Redeemer Bible Church Blog

Deliver Us From Evil

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will always provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” –1 Corinthians 10:13

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” –Matthew 6:13

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” –James 4:7

It is very important to understand and lean upon the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13. This passage teaches us that the temptations that come against us each day are “common.” They often feel particularly oppressive to us, but this is not the case. Temptations to anger, jealousy, lust, greed, depression/hopelessness, covetousness, and so on are common to all people. You are not alone in your struggle against sin! We must dwell upon the second part of the verse, that God is faithful! The Lord God knows our struggle and is faithful to hear our prayers and always provides a way that we might choose righteousness. The passage also points out that this is a way of endurance. The process of struggling against the common sin of the world continues on day after day. Sanctification (making progress in the growth of godly character) is an endurance event, but God is faithful!

It’s important to explore and understand the sources of temptation in our lives. There are three basic sources of temptation: the flesh, the world, and the devil. The first is our own corrupt nature. This is what the Bible refers to as “the flesh.” As you will hear in the sermon this week, the corruption of our first parents was passed down to all subsequent people on the earth. Every person is born into a state of moral corruption. We are not born basically good or tending toward good. We are born corrupt and must be trained to do good. This process is only truly possible after a person comes to salvation and the heart is born again unto spiritual life. Even after salvation, when spiritual life has begun in us, it will not be made perfect until heaven. While we live on earth there is still a real struggle in our soul between resident corruption and ever-growing godliness.

Second, temptation comes to us from the world. The world is the sum total of billions of individually sinful and corrupt people living together. The pressure and effect of combined wickedness can feel overwhelming and exert tremendous influence upon us to sin. This is partly where the local community of the church is so important. The local church is a community of people together pressing back against the darkness and corruption of this lost world. Temptation or encouragement toward godliness comes from the company we keep. The world, or bad company, corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Third, real spiritual forces of evil bring temptation and corruption to us. However, these spiritual beings are not all-present or all-powerful. They are influential, but all are subject to the power and purposes of Jesus our Lord. We are clearly directed by Jesus to pray against temptation and to be delivered from evil. This quotation is taken from the Lord’s prayer, a pattern of how our prayers ought to be offered up on a daily basis. The spirit and direction of this prayer are the opposite of seeking evil or placing oneself directly in the way of temptation. We should be actively purging our lives of evil influences and praying for the Lord to guard us from unseen evil influences.

In the end, we are to submit ourselves humbly to the protecting power of the Lord Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd watches over and protects the sheep. We are the sheep of His pasture. We cannot successfully go our own way in our own strength. We are dependent creatures. Yet, in our humility there is striving. We submit ourselves unto God and resist the devil. We ask for God’s strength and strive to put to death resident evil and to keep untangled from outside evil influences. We keep our eyes on Jesus, casting off the sin that so easily entangles, and run the race of the Christian life (Hebrews 12). By God’s grace, and for His glory, we will make progress and one day fully enter His kingdom.

