Tag: Church

Has the Pulpit Gone Silent on Hell?

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Church, Education, Theology

–May of 1997

Has the Pulpit Gone Silent on Hell?

“The biggest problem facing the modern age is what to do about the doctrine of hell.”  I wish that had been the wise observation and assessment of a holiness preacher or scholar.  Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t.  It is the assessment of the eminent historian Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times.  While a secular historian has enough insight to see an important issue and speak to that issue, many pulpits have gone underground or become totally silent on the subject of hell.

When is the last time your local pulpit reminded you that there is a hell for sinners who remain rebels to the end?  Several years ago while preaching in a large youth camp, I asked the kids when they had heard a sermon on Hell.  Out of approximately only 300 young people, only three had heard a sermon on Hell in the last two years.  None had heard a sermon on hell within the last year.  As I penned this article, a returned missionary stopped by my office; and I asked her the same question.  Her answer was, “I’ve only heard one sermon on Hell in the five years that we’ve been back in the States.”

When the church does not clearly teach the doctrine of hell, society loses an important anchor.  In a real sense, it is the doctrine of hell that gives meaning to our lives.  When men and women understand the doctrine of hell they also understand that behavior has eternal consequences that daily moral choices have spiritual significance, and that God takes our choices seriously.

Failure to believe in hell is often the by-product of a silent pulpit.  Whatever doctrine the pulpit ceases to preach, the people cease to believe.  When people cease to believe in a final judgment and everlasting punishment, they feel no accountability for their actions and any sense of moral obligation soon dissolves.

Why the silence?  Many preachers have been hushed by the objections of laity and the scorn of higher critics.  Both dislike the frightful intensity of the pains of Hell as suggested by many sermon illustrations and indeed by certain passages of Scripture.  Jesus spoke about Hell under three symbols: First, that of “everlasting punishment”; second, that of destruction; and third, that of separation or banishment.  Connected to each of these is the “fire that is not quenched.”  Each of these ideas convey something unspeakably horrible; and, although many object, any interpretation which does not face that fact is clearly not Biblical.

To be fair, there has been at times more emphasis on the imagery of hell than on the doctrine.  But one abuse doesn’t justify another.  Pulpit silence on the subject of hell is treason against God and heresy to the church.  One old divine said it like this, “If a man has a mind to get a head start and be in hell before other sinners, he need do no more than open the sails of his soul to the pulpit winds of a preacher whose silence loudly denies hell.”

Are You Christian?

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Theology

–Summer of 1997

Are You Christian?

To pose such a question as this to my readers this month will be to many the essence of folly.  I can hear some of you saying, “Of course, we’re Christian.  What else could born-again believers in Jesus Christ be?”

What is forgotten, however, is that a new creation in Christ is the embodiment of growing life, and, as such, may be retarded, stunted, undernourished, or injured.  It is possible for a whole generation of Christians to be victims of erroneous or poor teaching, low moral standards, and unscriptural or extra scriptural teaching, resulting in a life that is not New Testament Christianity.

I’m convinced that there are many in the church today who have never truly understood nor grasped what it means to be a Christian.  I worked for a lady once who smoked, drank, swore, and was consumed with bitterness and hate.  However, she felt confident in her Christianity, because, “all you have to do is just believe,” she said.  On the other hand, I pastured a lady one time who was filled with anger, bitterness, hatred, and a critical spirit.  But, she, too, was confident in her faith because “I don’t do things like the world does.”

Granted, these two cases may be extreme; but there are a lot of people who are taking too much comfort from “comparing themselves among themselves” or simply embracing a false security by accepting certain “historical facts” about Jesus.  They have anchored their confidence to the wrong thing rather than finding the Biblical norm for real Christianity.

God doesn’t leave us guessing on such important issues.  The Bible gives clear principles to guide us in determining and knowing if we are expressing a genuine faith.  One of the broadest-reaching principles that the Bible articulates from cover to cover could be stated like this: The Christian is essentially a unique and special kind of person.  This is a principle that can never be emphasized sufficiently, and nothing but tragedy will follow in the wake of forgetting or failing to understand this.  The Christian is someone quite distinct and apart.  He is a man who lives in the world but is not of the world.  He is a man who can never be explained away in natural terms, but can only be understood in terms of his relationship to Christ.  This uniqueness separates him from those who are not Christian.  It doesn’t dehumanize him, but it does enable him to live far above and beyond the natural man.  His perspective on life is different.  He lives with eternity in view.  He loves his enemy rather than seeks revenge.  He prays for those who persecute him.  He gives more than grudging obedience to the law of God, but actually delights in God’s law and meditates on it day and night.  He faces life with the optimism of faith rather than the debilitating dread of unbelief.  He indeed is different.

