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We in the Evangelical Church love the Hymn "Crown Him Lord of All."  And rightly so!

But who do you crown?  Really?  Of whom do you think of most often?  Of whom or what do you sing of most frequently?  Is you shower stall an echo chamber of secularism, or a praise chamber for Christ the King?  Who really has your utmost affection and attention day by day?  Who is your real Lord?

O how we need a bigger view of Jesus the Christ!

Last Sunday, I preached on the Reformation Doctrine of solus christus - Christ Alone.  We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  I thought it good to quote John Calvin at length to help us continue to gush about our Savior.  In his magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion (II.16.19), Calvin wrote:

When we see the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the minutest portion of it from any other quarter.  If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that he possesses it; if we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in his unction; strength in his government; purity in his conception; indulgence in his nativity, in which he was made like us in all respects, in order that he might learn to sympathize with us: if we seek redemption, we shall find it in his passion; acquittal in his condemnation; remission of the curse in his cross; satisfaction in his sacrifice; purification in his blood; reconciliation in his descent to Hades; mortification of the flesh in his sepulcher; newness of life in his resurrection; immortality also in his resurrection; the inheritance of a celestial kingdom in his entrance into heaven; protection, security and the abundant supply of all blessings, in his kingdom; secure anticipation of judgment in the power of judging committed to him.  In fine, since in him all kinds of blessings are treasured up, let us draw a full supply of him, and none from any other quarter.  Those who, not satisfied with him alone, entertain various hopes from others, though they continue to look to him chiefly, deviate from the right path by the simple fact, that some portion of their thought takes a different direction.  No distrust of this description can arise when once the abundance of his blessings is properly known.

Amen!  Hallelujah!  Happy Reformation Day!      

"And he [Paul] stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered" (Acts 28:30-31).

Thus concludes the Book of Acts.

Yesterday I preached the final sermon in our 18 month journey through the amazing history book of the early church.  Our passage was Acts 28:17-31.  We saw Five themes in the passage that actually serve as an excellent summary of the whole Book.

1. The power of prayer.
2. True fellowship.
3. Human response to the Gospel and God's sovereignty in it.
4. The primacy of preaching.
5. Jesus is the Savior and Fulfillment of the Old Testament.

It is very tempting, if we're not careful, to get caught up in the dynamic characters of the early church.  Peter and John.  Phillip.  And then there's Paul.  The last fifteen chapters of Acts chronicle Paul's missionary adventures.  And no doubt Paul was an amazing man of God.  But that's just it - he was only amazing because of God!  It's tempting to make too much of Peter or Paul.  It's our natural inclination to read Acts as if Paul is the hero or main character.

That's why we focused our attention yesterday upon the grand truth that It's all God's Show, and God's Show must Go On!  

The Holy Spirit would not allow Luke to end the Book of Acts talking about Paul's amazing life or martyrdom.  No!  It's not about Paul.  Rather, it's about the Kingdom of God and His Christ!  Oh, how we need to embrace this truth in our own lives.  Our culture programs us to be so very self-centered.  So me-driven.  Oh how we need heavy doses of the Bible's perspective.  God help us center our lives on You!

The last word of the Greek text of Acts is akolutos.  Translated in the NASB "unhindered."  I like "unchained!"

What is unchained?  Paul?  No!  Paul's literally in chains at the end of Acts.  It's the gospel of the kingdom that's unchained.  It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that's unhindered.  God's Gospel cannot be stopped!  We called the whole sermon series in Acts "The Unstoppable Church."  But that's only true so long as the church stays true to the Gospel Message that Holy God saves and forgives sinners only by the righteous life, the substitutionary death and the powerful resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May we be given grace to renounce our selves and turn from our sins and trust wholly in Jesus alone.  May God's Gospel truly be unleashed among us.  May we truly be able to say with Martin Luther:

"Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever!"

The Book about the birth of the Church ends with its powerhouse Apostle in chains and the gospel unchained.

Think about it.

This past Wednesday, I got to see God's answer to Islam.

At Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, I witnessed 34 new missionaries being commissioned by Southern Baptists to carry the fame and name of Jesus the Christ to the peoples of the world.

