“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 

You should not presume that all is well between you and God. We live in a time where most people have a very high view of themselves and a very low view of God. This translates into many people justifying their own actions and presuming that God agrees with them, without examining or testing their beliefs or actions before God. In normal human interactions, to charge ahead assuming that what you think is what everyone else also thinks, is known as hubris – or extreme pride. With normal interpersonal relationships, we should enter conversation, ask people about their perspectives, weigh their perspective, and examine our own. When we hear the perspective of others, we are often confronted by things we did not consider, or do not understand. When we carefully consider who God is and His purposes in the world, we will be confronted by things we have never considered and by things we do not understand.

Paul is calling his readers to self-examination. First, every person that calls himself a Christian must examine his confession of faith (what that person believes about God and salvation) according to the Scriptures. Does what you believe about God and salvation align with what the Bible teaches about God and salvation? Or did you make up a version of God that fits your own personal feelings and presuppositions? Our belief must conform to the truth/reality of who God is as revealed in the Bible. If in self-examination, we find that our belief is a mixture of Bible truth, personal opinion, and beliefs from other religions this is a serious problem. It is entirely possible that your lack of self-examination has led you to believe a false gospel and in a false savior that is not the Jesus of the Bible. We must not make up what we believe about Jesus.

Second, examine the fruit of your belief. What does the belief structure of your life produce? What kind of person are you? How do you treat the people around you? The Bible is very clear that those who authentically believe in Jesus will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and that God’s Spirit will bear fruit (Galatians 5). It will be evident that your heart and person are changed by believing in Jesus as Savior. Fruit of character will come forth: love, joy, peace, kindness, self-control – to name a few. Do you see these beautiful character qualities in your life? Do others see these in your life? Do those closest to you describe you in these ways? If after self-examination, you find a serious and habitual lack of these fruits it should cause you to return to the first level of examination. Do you truly believe in Jesus? Have you reached a place of earnest repentance from sin in your life? Are you working to justify yourself before God, or trusting fully in the atonement of Jesus to justify you before God?

Third, test the fruit of your obedience. You may have right belief and be a joyful person, but are you obeying Jesus in a way that demonstrates holiness? No person will reach perfection before heaven, but through right belief and the work of the Holy Spirit, you can live in a way that is free from life-destroying sins. In Christ you can live free from adultery, free from destroying the relationships around you with anger, free from addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and/or digital media. You can live free from porn, anxiety, and materialism.

This passage says to examine yourself. This is very important. Often, we want to point fingers at others, while we excuse or ignore our own faults. You are responsible first for yourself (Matthew 7:1-5). When you examine your life in an honest way, what do you find? How long has it been since you examined yourself or listened openly to critique of your actions from others that you trust. Has false belief crept in? Has your belief system ever shed false ideas that require change in your life? Does your life demonstrate the fruit of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit? Are you serious about holiness and surrendering all aspects of your life to Jesus – holding nothing back?

At the end of your examination, rest in the grace of God! You must be assured from Scripture that your salvation comes by grace through faith. The saving work that God has begun, and what He has begun He will complete! May you examine yourself honestly and prayerfully so that Jesus may accomplish His will in your life.

May self-examination result in worship,
Pastor Vic

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6

“Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’
Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’” John 18:37-38

Pilate asked the same question 2,000 years ago that countless people still ask today, ‘What is truth?’ Truth is that which corresponds to reality. Statements that are true of the physical world correctly state what is actually, or objectively, real in the world. It is true that, “Ice is cold. Cheetahs are fast animals. The ocean is filled with water.” Statements that are true of spiritual realities correctly state what is actually real concerning God and spiritual things. It is a true statement that, “God is eternally existing. Human beings are created in God’s image. The Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus as Savior.” Many truth statements connect the physical and spiritual world. It is a true statement that, “God created the world. Jesus Christ came to speak truth to a deceived world. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Jesus will one day return to judge the world.”

Can we really know what is true? This is a very important question! In an age of great doubt, cynicism, and skepticism it is vital that people have confidence that truth can be known. Countless millions in the world today believe there is no such thing as spiritual truth, since they do not believe in the existence of the soul or of God. There are millions more that believe an individual can create their own realities (truth) through personal action. There is widespread belief that there is no objective reality;  there is only psychology. This is the idea that the only reality is the reality in your mind. The psychological reality of what I believe in my mind is then projected onto the canvass of the world, and I shape myself into what I want to be. This ‘no objective truth’ way of thinking is embodied by statements like, “Through determination and hard work you can become anything you want to be!” This is an objectively false statement. The world is full of realities that I cannot change through my personal determination or positive thinking. I must make choices within the framework of truths / realities that surround me – both physical and spiritual.

