Defending the Faith

So I get a call this afternoon from what I can only suppose was a Jehovah’s Witness, pretending to want a question answered about the Bible. He sounded suspicious from the get-go, and after he asked his question, I specifically asked him if his question was real, or if he just wanted a debate. He told me his question was legitimate, but from his tone & refusal to let me answer the questions, it was obvious he was lying & attempting to debate me out of a belief in the Triune Godhead, revealed as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

So what do we do when the truth of the Scripture comes under unexpected attack? Turn to the Scriptures & pray for the one attacking it. This particular man was unwilling to listen to anything that was said to him and kept railing on without taking a breath. I tried sharing Scriptures with him, I tried sharing the Law with him, I tried sharing the Gospel with him, I tried appealing to him, and after everything was obviously useless, finally I had to hang up the phone.

So for anyone out there who actually IS wondering the answer to the question: does the Bible really say that Jesus is God in the flesh, the answer is a resounding YES. Here are just a very few of the examples:

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

John 1:1-3 ” 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

John 10:30-33, ” 30. “I and My Father are one.” 31. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 33. The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.””

Phil 2:5-11, ” 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7. but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Col 1:15-20 ” 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20. and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

And we could go on & on. Jesus is the Son of God; God the Son. Jesus created the Universe, upholds it by His power, receives worship, and lived a perfect sinless life. He went to the cross & rose again on the third day (which is the declaration of His deity – Rom 1:4), and provides salvation to all who humbly come to Him in repentance, believing Him to be Lord.

The Nicene Creed states it well:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic (universal) and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Running Milestone

I had mentioned in service a couple of Sundays ago that I had started running a few months back, and that I was hoping to break 3 miles soon. Well, today was the day. I ran 3 miles in 35 minutes, 49 seconds. I’m going to work to increase my pace, but I’m thrilled to get the distance!

In the meantime, may we keep running the race Jesus has set before us!
Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Pictures from the new building

Thank you so much to those who prayed, worked, and otherwise labored over our new building! If you haven’t yet been able to come, here are some pictures of how it turned out.

As you drive up…

The main sanctuary…

Our fellowship hall…

The nursery…

The preschool class…

Our other classroom for older kids & youth…

Praise God! Please continue to pray that the gospel would go forth – that the church would be built up – and most of all, that God would be glorified through this facility.

Just because it was worth repeating

From CH Spurgeon’s, “Lectures to my Students” & the lecture entitled “The Preacher’s Private Prayer”:

“The minister who does not earnestly pray over his work must surely be a vain and conceited man. He acts as if he thought himself sufficient of himself, and therefore needed not to appeal to God. Yet what a baseless pride to conceive that our preaching can ever be in itself so powerful that it can turn men from their sins, and bring them to God without the working of the Holy Ghost. If we are truly humble-minded we shall not venture down to the fight until the Lord of Hosts has clothed us with all power, and said to us, “Go in this thy might.” The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He cannot have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity. He must be a mere official, tempted into a pulpit because the piece of bread which belongs to the priest’s office is very necessary to him, or a detestable hypocrite who loves the praise of men, and cares not for the praise of God. He will surely become a mere superficial talker, best approved where grace is least valued and a vain show most admired. He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvests. He is a mere loiterer, not a laborer. As a preacher he has a name to live and is dead. He limps in his life like the lame man in the Proverbs, whose legs were not equal, for his praying is shorter than his preaching.”
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What a glorious invitation we’ve been given to go before the throne of grace in prayer. Whether it’s in the public proclamation of the gospel, the exposition of the Scriptures, or simply interceding for the salvation of our loved ones, let us bathe in prayer whatever ministry the Lord Jesus has entrusted to us.

Lord, help us to pray.

Why teach expositionally (verse-by-verse)?

