Preacher Caleb's Blog

Thanks for Showing UP!

2008-05-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the lack of updates!!! Life has been busy. Here is what’s on the plate (1) trying to buy a house (2) training for a 5k on May 24th in Modesto (3) possibly training for the Worlds Jiu Jitsu tournament in Long Beach on June 5th (4) studying to take CLEP tests for 36 units so I can be done with my B.A. from Regions University, formerly known as Southern Christian University, now known as I don’t even know what! Oh yeah (5) and family, God, church, and work – all of which are interrelated for me.

This week was packed with the West Visalia Church of Christ Lectureship which I attended Monday through Wednesday morning. Monday morning I spoke at the lectures. On Friday I attended a funeral in Hughson for the mother and grandmother of some of our members in Ripon. Today was my nephew’s birthday and we headed up to Stockton to celebrate that. After the party we all ate dinner in Ripon and the family went to the park. When we got to the park I ran home (exactly three miles!). WOW – What I week.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in America. I’m preaching on “Thanks for Showing Up.” I got the idea after reading over some Mother’s Day stuff on the internet. NO, I am not using someone else’s sermon outline even though I got the idea from an illustration in someone else’s sermon outline. His sermon, in my opinion, would have been much better had he framed it all around the “thanks for showing up” illustration. Tomorrow we will see how it turns out :)

To all the Mothers out there, THANK YOU! Especially to my mother who has put up with me for over twenty-six years – now that’s a mother!

Sow the Seed,
Caleb O’Hara

West Visaila Lectureship

2008-05-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

I'm still in Visalia at the lectureship. Videos of the lectures are up on the web at http://wvcoc.blogspot.com/. Just be sure not to watch mine. When I get a chance I will update.

Sow the Seed,
Caleb O'Hara

Mi Vida Loca

2008-05-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today is just an update in the life of Caleb BLOG. It’s been an absolutely crazy day. This morning I went to my computer to finish up lots of work and my computer was not working. At 2:10 I FINALLY got it fixed – what a nightmare!

Tomorrow I am continuing a sermon series called “Square ONE: Back to the Beginning.” If you can’t tell by the title they are all lessons out of Genesis. Tomorrow we look at the great gift of freedom God gave man. The beginning reveals the freedom to chose, and yes the freedom to sin. Sin puts its ugly mark on this planet and mankind and God has been in the redemption business ever since. Well that’s the gist of the message.

Immediately following Sunday evening worship we are heading to Visalia, California. First thing Monday morning I’m speaking at the West Visalia Lectureship on “More Like Jesus in Tolerance (Romans 14).” Romans 14 is probably one of the most hotly debated passages in our brotherhood these days and they picked ME to speak on it. What’s the deal? I guess my friend Cliff Sabroe doesn’t like me too much. Yesterday I finished translating the entire passage and now it’s a matter of tweaking and reworking so that my exegesis can become proper exposition. My whole first part of the week will be spent there in Visalia. I’m looking forward to seeing some of my mentors: Denny Petrillo, Hi Jones, and Byron Benitez while I am there as well.

This week I have been grieving the loss of my American Idol Brooke White. Her moral character is something to be applauded. So Brooke, we will miss you. My wife is happy though. Now I can’t talk about her anymore :).

On a final note, last night we went and heard Frank Chesser preach at the East Main church of Christ in Stockton. It was good to see family and friends and Frank’s message on sin was very appropriate. Wayne was looking good and I pray the Lord gives him many more years of service in the Kingdom.

That’s all for now!!!

Sow the Seed,
Caleb O’Hara

Is Jesus the Way or Not?

2008-05-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

The modern "Church Growth Movement" naturally leads itself to this end. Must one come through Jesus to get to the Father? It's a simple yes or no question that Jesus Himself answers (John 14:1ff). Apparently even if the Scriptures say it it's not good enough for those in the Church Growth Movement. It might turn people away, and if people are turned away the numbers go down, and if the numbers go down we must be doing something wrong!!!

