Recently, some so called leaders of the Christian faith have begun to call for looking at the Bible through cultural eyes. Whether or not they realize this, this a lie and deception send forth from the enemy. While this message may seem appealing and progressive, it is dangerously wrong.

The Bible has never been meant to be looked at through the eyes of the current culture, but has always been a tool with which we are to look at and analyze the modern culture. In a moment we will look at a Biblical story that perfectly narates this truth, and then we will look at Jesus and how he handled the same concept.

Before we get to that point however, I would like to ask, why are we trying to analyze the Bible (which is the inerrant, inspired word of God) through culture, if it isn’t but to appease a culture which is doing everything in it’s power to avoid meeting God right where He is and always has been? And if that is the purpose of why we would look at it that way, then how can we call ourselves Christians if we won’t lead others to the God with love and outstretched arms?

From the begining it has always been those who were willing to stand apart from the crowd and serve the one true God who have been called. Throughout the Bible there are countless figures who want to include God in their pantheon of gods, but when the time comes to deny all others but Him, they shy away, but it is on the shoulders of those who do not waver, that the kingdom has always been built and advanced.

Culture will almost always seek to minimize God, and ridicule Him, and this is becuase of human nature. Human nature, at any point in time and history is best explained in this, we are selfish, we are self righteous, and we are all sinners who seek to justify ourselves. I don’t mean to type this to sound codemning, but to point out a hard truth, one that if we will acknowledge, we can move beyond our cultural ties that bind us.

Now, if we can accept the truth of our sinful nature, and the fact we have all done something unjust, then we can move on to the next, and main portion of this messsage, that being the way we view God, the Bible, and Christianity.

Now the Biblical story I would like to focus on is one we are all very familiar with, the story of three Jewish men living in captivity in Babylon. This story is recorded in the book of Daniel chapter 3.

King Nebuchadnezzar made an idol, and decreed that all would kneel and worship the statue. Certain Chaldeans came and brought accusations against certain of the Jews, specifically three men Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego by name.

These three men sat in positions of authority, but they also held to the worship of the God of Israel, and this left room for no other gods. They were brought before the king who questioned them about their refusal to worship his gods. They lived in a time when the king’s word was law. They lived in a culture of polytheism, but they had to hold to the true value of God’s Word and His will.

They were not given a free pass just because of the culture around them. They, like Lot, May have lived amidst a culture of sin and wickedness, but they were still expected to stick to Godliness. They were still expected to follow God’s Word and decree even over the decree of the king.

When confronted by the king, their reply was that the God whom they serve could deliver them from the fire if he desired to, but even if he did not, they would not serve the false gods of Nebuchadnezzar. They were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace, where the Lord came and freed them.

The thing to see here is not only in that they were saved from the fire, but that they were willing to choose truth over the culture. They knew who their God was, and that was of greater value than anything that the culture of the government could bring against them. They were willing to lose position and even face death in order to stand fast in their faith.

Even Jesus Christ himself had to stand against the culture of his day. Jesus’ very nature was counter to the culture of the day, from his forgiving sinners to his stance on money and even how he regarded the sabbath. That being said, the particular story I want to look at is in the book of Matthew chapter 21.

Jesus had come to Jerusalem, fulfilled many prophecies and was welcomed by an adoring crowd. Upon entering the city, Jesus went to the temple. At the time, the temple’s purpose had become corrupt. What was to be the house of God had become a place of business. It was common practice in those days for there to be moneychangers, those that sold doves and animals needed for the sacrifice.

It was normal, even accepted as it was convenient. Rather than traveling from wherever they lived and bringing their animals needed, they could just come right to the temple and exchange their money, buy the doves and be done. It made sense in the day, and it makes sense logically and logistically, but again this was not what God intended for the temple.

Jesus began to flip tables and the seats of those that sold the doves. He kicked all those people out who were defiling the temple. He emptied it of those who hearts were not on God, and he challenged the culture, saying that the temple was to be a house of prayer, not a den of thieves (see Matthew 21:13).

Once the temple was empty, the blind and the lame came to him and were healed. Then the leaders of the day were upset when they saw what he did and when they heard children praising the Lord. When God clashes with the culture, God will win, and those whose hearts are not set on a God will always be sore displeased.

To those religious leaders of our day who say we need to use a cultural lens, I urge you to reread your bible and to pray for discernment. To those whose pastors are sharing such teachings, I encourage you to put God first, and trust in him with faith and don’t be afraid to question the direction your leadership is taking you, for our God is not in this culture, and is not subject to our culture.

God be with you all. Amen.

