Wade's Thoughts

John 1:37-42

Wade Rials — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:05:36 +0000

37 The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to Him, ” Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are You staying?”
39 “Come and you’ll see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about 10 in the morning.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which means “Anointed One”), 42 and he brought [Simon] to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, He said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which means “Rock”).

What are you looking for? This most basic question, has profound implications. The answer to this question will eternally change your life. Jesus may be asking that question of you right now. Are you looking for something to hold on to? Are you looking for a guide to help you walk through life? Are you looking for a sage to give you wisdom? Are you looking for a friend to stand by you through thick and thin? Jesus is the answer to all these, but he is so much more. Jesus is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world. This truth is the pillar upon which the entire New Testament in hinged upon. I pray that you know him in this way. In the early stages, the disciples did not fully comprehend the full aspect of Jesus’ message.

The disciples answer them in way that in no way would have been considered irreverent. In 21st century speech, they pay him his due. They are aware that there is something different about him. He speaks and teaches as one with authority unlike anything they have ever seen before. They initially describe him as teacher, but the emphasis of this verse should be placed on their desire to spend time with him. Let me encourage you, if you are a true believer in Christ you will have a desire to spend time with him. I’m not going to paint you a false picture here and tell you that this desire will never be challenged. Satan knows exactly what he is doing. He will tempt you with things that are so appealing and seem so pleasurable that you will desire these things rather than Christ. Your sinful nature will lead you to focus on yourself. I will tell you that as a child of God, the Spirit of God that lives within you will compel you to spend time with Jesus. He will do that in many ways, some of them not so fun, but he will compel you nonetheless.

I love this passage because within this passage we are able to see the greatest method of discipleship; life on life. The disciples question Jesus as to where he is staying, the reason for this is that they desire to spend more time with him and learn from him. Jesus responds by inviting the men to walk with him. He invites them to come and hang out and through the relationship he will build with them, they will learn who he is and what he has come for. Ultimately, he will commission these men to go out in his name and spread the Gospel. Their ministry will rechart the course of history.

What was your first response when you were redeemed from your sin? Hopefully it was an emotion of celebration. I also believe that with your new-found freedom in Christ should come a compulsion to tell your story. Why has it become so difficult for us to share our faith? I have a couple of explanations. First, I think far too many believers have religion without a relationship. They have a set of propositional facts that they believe, but no King that they report to. That is a dangerous place to be. I hope that isn’t you. Second, I think too many of us believe that we have to have everything right to share our story. This is completely false. The greatest testimony you have is yours. Tell it! Let others know what God is doing in your life. Thirdly, I think many of us don’t have a story to tell. We have been saved from our sin, but we don’t have anything beyond that. We are immature babes in our faith. Grow up!

Notice that Andrew immediately goes and tells his brother about what he has found. I also would call to your attention the change in designation that Andrew uses. He doesn’t call Jesus a teacher, he calls him Messiah. This is profound change. After spending time with Christ, Andrew is certain that he has met the one that the Old Testament foreshadows. He has met “The Anointed One.” Jesus is the Messiah!

Notice how this passage ends. Jesus calls Simon and says you will be known as “Cephas.” This is an Aramaic term which means “Rock.” Protestants and Catholics disagree as to the meaning of this and for our purpose we won’t discuss that here because we will cover it later in our study. It was common in the Old Testament that God would give a new name to an individual to describe his calling so to speak. Jesus does exactly this with Peter. This word play will play a significant role later in the story.

God does the same for each of us. When we are called to him and are saved by faith, we are given a new identity. We are no longer children of this world with its sinful depravity and eternal destination of hell which lay ahead. We are now sons of God. We are children of the King. We are rightful heirs to the throne. We are citizens of heaven. Those definers should lead all of us to live in such a way that we give credibility to the name we bear. Does your life do that?

John 1:29-36

Wade Rials — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:37:39 +0000

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. 33 I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. ‘ 34 I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”
35 Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

In one sentence, the entire Biblical narrative is brought into focus. John the Baptist summarizes the whole Bible in this one sentence. Behold Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. As was mentioned yesterday, a working understanding of the Old Testament is tantamount to understanding the New Testament. In this sentence, it is imperative that you understand the Jewish sacrificial system and part that the sacrificial lamb played in the story. Every year the High Priest would offer a sacrifice for forgiveness, along with the other sacrifices being offered in the city, to bring atonement. It is said that the brooks and streams around Jerusalem would flow red with blood during this time. Atonement is not pretty, it is bloody and this comment by John the Baptist prepares the reader for the story to come.

