Bible Reading Resolution

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than fine gold, Even much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honey comb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-11

As we come to the beginning of a new year, I encourage you to consider resolutions for 2021. Resolutions are often a joking matter, but the lives of many great people in the past have been marked by making serious resolutions. Resolutions show a planned determination for the future, a determination to put away past bad habits or begin new good habits. In our own strength, these plans often fail, but when our resolutions are led by the Lord for the sanctification of your soul, they can be life-changing.

These kinds of resolutions are strengthened by the Holy Spirit and become an important source of life change.

I encourage you this year to make a resolution related to Bible reading in 2021. I encourage you to do this prayerfully, intentionally, and with a plan. If daily Bible reading is a new discipline for you, I suggest that you start modestly. When you first determine to get in shape, you must work up to running miles by first walking miles! To read chapters of the Bible regularly, you must first learn to read verses of the Bible daily.

I have included a section of Psalm 19 to remind you of the treasure that we have in God’s Word. The revelation that we have of God to us is the most important thing we could possibly consider each day. Reading God’s Word daily will teach you truth, remind you of truth you have forgotten, make you wise, teach you right from wrong (discernment), encourage your soul, give you perspective, and draw you near to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

To help you in this endeavor, we have added a page of Bible reading plans to the church website. You can access the various plans we have by clicking here (https://redeemerva.org/bible-reading-plan/) . I challenge you to choose one that interests you and makes sense for how much you have been reading the Bible in the past. If you have not been in the habit of reading the Bible – this is the year to start! If you have fallen out of the habit, now is the time to pick back up this essential spiritual discipline.

Make this resolution a matter of prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to give you the personal discipline to act and the insight daily to understand what you are reading. As you draw near to the Lord, He will draw near to you. Your personal relationship with the Lord will deepen, and this habit will become an essential part of your day.

May the Lord watch over you in 2021, and nourish your soul from His eternal Word,

Pastor Vic

Prayer

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-13

This passage follows the Lord’s Prayer in Luke, and extends Jesus’ teaching on prayer. After teaching the disciples the foundational format for how they ought to speak to God, Jesus goes on to teach a surprising parable. The story is one we can all relate to. A person shows up at his friend’s house at midnight to borrow something. Jesus says that the friend in the house will not get up to give the person what they need just because of kindness, but because the friend knocking at the door persists, and will not go away. This seems like rudeness, but Jesus goes on to expound in a number of different ways, that this is a model for how we ought to persist in prayer.

Similar to the friend that came at midnight, we should come to God the Father in prayer and ask for the things we need, pray for the wisdom we need, give our anxieties to the Lord, pray for people in need, and unburden our heart to God (Hebrews 4:16). We are told that we should persist. We should keep asking, and keep seeking. It is as though we are knocking on heaven’s door until the Father answers. For the one who persists will be answered! If you do not ask, you will not receive. If you do not seek answers, they will not be found. God would have us be in the needy place. Like children, we are always in a dependent place before God the Father, and He is glorified by providing.

By persisting in prayer, it is driven home to us and those around us, that we are not able to work out our own situation. Whatever the issue is, it’s too big for us and out of our reach. God help me! God if you don’t help me, there is no one else who can. When we get to this place of dependence and need, God is most glorified to answer and we are most aware of His action in our life. We know for certain the answer to prayer is not happenstance, but the action of a personal, loving God in response to our asking.

These answers to prayer are life-changing. I once had a person ask me, “How do you know when God answers your prayers?” The question in itself reveals much about the person’s prayer life and its lack of persistence. We know when God answers our prayers … because they are answered! In answer to God-honoring, persistent prayer our children come to salvation, a new job is provided, a friend is healed of disease, a marriage is restored, a church is unified and strengthened, sin is forgiven, and the Holy Spirit is poured out (v. 13b). Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not like our thoughts. The ways of God are not just different, but “higher,” or better than our ways and thoughts. When God does not answer our prayers immediately, it is always for a good purpose.

The last section of these verses work to remind us that God is good. These verses ring especially true at Christmas time. Every parent is strategizing for how they can buy good gifts for their children. Do you know that as a Christian, God the Father loves you? He loves you like a good Father and will give you good things as you persist in prayer. But like all good parents, this does not mean that God will give us everything we ask for.

