The Religious Buffet Line

Today's society is one that claims tolerance and co-existence. This mentality has seeped into the church in a big way. We have said that for the sake of "co-existence" we will claim the doctrine of humility and call all religions good. After all if we are truly humble then how can any of us claim that we know absolute truth. Under this doctrine of humility we allow ourselves to treat all religions as a buffet line so that we can take the parts we like from varying religions. In the mainline Protestant/Evangelical religion some have taken the Bible and carved it up so that all that is intolerable, all that may be offensive and all that may cause others to be convicted by their sin, is taken out of our so-called faith.

I know I cannot escape the following verses when it comes to God, Jesus and the Bible and for that reason I do claim to know absolute truth.

"All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies." Psalm 25:10

"Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth." Psalm 31:5

"For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!" Psalm 117:2

"The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." Psalm 119:160

"For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:17

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6

"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:17

"because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel" Colossians 1:5

"In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures." James 1:18

The above are only a few verses in scripture that testify to 1) God being the truth; 2) Jesus being the truth; and 3) Scripture being the truth because they are the words of God. So for me is there absolute truth? Absolutely, scripture tells me so.

One argument that is made by buffet line Christians and that is that Jesus is a way and not the only way. Well look at John 14:6 above. Jesus says clearly that He is the way and that no one gets to heaven except through Him. I do believe that makes His statement absolute. This is not a verse we can leave behind as we pass through the buffet of religions. Christianity is not part of the buffet line, it is the meal.

Another argument seems be the humility argument. The one that says that if I were truly humble I would see that there are many ways to heaven and my way is only one. Well true humility is humbling yourself before an almighty God, realizing that you are the created being and He is the Creator. It is actually prideful of us when we choose the buffet line in opposition to the one true God and the one way. True humility is not found through self-actualization or relying on your own understanding to find out what is truth, it is the belief in one true God and then coming into submission and obedience to that one true God.

I just want to close this post with one verse, " For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Romans 1:25.

To Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

I say that because you did not leave your name when you made your comment yesterday on my blog. I normally do not respond to anonymous responses because they are usually drive by commenter's. People who leave their two cents but really have no intention of discussing the article they have commented on. You commented on the "Coexist" bumper sticker and that movement in particular when the article you commented on was on the singularity of truth. You say that we "coexist" so that we all will meet in heaven when the reality of that statement is just the opposite. We accept coexistence so that we do not have to believe in an absolute truth.

Your comment proves my point out to a tee. Our post modern culture has taken us to the point where we believe the parts of differing religions we want to believe so that we are not convicted of our sin. Anonymous, I understand that you feel that by not upsetting anybody due to their religious beliefs you are right in line with a God that loves all of us. That reality of that statement is that it is only half true. God, the one true God, is also a God of wrath. He is a God that demands payment for our sins. Since none of us are perfect and will never reach perfection He gave us the sacrifice He required in Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, yours and mine, He satisfied the payment that was required by God. When Jesus rose from the dead He conquered death so that we may have eternal life.

Please understand that their is only one way to heaven and that is through full repentance by us that we are sinners requiring a Savior and that we believe that Jesus....not Budah, Jesus.....not the Islamic Allah, Jesus.....not how good you of a person you are, but belief in Jesus and in Him alone will gain you entrance into heaven. Understand that to believe that the coexistence of religions as a way to gain heaven will only gain you an eternity in hell.

Anonymous it is my prayer that you would understand that there is a singular truth and that the only way to heaven. For the record my desire is to see you in heaven too so if you happen to come back across this blog,please comment and please feel free to leave your name because true Christianity will love you and desire you to have what all believers have in Jesus Christ.

Training Your Children By Using Proverbs

Over the summer our college group will be going through a series on "Practicing Proverbs". My thought behind this series was to train our college students in the use of Proverbs. Proverbs is a book full of Wisdom on varying different topics. I hope and pray that this is as much of a blessing to the students as this study has already been to me.

As I started studying for this series I re-read a book I truly love, "Practicing Proverbs" by Richard Mayhue. This book lays out how to utilize proverbs to combat situations that we encounter daily in our lives. This book also has taken the topics that Proverbs talks about and gives references to which proverbs speak into which situation. This is a great training tool as well as a great study tool.

