MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

Many have been asking why I have slowed down or even stopped blogging.  The reason is last month I signed with Xulon Press to publish his first book Walking Faith.  It is a devotional study verse by verse and thought by thought through the book of James.  More detail will be given as progress toward the publication date draws closer.  Please pray for this that God will use it and please pray for those who will be reading it.

 

Steven Swaim

President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries 

Pastor, Lawrence Springs Missionary Baptist Church Grand Saline TX

I can be reached for any speaking engagements at:  StevenSwaim@BeDevotedMinistries.com

WORDS AND PHRASES WITH NO REAL MEANINGS—LIKE “MISSIONAL” AND “CAST A VISION”

1^st Timothy 1:3-7

“³ As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. ⁵ But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, ⁷ wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

Introduction

Have you ever come to the point that you’re really tired of hearing terms that are used so frequently that it makes your ears hurt?  Back in the 1970s it was the phrase “sit on it” which became popular because of the television show Happy Days.  In the 1980s words like “rad” and “narly” were used to a disgusting point.  There were so many tiring terms used in the 1990s I don’t even think I can begin to bring any of them up.  As we crossed into the 21^st century things were not any different, especially in the theological and church world.

Faulty Leadership-“Casting A Vision”

In the 1980s, while attending the Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, I came into contact with a term.  It wasn’t used by the professors or any of the guest speakers, from what I recall, but at some point it was brought to my attention.  It was “casting a vision.”  At first it sounded Biblical but as time went on I became more leery of it, and I think for good reason.  I was told that it was the job of the pastor to “cast the vision” for the local church to follow.  It was up to him to give clear guidance as to the direction for that church regarding that year. 

Often Proverbs 29:18 was quoted from the King James Version, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”  There are two problems with using this verse in this manner.  First, they never continue quoting the verse, “…but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”  That means the verse is not fully being explained in context.  Second, the NASB renders it, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.”  This brings a little deeper meaning to the idea that is being related.  The NIV probably comes even closer to the perception, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction.”  But I believe it is the NLT that gets the prize for exacting the meaning from the verse, “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”  In other words the truest sense of the verse is not given when used as part of the “casting the vision” image.  This verse which is often used as an excuse for this idea does not even come close to what is being noted.

Here is the reason I believe this concept is doctrinally unsound and clearly unbiblical:  Because it exacts the concept of authority over the local church to a fallen individual rather than adhering to the leadership of the Lord Jesus as Head of the church, a proper instructing from the Holy Scriptures, and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  It is my belief, and I believe the Bible will bear this out, that the direction of a local church can and often does come from several different avenues.  The term “casting a vision” is a business model and is another excuse of one person or group of people attempting to overpower another group of people.  The power of Congregationalism runs contrary to this because in it the people, being empowered by the revelation of God (His word, the Bible) and the Holy Spirit can determine together what the will of God is for that local body.

Faulty Terms-Missional, Christ Followers

That brings me to another term that I find both doctrinally unsound and unbiblical, Missional.  I am so tired of hearing about “being a Missional church” or “being a people with a Missional calling.”  I spoke with one of the men several years ago who helped craft the definition of this word.  When he was speaking to the group I was in, he stated that the word was being thrown around in the Emergent circles and didn’t seem to have any real meaning (which is typical of anything Post-modern).  They came up with the definition so it could be used in some form of context and its main purpose was to be used to replace the name Christian.  Why?  What was the reason?  Because, it had become politicized and there were groups (such as Coptic Christians) who had the name but as a community would take up arms to fight alongside Israel.  My response was, “WHAT?????!!!”

Another term that is being way over used, which is closer to a Biblical view, is “Christ followers.”  This is often used for many of the same reasons as Missional but is also used to keep people from identifying them with any one denominational group or another.  Here the idea is that if we use this term rather than Christian, people will identify us as people who are following the Person Jesus rather than a group, idea, or philosophy.