Though I did not keep a formal tally, I'm estimating well over half of those missionaries said they were headed to Muslim peoples in Central, East and Southeast Asia, as well as various Muslim nations of Africa.  Some of the missionaries were young couples with children.  Some were older.  Some were former businessmen and farmers. One even grew up as a Muslim in an Islamic nation, only to be driven from that country by war.  Upon landing in Europe, she met her future husband, who began sharing the gospel with her.  Jesus changed her life and now the two of them are headed back to her Muslim people to make His glory known and treasured!

This is God's answer to Islam: Men and women with the flame of Holy Spirit God in their hearts taking the good news of Jesus to those who have never heard.  The redeemed of God in Christ willing to go and give and do whatever their Sovereign Lord asks of them.  Christians.

Political solutions will come and go.  And we can debate those freely, at least for now, in America.  But one thing we who love Christ surely must agree on is that the ultimate answer to the worship of false gods, whatever those gods be called and where ever those gods be named, is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this answer, this response, is the one we must crave and cry out to God for in desperation:

For You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You . . . There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours.  All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name.  For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God (Psalm 86:5-10).

Recently a video from an "Inspirational Speaker" has been making the rounds on Facebook and You Tube.  It is a man seeking to inspire women.  So, ladies from all walks of life have been ooing and awing and swooning over it.  The message speaks of God and women of the Bible (Ruth, Esther, Martha, Mary) and speaks of God's love.  So, it is clearly intending to be a biblical message of inspiration.  But it fails to pass the test in my book.  You can view the message here:

"Knowing brothers, beloved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but in power and with the Holy Spirit and with full conviction . . . And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the Word in much affliction , with the joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.  For not only has the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.  For they themselves report . . . how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come" (1 Thessolonians 1:4-10).

This is the Apostle Paul's commendation of the Church at Thessolonica.  In these few short lines, we see the power of the gospel to save sinners from idol worship, to grow saints in holiness, and to give the Church a blessed future hope!  All this and more happened to the recipients of this letter from Paul; and it all happened "because our gospel came to you . . . in power."

We so often forget the very real power of God's good news that He saves sinners by grace through faith in the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  Recently, a member of the church I serve sent me a testimony to how God had been and continued to change her through His Word and Gospel.  Her testimony was a real "pick-me-up."  I was reminded why I get up and do it all again each day, regardless of how tired I am and how messed up the world (and often the church) is.  I share it below with her permission, and with names changed or just removed.  The names are not the point anyway.  This could be anyone!  The only Name that really matters is the Name of Jesus!

I’m just going to come out and say it. My view on female/male relationships is not the healthiest.  My parents divorced when I was 3. My father was in and out of my life until I was in middle school when I finally told him to stay away. My mom lived with a man until I was in 8^thgrade and finally married him after his credit was good.  She divorced him when I was in college.  She remarried the man she left him for and stayed married to him in an unhappy marriage until she died.  I have never been on a real date that didn’t start with or end with sex, save one and I felt awkward and backwards doing it. My mom did not allow me to date until 16 and even then she guarded that door fiercely. She didn’t do it in the name of protecting my heart or leading me to honor God, she did it because she was afraid of the bad things I would do like getting pregnant or getting a disease and ruining my life. When I finally escaped to college I created a long list of sexual partners, not boyfriends, not lovers. I was nothing more than a free prostitute. I married the only man who pursued me even though I knew him to be a compulsive liar and unable to provide for a family. He was little more than a stalker but wanted more from me than sex. Before we married I got pregnant and had an abortion. Initially I didn’t intend to do that, but my mother pushed hard for it.  Falling back on my feminist upbringing and not the Holy Spirit who was begging me not to do it, I did it. Later I married him so we could get student housing at IU and kept it secret for at least 6 months. I divorced him after our first child was born because one night he threw a baby swing and stroller at her and me. Physical violence was a normal part of our relationship and not one sided. I left him for his best friend who I lived with for 3 years before we married.  Not once did I consider what God wanted for me in this area of my life until I met my current husband. By the grace of God only, I am now married to a loving, honorable, godly man who adopted my daughter and who I have 2 other children with.   I struggle daily with sin in this area of my life and struggle desperately to be a godly wife to him. I fall short often, but my motivation to keep trying is to honor God and that shift in paradigm has changed my life and how I do relationships.

Some might wonder how I can come clean with this kind of confession.  Well first, although I feel sorry for my actions, I don’t feel guilt. I am a new person in Christ. I am freed from guilt. It has taken a long time to get to that place. I also don’t think my story is all that different from others and I want other women to know Christ redeems the worst sinners. I am from a broken generation—a generation that has no idea how to have intimate relationships. How in the world are we to teach our children how to have relationships?

