Driving Home In The Rain

             As I was walking out of the church building after services last Wednesday night, it started to drizzle.  And, in the thirty yards from the front door to my car door, it was pouring down torrential rain.  So, I got in the car, buckled myself in, started the car up, and took off for home.  I have to admit, I was eager to get home.  Not only had I been at the building all day, but my little boy was home sick with a cold and I really wanted to see him.  I was also thinking about how we were going to leave for Kentucky the next day and all the things I would have to do to get ready for that.  Well, by the time I got to the end of the church’s driveway, my windshield wipers going at top speed, making a ridiculous racket; huge droplets of rain were pummeling my car, sounding like a thrash drummer was performing on the roof of my car.  Now, I hate driving in the rain; it makes me nervous.  So, I turned on the stereo to make some of the noise enjoyable.  This, of course, was the moment that the phone rang.  And, while I was talking to the person on the other end of the line, over all of the commotion, I heard my stomach growl.  I got about a mile down the road when I just said, “This is ridiculous.”  So, I told the person on the phone that I had to go, I turned off the stereo and, despite all the other noises, I put all other thoughts out of my head and concentrated on getting home.  And, about twenty minutes later, as the rain was stopping, I pulled into my driveway.

            Now, why did I tell you all of that?  It wasn’t to fill space or to tell a somewhat amusing story.  Rather, it was to illustrate a very important point.

            While we all have physical homes here on earth, where we long to be at the end of the day, there is a greater Home awaiting us at the end of the day of our lives.  That Home is Heaven.  When Jesus ascended back into Heaven, He fulfilled His promise to His disciples to prepare a place for them in His Father’s House (John 14:2).  This is what God Himself has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:7-9).  This is the true Home of all who have called on His name with thanksgiving and who have become His saints through faith-filled baptism (Acts 2; Philippians 3:20-21).  This Home is a place of beauty and of peace (Revelation 21-22).  And, while our earthly homes age and decay, our heavenly Home never will (2 Corinthians 5:1).  This is the Home we desire (Hebrews 11:16).  This is the Home we seek (Hebrews 13:14) and faithfully march towards every day (Philippians 3:12-16).

            And, while this is the case, on our way Home, there are many distractions.  We can be distracted by a number of things like what’s going on in the political world or the weather or what’s happening in the wild world of sports.  We can be distracted by our failing health or the failing health of a loved one.  We most certainly can be distracted by financial issues.  Really, anything can be a distraction, making it more difficult for us to get Home safely.

            Well, when we are faced with distractions, what should we do?  First, we need to realize that things are distracting us (Mark 4:18-19).  Second, we need to refocus on our goal, Heaven (Hebrews 11:9-10, 14-16).  And, third, we need to get rid of every distraction that we can (Hebrews 12:1-2).  I understand that it is simple to say for us to do these things, but going Home really will be easier if we do these things.  So, let us walk the narrow way Home, joyfully encouraging one another to do these things as we go.

~Curtis Carwile

Sight

I would like to begin this article by thanking the Manslick Road Church of Christ for inviting me to come and do the adult class for their annual vacation Bible school.  We had great participation from the adults as well as the kids all week long.  I hope that a lot of good will come out of the work done last week.  I know it will.  I would also like to thank the congregation here at Northwest for allowing me the time to go and do that.  I am thankful to Chris for stepping up and taking my place last week.  It is such a blessing for a congregation to have not just men capable of doing the work, but men willing to do the work.  Praise the Lord for men like that!  I am very thankful for a number of things from last week.  And, with that said, I would like to share one more of those things with you.

            It was about a quarter until 10AM last Friday when a man walked into the auditorium where we were about to do the last adult class for the week.  I immediately noticed that a man (who turned out to be his brother) was leading him through the building to their seats.  I didn’t notice the gigantic black seeing-eye dog until a little later.  They took their seats right in front of the podium I would be using and we started talking.  In that short conversation, I believe that I learned more about real faith than in a lifetime of study.  Even though he couldn’t see it, I cried at how beautiful his faith was.

