Cerinthus

Theological Terminology

Cerinthus was a gnostic teacher in the last days of John the Apostle. Cerinthus taught that God did not create the world and he denied the divinity of Jesus. He taught that Jesus was a man who at His baptism was empowered by the "Christ" which guided Him in His earthly ministry. Then merfe moments before the death of Jesus on the cross, the "Christ" left Him leaving a mere mortal man to die. Cerinthus took mysticism and Christian doctrine and mixed them together in an attempt to destroy biblical doctrine. The heresies of Cerinthus can be detected in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and Mormonism.

Cerinthus was a contemporary of John the Baptist who wrote his first letter to churches in Asia that he was responsible for while living in Ephesus and his second letter to warn the less mature in their Christian faith and doctrine about the false teaching being circulated.

Tradition tells the story of the fervor of John's opposition to Cerinthus when John discovered Cerinthus in the same public bath house as John causing John to run out of the bath house yelling, "Let us fly, that the thermae (steam) fall not on our heads, since Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is therein."

The benefit and blessing of Cerinthus to the church was that it caused the early church to wrestle with and define the character and nature of Jesus Christ. It also resulted in John the Apostle defining the character of God as involved in the redemption of sinners. What a wonderful scheme of God to allow a heretic such as Cerinthus to rise up and challenge the teachings of Jesus in order to inspire John to write an epistle that clearly delineated God's plan of redemption.

What is the Mission of the Church?

"And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20, NKJV)

A mission statement is a formal, yet short written statement of the purpose of a company or an organization. The mission statement guides the actions and activities of the organization by delineating the immediate goal of the company or organization which serves to govern the decision-making process of the organization. "It (mission statement) provides the framework or context within which the company's strategies are formulated." [1]

Historically the mission statement, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, was associated with Christian or religious groups. The OED gives the example that a "missionary" was assumed to be a person a specific religious mission. [2]

What is the mission of the Church? What statement, while formal and short, serves as the purpose, or reason for the existence of the Church? Does the Church need a mission statement?

First, let me say I am not talking about individual, local churches. Many local churches do not have a mission statement thought out and developed by the leadership of the church. With no definitive and written out mission statement to govern the church's decision making process, several things become apparent. First, the members of such churches do not know why the church exists and what is its primary objective. Second, decisions are often made that are counter-productive to the "perceived" mission of the church. Soon the church is seemingly traveling in a number of directions leaving confusion and very little accomplishments in its wake. Third, churches take on a "mission" statement by practice that is usually at odds with the actual mission given in the Scriptures.

Second, let me also say that the over-arching mission of any individual and church is to glorify God. Our duty or responsibility as believers and churches is to make known the magnificent, glorious, and marvelous character of the living God. (Isaiah 46, I Corinthians 10:31)

Third, let me say, that God has chosen to glorify Himself, or to magnify and make know His glorious character by redeeming a company of believers, adopting them as His own, indwelling them by means of the Holy Spirit, gifting them with a spiritual gift, and charging them to make known His character to the entire world, i. e. every tongue, tribe, nation, and peoples.

Initially God revealed His glorious character of Himself to Adam and Eve. After the fall, He made His character known through anthropomorphic expressions of Himself in a pre-incarnate form. He chose to reveal His nature and character through the nation of Israel. In keeping with His eternal decrees and secret purposes, God continues to reveal His glorious character throughout the Church which began on the Day of Pentecost.

The church has a holy calling and responsibility of revealing the nature and character of the living God to every   tribe, every tongue or language group, and every nation on this earth. I do not see anywhere in the Scriptures, either Old or New Testaments that state that this holy calling and mission requires that the good news of the gospel and/or God's glorious character be revealed to every living human being. God has never stated that He intended to reveal Himself to every living human being, but to people "..out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation..." (Revelation 5:9)

What then, is the mission statement for the Church? What statement, derived from Scripture governs the purpose and reason for the existence of the Church which is represented visibly and locally by individual and  local churches? What becomes the filter through which every decision, plan, program, goal, or ministry is governed by? We call it the "Great Commission." We find it in the last paragraph of Matthew 28.

