10.16.07
Posted in Biblical Reflections, Theology, Controversy at 9:05 pm by Pastor Bill
I want to introduce you to a unique journey through the 13 letters (epistles) written by Paul which are in the New Testament of the Bible. The form of journey is musical. The purpose of this music is for edification of believers. The musicians explain it this way…”The lyrics in this album are an attempt to bring God’s Word to life. This is a resource to help you learn, not to replace your study of God’s perfect word (2 Timothy 3:16). Each artist has carefully crafted their song based on intense and thorough Bible study and believe that Scripture is the absolute truth. They encourage each of you to faithfully study the Word with humility in a community of believers, relying on the Holy Spirit to bring change to your heart.”
Oh yeah, as per the previous post, the genre of this album is hip-hop. If that offends you, continue surfing…if you don’t stumble over it, read on or listen to the album and be blessed by God.
Since Paul’s letters start with Romans, and I am currently preaching through Romans on Sunday mornings, it was awesome to see how they treated it on the album. They did a great job (as with all the tracks) of walking you through the teaching and application of the letter. If you learn the lyrics to the song, you now know the theme of the book, it’s major characters, and all the relevant themes of the book. It’s like having a concordance or commentary in your head.
Showing that their heart is for the church, for Christ’s followers and their growth, there is a continual reminder throughout the album that God’s Word is our source of life, our source of God’s wisdom and guidance through life along with the Holy Spirit’s leading. At the end of the Romans track, the artist encourages us to get some good Bible commentaries to help us in our understanding of the scriptures. And then he recommends commentaries by John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Montgomery Boyce. How awesome to think that a rapper off the street reads and enjoys the men that have mentored so many of us in our study of the word, and encourages all of us to follow suit.
The only other track that I will comment on is the one for First Corinthians. The artist did it in a very creative and impactful way. He tells us the story of a guy named Corey, who acted like he was still in a gang. He tells us about all the hangups and distractions in Corey’s life, and then goes on to tell us that Corey is not a guy, but a body of believers in Corinth. Very impactful and compelling.
Well, I have to mention just one more…the remix for Galatians…”Get Loose”…reminding us to pursue the Spirit and live out our liberty in Christ…Awesome!
p.s. I just noticed in their lyrics on the album cover, they give credit for the first verse of ‘Colossians’ to D.A.Carson! Woo-hoo! He’s my man. I hope you can check out some of his writings…’The gagging of God’, ‘Exegetical Fallacies’, and ‘From Sabbath to Lord’s Day’, along with all of his N.T. commentaries. Too cool that the rappers are checking his stuff out! God bless!
Oh yeah, the music is not the only focus of this album. If you read the lyrics on the CD sleeve, they list the chapter and verse for each line of the song, to let you connect it with the scriptures that inspired it. They have also put together a Bible study course available on their website, designed to get you into the Word and to profit spiritually from it. Awesome!
The album is produced by Reach records, and the website for the corresponding Bible studies is www.reachrecords.com. The curriculum is currently under development and should be available soon.
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06.29.07
Posted in Biblical Reflections, Theology, Controversy, In The News... at 5:06 pm by Pastor Bill
I read an excellent article about Hollywood’s complaining that Christians aren’t coming out to support their ‘Christian’ family oriented movies, like the recent “Evan Almighty”. You can view the article here. The author gave many of his ideas on why these movies aren’t supported by Christians. I would like to add a few of my own observations and ideas on this topic.
Although each movie must be based on its own merits or ‘de-merits’, it is clear that Hollywood doesn’t really understand Christians, nor do they respect us. They only see us as a means to increase their profit margin. That is the wrong basis on which to produce ‘Christian’ movies. A reason why I had no interest in seeing ‘Evan Almighty’, is because it is associated with their earlier movie, ‘Bruce Almighty’, which was full of incredibly blasphemous statements and actions which were antithetical to Biblical Christianity. Even the titles of these 2 ‘almighty’ productions smacks of blasphemy…there is none who is almighty except God himself. Even if the intent of the film was to show that Bruce and Evan aren’t almighty, the title implies otherwise and that is an affront to all honest believers.
Did I go to watch ‘Evan Almighty’? No, because what I saw on the commercial for the movie was enough to convince me that it would be a total waste of time, and would be disrespectful to God. I know I sound like a ’stick-in-the-mud’ prudish fundamentalist here, but there is a shocking and shameful loss of respect in our ‘Christian’ community today for God himself, and it has a deadening effect on God’s spiritual work among us. We have lost the proper sense of awe and fear of God. In the comercial for the movie, I saw the main actor who represents Moses, walk out of his house naked. Great Christian values there!