            His name was Dave.  He was in his late forties or early fifties.  He had lost his sight in an accident several years ago.  He didn’t say much more about how he lost his sight, but he said some things related to it that just blew my mind.

            One thing he said to me was that losing his sight was one of the best things that could have ever happened to him.  I don’t know, maybe he sensed my skepticism, but he continued to tell me why it was such a blessing.  He told me that, since he lost his sight, he realized that he never has to worry about the “lust of the eyes” (1 John 2:15-17) anymore.  He told me that this was a huge struggle for him throughout his life and that he was so very thankful that the Lord took that struggle away from him.

            Another thing he said to me was that, since losing his sight, he has met people who he would never have met otherwise, people who were in similar situations both physically and spiritually.  As such, he was able to tell them about Jesus, about the One who had the power to make lame men walk, make the blind to see, and to even raise the dead to life everlasting (Matthew 11:5; 15:31).  And, as a result of that, several of them have come to church with him on a regular basis.

            One final thing of which I will relate to you is this: right before class started and our conversation ended, he said something that made me tear up.  He told me with tears in his own blind eyes that he was excited that the next thing he would see would be the Lord God Almighty welcoming him home.

            Friends, THIS is REAL faith!  REAL faith understands things beyond the physical world (Hebrews 11:1-3).  REAL faith causes a person to walk by their faith and not by their sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  REAL faith brings other people to Jesus’ healing hands (Matthew 9:27-31).  REAL faith allows a person to hear those beautiful words spoken by the Lord in the Last Great Day: “Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

            How beautiful it is to see faith like this!  Let us all strive for a similar type faith!

~Curtis Carwile

Three Types of Sin

            By my estimation, there are three types of sins.  No, I am not talking about those discussed by John in First John 2:15-17 (i.e., the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life).  No, I am talking about a different three.

            The first type of sin I’m talking about is the type of sin we most often think about as being sin: rebellious sin.  This is where a person says, “You know, God, I know that You have told me to do this or not to do that, but I’m going to do what I want to do and that’s that.”  This is what Eve did in the Garden (Genesis 3:1-6).  This is what Nadab and Abihu did at Mount Sinai (Leviticus 10:1-3).  This is what all Israel did in the Wilderness (Numbers 13-14).  They knew the will of God and did something else.  And, so often, people are guilty of this sin.  We say, “God, I know You don’t want me to drink any amount of alcohol, but I’m going to do it any way” (1 Peter 4:1-7).  We say, “God, I know that You don’t want me to engage in any form of fornication or even to lust after a woman, but she is just so good-looking” (Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:28).  We say, “God, I know You tell me to love my brother/neighbor and forgive him, but You just don’t know what he has done to me.  So, I’m not going to do it” (Romans 12:10; Luke 10:25-37; Ephesians 4:32).  We know that things like this are sin and deserving of everlasting punishment (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8; Matthew 25:41).  But, there are two other types of sin to go along with this one.

            Another type of sin is accidental sin.  What I mean by that is this: a person is going about their daily business and rather carelessly falls into sin.  This is what happened with Uzzah when he touched the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:6-7).  He knew that he wasn’t supposed to touch it, but it was a knee-jerk reaction to stable the Ark.  Some people might argue that it wasn’t sin, but God called it an irreverent error; it was just as much of a sin as if he had intended to touch it because it violated God’s Law.  It is interesting that the Old Law even made this point, that an unintentional sin was still a sin and that the sinner was in need to the Lord’s forgiveness (Leviticus 4-5; Numbers 15).  And, how many people are guilty of this today?  An example of this in today’s life would be something like stubbing your toe in the middle of the night and accidentally letting a curse word come out of your mouth (Ephesians 4:29).  Another example would be speeding when you don’t exactly know what the speed limit is (Romans 13:1-7).  And, another example would be a man going to the store for milk and noticing an attractive young woman and then realizing that he has lusted in his heart (Matthew 5:28).  In none of these examples do people set out to sin; it was never their intention to sin.  But, they did.  And, each one is just as much of a sin as if they had intended to sin.

