Christmas to Easter
By: Dr. Danny  

Have you ever wondered about the nuances of why we celebrate Christmas? I know the cultural and societal reasons such as gifts, family, trees and lights. But from a purely Christian perspective, why do we celebrate Christmas? In part, one of the primary reasons we celebrate the birth of Christ is because we are anticipating the death of Christ. It is one of the most unique paradoxes in all of Scripture. You cannot view the Babe in the manger except in the shadow of the Cross of Golgotha. As we gather to celebrate Easter…Resurrection Sunday…we gather to celebrate the very reason Jesus came to this planet in the first place. In His own words, Jesus said: “ 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.(John 10:17-18)” That is why we gather for this purpose every year…to celebrate the greatest event the world has ever seen. It is in this moment that God’s grace, love, justice, forgiveness, adoption, and peace all coalesce together in a single moment. It is where those who come to faith in Christ are redeemed, saved, born again. Jesus did not come into this world, suffer a cruel death, and rise again from the dead to give me a nicer life. He did not do this to make me a better person. He did not do it so that no bad things would ever happen to me again. The Bible tells us that none of these things is why He did it. He did it because we are lost (Luke 19:10). He did it because our hearts are corrupt and we have no answer for that (Jeremiah 17:9). And He did it because we are not good (according to His definition of good) and that we are not good (according to His definition of good) and that we are bound to an eternity of suffering without Him (Romans 3:9-20). And He did it because there was nothing we can do to fix any of that (Eph. 2:8-9). He did it so that though we will truly die one day, it will be at that moment where we will truly live. The Gospel is the most precious gift ever bestowed upon humanity. It is the moment when the righteousness of God is placed upon us and the penalty of sin is removed from us (Romans 3:21-26). We cannot earn salvation. We cannot work enough good works or be good enough. That is precisely the reason He did it in the first place. He died to save those who could never save themselves. In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he makes this very clearly:  13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross(Colossians 2:13-14). And that is why the Gospel is called “good news”. It is, in fact, the best news that could ever be given us. That is why we gather here this morning. It is the reason we gather at HCC every Sunday morning. So thank you for joining us on this glorious morning to celebrate this glorious event. It is our most fervent prayer that if you know Christ, you will know Him even better after this service. And if you do not know Him, that today would be the day that you would be the recipient of the greatest gift ever given.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Do We Sometimes Underestimate Grace?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

Obviously, I realize that this is just my opinion and you are, of course, free to disagree…but in all of the Bible…in fact in all of Christianity…there is no more beautiful word than the word grace. Just saying it out loud, thinking about it in my mind, or reading it in God’s Word gives me a very real, warm, feeling. It is, of course, one of the most familiar words in the Christian vernacular. Simply put, it is the reason I am where I am now. It is the reason I am who I am now. Most importantly it the reason I am Whose I am now. I am alive because of God’s undeserved, unmerited grace.

And I use the term alive in a literal, physical way as well as a spiritual way. The fact that I exist biologically is because God extended His grace to allow me to be born. Not because of the biological machinations that lead to the birth of a human being. The biology is the tool God uses to exercise this grace. The fact that I exist biologically is a clear indication that He exercised His sovereign grace to ensure that happened. He is not obligated to create anyone. In fact, His first human creation was formed out of dirt…not a hint of biological development. Human beings are born every day. And that is due to His grace.

But His grace is also the reason why I am spiritually alive. It is how I became born again. The fact that I am a child of His. The fact that I am forgiven of my sin. The fact that I am a new creation. The fact that I am saved. All of these facts are only fact because of one, magnificent, glorious, beautiful word: Grace. We are told clearly, and unequivocally in Ephesians 2:8 that it is “by grace you have been saved”. He did not look into the future and see my actions and determine I was a good candidate. If that were the case, it would have only proved that I was not a good candidate…and neither are you. That’s why it’s called grace.

We play no part in our salvation. We, of course, have to respond (Romans 10:9-10)…but that response is rooted in faith. We have to have faith to respond to the Gospel. However, in that same Ephesians 2:8 passage that too is addressed. It clearly states that faith is a gift given by God. So I can’t even take credit for having enough faith to respond. Even that is a gift borne of grace. In fact, Paul expounds upon this in Romans 4:4: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due”. If we had any work to do for our salvation, then salvation would be what we are owed…no different than a paycheck at a job. And if we are owed it, then it is not grace. Which would make Ephesians 2:8 a lie.

But one of the things I have noticed in my life at times and in the lives of other Believers, is that we tend to think of grace as being for salvation alone. That once we are saved, that is pretty much the end of how dynamically grace works in our life. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the amazing 12th chapter in the Book of Romans we are given great insight into how this works. In verses we, once again, see Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, spurring us on to good works for the cause of Christ and His Gospel. He uses verbiage very similar to that in 1 Corinthians 12. He states there and in Romans 12 that we are all members of the same body and all have a service function in the Body.
In fact, in Romans 12, he goes so far as to give a few examples as to what some of that service may look like. It is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination but the point is clear. He mentions prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, and mercy. His point is that if we have these gifts (along with many more not mentioned here but elsewhere) then we are to use them for His glory. But at the beginning of this pericope there is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. He starts out this section by stating: “For by the grace given to me”…(Romans 12:3). He begins like that for a reason.

He wants us to know that after we are saved by grace…we are to live our lives in that very same grace. These things we can do for Him are not simply talents or willingness. These are gifts of grace. It is grace that has given me the gifts to serve Him. It is His grace that makes me useful in His kingdom. It is grace that lets me follow His commandments. It is grace that I have the opportunities to serve Him. It is grace that I even want to serve Him. Literally every single aspect of my life from the physical to the spiritual only exists because of His grace. His grace does not just save me…it sustains me. It makes anything and everything He wants me to do possible. It makes everything that I am possible. I want to read His Word? Grace. I understand His Word? Grace. I awake every morning? Grace. Roof over my head? Grace. My love for Him? It can only be due to His grace. My death? Grace.

Because there is no greater representation of His grace than heaven. It is the ultimate culmination of His grace. The totality of His grace is encompassed in the reality of heaven. I will never die. I will never get sick. I will never sin. I will never mourn. I will forever live with Him in a perfection I cannot even imagine. And I will never do one thing on this planet to deserve that. Ever. That’s why it’s grace. And that’s why it is beautiful.  

-Dr. Danny Purvis

We have work to do
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

Despite the fact that I was an English major in college, I was never enamored with the grammar part. I wasn’t that good at it and I never really grasped onto the more complex aspects of grammar. In fact, to this very day I would have a very difficult time explaining what a gerund is or how to avoid a split infinitive. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand the power grammar has to keep us from misunderstanding our own language. It is to our detriment if we do not examine grammar while reading God’s Word and understanding what God is communicating to us via His Word. Many times…if we get the grammar wrong we often get the meaning wrong.

Even the most innocuous parts of language have tremendous impact on our understanding of doctrine and God’s principles. Prepositions are my favorite. Generally speaking prepositions are short…often monosyllabic words that on the surface do not seem overly important. In fact, many times our brains will simply gloss right over these words. But we do so to our own detriment. Take the two words “for” and “from”. They share three of the same letters and so we rarely take notice of the impact they have. But we need to. For example…we do not work “for” our salvation…but we do work “from” our salvation.

In other words, God is crystal clear throughout all the Bible that salvation is a gift of God bestowed upon whom He chooses to bestow it. See, I just ended a sentence with a preposition…which is not grammatically correct. But I digress. Salvation is a gift given by a benevolent God borne simply out of His grace. We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. We cannot work for it. In fact, in Romans Paul writes that if we did work for salvation then salvation would not be grace but it would be a debt God owed us because we did the work. No different than the paycheck we work for each week at our job. No worker has ever looked at their paycheck as an act of grace by their employer. They rightfully look at it as something being owed to them because of their work.

But while we are not expected to nor are we able to work “for” our salvation…one other thing is equally true. We are very much expected to work “from” our salvation. This idea is communicated to us throughout the entirety of Scripture. God saves people…then He puts them to work. And in case we have any doubts about that…I don’t how God could have made this any clearer than He does in Ephesians 2:10. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”. We are created in Christ (saved) in order for us to do good works. He puts us to work. It is just that simple.

Why else would He give us gifts unless He intended for us to use those gifts for the furtherance of His kingdom. Peter writes. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10). There are several givens in this all important verse. It is a given that each Believer has at least one gift. The reality is that He gives us multiple gifts. It is a gives that we are to simply…use it. It is not enough to have it. We must use it. It is a given that the gifts belong to Him…and we are simply stewards. Good stewards as the text tells us. Which means if we are not using them…then we are bad stewards. And it is a given that by using them, we are helping to disseminate the very grace of God.

God saved us to provide us the opportunity for us to live eternally with Him in the bliss of heaven. But…that only happens when we die. What about before that? Before that He has work for us on this planet. That work is rightly referred to in Scripture as service. First, it is service to God Himself (Colossians 3:23). But it is also service to others. God Himself actually allows us…desires for us…to take part in His kingdom work. That alone is mind boggling to me. I don’t know about you, but I would have a hard time trusting someone to help me change my tire. But God gives us the ability, the desire, and the power to work and serve in His name to take part in His redemptive plan on this planet.

And there is perhaps no better avenue to do this than in your local church. Where are you serving in your local church? How are you serving in your local church? Are you serving in your local church. The church is an interesting organization. While, yes, there are certainly paid staff…the VAST majority of the work must be done by the congregation. Ephesians 4:12 tells me that one of my primary jobs as a pastor is to prepare God’s people for works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). And every single job in a local church is ministry. All of it is designed to make it possible for the Gospel to be proclaimed. Even most “mundane” or behind-the-scenes job makes it possible for the Gospel to go forth.

So…just ask yourself some questions. What am I doing in service to God and to others in my local church? How am I helping to make it possible for the Gospel to be proclaimed? How am I using anything that I have, to do the good service God commands of me in His Word? If you are struggling with answers to those questions…I have a piece of advice for you.

Get to work.  

-Dr.Danny Purvis

The expectation to grow

If I live to be 1,000 years old (I certainly do not want that) I will never cease to be endlessly intrigued by God’s Word. There is no hyperbole I can engage to describe the wonder of the Bible. It is the most amazing and fascinating collection of written words that has ever come into existence. It is both enigmatic and accessible…simple and intricately complex…perplexing and amazingly transparent. It contains every single thing we need to know about God. About us. About the world we live in. About the people we share this little blue planet with. It answers a million questions and raises almost as many more. It is, literally, in a class by itself.

In most ways the Bible cannot be read like any other book on the planet. It is the only book that is the Word of God. It is the only book that is 100% true. It is the only book that is completely trustworthy (because the Author is completely trustworthy). Therefore, it stands apart from all other books. However (and here is one of the reasons it is so intriguing), in some ways it is to be read exactly as we would read any other book in the world. This is one of those amazing paradoxes we see related to the Word of God. What do I mean when I say that it sometimes should be read like we would read any other book? I’m glad you asked that very good question.

The Bible uses the same writing paradigms that secular books do. It contains narrative. It contains poetry. It contains metaphors and similes. It contains figures of speech and colloquial maxims. It contains allegories and symbolism. It sometimes communicates events in chronological order and sometimes not. And the same rules that apply in secular writings using these things are the same rules that apply to the Bible. Narratives should be treated the same way as poetry. Metaphors, similes, and hyperbole are not to be taken as literally as straight narrative. When Jesus said: “I am the gate” (John 10:9), He obviously did not mean He was a literal wood gate with hinges and a handle. When He said He wanted to gather the people of Jerusalem as a mother hen gathers her chicks, only a fool would conclude that Jesus was a chicken.

The use of metaphors and allegories are central to understanding what God is actually trying to communicate to us as we study His Word. But we should really look at these things much more closely when reading His Word. The metaphors He uses become more powerful when we look at the thing He uses with more care and detail. Jesus used a lot of different ways to communicate what salvation actually is and how it actually works. If we simply say: “Yeah, I know what He means”…and then quickly move on…we’re gonna miss some stuff. And one thing I’ve learned in my 40 years of studying His Word…you don’t want to miss any stuff.

I have been forever fascinated with the physical event used in Scripture over and over again to most simply and completely explain salvation. It begins with a brief but life-altering conversation Jesus had with an inquisitive Pharisee named Nicodemus. This event is found in John 3. I’m sure you are familiar with. After Nicodemus mischaracterized Jesus and by extension salvation, Jesus says something amazing. “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus understands the reference, bit misses the meaning…but he’s not far off. He tells Jesus that people cannot go back into the mother’s womb and be born again. He doesn’t see the symbolism but seems to by the time Jesus is crucified.