Lord, deliver us from evil,

Pastor Vic

Get to Work! “We urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”1 Thessalonians 4:10b-11 This past Sunday, I spoke to you about the Lord God commissioning Adam to work before sin entered the world. It is vital to grasp that for men and women, work is nota part of the curse of sin, but a major part of God’s purpose for our lives. We are each gifted for work and should actively, and to the best of our ability, use those gifts in work toward the end that God created us. There is a crisis in America today of young men not entering the workplace in full and skilled employment. Every year the numbers of young men entering college, skilled trade schools, legitimate entrepreneurial business, or entering military or police service continues to alarmingly decline. The doctrine of work certainly applies to women as well, but its application is different and young women are not facing the same crisis as young men at this moment in history. This generation of young men will never reach the full potential God has for them and will never function as the godly husbands they could be apart from fully embracing work. Embracing hard and full-time work is the primary path to financial independence and is used by God to train self-control, diligence, courage, faith, selflessness, and leadership into every young man that will rise to the call of vocational work. I would like to explore some thoughts on this subject. These thoughts relate to parents and their sons. This relationship is joined, and as a rule, rise and fall together. Parents should be raising their sons with a mindset toward independence and marriage. Independence precedes marriage, but independence is not making a way for aloneness. Independence makes a way for a new family to be formed; to leave father and mother and cleave to one’s wife. One of the problem sin our modern day is the over-abundance of choices for young men. I believe it is wise that young men be required to work from their teens forward at some gainful employment outside of the house. This is basic training that work produces income, which allows for freedom of action and the opportunity to give. It’s basic training on punctuality, trainability, financial literacy, and following commands. Once a young man gets working, it’s not too hard to keep the momentum going. After high school, again, the number of options can become overwhelming. College should not be the de facto next step. I suggest you break down the options into basic categories: professional work, corporate business (including military /police / fire), trade work, and entrepreneur.  Help your son assess where his gifts and interests are located, and start exploring the options. You can read more about this from a chapter I wrote related to these issues: HERE. Each area can provide full-time career-based work. Each area has a path of requirements that must be worked toward for success. Each is competitive and will involve failures to be overcome. A young man may start in one area and end up in another, but not working full-time should not be an option. A start in the military or police may lead to an opportunity for college expenses to be covered. A trade summer job may lead to apprenticeship and licensure. Working for a small business may give the vision for also pursuing your own business. Each life will be slightly different, but there are basic paths to success. Either way, help your sons think through the options and help them through the first doors to get started. I remember clearly requiring my oldest son to sit through a full interview and application, even though a friend of mine was giving him his first job. It made my son answer tough questions and feel the weight of sitting in the boss’s office. It gave him the opportunity to check the “I’ve never been convicted of a felony” box on the application and consider what would have happened in the interview if he had to check that box. Halfway through each of my boys’ first summer of work, the work stopped being fun and they wanted to quit – but a man of his word and a diligent man does not quit what he has begun before a natural/ respectable point of closure. They each had to finish out the summer and give a proper two-week notice before moving on.               Let’s also look at some common pitfalls that need to be avoided. The number one pitfall I see for why young men do not launch properly into full-time work, and thus independent manhood, is that parents enable them to not work by continuing to feed, house, and pay their bills as if they were small children. The Bible is clear, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). This means very basically, if a person is able to work, but due to laziness will not work, their literal hunger pains should drive them to work so they can eat. This is the word of the Lord. If you are a parent enabling an able-bodied young man to work less than full-time (or two part-time jobs joined), so they can lay around playing games (video or otherwise), watch movies, or some other non-productive way of living – you are the primary cause of their laziness. You are enabling their failure to work. The second pitfall to avoid is the failure to press them forward. Pitfall number one is avoiding a problem, but you must counter laziness with intentionally pressing your sons forward into opportunity. Like all of us, it will take time to find their way, but the unbroken expectation is that they will find their way. This involves active conversations, hard deadlines, networking conversations, personal character, person hygiene, and reviews of their life and direction. You must actively push baby bird out of the nest! Not flying, is not an option. Third, parents and sons must work together  to avoid debt. Starting the debt snowball at a young age can cripple young adulthood and cause major long-term stress. We live in an advertising, debt oriented, materialistic culture, where we feel entitled to have what we want. Our young men must learn early to live within their means and live with financial self-control and wisdom. This is particularly related to parent encouraged, or enabled, student loan debt. Student loans are debt like any other debt, in that it must be paid back. Consider very carefully the amount of debt that you encourage your son to enter at a young age. Let’s walk by faith believing that work was created by God, and that work is both good and essential. Let’s pray for, love, encourage, and also press, inspire, and launch our young men into independence. May this independence lead to marriage and joyful stable families. Let us parent with courage and by faith, Pastor Vic

“You shall not murder.”
Exodus 20:13

This is the sixth of the ten commandments given by Almighty God to guide and direct the moral life of all people. This command does not only stand over Christians, but over all people. The command not to murder is given to restrain the hand of the person that would take another life for reasons outside of justified war and self-defense. Murder has a clear definition that is prosecuted in courtrooms all over the globe every day. Murder is defined simply as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.”

