Tag: Theology

Backslidden

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

–Summer of 2007

Backslidden

When is the last time you heard some honest soul talk about his spiritual condition and use the term backslidden?  It’s a word that seems to have been dropped from the Church’s vocabulary, even among those within the Wesleyan Armenian tradition.  One could get the idea that it’s simply not a problem anymore.  But is that really the case?

A generation ago you heard the subject preached or written about with some degree of frequency and always with intensity.  It was not generally done from the standpoint of how one may backslide and steps to prevent it, but with the idea that many were already backslidden, or at least well on their way, and needed to be reclaimed. The intent of this kind of preaching was to awaken those who were spiritually asleep and call to repentance those who had sinned, but more often than not the results were less than positive.  It helped create a “one sin your out” mindset and fed an unhealthy environment of constant self-introspection.  Many young people were left in a state of confusion and spiritual instability.  It also turned overly conscientious souls into perpetual seekers who could never find any sense of assurance or security in their salvation.

To address this imbalance, a new generation of preachers and spiritual counselors took a different approach.  The preachers simply stopped talking about backsliding and focused primarily on prevention.  Spiritual counselors, who had already shifted from the experiential paradigm of salvation to a relational model, stressed how difficult it actually was to backslide and how rarely it happened. Before you knew it, backsliding had practically disappeared.  On the beneficial side, the focus on discipleship and the nurturing of the weak was a very positive alternative to re-converting the saints at every revival.  On the downside, with no warnings against backsliding or proclamation of its spiritual consequences, many began to feel that they could live in clear disobedience to God’s word and suffer only minimal spiritual damage. If we believe the consequences of sinning fail to impact our standing with God, then sin itself is minimized, and when sin is minimized, sinning is trivialized. The members of this new culture of “saints without sanctity” have become very adept at describing their spiritual condition in highly generalized terms.  They fail to speak about “walking in all the light” or “living in total victory.”   They talk about “not doing very well spiritually” or say, “I am a little down right now because I haven’t been having my devotions lately”.

Now I know that just occasionally preaching on backsliding will not solve the entire situation I described above, but people will be helped by a clear biblical statement that tolerating failure and practicing disobedience has clear and unmistakable consequences, including spiritual self-deception and ultimately the loss of saving faith.  Our people, both young and old, need to hear that when people refuse to heed the checks of the Holy Spirit and repent of their sin, they have “turned away” from saving grace and have “departed from the faith.”  Whether you want to call it backsliding or not, the end result is the same and the spiritual consequences are dire.

Surprised By Joy Again

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

–April of 2007

Surprised By Joy Again

For over thirty years, I have been on the most wonderful journey with Jesus that any Christian could desire.  Yet for most of that time I have been somewhat perplexed by joy.  Joy is a recurring theme in the New Testament and is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit.  It is clearly one of the graces of the Christian life. The Apostle Peter refers to knowing Christ as “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” The apostle’s statement sounds to me like an “ecstasy of overflowing happiness.”   Yet, in all honesty, I have had only brief encounters with anything that would fit this description. Furthermore, though I have met many pleasant and happy Christians, I have not met very many who seemed to possess such a state of life. My muddled mind kept posing two questions: “Is there something deficient in me?” or “Is there a problem with my definition of joy?”

A window of insight opened for me while probing around in John 13-17.  These five chapters record one evening in the life of Jesus and His disciples — not just any evening, but the last one they spent together before His death on the cross.  He has so many things to tell them that they haven’t yet understood.  In solemn tones He shares with them what is soon to happen.  He tells of Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial and speaks plainly of His departure back to the Father.  He warns of tribulations, hatred by the world, and times of sorrow so extreme that He compares it to the labor pains of birthing. The disciples reel emotionally as they try to comprehend such news. Yet running through this dialogue of despair is the recurring theme of joy!

As I dug around in these verses and their context I discovered two very important insights.  The first is that joy is both a feeling and a condition.   As a condition, joy is the assurance of faith that we are acceptable to God and the knowledge that God’s good providences are working on our behalf.  This joy is an inner comfort and confidence in God. It is untouched by outward circumstances and is not diminished by pain and sorrow.

As a feeling, joy is a kind of ecstasy or overflowing happiness.  C.S. Lewis said that “peace was joy at rest and joy was peace dancing.”  The feeling of joy is simply a graced moment whose duration may be brief or remain for an indeterminate amount of time.