As I went through this book his time the text that grabbed me was the one on training your children through the use of Proverbs. Mayhue sites that these 10 principles came out "Successful Christian Parenting" by John MacArthur.

Proverbs 1:7;9:10 – Teach your children to fear the Lord.

Proverbs 4:23 – Teach your children to guard their mind

Proverbs 1:8 – Teach your children to obey their parents

Proverbs 13:20 – Teach your children how to select their friends

Proverbs 2:16-19;5:3-5 – Teach your children to control their lusts

Proverbs 5:15-20 – Teach your children to enjoy their spouses

Proverbs 4:24 – Teach your children to watch their words

Proverbs 6:6-8 – Teach your children to manage their money

Proverbs 3:27-29 – Teach your children to love their neighbors

When Solomon wrote Proverbs he was writing them from a father to their sons. These Proverbs were written for the purpose of instructing our children in the way they should go. We as parents should be echoing the following sentiments of Solomon:

"Hear, {O} sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding, For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live;" Proverbs 4:1-4

I pray that we all as Christian parents would desire our children to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Let us all train our kids in the Proverbs.

Impact Your World

This morning as I was going through my morning routine I came across this article at CNN.com titled "Impact Your World". As a believer I was curious as to how a secular news site would instruct people impact their world. If it wasn't so early in the morning I probably would have guessed on my own, but I didn't. As the article came up it spoke of different organizations we can support that are going out and helping countries that are in need, like Myanmar. This is a good thing, I really don't want to criticize this method of assistance, but if you are a believer what are you doing to impact your world?

That is the question that nearly floored me this morning. Lately I have been struggling with the question, "Am I impacting my world or community......for Christ?" I think that we as believers should ask ourselves this question often. Thew question does not become is it better to help the cyclone victims of Myanmar or the beleaguered people of the United States that are currently struggling with gas prices, food and the possibility of losing their house. The question is am I doing anything? Providing people in need with the necessities of life is an open door to give them the necessity for eternal life.

Some of you as you read this are probably like me, asking yourself the following question: "How can I help, I have a full time job and a family. I have no time to give." The thing that I have come to realize is that we all have a missionary field and it is the one we live in everyday. Do you have co-workers? Do they know Christ? How about your neighbors, have you shared your faith with them? Listen believer I'm not saying to beat your co-workers over he head with scripture, but I am saying are you looking for the open doors God gives you?

Yesterday I read a friend's blog and he had written an article about how allowed fear to paralyze him when the Lord opened the door for him to share the Gospel. I believe that his blog describes us on most occasions that the open door comes. We are afraid of looking like freaks or fundamentalists or just plain religious. We put our own pride before our ability to share the best gift we have ever received with someone. On Monday I had to give my boss a Seminary referral sheet for him to fill out. I did not know how my boss was going to react so I was a bit afraid. When he took the evaluation and explained my intentions he began to ask questions about the bible and why I felt it was important to have this type of training. Open Door! For the next half hour I proceeded to explain the Gospel to him and I explained how my love for God and scripture had grown to the point where I felt I needed to educate myself so that I could teach, preach and train others. It was an opportunity that I did not expect to have, I'm glad the Lord gave me the courage not to miss it.

So how can we impact our world believer? First pray for it and second share the love of our Lord and the salvation we have through the cross. Call those around you to repentance and invite them to church with you. Be a living example of Christ's love.

Howto Combat Spiritual Fatality Syndrome (Pt. 2)

In my last blog I spoke of one of many causes of Spiritual Fatality Syndrome (SFS), Anxiety. This is not the only cause, but is one of the most common in the evangelical church today. As I meet with college students I began to see that they have anxiety over tests, grades, life after school and relationships. All these can, if left unchecked the beginning of the road to SFS. In adults we see it often with finances, marriage issues, children and a lot of times the rampant sin in our culture. In the next few blogs I am going to give you a couple of ways to build up your immune system against SFS.

Today we can take a look at "Reflecting on the Promises of God". A great way to inoculate yourself against SFS is to go through scripture and remind yourself of the promises of God and look at how He fulfilled them.

