Showing posts with label Sola Scriptura. Show all posts

am not sure if any of you, that read this blog, remember the Sesame Street song which taught kids to recognize things which are similar and to pick out the things which are not. But it recently came to my attention since I have been out of work, I have watched Sesame Street every morning with my son as we eat our breakfast, and it got me thinking. Recent polls show that 80% of Americans say they are Christian, even cults like the JW's, and Mormons also claim that title. The problem is that JW's, Mormons, and I would dare say most of the 80% that claim the Christian title, are not really followers of Christ.

Today, after having read Dan Phillips latest blog over at Pyromaniacs where he mentions his New Years resolution to read at least three chapters of Scripture a day, so as to read the Bible in a year, I decided I would attempt to read six chapters a day, so as to read the Bible twice in a year. Not that I am a one upper or anything, but I figure six chapters really isn't a whole lot considering the amount of free time we Americans have in our day and age. So, I decided to start with one of my favorite prophets, Jeremiah. After having finished my allotted daily reading rather quickly, it came to mind that this coming Sunday, the Church I attend will start an exposition on the book of Jonah, so I decided to read that.

The LORD of salvation gave a message to Jonah to preach, and he preached it. Jonah even preached it reluctantly, and yet, what happened? The Word of God that is living and active accomplished it's purpose...it did not return to the LORD of salvation void, but did all that the LORD had willed it to do. Imagine that...amazing isn't it? Since salvation belongs to the LORD, and since He brings about that salvation when His Word is preached, shouldn't we be out there preaching His Word. Shouldn't we be forgetting all this nonsense about appealing to people's innate fallen natures, and just be out there boldly proclaiming judgment and repentance. Yes, I know...all the polls say people don't respond to that negative stuff, but the polls obviously do not take in to account that salvation belongs to the LORD.

I am currently reading a very good book by Pastor Steven Lawson called, "Foundations of Grace: A Long Line of Godly Men." In the preface of the book, lies a quote by Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield, which at first glance comes across as quite shocking, and seems like an embellished attempt to push a pet doctrine, but as I get deeper into the book, and more importantly, as I search the various passages within the Scriptures that Steven Lawson expounds upon, the more I find myself agreeing with Mr. Warfield's statement.

"The world should realize with increased clearness that Evangelicalism stands or falls with Calvinism."

Steve Lawson rightly defends this assertion by proclaiming that, "the lofty truths of divine sovereignty provide the greatest and grandest view of God...for without the theological teachings of Reformed truth concerning God's sovereignty in man's salvation, the church is weakened and made vulnerable, soon to begin an inevitable decline into baser beliefs, whether she realizes it or not." Lawson continues by saying, "Once yielding the high ground of Calvinism, a self-absorbed church puts its full weight onto the slippery slope of Arminianism, resulting in a loss of its foundational stability. Tragically, however, the descent rarely stops there. Historically, man-centered doctrine has served only as a catalyst for an even greater fall. Rappelling down the slippery slopes of Arminianism, one is soon to find the church sinking deeper and deeper into a murky quagmire of heretical ideas. Such a descent inevitably gives way to liberalism, the utter rejection of the absolute authority of Scripture. From liberalism--given enough time--the church always plunges yet lower into ecumenism, that deadly philosophy that embraces all religions as having some part of the truth. Continuing this downward spiral, the church plummets into universalism, the damning belief that all men eventually will be saved. Yet worse, universalism gives way to agnosticism, a degenerate view that one cannot even know whether there is a God. Finally, the church falls into the deepest abyss--the hellish flames of atheism, the belief that there is no God."

I know a lot of people who would disagree with these statements, a lot of people. One major problem, and I believe the biggest reason why so many people would be opposed to the above sentiments is that the word "Calvinism" means so many different things to so many different people. Calvinism is such a loaded word; everyone has their own ideas and notions about what Calvinism is or what it supposedly espouses. Along with that, you find just as many people having varying opinions on what "hyper-Calvinism" truly is. For that very reason, I think it is best to steer away from those types of terms and badges that carry so much baggage, and really just deal with what the Scriptures have to say, because seriously, that is what it is all about. What has God really revealed to us in His Word?

