Trick or Treat!

Posted on by kevinjandt

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

What does it mean to be holy?  The word in Greek is hagios – sacred, physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated: – (most) holy (one, thing), saint.  Saints have been set aside for service, praise and worship to God.

If you have been saved by the grace and mercy of God you are set apart for His service.  You are to look different from this world. You should not talk like this world.  You should not act like this world, and I’d like to ask you today; should you participate in the things of this world?  Look again at 1 Peter 1:13-16 as obedient children, NOT (emphasis mine) conforming yourselves….

Believers should set ourselves apart.

Our family was confronted with this reality several years ago as we came under conviction that we should start looking at everything through the spiritual filter of God’s word.  I’m sure some of you are now thinking, “okay, c’mon, Halloween, trick or treating and the KIDS…”  “Is this that big of a deal?”  I’ve heard the arguments because I’ve made them myself.

Grace & Madeline 2008

I can tell you our family enjoyed Halloween.  We’d do up our house and Jen loved to go online and search for the coolest homemade costumes she could find.  Since we were religious in those days, we didn’t want them to be outright evil, just creative so we could win the costume contest.  And she was good at it and won some pretty nice cash prizes; which usually just about covered the cost of the costumes.    When we first started discussing our participation in this “tradition” it was very challenging for Jen.  I remember her being very upset with me as we discussed this on the phone.

Is God okay with us blending the things of this world?  After all it’s a great time to spend together as a family right?  Let’s allow God’s word to challenge our thinking today.  If you want to hold onto the patterns of this world I hope this will have you consider making a change or affirming your current position.

Deuteronomy 18:9-13 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations, There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his sons or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.  You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.

God was warning the children of Israel not to be like the Canaanites.  God is warning us not to be like this cultural and the unbelieving.  This scripture is still relevant to us today.  Halloween is a big deal in this country, According to an article in Forbes Magazine; Americans are expected to spend $8 Billion.  Have you walked into one of these shops in the mall lately or looked at some of the houses in your neighborhood?  Evil is being promoted no matter how they try to disguise it.

Will our lack of participation really affect the world for the kingdom of God?  If we don’t allow our kids to dress up and we don’t give out candy in the neighborhood does this make us better or worse witnesses to who Jesus Christ is in our lives?  Yes and no.  Yes it will, “if” when asked we are prepared with an answer.  No if we are not.  This is a great opportunity for you to share your convictions when asked what your kids are going to be for Halloween.  It’s the perfect conversation starter a wonderful opportunity to tell them what Christ has done in your life.

Witches Walk 2009

Can Believer’s disagree on this issue?  Yes, I believe they can.  As the head of my family, I’ve decided we are not going to observe or participate in Halloween.  I believe scripture calls me to set my family apart and I hope it will challenge you to think biblically in everything you do.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Test all things, hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.  For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?  And what communion has light with darkness?  And what accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?  And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  Therefore “come out from among them and be separate says the Lord, do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you,”

Colossians 1:9-10 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God?  Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

Kevin

A troubled soul…

Posted on by kevinjandt

John 12:27-28 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.  “Father, glorify Your name.”

This is one of my favorite verses.  Can you imagine what the Lord was going through?  His time had come.  This was the culmination of His earthly ministry.  Something that had been planned before time began and it all came down to this moment.

All of human history and redemption hang in the balance of what is going to happen.  Jesus Christ, the only man to live a perfect, sinless life is going to pay for the sin of all those that would believe, past, present and future.  This is too much for my mind to comprehend.  To understand all that is involved in this moment in time is un-imaginable, but it was God’s plan.

If you are a Believer, can you think about your life after salvation, and consider what this means to you now?  Think about the physical pain, the mocking, the beating, taking on the wrath of God and then the separation from His Father?  The only time in all of eternity the Son was separated from the Father.  It’s incredible to consider.

What do Believer’s do with this verse?  It is certainly something to be admired but should we admire the words of the Lord and not allow it affect us significantly?  I see (4) great lessons in this very simple prayer.

My soul is troubled. 

We all experience troubled souls.  Maybe it’s because of our sin or maybe by life’s circumstances; whatever is troubling you we can call on Jesus.  Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Father, save me. 

The Lord did not ask to be delivered from His trial.  He embraced His trial and accessed the power available to Him.  Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  When you are tempted to sin in your times of trouble seek the One that can truly help.