Other clues that Hollywood, in not understanding the Christian faith, produces ‘Christian’-themed movies that actually misrepresent Christianity and the Biblical message? 1) portraying conservative politicians as fighting against the will of God, by trying to destroy the environment. I obviously don’t vouch for all conservative politicians, but many of them are Christian and serve God in their positions. 2) The inane statements that ‘God is in everything’ is contrary to Scripture, but is the belief of non-Christian pagan pantheists, and is their grounds for the importance of ’saving the environment’, on which they place a higher value than human souls and life. Hollywood constantly portrays ‘Christians’ as being pantheists, and as being more absorbed with all the new-age spiritualism instead of the clear Biblical message that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone, through faith and by God’s grace. I don’t want to see “christian’-movies which misrepresent the beliefs of Christians! 3) The major theme of this movie is that ‘God is not primarily concerned with sin, salvation and redemption, but with encouraging us to perform random acts of kindness’. Come on! This is a total distortion of God himself and His interests. Yes God does want humans to be kind to each other (and to animals) but His primary major ‘concern’ is with the salvation of sinners (all of humanity). The death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection is not an act of random kindness, but is the determined plan of God to rescue us from sin and death. When they totally misrepresent the Christian message, why are they surprised when Christians won’t run to support their misguided and misleading productions?
Sorry Hollywood, true Christians will never support your flimsy excuses for Christian entertainment. You don’t know our message. You don’t respect our Savior. You blaspheme our God. You continually bash us in all of your other movies.
Please, start the show without us.
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05.16.07
Posted in Biblical Reflections, All, Theology, Controversy, In The News... at 2:18 pm by Pastor Bill
So many people in our world are confused about gender and the ‘proper’ roles and responsibilities of men and women. Some see great differences between the sexes, but the trend in our day is to deny any distinctions or differences of roles, labeling them as a product of society or culture.
What does God say about this? Does the Bible indicate that God has established various responsibilities and roles to male and female? He certainly does, from Genesis to Revelation, but unfortunately many well-meaning but “issue driven” religious people have ignored or distorted the scriptures to develop an egalitarian perspective on the sexes.
Fortunately, there is a great website dedicated to clearly explaining what the scriptures truly express on our God given roles and responsibilities. You can access them by clicking here or from the links section on the right of this page. They are the ‘Council on Biblical manhood and womanhood”. These godly men and women have waded through the issues and rightly apply scripture to the society in which we live today.
Make no mistake, these are not simple issues. We are constantly bombarded by the media and our culture to accept any and all forms of sexual expression. Our children are taught in school that there are no proper roles for men and women, and that there are no ’standard’ forms of families or relationships. We are told by sociologists and psychiatrists that our gender is not determined by our physical makeup, but by what we choose to be.
I encourage you to check out this excellent website that lovingly presents the Biblical model that God has established. I also encourage you to carefully examine the Bible passages that are used to present various view on these issues, and pray that God, by His Holy Spirit will give you wisdom and insight to comprehend how He has formed us and how He desires us to live in the relationships and roles that please Him.
God bless you in your journey!
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03.28.07
Posted in Biblical Reflections, All, Theology, Controversy, In The News... at 6:16 pm by Pastor Bill
This is the season when Christians all around the world remember and celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. The idea of the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the thrust and power of the Apostles sermons. Peter and Paul constantly forced their hearers to deal with the truth and implications of Jesus’ resurrection and subsequent functions of reigning and judging over all of mankind.
Our society, as well as that of Jesus’ day, holds little regard for the claims of resurrection and life after death. But this is still our message, that our Savior lives and reigns, and that eternal life comes only through faith in our risen Lord. To get an idea of our generation’s rebellion against the message of the Bible, read this article from the London Times which reports the Popes pronouncement that Hell is real, but also hit the link below the article to read the vitriolic comments by responders to the article…it is sad and disturbing to see how Satan continues to deceive and mislead people away from the truth.
For those of us who truly know God through His Son, the resurrection of Christ is our foundation for hope, our inspiration for the future, our message of eternal life for all who will come and receive the free gift of salvation.
Rejoice in the knowledge of your salvation and future glorification! “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” 1 Cor.15:45,49 (ESV) “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Rev.1:17b-18 (ESV)
HE LIVES!