UPDATE:

Think About It...

Sow the Seed,
Caleb O'Hara

What Your Child Learned in School Today

2008-04-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you who wonder what your children are being taught at school here is a bit of an insight...

The goal of Planned Parenthood [a group that teaches on public school campuses every school day in America] according to one staffer is to help “young people obtain sex satisfaction before marriage. By sanctioning sex before marriage, we will prevent fear and guilt” - Lena Levine (Planned Parenthood News. Summer 1953, pg. 10).

You might also be happy to note that you are paying the salaries of Secular Humanists and Marxist professors with your tax dollars and tuition.

According to David Richardson there were 10,000 Marxist professors on America's campuses as of 1982 ("Marxism in U.S. Classrooms" U.S. News and World Report. January 25, 1982, pp. 42-5).

Georgie Anne Geyer states that "the percentage of Marxist faculty numbers can range from an estimated 90 percent in some midwestern universities" ("Marxism Thrives on Campus" The Denver Post. August 29, 1989, pg. 7).

On a brighter note (not really), Humanists out number the Marxists as a whole and they have goals too: "We aim to have students make explicit their own and others' implicit ideas about the way the world is or should be. Like artisans creating a mold out of the earth's supplies, we learn that our minds put the infinite mass of what is going on into an order; we relate parts to each other and create a whole structure. Thereafter, we use this structure like a template that forever determines what we perceive and how we evaluate, decide, and act upon it. By focusing educational content upon our ordering, relating, and structuring processes, we can expose the template, making them available for restructuring as we evolve into better artisans" (R.M. Lauer and M. Hussay, "A New Way to Become Educated" The Humanist. Jan./Feb/ 1986, pg 5 – emph. added).

Ohhhhhh you thought you sent your children off to school to learn to read, write, and do math and all the while the majority of the teachers "expose the template" of humanism on them so they are "available for restructuring" into the humanist worldview. When are we going to stop being in denial and wake up?

Philanswers: My moderating policy

2008-04-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Amen Phil...

Philanswers: My moderating policy

A LONG Response to a Comment

2008-04-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is a response to an anonymous commenter or this post http://www.calebohara.com/2008/04/jw-mcgarveys-advice-on-fellowship.html. Move over there for the full comment.

Mr(s). Anonymous who uses Charter internet and lives somewhere near Riverbank, California has just been itching for a response. In fact, he/she is our most frequent visitor since he/she posted this comment. Please just bookmark the site instead of searching for "preacher caleb" on Google everytime. Or just remember CALEB OHARA and then don't put the space. So here goes…

First of all I’m not sure if I should debate this non-debate debate? You said, “I am not here to debate you, because I feel that debating is wrong because it is never done in love. But, here I go...” I’m slightly confused on this one, “I’m not here to debate… here I go” - ???? You state that “I feel debating is wrong because it IS NEVER DONE IN LOVE” (Emph. Added). Never? Ever? Not once? Question – how do you know that it’s not done in love? I’m content to allow the judging of men’s hearts to God alone. Perhaps you have been given a privilege to see into men’s hearts that I’m not aware of. Apparently Paul, Barnabas, and the entire church in Jerusalem didn’t “love” because they “debated” (Acts 15:2, 7). Enough of this… you and I both know that the exchange of thoughts is not wrong and never will be wrong. The only way it could be wrong is if a man has a bad heart and you and I both know only God can judge the heart. And even men with bad hearts can proclaim the correct message! (cf. Jonah, Philippians 1:12-18). This whole Postmodernism jargon of not “debating” and then engaging in the most heated debate is designed to present oneself in a better light then the one who is being debated. To do this is to do the very thing that you are condemning (cf. Romans 2:17-24). So let’s put a nail in this one from the start. Had Paul not debated with the Jews they never would have come to know Christ. How terrible he was for not loving!!! Know this that just because I’m debating back the points you are debating from my blog doesn’t mean it’s not in love – I guarantee you that it is (unless you have some kind of window into my heart that I don’t know about and you can tell me otherwise????).