This idea of using the physical/natural act of birth to describe what happens when we are saved is extraordinary. Since God’s Word says that when we are saved that we are a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), then it stands to reason that this new creation had to have gone through a birth process…and all that goes with it. But the Bible doesn’t relegate this analogy simply to salvation…but also in the maturing/growing part of being a Believer. And it is spot on if we think not only about the spiritual aspect of this but the physical process that is being used. In Hebrews 5, the writer of Hebrews scolds immature Believers because they “need milk, not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12). He is saying that by this time they should be teachers but instead need to be taught the basics all over again. Hence the milk and solid food reference. He is acknowledging that they have been born (again), but they are not growing.

This is an analogy we can all sink our teeth into. My wife and I having raised 4 kids ourselves, I began to think in more detail about this construct. Part of having children is marking milestones of expected, healthy growth. Watching an infant grow is oftentimes marking off the list of things that are normal and expected. The first time they push up; roll over; sit up; stand on their own; pull up in their crib; take their first steps; walk alone; say their first words…and so on. And when they don’t hit those milestones, what do we do? Well…we take them to the doctor because we think: There is something wrong. This is not the way it is supposed to be. It is so easy to take note of the lack of expected progress and see that as a problem. But do we do that with spiritual growth?

Just as physical growth is expected…and lack of it distressing…we should equally see the same with spiritual growth (or lack thereof). That’s why God chose this natural/physical act to adequately describe spiritual birth and growth. It is expected that we grow in Christ. In His Word. In His truth. And when that does not happen…just as is physical life…something is wrong. Something is very wrong. And we need to see it as wrong and whatever we can to allow Him to grow us. Why? Because it is natural. It is natural for physical growth. It is natural with spiritual growth. Salvation (birth) is an event. Discipleship (growing) is a process that will last the rest of our natural lives.

Most church goers today are, theologically, a mile wide and an inch deep. They have not grown to be able to eat solid food and are perpetually a child being given milk. We would never tolerate that with our physical growth…why would we tolerate it with our spiritual growth? Are you able to eat solid food…or are you stuck with milk? It’s a good question to think about.

New Year’s Resolution
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

Do you know what your New Year’s resolution should be? To never make another New Year’s resolution. Of course, this time of year does engender itself to the idea of new and/or improved resolutions. And I am certainly not saying we should let this time slide by quickly without reevaluating a few things. But New Year’s resolutions have become synonymous for making a promise you have no intention to keep. One study stated that only about 9% of people who make them will keep them for the year with almost half quitting buy the end of January. So I think it is safe to say that these resolutions do not serve any good purpose.

But as I mentioned before, the beginning of a new year does seem to get people to thinking about how to better themselves over the next year. Ads for gym memberships grow exponentially during this time. Many of us do take this time to think about what we would like to do better, whether it is get in better shape, eat better, read more. In general, become a better version of us. And there is nothing wrong with that. But let’s not give ourselves a built-in quitting lane by calling them resolutions. Let’s, instead, look at them as goals.

But what goals should we set? That is a question so specific that it would take at least 500 pages to flesh that out. So let’s look at it in a more general way…a way that applies to every single Believer on the planet no matter the specificity of our personal goals. Here is the goal that every single Christian on the planet needs to put at the top of their list. And it should be at the top of the list in every single new year. In fact, it should be at the top of the list of every single goal we have for every single day. If you have a literal or physical to-do list every day (and 99.9% of people do)…this one needs to reside at the top. Ready? Here it is. Our goal should be to know God better than we do right now.

That is the single most important element in the life of every single Christian on the planet. Why? Because knowing Him better makes us better at every other single aspect of my life. The more I know Him, the more I know what I should do and who I should be. If I want to be a better husband? Know God better. A better father? Know God better. A better neighbor? Know God better. A better employee? Know God better. He will show me clearly and unambiguously what it means to be a Godly person in every single aspect of my life. And the more I know Him…the more I will be those things. And what is the only way we can know Him better? Read and study His Word. That’s it. That is the only way.

Every single thing God wants us to know about Him is in His Word. Every single thing He wants us to know about ourselves is in His Word. Everything He wants us to know about the world and our lives in it is in His Word. The less you know of God’s Word…the less you know Him…and literally everything else. 2 Peter 1:3 says: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.” This is an amazing verse. He has granted His children (Christians) ALL THINGS pertaining to life and godliness. How? “Through the knowledge of Him.” How do we get the knowledge of Him? Wanna guess? Anyone?

We have to read and study His Word. We cannot come to this knowledge any other way. It is impossible to know God apart from knowing and understanding His Word. And that will not happen through osmosis. You cannot simply sleep with the Bible under your pillow and hope it sinks into your head. In the Old Testament, we see Joshua passing on this same idea. “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be successful in your undertakings (Joshua 1:8 ESV).”

Read and study it at home. Go to Sunday School and study it there. Go to the worship service and hear it (rightly) proclaimed. Go to Bible Studies and engage with fellow Believers about it. Every single thing that God has revealed about Himself, us, the world…it is all contained in those 66 books. You want to be a better spouse? A better parent? A better neighbor? A better boss or employee? A better anything? Three simple words that will 100% guarantee all of those things. Read God’s Word. Simple, right? So why don’t we give that a try and let’s see what happens. Happy New year!    

-Dr. Danny Purvis

How Thankful Are We?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

If you ask the average Christian what we should be thankful to God for, generally speaking, about 99.9% would say…everything. But I am not sure we really think that way. It just sounds like the right response to give. I mean, after all, this is the same God that tells us to rejoice over times of persecution and tribulation (James 1:2-3). And let’s be honest, that is not our inclination. In fact, our natural inclination is to bemoan any suffering in our lives. But putting that aside, there are some interesting things God’s Word says about giving thanks. Some familiar…some not so familiar. So as we venture closer to celebrating Thanksgiving I thought it would be helpful to look at one particular element that we may have overlooked.

It is not hyperbole to suggest that chapter 11 of John’s Gospel is one of the most well known and, to be honest, coolest chapters in all the Bible. Before you go looking…I’ll tell you. It is the chapter that records Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is clearly one of Jesus’ most well known and important miracles and there are a plethora of familiar verses in this pericope. That includes the inclusion of the shortest verse in the New Testament…John 11:35 which consist of just two words: Jesus wept. But like so many amazing sections of the Bible (especially those that include miracles) we can become so distracted by the miracles that we miss the “smaller” moments tucked away in the narrative. There are several such instances in this amazing chapter. But the one I am talking about occurs when Jesus is praying.

If you remember the event, just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed. That, in and of itself, is not unusual. There are many instances of Jesus praying recorded in the Scriptures. But this one contains a very unique element that I guarantee most people will drift right past without so much as a second thought. Verse 41 is where Jesus begins His prayer and He begins with a statement of thanksgiving to the Father. Again, not unusual. However…what He gives thanks for is astounding. The opening of the prayer goes like this: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41b). It is a blink and you miss it moment. My advice? Don’t blink.

Think about the gravity of that prayer of thanksgiving. Before Jesus says one other thing in this prayer He thanks the Father. And what does He thank the Father for? Simply for hearing Him. John 11 is hands down one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. I have literally lost count of how many times I have read (in part and in whole) this amazing narrative. And it took me 40 years to see the magnitude on this prayer of thanksgiving. Look at what is happening here. Jesus Himself is simply thanking God…for listening to Him.

This was eye opening for me. We know that God desires our prayer. In fact we are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is not God Who neglects our prayer, bit we who neglect to pray. He is always ready and willing to hear our prayers. And that…is a miracle. It is a miracle we seldom think about. Let me ask you something. When is the last time you have thanked God for listening to you. For hearing you. We take it for granted that this is something He just…does. But think about it. In Psalms 8:4 the psalmist asks rhetorically: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Here is the bottom line.

There is no reason that the holy God of the Universe should ever…and I mean ever…listen to us. There is nothing in us that is good or righteous. The fact that the same God Who spoke the universe into existence and is so holy that we would literally die if we saw His face (Exodus 33:20) would actually listen to us is one of the greatest miracles in all Scripture. We do not deserve for God to listen to us. It is as simple as that. Jesus recognizes this for us in the John 11:41 verse. He, of course, was worthy to be heard by the Father. But the point is for us that inherently we are not. And yet he does. Why?

Simple. Because we are His children. He listens to is because we have been redeemed by the blood of His Son. This is a way to show His grace and His mercy. And most of us (me included) have not even thought to thank Him for even listening to us. We so quickly want to move to the things we want Him to do, that we do not pause to marvel at the reality that the holy God of the universe is actually willing to hear us. This reality hit me very hard when I saw it. I simply never thought about it in this way. So please…by all means…petition God in your prayers. God wants us to tell Him the things we would like (James 4:2) and he wants to give us the things we pray for that are a part of His will (Matthew 7:11).

But as we move closer to Thanksgiving…maybe…along with everything else…maybe we simply thank Him in the same way Jesus thanked Him: For hearing us.
-Dr. Danny Purvis

Is God an Ogre?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

I am endlessly fascinated with how unbelievers (and believers for that matter) view God. There are as many opinions about God as there are people in the world, I guess. But I have to admit…there is one view that the data just does not seem to support. I speak, of course, at the ever-present view that God is some angry celestial that is grumpy beyond belief and is only out to distribute punishment in increasingly “unfair” ways. There is a lot to unpack here but let’s start with the most important element.

God is not unfair as we define that word. Most often we define it by expressing dismay over something that we want but did not get…or something we get that we did not want. It is primarily rooted in our innate selfish desires. God allowed something I did not like…or He disallowed something I wanted…therefore He is unfair. God is the only true fair Being in the universe. He is perfectly just and perfectly righteous. His actions cannot be categorized by our understanding of “fair” and “unfair” because we are the creatures that continue to move the goalposts related to those two constructs. And trust me…the last thing you want God to be, as related to our sin, is “fair”. Because if that were the case the fair thing would be for every single human being on the planet to be eternally punished for our sin. That is what we deserve (Romans 1:32a). And as Hamlet famously stated: There’s the rub.

The view that God is an ogre (a famously popular opinion) is generally based in one area. It is the idea that terrible things happen to “innocent” people and that God is the cause of that. He doesn’t care. After all…how could a good and loving God cause…(you fill in the blank). This is generally seen in our reactions to horrific things that lead to death. Not all death of course. Nobody would level a charge like that towards God over a 99-year-old that led a productive, healthy life and then died peacefully in their sleep. But as human beings we have a tendency to rate deaths and their requisite impact. And that’s ok. It is completely understandable from a human, cultural standpoint. We make the distinction between “tragic deaths” and those we find more understandable. The character Spock in the original Star Trek series made an interesting observation about this.

When speaking to the ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy, who was railing against a foe that had killed millions of people, Spock responded: “I’ve noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak of the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be in yours.” He makes an interesting point. We tend to view some deaths as more tragic than others, and then we point a finger at God for being a tyrant and an ogre for allowing that death to happen. We, generally, have no problem with the death of the 99-year-old I mentioned above, but will view a child killed by a drunk driver as inherently “more tragic”. No one says about the 99-year-old: “How could a good and loving God allow this to happen?” But we often say that about the child. And I get it. From a cultural and social standpoint those deaths do hit us differently…I’m not saying they shouldn’t. That is a part of being human and does underly our empathy for those deaths. But when those things happen, is that enough to view God as an ogre for allowing that to happen? Does the data bear that out? What data am I talking about?
First, we have to understand something that is extremely important. Even the God haters acknowledge this point. And that is…that God is responsible for all human life and death on this planet. He is the One Who gives life, and He is the One that takes it. This is a very important concession. Secondly, and this is a big one, Scripture also tells us that all people…every single one of us, lives under a death sentence. God is the perfect Judge (He cannot be anything but that) and a perfect Judge must judge sin. We are all guilty of sin (Romans 3:23-24). And God has pronounced the sentence for that sin: “Thought they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die” (Romans 1:32). Notice Paul refers to that death sentence as God’s “righteous decree”. Now, Paul is not just referring to the physical death that will come upon all people as a result of Adam and Eve’s original sin, but the death as the right punishment for all who sin. In fact, all who sin are subject to immediate death as the just punishment for sin. But here’s the interesting part. More than 99% of the time…that doesn’t happen.

God is fee to exercise His death sentence on every single person the very first time that person sins. But He doesn’t. In fact, let’s look at the data. There roughly 8 billion people on this planet. It’s a little under that but let’s make the math easier. Let me ask you something. Do you know how many people on this planet, on average, die every year? Before you Google it…I’ll tell you. On average, approximately 60 million people across this amazing planet die each year. And while that is a big number, let’s look at it from a percentage standpoint. That 60 million people makes up less than 1% of the world’s population. See where I am going with this? God is so unfair…He is such an ogre…that he allows more than 99% of the population to live each year even though we have already seen that 100% of the population deserves to die for their sin. He stays the death penalty we all deserve for about 99.7% of the population…every single year. I gotta ask. Does that sound like an ogre to you? Does that sound unfair to you? The bigger question is: Why does He allow this number of people to live, even though we all justly deserve death? I’m so glad you asked.

