April Answers

Ok, so in April, we will read God’s Word to find the answers to blogged questions. If you have a question, email it to me at ronny@histruthinlove.org and I’ll see what I can do to answer it in the month of April.

April is “Answers” month! That’s our theme.

Each day I blog I will start out with a question in the title and answer it in the blog!

What I hope to accomplish is that you will see that the Bible provides us with many answers!

-Mark (glad for the answers God has provided us in His Word)

God is faithful to save our children!

While I am often unfaithful, God is always faithful to do what He says He is going to do in His Word and by His Spirit.

We went to church tonight at a revival and the guest preacher began his sermon from I Thessalonians 4. The sermon was on the end times and was very good.

What was cool was that our family had read the entire book (merely 5 chapters) of I Thessalonians LAST NIGHT for our family devotion time! Then, we go to church, and our children had already studied the passage so the sermon had more meaning to them tonight! In fact, one of them prayed to surrender his/her life to Christ! Praise the Lord! He is faithful to fulfill His Word!

So, let me urge you: prepare your children for the upcoming sermons! If you know what text your pastor will be teaching from, then read over it and study it with your children ahead of time so that when the Word is preached, they will better understand it. Prepare your children and then trust the Lord to save them. He may save them DURING your family devotion or He may wait until later like He did tonight for our child.

For us, this was a great lesson in being obedient to God in teaching our children the Word and letting His Spirit work to save our children in His perfect timing! To God alone belongs all glory and praise!

-Mark (blessed be the Lord Who is faithful!)

Philosophy not Psychology! Even CSI recognizes it!

I was told that on CSI last night, someone referred to Carl Jung (the psychologist) as that “great philosopher.” That is PRECISELY what Carl Jung is – a philosopher! I’m glad the show was honest enough to admit it.

Most people view psychology as a “science” but is it really? Where is the objective data that is done in the medical field? Most of psychology’s data is subjective and based on human self-report not on objective data. The DSM-IV diagnoses are often given based upon self-report or observation, not on bloodwork and the like.

So, it is ACCURATE to call psychology a philosophy because that is what it is 95% of the time! And it is accurate to call Carl Jung a philosopher because that is what he really is!

One more note: what does God say in His Word about philosophies of mankind? Colossians 2:8 tells us: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

So beware of philosophy and psychology WHEN they oppose GOD and His divinely inspired Word of truth!

-Mark (grateful to God for His rock solid truth and that I don’t have to rely on fallible ideas of mankind, especially in the area of counseling and biblical soul care)

least of these –

Matthew 5:17-20 states: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.“ 

 The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Mt 5:17-20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Think about the implications here. Are you teaching the Word of God accurately? Are you leading people astray or are you leading them to truly know Him (John 17:3)?

God is serious about His Word. God does not want to be misquoted. God certainly does not want to be misrepresented either.

Check yourself. Are you telling people your thoughts or God’s thoughts as found in the Bible?

-Mark (scary stuff to think about)

Read Colossians 2:8!

Just because one human says it’s a disease…

Just because one man says “alcoholism” and “addiction” are a disease, does that make it a disease?

Just because thousands, maybe millions, of people agree that it’s a disease, does that make it a disease?

Here’s the question we are better off asking: Does God say in His Word and by His Spirit that drunkenness and idolatry are a “disease”?

-Mark (learning to ask the right questions)

Why I hate psychological lies (part 3)

You may be wondering, “Why is Mark so strongly blogging about psychological lies this week?” Maybe you think I need to chill out.

I must tell you why! Because I think the #1 enemy facing the CHURCH today is psychological heresy and psychobabble.

We hear a lot about abortion, homosexuality, stewardship, adultery, and divorce because Christians know what the Bible says about those things. However, we RARELY hear about the dangerous deception of psychological ideas in evangelical churches today. Rarely! That’s why I believe it’s a #1 problem – because very few recognize it as a problem.

Some are thinking: “Mark, you are making a big deal out of nothing.” Again, that proves my point!

Brothers and Sisters, we are woefully deficient in battling the lies of Satan and this world because they feed our flesh. In other words, these lies make sense to us so we believe them but they only make sense in the flesh – not in the Spirit and not when compared to the Word of God. That’s why you need both the Word and the Spirit to defeat these lies.

Do not think Freud, Skinner, Adler, Maslow, and Piaget are your friends and are more wise than the Word of God. Do not think that we must have these men’s ideas to improve upon the Word of God and where it is supposedly deficient. I will challenge you in this: the Word of God is NOT deficient when it comes to the problems of mankind. God speaks to the heart and deals with the heart in His all-sufficient Word of truth.

Is “hate” a strong word? Yes.

Do I “hate” psychological lies? Yes.

A righteous, loving God hates these lies, too, because He knows these lies lead you away from Him – the only true source of hope for this dying world. He is our God Who is love (I John 4:8) and real love hates the lies of Satan and this world.

-Mark (learning to hate what God hates & love what God loves – His truth)

Who has the answers?

Where will transformation of Birmingham and our nation come from?

Politics? Not likely. Look at our current mayoral mess and the debt in Jefferson County.

Social organizations and civic groups? Not likely. Good hearts but they often do not point people to Christ.

Mental health? Not likely, it has not helped so far. Look at recent tragic events. Is secular mental health really effective? Debatable.

Here’s the only answer for transformation of hearts and families and marriages and the community: The church of the Lord Jesus Christ led by the Holy Spirit in obedience to the Word of God.

The church is the answer. Jesus said Himself in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

So why do we send people to secular groups for help for addictions and send people to secular, mental health personnel for help when Christ and His GOSPEL is the answer and the church proclaims that message?

I speculate that we don’t really believe that the Gospel is the transforming message that the Holy Spirit uses to change hearts and lives PERMANENTLY.

There is no other answer. Christ alone. That’s the answer.

Do you believe the same Christ Who SAVES you is the SAME Christ Who sanctifies you?

That’s why I LOVE the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and I love Truth in Love Ministries because we are actively helping to STRENGTHEN churches by replicating disciples of Christ, counseling people using the Word of God, and lifting up Christ.

-Mark (praying that God’s people will continue to support Truth in Love with prayer and financial giving)