Secondly you said, “I, too, was raised in the Churches of Christ and am very familiar with all of your reasoning in scripture.” Wow that’s pretty amazing. Because you were raised in what you call “the Churches of Christ” you are “very familiar” will “all” of my “reasoning in Scripture.” This tries to assert that it is impossible to have genuine original thoughts and reasoning outside of circumstances. Just because two individuals are engage in the same circumstances does not mean that the same outcome is determined. This type of postmodern thinking (determinism) is seriously flawed. Your response is a witness to this fact. If it were the case that because someone is raised in an environment he MUST HAVE a certain type of reasoning you and I must think exactly alike, and from your message it is apparent that we do not. So toss that idea off the ship. It’s unfounded and quite frankly arrogant. I will also note that I do not accept your premise of “Churches of Christ,” but that is a discussion for later.

Thirdly you said, “But, if I could, in love as God tells us to, just tell you about my journey with instruments.” Ummmmmmmmmm did I miss the Scripture that says we are supposed to tell everyone about “my journey with instruments.” I’m assuming you must mean that we are supposed to speak to people in love. Very true, and sometimes the truth hurts like when Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler, out of love (Mark 10:21), that he had to go and sell all he had and give it to the poor to follow Christ. I guess it’s possible for people to say hard things that demand massive changes in life because of sin and still do it in love – very good to know! We agree on this because the Bible says it!

Fourthly you said: “I know that the use of instruments is a big deal in the Churches of Christ. And, I also know exactly what scriptures you would give me if I disagree with you. I am a third generation, maybe more, on both sides of my family, a Church of Christ member, or should I say, was.” Christ is very concerned for His church - He loves her (Ephesians 5:25)! If Christ speaks on worship it’s a big deal to me (John 4:1ff). So for you to say that worship is a big deal to Christ’s church I would agree with you that it’s a big deal to Christ. It would be a huge help to me if you explain where you get this power to “know exactly” what I’m going to say. That truly is remarkable. What about my friend Kenny. He is the only one in his family that is a member of Christ’s church. If he debates it with you does that mean he won’t have prejudices that he can’t avoid because his upbringing was different from mine? If that’s what it will take I will by all means ask him to respond to your questions. Oh wait wait... how about John Price. He is a graduate of Trinity Ministerial Academy and he is currently the minister at Grace Baptist Chruch in Rochester, New York. He says (now he has no "Church of Christ" upbringing and he is not even a minister of one), "If the Word of God alone is our guide in this matter, we cannot escape the conclusion that musical instruments in Christian worship are a violation of the regulative principle. To bring them into the church is to transgress the authority of Christ in His worship" (Old Light on New Worship Avinger, TX: Simpson Publishing Company, 2005). Let’s cut with the story telling of our lineage and get down to what the Text says. Please understand I really am saying this out of love but in all honestly I don’t care about your upbringing or mine; I care what the text SAYS! It truly saddens me that you have left Christ and His church that He died for (Ephesians 5:25). Please understand I know what your implying with “Church of Christ” but that implication is unfounded and I refuse to accept man’s terms… just sticking with what the Word says.

Fifthly you said: “So, i took my Greek/Hebrew dictionary and looked up every word in the two verses that we use to support the view of "instrumental sin." Every word except hymn has the word instrument in it. At first, that scared me because that is what i was taught all of my life: fear. So, i prayed like crazy and asked that God would open up my heart and not allow me to cling to prejudices that I was taught, but what He wanted me to see.” Great! We agree that words matter. Not only that you are appealing to Greek sources as proof as to why God is pleased with instrumental music in worship to Him. Could you give me the verses you are speaking of and the words along with documentation of the sources that prove this point? You can email them to me if you wish I will look them up. When you say “instrumental sin” I’m not sure what you mean. How do you define sin? And how do you define “instrumental sin.”