Purpose.

Believers have a purpose and we need to be focused on the mission.  Despite the hardships and trials Jesus embraced His mission.  Our job is also to embrace the mission.  2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  Whether the message is popular or unpopular our mission is to preach the word.

Glorify the Father.

Why did Jesus suffer so much shame and reproach from sinful men?  I hope you know the answer.  Brothers and Sisters we have a simple job.  We are to bring God glory.  Ephesians 1:12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Consider what that time must have been like for the Lord Jesus as He agonized over the shame that was set before Him.  Yet He went willingly that those who would trust in Him would be saved.  I am crushed by the weight of this thought. Who am I that He would consider me in the hour He prayed to His Father that I would be saved.

Yes I benefit from it but it wasn’t for my benefit.   To the praise of His glory… and that’s too much for me to comprehend.

Kevin

The paralytic

Posted on by kevinjandt

Mark 2:1-11 describes a very interesting scene.  Jesus had become well known through His ministry and the crowds have quickly become very large, almost a mob scene.  People are being healed and Jesus is doing some pretty crazy stuff so of course people want to know what it’s all about.  It’s natural they would be curious.  They are looking for something to happen, maybe they want to see a miracle, maybe they want to be healed, or maybe they want to be fed like in John Chapter 6.

Mark 2:4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

I find this fascinating and wanted to offer a couple observations about this passage.

The most obvious is this man’s friends cared enough for him that they would go to this much trouble to bring him to Jesus.  They wanted him to be healed.  They were willing to go to extreme measures for their friend.  When Jesus saw what they had done he pronounced the paralytic’s sins were forgiven because of “their” faith.

John MacArthur commenting on this

Jesus knew what he really wanted. He wanted healing, sure. But far more than that, he wanted forgiveness. The other guys didn’t seem to care about that, but then again maybe they hadn’t really come to grips with their sin because they were able bodied. The sinner who is paralyzed may have a different view about his own wretchedness and may see that paralysis as a judgment. Certainly they did in that culture. They just connected those and so did the people who were ill. But whatever the motivation, or whatever the stimulation, the man knew himself to be wretched on the inside, as much as wretched on the outside, and He wanted not just a healing, but he wanted forgiveness and he believed that this was the one who could bring him forgiveness from God.


And so, Jesus on this moment on the basis of His own personal authority, absolved the man of all his sins. Listen carefully, “Apart from works, “ right? He didn’t do any works and He obliterated the guilt and this man went from being sentenced to eternal hell to being given the privilege of eternal heaven. The man’s heart must have been like the Publican in Luke 18 who said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That man went home righteousness, Jesus said.

What is faith?  The word used here is “pis’-tis” moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

But you say the verse says the men also had faith, why weren’t they saved, look at the work they did to bring their friend to see the Christ?  Jesus only pronounced the paralytic’s sins were forgiven.  This is a big question.  Many go to see Jesus when He’s performing.  Lots of people attend churches and they seem to have faith but what kind of faith do they have?  Is it faith that brings them to repentance and forgiveness of their sins?

John MacArthur sheds light on this once again

Now they all had faith. They all had faith that Jesus could heal. How could they have that faith? Was this some…some supernatural kind of faith? No…no, they believed He could heal…why? Because He had been doing it. This is natural faith. This is human faith, the same faith that allows you to go into the hospital and have surgery. Why do you do that? Why do you let somebody put you asleep? And then they wheel you into a room and somebody slices you open and messes around…why do you do that? You don’t know the guy, you don’t know how he treats his wife, his kids, his friends, his enemies. Well what do you think he’s going to do to you? Why do you do that?

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith (pis’-tis), and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.

This was God’s gift through no effort of his own.  He was able to see his sin and his helpless condition.  That is saving faith.  Let’s also contrast a couple other notable passages about faith or belief.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (pisteuō) in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This uses the verb form of the word as does James 2:19

James 2:17-20 Thus also faith by itself,  if it does not have works, is dead.  But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’  Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe (pisteuō) that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the demons believe (pisteuō) and tremble!  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Just as the friends of the paralytic did not have saving faith we can see from the James passage that demons believe and don’t have saving faith.  The question is do you have saving faith or some other type of faith, do you have some intellectual knowledge of god or do you “believe”?