The second insight I found was that Jesus gave His disciples a basis for their joy.  Actually, He anchored their joy to three things, three things that provide everything that both they and we need in order to have joy under any circumstances. 1. Love and acceptance.  In John 15 Jesus assured them of their connectedness to Him, of His unconditional love for them, and of His constant presence with them through the Holy Spirit. 2. Purpose and hope.  John 14-17 unveils His unfolding purpose for these and all future disciples.  It is a mission that includes trials and rejection, but more importantly divine enablement and inevitable victory.  3. Security.   John 17 allows us to listen to Jesus praying that we may be “kept from the evil one” and “may be with Me where I am.”   With these truths for an anchor no wonder Jesus proclaimed that their – and our – joy could be full!

The insight gained here in John helped me understand James’s statement, “Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.”  It also gave new meaning to Hebrews 12:2, “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross….”  C.S. Lewis wrote in another context of being “surprised by joy.”  Well, another seeker on the journey for truth has once again been surprised by joy!

Seeking Him

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

–November of 2006

Seeking Him

Here on the Hilltop, we have taken the Biblical language of “Seeking Him” as the theme for this school year.  The language is found in a number of Biblical passages, but we have chosen Psalm 24:6 as our special passage.  The staff and student body has committed themselves to daily seeking the face of the Lord for personal and corporate revival.  Each Wednesday chapel is dedicated to a sermon that develops the theme of seeking Him.  I began the Wednesday series with the passage from Hosea 10:12 that says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you”.  I found two important truths that I wanted to share with the Revivalist family.

First, there is a process in seeking Him.  In the language of farming, Hosea says there is plowing, then planting, and then the exercise of patience. Plowing is the deepest and most painful part of revival.  The hidden must be exposed – the hard ground broken up and softened.  Planting is the most instructive and enjoyable part of revival.  It can be simply glorious to fill our prepared hearts with the good seed of the Word, prayer, and faith.  Patience is the most challenging part of revival.  We can be highly engaged in the first two steps but only God can send the rain and the ultimate harvest.

Evan Roberts, the human instrument in the 1904 Wales revival, gave the following steps as a process for seeking revival: 1. Confess all known sin to God; 2. Deal with and get rid of any “doubtful” area of your life; 3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly; 4. Confess Christ publicly.   It was a good process, as over 100,000 people were led to saving faith in Jesus Christ during that move of God.

Second, there is a promise in seeking Him.   The Bible is very clear that God delights to respond to His children. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God…and He will draw nigh to you.”  The Prophet Isaiah told us that He would “pour water upon him that is thirsty…” (Isa. 44:3).  The Apostle Paul gives the most encouraging word of all when he tells us that “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Co 1:20).  God longs to say “Yes” to the earnest cry of His children for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.

This truth is illustrated in an event that happened over two centuries ago.  President Thomas Jefferson and a group were traveling across country on horseback when they came to a river which had left its banks due to a recent downpour.  The swollen river had washed the bridge away, so each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, and the swift currents posed a life-threatening situation.  A man traveling by foot was standing aside at river’s edge.  He watched each of the riders in turn plunge in and finally make it to the other side.  When Jefferson was the only rider left to cross, the man asked the president if Jefferson would ferry him across the river.  The president agreed without hesitation.  When safely on the other side, another rider asked the man, “Tell me why you selected the president to ask this favor of?”  The man was shocked, as he didn’t know it was President Jefferson.  “All I know,” he said, “was that on your faces was written the answer ‘No,’ but on his face was written the answer ‘Yes.’”

Written on the face of God is the answer “yes” to the cry of His children who long for and seek after a personal revival.

Half-Way Christians

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

–October of 2006

Half-Way Christians

In the early 1600s the Puritans made the arduous journey to America to establish a pure community of like-minded Christians, a “City on a Hill.” As the first generation of these settlers began to die off, their congregational churches faced a membership crisis. Full participation, or membership, had been limited to the “Visible Saints” — those who had made a public affirmation of a conversion experience. In the early days, most Puritans testified to such an experience.  But as time passed, the fires of conviction did not burn as brightly in the hearts of the second- and third-generation Puritans. Fewer of them had a “conversion experience,” and even fewer were inclined to devote themselves to the principles of the church.

In 1662, the church leadership, to confront this crisis of faith, created the Half-Way Covenant.  It provided a partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of church members.  It allowed them the rite of baptism (which opened the door to civil privileges) without having to devote themselves to the strict principles of the church or testify to a “conversion experience.”   Within a generation these partial Puritans were complete worldlings.