I’m glad you were taught fear. Fear of God is imperative to being a follower of God (Gen 20:11, 2 Sam 23:3; Neh 5:15; Job 4:5; 2 Cor 7:1), and the lack of fear of God is a great sin (Psa 36:1; Rom 3:18). The wise man Solomon summed up all of life when he said, “the conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep his commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Perhaps Nadab and Abihu would have been much better off if they had more fear for the Lord (Lev 10:1ff). I guess God messed up when he took Ananias and Sapphira’s life because it brought fear upon all the church (Acts 5:11) – nahhhhh I don’t think so. The list goes on and on – 2 Cor 5:11; 7:11, 15; Eph 5:21; 6:5; Phil 2:12; Heb 4:1; 1 Pet 1:17; 2:17; Jude 1:23. Please note that the Scriptures make a clear tie between obedience and fear. Without Godly fear disobedience is sure to follow. So hopefully I can help put the fear of God back in you!

You were taught prejudices? Terrible thing! Christ has the same problem. He was taught the prejudice of Judaism when he was a child. He was even so prejudice as to say He was the only way to the Father! You know Timothy had the same problem too. Paul suffered the same problem because he wrote that there was only one church (Eph 4:4; 1:22-23). Oh yeah, and Moses, man that guy was so prejudice he ended up killing a man! Just because you are taught something does not imply that you do not have the truth. Yes it’s true you can be taught a lie and be prejudiced towards the lie. But it is likewise true that you can be told the truth and be prejudiced towards it. Usually when people use the word “prejudice” they think that it is a very negative thing. Prejudice is neither right nor wrong in and of itself. It’s what has shaped it and sustains it that matters. All deeply held beliefs become prejudices, in the sense you are using the word, so are we not supposed to have deeply held beliefs? Ahhhh another problem that postmodernism is trying to assert into our thinking.

Sixthly you said: “This thought kept coming up in my mind. If instruments are a sin in worship, then they are a sin ALL of the time. Our lives should be a worship to God, not just on Sunday mornings, nights and Wednesday nights. If I believe that God doesnt like instruments in worship then He wouldn't like them at all; at any time in our lives.” First I would like to point out that your thinking began with your thoughts “This thought kept coming up in my mind.” This is a serious problem. This is one of the first steps towards exchanging the truth of God for a lie (Rom 1:20-25). Naaman had this problem too he said, “Behold I thought” (2 Kings 5:11). The problem is what Naaman thought wasn’t what God was saying.

You state “If instruments are a sin in worship, then they are sin ALL of the time.” Is it ok to be naked at any time in front of a person? I would hope you will say yes to this. Is it a sin to show up in the worship assembly naked? I would hope you will say yes to this. Your syllogistic argument has some major problems. There are things you can do in the privacy of your bedroom that would be sin to do in public, or worship for that matter. Just as there are things you can do when you are not worshiping that you can’t do when you worship. Your thought that kept coming up is not based upon Scripture. You took the wrong fork in the road on this one and I hope your prejudice of mind can be changed.

This whole concept of everything in life is worship has no biblical basis. Jesus made Clear in John 4 that there is a right way and wrong way to worship God (John 4:23-24). He also said that worship is not constrained by location. If you are worshiping God in your car and you are not doing it according to truth then it’s not acceptable to God. So the Scriptures agree that it does not just pertain to certain times in the worship assembly, but anytime you worship. The problem is not everything you do in life is worship. Worship involves intent. The word worship (proskuneo) literally means to kiss towards. Worship is intentional and directed. Last time I mowed the lawn it wasn’t directed to God. Last time I ate my dinner it wasn’t directed towards God. In everything I do I want my life to be acceptable to God, but it’s not all worship. Abram understand this when he said, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you” (Gen 22:5). In a sense our lives are to be in service to God like worship is a service to God, however, just because all worship is service to God does not make all service worship. If everything is worship then worship is nothing at all. A word that means everything means nothing. In fact, if everything in life was worship Jesus’ whole conversation with the woman at the well is pointless.