Over the next few blogs I am hoping to take a closer look at the true Biblical teachings of God's sovereign grace, His predestination and election of sinners, man's total depravity, man's role in salvation (if any), God's love for the world, and anything else contained in the Scriptures related to what we typically label as "Calvinism" or "Arminianism" so that we can see clearly what God has truly told us concerning these things.

Rick Warren recently appeared on the Fox channel's Hannity and Colmes show to peddle his new book, "The Purpose of Christmas." Unfortunately Mr. Warren took this great opportunity on a nationally syndicated show, in which millions will see him, NOT to proclaim the true Gospel of Christ by which men can be saved...NO, instead this world famous, super celebrated and highly esteemed false teacher pushed the extremely popular, hippy-buddy-magical genie Jesus who is so often taught throughout America's Churches.

This false Jesus overlooks everyone's sin, and would never dream of men actually admitting their guilt and being remorseful to the point of repentance over their transgressions, because that way of thinking is so negative. Rather than all that "fire and brimstone" stuff, he’s all about love and wanting you to be happy no matter what. I mean, after all, Joel Osteen teaches that Jesus died to save you from a life of mediocrity and exists to give you an abundant life…in the material and financial sense, of course.

Furthermore, this pathetically weak and lonely false Jesus is so starved for fallen humanities love and affection that he stands outside the proverbial door of your heart knocking, waiting, and begging, like a cold and hungry puppy hoping that one day you will let him in. Deceivers like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen would have you believe that this Jesus’ main agenda is to do all our bidding and to answer every one of our trivial, selfish and materialistic prayers with an astounding 'YES'.

Rick Warren's Jesus does not even demand any sort of exclusivity of man's affections, because Rick's Jesus is willing to be put on some sort of probationary period, so that people can test him to see if he lives up to all the hype. I guess under those kind of circumstances, Rick's Jesus better start coughing up the goods real quick like, if he knows whats good for him, or he just might find himself thrown right back outside the heart's door, forced to go back to his knocking and waiting.

Is this the real Gospel? Does any of this resemble what the Scriptures really say? Is that the biblical Jesus? Does any of this accurately describe the true Christ? How is it that America as a whole has bought into these obvious heretical lies, and exchanged the Almighty God for this puny pitiful idol?

Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

The true Gospel is harsh, abrasive, and utterly offensive, because the true Jesus, found within the Bible, does not proclaim a message of self-fulfillment but demands from His disciples absolute and total self-denial. Why do you think that Jesus' own family, friends and neighbors tried to throw Him off of a cliff after delivering his first sermon? Or why did they attempt to stone Jesus on several occasion? Seriously, why do you think Jesus was ultimately crucified? If men like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen are correct, the crucifixion of Jesus doesn’t even make sense, because who on earth would kill such a fun loving guy, whose sole purpose is to make everyone happy and give them all their hearts desire? If Jesus were going around, as those deceivers would have you believe, giving fluffy, feel good messages in which people's self-esteems were being boosted, then why on earth was He murdered?

John 3:18-20
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Jesus was killed because He proclaimed a message that the world hated, and the world hates His messages because He exposed their true nature…that of radical depravity. Many people try to deny the inherent sin nature of man, and even within the Church itself, false teachers claim that we are not wretches, even removing that word from the old hymns, and they attempt to claim that our hearts are not desperately wicked (Jer 17:9) but those lies contradict the Scriptures. God's Word is unapologetically clear about the utter sinfulness of man and that only God alone is good...if this were not true, and we are not inherently evil and increasingly worthless, then Christ died a needless death. But the fact of the matter is that man's heart is evil from youth (Gen 8:21) and that man is totally incapable of doing good (Rom 3:12) and because of our spiritually bankrupt state, we are in desperate need of a Savior, because without the sacrifice of Christ we face the wages of our sin, which of course is death and the eternal punishment of a fiery hell.

Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Furthermore, the Gospel is hated because of it's exclusive nature, in which it clearly states that many will travel the broad road leading to hell, and only a few will enter the narrow gate leading to heaven. Yet, men like Joel Osteen deny this, and they also deny that Jesus is the "only way", thus implying that Christ lied when He said that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6)." Mr. Osteen, I am guessing, in an attempt to be seen as “loving,” claims that he has seen Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Mormons all love God in their own way and he says that he just can’t imagine God rejecting that. Not only does Joel's teaching make Jesus' death and resurrection totally worthless since, according to him, you can believe whatever you want and still enter the narrow gate of the Kingdom of God, but Joel once again denies the truth of the Scriptures. I guess I am curious why Joel is even a professing Christian or a "Preacher" for that matter, since truth to him is merely relative.

I will continue the various reasons why the true Jesus along with the true Gospel message is hated in the next few blogs...although I will probably have a blog or two inbetween.

n the news I occasionally hear stories of people who claim God instructed them to do some horrific act that is contrary to His law and what He has revealed to us in His Word. On that same note, while at the Shepherd's Conference, I took a class on Church discipline in which the elders at Grace talked about how often they have married men and women claim that God's will for them was that they leave their husband or wife to pursue a relationship with another person. I had a friend (now former) who started dating a married man, and she claimed that it was God's will that this sin occur otherwise God would not have allowed them to meet. As absurd as that sounds, I am sure there are many other so-called Christians out there rationalizing and justifying their sin in similar ways. Using that same logic...if I was offered some crack, does that mean that God's will for me is that I become a crack head? Any Christian with half a brain should know these things obviously do not harmonize with the Word of God, so how is it that so many Christians have such a skewed view of what God's will truly is? I believe the number one reason why people have absolutely no clue what God's will for them is that they are not in the least bit familiar with Scripture. In the epistle to the Romans, Paul tells us how we can know the will of God, saying...

Romans 12:1-2
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect

So...by default, our minds become fashioned after and adapted to the external,
superficial customs of this world system. The Greek verb "conformed" is in the passive tense, which means this progressive downward spiral of sinful thinking which, of course, leads to sinful actions (James 1:14-15) happens to us regardless of our opinion or will in the matter. We will be indistinguishable from the fallen world without the transforming power of God's Word. Scripture alone transforms and renews our minds into Christ-likeness, which arms us with the wisdom to know that certain situations and circumstances will arise, but they are trials and temptations, and through a knowledge of God's Word we should see them for what they truly are and cling to the solid rock of Christ so as to become victorious through Him. I think its so interesting that the Greek word for "transform" is where we get our English word "metamorphosis" from. Just as a caterpillar is made into a beautiful butterfly, we too through the miraculous Word of God are made into awesome new creatures with godly new desires that can, and only then, please our Creator. One of those new desires should be a hunger and thirst for His righteousness. We should long to know who God truly is and as I have said time and time again, we can not know that apart from yearning to know what God has revealed to us through His Word. This is why Peter says...

"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation" - 1 Peter 2:2

I recently became a father and seeing how often a child needs to be fed really made this verse hit home all the more. My son, like any other new born baby, would wither and die off without being fed every few hours, and we to will wither and die spiritually if we neglect to feed on the pure milk of the Word of God. I am sure this is why the hymn writer wrote "I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will" Which brings us back to the verse in Romans. We can not claim to know God's will if we are not constantly feeding ourselves with His Word (Matt 4:4). Before you speak presumptuously of God and say that His will is this or that for your life, ask yourself if you have been transformed by the renewing power of His Word. Examine yourself to see if you are so intimately familiar with Scripture that you are sure that what you are about to do does not violate the Law of God. It is only through a constant diet of God's Word that we will know His good and perfect will.