In our day, the Gospel has been sanitized. We have cleaned it up so that it is safe and non-offensive. That is not the method the Biblical writers used. The Gospel of Jesus is messy. It is bloody. It is agonizing and painful. One must remember that Jesus didn’t come to perform in a play off Broadway; he came to die and pay the penalty of our sins. In order for our sins to be forgiven, blood had to be shed. When John the Baptist proclaims the coming of the Lamb of God, there is great irony in the claim. It is a claim of exaltation, but that exaltation will come through the torture of Calvary. The most beautiful story of all time is too graphic to even begin to comprehend.

John the Baptist is careful to point out facts. He is not mistaken. God the Father has revealed to John the one that he is looking for. The dove is a physical symbol of God’s pleasure in his son as well as his choosing of Jesus for his special anointing. There is a powerful word play used his which gives further clarification for the uniqueness of Christ. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God would descend on God’s Anointed to allow them to perform special functions. The Prophets indicate that when Messiah comes, the Spirit will be with him forever. This is cool! In this text, the Scripture says that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and “rested.” This is special language which implies with an emphatic notation that Jesus is the one the Prophets spoke of. He is the Messiah!

We also are now introduced to a theme which will emerge in John’s Gospel. Jesus brings a different baptism; the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As a New Testament believer, you and I are recipients of this Baptism. When you come to know Christ and trust him through faith, you undergo a supernatural conversion and with that conversion you are sealed for eternity. This seal is the Spirit of God. He doesn’t simply place a mark on you to show ownership; rather he takes up residence in your heart and claims ownership. You are no longer your own. You are bought with a price and this price is the precious blood of Christ. You are not called to live a life of religion, you are called to live a life of relationship; a restored relationship with the God of the universe. This relationship only occurs through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You are now restored to a real genuine relationship with the God of the universe. That is cool!

There is a powerful doctrinal truth to be grasped in this baptism. You and I now have the ability to overcome temptation. We have no power in our strength and flesh, but through the Spirit that resides in us, we now can overcome Satan. The rest of our lives on this earth will be a battle to allow the Spirit of God to have control. You will never receive more of the Holy Spirit than you have the day you come to know Christ in a saving way, but as you learn to relinquish control of your life to him, the Spirit of God can have more of you. I pray that as you grow in your understanding of God, you also will grow in your surrender to him. A knowledge of God without surrender to God is hypocrisy! I pray we will be real believers!

John 1:19-28

Wade Rials — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:01:19 +0000

19 This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”20 He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.” 21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”"I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. 22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord —just as Isaiah the prophet said.”24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with [r] water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know [Him]. 27 He is the One coming after me, [s] whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” 28 All this happened in Bethany [t] across the Jordan, [u] where John was baptizing.

John the Baptist is an amazing man. He is someone that all of us would do well to emulate. Imagine that everyone is flocking to you. They think there is something special about you. You have a gift, an ability that few have ever seen, charisma that attracts and compels people to you, and with this gift comes the comments; comments that you are somebody special, maybe even a prophet or something. What would you do? All of us know the easy answer, the Sunday School answer, but real life is played in the real world and not in Sunday School with all its built in protection. Would you be willing to deflect the praise and point others to the truth of Jesus Christ or would you receive it and feed the beast within. The beast that craves to be liked and revered. The beast that like Adam in the Garden wants to be “like God.” We would do well to listen and learn from John the Baptist.

Allow me to lay out a challenge to all that are reading this. We as a generation of Christians are Biblically illiterate. We don’t know the Scriptures and it shows when we read passages that refer back to the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a critical part of our faith. It sets the stage for the coming of Christ and in knowing it we see the full picture of Jesus and understand his story completely. In order to understand John the Baptist in this passage you must understand that he is pointing back to the Old Testament and referring others to see the Light of Christ in the Old Testament. When pushed and ultimately challenged for a response, John the Baptist says he is simply the “flashlight” pointing to Jesus. In many ways that is what we all are.

In Verses 26 and 27 we see John performing baptism after baptism. This is an amazing passage. John the Baptist is baptizing people who come in repentance. He is quick to point out that his baptism is altogether different than the baptism that Christ will bring. We will spend more time in the upcoming days defining that baptism.

What can we learn from these verses? No matter what platform you have, it is given to you by Christ! It is given to you so that you can point others to him! Your life is his. We will spend more time discussing this in the near future.

John 1:15-19

Wade Rials — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:07:24 +0000

15 (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed,
“This was the One of whom I said,
‘The One coming after me has surpassed me,
because He existed before me. ‘ “)
16 Indeed, we have all received grace after grace
from His fullness,
17 for although the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God.
The One and Only Son
the One who is at the Father’s side
He has revealed Him.