You also said, “If I believe that God doesnt like instruments in worship then He wouldn't like them at all; at any time in our lives.” If I believe that God doesn’t like sex outside of marriage then He wouldn’t like it at all; at any time in our lives. This creates a problem. A big problem… the good thing it is humanly created and therefore can be changed.

Seventhly you said, “If instruments are a sin, then why are "harpists playing their harps" in Heaven in Revelation 14:2?” Revelation 14:2 says that “the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.” The text clearly says that it was THE VOICE! It is a fundamental mistake to try and go to a book that is apocalyptic (figurative in nature) and try to pull something out and make it literal. Is there really a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven diadems (Rev 12:3)? Besides, if heaven is material in nature and it literally has harps, God has every right to tell us He wants to be worshiped that way when we get there! At different times in human history God has accepted and then rejected different types of worship. God accepted animal sacrifices in worship from patriarchs. Then in history God demanded that only priests could offer animal sacrifices. Today He won’t accept any animal sacrifices as worship. God demanded worship come from a certain place but now the location doesn’t matter (John 4:20ff). So if God changes what He wants as worship in Heaven I am all for it, but that by no means justifies me doing it now here on earth.

Eighthly you said, “And, why is Jesus going to come with the "sound of a trumpet"? 1 Cor. 15:52.” The text does not directly say but it seems pretty evident that it is to announce His coming. And I’m failing to see what this has to do with worship. Are we supposed to raise the dead in worship too? If you want to use a trumpet to get peoples attention, then by all means do it!

Ninthly you said, “I dont think that you HAVE to use instruments, but I would be careful to condemn people who do.” What does God think? And if all those words you said mean to use instruments how could God command them and then not care if you use them? It’s good for you not to condemn people. Only God condemns. It would be good, however, to make good judgments over right and wrong and when someone is doing something that is right or wrong.

Tenthly you said, “I would urge you to just study it again.” DONE… your turn!

There is a good chance that I know who wrote this anonymous comment. So let me give you an open invitation to sit down and look at the text together anytime you want. Please note my use of satire and humor at times to illustrate a point. If there is a sincere desire in your heart to know what the Text says then you and I are in the same boat! Perhaps we can help each other come to know Him better!

I would also like to conclude by noting that I didn't say anything about Instumental Music in my post.

Sow the Seed,
Caleb

Words - How do you define them?

2008-04-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

It is a constant fascination of mine how every human being uses words and yet we so often do not understand them. Our very understanding of God comes through the revelation of words. If it were not for words we would never know the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-13). Granted that the Creation tells us something about God (Romans 1:20); a relationship with Him is utterly impossible without words! It is by words that we can see and understand what comes out of the inside of God [theoneustos] (1 Timothy 3:16). God did His work by speaking words directly to men, through prophets of old with words, sent messages to men by way of angels in the form of words, and when it came time to establish His church he sent men about preaching words to do it! The turning around of the heart was based upon the words of Peter given by the Spirit (Acts 2:13ff). And how amazing is it that the very essence of God in the flesh is the logos – the Word (John 1:1ff)!

Should we take words seriously in our relationship with God? Absolutely! Our entire relationship is built upon words – that is how God designed it! If we really want a deep relationship with God we have to care about words. We have to care about His words. We have to spend time digging in deeply to His words. It’s imperative that we understand words, sentences, paragraphs, and books because words bring us to God.

In all of this it’s imperative that we keep words in context, for usage ultimately determines meaning- Not a dictionary! We must cease preaching sermons, and teaching classes, where we get up and define a word in the Bible from Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. This practice is ultimately harmful to good Bible study which ultimately hurts peoples relationship with God. The words of the New Testament and Old Testament are not to be ascribed ideas we came up with thousands of years later; reading meaning back into the text for which the text never intended. Nor are words to be defined by Greek Scholars hundreds to thousands of years later. Ultimately we must allow the original writers, by inspiration of the Spirit, to define their words. What right does Webster, Thayer, Calvin, or Luther have to tell Paul how he can use the word faith? What right do they have to tell Paul that baptism is a work of law and not an act of faith?