            And, a third type of sin is the sin that we don’t even know is a sin.  This is one of the many sins Judah was guilty of at the beginning of Josiah’s reign (2 Chronicles 34-35).  They people were sinning in various ways, but one way they were sinning was in not keeping proper Temple worship.  And, when Josiah learned of this sin for reading the Law for the first time, he tore his clothes because he knew that they had been sinning.  The same could be said today for those who are trying to worship God, but in ways in which they shouldn’t.  For example, many people are ignorant of the fact that God wants them to partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week (Acts 20:6-7).  Also, many people are ignorant of the fact that the only way for the local congregation to receive funds is through the freewill offering of the saints on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9).  And, many people are ignorant of the fact that God wants us to sing praises to Him with our heart (Ephesians 5:19).  And, because people are ignorant of the Lord’s will, they take the Lord’s Supper only once or twice a year and they raise funds through raffles and bazaars and they “worship” with mechanical instruments.  All of these things are sin, regardless of a person’s ignorance of God’s will, and are just as deserving of punishment as accidental and rebellious sins are (Ezekiel 18:20).

            Sin is sin regardless of whether you intended to cross the line or not, regardless of whether you even knew there was a line or not.  Therefore, let us know the will of the Lord (Ephesians 5:15-17), let us always be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8), and let us always humbly submit our will to His (James 4:7-10).  May the Almighty and All-Wise God aid us in our endeavor to “perfect holiness” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

~Curtis Carwile

Salvation Through The Church?

            I was reading the article the other day about something the new pope had said.  In a statement, Pope Francis made the point that atheists are capable of doing something good.  Later, he had to qualify his statement by adding that he believes that atheists will still go to Hell with no chance of Heaven.  And, as I was reading this article, I came across this statement: “A Vatican spokesman stresses that the Church believes all salvation “comes from Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his body,” meaning those who refuse to enter or remain in the church "cannot be saved”” (emphasis added). 

            I don’t have a huge problem with a lot of this statement.  Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  The Body of Christ is His Church (Colossians 1:18).  And, those who refuse the Lord will not be saved in the Day of Wrath (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).  The problem that I have with this statement is with the idea that “all salvation comes... through the Church.”  This statement shows a great misunderstanding about salvation and His Church.  Let me briefly explain why.

            Salvation does belong the Lord (Psalm 3:8; Revelation 7:10; 19:1) and in Him alone is salvation (Psalm 62:7; 68:20).  And, while we won’t go into our need for salvation (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41), I will make the point that man cannot save himself; salvation is solely an operation of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  When God saw our sad state (i.e., dead in our sins, Ephesians 2:1-3), He had compassion on us, He loved us, and He had mercy on us (Ephesians 2:4; Psalm 85:7).  So, He extended His grace toward us through the Son of His love, Jesus the Christ (Titus 2:11; John 3:16; Romans 3:24-26) so that we all might be saved from His righteous wrath in the Day of Judgment (1 Timothy 2:4).  Again, this operation is something only “of God” and not “of man.”  This means that only God through Jesus saves; this means that His Church cannot save.

            With that said, we must understand that every individual has their own personal responsibility to “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).  Just as sure as God has given us the free gift of salvation (Romans 5), it is our responsibility to receive it according to His word (Psalm 119:41).  We must first come to know the God of our salvation through His word and have faith in everything that He is (Romans 1:16-17; 10:17).  Then, we must humble ourselves before the Lord and reverently approach Him (Psalm 149:4; 85:9), calling on His name (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21).  This means confessing your faith with your mouth before mankind (Romans 10:9-10; Matthew 10:32).  Also, this means being transformed by the renewing of your mind, being converted to think and live like Christ (Romans 12:1-2; Acts 3:19; Galatians 2:20), repenting with godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10), leaving the old life of sin behind for “salvation is far from the wicked” (Psalm 119:155).  And, this means we must be baptized His way (i.e., full-body immersion, submergence, and emergence into-then-from water, Acts 8:35-39) for the forgiveness/removal of our sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21).