Once again, John reminds the people of his true purpose. He is the humble servant of Christ, nothing more and nothing less. It is important for all of us to remember this truth. As our lives progress and we see success in different areas it is extremely easy to fall into the trap of thinking more of ourselves than we should. As a pastor it is easy to allow my job description to distort my self-perception. I believe with all my heart that I have the greatest job in the world; I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything. My job also could easily lead me to think that I am more important than I truly am. That said, my responsibility is to be a herald of Christ. I want to point others to him, not myself. The same is true for you. No matter what your platform may be, remember that God gave you that platform to make him known. Everything we have is a gift and we are simply stewards of our lives and we each will give an account for how we manage everything God has blessed us with. John the Baptist is a great role model for the contemporary church.

Here’s an easy way to bring humility to your life. Anytime you begin to think more highly of yourself than you should, take a walk; to a cemetery! While there be reminded that one day you will die. It is an absolute certainty unless Jesus returns. No matter how much you might accomplish or how wealthy you may become you will die and nothing you have attained here in this world will go with you. Although that thought may seem somewhat sinister, you have been united with the eternal God of the universe through faith in Christ. You now have an eternal relationship that will endure the grave. You have been set free by the one who existed long before you did.

John the author emphatically reminds us of God’s grace. He uses a great transition to point us to God’s infinite love for you. By reminding us of God’s eternality, we are confronted with a doctrinal truth that forces us to see and confront our humanity and the limits that come along with it. We all are born with a condition that destines us for a life apart from God’s truth. Through Christ we are reunited with God and the chasm has been destroyed for all time. Jesus once and for all defeated death and the grave. Here’s the crazy part; that is only the beginning. At this point, I must stop and point out an unfortunate painful truth about the church in the 21st century.

I have met many Christians who have been introduced to Christ and for all apparent reasons one would assume they have surrendered their life to Christ. Week after week, month after month, year after year, they attend our services, go to our prayer meetings, hear our sermons, and go on our mission trips, but nothing changes. Why is that? If Jesus really is who he says he is and we really believe that his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and ultimate return really is true, we ought to be the most joyful people in the world, longing to tell our story. The real situation is that most Christians simply exist, waiting to be raptured or die so they can go to heaven. They don’t do anything with their life. They don’t make a difference for Christ’s sake! They don’t take the Gospel to a lost world! They don’t carry the banner of King Jesus to an unreached mountain and claim it for the King! They simply go to church, go to work, earn some money, go on vacation, do it again, then die. For Christ’s sake, don’t be this person!

Verse 16 is a powerful verse. Literally translated it means, “God has lavished his grace upon us!” He has poured his grace out all over us! How unfortunate it is that so few people ever really live up to all God desires to do in their life. It is God’s will for you to do great things for him. You don’t have to pray about that! You don’t have to wonder whether he wants you to make a difference. If you are his, you are called to an extraordinary life making him famous! Not only does he desire for you to live this way, he has given you everything you need to accomplish this task!

Jesus did not simply come to this world to get us to heaven. I know many people have heard this all their life. Just because you have heard something over and over does not make said statement true. Jesus did come to give us eternal life in heaven, but his ultimate purpose was to reunite us with himself. I would argue that it is this truth that makes heaven, heaven. It wouldn’t be heaven if God wasn’t there. We are allowed to see the Father because God the Son has revealed him to us through the supernatural power of God the Holy Spirit!

John 1:10-14

Wade Rials — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 01:47:43 +0000

10 He was in the world,
and the world was created through Him,
yet the world did not recognize Him.
11 He came to His own, [f]
and His own people [g] did not receive Him.
12 But to all who did receive Him,
He gave them the right to be children of God,
to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born,
not of blood,
or of the will of the flesh,
or of the will of man,
but of God.
14 The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

Imagine that you are a parent; you spend a tremendous amount of time investing in your children’s lives, making sure that they are provided for. You cover everything so that they have a wonderful life. You get them through school and get ready to send them off to college. It is a festive day, a day of celebration and joy with tears in your eyes you say goodbye and leave them at the dorm. You go home longing for the day you will see your child again and then the weekend finally arrives, the day your child comes home. He walks through the door your emotions are going nuts, he looks you in the eye…and he doesn’t remember you.

I know that the illustration breaks down at many levels, but for the purposes of understanding this passage, allow this illustration to paint a picture for you of the arrival of Christ. He created this world, all of it. He holds the molecules together which allow this world to exist and when he arrives on the scene, his creation doesn’t know him. He went to his own people, the people that have the great story that promise his coming. The people that claimed to be the chosen people, the people God has delivered on numerous occasions, but when he arrives they are too involved in trivial things to even notice his arrival. They miss the king. While the Jews were debating theology the King arrived on the scene and they didn’t notice!