In both the Missional folks and “Christ followers” crowd think that since the name Christian is being used in a disparaging way then we should jettison the name altogether.  There are several problems with this.  First, it ignores Scripture.  In Acts 11:26 it states that “…the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”  When this occurred it was not a positive thing, this word was used unfavorably.  The word “Christian” in the Greek means “little Christ.”  In other words the disciples in Antioch walked so close to the Lord that they could be identified with being His offspring.  After several years we have king Agippa talking to the apostle Paul stating, “… ‘In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.’”  By this time the movement that was originally called “the Way” in Acts 9:2 has now become identified as “Christians.”  As evidence of this in 1^st Peter 4:16 the apostle Peter exhorted his readers by saying, “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”  Peter uses this name as distinguishing those who follow Christ in suffering verses those who are persecuting them.  This tells us that no matter how society views our name, we should bare it with distinction not run from it.

The second issue I have with these groups is that it ignores history.  We have mountains of scholarly writings from centuries past that refer to us as Christians.  Luther, Calvin, Arminius, Wesley, Whitfield, Edwards, Tozer, Lewis, Criswell, Spurgeon, Moody, and many, many others.  This is unquestionable a very, very short list.  If we continue down this fast trek to ignore the name Christian we will eventually loose contact with those men and women from the past who wrote calling us Christians.

The third issue I have with these groups is that they are following cultural dictates of heretics like Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt.  All three of these men are leaders of what use to be known as the Emergent Church Movement (and its different variations).  All three espouse using the word Missional, considering the fact that the Emergent Church Movement coined the term.  All three men deny the Trinity of God.  All three men deny the reality of eternal punishment in Hell.  All three deny the atonement through Christ alone.  All three deny the authority of the Bible.  All three believe that there is an evolutionary occurrence emerging out of the churches.  If they oppose us on so many levels then why do we use terms, words, and ideas that they espouse?  Because it’s popular?  Pretty poor excuse!

What Should We Do?

There are several things we need to do in regards to both of these issues and to correct course to a more Biblically based and Spirit lead way of living:

First, as pastors we need to seek God’s face on our faces.  We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will lead our churches by guiding our people to live more Biblically.  We need to pray that our people will seek the face of God for their families and His control over their lives.  We need to pray that any visions that are “casts” only come from the work of the Holy Spirit coming from the people of God as they adhere to the word of Truth.  The beauty of this all is that it encourages congregational participation.  And fits more into the mode of what Paul exhorts in his discussion of spiritual gifts in 1^st Corinthians 12:14-31.  In that passage he points out that we are to live as a body placing importance on our Lord and doing what He created us to do.

Second, let’s embrace who we are…Christians!  There should be nothing embarrassing about being someone who is called by this name.  Sure there will be those who bring embarrassment to the name and to the Cause, but they have always been here (Acts 5).  No matter what we call ourselves someone will always use it for the sake of politics or to make money or to even cause wars.  Regardless, it is something we should take seriously and individually, as well as community wise, in order to live up too.

Finally, pastors need to stick with reading and preaching the Bible.  I advocate doctrinal and verse by verse expository preaching.  Bring the Bible alive by explaining what it means and how that affects our people’s lives.  I believe this also allows us to become more sensitive to the work of the Spirit because He never works contrary to His word.  If we fear unrestraint activity from the congregations regarding ministry then solid preaching of Scripture (both doctrinal and expositional) as well as sound shepherding will help curve any unbiblical activities.  We should not be scared of modernization but need to be cautious just the same of things that appear to be inappropriate.  If our congregation seem unwilling to move forward that means discipleship is needed not just planning activities. 

Let me know what you think,

Steven Swaim

President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries

Pastor, Lawrence Springs Baptist Church-Grand Saline, TX

 

WHEN THE TRUTH STARTS TO COME OUT

I have spoken out against the homosexual agenda for many years, especially where the Biblical text stands.  Within the last year I released several articles dealing with a pamlet called The Politics Of Homosexuality.  This pamplet was the starting point for a moment that has been associated with destroying much of what the world considers the norm dealing with sexuality, family life and marriage.  The article that I am about to present to you came across my desk several weeks ago.  I am very appreciative of those who forwarded it to me.  It is a story that is rarely told and needs to be heard and read.  For all the homophobia mess that many claim leads to those of the same sex persuation being mistreated there are stories like this one which get surpressed.  It is the other side of the coin.  It is the side that I have personally noted in personally dealing with those who are locked up in homosexual behavior...anger and violence.  Please read this with an open understanding that not everyone in the same sex movement shows this kind of behavior but I'm afraid that it is stories such as this that get covered up while those who are intellectually honest about the issue are called names in the media.  Let me further say that I am not, nor to I agree with Catholism, but I believe that what Biship Thomas Paprocki brings out dealing with what happened is important.  My special thanks to CNS.com for this piece.

