The past 8 or 9 years have found me in a significant period of transition regarding my understanding of the Scriptures. Although theological transitions will hopefully continue throughout my life, the current transition has radically altered my thinking regarding the Scriptures.

Perhaps it is best if I review my past thinking, teaching, and preaching. My perspective of the Scriptures was based on a very legalistic, moralistic approach where the proclamation was primarily focused on how God told us to live. The result was that I and my listeners would come away understanding what God expected of us but would know little regarding God the Father and Jesus Christ. This was most pronounced in my studies of the Old Testament although would regularly be evidenced in the New Testament studies as well.

My transition began when I was studying the Gospels and came to Jesus on the road to Emmaus. There Jesus declared that people were fools if they did not believe all that the prophets had spoken. All my life I thought I believed all the prophets had spoken. However, this time I saw what the Scriptures said next. Jesus proceeded to show them how all the Old Testament talked about Him. I shuddered to a stop and asked myself if I really believed that and if I could actually look at the various passages in the OT and see Christ. I know the classic prophetic passages that point to Him but what about Samson, Cain and Able, the Proverbs, etc.? I was not so sure.

So, the past years have been one of new exploration. How is Christ seen in all the Scriptures? And when I began to look I also noticed that I had settled far to short of Christ. I was satisfied with moralisms and legalisms. I was satisfied merely with knowing what I should be and do and did not understand that those things I was doing and being were not for God’s glory but mine.

That is bad enough but I was also teaching, preaching, and counseling these same perspectives. I was not focusing on Christ but on getting people to “look” more Christian. In effect I was helping people to be able to stand before God and say “but did we not do all these things in your name” only to hear Him say “depart from me, I never knew you.”

Ultimately, who really cares is I preach, teach, and counsel how to do better and be better (read, live more consistent with the Scriptures) if the result is that the listeners do not know and love Jesus more. Jesus came seeking worshippers, not merely people who do the right thing and act the right way.

It is because of this that I want to repent of how I have ministered to many of you over the years. My prayer for you is that, in spite of my failures, the Holy Spirit captured your hearts for God and caused you to love Jesus more than you love anyone and caused you to know Jesus more than you know anyone.

Let us not be fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken.

Philosophy of Ministry

Our view of reality is determined by what we believe about truth. It is my firm belief that there is no truth apart from what God has breathed to man and preserved in the pages of His Word; God’s Word is called truth (John 17:17). Truth can only be known by faith, the faith that begins with the Living Word, Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The Word of God is sufficient for all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). These three principles form the foundation for my ministry and the approach that I take in making disciples.

It is the responsibility of every Christian to make disciples, baptizing them (evangelism) and teaching them to observe the commands of the Word. The goal of my instruction and interaction with those whom God has created in His image is not a modification of behavior. Too often outward change is accomplished when the Law is applied without teaching its purpose – to drive the sinner to the cross (Galatians 3:19-25). We are driven by what we value. God’s patient and loving discipline and the sword of His Word divide the thoughts and intents of the heart, exposing values which are idolatrous, providing opportunity for change through faith.

As a minister of God’s grace it is my responsibility to always and in every way manifest Jesus Christ to every man’s conscience. It is the cross of Christ and its promises that are the hope for change for those who have been born out of death into life and are being pressed into the image of Christ. It is the covenant in His blood that interprets life; the responsibility, therefore, of His ministers to explain how the cross applies to every situation that a person encounters.

The dilemma that man faces is not his environment, nor his genetics, etc., but rather his sin. The solution to man’s dilemma can only be had when he repents, acknowledging his helplessness and inability to be right with God, and trusting in the promises and provision of the cross. Repentance is an event that punctuates the life of the believer, initially unto salvation, and continually in his sanctification. Though repentance is an event that begins the process of change, change is accomplished over time. Following admonition, the minister’s responsibility in helping the repentant to change is to encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone (1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Timothy 2:24-26), knowing that it is God who will cause the growth in His time (1 Corinthians 5:3-9, Galatians 6:9).

It is through the afflictions of life that God humbles and teaches His children what it means to fear Him (Psalm 119:67, 2 Timothy 3:12). The sufferings of the physical life have the eternal purpose of storing up for the afflicted an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). The minister of God’s grace is commanded to comfort those who are afflicted with the promises that God has made through His Son (2 Corinthians 1:3-8). Comforting those who are afflicted and encouraging their obedience provides opportunity for them to show forth in a very clear and present way the sufferings and obedience of Christ (the Gospel) illustrating what is lacking in our present understanding of the sufferings of Christ (Colossians 1:24). The glory of God shines most clearly though a redeemed but broken vessel (2 Corinthians 4:7); it is the charge of the minister of God’s grace to communicate this truth in action and in deed to those whom God providentially brings his way.