Let’s not miss the last phrase of this beautiful passage. What God the Father will always give to those who ask, is more of His own dear presence. Above all in your prayers, pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the abiding presence of God to be near you today. Just like it is better for a father to be with a child than to give the child “things,” it is better that we have the presence of God than any other thing He can give us.

Let us persist in prayer,

Pastor Vic

Grace and Peace

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:2-4

It is through knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that grace and peace are multiplied in your life. As you learn who Jesus is and what He has done for you on the cross, by this knowledge a door is open to faith. Only after learning about the immense and unconditional love Jesus has for you, and the power He has to conform all things to the purposes of His will, can you then believe these truths. Once we know these things, it is possible then to believe these truths. Without knowledge there is no foundation for faith. But when knowledge and faith grow together, grace and peace are multiplied.

This glorious passage tells us that by God’s “divine power” He has granted to us all we need to make it through this life – all we need physically and spiritually. We can give thanks in all occasions as we seek Jesus in faith, because His purposes are perfect. His plan for the life of His beloved children is never late, never early, never lacking resources – but right on time and sufficiently supplied in every way to accomplish Jesus’ purposes in our life. As the Lord works to redeem His “called” people, he accomplishes the process of saving rebellious, guilty, and ruined sinners by transforming them into obedient, justified, and glorified saints. This work is to “His own glory and excellence.” Jesus is glorified in the salvation of sinners!

In this process of saving those who believe, Jesus makes to us “precious and very great promises.” A promise is only as good as the person who makes it. The hope of the promise relates to the ability of the person to make good on the promise and the dependability of the promise-maker to follow through on his word. The Lord Jesus is both able to fulfill His promises and is faithful to do so, in His time.

The promises of God to save those who believe in Him are promises that ultimately result in our being born again (being given a new nature that loves Jesus), being justified before God (declared not guilty), being sanctified (made more like Jesus in our attitude and actions) over the years of our life, and finally, being glorified (resurrected in glory and our nature of sin fully removed). Peter tells us that the fulfillment of these saving promises in your life allows you to partake in the “divine nature.” By this promised, and progressively accomplished work of God, we move from being those on the outside looking at the work of God, to those indwelt by the Holy Spirit living in, and being a part, of the work of God. This is a relationship and participation that will grow and endure for all eternity. It is a work that begins now, in this life, as soon as a person repents of their sins and believes in Jesus as Savior! By this we “escape from the corruption that is in the world.”

This is the way of Jesus. This is the way of life.

This past week the tragic death of Tony Hsieh made the news. Hsieh was the brilliant, Harvard educated, businessman and entrepreneur that founded Zappos.com, the first major on-line shoe seller. Only a few years after its immense success he sold the company to Amazon for more than one billion dollars. Mr. Hsieh had all the world could offer, but not the great and precious promises of salvation. Instead of sharing in the divine nature of Jesus, he sought all the world had to offer, and was well known for his partying and excesses. Last week, after a long downward spiral of alcoholism and drug abuse, he died in a house fire that he started himself. A tragic end to a brilliant life. What is gained if a person achieves all the world has to offer but loses their own soul?

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Pastor Vic

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …” (Matthew 5:19a)

Each year the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention gather for a national meeting. At that meeting, representatives from the various member churches gather for business and to pass “resolutions.” Resolutions are official public statements agreed upon by the vote of the representatives that express the official position of the denomination. One such resolution that has been widely published this week relates to the SBC statement that Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality are incompatible with the teaching of the Bible.

CRT, as defined by the UCLA School of Law, states: “Racism is ingrained in the fabric and system of American society. This system of white privilege and white supremacy perpetuates the marginalization of people of color.” I agree with the SBC, that the problem of racism is not first ingrained in the fabric of our society, but ingrained in the hearts of all sinful human beings. Racism is not an exclusively American problem, but is a human sin problem. Racism grows from pride, envy, and hate and is truly ingrained in the heart of every person that rejects the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Of the developed nations of the world, America is among the best at creating a system of government that fosters equality of opportunity (not equality of possessions) based on a system of merit and hard work. For generations this system of government has created such a sense of hope in people around the world that tens of millions of people have immigrated to America from every nation on earth. They have flocked to America because it does NOT have an inherently racist form of government. America has long stood as a land of constitutional government, not open to the whims of despotic rule.