Oh, how often these verses break my heart. I have met many people who sit in the pews year after year and hear the story of the Gospel, are confronted with their life without him, see him transform other’s lives, and yet they sit obstinately missing out on his gift. If you were to ask them they would have all the right answers, but their life bears no evidence that they have been in the King’s presence! He is right before them and they don’t see him. I pray that this isn’t you. I pray that you will be sensitive to the work of God in your life and won’t miss his invitation for you to have true intimate real fellowship with him. There is no worse tragedy in human history than to miss Jesus.

God’s grace never overrides one’s free will. He will never force you to do something against your will. Jesus freely comes to those who invite him in. Let me repeat that; Jesus always comes to those who invite him in. No matter what you have done, where you have been, who you were born to. There is nothing that scares Jesus away. If you invite him in he will freely come and pitch his tent and take residence in your heart. The crazy part is that not only will he come in he will give you a new identity. We all were born into sin, in Christ we are born into righteousness. He clothes us with his righteousness and makes us fellow heirs to his throne. We are rightful members of his kingdom; all it takes to be a part of his family is to receive him. Ask him to take over your life! Surrender your will to him. He desires to make you a child of God!

The new birth that we have as stated in verse 13 is not by our will. We did not and cannot earn it. There is nothing we can do to merit God’s favor. The harder we try the further away we become. Our will is to please ourselves and the more we try to please God our way the more distorted our view of the world becomes. Jesus takes upon himself the penalty and offers us a life that can only be explained by using the term new birth. In my opinion this is vital in understanding Christian faith. In order to properly asses who we are in Christ, God chooses to define it in terms of new birth. There is no other way to explain it. It is not behavior modification or works based! We must be born again. Everything we do will result in failure. Only God through his will can create a new identity. Praise the Lord for that! I know that I can’t fix myself. I am completely dead in my sin, as are you.
Finally, we reach a powerful concluding statement; I would encourage you to memorize this verse. Jesus came and dwelt among us. This is the Gospel.

The God we serve did not look down on creation and condemn it; he looked down on it and loved it. He loved it so much that he came to our world, wore our flesh, overcame our temptations, faced our pain, and died our death. Jesus loved you and me so much that he literally came to earth and pitched his tent among us! That’s the literal translation of this verse. He didn’t simply look at us with disdain, he looked at us with grace and came to where we are. This is the most amazing story ever told, a story that I will never get tired of telling. He who knew no sin, became sin so that we might have life! As we learn to comprehend the Gospel story, the story grows bigger and bigger! When the magnitude of the coming of Christ is understood, our life finally makes sense. We are God’s beloved! I know that is crazy to think about, but it is true nonetheless! You have heard the old cliché; when he was on the cross, I was on his mind! I would go further than that; I would state that when he was walking on the earth as the God/Man we were on his mind. His entire life is a story of redemption; our redemption! He became flesh and dwelt among us!

Let’s make some application; in light of what he has done for you, how committed are you to him? Have you surrendered everything or are you holding something back? He didn’t! He gave his life for you. One of my favorite songs out right now has some amazing lyrics that perfectly capture this theme; “he became sin who know no sin/that we might become his righteousness/he humbled himself and carried the cross!” That’s our King!

John 1:5-9

Wade Rials — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:35:48 +0000

5 That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man named John
who was sent from God.
7 He came as a witness
to testify about the light,
so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the light,
but he came to testify about the light.
9 The true light, who gives light to everyone,
was coming into the world.

It is critical for us to get this first principle; the world is not how God designed it. The world God created was perfect and without sin. Man walked in perfect unity with God. He (God) communicated with them freely without the barrier of sin. The failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden changed everything. Man now has a wall of separation between him and God. You and I are born into this condition. We are born without the ability to communicate with God. We are dead in our sins and have no ability to fix it. Into this predicament comes Jesus, he is the method of our redemption. He has come to bring light into darkness to restore what man has ruined. He is the Savior of the World.

John the Baptist plays a critical role in the early Gospel story. First he comes as the forerunner of Christ. His responsibility is to go before Jesus and proclaim him as the Messiah of Israel. This simply means he was to tell the people that the Messiah they were anticipating from Old Testament prophecy has arrived. As we delve further into the narrative, we will quickly learn that many were drawn to John the Baptist. He obviously was a gifted and charismatic leader. This is proven with the men that line up behind him willing to follow him.