The answer is, of course, found in Romans. After Paul tells us of the death penalty we deserve at the end of the first chapter of Romans, he starts the second chapter by explaining God as the only righteous Judge in the universe. And tucked away in verse four of chapter two, he tells us why. “Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4)? Now, Paul is talking primarily about unbelievers at this point. Did you catch what Paul is saying under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? God withholds our just death penalty in order for us to come to Him for salvation. But here’s the really fascinating thing. He does so knowing that the vast majority of the people He is sparing will NOT turn to Him (Matthew 7:13-14). In other words, even those who will continue to reject Him…hate Him…and mock Him will not have their sentence immediately carried out because of His kindness. Does that sound like an ogre to you? No. It sounds like Who He is. The most patient Judge in the entire universe. Patient even with those who will always hate Him. If that makes Him an ogre…I pray He stays an ogre.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

How Do We Tell People About Jesus?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

As I read the Scripture, it seems to me the way God has expressed it…a Believer communicating the Gospel to someone should be as natural to us as breathing. And yet. Some years ago a study came out from the Southern Baptist Convention about evangelism. The results were less than optimal. In a study of SBC congregants it revealed that only 5% of folks have ever shared the Gospel with another person. This is a very sobering, if not somewhat confusing, conclusion considering that the SBC (along with many other denominations) consider themselves to be “evangelicals”. Maybe it’s just that we don’t understand what that word actually means. Maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s a lot of things else.

Truth is, there is no one reason why there seems to be reticence on the part of Christians to openly, verbally proclaim the Gospel when given opportunities to do so. The big question is, however, why that is the case. When three of the four Gospels ends with the command to “go and tell” it seems weird that too many of us do not heed that command. It would take about 1,000 pages to truly examine all of the intricacies of why this phenomenon exists and to be honest I don’t have that kind of energy. However, there is one aspect of this that I would like to address because it has been so prevalent in contributing to the lack of personal evangelism in the evangelical community.

I was not saved until I was 20 years old, so when I talk about “growing up in the church” I wanted to make sure you had a reference point. But I grew up in the church in the mid 80s. I grew up (spiritually, anyway) in a Southern Baptist church. It was a pretty solid church with pretty solid theology. But when talking to my pastor once as a young 20-something Christian I would hear him bemoan the fact that virtually everyone he baptized in the church were people he had “led to the Lord” (however that is defined). As a new Christian who understood that the propagation of the Gospel was our primary reason to exist, I was confused about that. Looking back with the benefit of 40 years of being a Christian, I can now see at least one reason why this conundrum existed.

So much of it was prefaced upon a myopic and somewhat unrealistic view of what evangelism is in the first place. These descriptions that follow may be very familiar to many of you reading this. And please note that these are not as much criticisms as they are observations that are related to my growth in my faith and my better understanding of Scripture. So, every year at my home church we had what we called “revival” services. This would happen twice a year. Once in the Fall. Once in the Spring. The format was always the same.

We would bring in an “evangelist” to preach a series of messages…usually Wednesday through Sunday. The focus, of course, was to lean heavily on the Gospel and to try and get people to “make a decision” and walk the aisle during the invitation. I do truly understand the motivation for these services. I really do. But there is this great, uncompromising law of the universe known as “the law of unintended consequences”. This law is as real and ever-present as the law of gravity. It is always at play and we rarely anticipate its effects.

So, the hired evangelist would come in (not sure why the regular pastor couldn’t have done this) and not only preach a Gospel-centric message (which is great and what we should be doing) but he would also present a method of evangelism. With few exceptions, this method almost always followed the same paradigm. Find a stranger. Engage them with the Gospel (usually using some sort of prepared script), ask a couple of diagnostic questions. And push for a response. To show you that this was as wide spread as I proclaim, when I was in seminary I was told to do the same thing. I was uncomfortable with that then. I am more uncomfortable with it now. Because I don’t see that as evangelism. I see it as a sales pitch.

There is a reason I never went into sales when I entered the workforce. Because I stink at it. Most people do. Powerful, effective salespeople are a rare breed. And the stories these visiting evangelists would tell were amazing. I remember one guy talking about being in the men’s room and handing out tracts and having people “come to the Lord”. But here’s the thing. The vast majority sitting there listening to those stories knew that they could never do that. But since that was THE structure of evangelism, that would lead them to say: Well, I can’t do it that way so I won’t do it at all. The vast majority of Christians when told the sales-pitch style of evangelism is the only way to do it simply bowed out. I’m not saying people can’t be saved that way. I’m sure it happens. But that approach misses one important element of evangelism. Evangelism is work.

It takes time. It takes effort. It takes persistence. It takes patience. And there is no one size fits all approach to evangelism. Our “strategies” need to be as diverse as the people we are engaging. Jesus and salvation are not a commodity to be sold. There is no magic prayer that if spoken will grant people salvation. People have to truly understand why they need Christ. If you ask people: Do you want to go to heaven? Most people will, of course, say yes. Then when you tell them: All you have to do is say this prayer and “really mean it”, you’re in. That is cheapening the Gospel. How do they even know what it is they are saying? I said the magic prayer once when I was about 15 years old. I walked out of that service just as lost as when I walked in. I didn’t know what I was saying. I didn’t understand the depths of my lostness. Evangelism will vary as the people we talk to will very. There is no one size fits all. There is no magic prayer. That will simply lead people to the false assumption they are saved when they are not.

Look at 2 very important chapters in John’s Gospel. Compare John chapter 3 with John chapter 4. The only thing they have in common is that they are both portrayals of Jesus, the Master Evangelist, explaining the Gospel to do very different people. In John 3, it was Nicodemus. A learned, important, religious man. In John 4, it was an unnamed woman at a well. An uneducated, pitiable, lost, wayward, irreligious woman. Watch how Jesus interacts with them both. He starts out with Nicodemus by telling him, “you must be born again”. With the woman, He simply asks, “will you give me a drink of water”. His approach could not have been more different. No canned, rote script. He took the opportunity…listened to them…and applied the Gospel in a way they could both understand…but in entirely differing ways. It took time. It took patience. It took explanation. It took listening. That is how we spread the Gospel. That is how it becomes as natural to us as breathing. That is how we tell the story.  
-Dr. Danny Purvis

I Love To Tell The Story
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

In 1866 a woman named Katherine Hankey wrote a poem in two parts. The first was called “The Story Wanted”. The second part was called “The Story Told”. The following year some of the lines from the poem were taken and put to music which gave birth to the hymn “I Love To Tell The Story”. I always loved to sing that hymn when I was going to church years ago when the old hymns were a staple. One of the reasons I loved it so much was because it reminded me of one of the most interesting things Jesus ever said.

In Luke 19 we see his version of Jesus’ triumphal entry a week before His crucifixion. Along with the familiar aspects of this event we see Jesus say something very impactful. As the disciples were crying out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord”, the Pharisees (unsurprisingly) were not happy. They went to Jesus and told Him to rebuke them in order to silence them. Jesus’ response is very sobering. He said: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). Embedded in this amazing statement is a very formidable truth. Want to hear it?

When it comes to our abilities…we are as useful to God as a box of rocks. Jesus was telling the Pharisees that He did not NEED people to cry out His praise. In fact, if these people were not crying out His praise, then the very rocks would do it instead. There are several takeaways here…but one we really need to understand. God does not need us…for anything. He does not need our talents…He does not need our abilities. He’s God. He has all of the abilities in the universe. He does not need us for anything. But the good news is much better…He desires us.

And when I think of that great hymn I mentioned in the first paragraph, it dawns on me that one of the things He desires for us to do is to tell the Story. What story? The Gospel.  Each of the Synoptic Gospels ends the same way. They end with the Great Commission. The beginning of the first book after the Gospels (Acts) begins the same way. The way? Go and tell. The same God that clearly tells us that He does not NEED us for anything then goes on to tell us that He has entrusted us with the most precious thing in the entire universe. The Gospel. Every single book in the New Testament contains the message that we are to talk to a dying people about the only thing that can save them from that death: The Gospel.

He doesn’t make us do this…He lets us do this. He trusts us to take this amazing, lifesaving message to the people who desperately need to hear it. It is the primary reason why Believers stay alive in this planet. Think about it. When a couple adopts a child from an orphanage today, the first thing that happens is that they take them to their new home. There are numerous passages in the New Testament that describe God saving us as God adopting us. Ephesians 1:5 clearly states: “He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”

But here’s the thing. Unlike us, when He adopts us, He does not immediately take us Home. He leaves us in this world. Why? I’m so glad you asked that question. He obviously assures us that when we die we will be with Him in heaven for all eternity…but only after we die. He leaves us here for one main reason. To tell people the Good News. Though He does not need us for anything…He allows us the privilege and the honor communicate the Gospel. He trusts us with that amazing message. We don’t have to tell people about Jesus…we get to tell people about Jesus. In Romans 10:14-15 we see Paul talk about that privilege: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Look at the verbiage. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news”. In a time where people were either walking barefoot or in sandals in nothing but dirt, I can’t believe many people thought of feet as beautiful. Even the choice of this verbiage denotes God’s desire for our availability and not our ability. He didn’t say: How beautiful are the people who spread the Gospel. He pointed out the beauty of the feet. The willingness to be available to explain the Gospel to a lost and dying world is our primary reason to exist. If it were not, God would have taken us Home the moment He adopted us.

The hymn states: I Love To Tell The Story. Do you? Do you, really? You possess the only truly lifesaving message available to a hurting world. And God entrusts you with that message. It is imperative in any way that we can to love to tell the story.  
-Dr. Danny Purvis

Because I Said So
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

I have to admit that when I was a kid and I asked my parents why they made a decision I didn’t like, I was generally given an answer I despised. Most times the answer I received was: Because I said so. To say that I was unsatisfied with that answer would be the mother of all understatements. I hated that answer. Even though I was always 100% sure that I was going receive that answer, I was still always amazingly frustrated by it. I guess I was a slow learner. But that’s not true. What I was, was amazingly obstinate. I was always an inquisitive kid and I had fooled myself that my obstinance was rooted in some kind of justifiable indignance at having my inquisitive nature crushed by my parents obvious inability to give me a logical answer. But my obstinance was not rooted in self-righteous inquiry. My obstinance was rooted in my natural disposition to engage in disobedience.

I had fooled myself that the answer, “because I said so”, was issued because there was no logical, reasonable answer to the question in the first place. That my parents had no “good” reason to deny a request and so they simply defaulted to an answer that would hide this reality. Once I became a Christian, however, it all became crystal clear to me. Note that I did not say that this clarity emerged once I had kids of my own. This entire understanding came at the point where I had become a Believer…once I had been transformed into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)…once I had the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16)…once I saw everything clearly for the first time through the prism of Scripture. How did I more clearly so clearly? Because God gives us this very same answer many times in Scripture.

Do you know what sin is? In its simplest form, sin is disobedience. That’s it. Whether it is a simple, fleeting thought that infects our mind or an egregious act ends up as global news…sin is simply disobedience to God and His moral law. And this disobedience leads us to the idea that any answer we’re given by an authority figure is subject to our assessment of that answer. Disobedience breeds arrogance. We deserve an answer. We deserve the right then to explain how that answer is wrong or does not make sense. We. We. We. Our sinfulness will always lead us to question those who have authority over us…especially God. He is not spared from this especially when it comes to “why” questions.

Let me be clear. It is certainly ok for Believers to ask God “why” questions. We are not strictly prohibited from doing so, and there are certainly examples of people doing so in the Bible. One of my favorite examples of this is the prophet Habakkuk. Most of you have probably not read that book of the Bible. You should absolutely read it. The book begins with Habakkuk complaining to God about His inaction against Habakkuk’s fellow Jews who were in the midst of abject disobedience. They were engaging in false worship, paganism, cheating, abhorrent behavior and injustice to the poor. Habakkuk accused God of inaction and was wondering why God was not doing something about it.

And let’s give God credit here. He does answer Habakkuk. He tells him that He sees all of this and that He is not going to engage in inaction. Then God answers Habakkuk even more completely. He tells Habakkuk exactly how He is going to act to punish His wayward people. God tells Habakkuk that He is going to use a powerful pagan nation…one of Israel’s harshest enemies…to execute judgement on sinful Israel. God answers Habakkuk and tells him what He is going to do. Habakkuk’s response? “Why are you doing it that way”? So, Habakkuk accuses God of not caring and not doing anything…then complains about how God was going to do it. That is who we are. That is the nature of disobedience and sin. But here’s the deal.