I remember the 1^st time I personally encountered true verse-by-verse teaching through the Bible. It was so refreshing! Like cool water after a long drought, it was nourishing and life altering.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d sat under good pastors & teachers in the past. Some would even teach an expositional series on occasion. But even then, the pastor would read a paragraph or so of Scripture, and then pull a nugget or two from it before moving on to what he really wanted to talk about. But for the last part of my Christian life before verse-by-verse teaching, I was sitting under topical series after topical series. Not necessarily unbiblical, but where the Bible was almost an afterthought – something used in reference for the pastor’s points that he wanted to make, rather than the Scripture driving the points to be made. I knew there was something more to be had from preaching – and there definitely was: the simply exposition of the Scriptures verse-by-verse and line-by-line.

Before I get into the “whys” of verse-by-verse expositional teaching, let’s look at what verse-by-verse expositional teaching is NOT. It is not reading the Bible as fast as possible, and coming up with some nugget that half-way relates to the subject matter. It is not finding key words in the Scripture to launch into favorite topics of the pastor, while breezing over tougher areas. It is not thinking of some personal story to relate to every single Scripture that’s read. None of that could truly be called “verse-by-verse expositional preaching.” It may be guided verse-by-verse, but unless the pastor is teaching what is actually on the page of the Bible, it’s not expositional.

True verse-by-verse expositional teaching is to systematically present the teaching of the Scripture, pouring over the text as God the Holy Spirit inspired it, and presenting it in as unfettered a way as possible. In other words, the pastor ought to present the text, explain & apply the text, and then get out of the way.

Why? Because the power is not in the words of the preacher; the power is in what’s being preached. God’s word is living & powerful & sharper than any 2 edged sword (Heb 4:12). God’s word is breathed out by Him, and good to equip His people for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). God’s word cleanses us (Eph 5:26) and sanctifies us (John 17:17). In other words, when God’s word is purely preached, it changes God’s people. The pastor ought to present it simply & accurately & then not attempt to take the place of the Holy Spirit.

“So then,” the question is often asked, “Why preach at all? Shouldn’t the church just randomly assign someone to get up in the pulpit and read the text? Why is the pastor necessary?” That’s a fair question. And it’s an easy answer: because preaching the word of God is what God commands.

2 Timothy 4:2 states very clearly: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” The word of God is to be preached & proclaimed to the church of God. We are to be convinced of the word, rebuked by the word, and exhorted through the word – all of which serve to point us continually to the Living Word, Christ Jesus.

That, my friends, is what we might call the pastoral job description regarding pulpit ministry. It’s not to tell jokes, nor give tear-jerking stories, it’s simply to preach the word.

So why verse-by-verse expositional teaching? Because quite simply, (in my opinion) it is the most effective method to preaching the word of God in the world. When Scripture is rightly taught, there is no skimming over of unpleasant topics & over-concentration on favorite topics. There is no undue focus on the preacher. There is no lightweight, everybody-shake-everybody’s hand milquetoast teaching. There is just the word of God & its subject, Jesus Christ & His gospel.

Does verse-by-verse teaching always work out this way? No. People are fallible & all of us get off-track from time to time. I am still a relatively young pastor & have much to learn…I by no means am perfect at any of this.

But that doesn’t change our call. Pastors, our call is to “Preach the word!” What if you’re teaching young people? Your call is to preach the word. What if you’re counseling people going through marital difficulty? Your call is to preach the word. It doesn’t matter what region of the country you’re in – it doesn’t matter what age or demographic primarily fills the seats in your sanctuary – all of the stuff that typically drives “preaching methods” is meaningless bunk. What does matter is the call of God.

Preach the word!

Christmas thoughts

Sorry this is late…I decided not to spend much time online at Christmas. Go figure.

Luke 2:25-32 (focus on 29-32)

One part that often gets left out of the Christmas story is what took place 8 days later, according to the law… After Jesus was circumcised, Simeon saw the Child for who He was: the Christ!