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01.23.07
Posted in Biblical Reflections, All, Theology, Controversy, In The News... at 8:40 pm by Pastor Bill
Please let me begin by stating that I am not coming down on other preachers from a ‘holier than thou’ position, or trying to be legalistic about this. But I have some honest questions, and a lack of understanding how profanity used in the course of a sermon can be God honoring and an example of godly self-control that we pastors are supposed to model to the flock.
You may be aware of John Piper’s use of the phrase ’sometimes God kicks our a**’ in one of his conferences recently. He has issued a ‘kinda’ apology for it, which you can read here…but this is not the first time he has cursed from the pulpit. He mentions his tendency to do that in his apology letter. So why has it suddenly become ‘hip’ or ‘cool’ to use profanity from the pulpit to try to make your point? Does profanity exude the image of being ‘with it’ or ‘relational’ to our generation?
There is another preacher of old that I have been enjoying reading and listening to lately, Len Ravenhill. His sermons are fiery and confrontational to pastors and believers that have become worldly and left their first love. He calls us back to revival and total commitment to our Lord and Savior. But just recently in a great sermon on Psalm 51, while confronting the false belief that we can live any way we like and still expect to be welcomed warmly by our savior, he told the audience to ‘go to hell’. I’m not sure if he was saying that this would be the natural consequence of a false profession, or if he was pronouncing a curse on those deceived hearers. It was a shock to me to hear him say that but he definitely was not doing it to play up to the crowd, like Piper admits he was.
Why am I making a big deal out of this? I ask myself the trite question…’what would Jesus do?’. And if his words in the scriptures are any indication, along with his personal example, I believe that if I were to resort to this kind of coarse language, at home, in front of my children or coworkers, or in the pulpit, I would be shaming Him and hurting the testimony of His church.
Ephesians 5:4 ‘let there be no filthiness or foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving…’
Tell me, what do YOU think??????
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11.21.06
Posted in Biblical Reflections, All, In The News... at 3:08 pm by Pastor Bill
Now that our national holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us, perhaps a little reflection is in order. Contrary to what you may have learned in the public school system or heard on the television or radio, our Thanksgiving celebration is NOT a secular holiday. Do a little research for yourself and learn why our pilgrims began this day of ‘giving thanks to our sovereign creator and benefactor’. Hint…they were not thanking the indians for taking care of them, they were expressing their thanks and gratitude to God for taking care of them. Read the original writings and proclamations of the individuals who were at that first celebration, instead of reading the musings of historical reconstructionalists.
Now that that is out of the way, the question is why? Why should we give thanks anyway? Who should we thank for what we have worked hard to achieve or acquire?
The practice of giving thanks is a purely ‘natural’ response when we take off our blinders and see reality. That is, when we see life from God’s perspective. Gratitude comes from knowing the truth…truth about how and why we are blessed. Ingratitude comes from a self-ish worldview.
God tells us in his word why we should give thanks…Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…James 1:17. We must give thanks because everything that we have is from God, not from ourselves. We must also give thanks because ingratitude is sin. We are told in Romans 1:21 that a departure from God’s way showed up as …”For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
To acquire the proper perspective on thanksgiving, it is helpful to go to the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. The psalmists were adept at expressing their gratitude, and the reasons for their gratitude to God. See Psalm 136 which begins with “Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” and there is a repeating phrase throughout the psalm following each reason to be thankful which states “His love endures forever”. THAT is a great reason to give your thanks to the Lord!
The ultimate reality is understanding that you can have all the good things that this life has to offer, yet if you do not have peace with God through Jesus Christ the Savior, you do not have anything of value or true worth. God’s greatest gift to us is redemption and salvation, which he freely gives through his son. As believers, we MUST be constantly thanking God for his reconciling us to himself through Christ’s death and resurrection.
If you are having a hard time being grateful this week, I encourage you to take some time to read and meditate on Psalm 136, and then bow your heart to the Lord in agreement with the Psalmist’s closing words, “Give thanks to the God of heaven, His love endures forever!”
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09.20.06
Posted in Biblical Reflections, All, Theology at 6:10 pm by Pastor Bill
As I looked at the date of my last post, I was amazed to see that over 2 weeks had passed, instead of the few days that it seemed it should have been. What happened during those last couple of weeks? A family vacation, pre-vacation planning and hecticness (is that a word?) and several hospital visits to some of our church members who have had phyiscal problems lately. The last few weeks were a blur, not to mention that it is Autumn already, and I wonder where the first 8 months of the year went. Life has a penchant for passing us by all too quickly. Perhaps that is what the Psalmist meant when he wrote “So teach us to number our days, that we might apply our hearts to wisdom.”..Psalm 90:12. The writer of Ecclesiastes bemoaned the fact that too often our life passes by without our accomplishing anything lasting or meaningful. Too many people spend all their time working for and accumulating things that they will soon die and leave to someone else. What has your life profited you? What has your life accomplished for the glory of God? What have you done that will last after you die and be an eternal benefit to others?
