Author Archives: shepherdbryan

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About shepherdbryan

My passion is to disciple and see men discipled in every area of their life to see the multiplication principle actually work in a 100 year generational blessing. As go men in the church, so goes the church. As go men in the nation, so goes the nation. Fortunately, because men have often not taken their spiritual role to the limit, God has raised up many godly women to carry the torch where men have laid it aside. May God rapidly raise up men for the next generation of leaders to the Fourth Generation of spiritual leaders! As men lead in a godly way, women will follow in a godly way and that people will be blessed of the Lord.

A Bible Contradiction?

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I was reading today about David’s numbering of Israel and how there seemed to be a contradiction.  A contradiction in the Bible?  How can that be? 

First let me set the stage. Look at 2 Samuel 24:1, “Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”  It’s very clear that the Lord moved David to number the people AND then David confesses his sin of numbering the people a few verses later in 2 Sam. 24:10, “And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done.”   How can this be a sin, if the text says that the Lord moved David? ……

Now look at 1 Chronicles 21:1.  The Chronicler writes, “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.”  This passage says that Satan moved David.  How can one passage say that God moved David and another passage says that Satan moved David?

That’s relatively easy to understand.  God is sovereign over all things and in His Permissive Will, God allows sinful things to happen, but God can never be accused of tempting someone, nor can He sin (James 1:13).  Satan must gain permission from God to tempt and do harm as when God allowed Satan to tempt Job (Job 1:12).  So, God may even allow the enemy to move persons to sin (in David’s case, not in Job’s case), yet because it is within God’s sovereign control it is recorded as God doing the action.  In reality, it is really God Who allowed Satan to move David to number the people.

But also notice, David was a believer.  Satan moved a believer to sin and do foolishness. Can Satan cause that kind of problem today?  Luke records in Acts 5:3 that Satan filled Ananias’ heart to lie. The same can happen today.  God can allow good people to be moved by Satan to do sinful things, even toward other people in God’s family.  Why?  Ultimately for God’s glory.  It reveals God’s sovereignty.  It reveals those who are approved by God in a faction of people. It reveals those who do not react, but respond with grace.  It reveals that the creature who acts independent of God, even believers, can be moved by Satan to do sinful things.

May our hearts be broken, purified and never used by the enemy, especially to bring harm to God’s people.

Book Review: What On Earth Is God Doing? by Renald E. Showers

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What On Earth is God Doing? Satan’s Conflict With God written by Renald Showers is a short, concise big picture overview of the Angelic Conflict and God’s sovereign purposes. There is no question there is a conflict raging around us.  Many Christians and people are unaware, because Satan doesn’t want people to know about it.  Some people think they are in the heat of battle, when it is merely their own fleshly desires controlling their decisions and Satan’s organization is sitting back watching the Chrisitans flounder.  On the other hand, many Christians are actively pursuing godliness in Jesus Christ and are mounting victory after victory, because they are not giving in to the temptations of the evil one.

Showers brilliantly shows the Satanic plots seeking to thwart God’s purposes and will.  He also points out how God in no way allows Satan to have his way.  Showers addresses history from eternity past (pre-human history) to eternity future.  He describes the fall of Satan and the rebellion of other angels.  Then he shows Satan’s activities in the fall of man through biblical history.  Finally he demonstrates a great understanding of the angelic conflict in post-biblical history to the present and into the future as recorded in Scripture.

Showers makes it clear that God is the victor in this conflict.  He writes, “First, as a world and a race, we are headed for the ultimate defeat of Satan and his kingdom and the glorious victory of God and His kingdom.  Secondly, as individuals, we are headed either for eternal blessing or eternal punishment depending upon which kingdom we belong to.” (p. 118)   However, it would be helpful to address why this conflict is going on in the first place.  Why is God allowing the conflict to continue in history causing so much pain and grief?  God is not sadistic. The reader and Christendom have yet to resolve this fully.  I heartily recommend you read this book.

Explaining Divine History – Part 4

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            There is no way I can fully explain divine history.  God is infinite and He transcends both time and space.  Our finite minds will never fully comprehend divine history.  But I can seek to explain human history from God’s perspective.  That is the purpose of this series.

            We’ve looked at 1) salvation is the same throughout history; 2) Scripture must be interpreted by a literal historico-grammatical approach and 3) God’s promises given to Israel in the Old Testament were unconditional and yet to be fulfilled.  This segment briefly explains the beginning and time of the church.