Many times God answers us by saying: Because I said so. We don’t like that answer. Why? Because we feel we deserve an answer. The reality? God does not owe us one single thing. Not one. He is gracious enough to often give us answers. Our response many times? Just like Habakkuk. We don’t like the answer. We want a different one. Why? We deserve a different one. No…we don’t. We do not deserve anything from God except the punishment for our sin. We certainly do not deserve that the God of the universe explain Himself to us. In His mercy, He does…all throughout Scripture He does. Until He doesn’t. In Romans 9 where God is explaining to us His sovereignty over salvation, we see things like: “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.” “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” “He hardens whomever He will”.

Then Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, anticipates that objection we will, in our obstinance, will naturally proclaim. If all of this is true, “why does He still find fault”? And I absolutely love the response we get in Romans 9:20: “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” In other words, we are seeing that we will ask God why salvation, election, justice, sin, redemption, and punishment work like this? The answer from God? Because I said so. That’s it. And that’s all it should be. It’s easy to trust God when everything is going great…and our comprehension is complete. It’s easy to trust when we completely understand the thing we are supposed to trust. To be honest, that’s not trust.

It's only trust when you believe in the face of a massive lack of understanding. When none of what is happening makes sense. When every cell in your body is screaming out to not trust. Complete understanding doesn’t strengthen trust…faith in the midst of a complete lack of understanding is what strengthens trust. When God says; Because I said so, what He is saying is…trust Me. He knows it doesn’t make sense to us. But it makes, of course, complete sense because He is the author of it in the first place. God knows that His children are not immune from pain, suffering, and confusion. He tells us in Isaiah 55:8 that: “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”  We are incapable of understanding all of the “whys” of God’s actions. So He gives us the ultimate answer that should give us more peace than we can possibly imagine: Because I said so.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Is God Playing A Trick On Us?
-Dr. Danny Purvis

Despite Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians that Christians should avoid sectarianism and divisions and to “all speak the same things” (1 Corinthians 1:10), like most warnings in God’s Word, we tend to ignore them. It is believed that there are around 200 Christian denominations in the US alone. And every one of them stand fully convinced that their particular denomination is the one who has to the “correct” interpretation of Christianity. If that is not proof positive that we are ignoring Paul’s warning…I don’t know what to tell you.

Please do not misunderstand me. In those denominations that clearly espouse doctrine that flies in the face of Biblical truth, it is necessary for one to conclude that they are clearly wrong and that we should not believe the things proposed in that denomination. But for the most part, the various denominations differ in their views of what I would call fairly minor issues. But we too often allow these minor issues to devolve into divisions that clearly fall under Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians. This is the human element of Christianity that too often plagues the church.

To be honest, I can see why some denominations might look at others as “wrong” in their theology. To be blunt, some of them are simply wrong. But others have always intrigued me and I am reminded of this as I have been preparing for the sermon this week. As we have been making our way through the book of Romans, we are just about to finish up the halfway point of our journey. This week we will complete the 8th chapter of this Biblical masterpiece. And the latter half of this chapter contains something really cool. The Bible has long been described as a love letter from God to His children. Nowhere is that more evident than in this chapter. And in the last nine verses we see the culmination of that love. And it addresses an issue that has divided Christians for a very long time…and to be honest I am not sure why that is the case.  

The issue in question is the age old question: Can a Christian lose their salvation? This one perplexes me. Don’t get me wrong. I have known good, solid Believers who hold this view. There have been many Bible savvy theologians who desperately love God who hold this view. But for me…it is something I do not understand. This is the one that confuses me the most. There may be some passages that if you squint…and engage in some exegetical gymnastics…might…maybe…suggest that this is a possibility. However, the verses that seem to suggest the opposite, that the Christian is eternally secure in that salvation, seem much more numerous and, interestingly, much more clear.

And the last nine verses of Romans 8 is one of the instances. There is clear, unambiguous language seemingly clear in its declaration of the Christian’s eternal security. It says God is for us. It says He gives us all things. It says God justifies us. It says God does not condemn us. It says God intercedes for us. It says no trial or tribulation can ever separate us from the love of God. It says God makes us conquerors. And lastly, it says that nothing…absolutely nothing…will be able to separate us from the love of God. Nothing…ever. No exegetical gymnastics are necessary here.

Even Jesus Himself gives us the reassurance when He said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” We are told elsewhere that God will blot out our sin and that He will never, ever remember them (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12). Again…no gymnastics. In fact it would take gymnastics to prove that is NOT what these verses are actually saying. This is why I say that while there are theological differences that have manifested into the copious numbers of denominations, this is the one that always leaves me scratching my head.

Simply put, it doesn’t even make sense. It would seem like God was playing a bit of a trick on us. It is as if He were saying: I’m blessing you with this amazing gift…unless I take it away from you. Giving a gift that you will then take away makes it not really a gift in the first place. None of this makes sense. I think every single true Christian on the planet would agree that salvation is the most important, loving, and gracious thing in the universe. There is not even a close second. And if God knows everything…which He does…why would He grant this amazing gift to someone that He KNOWS is going to later throw it in the trash? Why would He do that? And we hear or even personally know about Christians who have “renounced” their faith and walked away from Christianity. Again…if God knew this…and He certainly would…why would He save them in the first place? And therein lay the rub. Truth is…He didn’t.

The question is not whether we can lose our salvation…the question is whether we actually had it in the first place. But people will say about the folks who walked away from their faith: These were godly people. In fact, there have actually been fairly high profile pastors who have done this. And the only explanation for their “falling away” can be that they lost their salvation. Because certainly a godly person who exhibits godly behavior cannot really be an unbeliever. Well…not really. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 we see Paul warning Timothy about godlessness in the church. And he pulls no punches related to their character. He uses adjectives like: proud, arrogant, abusive, unholy, heartless, treacherous, and conceited. We clearly get the picture.

However, tucked away in these damning pronunciations, Paul also describes them as, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). The appearance of godliness. They are going to look godly to those around them…but in reality they have denied Christ. And this appearance can only be sustained for so long. Hence the point. The only way you can lose your salvation is of you never had it to lose in the first place. The reality of your lostness will eventually emerge from the form of godliness.

One of the single, greatest aspects of God’s salvation is that it is a covenant. Paul wrote it was the new covenant in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 11:25). God does not…He cannot…break His covenants. Are there a lot of people out there at risk of losing their salvation. Well…in a way…yes. Because they never had it in the first place. They believed a different Gospel. They believed in a Jesus that does not exist. And therefore…no covenant was made with them. And if this amazing news causes the first thing to cross your mind being: Cool, I can commit any sin and I don’t have to worry about losing my salvation. I’ve got a warning for you. That’s a very good indication that you never had it in the first place. It is meant to be an assurance to Believers who still struggle with sin but hate it. A reassurance to Believers who desperately want to stop sinning but still slip up. I’ve heard several pastors/teachers repeat the same line though I admit that I do not know from where it originated: If we could lose our salvation, we would. That is 100% true. God assures us that we cannot lose it…because left to us…we would lose it. That is the essence of true grace. So, rest easy my Brothers and Sisters. Why?  “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). How cool is that?

-Dr, Danny Purvis

Wait…Suffering Is Good For Us?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
If there is one thing all the peoples of the earth can agree with…it’s that pain and suffering are no fun. None of us like it. And why should we? It’s painful. It hurts. It often plunges us into despair. Let’s be honest…pain and suffering are about the worst things that can happen to us. Believers and unbelievers alike feel the same way about these horrific things that can and do happen to all of us. And yet….

While both Christians and non-Christians feel the same way about these things, how we view them should be drastically different. That’s the point of having a Christian worldview…so that we do not see, value, and evaluate things the same way the world does. We are to see them through the lens of Scripture…to see them as they actually are as opposed to the way the world sees them. And though there may be some unbelievers who might could possibly see that there may be some kind of nebulous meaning behind pain and suffering. As Believers we are to see it in a completely different way. We are to see it as something that is actually good for us.

And to see it that way, is a miracle. It is not natural to view pain/suffering in that way. And yet that is exactly how God tells us to view it in light of His Word and our relationship with Him. CS Lewis once said that pain was God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. But because pain/suffering are so hurtful, we fail to see how it could possibly be good. Oh, we have plenty of Believers that see it is inescapable and inevitable. But we often view it as something that must simply weather until things get better. However, the Bible tells us something more profound. Yes God tell us it is inevitable. It is inescapable. That He will be with us in the midst of it. That He will never leave nor forsake us. But He also tells us that it is…good.

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. ALL THINGS work together for GOOD. Including pain and suffering. It is not something to simply be endured until brighter skies emerge…but there is actually a good aspect to it that can only be experienced if we actually go through it in the first place. Romans 5:1-3 tells us to rejoice when we suffer. Ok, well we see that in other places as well (James 1:2-4). But Paul goes on to say that the reason we should rejoice is because pain/suffering actually produces endurance, hope, and character. Look at the verbiage.

Pain/suffering does not reveal these traits…it produces them. In other words, we could not have these traits if not for the pain/suffering in the first place. Nowhere is this better seen than in the Book of Job. In the first chapter (specifically Job 1:8) God Himself states that there was not anyone like Job on the planet. He was the most holy person in the world. Yet, in the last chapter (Job 42:5), Job says this: “I had heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes see you”. Here is the most holy person on the planet (described as such by God Himself) who is admitting that only at this point in his life is he truly seeing God for Who He truly is.

The two key words here are “but now”. What did Job mean by “but now”? Why now even though he was the holiest person on earth? It was because of the pain and suffering he had endured. He literally lost everything. His wealth. The respect of his peers. His stuff. His children. And it was only after experiencing all of that pain/suffering that he actually saw the totality of Who God is and the depth of His love. In other words, Job was saying that if it had not been for the unfathomable pain and suffering he had experienced he would not have been able to truly see God. It is hard to imagine that pain and suffering would be good. And yet…it is. We don’t have to feel it. It doesn’t mean the pain won’t hurt. But if we can hang on to the promise that there is good that will come from it whether we ever see that good this side of heaven…maybe we will be able to see Him in a way that we could never imagine.
-Dr. Danny Purvis

True Freedom
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

We are, in certain aspects, prisoners of our circumstances. That, in and of itself, is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It is simply a reality. It is extremely difficult for us to truly grasp concepts without applying the time, place, and circumstances of our current existence. As a result we have a tendency to parse concepts, ideas and words through the prism of our immediacy. That is simply our lot in life.

However, for the Believer, we are called and directed to develop an understanding of Godly things aside from our immediate circumstances. We see this all of the time in Scripture. We are told that even though we live and exist in this world, that we (Christians) are not a part of this world. In fact we are told that this planet we call home…is not actually our home (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:9-13; 1 Chronicles 29:15). In fact, the event of the Jews wandering in the wilderness for 40 years after the Exodus while awaiting entrance into the Promised Land is a literal picture of this spiritual reality.

We are constantly told throughout Scripture to think eternally while smack dab in the middle of temporality. That is not an easy thing to do and can only be accomplished by the Holy Sprit Who indwells each and every Believer. There is perhaps no greater example of this than the concept of freedom. It is not hyperbole to state that the United States of America has to be the most free nation that has ever existed. That is precisely the foundation upon which the Founders built this great nation. It is what separates America from every other country in history. So, when we say, think, or act in ways that express freedom…because of our circumstances…we almost always default to thinking of it in terms of civil, political, or financial freedom.

For the most part, most Believers are very attuned to this aspect of our lives. Most Believers are pretty patriotic with a passion for having these civil freedoms remain intact. In fact, this zeal for civil freedoms is often viewed by those who seem to deride this nation as always jingoistic in nature. This understanding of our liberties is not a bad thing…not at all. In fact, I spent 20 years of my life in the Navy trying to defend those very same liberties. But, as always, there are issues at play that may make us view freedom only from that standpoint.

Here is the interesting thing about this. The Bible really does not specifically address the current Believer’s civil freedoms…at all. Jesus lived under one of the most brutal dictatorships the world has ever seen. The Romans suppressed all over whom they had dominion. They taxed the people without mercy. They physically brutalized people to keep them in check. They were no elections…or redresses against this regime. But despite being under the thumb of these tyrants, Jesus never said anything about that. He did not tell the people to rise up and throw off the yoke of tyranny. In fact, He said: Render unto Caesar the things that Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.

And yet Jesus also said: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36). Therein lay the rub. What freedom was Jesus talking about? I will tell you. The only freedom that ultimately matters. The only freedom that triumphs even when civil and political freedoms do not exist. In Romans chapter 8, Paul writes this: “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2). That’s it. That is the only freedom that truly matters. Freedom from slavery to sin and the eternal consequences of that sin. That is what Jesus was talking about. Jesus didn’t come to ensure we have civil freedoms.