Second, he serves as an example for all of us. We are called to proclaim God’s grace in the world in which we live. Our lives and mouths must tell the story of Jesus. Let me take a minute and correct some wrong thinking. I have heard the old saying that is often ascribed to St. Francis of Assisi which states, “Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words.” First off, it is incorrect; nowhere do we have evidence that he ever said this.

It also is Biblically incorrect. Our lives should and must reflect the image of Christ. This is not disputed, but we must always use words to preach the Gospel. We are the mouthpiece of God. We are responsible for every word we speak and every word we speak should be seasoned with the Gospel and used for the proclamation of the Gospel. I understand that is a high bar to set, but it is not for us to determine where the bar is set. God has already done that.

John the Baptist teaches us humility. Humility is a very difficult thing to explain and define. It is one of those things that you know it when you see it. Simply put, humility is understanding who we are in Christ, what we are created for, and ultimately, the source of power that allows us to do what we are created for. John the Baptist is a great example of this truth. He understood that he had a pivotal role in the arrival of Jesus. He went out in the power of God to proclaim the coming of the light into the world. I love the verse, “he came to testify about the light.” That was his job, to simply tell the truth about Jesus. That is what God has called each of us to do. We are to tell the truth about Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear it. All around you are people who are hurting and going through situations that are difficult for many of us to process and we have the truth that will set them free. Do you preach it? Do you proclaim it? Are you going before Christ pointing those you have contact with to the Light of Christ?

Verse 9 brings with it the fireworks. John came to proclaim the coming of the light. Keep this in mind; the Jewish people understood themselves as God’s chosen people. From Scripture, we are confident that it has always been God’s will for all nations to worship him, but it was the coming of Jesus Christ that exclaimed this truth. Jesus brings light to all people no matter what their ethnicity, background, socioeconomics, or anything else for that matter. Jesus brings the light to all without discretion and he still does. He didn’t come to give light to a scattered few, but to all. Here is the scary part; you are the means in which he will share his light. We are the tools God has chosen in his sovereignty to use to proclaim the message of Christ. That is tremendously scary!

Let’s finish this up with some application. Just like John the Baptist, each of us is called to proclaim Christ to a world in darkness. We do this in many ways. We do through the way we treat each other, outsiders, mean people, different people, even our family. We do it with how we approach our work and chores. God is interested in the small details because it is in the small details that others see the things that are important to us. We also are called to intentionally spread the Gospel by opening our mouths and telling others about what God has done in our life. You don’t have to be a scholar to share the Gospel, but you must have a story of what God has done in your life. Maybe that is the problem with so many so called “Christians” they have no story to tell because God has done nothing in their life. What about you? Has God been awesome in your life? If he has, go tell someone!

John 1:1-4

Wade Rials — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:40:45 +0000

All right guys, lets jump right in. I am so excited to be leading you on this journey together. This is an awesome study and I have no doubt that God is going to do great things through it. We will add some media as we get going so watch Facebook and Twitter. Stick to it and you will be amazed at the transformation you will see in your life. God blesses his word. It will radically alter your life. Without further ado, here we go.

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.
4 Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
5 That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it.

It is difficult for us to fathom this truth; God always has been. He is timeless. There has never been a point in time in which he didn’t exist. The Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the only eternal things in the universe. Everything else we know is created and has a point in time in which it came into existence. Everything has a point of origin, a point in time in which it started. Not so for our God! God created this world out of nothing and he created this world with a divine purpose and you play a part in the story! This world is not some cosmic accident. His purpose is to reveal himself to his creation through those he has redeemed. He is life, unfortunately the world has no desire for his light to manifest. The world would much rather live in darkness than face the light. The light of God forces all of us to recognize our limitations and weaknesses and see ourselves for who we really are; sinners.

Let me ask you a question; have you ever been a worship service and the preacher gets up to preach and as he delivers his message it feels as if he is speaking directly to you. As if somehow he knows your deepest darkest secrets and is focused on bringing you down. Every word he says hurts, every illustrations he uses is painful, and even his eyes seem to be directed entirely at you. Have you ever experienced this? I know I have. Here is a little inside secret about us preachers; very few preachers ever preach a message focused directly upon an individual. I am an expository preacher, which means I simply attempt to walk word for word through the text of the Bible and explain to the hearers in way that they understand. When this happens, you aren’t be called out by the preacher, you are being called out by God. When the Bible is properly preached something supernatural occurs, something we can’t explain, but can experience. There is power in the Word of God. There is a reason that God ordained preaching to be the vehicle for the proclamation of his eternal truth. It changes us and the way it changes us is “by getting all up in our grill.” That is God working and speaking to you. The purpose of hearing the word is to encounter Jesus. When you encounter Jesus, you encounter the “Light of Men.” Jesus is our light who destroys the darkness.