How can he be so radically different?  He has been born from above – born of the Spirit.  The power of grace is working in his life, enabling him to be different.  Frankly, it enables him to be Christlike and this is the secret of his difference.  It is essential to the New Testament definition of a Christian that the real Christian is different from the world because he is like Christ.  The Christian is meant to follow the pattern and imitate the example of Jesus.  We are not only meant to be unlike the natural man, but we are meant to be like Christ.  If this Christlikeness is absent from our lives, we have no other way to authenticate to an unbelieving world that we are truly Christian.

The question we must ask ourselves, then, if we want to know for certain if we truly are Christian is this: As I examine the actions and attitudes in my life, and look at my life in detail, can I claim for it something that cannot be explained in ordinary terms?   Something which can only be explained in terms of a life-changing relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ?  Do I see in my life a positive difference that is not seen in the life of a non-Christian?  Can I truly say that because of my faith I am Christlike?  Am I Christian?

Let the Lions Defend Themselves

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Culture, Theology

–August of 1996

Let The Lions Defend Themselves

The story is told of a circus train which derailed while passing through the mountainous terrain of West Virginia. As locals gathered to observe the situation, much attention was given to the car which contained the circus lions. These massive beasts, already disturbed by the accident, were being further aggravated by neighboring dogs which were barking snapping at them through the heavy iron bars. The frustrated circus owner, concerned for the welfare of his prized animals, began to cry out, “What can we do to protect the lions?” An amused farmer called back with this bit of practical advice: “Why, mister, you don’t need to protect lions! Just turn them loose, and they’ll protect themselves!”

This story reminds us of the inherent power of the Gospel message, a power that it contains in and of itself. The Gospel needs only an outlet, a channel, someone to “open the door and let it out” in order to demonstrate its native dynamic.

Now to give the full picture, it is admitted that the Christian minister sometimes must adopt a defensive posture. In a society oriented toward doubt and skepticism, it is necessary to employ reason and logic to “protect” Christianity from the “barking dogs of dissent” Whose howls of criticism often dominate the intellectual marketplace. This is the task of apologetics, and it involves the responsibility of proving or defending the Good News. Paul himself declared that he was “set for the defense of the gospel.” Furthermore, Peter admonished his readers to be prepared to defend their faith before those who would inquire about the hope we have in Christ (I Pet. 3:15).

A second aspect of the Christian minister’s responsibility in relationship to the Gospel is that of persuading. Here again Paul acknowledged, “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” King Agrippa certainly felt the force of the apostle’s persuasive powers for he candidly admitted, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” This concession, however, didn’t satisfy Paul, and he promptly increased pressure upon Agrippa to be “altogether” persuaded. There certainly is a time and place for the preacher of the Gospel, under divine direction, to bring his hearers tactfully—yet firmly—to a crisis, to a point of decision.

However, to maintain a balanced view of the Great Commission, remember that the Gospel had been best advanced—not by proving or persuading—but simply by proclaiming. This basic methodology is often neglected because it is humbling; it accents the message, not the messenger. It does not depend upon “enticing words of man’s wisdom” but simply upon the Holy Spirit’s power. When angels appeared to astonished shepherds in Bethlehem, they didn’t unfold complex arguments to prove the birth of the Messiah; nor did they come with a high-pressure sales technique to convince their hearers to worship the newborn King. They simply proclaimed the birth of the Saviour and let the wonder and mystique of their message do its own work. The world has not been the same since that day.

So, the next time you are tempted to be discouraged by your inabilities or your want of talent, take heart. The power of the Gospel message does not lie within ourselves; it is inherent in the message itself. The Gospel only needs a channel, someone to open the door and release it. The lion will defend itself.

From the River to the Rhine

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Culture, Ministry

–October of 1996

From the River to the Rhine

I grew up in the country. My boyhood days were making memories on a lazy little farm in the Deep South. I was awakened in the morning by the sound or a crowing rooster or a bawling calf. I spent hours walking barefoot behind my father’s plow as he turned up the soft cool earth, readying it for the spring garden. I have played the day away in the gurgling, pristine waters of a forest stream, while birds darted about and squirrels chattered angrily at the sight of an intruder. The grand finale to such a storybook day was when family gathered around the front porch for the evening, each taking his place on a rocking chair on the porch swing.  The cool night breeze would bear the music of a distant whippoorwill, the crickets chirped wildly, while the flickering light of fireflies provided us with our own dazzling fireworks display.  Conversation would gradually begin to be interrupted by yawns, and Mother would give the order that sent us scampering away to bed.