God never, ever once promised us we would live in a nation that allowed us constitutional freedoms. It’s great that He does that for us who live in this nation. But we have dedicated, Bible-believing Brothers and Sisters all over this world that live under brutal conditions with no civil freedoms at all. If we relegate God’s Word into a political document that guarantees us civil and political freedoms and that this is part of being a Believer, it will come as quite a shock to those Christians around the world who don’t have them.

We are so blessed to live in a nation founded on the principles of individual freedom. But that can change in a heartbeat. As Believers our focus should be on the Biblical understanding of freedom. Freedom from sin. Freedom from lostness. Freedom from estrangement from our God. Freedom from the eternal torment of an eternal hell. The most civilly free person in the world, if they have not come to faith in Christ, is still a slave (John 8:34). And the most civilly unfree person on the planet (the quiet Christian living in North Korea) is freer than the most civilly free lost person in this country.

We have to view true freedom as the freedom from enslavement to sin that only Christ can give us. Then, it does not matter how civilly unfree we are…we are still free. If this nation turned into a dictatorship overnight…and all of our liberties were to be taken away from us…that would not impact our true freedom in any way, shape, or form. Our civil liberties are important. And worth fighting for. But our true freedom…the freedom only Christ can give us…is the only freedom that ultimately, eternally matters. So, when you hear talk about freedom, think about what comes into your mind? The political freedoms of this country which are being whittled away day by day? Or is the first thing that comes to mind the ultimate freedom that only comes with the gift of salvation? It is something to think about.
-Dr. Danny Purvis

What’s The Point of Being Religious?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

If you were to ask which people group is the hardest to reach with the Gospel, you would probably get many similar answers. They may be location focused like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or China. They may be faith group related like Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists or Hindus. And make no mistake…these answers would not be incorrect. In fact, I’m not sure there is an incorrect answer to this question. And, of course, each of those people groups do pose their own challenges when it comes to presenting the Gospel. But the answer that tops my particular list does not include any of these already mentioned. In my experience, the most difficult people group to reach with the Gospel is the group that thinks they already have it.

The hardest person to reach with the Gospel is the person who errantly already believes themself to be a Christian. After all, if I believe myself to be a Christian, then why do I even need to give a second thought to the Gospel. After all, I already have it. Right? Tragically, all to often, the answer to that question is no.  And the older I get…the more exposure I get to people professing to be Believers…the more I have realized that this includes a humungous number of people. I pray I am wrong about that. I really do. But the evidence is hard to ignore. How many people sitting in churches all across this country are truly Believers or how many are, in fact, simply religious people attracted to the idea of Christianity but lacking in true faith?

There is no doubt that Scripture contains references to people who Believe themselves as having true faith, but do not (Matthew 7:21; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Acts 16:16-18; John 6:66, Matthew 13:1-33). Every book in the New Testament except one (Philemon, I believe) warns against false teachers in the church as being something they are not. And as much as I wish this were not true, you do not have to look very hard for individuals (including pastors) who continuously spew a version of Christianity so removed from Scripture as to render it unrecognizable. I hope this is some grumpy form of cynicism speaking when I say that it is my belief that more than 50% of people sitting in pews across American are not truly Christians. They are religious…not Christians.

All true Believers are religious (depending on the usage of that word), not all religious people are Believers. As always, it depends on what you truly believe. Where your faith truly lay. Ligonier Ministries puts out a very helpful study every two years called the State of Theology. What separates this study from others is that the researchers don’t simply ask people who go to church or consider themselves religious…but people who are identified as evangelicals. You know, the ones that are supposed to know their stuff. When asked if God accepts the worship of all religions…56% of evangelicals said yes. Directly contradicting Scripture. When asked if Jesus was a great teacher but He was NOT God…43% of evangelicals said yes. When asked if everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God…65% of evangelicals said yes. When asked if the Bible is a helpful book but not literally true…26% of evangelicals said yes (up 6 points in 6 years). When asked if God learns and adapts to different circumstances…48% of evangelicals said yes. You get the point.

Of course, there is a unifying element to each one of those questions. Answering yes to them is to answer yes to heresy. Each of those questions represents a heretical representation of God…Jesus…the Holy Spirit. And these are basic, fundamental doctrines every single Christian should know. Which begs the obvious question: What Jesus do they believe in? Therein lay the problem for the religious person. They do not truly know God because they either do not know His Word, or (and this is much worse), they do not believe His Word. If you do not know His Word…if you do not believe His Word…you cannot be saved. This leads the religious person to rejoice at the parts they like: His love; forgiveness; heaven; steadfastness; grace; and mercy.

But, of course, those things are only for the ones who truly believe. Religious people then very quickly have disdain for the more unpleasant (to us anyway) aspects of Christianity which are equally necessary: God’s judgement; punishment; the reality of sin; the uniqueness of Jesus for salvation; and the reality of hell. So religious people are patrons at the Biblical buffet. They pick and choose the things they like, while leaving the equally necessary foods on the bar. And what does that force them to do? To create a Jesus that does not exist. To create a Gospel that does not exist. In Galatians Paul refers to this as a “different Gospel”. And no matter how much you put your faith in this different Jesus…in this different Gospel…it simply means you are still lost. But if you already believe yourself to be saved…well…you can see how these folks would be difficult to reach with the true Gospel.

One of Jesus’ more interesting interactions with a religious person is found in the third chapter of John. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin. He was, in Jesus’ own words, “THE teacher of Israel”(John 3:10). He was respected as a holy man…making and enforcing religious laws. He was…a very religious man. He was also lost. We know that culture placed a premium on being born a “child of Abraham”. In other words, they were ok spiritually because they had been born Jewish…a member of God’s chosen people. Even though John the Baptist tried to warn them about this assumption (Matthew 3:7-9), this is what they help on to…their religiosity based on their physical birth.

But when speaking to Nicodemus, note the first words out of His mouth. “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)”. Let me ask you a question. Besides John 3:3 & 7…where else does the phrase “born again” appear in the Bible? 1 Peter 1:23 and that is just as a reminder that all Christians are born again. The only time it is used in dialogue to a person is in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. Why did Jesus say this? Because Nicodemus thought he was ok because he was religious. He thought he was ok because he had been physically born. Jesus was saying to Nicodemus: Your salvation is not assured because you are born…your salvation is assured when you are born again. And that second birth can only be assured by faith in Christ. Nicodemus’ entire religious world was torn apart. He thought he was fine. He thought he was holy. He did so because he knew he was religious. But he was as lost as the most ardent atheist in existence. But to his credit…he listened. He evaluated his religiosity and saw that he was wrong. He had put his faith in his religion. And as a result he was saved (John 19:38-40).

We cannot rely on our religiosity to save us. Sincere belief in the wrong Gospel simply means that we are sincerely wrong. I’m not trying to get you to question your salvation. But it is a legitimate question to ask if you actually have salvation in the first place. Your faith must rest on the Jesus of the Bible. The Gospel of the Bible. All of the Bible. If it’s not…then you’re just another religious person. And we have plenty of those wandering around.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Whose Story Is It Anyway?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

Imagine, if you will, that you are talking to someone who just read a story. It is a story you are unfamiliar with and this person is telling you a little bit about the story. There are only two characters in this story. We’ll call them A and B. And that’s it…no other characters. Now imagine, if you will, that this person is telling you about the two characters. This is what the person says. Only character A has any lines of dialogue in the story. Only character A has a name…character B is not given a name. The story take place entirely in character A’s home. We know only character A’s “job” for lack of a better term. And we even know what character A is thinking. Character B is not named. We are not told anything specific about character B’s life. Character B has no lines of dialogue. We have no mention of what Character B’s thoughts are. You would probably, and logically so, come away with the conclusion that the story is about Character A. By this time I am sure you’re thinking I’m going somewhere with this…and I’m sure you’re hoping I get there quickly. Let not you hearts be troubled.

One of the benefits of having a Gentile write one of the Gospels is that we get a somewhat different perspective on the ministry and work of Jesus. Luke was almost certainly a Gentile. So it comes as no surprise that the Gospel that bears his name has certain earmarks that the other Gospels lack. One of the most interesting aspects of Luke’s Gospel is his focus on the outcasts of society. He spends more time focusing on marginalized people. This, of course, does not mean the other Gospels do not do this. They all do. But it’s different with Luke. Being a Gentile in a Jewish culture, he himself was a part of a marginalized people. Many times the word Gentile was used as a synonym for “sinner”. He was an outsider in the society in which he lived. That’s why he focused so much on other outsiders.

His Gospel is full of outsiders within that culture. Women; the physically disabled (especially lepers); tax collectors; demon possessed people; wayward children; prostitutes; criminals; Samaritans. Luke is the only Gospel that records Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke is the only Gospel that records the salvation of the thief on the Cross. Luke is the only Gospel that records Jesus’ cleansing of the Ten Lepers noting that the only one who thanks Jesus was a Samaritan. Luke is the only Gospel that records the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You get the point.

Luke is also the only Gospel to record an event that to me personally is the most touching, and amazing of all of His interactions with people. This event can only be found in Luke. There are similar events in Matthew 26; Mark 14; and John 12…but this is a different event altogether. The event I am referring to is in Luke 7:36-50. So I don’t have to recap, I’ll give you time to read it. I’ll wait. Are you back? Good. As I said, this is a very well known story. But there is something very interesting going on here. The vast majority of folks will obviously see the woman as the main character in the story. And maybe that’s the case. But here’s the thing.

Using the scenario I started with…under most circumstances…she would not be viewed as the main character. Only Simon is given a name. The woman is not. Only Simon has a speaking role. The woman does not. Only Simon’s background is explicitly given. The woman’s is not. The entire event takes place in Simon’s house. Yet it is fascinating that the guy that seems to be the focus is almost reduced to an afterthought by readers. We should really pay more attention to him. It’s understandable, by the way. Jesus’ grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation take center stage and all of that is directed to the woman. She is the one redeemed. She is the one who is saved. She is the one who is forgiven. She is the one that leaves in peace.

Yet we know way more about Simon than we do about her. We ignore him and his plight to our own caution. We’re in Simon’s house…we know he is a Pharisee…we know he considers himself a righteous person…we hear his words…we even know his thoughts. The woman is unnamed. We don’t where she is from or where she lives. We do know she is broken. We can read between the lines to see she is clearly a prostitute. We don’t know her thoughts…we don’t hear her words. But we know she’s lost. Utterly lost. She is being crushed under the weight of her own sin. And in her desperation she throws herself at Jesus’ feet…and His mercy. She does not ask one thing of Jesus verbally. She simply weeps and her tears fall on Jesus’ feet. She is so ashamed of her sin that she can’t even allow her tears to “stain” His feet so she wiped them off with her hair. It’s easy to see why we would focus solely on her.

But what about Simon. It was not out of kindness that he invited Jesus. The Pharisees had an acrimonious relationship with Jesus. He was not even extending basic, polite courtesies to Jesus…which Jesus clearly pointed out. He viewed Jesus as a fraud which is revealed in his thoughts. And here’s the kicker…he thought he was a righteous, Godly man devoid of sin. He reveals this in his thoughts when he thought that if Jesus was Who He claimed to be that he would know this woman “is a sinner”. Meaning clearly, he did not see himself as a sinner. As Hamlet once said: “Ay, there’s the rub.”

We know from the end of these passages that the woman was saved. Jesus Himself says so in Luke 7:50. But there is another person here. Simon. Jesus did not give such an assurance to Simon. He did not tell Simon he could “go in peace” as He said to the woman. There would be no peace with Simon. There would be no salvation for Simon. Not because he didn’t greet Jesus in a polite manner.  But because Simon himself should have been at Jesus’ feet. His tears should have been falling on Jesus’ feet. He should have realized the crushing weight of his own sin. But he didn’t do any of those things. Why? Because he thought he was just fine. He was a religious leader…not a sinful prostitute. She needed saving…but he didn’t.

The single biggest reason people are not saved is not atheism or agnosticism or ignorance. It is because of the fallacy of the good person. When you think you are a basically good person, you don’t need a Savior. When you minimize your sin, you don’t need a Savior. When you think of yourself more highly than you ought, you don’t need a Savior. The woman was saved, in part, because of her understanding of how desperately she needed saving. Yes, the woman was saved…and we rejoice for that. But Simon was not because of his refusal to acknowledge his sin and beg forgiveness from the only One Who could save him. So important is this element that it has led me to ask this question: Who is this story really about?