Now, let’s focus on verse 5. This is a pivotal verse in understanding spiritual warfare. You have heard it said many times in church that we are in a spiritual battle. I want to ask you a simple question, do you really believe that? I am convinced that most Christians don’t really believe that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. They seem to think that Christianity is just another religion full of statements that you should believe, but never fully comprehend the spiritual war that is going on “behind the scenes.” You must understand this truth; Satan desires to steal from God his glory. He will do anything to accomplish that task. Here is the beautiful part, he can’t! We are already on the winning side! We don’t have to wait until one day in the future to win, we already have victory. When Christ came into the world, Satan was well aware of who Jesus was. He threw everything at him to attempt to thwart his plan. He failed! Jesus lived a perfect life, died a perfect death, was perfectly raised from the dead, perfectly ascended into heaven, and one glorious day will perfectly return triumphantly! Notice that verse 5 states, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!” To use a line made famous by Charlie Sheen, “We are winning.”

On that note let me spend a few moments reflecting on the truth of what we have just learned and tie that up neatly in some life application. I know that right now everywhere you turn; the church is the butt of many jokes. So many people are so negative about the church and unfortunately, we deserve a lot of it. We have not lived up to the high calling of Christ Jesus. That said, the church is not going away! Jesus will never let his bride go! He will always love her, protect her and cherish her. He also will discipline her! When the light shines in the darkness, the darkness is not happy. Ungodly things are exposed. Sin is brought to the surface and we can’t hide. But when the light comes on, darkness is defeated. Our responsibility is to be the light of Jesus. God’s will for the world, is to have his name honored by radiating his light through us. We glorify Jesus, when our lives reflect him.

The problem with the reflection is that our struggle is to stay so close to him that his reflection is our reflection. When we distance ourselves from him through rebellion and sin, we no longer reflect his light; we reflect the darkness of our own image. I exhort you to let his light shine! Darkness will be overcome! Jesus has already won! His will now is for us to bring as many people to his team as possible before the game is over. What are you doing to share the message of Christ and shine his light in the darkness? As children we sang a cute little song, “This little light of mine/I’m gonna let it shine/This little light of mine/I’m gonna let it shine/Won’t let Satan puff it out/Hide it under a bushel No!/I’m gonna let it shine.” Are you shining for Jesus or is your light hidden away or blown out! Shine on! He is worth it.

Acts 29 and the Cooperative Program; A Response

Wade Rials — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:02:05 +0000

I was recently asked a question regarding an article I wrote for www.sbctoday.com. Here is my response concerning Acts 29 and Cooperative Program funds.
Mike,

First of all please excuse the delay in my response, I am a husband, dad of two little ones, and a pastor.

I appreciate the church and the leader that you speak of. I applaud him and know many like him. In response to your comments, with all due respect, you accuse me of a making a factual error. I stand by my comments that Acts 29 is not Southern Baptist and do not desire to be Southern Baptists. I hope to add clarification in this article.

In my humble opinion your argument commits the fallacy of the False Dilemma. You assert that because I don’t think that giving CP money to Acts 29 church planters is something that would be supported by the majority of Southern Baptists, I have minimized the umbrella of cooperation and partnership within the Southern Baptist Convention. This argument has been used ad nauseum and ultimately deflects from the issue at hand. Obviously, we don’t know each other, because if we did, you would know that many of my dearest friends are involved in the Acts 29 network, and we agree to disagree and still speak to each other. I respect them immensely and appreciate their commitment to the Gospel and the authority of Scripture. I celebrate the many who have been brought into the kingdom because of their ministry. I believe the umbrella is well large enough for all of us to partner and cooperate for the Gospel; I do not think Acts 29 church plants/planters should receive CP funding.

You state, “It’s time to stop trying to exclude people who disagree with us and work with us simply because we disagree on what we as Baptists have admitted are not core doctrinal issues (an most of what I’ve heard A29 accused of is inaccurate).” I must ardently disagree with you. I agree that many have misrepresented and stereotyped Acts 29. I have not. Please do me the intellectual courtesy of allowing my own thoughts to stand independently. These are their requirements found on the Acts 29 website. I can only conclude my assumptions based on their written criteria, and I do believe many of these issues are major.

http://www.acts29network.org/partnership/covenant/

_______________________________
Acts 29 Covenant

As an Acts 29 church, our elders covenant together according to the following:

We agree that our church will meet all biblical requirements for elders, including that our church will be led by a plurality of qualified male elders.