The original, unamended, constitution has proven to be a durable system of government allowing for the freedom and happiness of its citizens. But the constitution was also a flawed product of its time by allowing for the existence of chattel slavery. However, over time, by war, by amendment and the moral growth of the country, substantial improvements have been made to our form of government. But these improvements have come by seeking justice, not social justice. Social justice is the idea of having favored groups under the law, instead of pursuing equal justice under the law for all people.

The Bible reveals to us that God Almighty operates by justice, not the social justice of preferred categories. Under the perfect law of God, ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Under this terrible condemnation every man, woman, and child on earth – of every nation and race – are in need of the grace and forgiveness extended to us by the cross of Christ. There is no favored race or favored nation that stands on its own without the grace of God. Because of this, Jesus charged His disciples to go “make disciples of all nations.” He sent a group of Jews to places and people they had never met – people that spoke different languages, had different skin tones, ate different food, and wore different clothes. But they were sent to these people because they were under the condemnation of God for their sin and false worship. They bore a message of grace by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ – a name they had never heard.

CRT will only further divide our nation by picking favored classes singled out for favored treatment, and intersectionality will result in further normalizing the sexual sins of homosexuality and transgenderism.  The SBC is right to affirm that these currently popular movements are not compatible with the teaching of the Bible or our confession of faith in the Baptist Faith & Message. Choosing to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations is inherently racially inclusive. Seeking equal justice is a Christian mandate, and not an issue that belongs to either the right or the left. May we as Christians, be a light to the world by how we love each other in truth!

Pastor Vic

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

I read this verse in my devotions this past week and it immediately made me think of our church! I thank God for our church and it’s love for God’s word. It’s one of the constant remarks that visitors make about our church, “I’m so thankful to have found a church that teaches and loves the Bible.” You cherish reading the precious words of Scripture aloud. This is another way in which we strive to be like the early churches of the New Testament (Col 4:16, 1 Thes 5:27, 1 Tim 4:13, Rev 1:3). We read Scripture to begin and end every service – giving the Lord the first and the last word of all our gatherings. I rejoice that you want to hear sermons that are preached from the Bible to help you better understand God’s Word. I rejoice that you have embraced the idea of memorizing passages of the Bible as a congregation. I rejoice that our small groups are studying various books of the Bible, and our youth and children’s ministry are devoted to bringing God’s word to the next generation! 

I encourage you toward daily personal reading of the Bible. I encourage you to make time every day to quiet your heart in prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to minister to your weary soul from His word. If you struggle to understand the Bible, you can check out a study Bible from our church library. I encourage you to get and use an actual paper copy of the Bible. I’m not against using Bible apps, but I am against distractions interrupting your time with the Lord. Our phones are nothing but distraction – texts, notifications, news, games, etc. Intentionally putting away technology to spend time with the Lord shows respect and intention toward building a real and personal relationship Jesus. Let’s give even more respect to our risen Lord than we would to other personal relationships. 

I also rejoice that you are receiving this word! As your pastor I see much fruit of the Holy Spirit in you! I see a growing desire to obey God’s commands, a growing desire to love our neighbors and walk in holiness of character, and a willingness to forgive each other in Jesus name and not bear bitter grudges. I see a growing love for family, children, orphans, widows, and Christian marriage. I see sacrificial generosity and humble service, which indicates a love for eternal things over a love for this world. God’s words are living and active and are at work in us right now to convict, bring faith, and change our actions for the good.  

I encourage you to continue in this love of God’s Word! I urge you to excel even more in seeking to know, understand, memorize, love, and obey God’s Word (1 Thess 4:1, 10). May our church be a light to our area, not because we offer many programs and much entertainment, but because people can come through our doors and hear the glorious truth of God. They can hear the Bible read, taught, loved, and obeyed as our source of life and joy. 

Concerning memorization, we have completed our time in Psalm 37 and are going to move now to Romans 6:1-14. I invite you to join me in memorizing one verse per week for the next fourteen weeks. 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Vic

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

As of the writing of this post, no one has been declared a clear winner as the President of the United States for the next four years. Whoever is declared the winner will have a profoundly different effect on our lives. This is why we care so much about this election. This is why record numbers of people from both sides have come out to vote. My mind is full of so many thoughts related to this week. I’ll share with you a few I hope are encouraging:

First, our God is sovereign over all this world, and His purposes will be accomplished for His own glory. This is the great and final hope for all who believe in Jesus. Our foot is set upon the rock of Jesus Christ our Lord (Isaiah 26:3-4). God’s sovereignty is the greatest comfort to those who love Jesus and look for His coming. The shepherding of God is the greatest encouragement to those who love and obey His voice. However, for those who hate and rebel against the perfect ways of the Lord, and those who reject His salvation, this sovereignty is also a rock. Yet, it is not a rock of sure footing, but a rock against which they will destroy themselves as they rage against Jesus and His will (Psalm 2).

