Only HOLD ON to What You Have!

Good Morning, Fellow Bloggers!

This post is my second attempt at writing to you today. The first one ended as I had just completed a rather "substantial" piece in Microsoft Word . . . which crashed. The "autosave" did not auto save, so I lost the entire document. [Now, why did the Lord let that happen? I thought it was pretty good. Perhaps the Lord had a different evaluation]. I was ready to "throw in the towel," reasoning, "this is my day off, I am not feeling well, I deserve a break today," etc., etc. [No one else ever comes to my pity parties, so, I usually recover rather quickly].

Besides, my day started very early this morning . . . well before the sun came up. [It's now close to noon, and I am still not sure it ever did come up]. I had set my alarm for my usual wake-up time, so I could check out the weather forecast on 1011 news. It was worse than I thought it was going to be. Due to a very dense fog [that, so far, has hung around all morning], the visibility was down to about a quarter mile, and in some places, almost down to zero. I told Win that I would be happy to take her to work today in downtown Lincoln, and return to bring her home later in the afternoon. We left earlier than normal, and arrived at the junction of 77 and the I-80 with plenty of extra time. Since neither one of us had eaten breakfast, I asked Win if she would like to stop at Cracker Barrel first. She was "all over it!" When we pulled up to the restaurant, however, we were immediately aware of the fact that our vehicle was the only one in the entire parking lot. We weren't even sure it was open. But we soon discovered, much to our delight, that it was indeed open, and that we the only patrons in the entire place. We had the entire center dining room all to ourselves - our table located up close to a wonderful roaring fire in their massive stone fireplace. After breakfast, while enjoying the sounds of snap, crackle and pop emanating from the scorched wood in the fireplace, and slowly sipping a fresh, hot refill of coffee, the Lord brought a phrase to mind that I had not thought of in some time. It was one of the favorite sayings of one of my favorite profs at Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Howie Hendricks. If I've heard him say it once, I have actually probably heard him say it a dozen times or more: "If there is a mist in the pulpit, there will probably be a fog in the pew." I.e., if the preacher has an unclear message, then the people will not have a clue what action to take, or what direction to go. They will be metaphorically, as we were literally earlier this morning, in a deep, dark, dense fog.

As I rehearsed those thoughts on my way home this morning, I could not help but think: That was essentially a huge part of the problem in the first-century church gathered in the city of Thyatira - the fourth church of seven that were addressed by our Lord in His seven letters to seven churches in seven cities, and recorded for us by the Apostle John in Revelation 2-3. The Thyatiran Christians had a huge problem in their pulpit. Basically, it had been usurped by a woman who was a self-proclaimed spokesperson for God. She actually referred to herself as a "prophetess."  But, because she was so wicked, Jesus nick-named her "Jezebel." It was not [nor has it ever been since then] a very flattering name for a woman - but it was very accurate and appropriate. She insisted that she had received personal, direct messages from God that would enable her followers to go "deeper" with God. But Jesus made it clear that she was only leading her followers down a dangerous, deadly path by knowing "the depths of Satan" [Rev. 2:24]. In order to combat this false teacher and her reprehensible teaching, Jesus strongly admonished the faithful believers in that church, "But hold fast what you have till I come" [Rev. 2:25]. I believe that is His Word to us today well.

So, WHAT did they have? And, what do we have? The Bible is very clear. The Apostle Paul told his young protege, Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of . . . how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3: 14-17). “Timothy,” he said, “what you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching” (2 Timothy 1: 13). And, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). ONLY HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU HAVE!

In the words of a Sunday School song that Win and I both learned when we were children, and then passed on to our sons when they were young: "The B-I-B-L-E, yes, that's the Book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!"

Listen, my dear blogging friends: God never intended for His church to exist in some sort of mystical fog. He has revealed His will CLEARLY in His Word. He has spoken, and He has not stuttered [That may be another Hendricks phrase, I think]. I believe with all my heart that the best way to loosen the vice-like grip that this satanic deception has ON the church, is through sound doctrine which comes through careful, prayerful, thoughtful Biblical exposition IN the church.

If you are interested, you can listen to the sermon "I've a Message from the Lord" [an exposition of Rev. 2:18-29] online at http://sermon.net/PastorJoeLombardi.

Have a BLESSED day and HOLD ON to what you have!

His grace STILL amazes me,

Joe [Bro Joe, Pastor Joe, Pasta Joe, PJ, Mr. L, etc., etc.]