We are in agreement with the theological beliefs of Acts 29 as a Christian Evangelical Missional Reformed network as stated on our website.
We agree to be an active church planting church. This means that when we begin our public services and/or become a Full Member within Acts 29, we will give 10% of our internal tithes and offerings (not monies raised from outside the church) to church planting as follows:

In order to sustain the growth of the Network, 1% of our general income will be given consideration to contribute to the Acts 29 Foundation Fund. We recognize that this is a voluntary amount that can be decided at any point whether we will contribute or not. We understand that the monies given to the Foundation Fund will help fund Acts 29 International church planting, Boot Camp expenses and the annual Lead Pastors and Wives Retreat.

We will give primary funding consideration (of our remaining 9-10%) to Acts 29 approved church planters at the discretion of our local elders and take into consideration any denominational agreements and affiliations.
Furthermore, we agree to honor any agreement with a funding or sending Acts 29 church.

We acknowledge that we will be participating in the spirit and not the letter of this principle and that our elders will determine what will be the healthiest course of action for us to remain a multiplying church on mission in our context.

If we leave Acts 29 either of our own choice or for disciplinary reasons or we dissolve our church, we acknowledge that we will work with all of our funding donors, supporting churches and sending church to remain above reproach.

_______________________________________

There are so many issues here let me just give a few bullet points.

1. I have a problem with CP money supporting a church/church planter that because of their affiliation with an outside network has their church governing structure mandated. This is not the Southern Baptist way. We are autonomous local churches.

This church autonomy article applies to all arguments. As a side note, historically Southern Baptist churches have been predominantly congregationally governed.

2. I have a problem with CP money creating mandated “Reformed” churches. Would Acts 29 support me and allow me into their network with my “Molinist” paradigm. Turn it around, we would be giving money to church/church planters who are part of a network that would not allow fellowship to the majority of Southern Baptists.

3. I have a problem with CP money creating churches whose financial support could go to support “non- Southern Baptist church plants.

4. Personally, I feel that there is an attitude of anti-nomianism within components of the Acts 29 network and this greatly concerns me. I will grant this could be argued that this is dependent upon the individual, but I struggle with those that are seen as the leaders of this organization and their seemingly anti-nomian views on many issues.

5. Alcohol. Enough said. Beer brewing evangelistic meetings, really? I struggle to find any way to defend this.

6. From a practical perspective, I am afraid that the loophole created by the GCR task force for mega churches could come back to bite the Southern Baptist Convention. I know many leaders who will bypass NAMB giving and “designate” to other Great Commission Ministries within the Southern Baptist Convention because NAMB’s apparent support of the Acts 29 network. This loophole can be used by both sides and the result is still the same; a diminished starving CP. This greatly concerns me.

Mike, I hope you hear my heart. I love the SBC and desire that she would continue to be the greatest denomination in the world. By the way, I am sick of the negative, pessimistic, dire attitudes about the SBC. She has a great history and continues to journey forward. I was born a United Methodist, enough said. The SBC has many things to correct, but she also has a great deal to celebrate.

I am also frustrated that I am cornered, chastised, and mocked because I dare say anything about Acts 29. Once again, as stated in the original article, I am thankful for what God has done through their network and I believe that Southern Baptist’s have every right to affiliate and network where they choose, but when one receives denominational funds, the denomination that is funding can place limitations. The churches that fund said denomination have every right to express their feelings in these matters. I am convinced that if a vote was held by the people (with factual information) in the pews we both know what the results would be.

I will not attack anyone personally; this debate is over ideology not personality. We must be statesmen and not childish demagogues. I have no doubt that Acts 29 has done and continues to do great things for the Lord. Every autonomous local church pastor has every right to learn from and network with these men of God. Although, I disagree with some of their ideology, I do find that our desire for the Gospel’s spread creates opportunities for partnership. I also feel that the ideological/methodological differences are so wide that denominational funds should not support their network or plant churches/support church planters that by the church planter’s choice are governed by Acts 29’s paradigm rather than the Southern Baptist Way; complete local church autonomy.

Wade Rials — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:07:39 +0000

PHOENIX REFLECTIONS

Phoenix 2011 has come and gone. Only history will be able to judge this convention for Southern Baptists. As a young pastor, I am still learning what to expect at these events. I do know that we eat well. Without a pedigree within the Southern Baptist Convention, this young pastor has learned all things through experience. An honest evaluation will see very strong missional components that transpired in Phoenix 2011 as well as some not so lovely aspects. In this short article, I intend to outline a few of both concluded with a thought about the future.