            Let us understand one last thing: it is only when a person obeys the Gospel from the heart (Romans 6:17) that God adds someone to Christ’s Church (Acts 2:40-47).  You see, the Church is not the means or the vehicle of salvation, but the body of The Saved.  And, it is the Church’s responsibility to praise the Lord for His salvation (Psalm 118:21; 70:4) and to proclaim the glorious message of “salvation free for all” (Psalm 96:2; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).

            There is so much misunderstanding regarding the salvation of the Lord and of His Church.  Let it be that we grow in our understanding of these things and that we fervently and lovingly preach the truth about these things to the whole world until He returns (2 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:15).  Let this be out prayer.  Let this be our life.  And, may the Lord bless us even more abundantly in this endeavor.

~Curtis Carwile

Trust and Glorify the God of Peace

            In Matthew 8:23-27, we read this: “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?””

            Earlier this week, one of the worst storms in history tore through Oklahoma.  The National Weather Service called it one of the worst they had ever seen (that should tell us just how bad it was).  The insurances claims alone will easily top $1 billion mark.  And, at the time of this writing, at least 24 have been confirmed dead, including nine children.  People’s lives will never be the same again.

            With situations like this, it is difficult to know what to think.  Obviously, the loss of life, especially that of those nine children, is terrible.  But, after that, it’s challenging to know what else to think or even where to begin.  Considering this, please allow me to focus our minds on three relevant and rather important thoughts.

            Firstly, I believe it is important for us to understand that God is not a god of chaos.  When Elijah was in the cave and the whirlwind and earthquake and fire all shook the mountain, where was the Lord?  He was in the still small voice amidst the chaos (1 Kings 19:11-13).  In Matthew 8, He wasn’t in the tempest, He was in the boat and His calm voice quieted the whole storm.  God is a God of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33; Philippians 4:9).  And, amidst all of the calamity in this life, God can bring peace in even the worst storms (2 Thessalonians 3:16; Psalm 29:11).  So, come to know Him better as the God of Peace.

            Secondly, in times of calamity, trust in the LORD with all of your heart (Proverbs 3:5).  Have a real faith in His power to deliver even the sinner’s soul from Hell and have faith in His willingness to do so (John 3:16).  And, in those times of trouble, don’t cry out to the Lord as those on the boat did.  Rather, let His surpassing peace rule in your heart (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 3:15), come to Him in faith (James 1:6) knowing that everything will work out for the best (Romans 8:28).  I will admit, it takes a strong faith do this, but that is the kind of faith we’re called to obtain (Psalm 27:1).  This is something which requires some growing into; so, let us strive to grow into this kind of faith.

            Finally, let us understand that tempestuous times are opportunities.  Those inside the tempest have an opportunity to glorify God by their trusting faith (1 Corinthians 10:31).  Those outside of a particular storm have the opportunity to glorify God in doing good to all (Galatians 6:10).  We may not always see every trial like this, but this is what they are.  May we be good stewards of these blessings (1 Corinthians 4:2).

            May we all come to a better understanding of the Lord and develop a stronger faith which produces a peace in us and glory to God!

~Curtis Carwile

Calling Light "Darkness" and Darkness "Light"

            I was on the internet on Monday and two headlines came up on my feed.  The first story was about Tim Tebow.  Even if you don’t know anything about sports, you might have heard about him because of his religious beliefs.  He is fiercely “spiritual” and overtly “Christian.”  He has been a bit of an enigma because of his openness about his Christianity.  And, his scripture-quoting has become a bit of a joke in the media (e.g., before his first NFL game, he tweeted “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...”).  Because of being so openly “Christian,” he has been the source of constant ridicule and told by those in the media and even on his team to “tone down the Jesus-thing” and even to “sit down and be quiet.”  On Monday, after just one season with The New York Jets, he was released to free agency.  His response has been described as “totally Tebow.”  He tweeted from Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.”  The second story was about Jason Collins.  Even if you do know anything about sports, you might not have known who he was before Monday.  He plays for the Boston Celtics and, on this past Monday, he became the first openly homosexual professional athlete in the United States.  Since then, he has received thousands of text messages and tweets from people like former President Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kobe Bryant, all of whom have offered their support to Collins, congratulating him on doing “such a brave thing.” 