The words of John Adams are appropriate here: “We are no more bound by [Samuel] Johnson’s Dictionary than by the Cannon [sic] Law of England…. I have as good a right to make a word as that Pedant Bigot Cynic and Monk” February 23rd,1815.

Let the Text Speak!

Sow the Seed,
Caleb

p.s. Adams also said, “Britain will never be our friends till we are her Master” – We can never enter a relationship with Christ until He is our Master.

GO SEE EXPELLED!!!!!

2008-04-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Go See Expelled! This afternoon I finally got a chance to watch it. WOW! It far surpassed my expectations (and I had high ones). Ben Stein did a phenomenal job. He deserves an award for getting Richard Dawkins to say what he said. You have to go see the movie to see what I’m talking about. It really was amazing. Ben you are my hero for the week with this one. Outstanding job!

Now Everyone Go See It!
Caleb
p.s. I haven’t had a chance to look over the comments closely and respond to them. Maybe later in the week I will get around to them. Until then – Sow the Seed!

J.W. McGarvey's Advice on Fellowship

2008-04-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

I’m going to do something that is a big no no. I’m going to second source a quote from Jesse P. Sewell that was delivered at the Harding Lectures in 1950 according to The Spiritual Sword (Vol. 39, No. 3, April 2008, pg. 43). It’s not Bible just advice from a sage. Take it for what it’s worth.

In January, 1902 or 1903, I was preaching for the Pearl and Bryan Streets Church
in Dallas. Brother McGarvey, an old man at the time, was invited to speak at the
Central Christian Church in Dallas. We had three men in the Pearl and Bryan
Streets church who had graduated from the College of the Bible in Lexington,
under Brother McGarvey, and they were great admirers of him. They suggested that
we invite Brother McGarvey to preach at Pearl and Bryan that night. We did
so.

I was just a boy 24 or 25 then. I was sitting by the side of
this great old man on the front seat, waiting for the service to begin. As we
sat there talking, Brother McGarvey said to me: “Brother Sewell, I want to say
something to you, if you’ll accept it in the spirit in which I mean it.” I told
him Id appreciate anything he had to say to me. He said about these words: “You
are on the right road, and whatever you do, don’t ever let anybody persuade you
that you can successfully combat error by fellowshipping it and going along with
it. I have tried. I believed at the start that was the only way to do it. I’ve
never held membership in a congregation that uses instrumental music. I have,
however, accepted invitations to preach without distinction between churches
that used it and churches that didn’t. I’ve gone along with their papers and
magazine and things of that sort. During all these years I have taught the truth
as the New Testament teaches it to every young preacher who has passed through
the College of the Bible. Yet, I do not know of more than six of those men who
are preaching the truth today.” He said, “It won’t work.”

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb

House to House / Heart to Heart

2008-04-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today when I checked the mail it was not an ordinary day. As I reached into the box I pulled out the first issue of House to House / Heart to Heart that we (the Ripon church of Christ) are sending out to our entire city! We are hoping that this can be a great way to make contacts in our community so we can reach out to them with the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow is All-In-One Sunday in Ripon. I’m currently working through Genesis in a series I am calling “Square One: Back to the Beginning.” This week we are going to look at the various attempts to water down the creation account and try to make the Bible conform to man’s ideas as opposed to letting the text speak for itself. It’s my goal that with this lesson I can communicate God’s great hand in every aspect of a marvelous, miraculous, supernaturally designed universe.