This precious sister then went on to show how God was teaching and guiding her to raise and teach her own children a new and better way - the way of Christ.  By God's grace in the Gospel, the generational cycle of spiritual poverty will be broken!  Oh dear friends, Jesus saves!  Say it out loud today - "Jesus saves!"  Tell a lost co-worker today - "Jesus saves!"  Speak the words to the hurting, the broken, the lost, the dying, the desperate, the prideful, the greedy - "Jesus saves!"  

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Jamie Coots, a preacher in a church in Middlesboro, KY, died recently from a snake bite.  Coots was a "snake-handler" and frequently used snakes in the church as part of a show of "faith."  This brand of Christianity is sadly still alive and well in the mountains of my home state of Kentucky, as well as Appalachia in general.  But Jamie Coots is dead.

You can read about his death here: http://rt.com/usa/snake-handling-pastor-dies-334/

In the article linked above, Coots, who was also on a TV show at some point, claimed God would never allow a true believer to die from a snake bite.  Yet, Coots' son, also quoted in the article, said their family had always believed that their faith was good to live by and good to die by.  

I'm confused.  If it is good to die by this kind of faith, then what kind of faith are we speaking of?  Because Jamie Coots, by his own definition, must not have been a true believer in Jesus.  His "faith" must have been a "dead faith," if you will pardon the pun (and I truly mean no disrespect to his grieving family).  The inconsistency in this warped Bible interpretation simply must be pointed out.  He died, in his own view, precisely because he did not have real faith.  So, how is this a good faith to die by?  Is it good to go to hell?  That is, after all, where unbelievers go (2 Thess 1:5-10; Rev 20:11-15).

Friends, this is the "word of faith" movement gone bad.  This is the "name is claim it" theology being exposed for what it really is - false.  First of all, Jamie Coots was breaking the law by handling snakes in a religious service.  My Bible tells me "to be in subjection to the governing authorities" (Rom 13:1) and to "submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution whether to the king as the one in authority, or to governors" (1 Peter 2:13-14).  That's not optional for Christians; it's commanded!

So, unless the governing authorities were asking Coots to violate a clear command of God in Scripture, then he was obligated to obey the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  And that's just where Coots and other who believe like him go awry - they claim a mandate to handle snakes based on Mark 16:17-18.  Now even if this portion of the text was original in Mark's Gospel (the oldest and best manuscripts have Mark ending at 16:8, so verses 9-20 were likely not written by Mark but added later by an ill-advised scribe), the fact is snake-handling is nowhere commanded.  Believers are not commanded to pick up snakes!

The Apostle Paul was bitten by a snake, and God did indeed preserve his life (Acts 28:1-6).  But note carefully that Paul did not intentionally pick up the snake or go looking for a fight with the slithering creature!  Can God preserve life whenever He wants and apart from the use of modern medicine?  Absolutely!  In fact God had preserved Jamie Coots' life in the past when he was bitten and refused anti-venom.  So, what happened this time?  Was Jamie's faith strong and sure in the past but waned during just this one instance?  Why could he not muster up the faith to stay alive this time?  Did his willpower just fail him?  Did he have a mental lapse?  Did he die in a moment of slight doubt?

This is the sad result of so much false doctrine that is makes my head spin.  Snake-handlers inevitably believe they can be saved one day and not saved the next day.  They believe this because they have a man-centered view of salvation and faith.  God has done his part, now it's all up to you to muster up faith by your own willpower and then to sustain it in an ever-growing state throughout your life.  Their faith is in faith.

But the Bible says faith is a gift of God, (along with everything else having to do with salvation), not of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9).  Jesus authors faith, not us (Heb 12:1-2).  God grants belief to sinners whom He saves (Phil 1:29).  Not even the righteous works we do (of which faith is surely one), are the ultimate ground of our salvation, but rather God's mercy and regenerating Spirit that come to us through Christ (Titus 3:4-7).  And saving faith is always and only in the perfect person and work of Jesus the Christ, whom God put on the cross to bear His wrath against our sins, so that He would be the just and justifier (Romans 3:21-26).

Would people watching Coots' play with snakes and survive bites be more likely to boast in the righteousness of Christ, or the strength of Jamie's faith?