            When I read both of those articles, several Bible passages came to my mind.  The first passage which came to my mind was Isaiah 5:20 which says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”  This is, of course, what is going on in the world more and more with every passing day.  People are ridiculing those who proclaim Jesus and righteousness, telling them to “put a cork in it.”  All the while, they are praising those who blaspheme the name of God and walk in unrighteousness. 

            While this is becoming the norm, we shouldn’t be surprised by it because it happened in Jesus’ day.  In John 8:12, Jesus says that He is the light of the world.  Earlier, in John 1:5, we read that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  And, later on in John (3:19), Jesus said this: “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  And, the long and the short of it is this: people hate righteousness (and those who promote it) because they love their sin.  And, because they love their sin, they have chosen to waste eternity in outer darkness in Hell (Matthew 25:30, 41, 46).

            So, what can we do about this?  Well, believe in Jesus (John 12:46) and all that entails: “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).  “Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).  “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).  Be a “guide to the blind and a light to those who are in darkness” (Romans 2:19).  And, even in “the valley of the shadow of death,” “trust in the Lord with all your heart... and He will direct your path” to Him in Heaven when this existence is over.  This is what we can do.  So, let us never grow weary in doing it (Galatians 6:9), but let us encourage each other all the more as we see the Day of Judgment approaching (Hebrews 10:24).

~Curtis Carwile

Mowing The Lawn

            The other day, Becca made the off-handed comment that it was getting to be “lawn-mowing” weather again.  About a week later, she hinted that I should do it soon and I said that I would.  And, about a week after that, she asked me if I would mow the lawn.  That is when I remembered that we left the gas can in Oklahoma.  So, I told her that I would get a new gas can soon and then I would mow the lawn.  Well, I kept forgetting to get a gas can, but I kept saying that I would remember and get one and mow the lawn.  And, then it rained.  And, then we had our Gospel meeting.  And, finally, about a month after she originally asked me to, I got around to mowing the lawn.

            We know that the Lord hates lying (Proverbs 6:16-19).  In fact, it is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 12:22).  And, we know that anyone who is deceitful will not be in Heaven (Psalm 101:7; Revelation 21:8).  Christians, people who are trying to be more like Christ every day (John 14:6; Galatians 2:20) and trying to bring the word of truth to the sin-dark world (2 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:15), are not to practice any deceit (Colossians 3:9-10).  We know all of this.

            What do we think of when we think of lying?  Do we think of a little child standing in the kitchen with a broken cookie jar lying at his feet nervously declaring that he didn’t do it?  Do we think of telling Grandma that, “Yeah, I really wanted body wash and tube socks for Christmas... for the fifth year in a row”?  Do we think of a husband telling his wife that dinner was delicious?  Do we think of a wife telling her husband that she’ll be ready in “five minutes”?  Do we think of an employee who tells his boss “Yeah, I’ll get right on that” without any intention of getting right on it?  Do we think of cheating on a test or assignment at school or at work?  Do we think of cheating on a spouse?  Do we think of “cheating” on our Lord?

            Lying is more than telling “little white lies.”  It’s even more than saying something you don’t mean.  Lying is pride.  Whether a person lies because they don’t want to suffer some loss or because they know it is what the other person wants to hear or because they think the truth will hurt someone’s feelings, lying always comes down to putting oneself above everyone else, putting oneself above the truth, even putting oneself above the Lord and His infinite wisdom.  And, to put it plainly, that is something no one has the right to do.

            The long and the short of it is this: the Lord has told us to make our “yes” to mean “yes” and our “no” to mean “no” (Matthew 5:37).  For us to do so is obedience.  It is humility (Philippians 2:3-4).  It is love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).  It is what is best for everyone (Matthew 7:7-12).  And, it is what we must do at all times, at all costs. 

            So, let us hate lying (Psalm 119:163) and let us put to silence lying lips (Psalm 31:18).  Instead, let us speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) with each other (Ephesians 4:25).  Let us always mean what we say and do what we say we’re going to do (Matthew 5:37); let’s “mow that lawn,” so to speak.  And, let us do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

~Curtis Carwile