Bishop: Catholic Mom Murdered by Gay Man ‘Died a Martyr for Her Faith’

July 11, 2013 - 9:37 PM

By Michael W. Chapman

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                                                                                                                                          Bishop Thomas Paprocki,
                                                                                                                            head of the Catholic diocese of Springfield, Illinois.

(CNSNews.com) – A Catholic mother who  

was brutally murdered by a gay man because
she challenged him about his homosexual lifestyle
“died as a martyr for her faith,” according to
Bishop Thomas Paprocki, head of the Catholic
diocese in Springfield, Ill., who also said the
woman’s “murder was widely ignored by the
media,” apparently for political reasons.                              



The woman, Mary Stachowicz, a 51-year-old mother of four children and devout Catholic, was beaten, stabbed, raped, and strangled to death by then-19-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez on Nov. 13, 2002. He then wrapped her body in plastic and stuffed it under the floorboards of his apartment. After his arrest, Guttierrez gave a videotaped statement to police saying “he attacked Stachowicz after she confronted him for being a homosexual,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

According to the defense attorney, Stachowicz apparently had asked Gutierrez, “Why do you sleep with boys?”

Bishop Paprocki spoke about Stachowicz and her 2002 death during a discussion about same-sex marriage sponsored by the Jesuit Alumni in Arizona group, in Phoenix, on May 31 of this year. In his opening remarks, the bishop talked about the extensive coverage by the media given to the murder of Matthew Shephard, who was killed partly because he was gay, and contrasted that with the minimal coverage given to the Stachowicz case, a mother killed because she shared her Catholic beliefs with another person.

As the bishop said: "A Google search on the Internet for the name 'Matthew Shepard' at one time produced 11,900,000 results. Matthew Shepard was a 21-year-old college student who was savagely beaten to death in 1998 in Wyoming. His murder has been called a hate crime because Shepard was gay.


Mary Stachowicz (1951-2002)

“A similar search on the Internet for the name ‘Mary Stachowicz’ yielded 26,800 results. In 2002, Mary Stachowicz was also brutally murdered, but the circumstances were quite different.

“Mary, the gentle, devout 51-year-old Catholic mother of four urged her co-worker, Nicholas Gutierrez, 19, to change his gay lifestyle. Infuriated by this, as he later told police, he allegedly beat, stabbed and strangled her to death and then stuffed her mangled body in a crawl space in his apartment, located above a Chicago funeral home, where they both worked.

“I know about Mary Stachowicz, not from the Internet, but personally, because Mary was my secretary at the parish where I was pastor before I was named a bishop.

“She worked part time at the funeral home and part time at the parish. One afternoon, she didn’t show up at her usual starting time. This was unusual because she was always on time. A call to the funeral home disclosed that her car was still in their parking lot and her purse with her car keys was still at her desk, but there was no sign of Mary.

“As Mary’s family and friends prayed and worried about her disappearance, Gutierrez prayed with them. Three days later, her mutilated body was discovered in a crawl space in his apartment.

“Both murders were senseless and brutal, and I condemn them both unequivocally. However, the fact that there are over eleven-and-a-half million more Internet stories about Matthew Shepard than Mary Stachowicz indicates where popular sentiment lies today on the question of same-sex relationships.

“Shepard’s story has received such widespread attention because his homosexuality was the chief motive for his murder.

“Mary’s murder was widely ignored by the media, despite the fact that she died as a martyr for her faith.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines martyrdom as “the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of the faith and of Christian doctrine. He endures death through an act of fortitude. "Let me become the food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God." (2473)

Nicholas Gutierrez was convicted of the murder of Mary Stachowicz and sentenced to life in prison in 2007. In July 2010, Bishop Paprocki gave his official approval, imprimatur, to a prayer that describes Mary Stachowicz as “pure of heart and devoted to chastity” and that if it is God’s will, “she be glorified by the Church” as a saint.