The first part of this definition relates to the unlawful nature of killing. In all such cases the moral law of God stands as the foundation for human civil law. No person or court has the right or authority to declare as good what God has declared as evil. The authority of human governments and courts is a delegated authority from God.

The second part of this definition speaks to premeditation – an action taken with planned thoughtfulness. The opposite of this would be striking and killing someone with your car after spilling coffee on yourself and swerving. This would not be a planned action, although you are still accountable for the death, it is not at the level of planned murder.

The third part is killing another human being. Animal life certainly has value, and we should treat all animals with a humane kindness, but killing a dog or a bird is not morally equivalent to killing another human being.

We must face squarely the moral question of whether abortion is murder.

I think this question is most clearly answered by looking at the definition of murder in reverse. First, is an unborn child a human being? The answer is absolutely, yes. From the point of conception, the fertilized embryo has the future potential of full flourishing human life. Dependence does not lessen the humanity. An unborn child is dependent on its mother’s body for nourishment. The child is not less human for this. An infant child is dependent on the constant daily care of mother and father. The child is not less human for this. The elderly infirmed person has their situation reversed, dependent upon their child for care in their old age. The elderly person is not less human for this dependence.

Medical practice understands this, that’s why Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) exist in the best hospitals around the world. Parents with sick, prematurely born children need special care for these ultra dependent children. There is a limit to this care as modern medicine is not able to reach the level of care that only the mother’s body can provide for the first half of gestation. Unborn children are certainly human beings. They are not some other form of being or less than human. Children are human at conception; they do not become human through the willful decision of the mother to give birth to the child.

The second part of the definition of murder has to do with premeditation. Abortion is a deeply premeditated act. It involves discovering pregnancy after a sexual act. It involves considering the life altering consequences of giving birth to a child. It involves willfully choosing to set an appointment, do paperwork, give intimate access to one’s body so that another can take the life of the baby. Abortion is not accidental, but a willful premeditated act.  

The first part of the definition of murder speaks to its lawfulness. Currently in the US, abortion is not deemed legal nationwide. Abortion legality is determined state-by-state. The states where it is legal are states that have a majority of citizens that reject basic Christian morality. The people that make up these states have rejected God’s definition of life and personhood, and chosen to find identity in sexuality.

All people root their identity in something. Identity is the foundation by which you define yourself as a person. Christians define their lives by relationship to Jesus Christ and discipleship to His ways. Those who define their lives by sexual expression (toward a certain type or sex of people) or through hedonistic sexual pursuits, do not want their self-expression curbed or derailed by the birth of children. They are willing to change civil law to declare evil as good, and change language to speak of unborn children in dehumanizing ways, and speak of murder as healthcare.

As designed by God, heterosexual sex is inherently related to the bearing of children. A sexual act is a procreative act. Modern secular people are striving through medical technology to harness and control the procreative aspect of sexuality, but this cannot be done without tremendously negative side effects – physical, physiological, and spiritual. Birth control drugs cannot be taken without the risk of serious physical side effects to the woman. The entire fertility cycle of a healthy woman cannot be hormonally stopped without other effects on the body and mind. Methods of permanent sterilization taken upon young people are usually understood, even by the non-Christian, to be unwise. Even those who don’t want children in their younger years recognize that they may one day value children.

The issue is that various methods of non-permanent birth control are imperfect. As a part of the heavily sexual culture we live in, millions of unwanted babies are conceived every year. Murdering these children cannot be the answer, but America aborts over one million unborn children year after year – every year. We are choosing death rather than submit ourselves to God’s will and purpose related to sexual morality. The conscience of the nation is seared.

We must come to a place of believing in the salvation and goodness of Jesus. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and enter God’s good ways. This involves for most people marriage, children, and family. Marriage is a blessing. Children are a blessing. Raising children in the context of marriage is not easy, but it leads to sanctification and deep relationships. God uses our children to work in our lives as parents. Through our children God works to teach us selflessness, patience, love, service, humility, character, and spiritual leadership. Through children we gain heritage, traditions, beautiful memories, and shared joy.