Few outsiders ever invaded our private world.  Anyone driving by on the main thoroughfare in front of our place was most often someone we knew.  Any car turning up our lane caused an immediate rush to the front door or window by inquisitive kids to see who our rare visitors might be.  I grew up in a quiet tranquil world.

I now live in the heart of a bustling metropolis.  The sounds of traffic and commerce fill the air.  People dash about with jobs to perform and deadlines to meet.  Recently while driving off our hilltop campus into the heart of downtown, my heart began to long for the tranquil quietness of my boyhood days, I cried inwardly, “Lord, look at all these people!”  My Heavenly Father quickly responded, “No, you are the one that needs to look.  I see them.”  With the aid of divine illumination, I suddenly began to see more clearly.  I saw the multiplied thousands of people in the inner-city with no one to care for their spiritual needs.  Here are people of every race and class, scurrying about like sheep with no shepherd—abandoned, it seemed, by those who could offer hope and help.

Mission strategists tell us that the inner cities of America have now become one of the largest mission fields of the world.  Yet strangely, the Church—and particularly those within the holiness tradition—has largely abandoned the inner-city.  It has surrendered the high ground of spiritual warfare to poverty, drugs, prostitution and vice of all sorts.  Even the horn and cymbals of the Salvationist street preacher have been traded for a soup ladle and a used clothing store.  Oh, the large mainline churches still stand tall and proud on prominent downtown streets; but they have no ministry to the hopeless or message of holiness for desperate sinners.

The Wesleyan message of saving grace and heart purity saved England in her darkest hour from revolution and turned around one of society’s and civilization’s most festering sores.  Yet the holiness church here in America has not chosen this road of revival and reform for the inner-city, but it has chosen rather to flee the cities and entrench itself in comfortable suburbia.  It now lines the outer beltways of our major metropolises and enjoys a selective evangelism that is more palatable and profitable.  This ecclesiastical escapism has helped to breed the user-friendly church, with plenty of self-help classes but very little agony and anxiety for the lost.

Jesus, however, authenticated his ministry and membership by preaching the gospel to the poor.  He rebuked the righteous by reminding them that he did not come to call them to repentance, but the sinner.  He articulated his mission statement well when he said, “I have come to seek and to save that which is lost.”  This Bible contains over four hundred passages relating to the poor, sixty-four of which command us as believers to help the vulnerable.  Yet holiness people rationalize their own inactivity with a “pessimistic theology” that believes we can’t fix society’s ills.

I’m well aware that the words I write will stir up strong feelings and immediate debate.  The first rebuttal will be that “white flight” and population shifts have forced the church to relocate in the proximity of those who want to identify with the church ministry emphasis.  Another argument is that because of socio-economic reasons, as well as other cultural factors, the blending of the two groups of people is just not possible or even practical.

I fully grasp the significance of each argument and will not take the time in this article to rebut them.  However, what frustrates me is that these groups will parade missionaries from every land and isle to their churches, hear their presentations, cry over the distant lost, and empty their pockets to make sure that sinners ten thousand miles away get the gospel message.  Yet they have no burden and make no plans and feel no responsibility to send a missionary or establish a ministry to and for the most desperately lost people in the world—the people in the inner-city.

This duplicity has even gripped until the Bible college movement until they, too, boast of rural campuses in comfortable suburbia, with plenty of hiking trails, swimming pools, and white-water rafting.  All, of course, within a considerable distance of any poor miserable sinner!  No wonder many graduates ask the potential church congregation about parsonage amenities, salary packages and retirement programs before they ever explore the possibility of reaching the lost.

Did I say that all have abandoned the inner-city?  The Catholics and the cults are still there.  There are also many little store-front ministries, mostly sponsored by the Pentecostals or the Calvinists.  These little hole-in-the-wall churches offer hope and light to those lost in darkness, and to some extent hold back the powers of evil in the inner-city.  Several of those missions here in Cincinnati have been fully operated and staffed by GBS students.  It was my own years spent working in an inner-city mission that created a passion and a drive for evangelizing the lost that has marked my ministry for the last twenty years.

One such mission stands at the north end of Main Street, in a section called “Over the Rhine.”  GBS Alumni will know it as “Main Street Mission.”  Our students have preached from its pulpit, held Good News Clubs for the neighborhood children, preached on its street corners, and passed out gospel tracts all the way down the southern end of Main Street, where it deadends into the riverfront.