The United States of America was founded on many important principles, one in particular is being challenged in our times (though many are being challenged, I am focusing here on one specific principle). This principle is the seperation of church and state. the argument is being made that Christians should not be holding positions of high office, particularly if they use their fatih to help guide them in their decisions.

Now, ignoring the many years in which America has been led by those who were relying on their faith and Christian principles to guide our nation, I think that if we are to fight this blatant attack on our culture and our nation, we should understand some history, and see if perhaps they are reversing the meaning of this idea.

You see I see many people talk about how this idea was based on the catholic church, and how it had obtained control over Europe, and exercised control over Europe through its religious power, and while this is a fair argument, I am not fully convinced this is what our founding fathers had in mind. Recall, the founding fathers were protestants, many of them from England.

England, had already broken away from the catholic church, and created the church of England, for the benefit of king Henry, so he could divorce his wives at will when they would not give him a male heir. Now both the catholic church and the church of England misused their positions for political ends that benefitted themselves.

The catholic church became and behaved more as a state (which in fact it was, the papal states), and less like the church of God. The behavior of the papal states, which was highly motivated in control and politics, and less in advancing the true kingdom, certainly did lead to many negatives that should not be emulated.

With that being said, this does not mean the church should not express it’s views to impact the government and society, we can see countless times throughout the Bible the significance of the spiritual leaders being needed to keep a state on track with the direction of God.

Added to this, we can see the importance of and the history of how Christian values have always impacted the governance of America. Christian values and principles always impacted how America was going to operate, and without those principles America would not be the place it is today.

The seperation the founders were referring to, I truly believe, was the seperation preventing the state from influencing the church and its administration. This really is not too hard of a conclusion to come too. What is the first amendment? Freedom of religion and free speech. The very wording of the first amendment made it clear that the government was to have no control over the church.

The church has and should continue to have an impact on governance, but the government should not be able to direct or control the church nor its function. In Canada we can see what happens when the government begins to overstep, prohibitng specific messages, which results in less than the full truth of the scripture being taught.

The church is answerable to God, and the church leaders are going to be held to account to Him, but the world leaders believe they are answerable to man or in many cases, to no one. Government, by its nature, desires only to have more control, and if the state is allowed to impact the church, it will only mean men with agendas will seek to gain control of God’s system. This is not the path America has ever been on, it is not the path the founders sought, and it is not the path we should now or ever take.

God be with you. Amen.

Mankind, from the start, has been called to one great service… to give ourselves over to prayer. The church as a whole, must pray, but each individual man and woman must also learn not only to pray themselves, but to pray well. Praying well, true Biblical praying has been left out by many in the church as a whole, and it is something we must strive to return to. While all are to pray, there is also what I call the call to prayer.

The call to prayer, or the call to be a prayer is something that God places on a soul when the kingdom needs it. All should prayer, this is an unrefutable truth placed on the entire church, but some individuals will feel a certain pull on themselves to pray and wrestle like Jacob with the angel of God. Some will feel a pull to dedicate hours in the prayer closet, a three to four hour prayer session becomes too short, for they will feel the tug on their heart so strongly that it becomes too hard not to pray.

This is the call to prayer. Nehemiah felt it, Abraham felt it, Moses and Jesus felt it, and look at what it had wrought. Jesus toiled the night away in prayer, while those closest to him slept. Not all feel the call, and not all will feel it at the same time or to the same intensity, but when it comes upon us, the miracles of heaven it will unleash can change kingdoms. Borders change, lines are easily crossed, and the kingdom is advanced.

I must urge all who stumble upon this simple reflection to pray daily, for our daily prayers and time spent in intimate closeness with our heavenly Father are to be counted among the greatest of treasures we can hope to obtain in our fleshly lives. To those who feel the call to prayer, I encourage you to make time, to find a way to preservere in prayer. This is not always the easiest, I myself have struggeld with finding the hours to labor in prayer amidst the business of work, family life, and the other myriad of hinderances that attempt to draw us away from this great calling.

We must fight against the will of the flesh when this comes. The best way to fight agaisnt the flesh, is to pray. As we pray, we will find our spirits desiring to pray more and more. It is the natural desire of our spirit to pray, for it is that connection with God that our spirit was made for, and it is the natural place for it, to abide in the shadow of the Most High. Much like it is natural for a wolf to seek a pack, or for a bird to build a nest, our spirit cannot but help to seek God once it has a taste of Him, and this is a truth for all, for it is how we are made.

Even for those who do not feel the pull to pray for hours on end, who do not feel the call to prayer, to them the more they pray, the more their spirit will desire God. I must urge all to seek God in prayer, to dedicate time each morning and night, and throughout the day, to find time to give to God and commune with Him, for it is His desire, and it is why we are made, to build an intimate relationship with God.

God be with you all. Amen.