As Christians we MUST be a people committed to life from the point of conception. We must not give way to this culture of death and unrestrained sexual expression. We must find our identity in Jesus Christ. We must forgive those who have aborted their children when they ask for and seek forgiveness from Jesus. Our grace must mirror the unconditional grace of Jesus. We must celebrate and remain within the marriage boundaries of sexual expression. We must nurture and protect our children, and we must be willing to take into our homes unwanted and orphaned children.

Let us be a people that cherish, protect, and love children,
Pastor Vic

Note: It should be noted that there are exceptional circumstances where the life of the mother and the life of the child are pitted against each other and a medical choice of life must be made. This circumstance does not fit the definition as framed above. This is an exceptional circumstance, but the exception does not cancel the rule of seeking life.

“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

Samuel
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.”
1 Samuel 2:12

“Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.”
1 Samuel 3:19

In the Old Testament we learn much about godliness and ungodliness through character studies. We get short commentary on people’s lives. Some help us understand how we should live, others how we should not live. The first chapters of 1 Samuel contain a powerful contrast between the sons of Eli and Samuel. It’s a contrast we should all learn from!

During this period of the Old Testament judges, Eli is the head priest at Shiloh. He is assisted by his two sons: Hophni and Phinehas. Eli is not effective in leading the people toward authentic godliness and his sons are summarily described as “worthless!” In the early chapters of 1 Samuel, Eli is very old and his sons are overseeing the worship processes. Hophni and Phinehas openly disregard the sacrificial worship processes recorded by Moses and prescribed by the Lord. They use the authority of the Lord to enrich themselves and abuse the people that come to worship the Lord. They openly dishonor the Lord as blasphemers! They were sexually immoral men, shamelessly having relations with women serving in and around the area of worship. They were proud, evil, willfully sinful, and unrepentant when confronted by their father (1 Sam 2:25). It was the will of the Lord to put them to death, end the family line of Eli, and replace them with a godly man.

The impact of ungodly leadership is significant. 1 Samuel 4 is about Hophni and Phinehas leading the nation of Israel into battle with misguided pride, believing they could manipulate the power of the Lord to serve their ends. The enemies of Israel were encamped at Aphek and had defeated Israel once with a loss of 4,000 men. The elders consult Hophni and Phinehas, who decide to bring the Ark of the Covenant (the holy container where the Lord chose to display His presence during the Old Testament period of the Tabernacle and Temple) and attempt to use it as a weapon against their enemies. The manipulative action of these worthless priests ended in the slaughter of 30,000 Israel soldiers and a route of the nation before their enemies. It’s not only worth reading the rest of the story to see how the Lord defends His own glory, but also how Hophni and Phinehas are recorded forever as those who “did not know the Lord.”

In stark contrast to these men, stands young Samuel. Samuel is born as a direct answer to prayer from his godly mother, Hannah. Keeping her promise to the Lord, Hannah dedicates Samuel to serve the Lord at Shiloh from the time of his childhood. From the beginning, Samuel is a child with a tender heart toward the things of the Lord. 1 Samuel 3 records how the Lord called Samuel to Himself and a lifetime of faithful service. 1 Samuel 3:7 notes that when the Lord called to Samuel three times in the night, Samuel “did not yet know the Lord.” The main difference between Hophni and Phineas, and Samuel is that Samuel knew the Lord in a personal life-changing way, and Eli’s sons did not. Samuel responded to the call of the Lord. Samuel heard the word of the Lord and obeyed it. When the Lord spoke to Samuel, he obeyed and spoke all that was given to him (1 Samuel 3:19). The Lord blessed Samuel’s life and established him as the judge of Israel. In opposition to the sons of Eli, Samuel’s godliness blessed the people. The whole nation enjoyed peace and unity from the Lord for the entire long life of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:15-17).