In the vast body of knowledge available to us in an information age, and in the midst of endless news cycles of various opinions, can we know truth? Yes, we can. It’s important to understand the difference between truth and exhaustive truth. It is very possible to know aspects of truth, without knowing the full truth about something. It is common to know true aspects of science without understanding all of physics. It is possible to know some truths about nutrition without understanding all there is to know about dietary science. It is possible to know truths about Jesus Christ without fully knowing everything about the Son of God. It is possible to know true things about yourself without fully comprehending even the complexities of your own person.

In the end, no specialist, physicist, medical doctor, theologian, historian, or teacher knows everything there is to know about their field. However, if what they know corresponds to physical and spiritual realities, then they have taken hold of truth. The beauty of this reality and the nature of the human mind is that God has created human beings with a thirst for knowledge. We have an inherent desire to know more and to keep searching and learning. The reality of knowable yet expansive truth keeps the human mind and spirit growing and searching. We can grow because we can take hold of physical and spiritual truth, but we will always be growing because we can never master the complexities of who God is or what He has made. God, and the world God has created, can be truly known, but cannot be fully known.

Jesus came proclaiming that He was truth. All people have to do something with this claim. Jesus’ claims to divinity, the ability to forgive sins, reconcile lost sinners to God, to intercede before God on behalf of those in Christ are true, or they are false. These are not subjective claims. However, these are truth claims that require faith to believe! They are claims that cannot be proven in a laboratory but are true in the reality of the soul. Truth transcends the natural world. There is natural truth and spiritual truth. We strive with these things every day in our own person. We must make choices in light of real physical confines and spiritual moral boundaries.

In a confusing world of information, it is always most important to hear and believe the voice of Jesus. “I am the truth,” Jesus states. He embodies truth. If you are confused or in despair or rebellion, look to Jesus and believe what He says. If the competing realities of this world have your mind and emotions tied up in knots, look to Jesus and hear His voice. By faith believe that Jesus is who He said He was – the Son of God and Savior of the world. By faith read and listen to His authoritative and true words in the Bible. Turn away from the lies and confusion of this world and find a clear way of life in Jesus. Learn and believe truth about Jesus, a journey of learning and worship that will carry on into eternity!

You can know the truth by knowing Jesus!
Pastor Vic 

“The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God will stand forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
Question: Should science be the final authority in our lives?
Answer: No, the Bible (Holy Scripture inspired by God) should be our final authority for faith (what we believe about God and ourselves) and practice (how we live and make decisions).

Many millions of people all over the world have accepted “science” as the final authority in their lives. But what is “science?” Science is a method for making a hypothesis about the physical world and testing that hypothesis to see if it is correct or incorrect. Controls are in place, instruments are used, calculations are made, and conclusions are drawn. This is the process of science. Are all conclusions from all experiments of such importance that they should shape our lives? No. Can conclusions from experiments be wrong or incorrect? Yes.

In science, authority comes from many scientists agreeing with each other after many experiments. The agreement of scientists with each other is the basis of advancement in science. As experiments are conducted and knowledge is gained, later scientists build on that knowledge to make further advancements. As Christians we should celebrate and enter into the scientific endeavor. In the past, some of the greatest scientists have been devout Christians, rightly seeing no conflict between their Christianity and scientific experimentation and advancement. Some such examples are Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton who along with their ground-breaking scientific advancements also extensively wrote Christian theology. Johannes Kepler, Jan Baptist van Helmont, and Blaise Pascal filled their scientific journals and personal papers with prayers, praise, and theological musings. Science is an important endeavor that should be pursued with passion by those with disciplined minds, but scientific experimentation is not our final authority.

Why not? First, there are many things that can enter into the scientific process to corrupt the final conclusions. Second, there are many important aspects to the human condition that science cannot reach or quantify.