1. Who was Simeon? Just a guy. Scripture gives us very little background on him:
__a. He was “just & devout” & filled with the Spirit…but not a priest (nor a prophet, necessarily). The priests were the ones who expected to see the Messiah 1st (which may be why they hung around John the Baptist so much!). In retrospect, they seem to have been the last to know. From man’s perspective, Simeon was not a likely person; but from God’s perspective, Simeon was just the guy!
____i. Why? Because Simeon had faith! Any righteousness & reverence he had (just & devout) came as a result of trusting in God & His promises. Hebrews 11:6 (6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. []

2. What was he doing? Waiting in the temple for the promised Messiah…actually received a personal promise from the Holy Spirit that Simeon would see him before his death. Logical place to wait; but an unexpected candidate! The Messiah didn’t ride through the city gates as a confident warrior/king, but as an 8 day old infant brought in by a poverty-stricken young couple… But through eyes of faith, Simeon saw much more:
__a. God’s salvation: That’s exactly what the name “Jesus” means! “Yahweh is salvation”. We so desperately need to be saved from the results of our sin (death), and God Himself provided that salvation by sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross & rise again from the grave. Did Simeon know every detail when he looked at baby Jesus? Probably not – but he did know that it was through this little baby that God was going to offer salvation to the entire world!
__b. A light to the Gentiles: Who are the Gentiles? We are (for the most part)! Literally the Greek is ἔθνος (ethnicity) = “nations.” The Son of God did not come for only one tiny country seated on the Mediterranean Sea; Jesus was given for the entire world! John 3:16 (16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [] He came for you & for me!
__c. The glory of Israel: Jesus did come for the world, but He also serves a very important role for the nation & people of Israel – He is their awaited King. He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Gen 12) – He is the prophet to come promised to Moses (Deut 18) – He is the son of David, who is the eternal King of Israel (2 Sam 7). Did Israel receive Jesus as their King? No – they rejected Him (as prophesied, Isa 53:3), but He was born as their King, died as their King, and was risen to life as their King forever…which means Jesus is our King as well – the King of Kings & Lord of Lords!
____i. Does it matter to Gentiles that Jesus is the King/Messiah of Israel? It should! God has kept His word to His people – despite their rejection of Him. If God kept His promise of a Deliverer for Israel, we can trust in His promise of salvation to us, too!

3. How do we see Christ? As a babe? A myth/legend? A nice story to read at Christmas & Easter? Or as the salvation of the Lord God – the promised Messiah – our Deliverer? We recite a lot of fairy tales at Christmastime (nothing wrong with that) – but Jesus isn’t one of them. [] God Himself really did come to earth as a babe, born of a virgin – and Jesus grew in wisdom & stature with the Lord. When Jesus was grown, He was well-pleasing to His Father in Heaven & proclaimed to us that He is the way, the truth, and the life & no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). He died on a cross – not because He deserved it, but because you & I did… And then He rose to life again on the 3rd day, and is still alive to this day – offering forgiveness & grace to any who receive Him as Lord & Savior. Want a reason to celebrate at Christmastime? It’s simply this: we have seen the Lord’s salvation – and it is Christ the Lord!

Why I’m Not Ashamed to be a Fundamentalist

A couple of years ago, I had an interesting conversation on an airplane. I typically try to strike up a conversation with whomever I’m sitting next to (which is getting harder and harder to do), simply out of a desire to be polite & to see if I might get an opportunity to share the gospel with them. This one woman I was sitting next to was very hospitable, and before long we got to speaking about spiritual things. As it became apparent that I was one of “those” kind of Christians, I could almost see her nose turn up & it was obvious she had no desire to be in the same plane as me, let alone the same row.

At the time, I was somewhat taken aback. After all, I didn’t think of myself as a “fundamentalist.” To me, that term described folks in the backwoods dancing with snakes, and quoting from the 1611 King James (because to them, that was the *original* inspired language). Yet to her, I WAS the fundamentalist, simply because I believed that the Bible means what it says.