It is astonishing to consider what a powerfully good or bad impact the godliness or ungodliness of one person can have on the people around them. The nation fell into death and destruction under the ungodliness of Hophni and Phinehas but rose to strength and peace under the godly faithfulness of Samuel. I believe we should first consider what this means to our own families and communities. What kind of a life do you live? How do people summarily describe you? Are you known for godliness, truth, and courage, or are you known for ungodliness, immorality, drunkenness, and pride? Your life will have an impact for good or evil. Your life will impact your immediate family for blessing or for weeping. Your life will impact subsequent generations for godliness or for worldliness. It may be that your life will impact much more than just close family relations. If you have been given a place of leadership in the community or church, your actions affect many more people than just those in your family circle. You are accountable before God for those you affect and the type of influence you have upon them.

I pray that you will know God in your life. Truly knowing God through the grace of Jesus Christ is the turning point of all life. If your life and influence upon others is a mess of ungodliness, the answer is not found in cleaning up your life, but in turning to the Lord in repentance. Hophni and Phinehas did not first need to “do better,” they needed to confess their sins and know God. Samuel was powerful for the Lord not because of all he did, but first because he listened to the voice of the Lord and obeyed.

May the Lord help us to hear His voice and know Him today,
Pastor Vic

Life and Death
Isaiah 38-39
Last Sunday, I spoke with you about issues of life and death from Isaiah 38. I urged you that Christians should have a passion to live in our culture of death. We live in a nation where the unborn are thoughtlessly killed by the many millions every year. Where suicide is at record high numbers in many demographics, and where physician assisted suicide is nearly upon us. As Christians we should desire to live, and in that to live unto the glory of Jesus! We should pray for a full and joyful life, asking God to watch over and protect us along the way. We do not know how this prayer will be answered, or with what hardships it will come. We know from the constant pattern of Scripture that struggle and hardship will always be a part of our lives. The Lord uses this struggle to keep us in dependence upon Himself. He uses the hardships of life to refine our character and increase our longing for heaven.

Isaiah 39 is an interesting passage. This chapter records what happens in the life of King Hezekiah after the Lord answers his prayer for healing and grants him 15 more years to live. What would you do with your life if from your deathbed you were granted 15 more years to live? Sadly, it’s the least impressive period of Hezekiah’s life. He does not go on to live passionately for the Lord, leading the people to revival and godliness. Instead, he slows down, is overly proud of his accomplishments, makes unwise decisions, and is self-indulgent. He ends up touring an emissary of Babylon all over the land and is rebuked by Isaiah for giving their enemies an open door because of his pride. He is told by Isaiah that Babylon will one day come in and destroy the land. The last recorded words of Hezekiah are shocking, “’The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.'” (verse 8)

This is a shocking and callous statement. It means what it says, “As long as this ruin doesn’t come in my day, then it’s not my concern!” My initial reaction is to condemn Hezekiah for having no heart of care or mission toward the generation of his children. But this should cause each of us to examine our own hearts. How much real concern do you have for the next generations? Is your life lived in this same self-preserving selfish way? What are you really doing in a self-sacrificing, gospel oriented, disciple-making way to affect coming generations? Do you really care that coming generations grow in godliness and strength, or do you just want to live out your days in peace? These are serious questions where, if truthful, many American seniors would fall into the same camp as senior King Hezekiah.

I am deeply impressed and encouraged by many seniors at Redeemer who are intentionally living in a different way. Thankfully in our church there are many examples of seniors that DO care deeply about the next generation and are diligently and sacrificially working to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the next generation. They are not just relaxing and telling stories of their youth but are actively using the years of their lives to fulfill the great commission of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples. This is the attitude we must have as the Lord grants us more years to live. We must care about the wellbeing of coming generations, leaving a legacy of godliness.

This can take many different forms, but it should begin in your own family. We should strive after the souls and godly character of our children and grandchildren. If you are a senior, please take action to be directly involved in the lives of your grandchildren for the sake of godliness. Don’t just smile and wish them well. Engage them and talk about things that matter. Pray for them and encourage them. Be actively involved in their lives. Then look to the lives of other young people. Perhaps volunteer to work in the children’s ministry, youth ministry, or with our young adults. See and know the struggles of youth today and come alongside them in what way you can to speak godly wisdom, encourage, and pray.