First, let’s explore how conclusions can be corrupted, and the “authority” of agreement led off track. Scientific experimentation can be corrupted by money and market forces. Wealthy companies can, and do, commission scientists and studies that seek out and find conclusions that “prove” their products are scientifically superior.   Baby food formula companies is but one example.  They convinced a generation through science that artificial baby formula was healthier for children than breast milk. This was later proven false, but only after many years of counter advocacy. This type of science continues in our day through big pharma and industrial farming. These scientific endeavors have led to western culture being heavily drug and GMO dependent.

Scientific experimentation can also be corrupted through political ideology. During the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the scientific community was convinced that eugenics would best help propel the evolutionary advancement of humanity. This ushered in an age of abortion, forced sterilization, and further ingrained racism in America. Eugenics was later proven false and phased out, but not without a steep price. Political ideology continues to corrupt scientific conclusions in our day especially in the area of human sexuality. Secular science allows for the killing of fully formed and viable babies that exist inside the womb instead of externally, refusing to recognize their life. Secular science refuses to recognize the basic biological reality of the sexes, giving approval to surgeries that attempt to physically alter the sex of a person – including minors.

Today, market forces, human greed, and political ideology continue to taint, corrupt, and confuse scientific conclusions. In our era, the most respected way of recognizing a scientific conclusion as true is to have that conclusion published in a peer-reviewed journal. Publication in a recognized scientific journal is supposed to mean that other respected scientists have reviewed the findings and agree that the experimentation was done correctly, and the conclusions are accurate. This is no longer the case. Money, market forces, and ambition have corrupted this historic tradition. Many articles have hit the news cycle recently concerning falsified, plagiarized, and wholly fabricated findings published by formerly respected scientific journals.

One recent instance of this relates to the firing of Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne. Stanford is a highly respected scientific university, but Tessier-Lavigne was eventually forced to resign by the trustee board after investigation revealed that 12 journal articles authored, or co-authored, by him contained data that was falsified, digitally altered, or intentionally taken from other sources without attribution. Tessier-Lavigne claimed to be a scientific authority and claimed to have the authority to train a younger generation of scientists but was himself a fraud corrupted by ambition and wealth.

On May 14th of this year, the Wall Street Journal published a significant study related to the corruption of scientific journals. The story outlines the thousands of fake or corrupted studies published in leading scientific journals. The studies were published because the journals are a for-profit industry, to the tune of $30 billion dollars a year (yes billion with a ‘b’)! Wiley is the largest publishing conglomerate of scientific journals publishing over 2,000 major scientific journals. Wiley has been forced to retract 11,300 supposedly peer-reviewed scientific journal articles in recent years. So many articles were retracted that 19 historic journals were shut down for complete loss of credibility in the face of large-scale fraud. Wiley was discovered to have published 900 fraudulent scientific papers in 2022 alone. In short, academic scientists are under pressure to publish papers to retain their academic positions. Wiley profits from publishing scientific papers. So, Wiley publishes whatever is turned in, gives it an air of scientific legitimacy, and the general public is none the wiser. The practice has become so bad that journals have been flagged for soliciting payment to publish supposedly scientific articles. Fees for publication can range as high as $8,500 per published article with no review for accuracy.

The purpose for highlighting this reality is to help  you understand that science is an educational discipline, not a source of final authority. Conclusions often conflict, presuppositions vary widely, politics and greed insert false conclusions for profit. The landscape is always shifting and will supply no certain ground for the belief structure of your life. Besides this, science can tell you nothing about the soul or the nature of God. Those fully committed to the authority of science often outright deny the existence of the soul or God. Despite the authoritative voice and titles of such people, their naturalistic message will never win the day, because only a fool says in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1). Everyday people feel the moral weight of their soul and long to pray during times of trouble.

The Bible has stood unchanged for many thousands of years. It gives us a worldview that fits with the world around us and fits with the world within us. The God who speaks has revealed Himself to humanity and there is no final conflict between biblical revelation and authentic scientific conclusions.

May the Bible stand as our final authority of faith and practice,
Pastor Vic

Loving Orphans

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Psalm 82:3-4

For years we have had a strong and continuous focus on foster care and adoption at Redeemer Bible Church. I want to stoke that fire this week and keep our focus on this issue that is so close to the heart of Jesus.