However, do not forget that having a mere head knowledge of Scripture will lead to a cold orthodoxy if it is not accompanied with charitable love (Rev 2:2-5). That is exactly why Paul ties together our minds being transformed with how we ought to be presenting ourselves as living sacrifices. We should be continually denying ourselves to the point of death (Luke 9:23; Phil 2:5-11), giving ourselves wholly to God, so as to put aside our desires, and crawling upon that alter before the Almighty and allowing Him to slay us, so that it is no longer I that live, but Christ in me (Gal 2:20) who works and accomplishes His will through me, so that all the glory may be His and His alone.

t always disgusts me when I see the History Channel air its specials on the Apocrypha and how it makes false assertions that the Bible was somehow just tossed together carelessly by self righteous men with agendas, who supposedly decided to leave out some books which are just as valid and true as the ones that were canonized. In reality the books found in the Bible (not the Catholic "Bible" or Jehovah Witness "Bible") are the very mind and words of God, spoken through Jesus and elect men for the purpose of being recorded and given to us in order that we may have a true knowledge of God and His counsel.

2 Peter 1:20-21
"But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

Peter is pointing out something that is so important, so imperative, so vital that he says we ought to know this before anything else. The importance of this is shown in the Greek which carries a meaning of something being chief...holding much honor, and being the first in a procession of many things. This essential thing is that all Scripture is absolute, direct revelation from God Himself, it is supremely divine in origin, and not at all derived by an act of human will. Paul echos this same sentiment in 2 Timothy 3:16 when he says that "all Scripture is God breathed." To really soak this in and meditate on this is utterly mind blowing. Many Christians will call the Bible the Word of God, but they do not at all live as if they truly believe that statement. Take Genesis 1 for example. How many Christians actually believe in a literal 6 day Creation? Instead of taking God at His word, they try to harmonize the theories of man with the Word of God, consequently, claiming that Scripture doesn't really mean what it says. 'How can we argue with science' is the cry of modern man?! "Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar" (Rom 3:4). 'That's archaic!' some may say...while at the same time it is written, "For, 'ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER' And this is the word which was preached to you" (1 Pet 1:24-25)

So it really comes down to a question you have to ask yourself in your heart of hearts, which is, do you really believe what Peter is saying here? It is so monumentally crucial that we do believe Scripture, if we profess to be a Christian, because our faith completely hinges on it. When I say believe, I mean that we believe every single jot and tittle because, either the Bible is the Word of God or it is not. If it is not, then why even bother with it at all? It is foolish to look at the Bible as merely a loose guide of morality, because that is not what Scripture claims to be. It claims to be the very Word of God, the revelation about Christ, who alone brings Salvation. Scripture claims to be living and active, able to awaken the sinner from death and bring him into the light and life of God. Do not make the mistake of trivializing the Bible into some glorified, Confucius type book. It claims to be so much more than that. Now, since it does, we have to make the decision to believe it, or we must discard it. "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).

Jesus was clear when He said that we can not be a slave to two Masters, (Luke 16:13) and since God's name is Jealous (Ex 34:14) He will not tolerate us splitting our allegiance, but demands that if we are truly His, that we must bow the knee of submission (Psalm 95:6) before Him alone. Who are we to pick and choose what certain doctrines we like or what we want to believe from God's Word? If we attempt such things, we have fallen into the same trap as Eve, thinking we are like God and able to discern between good from evil. How can a professing believer think only some parts of the Bible are trustworthy? Is Almighty God only partially powerful, partially knowledgeable and partially faithful? Do you then think you are only partially saved? Scripture affirms its sufficiency, and God can not lie, so then, professing Christians ought to obey the direct command "to pay attention {to the Word of God} as to a lamp shining in a dark place" that is why Peter is telling us how important it is that we realize the divine origin of the Scriptures, so that we can completely and totally rely on it in our lives to guide us through this dark world. This is why Jesus said"do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher", it's not that a child in school can't call his teacher a teacher, but we are not to set anyone up, or honor anyone in our lives as having the authority to teach us on life issues besides Christ and His Word.

It is written that "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3) so a Christian ought not to trust God in some issues of life, only to turn around and look to man's wisdom in cults, self help books, 12 step programs, psychology or any other "lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor 10:5). We either follow Christ with a whole heart or we are rebellious, there can be no duality. Either God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness or this infinite omnipotent, omniscient God did not foresee that we would end up needing further teaching in a certain area of life, thus lying to us when He said that EVERYTHING has been given to us that we need in this life.

