What a fearsome word.  Hearing the word, apostasy, reminds me of talking with my wife about life insurance.  It makes me uncomfortable.  The Greek root speaks of departing, rebelling, turning, etc.  It ain’t pretty.

Starting this Sunday, we will be looking at the first half of 2 Peter 1.  In this chapter, Peter speaks of an experiential knowledge of God.  Later, in Chapter 2, he says that apostates share in this knowledge.  (Remember the parable of the seed sown on different soils?)

So, on Wednesday night we will discuss apostasy.  We will look at why the Bible says that apostates are folks who never have a saving faith.  Our focus will be in Hebrews 6, 2 Peter 2 and 1 Timothy 4.  Bring your questions.  It really is more important than the other life insurance!

You probably don’t know them by the name, “valedictions.”  In fact, due to email and other brief forms of communication (texting, etc.) you may not use them as frequently as you did in the past.  Valedictions are the “goodbyes” at the end of a letter (sincerely yours) or, at the end of a school year (the valedictory address).

While graduation speakers, usually the highest ranking student in the class, may put more time into their valediction, the words, like endings on a letter, are quickly forgotten; few remember what a validictorian said, or whether you ended your letter with a “sincerely yours” or a “very truly yours.”

Having said that, it may seem strange that I am preaching on the valediction which Paul gave in his letter to the Ephesians.  After all, he has stopped teaching and it is just a “goodbye.”  Well, in the “old days,” it seems that a goodbye was a real valediction.  So, we will actually spend some time looking at how Paul says goodbye.  I think when we are done, you will see that it was much more than a “;sincerely yours.”

I picked this up on Justin Taylor’s blog.  It is a great story!

The California Supreme Court has declared that California’s statutory definition of marriage, refering to a man and a woman is unconstitutional.  You can read the whole 176 pages here.   I am not surprised.  After an analysis of the current Cali Domestic Partnership Act, terms like family, loving relationship, etc., had already been applied to same-sex relationships.  You could hardly be surprised that the Court decided that it was “offensive” not to give the name along with the rights.

No, I was not surprised by that.  What I don’t get is why we don’t see that there is a disparity between the homosexual community and the heterosexual community.  Heterosexuals routinely live together and loathe the idea of getting married.  “It’s just a piece of paper.”  While heteros avoid the marriage bonds like the plague, same-sex couples are desperate for it.  They claim it as a “right.”

So, what I don’t get, is why don’t we heteros see it as a right?  Why wouldn’t we want to have that right?  The Court is right when it observes that calling same-sex couples “married” won’t hurt marriage; we do that quite well, thank you, without their help.

Now it’s time for prophecy.  The court hints that perhaps the state would have the right to rename the whole right of marriage into something else.  Would we care?  Instead of “This is my wife,” it could be, “This is my state approved domestic partner.”  And whose fault will it be?  Well, we will blame it on the gay community.  Surely it can’t be our fault for not appreciating what we haved.

If you know him as that nice kid who plays guitar on Sunday morning, you don’t know all about Cameron.  Today he shot a 76 to lead the WCA Golf team into the State Playoffs.  Awesome.  Yes, he is a Sophomore, and has two years left before he takes Covenant College golf by storm.

It is great to see a nice young man do well.  Leo Durocher, take it back–Nice guys do finish first!  Praise God.

In Genesis 3, God, as part of the curse, puts hostility between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; then he promises redemption to the woman.

Today in church we were reviewing the conflict that the movie, Expelled creates.  Anti-God “seed” and those who claim Him as father argue over intelligent design.  Did God create us?  We say He did, they say He didn’t.

I asked why there aren’t more conflicts representative of the seed conflict.  Why don’t we see more “spiritual warfare?”  The conversation concluded, through Jim’s comment,  that we don’t because we have made peace with so many ideas that are contrary to a Christian worldview.

Cindy said that she thinks that most of us lack the training needed to go on the defensive (offensive) and take on those who speak loudly against God.  Yet, Peter says that we are always to be ready to “apologize” for our faith.

My suggestion was that we use our minds to point out the inconsistencies in other worldviews.  For example, I read from Darwin’s The Descent of Man, and showed where he, within five pages of explaining how the survival of the fittest applies to civilized man, and where he says it doesn’t (pp.182-187).  That is an inconsistency we need to talk about.