Oh how I wish Jamie Coots would have been able to say with the Apostle Paul: "I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Tim 1:12).  Do you see Paul's saving faith rests not in his own ability to sustain it at a certain level, but rather in God's ability to keep him safe and saved now and forever?  Saving faith is always a total trust in God's power, God's ability, God's sustaining grace in Christ.  This is not faith in faith!  

Oh how I wish Jamie Coots could have cried out with the man in Mark 9:24, "I do believe, help my unbelief."  This is saving faith.  Never so arrogant as to rest on its own strength or human ability to sustain; but always seeking more mercy, more grace from Jesus.  It's all about Him!  

Word-of-faith and "name it claim it" and "faith healing" movements preach a false gospel.  Plain and simple.  They focus on man and his supposed abilities, even claiming man can create or shape his own future by his mere words.  But the gospel is that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4).  We're the sinners.  He's the Savior.  It's all about Him!

Sadly, the death of Jamie Coots serves as a harsh reminder that false gospels lead to more than just physical death.  After all, physical death will one day come knocking at everyone's door.  But for those whose faith is in anyone or anything other than the absolute sufficiency of Jesus Christ, an eternal "death" awaits them in a place that makes a snake bite look like child's play.

People want to touch it...they run their fingers through it...they laugh when it springs back. Goodness... my hair has been a real source of wonder for those around me since I curled it....the only thing is...the curl is fake.  It is the result of a very costly well done perm.  It acts like a regular head of curl would act but there are distinct differences that set it apart.

Now. ..there is a head of curly hair I know that is real...Ruthie Hullette.  Her hair is formed in the most beautiful, tight springy curls. They lay around her face perfectly and scream "run your fingers through me and watch me recurl."

Now...to those differences...Ruthie gets up in the morning to curly hair that is lovely and ready for the day.  I get up and my family passes out with laughter because my "curls" are flat or standing straight up and out. Ruthie does not have to doctor her curls to make them beautiful...I have to use this jelly stuff that causes me to stick to everything and then a spray that makes my hair stiff enough to knock out Mike Tyson.  But when I leave my house it appears I have "curly" hair.

Isn't this how we live as Christians sometimes?  We dress up our temper...our attitudes...our lies...our worry...we put on enough christian gook to look really good and away we go.  We act like christians...we talk like christians...we lift our hands...we raise our voices. ..then we go home...wash all our christian away and live who we truly are.  No matter what I do I cannot fool my family...I do not have naturally curly hair.  They see it at its worst.

It is the same with God. PSALM 139 says no matter what you do or where you go you cannot outrun Him.  He knows the truth about you.  He knows who you are when your door closes.  He can make you real.  Do you yearn to be real or just appear perfect?  If real...take off your fake gunk and beg Jesus to make you genuine.  My fake curls are pretty but they do not last.  To keep them I have to redo my perm about every six months.  Ruthie never has to go back for curls.  Hers are the real thing.

Same way with your heart...fake has to keep lying. .keep patching holes.  It doesn't last.  Real is eternal...lasts forever....DEAR GOD MAKE ME REAL...

In the last five years I have been battling with the sin of gluttony.  I have struggled with "eating sin" ever since I was small.  I have used food for every single reason . . . sadness, gladness, despair, confusion, celebration.  Really, if there was no reason I have just worked really hard till I found one.  I mean, really, if I had concentrated on Jesus as much as I have justifying gluttony in my life I might actually have already gone to heaven in a chariot.  But, alas, no fear there.  Why do we do that?  Why do we proclaim victory from our sins in Jesus and then get up and walk in the exact same ones again, day after day?  Really, how many times Lori are you going to run under the bus and cry because it hurts you?

"The he released for them Barabbas, and having Jesus scourged delivered Him to be crucified . . . and when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him" (Matthew 27:26, 31).

I have often pondered the label "Good Friday."  From the world's perspective, it must seem strange to call a day set aside to commemorate the torturous death of the sinless Son of God "good."  Yet, for those of us who have had our whole hearts, minds and souls forever changed by that same Son of God, the label fits quite well.

On the cross, we see our greatest "good" even as we see our greatest "evil."  As one of my favorite contemporary Christian trio's sings, "The beautiful, terrible cross."  The beauty is in the salvation and forgiveness and freedom from sin's bondage that was earned by Jesus for all those God would ever redeem and make His people.  The "terror" is in realizing the awful wrath of God against our filthy rebellion was being poured out on Jesus, though He Himself never sinned.

