Salvation Is From The Lord

I have been thinking about salvation today because of a lesson taught on Matthew 16:13-20, something said to me after class, and a sermon preached on Psalm 67.

Today I spoke up because the topic is very close to my heart. I believe that my salvation is from the Lord and I believe that the salvation of all the elect is from the Lord.

The instructor asked, “What are your first thoughts when you heard this passage read.” His question assumed the historical debate between Catholics and Protestants about the apostle Peter. However, my first reading of this text had nothing whatsoever to do with this debate. I first read this scripture from a clean slate. When I read this text for the first time, my thoughts were on Jesus’ question to his disciples. “But who do you say that I am?” 

The first time that I read this text I was an unbeliever, and had no prior knowledge about the historical church positions regarding the apostle Peter; therefore, my focus was on the question posed, “Who is Jesus?”

The instructor posed another question, a question as to how someone might conclude that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Some of the answers:

1. Divine Revelation
2. Scriptures
3. Hearing
4. Miracles

He then focused on Scriptures and labeled it, “Reasoning,” and asked, “Can anyone come to faith in Jesus Christ through reasoning alone?” I decided to reverse the question because while I believe that my salvation is from the Lord, and the salvation of all the saints is from the Lord, I do not discount human reasoning as taking part in our salvation. I believe that our salvation is like a recipe, a recipe which requires a combination of human reasoning and divine intervention. 

John 15:26-27, 

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (NASB95)

I said, “Let us reverse your question. Can someone come to the Lord by reason alone? Can someone come to a salvific faith in Jesus Christ by revelation alone? Has anyone in the history of the world ever done that? Can someone on an island, who never heard of Christ, nor had access to the Scriptures come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?

I believe that it is a very serious question indeed, for it was through my reasoning through the Scriptures that I came to know and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Am I saying that I came to this through reason alone? No, the Holy Spirit was doing a work in me during the years that I read the Scriptures and reasoned through them. Without election and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit I would not have trusted in Christ alone.

Do you want to know what convinced me that Jesus is who the Scriptures claim that he is? The apostles believed that Jesus, is the Christ, the Son of God, who died on a Roman cross, was buried in a garden tomb, and on Sunday morning arose bodily from the dead. These same men, who were running in fear at Jesus’ arrest, now boldly preached that Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ, the Son of the living God, having all authority in heaven and on earth. 

After class, a woman that I do not know, but was told by my wife that she is the mother of someone that I do know, said to me that Romans 1:19-20 proves that people can and have come to faith in Christ without hearing. I found this strange for three reasons. First, it is not what the text says but actually gives the reason that those who don’t hear are not without guilt. Second, it is not what all of Scripture teaches and is actually not Calvinism but Hyper-Calvanisim. Thirdly, just minutes later our pastor would preach a beautiful sermon on evangelism and missions from Psalm 67. 

Yes, salvation is from the Lord but consider also that “Faith come from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17, NASB95)

True Love

Think about what this text is saying. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Does one give good things to those one hates? The answer is no! And one would certainly not give ones best, but that is exactly what God did, he gave is only begotten Son. 

Valentines Day is a day in which people think of romantic love but this is not the love that God demonstrated to the world. Romantic love can be a selfish love because romance makes one feel good. The love of God is not a romantic love but a love that is compassionate and gracious. The sinner is the enemy of God, yet God gave his only begotten Son for sinners.

 The second part of this text says, “That whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Some have made things out of this text that they ought not, considering that the entire context from which this passage comes is a rebirth that comes by the Holy Spirit. It is not a person choosing God, but God choosing the person. One believes in the Son of God because it was granted to that particular person by God. (cf. John 6:37, 44, 65)

Nonetheless, the assurance is without a doubt; whoever believes in the Son of God “should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What is the assurance? The assurance is that the one who made the promise rose bodily from the dead. (John 20:19-20)

His name is Jesus, He is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Repent (change your mind) and believe the gospel (good news).