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb

UPDATE: When I said tomorrow is All-In-One I meant two days from now :)

No Intelligence Allowed

2008-04-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since I have blogged. Things have been really busy around here. We are trying to buy a house and I was preparing for a Gospel Meeting in the Bay Area. In fact, I'm just about to leave the hotel to go and finish up the meeting for the weekend. Once I get a little more settled I will blog somemore. In the mean time you need to check out this clip by Ben Stein. It's a movie called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The movie is a documentary style movie about how the sceintific community refuses to allow scientist to go where the evidence leads them. If they come up with any explanation for life that is outside of the Darwinian Evolution box they are quickly silenced. I have not seen the movie so I can't speak for all it's strengths or weaknesses, but check out this trailor and make plans to go and check it out on April 18th. Goto this website to find out where it's going to be playing.

Enjoy,
Caleb

UPDATE:

Wayne Jackson says: "Stein’s movie, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, will debut in theaters on Friday, April the 18th. I highly encourage parents with children in public schools (and any others who are interested) to see this documentary that is being so rabidly opposed by the evolutionists" (Read his article in its entirety here http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/expelled_no_intelligence_allowed)

Also Answers in Genesis has written a favorable review (a Conservative Evangelical Creationist group) http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/expelled-review

There is also an excellent interview with the film producer, Logan Craft, in the January 2008 edition of Think Magazine pp. 20-21.

The Top 20 Hardcovers: More Telling Than You May Think

2008-03-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today I was flipping through my inbox and found my latest CBD catalog. John MacArthur’s new book A Tale of Two Sons caught my eye. MacArthur usually writes something worth the time it takes to read (more than I can say for most). I was turning the pages and about three pages in was the Top 20 Hardcovers. It wasn’t long after glossing over the top 20 must haves that I was quickly sickened. Now most of you out there are going to think I am crazy, and I know some of the intellectuals will propose some logical explanation that makes the situation sound better than I am about to make it sound – so be it. But at least hear me out!

The top 20 hardcovers is a sad indicator of the state of “Christianity” in America today. The list included titles like Lucado’s 3:16-The Numbers of Hope, Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life is still number 4, and believe it not good old smiley health and wealth gospel Osteen’s Become a Better You is still number 5. The entire list was like this. And by this I mean topical, feel good, surface Bible study, be a better this or that, lots of stories, none confrontational, lack of Bible exegesis, lack of deep digging into Scripture, books! Nowhere in the top 20 is there even a book on Christian Evidences! MacArthur’s book on the truth war going on in “Christianity” wasn’t in the list, but his book on Twelve Extraordinary Women was!

Where are the books on being a better Bible student? In my opinion books like Walter Kaiser’s book Towards an Exegetical Theology should be a perpetual top 20 book. Where are all the Bible dictionary books? Where are all the Greek for dummy books? Where are all the digging deeper into Romans, or 1 Corinthians, or 2 Corinthians, or Galatians, or Ephesians, ok I think you get it. And what about the Old Testament? Have we completely lost any desire to even study it? Every single book in the top 20 began with a topic and sought to find a few Scriptures to scatter in here or there to back up the author's point.

How in the world did we ever get to the point where Christianity is shaped by man’s ideas instead of man’s ideas being shaped by Christianity? And that’s the problem with the list. It illustrates that this is where we are. We want Christianity to be what we want it to be. We want Christianity to be all about feel good stories. We want Christianity to be non-confrontational. We want Christianity to consist of someone else telling me what the Bible says instead of spending the time to dig out the truths from the text myself. We want Christianity to give lip service to Scripture about topics like grace, and prayer and then shut-up about things like homosexuality, worship, gender roles, or confronting culture.

Now tell me why I’m crazy….

Sow the Seed,
Caleb O’Hara

Endings Mean New Beginnings

2008-03-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday I ended the sermon series “This Old House: Taking Another Look at the Church that Jesus Built.” It was a rewarding series for me at least, and I hope it was for the whole congregation. The problem with ending a series is that it’s time for a new beginning. For some time now I have been thinking about what I was going to preach on next. It’s Tuesday morning and it’s time to make the big decision so I can get my sermons done early this week. Decisions, decisions, decisions….