Our present pastor, Tom McKnight, works so faithfully with his people for the conversion of souls in his inner-city parish.  Tom is often heard from the pulpit saying, as he challenges his people, “we must reach them from the river to the Rhine.”  Of course, Tom is referring to the southern end of Main Street on the riverfront to the northern end of Main Street in the area of Over the Rhine.  The words and burden of this man have challenged my heart again and again.  Tom is right.  We must reach them.  We must take our cities back for the glory of God and the good of our civilization.

In the first part of this century when the Bible college movement, God called out the Cowmans and sent them to the Orient.  He called out the Smelzenbachs and sent them to Africa, as well as various others around the globe.  But these two couples from the holiness movement made an impact on the world that will never be forgotten.  I’m praying that in the closing part of this century God will once again find a couple like the Cowmans and call them—call them to the inner cities of our own country!  I want God’s Bible School and College to be on the front line, leading the way and giving the support that is necessary to see our inner cities reached.  Tom is right.  From the river to the Rhine, we must reach them!

God is Forward Looking!

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church

–April 0f 2010

God is Forward Looking!

The Old Testament is a remarkable collection of history, biography, prophecy, poetry and precept all written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to teach us who God is and how God works.  Many of its stories are so captivating that we might have to take a second look to appreciate the remarkable insights they offer about our heavenly Father.  For example, we are given the fascinating narrative of Jonah and the whale, not so that we can be awed by a great fish or a miraculous deliverance, but to tell us in an unforgettable way that God is a God of the “second chance.”  The book of Hosea is not just a scandalous story of a prophet’s wife turned prostitute but a story that gives us an in-depth look into the heart of God – the wounded lover – who longs to forgive his wayward people and restore them to Himself.

The Historical Books are filled with accounts of real life interaction between God and the people of Israel.  Every account offers unique insight into who God is and how He works.  In the opening chapters of I Samuel we learn that God had planned for Israel to be a theocracy led through Judges and Prophets.  Israel, however, wanted a king so they could be like the nations around them.  God let them have their way and their king, but Saul turned out to be such a disobedient disaster that God ultimately had to reject him and his reign. On the heels of this rejection we find Samuel reflecting on the past (I Samuel 16).  He is paralyzed by grief over a failed kingship and perplexed over the future of Israel. God suddenly breaks into this moment of morbidity and thunders these words to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons.”

This jarring call to move on tells us something important about God.  It tells us that He is forward looking. In other words, God doesn’t sit around feeling bad about the past.  He said to Samuel, “Stop regretting yesterday and get ready for tomorrow.  My plans are still in place. I already have a new man in the wings – a man after my own heart.   We will follow the same plan but have a new man at the top.  He is an unlikely candidate but he is my man – now get moving”

God is forward looking and this means that He is primarily interested in our present and future not our past. This is good news for those who live tied to the failures of yesterday.  Far too many good people are paralyzed by regret thinking that they married the wrong spouse, choose the wrong career, bought the wrong house, made the wrong decision, missed a certain opportunity and the list goes on. They can’t break away from the choking noose of yesterday’s mistakes or perceived mistakes. But that is not how God works. The real issue to Him is not did you marry the wrong person but will you let him take the one you did marry and teach you  how to love them for all the future that you have left to love them.  The issue is not what you have done or what mistakes you have made but rather it is the willingness to let God take you from where you are now and lead you forward into the future He has planned for you. God is an expert in taking a vessel that has been marred and remaking it according to His plans and purposes (Jeremiah 18).

Others live in the past by choice. They consume the years of their life in trying to reconstruct the failed era of what was to them Saul’s reign. In so doing they miss the excitement of where God is going and what God is doing today.  Sadly, they forfeit their future by draping themselves in the death shroud of what is gone and will never return.

God is forward looking and that means He has a strategically planned future.   Men and movements that reflect this characteristic of God are very attractive. People are naturally drawn to leaders or organizations that know where they are going.  Many years ago a young lady from a wealthy English family met a young scholar in London and fell in love.  He was a poor man with no prominent ancestry. She asked her father’s permission to marry him.  Her father protested that she didn’t even know his background or where he was from! To which she responded, “You are right, father.  I don’t think he has much of a background, and I don’t know for sure where he comes from, but he knows where he is going and I want to go with him.”  The young man was the commentator Matthew Henry.

The Apostle Paul lived out this characteristic and challenged all of us to “forget those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. Why don’t you lay down the past and embrace your future in Christ. Try the forward look!