Ecclesiastes gives us the truth that in living for the here and now, we waste our lives and endanger our souls. The only life that lasts is one that is lived to the glory of God, one that is spent not for our own goals and dreams, but lived to serve Christ. The only way we can serve him is to be first saved by him, saved from sin and eternal death.
It is good to go to funerals and spend time walking through graveyards, reading the dates on the tombstones. It reminds us that soon we will be where they are, no longer among the living. Our destiny is determined by whether we choose Christ, or self.
Take some time to meditate upon your mortality before life passes you by, and evaluate what and who you are living for. Jesus asks you, “what will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”. How will YOU answer Him?
If you have questions about your spiritual relationship with God, please email me at hpbcrillo (at) yahoo (dot) com. I would love to spend some time sharing what God has told us about himself and about our need in His word.
JESUS…DON’T LEAVE THIS WORLD WITHOUT HIM!
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09.05.06
Posted in Biblical Reflections, Theology, In The News... at 10:25 pm by Pastor Bill
You may have seen the article about Billy Graham in the August 14 edition of Newsweek magazine. The author focused on how Mr. Graham was handling the ageing process, and if He had changed any of his youthful views about God, the bible and mankind. From Mr. Grahams remarks, you would think that he is now wavering on the biblical truth that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven. Fortunately the magazine printed his followup statements in a later edition where he held to the biblical truth.
The interesting part of his statements were in regard to what he would do differently in his life if he had it to do over again. He, the best known evangelist of our lifetime said…”he would spend more time immersed in Scripture and theology.” As an accomplished evangelist and fearless proclaimer of the gospel, he realizes that he would be better off and have a stronger faith in God if he spent more time studying the Bible, and mining the depths of scriptural theology.
If Billy Graham needs to spend more time studying scripture and learning biblicly correct theology, what does that say about you and me?
Our nation would be a better place to live, and our neighbors better influenced for God by us, if we would truly know what the Bible teaches, and truly know and understand the God of the Bible. I don’t know about you, but I plan on not having to confess my lack of skill in the scriptures, and my inaccurate handling of them when I look back on my life.
Knowing the Word of God, yielding to the Word, and living the Word…through the cross of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit…Let’s press on towards the goal of our calling as believers! Psalm 199:105…Thy WORD have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
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06.06.06
Posted in Biblical Reflections, Church Events at 3:08 pm by Pastor Bill
For any church that has been around for many years, change is common. Churches change locations, pastors, names, themes, and sometimes theology. Hyde Park Baptist Church in Cincinnati Ohio, has seen many changes during our long history. Since this is our 216th anniversary of our church, we recognize our many changes. I have lost count of how many different pastors we have had, we are in our 4th different location, our 5th different building, but still we are the same church. Our emphasis has changed many times over the years. We began in 1790 as a solidly calvinistic body of believers. During the late 1800’s and 1900’s the emphasis turned to a social gospel common to the American Baptist Convention. Fortunately, during the past several years we have returned to the emphasis of the Word of God. We acknowledge and find comfort in the authority of scripture. We trust God’s sovereign hand as He guides all things according to His will. We share our faith in Christ with others, trusting that many will respond to God’s invitation to salvation. It is a great time to be part of this local fellowship where we can be nurtured and loved in the Word of God, and built up and encouraged by our co-believers in Christ! What is keeping us going? It is loving and living the precious Word- the Bible. Psalm 1 describes the person who is strengthened by the Word, but I believe that it also applies to churches. “Our delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His Law we meditate day and night. We will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields our fruit in season and whose leaf does not prosper. Whatever we do will prosper.”
Yes, I have applied these verses to our church, and to any church which is built upon and sustained by the living, powerful Word of God. We do not know what will transpire in the coming days and years, but we do know that our trust will not fail us, for we trust the unfailing word of the unfailing God. I hope you are trusting in Him also, and encourage you to commit yourself to being strengthened for life by daily refreshing yourself in the river of living water!
If you find yourself in Cincinnati, please look us up and join us in our Worship of our Lord and Savior- Jesus Christ!
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