Heavenly Father may You grant faith to those that understand their wretchedness and helpless condition today.  May you open eyes to see that we can only be saved by You and the faith You give us will produce good works.  Works do not produce faith and I humbly ask that you might show someone this today for the very first time, for Your glory Father.  Amen.

Kevin

A new birth

Posted on by kevinjandt

Last December our beautiful daughter Lydia was brought into the world.  It was a wonderful experience; almost too wonderful.  Jen labored at home for as long as possible and we cut it a little too close.  I wish someone had recorded us trying to get from our vehicle into the emergency room.  I think Jen stopped at least twice to get down on all fours in the parking lot to fight off contractions and I looked like a circus clown running back and forth trying to help her, carry in luggage, grab a wheel chair and whatever else I thought was helpful, thank the Lord, Brenda arrived just in time to help as she hollered across the parking lot “I’ve got it Kevin, get her inside”.

Jen was literally holding Lydia in as she sat in the emergency room entrance with the two young nurses who were in a panic hoping they wouldn’t have to try and deliver a baby.  It seemed like time was standing still as we waited for the nurse.

Once upstairs to the delivery room the doctor was scrambling to get ready as Jen literally jumped into the gown and onto the delivery table; simultaneously if memory serves me correctly.  Okay that’s an exaggeration but it was quick.  The doctor took one look and said “PUSH”.  30 seconds later out popped my third beautiful daughter.  What a rush…  All parents can relate to that amazing feeling and sense of relief and joy when a new life enters the world.  It’s so incredible to see God’s creation and the miracle of a brand new life.

Last Sunday I was able to experience a new birth that had the birth of all three of my girls pale in comparison.  We were able to see the amazing gift of the second birth and this happened to be my first daughter Grace.  Grace was received into membership at Grace Fellowship Church, made a public profession of the saving grace of God and was baptized as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Over the past couple months Jen and I have seen some remarkable changes in our oldest daughter.  Grace has always been a very compliant child.  Not outwardly rebellious, in most cases, very much a rule follower.  But things were different.  She was different.  The day we really saw her experience God’s grace was a couple Sunday’s earlier as our pastor preached on the crucifixion.  In her testimony Grace explained how the weight of her sin became real to her as God poured out His Spirit.  She knew her sin caused the Lord to suffer.  Her sin was real, even though she’s just a young girl.

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.  When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Why did it please Yahweh to bruise Him?  The NIV says to crush Him.  Verse 11 tells us.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

He loved us and calls us children.  This is the hope we can have that Christ suffered the wrath of the Father to reconcile His children.  What an amazing gift, what an amazing God.

1 John 3:1-2 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God: and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

So now Grace must live as a child of the King.  Her life from here until her death will either prove her conversion is real or false.  She will not live a perfect life.  She will sin but affirmation will come in how she handles sin.  Will she have a Psalm 51 experience over her sin, or will it be no big deal.  She must desire to live a life of obedience to God’s word.  She must be in the world but not of the world.

Grace’s life will produce fruit to the glory of God.  I’ve already experienced how she desires to live differently.  She has a desire to pour truth into her sister’s life and to be the kind of a friend and a daughter the Lord wants her to be.

I don’t understand how God’s Sovereign election works.  But I believe it because the scripture tell us plainly that its Gods plan.  I also believe that as I’ve poured biblical truth into the lives of my children God has been merciful and has blessed my effort and that of the pastor and elders.

I must be faithful to my call as a father.  I must diligently teach as Deuteronomy 6 says and in that I can trust in the Lord’s wisdom and grace.

Exodus 20:5-6 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them, For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 

Kevin

What happened to Biblical Manhood?

Posted on by kevinjandt

I recently had a conversation with a man that is of a younger generation than I am.  He’s a nice guy and I know his wife and mother.  He and his wife just recently had a baby.  I asked him a couple questions about the baby and how it was going; he told me that he and his wife just recently went back to work.  They are school teachers.

He told me the baby is going to day care and my heart began to break as I considered how completely normal this is today.  I asked him if he had ever considered having his wife stay home with the baby?  He told me he didn’t think they could afford that.  Then he said; “well I know people used to be able to live on one income.”  Yes I said “it’s often a matter of your priorities.”

Then he transitioned into telling me that if they would ever go to one income he would probably be the one that would stay home.