-Dr. Danny Purvis

The Struggle Is Real
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

In church, we have been making our way through Romans. And it has been an amazing journey, as you would expect. Just recently we have been excavating Romans chapter seven. And though I had read it many times, I have never looked at it this closely as I have been preparing messages from it. This chapter is one of the most intricately woven tapestries related to salvation in the entire Bible. Especially as it relates the function that the Law plays in our salvation. It is not hyperbole to say that I now understand the Law and its relation to salvation in a more complete way than I have ever understood it before. And all it took was 40 years of being a Christian to fully grasp it. I’m a slow learner.

I always knew of our inability to keep the Law. But only now am I able to understand more completely. I have more of an appreciation for the Law now than I have ever had before. I have come to see that the Law is one of the single most incredible acts of grace that God has ever bestowed. Why? Because it showed me how estranged from God I actually was. That’s the reason He gave it to us. It was not given to us in order to keep it…it was given to us in order to see how we could NEVER keep it. To see just how separated from God we actually are in our natural sinful state (Romans 3:20). And only when we see how desperately we need saving can we get to the point of salvation.

It would be easy to see Romans 7 as a purely theological treatise on salvation and the role the Law plays in it. There is a lot of complex doctrine being revealed in this chapter. And while that is satisfying for a theology geek like me…to see this as the main function of the chapter would be literally to miss the forest for the trees. Paul knew because Christ knew that the first step to a saving relationship with Christ was to see how desperately sinful we are. This is a step the Rich Young Ruler never got to (Mark 10:17-27). How can I even think to be saved if I am not crystal clear on why I need to be saved in the first place? The answer is simple: I can’t. Romans 7 helps us to see that this was the primary function of the Law. But Paul doesn’t stop there. Not by a long shot.

In the last 12 verses of the chapter Paul tells us precisely why he spent so much time on this vitally important subject. Sure, he wrote it so that unbelievers could possibly see that even though they might think they are “good”…they are not. Not according to God’s standard (Matthew 5:48). Sure he write it so the Believers would be able to never forget from whence they came. To be eternally grateful for the grace that God exercised to those who were His enemies. The though being that if we remember that God rescued us in our sinful state, then we would be more likely to communicate the Gospel to a world that desperately needs it. But the last 12 verses gives us yet another vitally important reason he spent so much time on this subject. And that reason?

The struggle is real. And it will never stop so long as we are breathing on this planet. Believers have a weird relationship with sin. Think about it. God tells us in His Word that we are dead to sin and no longer enslaved to sin (Romans 6:1-14). God tell us in His Word that when we come to faith in Him we are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He tells us we have put off the old self and put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). So…that begs the question. Why do Believers still sin? Therein lay the struggle.

If you will read those last 12 verse in Romans 7, we see the reason why Paul spends so much time on the desperate nature of sin. And that even though the ultimate victory over in has already been won…the battle still rages on. And it will rage on until we draw our last breath on this planet and are transitioned into Heaven where we will never have to worry about sin again…ever…for all eternity. A famous pastor was once asked what he was looking most forward to about Heaven. His answer was interesting. He said: No more sin…I am sick and tired of sin. Amen to that. Paul felt the same way. In Romans 7:15 he says: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” That is the struggle. He even goes further when he says: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

If you are a Believer, you will still struggle with sin. That is how powerful and destructive sin is. I have seen too many Christians simply wave the white flag on this. Well, I am going to struggle with sin…the Bible says so…and it’s forgiven anyway…so what can you do? Plenty. Because sin is so powerful and destructive we have to be equally determined to fight it. And we are supposed to fight it. In 1 Corinthians 9:7 Paul writes: “I discipline my body and bring it under strict control.” In 2nd Corinthians 10:5 he writes: “Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” Look at the verbiage. I discipline. I bring it under control. I take every thought. I make it obedient. Now, make no mistake. The power for us to do that comes ONLY from His Spirit Who lives in every Believer. But this struggle is not a passive one. It is very active. It takes no action to be saved…that is a pure gift from God…given by grace…for which there is not one work we can do to attain it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

However. When it comes to fighting sin…that is work we are expected to do in the power He has already given us. Remember, Peter was talking to Believers when he wrote: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).” This is our daily struggle. It is our daily battle. And Paul not only wants to remind us of this struggle…so we don’t wave the white flag on sin…but he wants us to remember Who is responsible for giving us the ability to fight it. After asking who would rescue him from this body of death…Paul gives us the answer. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:25a)!”

The struggle is real. And it is exhausting. And it will never end while we are alive. But His grace, power, steadfastness, forgiveness, and love are even more real. Keep fighting. That is what He wants of us. But let not your hearts be troubled…He has assured the victory.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

The Reason People Don’t Come To Christ
-By Dr. Danny Purvis

“It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”

This quote, if you don’t recognize it, comes from Anne Frank. She was 13 years old when she and her family went into hiding to escape the Nazis. She was about 15 when she was discovered by the very people from whom she was hiding.  About six months later she would die in a concentration camp…presumably from Typhus. The plight of she and her family is well known because of the diary she kept which was given to her as a birthday gift just a few weeks before they went into hiding. This quote is one of her most famous and displays an amazing amount of optimism considering the horrific circumstances under which they were living.

I admire her optimism and her courageous desire to cling to her convictions while striving to survive a nightmare. The very fact that she could write something so optimistic is a testament to her dogged resolve to believe the best in people despite all that she and her family had to endure at the hands of her fellow human beings. In fact, she and her family were discovered by the Nazis because someone, it has never been conclusively proven who, betrayed them and revealed their location to the authorities. It would be understandable if she had let those experiences sour her on humanity as a whole. But she clung to the hope that people were, basically, good at heart. But Anne Frank was wrong…at least from a theological perspective.
And it is Jesus Himself that points out this reality. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” This statement provides to us a very heart-breaking reality. The vast majority of people on this planet will never come to faith in Christ. That is simply a cold, hard fact. One that should break our heart and drive us to communicate the Gospel to as many people as we have opportunity. But…have you ever wondered why? Why is it that most people will never see, understand, and embrace the truth of the Gospel? The answer, I believe, is fairly simple. It is because people view themselves as good. But once again…Jesus tells us the truth about that idea as well.
When talking to the Rich Young Ruler…Jesus says this: “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:17-18).” Obviously this is not the only place in Scripture that describes the total depravity of humanity…but this is a clear declaration of two very important realities. First, the assumption that people are basically good as indicated by the young man’s question. Second, the declaration by Jesus that not one single being on the planet is good except God. Jesus knew that the young man’s presupposition was completely wrong. He also knew that if this young man could not see how wrong he was related to the idea that people are basically good…then he could not be saved. Simply put…if a person really believes that they are basically a good person…then it stands to reason that they will never see a reason for a Savior.
The most diabolical trick our adversary has ever pulled on humanity was convincing people they are, at heart, good people. That doesn’t mean that they think they do not do “wrong” or “bad” things from time to time. I believe most people will acquiesce to that reality. However, in some kind of weird way, people seem to disconnect their “bad” or “wrong” actions from their nature. In other words it seems to go something like this: I do bad things and I do wrong things but that doesn’t mean I am a bad person. So what…doing bad things makes you a good person? I admit I cannot wrap my brain around this. God’s Word tells us that “None are good…no not one” (Romans 3:10). In fact, the third chapter of Romans contains the indictment God has issued for all of humanity. If you haven’t read it…it ain’t good. And here’s the thing…it’s not like we don’t have observable proof that people are not basically good.
Malcom Muggeridge once wrote: “The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.” This doesn’t mean that everyone is a Nazi, or a serial killer, or a robber, or any other horrendous example of inhumanity. But therein lay the problem. Most people gauge their “goodness” against the worst of us in our culture. That just because we may not be a killer, robber, or genocidal maniac…then by process of elimination we must then be basically “good”. But this just makes us not as bad as some people. It surely does not demonstrate our goodness. We have it on very good authority that people are not basically good. God Himself said so. Multiple times.
But as long as we see ourselves…and lie to ourselves…that we are basically good at heart there is one thing that is certain. We cannot be saved. It is impossible. When Isaiah saw God’s holiness and presence for the first time, he cried out: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5a).” He saw immediately his sin, his depravity, and his need for a Savior. He only saw the need for a Savior when he became aware of his sin and how much of a not-good person he truly was.
The vast majority of people will live their entire lives thinking they are basically a good person in spite of how many not-good things they continuously say, do, and think. And as long as someone truly believes they are a good person…they have no need for a Savior. I heard someone say once that Jesus didn’t die to make bad people good…He died to make dead people alive. Our understanding of God’s grace will never rise above our understanding of our own sinful nature. We are not good. But the good news is that through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection…we can be declared not just good…but holy and righteous. That is the essence of the Gospel. How cool is that?

-Dr. Danny Purvis

So…What Are We Supposed To Do?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

There are two general categories related to what God’s will is for us. First, there is the specific will He has for specific individuals. This will is manifested in a variety of ways that differ vastly from person to person. For example, even though His will for me was to go into full time ministry…He exercised that will in a very different way than most who do this. His will for me was to spend 20 years in the Navy as a chaplain whereas most of my fellow seminary students did no such thing. His will for who I married is different than His will for you and who you married. That is one of the amazing things about God’s will. He exercised specific will in a myriad of different ways that are as varied as there are people on the planet. In other words, He tailors His specific will to different people in different ways in different places and in in different circumstances.

Secondly, there is His general will that applies equally to all Believers. These are elements that are universal to the saved church and that He will funnel through using His specific will. And though there are many things that clearly fall into this category…for our purposes I want to generalize it under one umbrella. I can say without hesitation and with Biblical clarity that God’s will for you is to serve…in some capacity. In the Bible, the word translated as “church” is never used to denote a building. It is always used to describe the people (Believers) in the building. In fact, the word in the original language translated as “church” literally means: “the called-out ones”. It is constructed from the preposition “out” and the verb “to call”. And we are called out, in part, to serve the One Who saved us. Simply put: We were saved, in part, because He has a job for us. That is His general will for all of His children. What that looks like for each person is His exercising this through His specific will.

In other words…He has work for each and every one of us. Nowhere is that more clearly seen than in Romans 12. In yet another genius analogy, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, refers to the body of Believers as a literal, physical body. Paul writes: “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:4-5). Here we see His general will and specific will in play. We are all members of the Body (general will) but we do not all have the same function (specific will). The way these aspects flow together is nothing short of amazing. In fact, the very idea that we could be useful to God is nothing short of a miracle. But…we are. He makes that completely clear.

No one sits on the bench in God’s kingdom. No one. Famous University of Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson was quoted once as saying: “Football is 40,000 people in the stands who desperately need exercise watching 22 people on the field who desperately need rest”. That quote could easily apply to the church today. I’ve heard it put in church that 10% of the congregants do 90% of the work. I don’t know how accurate that is…but it is probably not too far off. If so, I think it comes from people misunderstanding what it means to serve the Lord. People have a tendency to see the “higher profile” service in a church (pastor, SS teacher, Elder, worship team) as the only “legitimate” type of service. But the Romans passage mentioned above is not the only time Paul references this analogy.
In 1st Corinthians Paul expands on this analogy even more. He writes: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’. And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts that seem to be weaker are indispensable(italics mine)” (1 Corinthians 12:21-22). He goes on to say that we seem to treat these “weaker” services with “less honor”. His point is clear. Every service is vitally important to the Body. In fact, the Body cannot function with even the “smallest” part not working properly. I had gout a couple of times. Worst pain I have ever felt. If you’ve had it…you know what I mean. It literally affected one joint on one toe. That’s it. One joint of one toe. There are roughly 360 joints in the human body. And it had a horrible effect on my entire body. It can be incapacitating. See the point?

At HCC one of my driving desires is to encourage every single person to serve. More than my desire…it is my mandate. In Ephesians Paul clearly states this. God tells me that one of my directives as a pastor is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”(Ephesians 4:12). And everything we do at HCC is ministry. Everything. No matter how “behind the scenes” it is. You ask any pastor to name the person or people that are most indispensable in the carrying out of the work of the church…and I guarantee you most of them will mention people who are not in the limelight. The ones that do the sound…take care of the logistics of making the church work…setting up…tearing down…taking care of the facilities…working in the nursery…cleaning and straightening up…helping with VBS…setting up for Communion. The things most people do not see. God has gifted you to serve. You are part of the Body. The only question is: Are you a functioning part of the Body? How would you answer that question? Use the gifts and the desire that God has given you. That’s why He gave them to us in the first place. We all have work to do in His kingdom. So let’s do it.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Believers Do Not Live By Milk Alone.
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

The New Testament writer’s two main goals were the proclamation of the Gospel and the encouragement to Believers to live a Godly life. That is the gist of all of the letters in the New Testament. A great deal of ink was spilled in pursuit of these two endeavors. One of the most interesting examples of this is found in Hebrews 5:11-14. Go ahead and read it…I’ll wait. Done? Good. Because these verses (along with many others) illustrate a very important truth for all Christians.