Do we honestly think that we as humans have come upon something that is profitable through the accumulation of our knowledge that God did not know or had overlooked or did not include in His Word? If that is the case, what are you then saying about God? Is that not implying that He is not omniscient? We as Christians must be completely and totally devoted to God (Mark 12:30) and we can not truly know Him apart from His Word. A split heart is as lifeless (and useless) before God as the small child would have been who was taken before Solomon had he been cut in two. This is why throughout the entire book of 2 Peter, while Peter is warning of false teachers, he continual points to growing in a "true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" and in the midst of telling us that over and over, then points to the total importance of knowing that Scripture is God breathed.

So, looking back at our original verse, Peter says that Scripture is not up for debate when it comes to interpretation, because ultimately there is only One Author, so there are no contradictions found in Scripture. If it is read historically, literally, and grammatically it harmonizes together perfectly...error only comes into play when the reader is not looking to see what Scripture truly says, but looking to fit Scripture around their beliefs, alagorizing or spiritualizing the text. For times sake I won't go to far into this, I will save that for a later blog, but I would recommend reading some books by some very solid teachers on proper hermeneutics. Not only does Peter point out that there is One Author in saying that Scripture is not a matter of one's interpretation, but he really solidifies that fact by stating that Scripture never came about by an act of human will. He is really saying the same thing twice in two different ways to make sure that no one misses the truth that Scripture is divine in origin. The Holy Spirit caused men to write what was written. That is how Paul can say "all Scripture is God breathed", and also why Paul says, "For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." Paul not only affirms that the Word of God is the very mind and words of God, but also that it had absolutely nothing to do with an act of human will.

Now, when you take into account that 2 Peter is written as a warning against false teachers, and look at it knowing that, you see certain patterns. Peter reestablishes foundational truths to the Christian faith that false teachers continually attack. Peter points to the truth of the trinity, election, the divinity of Jesus, that true faith produces good works, and the sufficiency and divine nature of Scripture. This is so important to know, because it is under attack today. Those in the emergent Church deny absolute truth, and the divine nature of Scripture. Others not so blatantly turn their congregations away from the Word of God and onto various best selling books. Today is judgment day, judge your own heart and judge it rightly (1 Cor 11:31). Are you a follower of Christ? Do you believe Scripture to be the Word of God? If you are and you do put aside everything else and be like Job who said "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." (Job 23:12) and learn the lesson that God has repeatedly tried to teach us, that "MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD." (Duet 8:3; Matt 4:4) The Creator has written a book, and we claim to be His followers, shouldn't we be intimately familiar with everything our Creator and our Redeemer has to say?

n earlier posts I have mentioned Joel Osteen (here and here) and how he does not, at all, even come close to holding to anything that could even be remotely confused with the teaching of sound doctrine. Joel's motivational uplifting self-esteem filled messages resemble Oprah, Dr. Phil & Tony Robbins instead of the Apostles Paul and Peter. His teaching is completely and totally void of any biblical truths to the point of being flat out heretical. This idea of the Purpose Driven Church is market and fad driven, and there are many in the spot light who point to the size of their Churches as proof that they are doing God's work. How on earth could this be an accurate way to determine if God is leading them when Jesus Himself said that many will travel the broad road of destruction but few will enter by the narrow gate which leads to life (Matt 7:13-14). Are we to look at the success of the various cults and think that God has put His blessing on them? The fact of the matter is that a true Calvinist (which would actually be a biblicist...is that even a word?) cannot look at Church growth as a gauge of God's approval because Scripture is crystal clear...God is sovereign.

Rick Warren arrogantly and wrongly says that given enough time he can make anyone believe in God, but since Scripture, time and time again, reaffirms the fact that we are "called", and clearly states that we did not choose the Lord, but He has chosen us (John 15:16), it is then apparent that the Church grows not by the will and craftiness of man but by supernatural means, more specifically, by the will and election of God, which means that the number of those that will be saved will not fall short by even one soul. Acts 2:39 shows us how God will build His Church through divine selection.