Bought at a High Price

I began writing this blog during the summer of 2010. I did not even know what a blog was, but I had a burning desire to exalt Jesus Christ, so I sought ways to do that. Writing this blog was one of the ways in which I sought to honor God. 

Early into writing, I named the blog, “A Slave of Jesus Christ,” because this is the way that apostle Paul saw himself, as did the other apostles. They would address their letters to the churches, insert apostles name, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. The actual Greek word translated into English bond-servant is δοῦλος doulos, which literally translated means slave. So if these men, who were first in the church of Jesus Christ saw themselves as slaves of Christ, should I think myself anything else?

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (NASB)

The price that the Corinthian Church was bought at, the price that we have all been bought at, is the body and blood of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Not only did I write in this blog, but I began evangelizing to the best of my abilities. Giving out tracts everywhere that I went, and even doing so with purpose. I stood on street corners with a cross that said, “Are You Ready.” I preached in open air in the cities of New Orleans, New York, Atlanta, Phoenix  and in Tyler, TX. I went back to school, to get a bachelors degree, so that I could go to seminary. I obtained a masters degree in theological studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO, graduating on May 3, 2019.

I was on top of the world, and desired to dive head first into ministry. The ministry that I then sought was a teaching ministry, not at a university, but to pastors in the mission field. I also applied for, and was excepted, June of 2019, into the doctoral program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. However, my world began falling apart, in fact, it began crumbling before I even realized it, it began crumbling when I started this blog.

Our son Daniel graduated from high school, and we sent him to the University of North Texas, but instead of going to class he fell into parties and drinking. We withdrew him from school, and brought him home. He continued to do the same when he came home, but when we told him that he could not, and live in our home, he ran away, and has been gone since. Over the past few years, he would appear briefly, but it has been two years since we heard from him last.

Our daughter was to be married in June of 2019, married to a young man that Darlene (my wife), and I had grown to love. This young man was an engineer for Lockheed Martin, working on the Orion Space Craft. I enjoyed telling people that my future son in-law was working for the space program. Suddenly, without warning, the marriage that had been planned, and paid for by us, was off. Our daughter would not give an explanation, and if we asked, how dare we hurt her feelings.

She continued to live with us, but would leave on weekends to go visit a friend. She was an adult, so as long as she respected our home, she could live with us. All the while I continued forward, pursuing the plan of teaching pastors in the mission field. 

During the summer of 2019, I became certified to teach, by a missionary organization, my first trip was to Cuba, September, 2019. In a week long trip to Cuba, I, and another brother taught systematic theology to a group of pastors, and church leaders on the island. I was so energized by this, but the problems at home continued.

We were to return to Cuba, for another session, December 2019, but our visas were denied by the Cuban government, they would allow us entry, only twice a year, so we planned to return spring of 2020.

You already know what happened, spring of 2020, a world wide pandemic, with everything shutting down. I had been a Registered Nurse since 1997, in fact, an ICU nurse, so I returned to ICU nursing. I contracted COVID-19 around Christmas of 2020. I awoke on Christmas morning to a text message from our daughter, I expected Merry Christmas, but what I actually received sent me into a tailspin of despondency, of which I have not yet recovered.

She was embracing another young woman, and had a wedding ring on her finger. In the spring of 2021 our daughter entered into a civil union with another woman. In the summer of this year, our son will be 34, and our daughter 30. Our son will not communicate with us, and our daughter is in a homosexual relationship, in a civil union with another woman.

I have not been involved in any ministry since, I confess that I have no drive to do so. The pastor of our church, Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas, asked me to teach, a year ago, systematic theology on Wednesday evenings. I did, but with a despondent heart. He recently asked me to teach again, but I did not have the energy. I stopped writing in December of 2021. In November and December of 2022, I wrote a few blogs, stories really, about our lives.