            The church began after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit described in Acts 2.  God’s organization of the church in Acts 2 established the beginning of the Bride of Christ, which will be raptured to heaven for the wedding supper of the Lamb.  The first usage of the word “church” is found in Matt 16:18 where Jesus promises that He will [future] build His church.  It is future tense meaning that the church had not yet started.

            Some people say the church began in Abraham’s tent.  The Jewish nation began with Abraham, but not the church.  The Jewish nation began with God’s covenant to Abraham called the Abrahamic Covenant.  This has yet to be fulfilled and will be fulfilled when the Lord returns at the Second Advent.

            Some people say the church replaces Israel.  Any person who trusts in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross becomes a part of the Body of Christ.  There is no difference of race in the Body of Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal. 3:28).  But racial Jews will continue to live scattered around the world during the Church Age.  They were broken off from the root (Rom. 11:19).  However, sometime in the future, at the conclusion of the Church Age, the nation of Israel will be grafted back in (Rom. 11: 24-26).  The grafting process begins shortly after the rapture of the church, during the Tribulation and will be seen in its healing fullness at the Second Advent.

            It’s interesting that the last mention of the word “church” is in Revelation 3.  That is because the church is raptured to heaven (1 Thes. 4:13-17) for the wedding supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9).  The church, the Bride of Christ, will be joined to Jesus and the Lord ushers in the Millennial rule at the Second Advent (Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 20:1-6). 

            The church is a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9).  Israel was family of God; the church is  royal family of God, because it is the Bride of the King of Kings. 

            How then should we live?  Holy, with fervency and always seeking to depend solely on the Lord’s Word by His Spirit.  We should live with a focus on eternity rather than any kind of attachment to the world.  We should live as royal ambassadors trying to reach others with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is the church.

            The fifth segment addresses the background of the completed canon of Scripture.

Explaining Divine History – Part 3

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            I used to consider history dull and boring.  When I grew up, I realized how fascinating it is.  I also learned that the more I learn from history, I just MIGHT not repeat it.  How do you look at history?

            This short series, called “Explaining Divine History,” is seeking to establish fundamental truths in order to understand Divine History.  Part one stated that Salvation was, is and will always be the same.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).  For those who lived prior to Jesus Christ, it was the same, although they did not have the same revelation as we have in the completed canon of Scripture, so they trusted God in His revealed provision for redemption. 

Part two briefly described the biblical method of interpretation.  If you follow a “Literal Historico-grammatical” approach to biblical interpretation, you’ll establish one correct interpretation in the context of the entire Bible to harmonize all of Scripture.

      Part three isolates God’s promises to Israel.  In brief, we need to understand, “God’s promises to Israel were not merely nice words to make His people feel special, but unconditional, eternal and literal promises to the nation of Israel that have yet to be fulfilled.”  These promises were 1) unconditional covenants that depend on the integrity of God, not the fickleness of people.  What God said, He meant and He will ensure the covenants are fulfilled.  They are 2) eternal in that they are not subject to “the Old Testament period,” but now do not apply.  And they are 3) literal in that they will be literally fulfilled and we don’t need to spiritualize them to satisfy some narrow theological perspective.

When God promised Abraham a land, a seed and a blessing in Genesis 12:1-3, He wasn’t joking.  That Covenant called the Abrahamic Covenant was amplified in the Palestinian Covenant (Deut. 30:1-10) for the land, the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:12-16) for the seed and the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) for the blessing.  If Israel is now scattered and God has formed a new spiritual species in the church (2 Cor. 5:17), then how do we know covenant fulfillment must still take place?  Ezekiel explains this.

Ezekiel explains what has happened to Israel and what God will do for Israel.  This should not be symbolically interpreted.  A good student should ask, “What is the natural interpretation of the Scripture?”  Ezekiel 36:17-19 explains that God “scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries.”  That didn’t happen when the Northern Kingdom was taken captive in B.C. 722 (2 Kings 17:23) or when the Southern Kingdom was taken into exile in B.C. 586 (2 Kings 25).  Israel was scattered among the nations after 70 A.D. when the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.  The Jews continue to be scattered among the nations to this day.