Lee Strobel: "What prevents people from reading the Bible?"

COMMITTED TO THE LOCAL. CHURCH

While studying Hebrews 10:24-25 (and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. NASB) I ran across this quote from Warren Wiersbe from his book "Be Confident", "It is interesting to note that the emphasis here is not on what the believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly."( pg 115)  Maybe it's time that we stop taylor making churches to fit the culture and its "needs" and start declaring the unashamed Gospel. Those who want to follow can contribute to the cause by being apart of this Divine calling or they can move out of the way, stop complaining that we are not fun enough like the church down the street, and rethink their salvation experience. Because, evidently they are focused on the wrong things and wrong person. Sometimes it just has to be said. 

A FATHER'S DAY MESSAGE

John 10:40 NASB

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there.

A father's approval of us is very important. In fact that approval is so important that it can make or brake a child in life. It is also important that the child hears this approval straight from the father not just hear say that comes from others.

My dad deeply loved me I have no question. There were moments that he revealed that with a hug, word of encouragement, or a form of needed advice. But I would have given anything to have heard him personally tell me what he told others when he was proud of me as his son. Those moments were rare. I felt that my last days with dad ended much the same way as they were lived...in one form of turmoil and conflict or another.

In John chapter 10 we read of Jesus having a conflict with the Jews. He had basically put them in their place by stating three things:  they were not the children of God because they were not following Him (verses 22-30); He and the Father were one (verse 30); and that the works He performed and words He spoke were from God His Father (verses 32-39).  This lead them to attempt to capture Him and stone Him but it states that He eluded them.  Where does He go afterwards?  To a place where it all seemed to have started, the place of His baptism. Why here?  What is the significance of this place?  In the three Synoptic Gospels the answer is given; this was the place where His Father gave Him His public approval, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).  The cool thing about this is that the Father gives this blessing long before Jesus does anything.

So fathers today start doing something that maybe your father never or rarely did. Show your loving approval for who your children are not just what they accomplish. And make sure you do it a lot and in the open. I know that James will be experiencing it a little more than I did. And if your father is still alive give him a big hug!

Please contact me with any questions or speaking engagements you may want to include me in on at StevenSwaim@BeDevotedMinistries.com.

His Servant Together With You,

Steven Swaim
President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries

A SUBSTANCE OF LIFE

JAMES 1:3

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

(KJV)

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

(NASB)

Years ago I had a friend who would not pray for patience because he felt God might bring trials into his life to produce that patience.  This was all based on the King James rendering of James 1:3.  In reality my friend just simply did not want to go through difficult times in life.  In 1^st Corinthians 13:4 Paul states that love is patient or long suffering (KJV).  The point is we do not know what degree of patience, love, or faith we have unless it is first tested.  The degree of those three things is found in the degree of endurance we show under trying circumstances.

Our Lord Jesus showed this best on the cross.  Hebrews 12:2 states that He “…endured the cross, despising the shame,…”  The greatest love was shown in great patience toward the whole human race which was crucifying Him because of their sins.  Through the testing of the cross we see love demonstrated through patience because of, “…the joy set before Him…”  That joy of knowing that if we place our faith and confidence in what He did on the cross for us and based on His bodily resurrection, we would spend eternity in Heaven with Him spurred Him forward.  It was love and patience placed to the ultimate test because Jesus could have easily called a legion of angels to His rescue (Matthew 26:53).  The key is that He did not, but suffered in our place instead.

My question is have you ever looked at what was done on the cross seeing God’s great love and mercy for you?  Have you ever thought about what all Jesus went through for you (us)?  Have you ever trusted Him as Savior based on that great love?

If you are a Christian please put this at the forethought of your mind today.  If we really love our spouses, children (grandchildren), co-workers, neighbors, church members, ect. then we will show the same love through patience that Jesus showed to us on the cross.  So go and grow in God’s good grace and in patience.

I am open for speaking engagements.  If you wish to invite me for a speaking engagement please contact me atStevenSwaim@BeDevotedMinistries.com.

His Servant Together With You,

Steven Swaim

President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries

All Bible verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise noted.