History has proven that it is a daunting task for parents to hand down their faith to succeeding generations.  The Book of Judges graphically describes this challenge: “The people worshipped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works He had done for Israel…. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel. The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshipped the Baals and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt.” Succeeding generations have a natural tendency to accept the status quo and to lose the vision of the first generation. Too often the second-generation experience is a second-hand experience. The parent’s fervor for the faith becomes the children’s formalism and the grandchildren’s apathy.

This is more than a sad fact of church history.  It’s a tragedy of eternal proportions.  I have witnessed children who have grown up in the finest of Christian homes succumb to the subtleties of what one writer calls the “second generation syndrome.”  They conform to the codes and creeds of their religious subculture; they perform their Christian duties with sincerity; they speak the appropriate shibboleths with ease and familiarity; yet they lack the vital heart of basic Christianity.  Like the Rich Young Ruler, they are fine examples of religious conformity and moral integrity, but totally void of true spiritual life.

Every Christian parent wants more than anything else to have children who love and serve the Lord.  We all want to give them the benefit of the doubt and take them at their word that they are indeed Christians.  But both parents and pastors need to be very careful not to assume that because Johnny and Sally look the part they truly know God.  The new birth carries with it some unmistakable marks of spiritual life.  If these are not present, then well-meaning attempts to confirm children in the faith will never substitute for a true conversion.  God has no grandchildren.  Every generation must find God for itself and experience His saving grace. There are no half-way Christians in heaven, just totally lost ones in hell.

I’ve Had It!

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

–September of 2006

I’ve Had It!

I’ve had it! I’ve had it with articles and poll results in religious and secular magazines needling the Church by claiming that Christians today are watching X-rated movies, are addicted to pornography, commit immorality, and lie and steal at the same rate as non-Christians.  I’ve had it with these people who blame the Church for not accepting them with open arms and unconditional love so they can continue to practice their perverted lifestyles without any sense of shame, or worst yet, ordain them as ministers of the gospel.  I’ve had it with these preachers who seek to be so accepting that when they finish a sermon, they have made the Christian life so broad and inclusive that your average pagan feels right at home.   I’ve had it with all of this because this is not how the Bible portrays a Christian.  The New Testament teaches that the behavior listed above falls below the line of authentic Christian faith and is clearly sub-Christian.  Christians aren’t slaves to any sin nor do they entertain themselves with the very things the Bible condemns as sinful.  A person who has experienced a true Biblical conversion has implanted within him a desire to do right and be morally good.  If that is not the case, then any pretense of conversion is just that – a pretense.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with Christian leaders who are determined to make the unconverted so comfortable in church that they have turned Sunday-morning worship into an experience that is no different from a trip to a local entertainment club.  Sanctuaries look like theaters.  The attendees are encouraged to “dress casual,” bring their favorite beverage, and rock to the same rhythms you would expect to hear at a university frat party.  Sermons are preached from a lawn chair or a barstool.  Surprisingly, some of them are good.  What is not surprising is that few take them seriously.  Why should they, when everything around them is screaming “do as you please”?  Church bookstores, coffee shops, and restaurants do a thriving business before and after service as they violate the sanctity of the Lord’s Day.  Why have I had it?  Because the fundamental principles of Biblical worship are thrown out to create an atmosphere that satisfies the creature rather than glorifies the Creator.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with this new gospel and its false prophets who constantly reassure their flock that they can have “peace with God and a home in heaven” without making any fundamental changes to the way they live and the values they hold.  This “come in Savior and stay out Lord” brand of religion that ignores the claims of the Bible and remains plugged in to this present world is a false gospel.  At the very heart of what it means to be Christian is that the Christian is a unique and special kind of person.  He has experienced a radical change that separates him from those who are not Christian.  It is a difference that makes him like Christ and can only be explained in terms of his relationship to Christ.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with the fact that the only alternative that too many churches are offering to the above dilemma is just criticism.  Far too few are preaching a biblically balanced message and providing a real worship experience for serious saints and hungry sinners. Too few congregants have lives that are marked by the presence of God and noted for their radical abandonment to Him.

I’ve had it!  And that’s good!  For it is often in these times of such desperation that God is able to sow in our hearts the seeds for renewal and revival.  I long for His transforming power and life-giving presence to mark the lives of His children again.