God continues to demonstrate great concern for His people.  Jewish nonbelievers are greatly blessed, except when they come under persecution (Ezek 36:20-21).  Israel is not preserved as a nation or race because of how great she is, but for His name’s sake (Ezek 36:22-23).  God promises to take the Jews out of the countries (Ezek 36:24).  He declares He will cleanse them from their sin (of rebellion, independence and indifference) (Ezek 36:25).  He will regenerate them and put His Spirit in them to walk in His ways (Ezek. 36:26-27).  That has not been done yet in Israel’s history.  Furthermore, they will dwell in the land that God gave their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ezek 36:28).  That is the fulfillment of the Palestinian Covenant. 

God didn’t record these verses to be symbolically interpreted.  God didn’t promise this to Israel to give them some warm fluffy promise that wouldn’t happen.  God wrote these words for a purpose and it explains divine history.  God is not done with the nation of Israel.

The next installment will deal with the beginning and organization of the church.

Book Review: Five Views on Sanctification by Stanley N. Gundry, ed.

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This book review on “Five Views on Sanctification” was well laid out and helpful in understanding differences of five Protestant views on the concept and process of sanctification.  Granted, these are five men who represent five views and others in those views may hold slightly different perspectives.  However, accepting that there are variations within the five “camps” or views, these are helpful to see differences.

There are views written from the Wesleyan, Reformed, Pentecostal, Keswick and the Augustinian-Dispensational perspectives.  The authors are Melvin E. Dieter, Anthony A. Hoekema, Stanley M. Horton, J. Robertson McQuilkin and John F. Walvoord, respectively. Each of the men are godly in their desire to please the Lord Jesus Christ. All the authors are evangelical, believe the Bible is authoritative and a restored relationship to God through faith in Christ is a person’s greatest need and delight.  From that point, there are various definitions and mechanisms for understanding sanctification. 

All of the views have strengths and principles that highlight important aspects of the character of God.   The Wesleyan view calls people to pursue the holiness of God; the Reformed view places a preponderance of the process on the sovereignty of God; the Pentecostal view looks for a second blessing by the Holy Spirit to set a committed believer apart for God; the Keswick view looks at the normal dry, complacent believer and explains that what is missing is faith, which will unleash the power of the Holy Spirit for sanctification; and finally the Augustinian-Dispensational view sees the power of God working in the life of the believer who is submitted to God’s will and plan.

I find Walvoord’s description in the Augustinian-Dispensational perspective as the compelling view.  It harmonizes the tension between divine sovereignty and free will the best.  It encapsulates more Scripture and answers more questions than the other views. He does the best work in explaining the two natures in man explaining Paul’s struggle with the flesh.  One view describes Romans 7 as a description of a person before salvation,.  Walvoord beautifully harmonizes the Scripture to show that the believer’s struggle with the sinful disposition of the flesh to rebel or act independently of God is part of the Christian way of life and can be overcome through complete dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.

There are two shortfalls of the book.  First, it would have been very helpful to provide at least one chart, if not several, comparing the views as recorded in the book.  Secondly, the reviews of each of the authors critiquing a view are much too short.  They only highlighted a couple of the differences.  In this context, a five to ten page rebuttal  by each author would have been far more helpful than a one to two page review.  I highly recommend this to your study.

Explaining Divine History – Part 2

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             In Part one of Explaining Divine History, one must realize there was one way of salvation.  That way of salvation was understood according to what God revealed to man at his point in history.  To Adam and Eve, God revealed the first gospel message in Genesis 3:15.  The seed of the woman would crush the seed of Satan and all rebellion would be paid for satisfying the righteousness of God.  Later, Abraham believed God would provide through His promise that a seed (child) would be born that would remove the penalty for sin.  Salvation by faith is the consistent requirement and is found only in God’s provision through Jesus Christ.  It was fully revealed and explained in the completed canon of Scripture.

            So how do you interpret that canon of Scripture to get one clear interpretation?  There is one interpretation and many applications.  In order to understand that one clear interpretation, the student of Scripture must follow a “Literal Historico-grammatical” approach to interpreting.  That means he looks at the literal or natural view of what the passage is saying. Secondly, he looks at the history surrounding the Scripture as it was written in that culture by that author to that audience.  And thirdly, he looks at the words and the arrangement of the words to get the correct interpretation.  A correct interpretation must be done from the Hebrew and Chaldean in the Old Testament and Greek from the New Testament.  Another word used to describe interpretation is “hermeneutics.” 