At the same time, we should expect that the natural man won’t understand our worldview, but at least we will have taken the first step to get him to question his.  That may create conflict, but it is a kind act towards preparing others for the Gospel.

Always, when doing apologetics, use the Railroad Sign” approach; stop, look and listen.  Stop before you barge right in.  Look and listen to see if this is a good time to do this.  Will your making your point humiliate your friend in front of others?  Is he so angry that he won’t hear what you say?  Can you plan a follow up conversation?

Finally, don’t be surprised by conflict.  Spiritual conflict is what Jesus promised us.  It is what He uses to reach others through you–the seed.

So I am here at work with the TV on in the background and Fox news is broadcasting the arrival of the Pope. As he steps off the plane, the crowd erupts in cheers and praise for this man who is acclaimed as deity. This was not the somber, reverent, even woeful greeting one would expect of such a leader in the religious community. It was a cheerful, joyful welcoming of a person who has wisdom, power, and compassion for his congregation.

Now I have to ask myself why is our “praise and worship” in the church so somber, woeful, even mournful. It is almost like we don’t believe that our sins are washed away so we can come boldly to the throne of grace. We are no longer wretches or lowly worms in the sight of an angry God but have been adopted as His beloved children.

When we come together to greet each other and welcome God into our presence, I believe that we should do so with a heart of gladness and rejoicing. Or do we only think that celebrities are deserving of our accolades and praise? Does God only get to see our sad hanging head? Or does he desire our shouts of joy and thanksgiving.

This last week Kathleen Neve got so excited about how well Nick did in singing his part during the special music. Her face just lit up like a beam of light. She was so proud of him and sang his praises. Indeed he did well and I am very proud of him as well as all my kids. When our kids are deserving of praise we shower them with positive accolades and sometimes special gifts for a job well done.

Just think about how you praise others for things that they do well. What is your facial expression? Do our eyes light up when we offer them accolades? Do we “High Five” them and tell others how wonderful they did? Doesn’t God deserve to be treated the same or better? That my friends is real appropriate worship to God. It isn’t in our careful choice of words or music, but in our hearts and attitudes toward Him who delivered us and set us FREE!!!!!!

My 2 cents worth…..

Bill Deiss

Sunday morning we talked about the fact that in Acts 2:42, there are four activities which the early church participated in when the met at the temple.  Each one, in the original language, starts with the definite article–the.  There is THE Apostles teaching, THE fellowship, THE breaking of THE bread and THE Prayer.  I mentioned how strange it is that today, in many churches, the liturgy includes the THE in several elements of the service.  For example, many bulletins refer to THE Pastoral Prayer, THE Lord’s Supper, THE Preaching of the Word (or THE Sermon).  What you don’t find is, THE Fellowship.

Interestingly, THE fellowship is not only missing from our services today, so is the “gladness and singleness of heart” which is mentioned in the following verses.  We will talk more about this on Wed. evening at our “outing.”

I also asked the question, where in the Bible do you find the mission of the church?  Most people believe it is in the Great Commission.  Wed. evening we will talk about why the Great Commission is more a method to fulfill the mission that it is the mission itself.  Check out Ephesians 3 for a better statement of the mission.

The topic for tonight’s “outing” is, how do you know that Christianity is true?  The short answer is, because God reveals it to you.  John, in his letter we call 1 John, says,

¶ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (I John 5:13 ESV)

Notice that he says, to those who believe.  He presupposes what Paul says in I Cor. 2:14,

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned . (ESV)

Tonight, we will talk about what this means.  After all, lots of people are “sure” of their beliefs, whatever they may be.  Why is Christianity different?

Every Easter time we get together and sing old Easter favorites like, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.  As a Pastor, I sometimes think we don’t appreciate it enough.  So, starting Sunday morning, we will spend three weeks in John 11 where I hope we will gain an even greater appreciation for what it meant for Jesus to go to the cross for us.  This chapter deals with Jesus going to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the grave.  It all happened just before Palm Sunday and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  I am amazed how pitiful the disciples, Mary and Martha and the unbelieving Jews were.  Yet, I realize how much like them we all are.  So, read John 11 before Sunday and see if you see yourself in there with all the other pitiful characters.  It was their pitifulness that made them, and should make us, appreciate Easter all the more.  See ya Sunday, Lord willing!