Second, each person will one day be held accountable for their actions and words. Our actions matter. The stances we take and the things we work toward matter. We will all one day give an account to God for what we have spoken and done. Apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, none of us could stand. Jesus is for us both just and the justifier (Romans 3:26). However, the third part of the great commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:18) is that His followers must be taught to obey what He has commanded. We must obey and live according to God’s will – a will that is clearly defined in Scripture. We do not have liberty to name the name of Jesus and then go and live in opposition to His will. We do not have the authority to pick and choose our own morality. The Lord God has declared right from wrong, and His will shall stand. Nations that reject His will come to ruin in due time.

Third, we are called by Jesus to love our enemies. One of the hard things about our form of government is that our leaders are chosen by vote. The moral and ideological views of candidates on a ballet can be very far apart. The idea that the vote of your neighbor caused a passionately ungodly person to be placed in office gets personal quickly. We can even begin to view our neighbors and differing family members as enemies. But Jesus calls for us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us. As Christians, we are never to cut off, hate, or stop lovingly sharing the gospel with those who are against us. Knowing Christ as Savior is the starting point of all change. We should never expect those who do not love Jesus to honor His commands.

Fourth, we are in the middle of a real struggle of good against evil. Good and evil are never directly represented by one human being, but there is such a thing as good and there is such a thing as real evil. The opposite is to believe that there are just personal opinions that work or don’t work in a utilitarian sense. That is not how the Bible defines our choices. Our life choices have a strong moral component that is defined by God’s character. We are either living in accordance with God’s will and character (obedience), or we are living counter to God’s will and character (rebellion). We all start out in the rebellion category, and once we pass from death to life by grace through faith, our heart changes and we increasingly obey God’s will. People who call themselves followers of Jesus, but refuse to obey His moral commands must re-examine their souls. “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) 

Albert Mohler speaks of America as a “cut flower” society. Many parts of our society still look beautiful from Christian influence in the past. But the flower is fading as the Christian influence wanes because there is no root. May the Lord give revival to our land! What we need more than anything is the outpouring of God’s Spirit to bring many to salvation. 

May we live in a way that honors and pleases Jesus every day,

Pastor Vic

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murders and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:14-16

This past week Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions, the first step toward the Roman Catholic Church fully endorsing homosexuality, and the news continues to be filled with affirmation of transgender ideology, even for those in elementary school. There is far more that could be said, and should be said, than I can possibly fit here, but I want to open the door to conversation and make a few major points.

First, it is not new for the world to call evil good and reverse the moral order. From the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity has listened to our adversary and believed his tempting words, “Did God actually say…You will not surely die!” (Genesis 3:1-4) It is ingrained into our inherited fallen nature to rebel against God and reject His perfect will. Only by salvation in Jesus Christ, can any one of us be forgiven our sins and be given a new heart, new affections, a new perspective, and instead believe God and live according to His will. That said, we must be aware that we are neck-deep in a day where false religious leaders, political leaders, and media outlets on every side are declaring evil to be good as loudly and militantly as possible. However, we must take heart that countless false prophets and past leaders have raged against the ways of the Lord, against His prophets, and against Jesus Himself – yet the moral order has not been overturned. The second verse quoted above is from the final chapter of the Bible, and makes clear, by the words of the risen glorified Jesus himself, that the wicked (specifically including the sexually immoral) will not enter the kingdom of God. 

Second, sexuality is, and will always continue to be, a moral category. What do I mean by this? Our American culture has almost completely pressed sexuality into the area of taste and out of the category of morality. Taste is a category of non-moral preference. For example, what type of food you like to eat, what style of clothes you wear, and what genre of music you enjoy listening to are all non-moral choices of preference that the Lord Jesus has left to personal freedom. However, who you have sex with is most definitely spoken to clearly, from Genesis to Revelation, as a moral matter. One man and one woman for a lifetime is the plan for sexuality that the Lord God laid down at creation. This is His design from before sin entered the world. After the rebellion of men and women, human sexuality began to be twisted and perverted in every possible way. Yet, one man/ one woman for a lifetime remains God’s will and an ideal that we know is right in our conscience. I urge you to not rationalize away the countless verses of scripture that speak to living with sexual purity (perhaps the most clear in the New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 4:2-8 / Romans 1:18-32), but instead see God’s goodness in disclosing His will. The positive side of these commands is seeking and building life-long relationships and family within Christian marriage. Christian marriage is worth defining and defending!

