By the time you read this another app on your phone or computer will be facing another update. For some, this means nothing, but for others you will understand it will mean an adjustment to learning the new system and all of its bells, whistles and frustrations.
Every new update usually means another set of bumps and issues. Due to the quickly expanding world of technology, many software manufactures try to quickly get their product into the market and as a result, they can complicate something to the point of angered frustration.
After putting up with several technological issues, I am thankful that God made the plan to live with him simple. Take a moment and read Habakkuk 2:2 and see that God wanted His message written plainly.
“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”
There is not a technological aspect to the plan God has shown to man through His Son Jesus. God knew man would not be able to save himself, because we were created to make our own choices and in such cases, we choose to leave the foundational principles of the Word of God and make our own path. Salvation through God is simple, but sometimes man creates the problem.
Consider those on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Each person was committed to following God because they had made the journey from other regions to be there for the Pentecost celebration. While celebrating the feast, Peter (along with the 11) became a Spirit-filled spokesman for the Almighty God. The message was personal and pointed. During Peter’s message, the people realize, “What shall we do?” Peter’s answer was simple and pointed.
Peter’s words were…
(1) Repent
(2) Be baptized.
God plan is simple because He wants all me to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)
I am glad God’s plan is not technical, but simple.
The poem below was discovered in the collections of Fannie Crosby. You may know Fannie Crosby through various songs in many songbooks, but here is a poem she wrote regarding an “Unanswered Prayer.”
“For What His Love Denies.”
God does not give me all I ask,
Nor answer as I pray;
But, O, my cup is brimming o’er
With blessings day by day.
How oft the joy I thought withheld
Delights my longing eyes,
And so I thank Him from my heart
For what His love denies.
Sometimes I miss a treasured link
In friendship’s hallowed chain,
And yet His smile is my reward
For every throb of pain.
I look beyond, where purer joys
Delight my longing eyes;
And so I thank Him from my heart
For what His love denies.
How tenderly He leadeth me
When earthly hopes are dim;
And when I falter by the way,
He bids me lean on Him.
He lifts my soul above the clouds
Where friendship never dies;
And so I thank Him from my heart
For what His love denies.
Lisa Brennan-Jobs is the daughter of Apple’s famed founder, the late Steve Jobs (1955-2011). She recently wrote about her final visit with the father from whom she was often estranged. About a month before he died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56, Lisa heard words of regret spill from the emaciated, dying icon.
He told her, “I didn’t spend enough time with you when you were little. I wish we’d had more time.” She told him it was fine, but he replied, “No, it’s not okay. I didn’t spend enough time with you. I should have spent the time. Now it’s too late.” He looked into her eyes, teared up, and then said, “I owe you one.”
During their final weekend together, he repeated that phrase over and over, “I owe you one.” Sadly, regrets often leave us with an overwhelming sense of impossible indebtedness.
Have you read of Peter’s regret? Remember Luke 22.61-62 – “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Peter’s regret for his decision did not mean he stopped living. In a few short weeks, it would be Peter’s words to echo throughout all time on the day of Pentecost.
Do you have any regrets?
If so, are you letting your spiritual regrets stopping you from knowing Jesus? Peter didn’t. Even though he made a mistake, he knew there was much more in store for his life because of Christ.
In a few short weeks, the world will turn to look and discuss the Messiah. Every year, one day has the world looking at the cradle which would rock the world. Whether you celebrate December 25th as the birth of Christ or another holiday in the giving/receiving of gifts, the fact is, people are thinking about the baby Jesus. Most likely, your family and friends will be thinking about Jesus.
While we know that Jesus grew into a man, the Christmas season causes us to reflect on the baby Jesus. It was a humble birth that God chose to bring His Son into the world. It would not be a birth that would amaze the world as it does now, but it would be a quiet entrance of the Promised Deliverer.
The first years would be a silent reflection of the humility of His life. Common people would be His first visitors and around two years of age magi from the east would bring Him earthly, honorable gifts. As His life would be sought by a power-hungry king, His family would become refugees. Finally, returning to His homeland, His family settled in a common town.
Amazingly enough, the Messiah grew up among the people without notice. Even after He grew into adulthood and began His earthly ministry, the people still saw His as Joseph and Mary’s boy. As His fame was growing and multitudes followed Him, some still saw Him as an earthly man and others saw Him as the Messiah the nation had waited so long to see. To the latter, He was their deliverer, their Savior, their King.
I love the Church of Christ because of the beauty and simplicity of the doctrine which comes directly from the Bible. To understand my love for the Church, one would have to understand my conversion.
I grew up a staunch Methodist. My mother raised me that way as did her mother. Anything I could do, I did. I was not a lukewarm Methodist. It was my intent in college to attend seminary and go to Liberia in West Africa to be a missionary. I had two other roommates in college. One was the son of a Baptist preacher and the other was from the Church of Christ. Baptist and Methodist were the dominant churches in the area and I knew nothing about the Church of Christ.