Long pause by me…

“Well she just loves her job and I just couldn’t see her doing anything else”.  Soooooo…  I’m not sure I have time to handle that one I thought.  Hmmm…  “Yeah I know people do that these days.”  My brain was frozen, I just couldn’t think of anything else to say.

I’ve reflected on this conversation over the last week and I woke up the other night thinking about it.  What in the world has happened to manhood?  When did the wife working and the man taking care of the children become the new normal, and why?  Take a look around and see what society is doing to manliness.  The traditional roles have gone by the wayside for most, and if you dare start talking about patriarchy people think you’re a knuckle dragger.

As a father and a man that desires to live according to God’s word I must do my best to instill biblical truth into my household.  My 13 year old daughter Grace and I have been going through a book called WHAT HE MUST BE  …if he wants to marry my daughter by Voddie Baucham Jr.  We’ve spent a great deal of time pouring through the words and discussing the importance of what this means for her and her future husband.

Pastor Baucham beautifully leads us through the qualifications of being a man of God and Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.  I’ve printed “Dads Copy” on mine as I believe I will go through this multiple times with all my daughters.  Here are just a couple excerpts from the book.

I believe God has spoken rather decisively in his Word about what our daughters should look for, Moreover, I believe there are some non-negotiables that our daughters must be looking for.  There are some things a man simply must be before he is qualified to assume the role of a Christian husband.  For instance, he must be a Christian (2 Corinthians 6:14); he must be committed to biblical headship (Ephesians 5:23ff.); he must welcome children (Psalm 127:3-5); he must be a suitable priest (Joshua 24:15), prophet (Ephesians 6:4), protector (Nehemiah 4:13-14), and provider (1 Timothy 5:8; Titus 2:5).  A man who does not possess – or at least show strong signs of – these and other basic characteristics does not meet the basic job description laid down for husbands in the Bible. 

Moreover, as a father, it is my responsibility to teach my daughter what these requirements are, encourage her not to settle for less, and walk with her through the process of evaluating potential suitors.  Of course these ideas may come as a shock to many in contemporary Christian circles (not to mention society at large) Page 16-17

Does this sound like most young men that you know these days?  I honestly can’t think of any outside of my church that would even consider thinking like this, although I know there are some.  I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to have Godly men that desire to teach younger men how to be men.  Not a man that is willing to have his wife go to work for him, but a man that takes responsibility to labor and toil to provide for his family.

However, little thought is given to preparing our sons to be husbands.  Thus, they meander through life without the skills or mind-set necessary to play this most important role….

That was me.

As a result, we have families led by men who haven’t the foggiest idea what their role is or how to carry it out.  We have wives who were created with a God-given need to be led by godly men, a curse from the days in the garden that puts them at odds with this arrangement, and a cultural mandate to fight against male headship.  Top this off with children who long for the security that can only be found in clear roles and boundaries in the home, and the result is a frustrated family mired in dysfunction.  Sound familiar? Page 43

It’s no wonder that most people want to turn their kids over to a daycare.  They have no idea how to raise them.  Everybody that gets married seems to want kids but as married couples they don’t understand how to relate to each other and they certainly don’t know how to relate to the kids.  I say this from experience.  I was that guy.

Believers and non-believers alike stumble through parenting doing their best but that won’t change a generation back to God’s plan for the family.  What do we do to change this?  I can only give my personal testimony of the peace and joy that we have experienced since we’ve begun embracing the biblical model of family.  Not to perfection by any means but as we draw near to God He draws near to us.

Here are a couple suggestions.

Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Be a mentor.  Older men you should mentor younger men and boys.  You should always be mentoring someone and be mentored by someone.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.

Be Biblical.  We must use God’s word to change hearts and minds.  God is very clear in how to instruct the next generation.

James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Learn from others.  Find someone that can teach you.  If not in your church challenge the pastor and elders to lead in this area.  Voddie Baucham and Paul Washer are two excellent resources on biblical manhood and womanhood and are readily available through a Google search.

1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.

Dedicate yourself to this endeavor.  Don’t read these words and forget about them after you close this web page.  If you have children Deuteronomy 6 applies to you.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

I hope I have an opportunity to talk with this man again someday.  I hope I can tell him there is a better way.  I hope Gods church can shine light in a dark place, there’s a lot more at stake than meets the eye.

Kevin