Third, transgender thinking is the greatest possible rejection of God’s will for the life of a person. God determines our gender. The biological make-up of our person as men or women serve the end toward which God would have us to live. Men are biologically given greater physical strength to primarily provide for, protect, and lead a family. Women are biologically given the ability to bear children and feed them, and a biological desire to make a home in which to foster the raising of children and the goodness of family. We are each born, by the will of God, into one gender or the other. Each person is not a blank slate. When a person chooses to reject the gender God has given them, they are rejecting the entire plan that God has for their lives. They are seeking not to live according to the will of God (Ephesians 2:10), but to re-make themselves completely according to their own path of rebellion. It will not lead to the happiness they think it will. It is a path of deception, and the greater the rebellion against God, the greater the consequence in the end. Lastly, let me state what should be obvious, but isn’t anymore, that we as Christian parents must be about instructing our children in the gospel and God’s will. It is not our role to affirm them in their young rebellion, but to teach them how in Christ they might come to salvation and live fully for Jesus.

I realize that some will have questions about these things, some will affirm them, and others will passionately disagree. I encourage you in two ways. First, remember that above all we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ! People change through coming to salvation by grace alone through Christ alone. Second, ask your questions – any and all questions. My email address is victor@redeemerva.org, or meet me down front after a Sunday service. I look forward to engaging you on these very important issues. 

May we keep our eyes on Jesus,

Pastor Vic

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:14-16

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

We have before us today two verses about holiness. The importance of holiness cannot be overstated in the Christian life. Peter quotes from Leviticus 11 where the Lord God lays down regulations for the nation of Israel to follow that will separate them from other nations. They must be a holy people because the Lord is a holy God. At its core holiness relates to separation, something, or someone, set apart for a sacred purpose. The Lord Himself is set apart (holy) in His essence and being, as well as in His perfection. In His being, Almighty God is our Creator and we are His creation. He is infinite, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is dependent on no one, and we are fully dependent upon Him. He is holy. The Lord is also holy in His moral perfection. He is light and righteousness, and in Him is no darkness or evil. Righteousness is defined by His perfect character. He is a holy God.

The call of God for us to follow after Him in holiness of life, is the call of a good father to a child. As obedient children, we are called to not be conformed to the corruption of this world. The sinfulness of the world is active and every single day temptation is relentless. Satan is an active enemy in the world. He is our adversary, always working to destroy the work of the Lord. Our own hearts are corrupt and divided. To not be conformed to the pattern of this world requires us to hear the command of the Lord, recognize His goodness, and actively pursue the holiness of God. 

It’s important every so often to examine yourself and ask: Do I live a holy and separated life? Do the people around me every day know that I’m a follower of Jesus Christ? Can they see it in my life and attitude? Can they hear it in my words? Do I stand for the things that Jesus stood for? Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit clearly evident in my life? Is the holy separation of my life a thing of pride, or is it attractive like the beautiful life of Jesus Christ?

I have included here a verse from Philippians about the mind, because the actions of your life begin with the direction of your thoughts. The apostle Paul gives us a beautiful and virtuous list of things to set our mind upon. Without intentional direction the mind drifts on its own toward anger, lust, jealousy, pride, and covetousness. By the transforming power of the Holy Spirit we are strengthened to take hold of our thoughts and direct them toward a righteous end. This process begins with the precious word of God in Scripture. The most powerful way to shift your thinking is to fill your mind with Scripture and a clear understanding of the goodness of God. 

Your actions matter. Today spend time reading the Bible. Set your mind on Christ, and be determined to live a holy life that is set apart from the normal ways of this world. May you be known as a joyful, humble, and righteous Christian. This is the only way that the Gospel message makes any sense. It is a message that comes to the ears of the lost from a person living a different life. It is a call to come away from the dead and empty ways of this world, and come to the way of Christ – a righteous way of life and peace. Let us be holy, as our Heavenly Father is holy.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Vic