Why is this important?  Please note the following principles. The divinely inspired Bible must be interpreted based on a “literal historico-grammatical” approach (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

·         God means what He says and says what He means.  Any apparent problem merely needs careful study to understand God’s unity of truth so that there are no contradictions.

·         God speaks through different authors using their education, personality and background. You can tell by their letters that many different personalities, educational training and backgrounds were used in the writings.

·         God speaks through different forms of literature that must be interpreted based on that type of literature.

o   Narrative literature must have consistency in historical accounts.

o   Poetry must consider rules of symmetry, parallelism, creativity and contrast.

o   Epistles must be considered regarding the audience and application.

o   Eschatology must be considered related to other eschatological passages.

·         The literal interpretation is made unless the context dictates that the words or phrases are used as a metaphor or another figure of speech Dan. 9:26; Zech 6:12.

·         The Bible must be interpreted as a united whole, because it has one divine author 2 Pet. 1:20-21

·         Scripture must be interpreted to include both the Sovereign purposes of God and the free will of Man  John 3:16

            Because God is the author of Scripture, there can be no contradictions in the original manuscripts recorded by the human authors.  Those human authors were “carried along” (2 Peter. 1:20-21), so that God’s complete thought toward man was recorded for man without destroying the literary style, vocabulary or background of the human authors in the original manuscripts.  Where there seems to be a contradiction, it is necessary to compare Scripture with Scripture.  Where difficult passages are found, the natural reading of Scripture is used in that genre of literature.  Too many theological systems impose their theology on the Scripture rather than taking the natural or normal reading of the Scripture.

The next installment will describe that God’s promises to Israel were not nice words, but literal promises to the nation of Israel and have yet to be fulfilled.

Explaining Divine History – Part 1

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            The greatest adventure in life is submitting to God in order to understand His Word to us.  There is really nothing more exciting than reading what our Divine Holy God gave to us recorded in Scripture.  It is everything God wants us to know about life, salvation and our walk with Him.   There are many things we do to search for excitement, entertainment and outside interests.  But nothing – nothing – compares to the eternal significance of God’s holy Word to us!

            This is an eleven part series to explain how God administrates human history.  God did far more than orchestrate a perfect creation, watch the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and then try to redeem His people throughout the rest of Scripture.  There is far more going on.  There are several principles that must be understood.  The first is related to God’s mechanism for deliverance from His wrath or what we call salvation.  Notice the principles below:

        There is, and always was, one way of salvation  John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Gen. 3:15; 15:6

·         Salvation was never achieved through keeping the Mosaic or any other law. Rom. 3:28; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:11,24

      ·         God does all the work at salvation and man does not do anything John 1:12-13

·         There is nothing man can do for the salvation gift Eph. 2:8-9

·         Man’s part is to believe, accept what Jesus has done for him on the cross, then God simultaneously regenerates the human spirit for salvation John 3:16; Titus 3:5.

          There is only one way of salvation and that is through Jesus Christ – what He did for man on the cross.  There is no other name under heaven that has been given to man than Jesus Christ.  For in the reality of His name – that He was both God and man – He satisfied the perfect righteousness of God and by dying on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins and He removed the barrier that existed between God and man.  From the beginning, man believed in the revelation that was given to Him that God’s promise of salvation was all sufficient and by trusting in that all sufficient payment, man would have redemption.  That redemption is found only in the shed blood of Christ – His death on the cross.

             The next installment will describe the hermeneutic, or method of interpretation, for understanding God’s Word in order to understand God’s so great plan of salvation.

Eternal Life/Security

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One of the greatest assurances as a Christian is eternal life.  When a person genuinely trusts Jesus Christ as his Savior, who died on the cross for his sins and believes that Jesus rose again, he receives eternal life.  Jesus said this about eternal life, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)　In other words, because I have become a child of God, I have a relationship with the God of the Universe!  That relationship is eternal, because I didn’t do anything for it and I can’t do something that will cause me to lose it.  It’s eternal.  I like to use acrostics, so here’s one for you – FISHLEGS.  It’s how I try to remember eight different approaches to understanding eternal life/security. 