Because I am a cynic and critic by nature, allow me to start with the ugly side of SBC life. (1) The conversations in the hallways don’t perfectly reflect the conversation in the main hall. Whether we choose to admit it or not, we are a divided group in many ways. Ideology has replaced mission and led to factions. These ideological factions are ardent in their beliefs and hold fast to their convictions. The question before is, are we willing to die on the hills of our particular ideology. Comically, I feel in many ways as a man pulled in many directions looking for home. As a recovering Calvinist, (still meeting with CA and going through the 5 step recovery program) I have dear friends who grow TULIP’s in their front yard. I truly love these guys and enjoy talking about their TULIP’s and do my best to get them to plant ROSES instead, but as one who no longer adheres to that hermeneutical paradigm I sometimes feel chastised and alienated by my friends when conversing with my new group of theological compadres. Take it for what it’s worth; people are watching who you talk with in the exhibit hall, and gossip then ensues. (2) Acts 29 is not going away. NAMB has some major decisions to make. I support Dr. Ezell and although I don’t fully comprehend the new initiative I intend to give him my cooperation. That being said, I and others like me are awaiting a definitive answer on the relationship with Acts 29. Before I am snowballed with email’s, I am not convinced that we have had that answer conclusively as of yet. Also, we need to have this conversation without the accusations of being “haters” as was so eloquently stated in a rap motion from the floor of the convention in Orlando. I admire many of the leaders of Acts 29 and I am thankful for the many that have been reached for King Jesus through them, but I don’t want CP money to support them, I do enough support of them by buying their books. They are not Southern Baptist and don’t want to be Southern Baptist and that is ok. (3) Sometimes the attitude of entity heads leads to a feeling of elitism to the “regulars” of the convention. Every duly elected messenger has every right to ask any question he feels led to ask within the boundaries of Christian charity. No one should be belittled for asking any question. (4) The reality of Twitter also showed a very ugly side to our convention. I watched many of the comments being “tweeted” and many were downright classless. We can and must do better. To quote my mom “Think before you press enter and tweet.” People are watching. Twitter is not and should not be a vehicle to say things one would never say face to face. (5) Christian Superstar worship is getting worse. I thought about asking a few guys to autograph my Bible.

Now for the positives! (1) Fred Luter! It’s a great day for Southern Baptists. This man of God is a blessing for our convention. I appreciate Danny Aiken’s nomination of him as 1st VP and I look forward to raising my ballot high in New Orleans to elect the first African American president of the SBC. (2) Tom Eliff. What a great man who relates to the local church pastor. I look forward to his leadership at IMB. (3) There was a definitive CP focus. This is a very encouraging trend. CP is our lifeblood and it must be strengthened, WE MUST NOT LOSE ON THIS; Kudos to all the leaders who used the platform to consistently promote CP. (4) I appreciate the emphasis on evangelism and world missions. It is this that God has used to make our convention what she is and this emphasis will be what carries us through these choppy waters. (5) New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is the best in the world. I had many options, but I am thankful for what I received at NOBTS! Of course I believe that everyone should go to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, but since we don’t have the room for that on campus yet, I am thankful that every Southern Baptist Seminary surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy and authority of God’s Word. (6) It was pivotal to see entity heads, denominational leaders, and state execs stand together as a sign of unity. In Orlando, I felt that the states were being attacked and as a leader who has great admiration for State Conventions, this did not sit well with me. The only way forward is with national leaders and state leaders working together.

Well, after Phoenix 2011 I am encouraged and optimistic. That stated; we are not there yet. My prayer is that Christian Statesmen replace Paradigmatic Ideologues as the forerunners of the SBC future. A true Great Commission Resurgence will not only take us to unreached people groups, but it will force us to the beauty of the brother sitting next to us and lead us to treat him with the dignity and sacrifice displayed by Christ. The tone of the conversation must change. Christian unity doesn’t imply we all think the same, I actually baptize fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide in my local church, (that is a joke by the way, War Eagle!), but it does imply we define the essentials, rally around them, and give grace and charity to the peripherals. In my estimation this is where the battle lies; what are the essentials? Coming out of Phoenix, we have a good blueprint; evangelism and world missions, coupled with a strong support of the Cooperative Program, emblazoned and protected by the theological heritage of the Baptist Faith and Message. I may nitpick and kvetch all things Southern Baptist, but there is no other place I would rather be!

LEADERSHIP

Wade Rials — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:46:41 +0000

Giuliani, Rudolph W. Leadership. Mirimax Books; New York, 2002.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading Giuliani’s autobiography; in many domains this is advertised as a leadership book, but I would definitely classify this as an autobiography that gives some leadership principals. Nonetheless, the book is fascinating, specifically in the way that it allows the reader an inside perch as to the events that surround 9-11. I must admit I devoured these sections. As an American this day will never be forgotten. Giuliani did a great job communicating with the reader the events as seen from his vantage point.