things we can do to finish strong. (1) Consider Jesus, and what He endured; such hostility then the cruel death; in our struggle against sin, we have not been through that depth and extent of suffering; so, don’t grow weary and fainthearted.

(2) “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord.” When, for instance, the Word of God hits us and we feel the pain of conviction, or when something happens that is painful, yet God strengthens us to get through it – Don’t take that lightly. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” Discipline is for our good.

(3) Be patient, knowing that our struggle against sin – along with divine discipline – will later yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Let us run the race set before us, and be subject to the Father of spirits, and live.

What Can I Do To Make Our Bible Classes Better?
by John Clark

        Since we are what we think, say and do, let us determine that we will think seriously and optimistically about our Bible classes this year. As you talk to yourself say, “I’m going to make the best effort I have ever made to make a positive, constructive contribution to strengthen and improve our Bible classes.” Having made such a commitment, we must get down to the nitty-gritty of taking the steps – doing the things conscientiously that we must do to reach that goal. Let’s look at several practical steps to be taken:

1. I will make attendance on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening mandatory, a must (this is settled, decided, not to be debated) not optional (deciding from week to week if I feel like it and I want to work it in).
2. I am determined to be on time for services. I will break the habit of being late by planning ahead, starting sooner, making it a challenge to show the importance of this by being on time. If others in the family are helping create the problem, I will seek to solve it by discussing it with them.
3. I will show my involvement and the seriousness of my commitment to excellence in our Bible classes by working on all assignments and making daily Bible reading as much a part of my day as eating, sleeping and working. I will come to class prepared to enter into the discussions with enthusiasm and something to contribute to the class because I have taken the time to study.

If I am teaching a class I will seek to be the right example to others as I reveal by my attitudes and actions how important study of the word of God is in our daily lives. I will earnestly strive to be a “workman that needeth not to be ashamed” (2 Tim. 2:15).

4. I will see our Bible classes as a means to an end. I want to truly understand the Bible better because I want to be and do what Christ wants me to be and do. I will constantly remind myself that ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of Christ and His will for my life. As I prepare for the class, I want to see it as the means whereby I grow and grow up to a greater sense of responsibility coupled with real joy in our Lord.
5. I will use my influence to be a true and positive encouragement to teachers, the classes, and the arrangements which the elders have made to be certain that the word of God is faithfully taught. Where I find discouragement I will seek to encourage; where I find complaints, I will show appreciation; where the seeds of doubt and discouragement are sown, I will plant faith, hope and love; where some have surrendered to apathy and indifference, I will seek to make a real difference by striving for excellence. I will seek to be like Paul when he wrote, “straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).

“Woes” In Isaiah

Isa. 5:22-23

Perverters of Justice

This is Isa. 5:22,23– “Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.”

One way to get to the point of this form of evil is, imagine you are accused of a crime but not guilty. You and your attorney work together to collect and organize evidence, interview witnesses and set your case in good order.

The day of the trial comes, and as the judge enters to take his place at the bar of justice – you and others present discover, before he came to bar of justice, he visited the bar!

The judge appointed to consider your case is drunk and you realize that in this condition, he is not an administrator of justice, but a perverted of justice.

He is not only drunk with alcohol. His drunken state is a symptom of a deeper inner intoxication. He is high on his appetite, stumbling around in his ego and utterly lacking of good character and wisdom.

If he is a champion of anything, it is mixing drinks and consuming the product of his carnal talent.

Isaiah conveys from God, judgment against the judges, who were caught up in their power. The claim to renown was not justice but being heroes of drinking wine.

Let’s not turn this into an indictment against all who serve in the halls of justice. But let’s be aware that power can corrupt those with undeveloped conscience. While this propensity occurs across all classes and ages, it is especially repulsive  when men who are charged to lead, to judge, to enforce divine law, are champions of craving, carnality and evil.  God, through Isaiah, judges the judges.

My Isaiah Insights Podcasts, Click Here

Do Messengers Matter?

So, the gospel is just about the content, the message, the truth from God about salvation. Right?

Well, there isn’t any question that is primary. But the conduct of the messengers is not irrelevant. The conduct and manner of the messengers can encourage good listening, or utterly undermine a good hearing of the message.

When Paul and his co-workers came to Thessalonica, for instance, what if these messengers had been drunk, half-hearted, rowdy and inarticulate? Would that have mattered? Sure. It would have hindered the faithful and effective delivery of the message.

One of the worst things to happen in preaching is for people to want to hear the truth, but the speaker or messenger exhibits behavior that distracts from that desire. The argument I’m making is affirmed by Paul.

“For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.  But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.  For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,  but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.  For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.  Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” 1 Thess. 2:1-8