Just as we were designed by God to grow physically from the very moment we were born…so to were we designed by God to grow spiritually from the very moment we were born again. It is expected. It is a “natural” part of our relationship with God. Growth is as natural to the Believer when we are exposed to the Son as it is for a plant when it is exposed to the sun. We were not saved in order to maintain the status quo that existed up to that point. Every month…every year…every decade that we live on this earth it is expected that we will grow in our faith…grow in our understanding of God…grow in His Word…grow in His grace. Why is it then that the vast majority of Believers in this country are a mile wide and an inch deep in our understanding of God?

This is not a new phenomenon by a long shot. The writer of Hebrews makes this point 2,000 years ago to Believers of that time. And he doesn’t pull any punches. In fact he begins by telling the Christians who are reading this letter that they have become “dull of hearing”(Hebrews 5:11). In the original language the word “dull” literally means: slow, sluggish, lazy, stupid. In case you were wondering, this was not meant to be a compliment. But what is the reasoning behind this critique? He tells us: “For by this time you ought to be teachers”(Hebrews 5:12). He then goes on to use the analogy of physical growth to make his point by saying: “You need milk, not solid food”(Hebrews 5:12b). In other words…you’re not growing.

He continues by telling them that they should be eating solid food by this time because “solid food is for the mature”(Hebrews 5:14a). The conclusion? You are not mature in your faith. See how growth in Christ is a given? See how it is expected? Years ago when I was in seminary, I was on staff at a small church in Grand Prairie, Texas. During the Wednesday evening service (remember when those existed?) we were going through a study called Fresh Encounter. The idea was a good one. The study was designed to reacquaint Christians with the fundamental elements of Christianity. Basic things we should know but maybe have been somewhat relegated to the back burner in some people’s minds. This was supposed to be a refresher and reminder of things we all should know about God.

This particular week the pastor was hammering home the reminder that salvation is a unique work of God’s grace and that we cannot work for our salvation in any way, shape, or form. Salvation begins and ends with God and there is nothing we can do to earn it…hence the reason it is referred to as a gift given by grace(Ephesians 2:8-9). Simple stuff…right? At the end of the session the pastor asked if anyone had any questions. The lady sitting next to me had one. This lady had been going to church since nine months before she was born. She was raised in an evangelical church. This was her question.

“Are you saying that there is nothing we do to earn our salvation”? It’s hard to believe I can remember a question that a person asked on a quiet night 32 years ago…but it has always stuck with me. Here was a person that had been (so far as I know) a Believer for decades and still had not grasped onto one of the most basic Christian teachings available. She clearly was still drinking milk. And had been for a very long time. I say this not to cast aspersions on her. I say this because this was just my first taste of the reality that the vast majority of Christians in this country have not been weaned from milk.

The writer of Hebrews makes a stark contrast. He states that some Believers so lack growth that they are eating infant food when, in fact, they should actually be teaching this stuff. That is a huge disparity in growth from where they are to where they should be. The problem comes in because we do not look at growth in Christ the right way. Growth in Christ does not happen by osmosis. We must take action in order to grow…it simply does not “just happen”. And while we do not work for our salvation…we do work from it. There are things we are expected to do in order to grow…to literally exercise our faith.

When you look at 2 Peter 1:3-8 we see that intent that goes with growing in Christ. Things like virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, Godliness, and brotherly affection(2 Peter 3:5-7). He then goes on to say that these qualities “are increasing”. Meaning? This is, in part, how you grown in Christ. And how are we able to do that? Look back at verse 3: “His divine power has granted to us all things”. We do the work…He provides the growth.

Growing in Christ is part of God’s will for us. It is that simple. We should always want to know more, understand more, serve more, and live more. Never be satisfied where you are in your growth in Him. Always want more and more of Him. Never stop growing in Him. And always begin where it has to begin: His Word. This is how we understand why and how growth comes “through the knowledge of Him Who called us to His own glory and excellence”(Hebrews 3:3a).  

-Dr. Danny Purvis

The Greatest Show on Earth
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

I was in seminary when I was first acquainted with what has been called “the church growth movement”. Long associated with churches that pioneered the advent of the megachurch (Saddleback and Willow Creek), these churches seemed to have at least one thing in common. They heavily emphasized production values and entertainment over in-depth preaching of God’s Word. It was more important to have huge numbers of people present for the weekly spectacles than the content the people were actually hearing. Slick production replaced sound preaching. Gimmicky eye-candy replaced an emphasis on doctrine. Unfortunately, we have not recovered.

One of my extremely wise seminary professors told me at that time: If it takes a circus to get them there…it’ll take a circus to keep them there. I don’t normally do this, but I want to include a long excerpt here for your perusal. This was said by Charles Spurgeon:
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years this evil has developed at an alarming rate. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments! The devil has seldom done a more clever thing, than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out the gospel, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses! My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church.
If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.” No such words, however, are to be found. Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the apostolic Church to the world? “You are the salt of the world,” not the sugar candy; something the world will spit out, not swallow. Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, “Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow.” Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, “Come out, keep out, keep clean out!” Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.
After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, “Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.” If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only difference! Lord, clear the church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods. Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God’s link in the chain of the conversion stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
Spurgeon wrote this in the 1800s. It sounds exactly as if it could be written today…because it could. Because of what my seminary professor said to me…I have used the term “circus churches” to describe this phenomenon. But let’s be clear. The Bible does not, in any way that I can see, specifically tell us the steps to include in a worship service or provide a universal template for an order of worship. So, we do have flexibility when we design one. However, circus churches focus their design on entertainment. I had a young man who told me once that his previous pastor (the young man was on staff there) said in a staff meeting that 30% of their focus should be on God’s Word and that 70% of their focus needs to be getting people in the service. In other words…70% of their focus would be centered on getting butts into seats. I was speechless. I could imagine a pastor thinking that to himself…but never thought one would say it out loud. A mere 30% focus on God’s Word.
I’ve seen what this looks like. I’ve seen a church floating a pastor in on a wire over the congregation. I’ve seen a church focus their entire worship service on a Super Bowl theme which included (and I am not making this up) kicking the Bible like it was a football. Locally I saw a church with a big, Christmas production including secular Christmas songs and a line-up of young ladies in red holiday dresses that seemed to me to a bit too short. Another floated in a sleigh with Santa on it. I’ve seen pastors shooting basketball on stage…others shooting water guns at the crowd. Another designed the stage to look like a life-sized version of the game Life. You know what? People will remember those things. But I wonder if they remember the message that day? This young man I mentioned earlier told me once about his pastor one time throwing frisbees out to the congregation and how well that had gone over. He recounted it in glowing terms. I listened patiently and then asked: What was the message about? To say I could hear crickets chirping would be doing a disservice to all crickets everywhere. But he remembered the frisbees.
God did not call us to entertain people. The world does a great job of that. And we cannot compete anyway. Orlando is the most visited vacation location in the world. Companies spend billions in the name of entertainment. Not only are we not supposed to compete with that…we literally cannot compete with those resources. Therein lay the point. When these circus churches put an emphasis on entertainment, they are making a clear statement. The statement is: God’s Word is not enough. We have to jazz things up because we can’t just expect them to sit there and listen to God’s Word. That is exactly the expectation. This colossally stupid idea that in order to attract the world we (the church) have to become more like the world is not only moronic, but completely antithetical to Scripture. The church, to be truly successful in taking part in God’s redemptive plan, needs to be the antithesis to the world. It needs to provide people with something the world absolutely cannot give them: The Gospel. We all carry little rectangular devices in our pocket that can provide endless hours of mindless entertainment. It is literally at our fingertips.
In a worship service we can provide the one thing the world couldn’t provide if they had a million years to try. The Gospel. God’s Word. The truth. Peace. Grace. Forgiveness of sin. The promise of heaven. Rest for our souls and purpose for our lives. Or, I guess…maybe we can just throw frisbees…shoot basketball…dress girls in short skirts…float pastors across the crowd. In other words…maybe we should just be a circus. Because surely that will bring the lost sinner to a loving God. And if not…well at least they had fun.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Joy To The World
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

We human beings are odd creatures. Just a simple trip to Walmart can quickly confirm that statement. But it is our oddities that make us so unique in the realm of God’s creation. I am reminded practically every week of our tendency to conclude that our feelings are the final arbiter of reality when, in fact, often times it is precisely the opposite. Emotions are funny things. They are capable of instilling us with such euphoria while at the same time burdening us with such dread despite the fact that the reality of a particular situation might not lead to either of those things. I heard someone once say (in relation to humans): What do you do with a people who reason with their hearts?

It's a great question. Don’t get me wrong…I have no problem with emotions. They are part of our very being. They can give us such amazing feelings. However, especially when it comes to our relationship with God, they can be an obstacle to living the life God has for us to live. When I was assigned to the USS John F. Kennedy (an aircraft carrier that has been decommissioned for some time), I was responsible for the main Protestant worship service on Sunday mornings. And one thing that was really cool about that environment was the fact that so many people that worshiped there came from such diverse theological backgrounds. There was this one group of folks that used to come that came from a theological position that emphasized generating emotional responses in worship. Certainly there is nothing inherently wrong with that…at all. But it did lead to an interesting conversation one day.

After the service I was in my office when a young man came in to talk about how much he enjoyed the service. He said, “Chaplain…I know God was in the service today.” I replied, “How do you know that?” He quickly retorted, “Because I felt Him.” So, I asked another question. “What happens when you don’t feel Him?” Now, I know what he meant. Many times worship does produce a wave of positive emotions even to the point of being moved to tears of joy and thanksgiving. I’ve seen it happen to others. I’ve seen it happen to me. Please hear me when I say that an emotional response to worship is a very natural, and positive part of the entire experience. I get that. I’m guessing you are suspecting a “however” is just around the corner.

However (there it is), we absolutely have to understand that emotions alone are not an arbiter of truth. Our emotions are fallen just like the rest of us. Emotions can be wrong, manipulated, tricked, lied to, and in error. As a result, our emotional response to our relationship with God cannot be the litmus test that the relationship is sound and healthy. I don’t believe that God is with me because I feel Him. I believe God is with me because he said he would be (Matthew 28:20). I don’t believe the Holy Spirit lives within me because I feel Him. I believe that because God’s Word tells me that is the case (1 Cor. 6:17-20). Because let’s face it. Sometimes God feels like He is 1,000 miles away from me. When I am in the depths of some kind of pain and suffering He often feels. In CS Lewis’ heartbreaking and inspiring book “A Grief Observed” he wonders aloud if God is not only NOT at the door knocking…but that maybe He even has bolted and double locked the door.

That is where a dependence on feelings related to God can actually lead us to despair. If He is with me only when I feel Him…then it stands to reason that he is not with me if I don’t feel Him. But that is most certainly not true. Why are we talking about this anyway? Because this week of Advent focuses on joy. And being the emotional beings we are, the vast majority of Believers will automatically connect joy with happiness. They will deconstruct the Biblical construct of joy to the point that it will actually rob us of the joy that is a miraculous gift from a loving God. Joy will come to be seen as an emotion that can ebb and flow like a winding river. Therein lay the problem of emotions. They come and go based almost exclusively on our circumstances. I can be the happiest guy in the world one second…get a devastating phone call…and then be the saddest guy in the world. That is the fickle nature of the wonderful and maddening aspect of our lives we call feeling.

In God’s Word, joy is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is a spiritual state of being that God miraculously gives us that is not subject to the blowing winds of circumstance. I can be the happiest guy in the world and have joy. I can be the saddest guy in the world and still have joy. Biblical joy is not dependent on our circumstances…it is dependent on the One Who graciously gives it to us. No matter how dire our circumstances may be…our joy can still be complete and obvious. Not as a feeling…but as a state of being. In 1 Peter, Peter describes this joy as “inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:9). It is beyond belief…why? Because it is not joy because of our circumstances…it is joy in spite of our circumstances. It should not exist in the natural world…which is why it is a supernatural gift…given by a loving God to His children.

How else then could James, in the epistle that bears his name, write with such confidence: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). That’s doesn’t make any sense if joy were merely an emotion. In the world, trials do not produce joy. They produce the opposite effect. But if our joy is understood as a promise that is there in our worst times, then our worst times will not quash our joy. Because it is not our joy…but His. Let’s let Jesus have the last say on this subject: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).  

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Ten Percent of Christians Actually Give Thanks?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

As we get closer to Thanksgiving Day, I stop to think about the peculiarity of this particular US holiday. It doesn’t seem to matter whether people are actually religious or not, there seems to be a general consensus that we should be thankful for the things we have…the family we share…and the nation in which we live. As I said…especially in the current climate…it is a bit of an odd holiday. For nonbelievers who celebrate Thanksgiving I have often wondered who or want exactly they are thanking. But I digress.