I urge our seniors to follow in the godly example of Joshua, who at age 110 ended his life with a powerful charge to the next generation to forsake evil and unbelief, and follow him as he followed after God!

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
We all see the dark clouds coming upon us in culture. We know the future looks bleak, but there is always hope in Jesus Christ. As long as the Lord gives us breath may we live for him with intention and focus upon making disciples. This is the means by which revival comes!

May the Lord strengthen us all to live well,
Pastor Vic

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21
It is necessary every June to push back against the moral decline of our world and restate the position on sexual ethics biblical Christians have held for thousands of years. God’s position on the morality of sex has not changed since creation. Human beings have perverted God’s plan and purposes in sexuality in every way imaginable, until our day where now perversion has reached new lows through modern medical technology.

The Bible teaches a single, simple, straightforward sexual morality: sexual acts are only pure and right between a single biological male and a single biological woman within the bond of marriage. Any other perversion of this original design is sinful, rebellion against the will of God, and will lead to the sad consequences of sin.

All morality is defined by God. God decides in His person what is right and what is wrong. God created human beings and in so doing created sexuality. He created the biology of it, the pleasure of it, the child-bearing outcome of it, and their bounds within a lifetime of committed marriage. Sex is a moral action. The Bible is abundantly clear on this (Genesis 2:24-25, 19:1-29, 34:1-31, Exodus 20:14, 2 Samuel 11-12, Matthew 5:27-32, John 8:11, Acts 15:20, 29, Romans 1:24-32, 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, Revelation 21:7-8, and many more passages). Our culture is doing everything possible to move sexuality into a non-moral category arguing that sex is purely an expression of personal pleasure and taste. The argument is that people should be able to express their sexual desires in any way they choose without consequence is similar to a person eating any type of food they enjoy without consequences. But God has declared sex to be a moral issue of right and wrong, guilt and innocence; therefore, it will always be a moral matter.

In our hearts we know this is true. We know that the pursuit of unrestrained pleasure, especially unrestrained sexual pleasure, will destroy us. What God has created is best, and we cannot improve upon it. This is the nature of perversion. To pervert something is to twist it from its original form, both in substance and morality. To alter sexual expression changes its form of heterosexual marriage commitment and changes its moral character from blessing to inescapable consequences.

As the world runs headlong into perversion and self-destruction, let us overcome evil with good. As Christians let us hold high and passionately the goodness and peace of the sexuality of Christian marriage. I say peace because the sexuality of Christian marriage produces bonded stability in marriage. It produces children (biological or adopted) which make families. Families committed to the ways of Jesus over generations produce stability and peace. Stable and peaceful generations produce stable and peaceful societies. On the other hand, the rampant sexual perversion and unrestrained sexual expression of our day produce a hedonistic chaos that tears down everything just stated. Peaceful families and stable societies cannot grow out of the current direction of our culture in rebellion against God.

As Christians, may we focus on overcoming evil with good. A few suggestions for you to consider:

• Raise your children to accept and live in joyful harmony with the gender God gave them.
• Learn to accept and be thankful for the unchangeable aspects of your person, believing that God made you for a purpose.
• Raise your children with a clear biblical sexual ethic that is serious, but also positive and hopeful.
• Celebrate biblical marriage to your children by living it out before them and raising them with a faith filled hopefulness that they too will one day enter this norm.
• Celebrate and support, in your family and in the church, appropriately young marriage.
• Commit to sexual abstinence before marriage.
• In most cases seek to be married, then be absolutely committed to your spouse in sexual faithfulness.
• Rejoice in the goodness of children and desire them within marriage.
• Protect the lives of all unborn children beginning with their conception.

As Christians, let us struggle against the out-of-control sexual sinfulness of our age by living lives of joyful virtue, self-control, commitment, loyalty, generational family, and godly love. May you not live a life of rebellion against God, for no good thing can come from provoking your Creator.  May we live lives that honor God so that we may be blessed by the Lord Jesus as we live.

• Pastor Vic