We first must never lose sight of the need that exists in our very community. Nationwide there are 400,000 children in foster care every year in the US. This means 400,000 kids taken into the custody of the state because their parent(s) are jailed for criminal matters, drug addiction, abusive, criminal negligence, or because the children are abandoned. If you grew up in a loving Christian home and can’t imagine how this could be a reality, give thanks for the grace given to you to be born into your home but don’t be naïve to the real tragedy of sin in this world. There are children by the many thousands growing up in unthinkably hard circumstances across the country and right here in Spotsylvania. We know that the best part of life revolves around relationship and friendship. The essence of the orphaned condition is being alone. As a child having no clear provider, protector, nurturer, or place of belonging is devastating. In our non-Christian sexually supercharged culture there is no end in sight of family breakdown and an increased number of children born outside of Christian marriage. The need for foster parents and adoption is not going away.

The entire witness of Scripture is clear that God is passionate about His people living in the opposite way of the world. The spirit of the world has always been to oppress the poor and use them to enrich oneself. God is the father to the fatherless and protector of the widow (Psalm 68:5), and He demands that His people follow in His steps. Israel was often rebuked for neglecting and abusing the poor, and the church is charged with caring for the orphan and the widow (James 1:27). In the New Testament, adoption (an orphan being brought into the care, protection, and love of family without condition or payment from the orphan) is used as an analogy of our salvation (Romans 8, Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5). In relationship to God, we are the orphan. We are the one outside of relationship, abandoned, beat down by the sinfulness of the world with nothing to offer God. It is by grace and love that Jesus reaches to us and brings us in, making us new, giving us a full place in His kingdom. Having now cared for a foster child for close to two years, I believe it’s impossible to fully appreciate this analogy of salvation without being personally involved with caring for an orphan.

As Christians, we cannot turn our eyes away from this need and from these dear children. It is not the role of the world to care for the orphan. It is the responsibility of Christians according to the will of God to care for orphaned children. There is both a singular and church community responsibility. Singularly – individual families must choose to take the life-changing step to bring a foster or orphaned child into their home. Families in Redeemer should seriously consider the need, pray about the need, and some must say yes to bringing orphaned children into their homes. As a church – we must consider our role in supporting these families with direct placements. It takes the entire community of the church to physically, relationally, emotionally, and spiritually support families that bring abused, traumatized, and abandoned children into their homes. This support can come in the form of meals, babysitting for an afternoon, intentional prayer, help with the resource closet, or intentional time spent with a struggling teen.

Whatever role you may play, it will be sacrificial to your current direction of life. Let me be clear, you cannot pursue the secular American dream of personal peace and affluence and also enter into the call of Christian discipleship which requires self-sacrifice (Matthew 16:24-26). You cannot live an easy self-centered life and also take on meaningful responsibility for an orphaned child. There will come a tipping point where you choose to indulge yourself or die to yourself. I urge you to regularly pray about how you should be involved in the care of orphans in our community this year. As you pray, the Lord will open a door, lead you, and bring you to the tipping point. There will come a time when you will be personally confronted with a need that will require you to sacrifice your plans to care for another person in Jesus’ name. I pray you will say “Yes!” There is joy in obeying Jesus. There is joy in serving others. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive. There is peace in going beyond yourself and living in dependence upon Jesus every day.

Maria and I reached this point about 18 months ago when friends in the church accepted a job transfer out of state. They could not take their foster child out of state, and they asked us if we would take over the care of a six-month-old child. In short, we had a 1,000 reasons to say no to this offer, but we also felt strongly that it was God’s will for all the reasons stated above. Now, 18 months later, by the grace of God and through the constant help of family and the church, our dear Myla has become an inseparable part of our family and a joy to us every day. Every day is still a struggle and never easy, but in dependence upon the grace of Jesus and the help of the church it is possible. This world seeks to fill the empty heart by getting more things, but the heart is truly filled through giving and serving – not in receiving and indulgence.

Related to all this, the account of a true and remarkable story is being told this week. It’s the true story of a small church in “Possum Trot.” There is a movie in the theaters called “Sound of the Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” and an interview with the pastor of the church and his wife. The Jordan Peterson podcast interview is attached below. I strongly encourage you to see and listen to both. Pray about these things! Consider the will of the Lord for your life now. Get involved with the foster care and adoption ministry at Redeemer. (click here)

Let us demonstrate the love of Jesus by caring for the fatherless,
Pastor Vic