I have a desire to begin writing again, possibly every Sunday morning. I do not know what I will be writing, maybe stories from our lives and the lives of those whom I know. I have not yet recovered from the pain of this world, but I am, nonetheless, a slave of Jesus Christ, he bought me at a high price, the price of his own body and blood; therefore, I shall honor God, and glorify the name of Jesus while I am able.

Brotherly Love

I have wondered, why do authors quote from an older English version of the Bible, like the KJV? When reading a writing in which the author quotes much scripture, he will use several English translations and often much of the KJV. Most English versions allow only a set number of verses quoted without special permission and there is no copy right on older translations like the KJV; therefore, a writer is free to quote from this translations as much as he desires.

I believe that there is no other commandment greater than to love ones neighbor. I know! I know! Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with everything, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. But how did Jesus teach his disciples to love God.

He taught his disciples to love God through loving ones neighbor. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:20-2, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” (KJV)

Christmas Ghosts

I do not believe that I am like Ebenezer Scrooge in his greed, nor do I believe Christmas a bah humbug; however, like Scrooge, I am haunted by the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present, and the ghost of Christmas future. 

I have several fond memories of Christmases past, and I know, like Scrooge, the stories of Christmases past have taken part in shaping Christmas present, and Christmas present will take part in shaping Christmas future. 

I have fond memories of Christmases past, my last post was such a story. One story, that I have thought about, often this week, occurred on Christmas morning 1976.

My father was a Dallas firefighter-paramedic. While growing up in his household, I occasionally spent the night with him at the fire station. Christmas Eve 1976 was such an occasion. 

I don’t remember this particular instance at the fire station; however, I do know, when I spent the day with him, at the fire station, the men included me in the daily chores. In the apparatus room, I could look, but not touch, nor climb on the engines. I was not allowed to go on a run, but would stay at the fire station alone while the men were called out on a run. 

I would spend the night on a bunk, just like the men, but with instructions to stay in bed if they went out on a run.

I remember riding home with my father, in his big green Ford van, coming to the place were Audelia Rd and Skillman St come together, just south of LBJ freeway. Why is this part of my memory and why is this memory so vivid? I do not know, but I do know that it was Christmas morning 1976 and we were on our way home together.

We arrived at my boyhood home in Garland, Texas. My brother and sister were not allowed to leave there rooms until we arrived. Santa Clause had come, he had neatly placed toys in three groups. 

I do not remember the other toys in my group, but I do remember an ambulance, equipped with paramedics and a stretcher. My younger brother received a fire truck, that had a raisable bucket, that could be attached to a water hose, and spew water to put out large structure fires, although, of course, on miniature scale.

My father is no longer with us, he died on February 16, 2014, from Parkinson's and Lewy bodies dementia.

My family spent Christmas together, for the last time, on December 24, 2013, my brother and his family, my sister and her family, and I with my family gathered at our parents home in Whitehouse, Texas. They had just moved into that home a few months prior. My mother wanted to move closer to us, that she might reach out when she needed help.

It was my father’s dream, to retire, and live on property, with acreage in East Texas. He did just that, he called it his farm with a yellow house, but in a short time, after retiring from the Dallas Fire department, his neurological health began to rapidly decline. The home of his dreams was taken away from him, and he was forced to move into a home of my mothers choosing. 

He saw many apportions, things, people and situations that were not there. He had a difficult time distinguishing reality apart from the things that his deteriorating brain was causing him to see and hear. My mother wanted a break from his continues care, so the hospice nurse offered respite at home place; however, this led to his placement in a nursing home in which he died.

My father knew that the ambulance drivers had come to take him away and he did not want to go. My mother asked that I be there to aide, he would often listen to me; however, I could not talk him into a short visit away from the home. 

Somehow we got him up out of the bed, onto his feet, when his hips were near the stretcher, I forced them down. The last words that I heard my father say to me were on Christmas Day, 2013, “If I did not love you so much, I would bust you in the head.” The memories of that day have haunted me every Christmas since.

