Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 29, 2009
“If religion be false, it is the basest imposition under heaven; but if the religion of Christ be true, it is the most solemn truth that ever was known!” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Here’s the thing: as much anyone who ever lived, Charles Spurgeon knew that he knew that he knew that “the religion of Christ is true.” I wonder, as a worship leader, how horrible it would be to “worship” a God in Whom I could not fully believe? If we are to worship in “spirit and in truth” as Jesus described true worshipers do, we have to believe “in our hearts” what it is we sing about our great God. To believe in our hearts is more than to not doubt: The Truth is so embedded and ingrained in us that though we may struggle with doubt about God doing this or that, we don’t struggle with God being God, being real, being active and being sovereign.
All this being said, tragically, week after week there are people in Christendom who sing and clap along with the “worship music” who don’t for a minute believe what they’re singing. They worship what “they don’t know,” as Jesus told the Samaritan woman about the Samaritans, or they “worship something as unknown,” as Paul recognized before the men of Athens in Acts 17. There could be nothing more hollow or futile than singing praises to a God we don’t know or boasting in song about His deeds in which we don’t believe.
Our God is a “consuming fire.” He demands our attention and commands our sincere worship. The fact of the matter is that, sooner or later, “every knee will bow” and “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” whether we believed it here or not.
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 18, 2009
“Their foot shall fall in due time” Deuteronomy 32:35
I remember the first year I lived in Louisville, KY in the winter time, 1992. Up til then I was always either a SoCal guy (I say that only to sound cool) or a Dirty South guy (I say that too to sound cool) and lived, aside from those places, for a far too fleeting moment in Hawaii.(<== that is cool, but I was only 1). Suffice to say, I didn’t know too much about walking on icy patches, but you learn quickly, and usually by negative reinforcement.
I was walking one cold, frozen February day in Louisville through some ice and snow. The ice and snow became one in a few spots, making walking pretty treacherous, or at least for those who already knew the perils of walking on such terrain. I, with my hands in my coat pockets and donning my leather soled shoes, did not recognize such danger and walked on. The first hard lesson I learned on that snowy day is one of physics and statistics. If a person, dressed as I was and postured as I was, were to step on a big ‘ol hunk of ice, the rate at which he falls makes it statistically impossible for him to remove his hands from his pockets to relieve the severity of the landing.
You get my point, don’t you? Whether I’m aware of the danger or not, it’s still a real danger. Whether I was prepared or not, the slip still happened and the resulting plummet and crash were no better or worse than if I had known it was coming and did nothing about it.
So what did I really learn?
1) When I’m walking into a slippery situation, whether literally or figuratively, I should be prepared to brace myself. Hands in pockets is way low on the list of ways to do that.
2) There are both signs of danger and people all around who have been there and done that. Wise counsel from experienced slippers is a good idea!
So all of this “slipperiness” reminds me of a classic sermon from Johnathan Edwards called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Chances are, if you’re in a Bible teaching, Bible believing church, you’ve heard of this sermon. Well, here’s your chance to read it. It’s well worth your time, and you can read it online here: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 17, 2009
This morning, after my study time, or maybe during, but at the end, I went online to do a little additional research on a couple of interesting topics. I stumbled upon the website Monergism.com - Classic Articles and Resources of the Historic Christian Faith. This is an excellent site full of study materials, including many downloadable MP3 sermons/teaching.
I highly recommend this site as something you ought to add to your favorites!
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 14, 2009
Today, as I had lunch with a friend in downtown Louisville, there stood outside the window of the Bistro 301 a tall, multi-colored statue of a racehorse. Oddly enough, over the course of an hour, no fewer than three people walked right into the thing, the third person (a man) who hit his head so hard on the steel horses head that we actually heard it above the noise in the busy restaurant.
At a table nearby, four ladies were remarking laughing at the third guy, but amazed that anybody could possibly walk into this statue to begin with. After all, it doesn’t blend in with anything (see pic). One lady said “do you think they should put a warning sign up about the horse?” To which I responded “What are you gonna put on the sign” ‘ Watch out for the 6’ 1” tall, multi-colored horse directly in front of you’”? That might work, but where do you hang it? On the horse? Apparently that wouldn’t do any good. Do you put it on the ground in hopes that they’re looking at the ground as they walk? (which has to be the case) Or, do you put the sign on the ground all along the sidewalk and tell people to please walk with their heads up so as not to run into anything at all that may be standing in the way of pedestrians?
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 08, 2009
OK, so I finished “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” and decided to pull John MacArthur’s “The Truth War” off the shelf. It’s not necessarily light reading, but it is necessary reading in this slippery-slope age of reason and “truth.” If you know me, you know that I’m not a fan of “post-modern” anything, especially when far too often churches who, bent on catering to the “post modernists,” cater themselves completely out of the truth of the Gospel and the boldness with which it must be preached. Post modernity exists largely because the Church Universal has lost it’s zeal for the truth and its passion for the Great Commission.
If you get some time, you might want to check into this book, “The Truth War - Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception.”
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Apr 04, 2009
About a year or so ago, a friend gave me (maybe loaned me, I forget) a book called “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” by Pastor Jim Cymbala of The Brooklyn Tabernacle.
In short, this is an amazing book. It’s a quick read, just like I like them, and never does a page turn without a profound thought or statement about the Church, the Body of Christ or about how we’re lacking in the area of prayer and spiritual expectations.
If you get a chance, give this book a read; it will definitely be time well spent.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