Each local and individual church is charged with the responsibility of making disciples. Notice this is the main verb in this paragraph. "Go" is not the main verb. Go is a participle or supporting verb. The main verb tells us that our commission is to make disciples, the participles or supporting verbs going, baptizing, and teaching tell us what is entailed in making disciples. The word "Go" is not a command or call for a few people called "missionaries" to go, it is a participle that actually says "going, "or "as you are going," "while you are going" - make disciples. In your everyday life, as you conduct business, raise a family, build a home, develop a career, recreate...make disciples.

This is why churches peak and then begin to "die" at some point of their existence. Open the phone book, read newspaper ads, website slogans, or bulletin tag-lines and you can see how this mission statement has been replaced by everything and anything. You can read things like,"The fastest growing church, the friendliest church, the church where you are comfortable, the church where you can be yourself, the church that feels like home, the cutting edge church, the hippest church," and on and on and on it goes. These churches make decisions, develop programs, and pursue the latest fad in hopes of growing. These churches usually "feed" on the disgruntled church member, the consumer-oriented church member, the church-hopping member, or the disconnected church member in order to fuel their numbers.

What are we told in Matthew 28? The mission of the church is to make disciples. The Holy Spirit opens the heart of a lost individual when the gospel is preached and regenerates a repentant sinner. This newly saved individual is baptized. Then, the work of discipleship continues! The church is told to teach these new believers to τηρεω (tay-reh’-o), "to keep, to preserve, to hold fast to, or to observe" all the things that Jesus taught. This is dicipleship. Evangelism or sharing the gospel is only part of the entire equation.

There is nothing wrong with being a friendly, fast growing, welcoming, homey, hip, and whatever local church as long as the mission is not replaced by this desire. I would want people to think of the church that I shared leadership in was friendly and outgoing. I, also, want them to know that the over-arching thrust of our church is to make disciples. Families within our churches extend and give longevity to their blood-lines by having children. They raise these children in order to one day raise children of their own. Churches perpetuate their spiritual longevity by continuing to make disciples.

Look back to some of the greatest churches in history - the Jerusalem Church, the Church in Antioch, the Ephesian Church, where are they? Gone. Why? They left their first love and when they did they failed to continue to adhere to their mission statement. In other words, they failed to continue to make disciples. Your church may be 20 minutes old, 200 years old, or anywhere in between, but if it doesn't adhere to the mission statement in Matthew 28:18-20, it will eventually spiritually peak, and then begin to decay and die. In some cases a mere shell exists because someone refuses to give up and shut the door.

What is the written mission statement of your local church that serves as a filter or governor of every decision, program, or goal decided by the leadership?


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[1]  ^ Hill, Ch., Jones, G. Strategic Management. Houghton Mifflin Company: New York, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-618-89469-7, page 11
[2]  ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mission

Are Muslims the Enemy?

Most Americans support congressional probe on Muslims

Many Americans are not aware that there are congressional hearings on what is called the radicalization of United States Muslims coming soon. Yet, surprisingly, more than half who have heard about these hearings are in favor of them. Many Americans surveyed believe that United States Muslims have not done enough to fight the extreme or radical activities and members of their own people.

Sixty-two percent of Americans think that Muslims are an important part of the American "religious community." Seventy-two percent surveyed believe that Congress should investigate any religious extremism in any religion including the Muslim community.

Peter Gottschalk, co-author of Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy summarized these statistics as reflections on recent waves of anti-Muslim rhetoric. This anti-Muslim feeling is expressed in the news surrounding the burning of Korans and the opposition to the building of Mosques in this country.

Gottschalk says, "The Muslim community has been fairly successful at demonstrating themselves as neighbors, but the question becomes are they good neighbors?" He also makes this thought provoking statement, "There's a double standard that Muslims are responsible for extremism by people who happen to be Muslim, but all Christians aren't responsible for abortion clinic bombers or the KKK."