"He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  I doubt the essence of what transpired on that cross has ever been captured any better.  God treated Jesus like we deserved so that we could be treated like He deserved!  My sin for His purity!  His life for mine!  O sweet Gospel Grace!  Oh amazing love, how can it be?

And in case you're wondering, this was not a case of some demented Divine child abuse as some claim.  No!  Jesus Himself said He willingly laid down His life for His sheep and He had power to also take His life up again (John 10:17-18).  Easter was planned by Jesus Himself!  The writer of Hebrews further tells us enduring the cross was a joy for Jesus (Heb 12:2).  Joy?  Amazing love, how can it be?

Each year, I grow more and more weary of the way so many churches and Christians present Good Friday or Easter to the world. Pageants purporting to "reenact" the crucifixion of Christ are everywhere.  Movies splatter blood and guts across the screen to move us nearly to the point of nausea.

Now do not get me wrong.  The original Bible readers knew full well what "crucifixion" meant.  They had seen thousands of criminals and enemies of Rome skewered to trees.  They knew it was torture.  They knew the scourging itself often killed men, before they ever got nailed to a tree.  They knew about the agonizing death suffered by those who were crucified.  And, today, we are not at all familiar with it.  So, perhaps all the pageant directors mean well.  I assume most of them do.

But aren't we missing something?  Have you ever wondered why the New Testament writers focus so very little on the physical part of the cross?  They go into no gory detail.  They simply say Jesus was scourged and crucified.  Perhaps this is because their readers knew the torture scene so well?  Maybe.  But I am convinced far more is going on in the way the Bible presents the death of Christ to us.  The Holy Spirit intentionally led the writers to not hone in on the physical aspects of the cross.  And why?

To get the answer, all we must do is read our New Testaments!  Everywhere we turn in the New Testament, we find the focus being placed upon the spiritual aspect of the cross.  It was for "our sin" that Jesus died.

"He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His stripes we are healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3).

This is the obvious pattern of the Scriptures.  You see, the reason I think it highly arrogant (and perhaps not God-honoring) to attempt a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ is because there is absolutely no way to repeat it or remotely capture what was really happening on that day.  The human eye could not "see" the truest torture Christ endured.  Many men died on a cross under Roman rule.  Nothing was exceptional about that!  As sickening as it seems, crucifixion became almost ho-hum by the end of the Roman Empire.  It's kinda like when we hear of another life sentence doled out on a murderer in America.  We don't really have a deep sense of horror, do we?

Friends, no man ever died like Jesus!  He died under the holy wrath of God for countless sins of countless sinners, all of whom deserved to be cut off from God forever in the fires of hell.  No Easter pageant could ever capture the essence of Calvary:

Eli, Eli, lema sabacthani?  (Matt 27:46).

This is Good Friday.  My evil thoughts, word and deeds cutting off Jesus from the land of the living.  This is Good Friday.  Jesus cursed while I go free.  

O Jesus, forgive us for what we have made it.  How dare we attempt to recreate Golgotha?  That hill belongs solely to You!  You and You alone could ever own such a cross.  What a love!  What a cost!  We stand forgiven at the cross!    

Today my sister called and reminded me that this is the 200th  anniversary of the birth of David Livingstone.  If you have no idea who he was, then take some time and learn!

Parents, seize this event to educate your children on the value of a life lived in sacrificial love for Jesus and unreached peoples.  Even during his lifetime, the London Missionary Society who had sent Livingstone to Africa began to question the value of his activity.  David was quite the explorer and spent countless hours finding new routes into and out of the African bush.  While the Society probably wanted him to spend more time just settling into a particular area as a missionary, David sensed his calling to be one of genuine "pioneer missions."  And without a doubt, God used him to open up Africa to world missions for His own glory in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Here are two links that will prove very useful to you if you want to learn more about this amazing Scotsman who relished the love of a far more amazing Savior!

http://www.davidlivingstone200.org/

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/dlivingston.htm

Here is a picture taken by my sister last year in Scotland of a statue commemorating Livingstone's encounter with a lion that left him gimpy in the left arm for the rest of his life:

Oh that God might raise up more men among us who are willing to face the lions to get the Gospel to the ends of the earth!  

Soli Deo Gloria!