Every year the one event in Scripture that keeps coming to my mind is found in Luke 17:11-19. It is an interesting event to say the least. As Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem, He came across ten people who were suffering from leprosy. As He passed these ten people cried out to Jesus saying: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” And they desperately needed mercy. Leprosy was one of the worst afflictions that could befall a person in that day. Today, generally speaking, when people suffer from horrible afflictions we want to help them. Provide medical assistance to them. Have sympathy for them. However, in Jesus’ day leprosy did not engender pity as much as it did scorn. People of that time knew how contagious it was, so they pushed the sufferers into isolation. Religiously they were considered “unclean”. Spiritually they were scorned as sinners who had been punished by God for their sin. So they’re condition was physical, cultural, and religious. They were complete outcasts.

So, it certainly makes sense that they would cry out to Jesus for mercy. They had obviously heard the stories of Jesus’ miraculous power and logically concluded that He could do something for them. He did. He told them to go to the priests (the only people who could legally declare them to be healed and cleansed) and as they were on their way to the priest…they were completely healed. But that’s not the end of the story. After being completely ridded of this dreaded disease, of the ten who were healed, only one came back and thanked Jesus for healing him. And to top it all off…it was a Samaritan. We do not have time to go into the way the Jewish people of that tie felt about Samaritans but let’s just say this: The Samaritan (in the eyes of the Jews) would have been the last one of the ten they would have expected to come back and thank Jesus. But what are we to make of this story?

Jesus Himself made note of the fact that not only did just one person return to give thanks…but also made known that he was not Jewish. “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Meaning that the other nine must have been Jewish. People who knew God. I assume worshiped Him. Certainly knew of God’s goodness and majesty. Yet the “Godly” people did not come back and thank Jesus nor give praise to God. I think about this passage often. If the simple moral of the story is that some people thank God for things and some people don’t…then this story works in that way. But there were ten…and only one came back. Was God here making a statement about the vast majority of His people? Is He actually giving us a ratio? There were “His” people. And they never even said thank you. Is God telling us here that only about 10% of people actually give thanks to God for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon us?

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Is Freedom An Illusion?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

While this does seem to be an intentionally provocative title, it does bear some inquiry. In our National Anthem we refer to ourselves as the “land of the free”. In our nation we constantly talk about freedom and what it means to be free. We point out laws, policies, and positions that we believe threaten our freedom. We point out other countries in the world that do not cherish or protect the freedoms of their people. But when you get right down to it, oftentimes freedom is very difficult to define and operationalize. For example, I have the freedom to buy a house. I do not, however, have the freedom to not pay taxes on my house. Or my house would become the government’s house. So, freedom can be difficult to define sometimes.

What we cannot do with this construct (or any other secular construct) is to let our cultural, political, civic, and economic ideas of freedom bleed into our theology. And believe me…it does. We talk about this nation being the freest nation in the history of the planet. You can certainly make that point. But just because we may live in the freest nation in the history of the planet, that doesn’t mean that we can take that political and civic freedom and superimpose it on our spiritual condition. Why am I even talking about this? I am glad you asked.

In Romans 6:15-23 we see a clear and unambiguous statement of fact written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Want to hear that truth? Here goes. No one is free. Not one single person on this planet is free. This is not hyperbole or allegory. God could not make this clearer. In these last 9 verses that end up chapter 6, Paul uses the word slaves 8 times. Eight times in 9 verses. I think maybe He is trying to make a point. And what is that point? That all people are divided into two categories: Those who are slaves to sin…those who are slaves to God. Note the word that describes both of these groups: slaves. And I don’t know about you…but I’ve never heard of a free slave. In fact that phrase is the technical definition of an oxymoron.

In Romans 6:17-18 Paul writes, “you who were once slaves to sin” are now freed from that and now “have become slaves of righteousness”. In verse 22 Paul writes that Believers are now “slaves of God”. We are not free. That is not the same as saying we do not live in a free country. We actually do live in a free country. But that is not what God is talking about. He is not talking about political, cultural, or civic slavery. He is talking about our very nature. Our very will. Therein lies the point. We have superimposed upon our enslaved reality this idea that because we experience freedom in this country…can make our own choices…do our own thing…that this also applies to our very existence from a spiritual standpoint. We have way too many Believers who keep throwing around the idea that when it comes to salvation, that we have “free will”. There is just one problem with this thought. It is not supported by Scripture at all.

Not just here in the latter parts of Romans 6 but spread throughout the Bible are reminders that our will is not free. It is enslaved one way or the other. Either we are enslaved to God…or enslaved to sin. The Bible says that. In fact…here is a partial list of what God says we can’t do…that we are not capable of in any way, shape, or fashion. We can’t understand Him. We can’t seek Him. We can’t understand Him. We can’t seek Him. We can’t have faith in Him. We can’t do anything good at all. Maybe it’s just me…but that doesn’t sound like we have free will. Can we make some free choices in our lives? Yes. But it is our will we are talking about here. And that will is enslaved. Either to God or to sin. The only question for us is…where are we enslaved? That’s the only question on the table.    

-Dr. Danny Purvis

We Are Not The Walking Dead
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

In the popular TV series, The Walking Dead, there has always been a bit of a misconception about the title of the series. People seem to think that the title refers to the zombies that wreak havoc on the survivors of an unexplained apocalypse. It does not. Well, to be fair, it probably does in a double-meaning kind of way. The title actually refers to the survivors struggling to stay alive but facing possible (some might say inevitable) death themselves. I’ve always liked that idea as it relates to the show. I found myself thinking about this as I have continued to preach through Paul’s letter to the Roman church.

In Romans 6, Paul reiterates an idea that is commonly mentioned in Scripture as it relates to sin and the idea of death. In verses 1-14 Paul makes us aware that we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). The important word to note in this statement is the preposition “to”. Once a person becomes a Christian, that person is dead to sin. However, in our natural, unsaved, unrepentant state Paul also tells us in Ephesians that we are dead in sin (Eph.2:1). Every single human being on the planet is born into death. That’s a strange paradox in a Book full of them. Even though we are physically alive and are very animated…we are, in fact, dead in sin. We are not sick in our sin. We are literally dead. In fact, we are the Walking Dead.

This is an idea that we do not fully grasp or appreciate and as a result we often fail to see the magnificent grace God bestows upon us when He saves us. He does not make us better. Nicer. Friendlier. He does not improve us. When we are saved by God’s grace, we are literally raised from the dead just as Jesus was raised from the dead. Paul clearly alludes to this idea in Romans 6:1-4. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5). He cannot make this any clearer.

God wants us to see that His Son did not die a brutal death on the Cross to make us a better person, or spouse, or child, or neighbor, or parent or co-worker. He did not die to make bad people good. He died to make dead people alive. If we miss this aspect of salvation…we miss salvation. We don’t need God to improve us…we need Him to make us a completely new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Which is exactly what He does. Why? Because we are not sick. We are literally dead.

This is the foundational aspect of what Paul is talking about here. He is reminding the church in Rome and us today that we are definitely NOT the walking dead. Not anymore. We are dead TO sin not IN sin any longer. Which is why he states in Romans 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions”. We do not have to sin. Too many of us think it is an inevitability so we get way too comfortable with our sin…seeing it as a fait accompli. Jesus told the man healed at the pool of Bethesda and the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more”. Why would He say this if He didn’t mean it? That does not mean we will attain sinlessness in this mortal body, but it also can’t mean we are fated to sin. If we think that…it is a given we will sin more often and with little regret.

Paul is telling us here: You are not the walking dead any longer…so please stop acting like it.

-Dr. Danny Purvis

Does it matter who wins elections?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis

I think the only true way to answer that question is a with a firm, solid, and decisive answer: It depends. I know that’s a weasel answer but it is not really the incorrect one. Every four years (two if you’re a mid-term politics junkie) Believers should struggle with this question in a very significant way. And be clear, I am talking to Believers here…not the world. I am not asking if our “favorite” won or not. I am not asking if you even have a favorite or not. Generally speaking, we all have the person we would like to see as president. That’s why we vote in the first place. If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t vote. It’s just that simple.
But that’s not what I am asking. I am asking you, as a Believer, to think about what it really, ultimately means if your person wins or not. In the long run, does it even matter? Again, there is not an overly simple answer to the question. But if I were to speak generally and only for myself, my conclusion is that the winner of a presidential election really doesn’t matter in the long run. What do I mean by that? I am so glad you asked.
First, please note that I am not saying that whomever gets elected does not have a real, tangible impact on our lives in this country. There is an old saying in politics: Elections have consequences. Every time a “bad” President is elected (however you may decide which one is bad), there are changes to our culture. Freedoms are whittled away. Horrible behavior is lauded as “good”. That is simply a fact of life.
Yes, presidents can enact policies and make decisions that will negatively or positively impact people’s lives in this country. But I need to ask you a question. In God’s Word (which is the only source of truth for a Believer), did God ever promise us (as American Christians) that we would have a free country that would always embrace fairness and democracy? You don’t have to look. It doesn’t say that. And lest you think that I don’t care about our precious freedoms…let me remind you that I served 20 years in the military. I spent 20 years willing to place my life on the line to be able to do my very small part to maintain our way of life. I deployed to combat zones. I spent numerous months away from my family as a part of that service. But I also know that God never, ever promised me that it would never erode. My faith in my God is not tied to the graciousness He has shown to this nation. What would that say to our Brothers and Sisters who live under true dictatorships? I will love Him and trust Him if He allowed it to transform into a dictatorship overnight. Because this country…this world…is not my home.
Why is it then that so many Believers actually believe that “fixes” to our culture can only come if we elect the “right” people? Because as Believers we should never be existentially focused. Never. Existentially aware? Yes. Existentially mindful? Of course. Here is the pure, unadulterated truth related to this subject as it relates to Believers. This earth is not our home. Let me repeat for emphasis. This earth is NOT our home. We are not residents of this planet or this nation. And that is not a symbolic statement. It is what God’s Word tells us over and over again. There are verses upon verses that remind us that we are simply passing through this world and that our true Home will only be realized once we breathe our last breath on this planet. I know Believers say they believe this. But we have too many who act like they don’t.
Of all of the passages that relate this truth, the one that has had the biggest impact on me is 1 Corinthians 15:19: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (ESV). Please…go back and read that again. Drink those words in. Devour them as you would food if you were on the edge of starvation. Now, I want you to think about the most pitiable person, group, or situation you have ever heard of or encountered. Maybe it’s the pity you felt for starving children around the world. Maybe it’s when your heart went out to a friend or family member who had to endure some terrible fate. Think about the time you felt the most pity for someone and what they were going through. Now, go back and read that passage again.
Look at the message. If we who are Believers have only this world to hope in…then we are the most pitiable people on the planet. Not the people I just had you remember. We (Believers) are the most to be pitied. Because if heaven doesn’t exist. If the resurrection of our bodies to perfection living an eternity with the God of the universe doesn’t exist. If all that we have is what is on this earth, then Christians are to be the most pitied people on the planet according to God. That’s why elections don’t ultimately matter. Jesus was born under and lived under one of the most brutal dictatorships in the history of the world. And He never mentioned it. He never bemoaned it. He never said: We gotta get these Romans out of power. Jesus didn’t die on the Cross so we would have a great life on this planet. He died so that we would have eternal life with the Father. He never promised a trouble-free life. In fact, He told us the exact opposite was going to happen (John 15:18-20).
And do not mishear me. I am not saying that we should not take part in this democracy. God has given us the great gift of doing so in this country. So by all means…vote. I do. Select the person you think best represents your views. I do. Engage in whatever you think is prudent to get the people you favor elected. Be a vital part of the process. Just do not put your faith in that process. It is a corrupt, imperfect process. All of it. How do I know this? Because it is run by corrupt, imperfect people. How do I know this? Because we are all corrupt and imperfect. God didn’t create politics. But He does use it to accomplish His will. A person isn’t elected president because he or she got the necessary votes. A person is elected president because God in His sovereignty has chosen that person. The vote simply affirms God’s choice. And if you don’t think God will put bad people in positions of supreme leadership, then you haven’t been reading your Bible. If you want to see God’s warning about Believers putting their trust in a secular political paradigm rather than trusting Him, just check out 1 Samuel 8:1-22. Politics is the religion of the world. If you’re a Believer, it’s not your religion.
God has decided who is President of the United States…just as He has from George Washington and forward. In that sense it matters because it is all a part of His will being done. And we should always want His will to be done…don’t we? Might we experience some difficulties as a result of who is in the White House? Of course we might. That’s simply part of the gig. But ultimately, does it matter? It does not. This life? This world? It is temporary. All that matters is whether we truly belong to Him. That’s the way all Believers should believe. Then all Believers would be equally at peace.  

-Dr.Danny Purvis