"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."

Over the next 3 blogs we will look at the various biblical elements of true Church growth...

-They spoke the Word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31)

Hebrews 4:12
"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

The living and enduring Word of God is the instrument by which God causes a sinner to be born again (1 Pet 1:23), that is why it is paramount that it, and it alone, is preached.

Romans 10:14
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Peter knew this to be true and that is why he preached from the Word of God at Pentecost. In chapter 2 of Acts Peter read from the Scriptures and then expounded on what those truths meant. Today's Church of the tares claims that the Bible is outdated and archaic, even sometimes going as far as to say it is human in origin, and that it is no longer relevant to today's world and problems. They set it aside so as to teach human wisdom from books not inspired by the Holy Spirit. This produces a so-called believer without roots, whose faith has no foundation and will eventually die off because the Scriptures are evident that Christ is the Chief Cornerstone of true faith and the Apostles and Prophets laid the foundation upon which we are to build our faith. If a Pastor fails to bring sound, healthy doctrine, make no mistake, he can never build anyone up in the faith, no matter how "moral" the person may seem externally (Matt 13:3-9, 18-23; Matt 21:18-19; cf. 1 Cor 3:10-11; Eph 2:19-21) since that person lacks a foundation. They cannot then be built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood so as to be acceptable to God (1 Pet 2:5). After Peter delivered the Word of God accompanied with exegetical teaching, we see the effect that God brings about within the heart of sinful man.

Acts 2:37-38
"Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?' Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Notice how this ties perfectly into what the writer of Hebrews said? The Word of God pierces the heart and convicts the soul, and that is why strictly teaching the Word is such a necessary part of Church. Also take note of what Peter says to them when they inquire of him what they should do...Peter doesn't pull a Joel Osteen and tell them to hold their heads up high, that God loves them no matter what and that they should be proud of themselves because they are from royal stock, Peter tells them to repent. As I mentioned in my last post, the people who are citizens of heaven are those who realize their spiritual bankruptcy and look to Christ alone to save them. Contrary to what Rick Warren claims in "The Purpose Driven Life," saying some quick little prayer will not save you, neither will raising your hand at some alter call. Turning from your sin and calling out to Christ as your Savior and submitting to Him as Lord is the one and only thing that leads to Salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Matt 7:21-27; Luke 4:46-49). Instead of giving them some felt needs message, Peter went on exhorting these men toward repentance (vs. 40) and God used that to grow His Church (vs. 41). Continue down Acts 2 and you will see that "they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (vs. 42) which lead to "the Lord...adding to their number day by day those who were being saved" (vs. 47). The Apostles had a total disdain for any sort of contextualization (they were not at all in the least bit concerned with fads, trends or styles relating to clothes or music) but the message transcended across all social barriers, whether it was age, racial or cultural...it is written that "they had all things in common" (Acts 2:44) and "were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32). It is so important to remember at this time in the first century people were totally divided by their cultures (so much more so than now), the Jews had nothing to do with the Greeks...knowing this should help us deeply appreciate the supreme power that God's Word has to break down such long standing boundaries and to unite us as one in Christ (Phil 2:2; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Gal 3:27-28). That is why it is so sad when one of the first questions or comments I always hear young people say about Church is whether the music is modern or not. Church is not about you being entertained with the latest style of music but about coming before the Lord in worship. When I first started attending Church, the style of music I enjoyed was drastically different from the old hymns we sung during the gathering of the assembly, but I loved them regardless because they were rich with theological truth which glorifed God. Those old hymns are packed with truth from Scripture so as to teach even during the musical part of the service. Everything in a Church service should be pointing to Christ and to His Word.

This is exactly why Churches should not be teaching or preaching from anything other than the Word of God. It is dangerous and rebellious to appeal to anything innate to people’s falleness (is that a word?). The message that is preached must be alien, it must be divine, it must be God's very mouth and mind...nothing else brings eternal life.