As time has gone on, I’ve seen that her definition of “fundamentalism” is the prevailing definition of the word. Those who believe as I do are disparaged as fundies, fundagelicals, bible-thumpers, religious-right, and more. All are terms used as pejoratives (not descriptions), and the implication is that I should be ashamed to hold the beliefs that I do.

You know what? I don’t.

Instead of shunning the term, I’ve decided to embrace it. I am a fundamentalist Christian. (With no apologies to Rosie O’Donnell.)

As I’ve turned to the common definitions of fundamentalism, there are two basic areas this encompasses: (1) theology, (2) morality.

On the theological side, I believe that the Bible is the inerrant inspired word of God, that Jesus is God incarnate, in the substitutionary atonement, in His bodily resurrection, in His supernatural miracles, and in His coming again. I believe that the Bible means exactly what it says, and although there are numerous debates over various interpretations, the overall message of the Bible is absolutely clear without mistake. That is: God is Holy…we’re not…Jesus took our judgment for sin upon Himself & offers His grace to all who call upon Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks of the glory of God, because quite simply, He is glorious & worthy to be praised.

On the morality side, I believe that God calls us as Christians to live in such a manner as to glorify Him. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever fail (we do quite often!), but when we do, we simply repent anew and move on. It also means that I cannot in good conscience give my approval to sin among our culture. I don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians (why should I? That’s illogical.) But neither do I feel obligated to deny my faith in order to make non-Christians feel better about their sin.

Why exactly these two positions annoy our culture so much, I honestly don’t know. The longer I study the Bible, and the more time I spend in prayer, the more I learn that life is not about me, but about Him. God gives me breath and bread for His glory. Jesus died on the cross & rose again for His glory. The Holy Spirit gave me a new birth for His glory. Do I benefit from these things? Absolutely & in wondrous ways! But God doesn’t do these things so much for me, as He does for Himself. Thus when it comes to decisions about theology and morality, my choice only logically becomes: what gives glory to God?

If that makes me a fundagelical bible-thumper, so be it.

Burger King Outreach

Check out the video from our evangelistic outreach at Burger King this past Saturday. We gave out 200+ coupons for a free burger/fry, and used it as a jumping off point to share the gospel one-on-one with people. We gave out tracts, gospel bracelets, CD’s, Bibles, and more. It was awesome to see people stepping out in faith to share the gospel of Christ! Pray that God would continue to bring people to Himself through what was shared.

Hello world!

Ok…so after reading countless blogs, and managing one for my work, I’ve decided to take the plunge and actually get one for me. We’ll see what God does with this little space, but for the time being this will be a spot where I’ll place my sermon notes from Sundays & Wednesdays, write some random thoughts from time to time, and strike up a conversation with those who visit.

Who am I? My name (if it wasn’t obvious) is Tim Burns, and I’m the pastor of Calvary Chapel Tyler (www.calvarytyler.com) located in East Texas. I have had the privilege of being married to my beautiful bride for almost 12 years now, and we have been blessed with the cutest little girl most folks have laid eyes on. Not that I’m biased, of course.

Before I place any other post, I should tell you the most important thing you could know is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for your sins. He’s not some “good teacher” or some “ordinary prophet” – He really is God in the flesh. Because we sinned against God in our thoughts, our words, and our actions (indeed in our very being), Jesus went to the Cross on our behalf. There He took the wrath of God upon Himself for our sin, paid the price we could not pay, and died. Three days later, Jesus proved to be victorious over the grave & rose again to new life…and He still lives today.

That’s great news…wonderful news! But don’t let it stop there. The news has to go beyond your eyes/ears to your heart. You must receive His forgiveness in order to experience His forgiveness…and that’s only done through faith.

(1) Recognize your sin & recognize who Jesus really is: the Son of God.

(2) Repent/turn away from your sins, and turn to Christ Jesus by faith for forgiveness.

(3) Receive Him as your Lord, God, Master, King…entrust your whole life to Him.