      -- Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans haven’t heard anything about the upcoming hearings to investigate U.S. Muslim extremism.

-- A majority (56 percent) believes that a hearing on American Muslim extremism is a good idea, including most Republicans (71 percent), people who trust Fox News (76 percent), and white evangelicals (70 percent). The hearings find less support among Democrats (45 percent), people who trust CNN (45 percent) or public television (28 percent), and white mainline Protestants (50 percent).

-- Nearly half (49 percent) of Americans do not believe Muslims in the U.S. have been unfairly targeted by law enforcement; more than one-third (36 percent) believe Muslims have been targeted unfairly.

-- One in five (22 percent) Americans believes U.S. Muslims want to establish Shariah law here. This view is far more common among Republicans (31 percent) than Democrats (15 percent), people who trust Fox News (35 percent) than those who trust public television (9 percent), and white evangelicals (34 percent) than white mainline Protestants (20 percent) or white Catholics (22 percent).

What do you think?
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This post does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Gospel-driven Disciples or myself. It is offered to garner your opinions on a topic that has forced itself into the limelight of both government and Christianity.

Spurgeon on humility...

Introduction to the 

Parables of Jesus
(Part II)

"All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: 'I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.'" (Matthew 13:34-35, ESV)

Blast from the Past II

This is the First Baptist Church in Herlong, CA. It is a congregation of black worshippers. It is an "integrated" church where all are invited to worship. When we were living in Herlong it was almost all black congregants. In a small town, population 1,000, one becomes friends with everyone. The Christian population was certainly  familiar and friendly with one another.

One day I was asked by the pastor of this church to speak in their morning worship service. I never had so much fun in church. The choir was right up my alley - real down home gospel music. The best thing to me is it seems the Holy Spirit missed the "No Overtime Without Authorization" memo. You know the memo that says church has to stop at Noon on the button because the Holy Spirit has gone home? Not this church, it's morning worship was about 3 or 4 hours in length. I got to speak for a hour and then we took a break and went back inside and I got to speak again. That was one of the few times I actually finished a complete message.

It was a real joy to stumble across this photo on Google Images.

Barnabas – The Son of Consolation

"Friday's Features" 

 Segments of Christian Testimony

Fridays we will take a look at various men and women who have been used by God to shape Christian thought, theology, and teachings. These men and women have had a major impact on Christianity. Here we will attempt to honor them. We hope to expose you to leading Church Fathers, martyrs, pioneers, pastors and teachers of both the past and present.

Barnabas – The Son of Consolation

I think it is only fitting that we begin with Barnabas. Many might suggest we begin with Jesus or one of the disciples. Some might argue that we should begin somewhere in the Old Testament, perhaps with Moses or Adam, or even Abraham. I want to begin here.

Barnabas is the first intimate companion and friend recorded in Scripture of the Apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit did not reveal to us who now read the Bible of any other individual who impacted Paul as Barnabas did.

Paul and Barnabas may have known each other prior to either one of them having become Christians. Barnabas was from Cyprus and Paul was from Cilicia. These two provinces were very close to each other and there was a great deal of commercial trade between these two regions. Secondly, both Paul and Barnabas were of descents of Israel. Living close by and with the habits of the “elite” seeking one another out, it is possible that they had previously met.

There are only a few short references in the New Testament to Barnabas which enables us to form a short biographical snapshot of this wonderful man. It is interesting to note as Howson did, that at least two of these references exhibit his strengths and at least two of these passages exhibit his weaknesses.

First, Barnabas seemed to be a generous man. Acts 4:36-37 records,  

“Thus Joseph, who was also called Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

It may have been this generous spirit that led Barnabas to give of himself in such a manner as to become known as one who always encourages others.