We were good friends except when we got on each other’s nerves. One thing we did regularly was to sit in the commons room and discuss religion. It is the intent of most men to win religious battles and I was no exception. The question that stumped me the most for my roommate from the Church of Christ was: “Where do you find that in the Bible”? For example, “Where do you find Christians partaking of the Lord’s Supper quarterly and on special days?” After all, the Bible says in Acts 20:7, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…” When did the disciples break bread (have the Lord’s Supper)? On the first day of the week which was Sunday. Which Sunday? Every Sunday. So on the weekends when I came home I would wear a trail to my preacher’s house which was next door and we talked about this topic. “Well”, he would say, “That’s the way they did it back then in the Bible but as Methodist we have specific days to have it.” Check one for the Church of Christ for biblical accuracy. But I was determined to win the war.
Our next battle would be over titles like Reverend. Here we go again. “Where do you find that in the Bible?” he would ask. So there I went to my preacher for the answers. “Well”, he would say, “They didn’t use titles like we use them today. It’s a Methodist thing to help distinguish between the different roles.” “Humm”, I thought. “It’s not in the Bible but we use them today?” I found it interesting that not even the apostles were called Reverend. Check two for the Church of Christ for biblical accuracy. But still I was determined to win the war.
The next battle would be fought over special clothing and the clergy / laity system. Here we go again. “Where do you find that in the Bible?” I could not think of any place but surely my preacher would know. “No, it can’t be found in the Bible” he said. “All the special robes and the clergy / laity system kind of evolved over the centuries to what you see today.” So I’m thinking to myself, “All of this is not in the Bible but we are doing it today?” I’m starting to see a trend. The only thing I could reason is that the system developed that way to elevate some above the masses to make them feel special, superior or more holy than others. I remembered in Acts 10:25-26 where it says, “As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” I think men and women like the lofty positions that the religions of today have made for them. Check three for the Church of Christ guy. But I was still determined to win or at least put a chink in his armor that would close his mouth.
Other battles were fought and months passed by but the biggest one was over the importance of baptism for one’s salvation. Finally, I thought. At least this was one point that we would agree upon. After all, I was baptized (sprinkled) when I was several months old. I even had the card from it and it said “Baptism” on the outside. Then came the question “Where do you find babies being baptized in the Bible.” This time I had an answer for him from the Bible. The Bible says in Acts 16:15, “And when she (Lydia) and her household were baptized…”. Besides, in the case of the Philippian jailer that “he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized” (Acts 16:33). See their “household” and their “family” were baptized. There must have been babies there. “How do you know?”, came the response. After all, one who comes to the Lord must come repenting of their sins (Luke 13:3, 5 and confessing (Romans 10:9). A baby can neither repent nor confess. Baptism is for those who are old enough to understand the commitment they are making to the Lord. That made sense.
Besides he said, “Baptism is always an immersion or burial (Romans 6:3-6) in water. It was never a sprinkling and the purpose of baptism was for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38; 22:16). This was a big one because it was not only a religious argument but it affected my very own salvation. So there I go back to my preacher with this wagon load of doctrine to sort out. This took time but most of the answers came back in silent or in snappy little jokes. Finally it got down to the point when I said, “I want to be baptized just like they were in the Bible, by immersion, and for the remission of my sins.”
So we agreed the following weekend when I came home we would go down to the river and he would baptize me. Next week came and so did the excuse that he could not do it that weekend but to come back the following weekend. This happened two more weekends. Seeing that I would not be deterred, he finally said, “Find someone else to do it. If people found out that I baptized (immersed) you for the remission of your sins, I could get in trouble.” I was floored and greatly disappointed. Why could he not do what the Bible clearly stated must be done for salvation, my salvation? It was then that I realized that the church in which I had devoted all of my young life to was not built on God’s word but upon human traditions.
I left there because it is so much easier and reassuring to follow God’s word, book, chapter and verse than it is to defend the traditions of men and cross my fingers and hope that God would save me. I love the Church of Christ because I can know that when I follow God’s word that I can be saved. 1 John 5:13 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” I pray that you are never content with man’s traditions but that you too will come to love the beauty and simplicity of God’s word that is found in the Church of Christ.
Roy Knight
Roy Knight is the minister for the St. George church of Christ located in St. George, South Carolina. Roy also has a weekly podcast entitled, “The Christian Gentleman” located at http://thechristiangentleman.podbean.com/
Personal Note: I appreciate Roy’s words and thoughts on his love for the church. Since meeting Roy for the first time, I have respect for his work and words. Roy has a great heart for the church and a great knowledge. His work in the coastal South Carolina area has been a benefit to the Kingdom and the churches in the area.