Ps. 89:3-4 “You have said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 'I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.'" Selah” This promise we can glory in with the Psalmist, because God did advance Davids line forever and that throne is the one Christ will sit on forever. God promised David that an eternal kingdom would come through his bloodlines and He fulfilled that with Jesus. So what can we glory in? We glory in the fact that God makes promises that are to be fulfilled generations in the future and then arranges lives and events so that Jesus would be born with the right bloodlines. Jesus is also the one that resides on an eternal thrown and because of this promise we have an eternal King that has resided with us and has experienced exactly what we have experienced.

2 Peter 1:3-4 “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” Here is the promise that we have in Christ. This is the promise that through Christ's sacrifice we have been forgiven of our sins and share in His divinity. This is the promise that we have a future inheritance in Christ. We, through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, have a future in which we will reign with Him in heaven. What joy we have in that. If you are a believer, can you not joy in this?

Rom. 15:8 “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,” Christ fulfilled Gods promise that He would send a perfect sacrifice for His people. Christ became our servant so that He could show that God did not lie when He promised that He would send us a Savior. The part that amazes me is that Christ humbled Himself to come down here to be a servant to us so that I could spend eternity with Him.


2 Cor. 1:20 “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” What an awesome reminder that all of His promises find their "yes" in Him. Hopefully if you are a believer you, like Paul, utter a hearty amen when remembering that our God fulfills all His promises.

Titus 1:1-2 “in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” Lastly, one of my favorite verses on God. We have eternal life because His promises have been fulfilled. Why? Because He never lies! Awesome. This is a great reminder to comfort in Him and not men. Men lie, God does not! Glory in that.


Hopefully with inoculation shot one you can find glory in God and through that fight SFS.

How To Combat Spiritual Fatality Syndrome (Part 1)

A while back I taught a lesson to the college group at Placerita Baptist Church on Spiritual Fatality Syndrome. Spiritual Fatality Syndrome, or SFS as I like to call it, grips most Christians and renders them ineffective in the Christian race (Heb. 12:1). SFS can be diagnosed fairly simply. When you see a believer that is so encumbered by things like anxiousness, fear of man, spiritual inadequecy or the feeling that their sin is so bad that they could never be forgiven, they have Spiritual Fatality Syndrome.

Why is it called Spiritual Fatality Syndrome? The reason is simple. When you have believers that are rendered of no use to the kingdom because of their encumbrances they experience a slow spiritual death. This hits all age brackets and sees no boundaries.

When I spoke to the college group I gave them 5 ways to battle this, the first was "Be Anxious for Nothing". We took a look at the following verses as a way to build up our immunity against Anxiousness and Fear of Men.

Ps. 127:2 “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” So often we lose sleep when we are anxious for things to happen in our lives. We are anxious that things may go bad or that we may not be able to handle what life throws our way. The Psalmist says here have faith in God. If you rest in Him then you will have good sleep. Anxiousness and fear of man stem from a lack of faith. Believe that He gives you rest and He will give you rest.

Isa. 35:4 “Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." When trials seem so hard that you can not get out from under them remember that God, when relied upon will come to your rescue. When we believe that God is powerful enough to save us out of all situations we will be blessed.

1 Cor. 7:32-34 “I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. (33) But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, (34) and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.” Paul addresses some of the anxieties we could have and goes on in 1 Corinthians to show us that we need not be anxious for these things. If we are in prayer and in the scripture and our heart is truly fixed on the Author of Life, then we will be in the Lords will and we will be doing what He desires us to do. The key here is having the right focus. We must focus on God and not the things that encompass us.

Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” So what is the best way to fight anxiousness? Through prayer and supplication. Come into perfect obedience to God, by submitting to His authority and He will comfort us. When we pray we ought to asking him to strengthen us from our anxious hearts and to comfort us our time of fear. We should also pray that the Lord would give us the faith we need to run our race effectively.

Now these are just a few verses. There are more that address anxiousness like Jer. 17:8, Matt. 6:25-34, Luke 10:41 and Luke 12:22-26. Ultimately we need to have faith and that pointed out beautifully in Matt. 6:25-34. Always remember the lilies, the birds and the grass of the field. As pointed out in Matt. 6, if God takes care of those things why would He not take care of you believer? This reminder keeps me from being anxious and I hope it does the same for you.