Second, Barnabas was a peace-maker. (Acts 9) When Paul wanted to come and fellowship with believers in Jerusalem after his conversion, the disciples were afraid of him and rejected him. After all, it was just a short while ago that he had been arresting and persecuting believers. Barnabas brought Paul to the apostles and explained that Paul had been converted and was now preaching the gospel that he had been destroying. This introduction and testimony allowed Paul to fellowship with the believers in the city of Jerusalem.

This was a tremendous event in the life of the fledgling church. Not only would Paul have suffered spiritually but it could have done great harm to the church by allowing a division or separation to exist.

Third, Barnabas was wise. News came to the church at Jerusalem that the gospel had been preached, with great success, to the gentiles in northern Syria, particularly in Antioch. The leadership in Jerusalem chose Barnabas as the best man to go to Antioch and see what was up. Upon arrival and inspection Barnabas saw the extension of the grace of God and he was very happy. Again, division or schism was avoided and the Gentiles were considered part of this new movement of the gospel.

Barnabas searched for Paul, found him, and brought him to Antioch. There Paul stayed and ministered to the church for a year or so. Remember it was in this church at Antioch that the adherent of Christ came to be known as “Christians.” This term was given to them by the Romans as a term of insult for their “devotion” to the crucified man named Chrestus (Latin) Christos (Greek).

Fourth, Barnabas was stubborn. You remember from Acts 13, that Paul and Barnabas had been specially commissioned and sent on what we now call the first missionary journey? This trip was marred by the fact that John Mark, Barnabas’s cousin quit the enterprise and returned home. This stuck with Paul for quite some time. When the time came to make a second trip and check up on the churches, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark again. Paul said no. In essence, Paul thought, he quit once, he will quit again. Two old friends, still human and in the flesh, stubborn and steadfast in their own positions broke up the party and went separate ways.

Many think this a positive thing. Baptists like to joke about it as it describes the means to their church planting pattern: church splits. Others see two groups now preaching the gospel. I think it was tragic and wrong. I do think God overruled these two stubborn men and His will was worked out perfectly.  I think it was wrong for four reasons: 

• John Mark was denied an opportunity of proving himself changed to the man he had offended. (He did prove himself to Peter and eventually to Paul) 

• Paul robbed himself of an opportunity to forgive, and gently disciple this young man in a tremendous helper. 

• It brought shame and disgrace (however short-lived and overruled by God for His glory) upon the unity of Christianity 

• Barnabas sails to Cyprus and out of the New Testament. We never hear about Barnabas again. 

Fifth, Barnabas was weak. (Galatians 2) Now, don’t get huffy, we are all weak as long as we are in this flesh. Thank God the Holy Spirit included the strengths and weaknesses of men like Paul and Barnabas or we would think that Godly men and women were superhuman.

Paul met up with Barnabas once again in Antioch. While there Peter came down from Jerusalem to check out what was going on. At lunch one day Paul, Peter, Barnabas, and some Jews were eating with some Gentile church members when some men from the Jerusalem church showed up. Peter, forgetting the work accomplished by Christ reverted back to his Jewish teaching and jumped up and distanced himself from the Gentiles. This led to others including dear Barnabas to do the same. This would have created a division and schism in the church. Paul immediately took charge and rebuked Peter and Barnabas for such hypocritical and cowardly behavior.

Regardless of Barnabas strengths and his faults he was a tremendous man and great influence in the life of the Apostle Paul. Barnabas was a sinner saved by grace.

He was generous and he attempted to increase the happiness and comfort of all those around him. He established a friendship with a notorious persecutor of Gods’ people and wisely recognized in him the work of God. Barnabas was truly the Son of Comfort.

Acts 4:36-37; 11:39; 22:3

Philippians 3:5

Acts 9:26

Acts 9:1-2, 22:4

Acts 11:22, 26, 30; 13:4, 13, 14:12, 15; 15:31; 36-40

I Corinthians 13:6

Galatians 1:22-24

Matthew 20:27

I Timothy 5:8

II Timothy 4:11

Colossians 4:10

Galatians 2:11

I Corinthians 10:33