What will I have as a Christian?   FISHLEGS

·         Family Approach  John 1:12; Hebrews 2:11-13

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (John 1:12)

11For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,  12 saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”  13 And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” (Heb 2:11-13)

·         Inheritance Approach  1 Peter 1:4

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (1Pet. 1:3-4)

·         Sealing Approach Ephesians 1:13

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Eph 1:13)
·        Hands Approach John 10:28-30

28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
·         Logical Approach  Romans 8:38-39

38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)
·         Election Approach  Ephesians 1:4

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Eph 1:4)
·         Grammar Approach  Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)
·         Sovereign Approach Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  (Rom 8:28-30)

The question now, however, is how does this affect how I live?  It does not mean I can live anyway I want to – the way my flesh wants to.  It means I can live any way God wants me to live.  In other words, Jesus Christ is my focus, desire and fulfillment.  It means that I am living according to the fullness of the Scriptures.  It means I’m seeking to love God and live out His will in every aspect of my life.  It means that I’m diligently trying to reach others to help them know Jesus Christ, so I can help them understand wonderful truths like Eternal Security.  How then should I live?  Holy, pursuing truth, living out grace and walking humbly before the Lord!

It affects you!

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            Every infringement on God’s presence around you affects your life!  Whether it is an attack on the comment that Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, makes, or the removal of crosses across the country, “it affects you!”

There are groups trying to remove the Mount Soledad Cross in San Diego erected on behalf of Korean Veterans, the cross in the Mojave Desert and now the Steubenville, Ohio, logo, which has a small cross.  An organization called “Freedom from Religion Foundation” FFRF makes the following statement:

“Steubenville is a theocracy and is a Christian city where non-Christians or nonbelievers are not favored citizens. The city may not depict the university chapel and cross because to do so places the city’s imprimatur behind Christianity. The city of Steubenville must not endorse ‘faith’ and church. While we understand that Franciscan University is part of the City, the City may not depict the University chapel and cross because to do so places the City’s imprimatur behind Christianity. This excludes non-Christians and violates the Constitution.”1

Because of the FFRF actions, the cross was removed from the logo.

Is this really significant?  After all, it is “government” property and the government is bound to not “promote religion.”  Friends, this is an example of Normalcy Bias whereby we think things will not get any worse if we just let this happen.  We think, we’ll let this happen, but nothing worse will happen. Should Christians get concerned that organizations are even going to remove crosses from cemeteries?  They say they would never do that, but the people of Germany never thought things would get as bad as they did during the 1930s.

The issue is the cross removal, but it’s more than that.  It’s an issue of whether we Christians are going to share the love of Jesus Christ’s gospel and see God’s mighty works done in our lives.  Is God’s tremendous grace so powerful that it affects your life to tell others?  Are you more excited about God’s grace than the multitudinous forms of entertainment? 

I would like to make my agenda holding forth a plan to keep every cross standing.  I am concerned about that, because every symbol removed is a sign of moral degeneracy in America.  However, I’m even more passionate about the gospel spoken to every person in America and appreciate what our Outreach Team is doing to be intentional to follow up with visitors and community friends.  Let’s ask God to focus our attention on all the right priorities!

1http://politicaloutcast.com/2012/08/atheist-gestapo-bullies-another-city-into-removing-crosses/#ixzz22ahyk700

I am a Soldier – Author Unknown

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Several have asked me for this quote I used recently:

I am a Soldier – Author Unknown

 I am a soldier in the army of my God.  The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer.  The Holy Bible is my code of Conduct.  Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare.  I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire.  I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for all eternity.  I will either retire in this army at the rapture or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or be pushed out.  I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable.  If my God needs me, I am there.  If He needs me in the Sunday School to teach the children, work with the youth, help adults or serve in another capacity, He can use me because I am there!!  I am a soldier.

 I am not a baby.  I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up.  I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to.  I am a soldier.

 No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me.  I am a soldier.  I am not a wimp.  I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom!  No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me handouts.

 I am committed.  I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around.  I cannot be discouraged enough to turn aside.  I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.  When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing.  If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead.  I will win because I am a soldier.  My God has and will continue to supply all my needs.  I am more than a conqueror.  I will always triumph.  I can do all things through Christ.

 Devils cannot defeat me.  People cannot disillusion me.  Weather cannot weary me and sickness cannot stop me.  Battle cannot beat me.  Money cannot buy me.  Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me.  I am a soldier.

Even death cannot destroy me.  For when my commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to a Captain and then allow me to rule with Him.  I am a soldier in the army, and I’m marching claiming victory.  I will not give up.  I will not turn around.  I am a soldier, marching heaven bound.  Here I stand.