Christmas, like all of life, is not all sunshine and rainbows. However, Christmas, for whatever reason, tends to intensify memories, unlike any other time of year. May you be merry this Christmas and love your neighbor as yourself.

A Few Days Before Christmas

A few days before Christmas, the year 1989, a young man went on a road trip, with a single woman and her infant child. 

They were both, in the Army, stationed at Ft. Knox in Kentucky, a field hospital unit, she a surgical technologist, and he, a radio and telephone operator. His family lived in Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and her’s, in the village of Stanley, Louisiana, several miles south of Shreveport.

The plan was for someone from her family, meet them in Shreveport, and he would continue on to his boyhood home in Garland. He had a new truck, and she had an older, less reliable, small car. Since it was on his way, they traveled together. 

He dropped her off, her sister meet them in a Shreveport parking lot, and he drove the rest of the way to his parent’s home in Garland.

It was a very very cold Christmas, especially for the south. His automobile, which was suppose to be the reliable one, broke down while in Garland, this extended the stay and left her without a ride back to Ft. Knox. 

The automobile was repaired during the day, so he drove at night, to meet her, her infant child and her sister, at the same parking lot in Shreveport, that he had dropped her off at a few days prior. She had to be back at the post the next day, the drive, eight hundred miles, so there was no waiting until morning.

They drove through the night, slept for an hour or two, in the truck cab, in a Nashville, Tennessee, parking lot. The truck was a 1989 Ford Ranger, to say that the cab was small would exaggerate its spaciousness. 

While they slept, freezing rain swept through Nashville, Tennessee, so the highway was made treacherous. 

They made it back to Fort Knox, Kentucky with no time to spare. 

The young man fell in love with the young woman and her infant child, during that difficult road trip. Six months later they would be married, at the town square gazebo, in Mansfield Louisiana. The reception was held at her mother’s wooded home near Stanley Louisiana, a shock to the young man’s mind but he was in love.

On June 30, 1990 a young mother from a backwoods community in Louisiana, and a young man from a major metropolitan area in Texas were joined together in holy matrimony. 

This life long union began, un-expectantly, on a road trip, on a day like today, a few days before Christmas.

What Is Man

Are we anything or are we nothing at all? Day to day we walk the earth but for what purpose? We are born, we grow, we live and we die. Generation after generation, very few live in historical memory, but most are forgotten. If not to be remembered, for what purpose do we walk the earth and for this specific time? 

The scripture says that God created man, male and female in his own image, yet all have sinned and fall short of his glory. 

It is the Christmas season but this season has different meaning, to do different individuals. Are we all the creators of our own meaning or is this part of our falling short of God’s glory? If we all fall short, then the meaning that we think is true is faulty in someway. I suppose that some are closer to the truth than others, just as some are more wicked, but we are all wicked, so we all must fall short of the true meaning of Christmas.

I believe that I have lost the meaning of Christmas, or did I lose what was faulty to begin with. I had always associated Christmas with children, excitement, wonderment with opening of presents. Is this the true meaning of Christmas? If it is, I have lost it, but if not, can I find the true meaning? 

Our church follows the liturgical ceremony of  lighting advent candles. The meaning of advent comes from the latin “adventus,” the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ and also of preparing for his second coming. On the four Sundays, leading up to Christmas, a candle is lit, and a passage of scripture read. The first candle represents hope, it is the prophecy candle. The second candle represents peace, it is the Bethlehem candle. The third candle represents joy, it is the shepherd’s candle. The fourth candle represents love, it is the angel’s candle. On Christmas Eve, a service is dedicated to reading passages of scripture and the singing hymns, at which the Christ candle is lit.

This is all that I have remaining of what I once understood as Christmas. No children, nor grandchildren, excitement, and wonderment associated with the opening of presents. All is lost, but have I lost the meaning of Christmas, or is the meaning of Christmas greater than my meaning?