I’ve decided I will make the decision when I get back from Jiu Jitsu. Wish me luck I don’t get choked out!

Caleb

This Old House

2008-03-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Can I take a break for a minute and vent on here? Oh wait, it’s my blog! I can do whatever I want on here!!!

We are in the process of trying to buy a house – UGH! When you think of buying a home you think of taking a step in the right direction towards fulfilling the American dream. Before you engage in the process you picture it as a fun time. You think of big houses, cool colors and carpet, all those things you have always wanted in a house. You think of it as fun, exciting, and everything you have been looking forward to for years. Then reality strikes when you go see a lender. It strikes harder when you go see houses. The rose colored glasses quickly come off.

Buying a home in California has not even been an option for us up until now. Real estate prices in this part of the country have been through the roof. In fact, they still are in my opinion. The median sale price on a home in Ripon, California is still $413,500. Thanks hundreds of thousands of people buying houses they could not afford the market is being flooded with foreclosures that fall into our price range. Some of them have been absolutely disgusting: spray painted every wall, garbage in all the appliances, ripped out crown molding and baseboards, peed in the carpet, ripped out toilets… I think you get the picture. Others have not been as bad.

What has been so frustrating is the bump after bump after bump. We got certain finance numbers one day and completely different ones the next. Without knowing what you are going to get in financing you can’t even make an offer on a house! I AM GOING HOUSE CRAZY!!!!!!

OK, I feel better now that I have vented. In the mean time everyone who reads this blog needs to pray for us. If it’s the Lord’s will we will find a home soon. Noah Hackworth used to always tell me that it was imperative that a preacher buy a house as soon as possible. He served the Lord his whole life through preaching the gospel and was only able to get a home late in life. I can still see him gazing right into my eyes and adamitly stating the necessity of buying a house. It was completely out of love though; he didn’t want my family to have to go through the struggles his did – and I love him for that. So Noah, thanks so much for all this stress and heartache we are going through trying to buy a home. I owe you one pal :)

Sow the Seed,
Caleb

p.s. Speaking of houses, tomorrow I end my sermon series “This Old House: Taking Another Look at the Church that Jesus Built.” The text is 1 Tim 3:14-15 – WOW how do you do this text justice? Just preach it I guess….

It's All Just Tradition - Right?

2008-03-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

The constant drumbeat of those claiming to want progress for the church is that everything doctrinal is just “tradition.” Things like a capella music in worship are just the “tradition” of the American Restoration Movement is the mantra. Tradition is "our" curse.

The next component to all of this is that tradition is just tradition and everyone knows you can’t bind tradition. The “C”hurches of Christ (as they would say it) have been evil and terrible sexist racist the last 400 years, and we built a tradition that we won’t abandon for the sake of unity (if you think my sexist racist comment is over the top I challenge you to underline every time Shelly and York mention it in their book the Jesus Proposal). The only thing standing in the way of unity amongst all “Christians” is that nasty word – Tradition. The greatest sin of the “C”hurches of Christ is their obstinate clinging to tradition. If only we would abandon tradition we could all get together and smoke the peace pipe. Sounds good – but is it possible someone has been smoking some other kind of pipe to get here.

First of all, what is tradition? Everyone knows what tradition is right? An important lesson still unlearned by many is the need to pay close attention to the way people are defining the words they use. If we want a biblical answer to the question “what is tradition” I think a logical place to start would be the Bible right? For the sake of not making this blog a noval, the word tradition used in the New Testament means the thing “handed down.” Take a peak at Bauer, Danker, A & G and verify.

The next question that must be asked is this… are all handed down things equal? Is tradition good, bad, or neutral? The biblical answer is yes. Listen closely; tradition is neither a curse nor a virtue in and of itself! The origin of the handed down thing makes all the difference in the world. Whether or not something is received depends entirely on WHO is handing it down.

The Bible speaks of the traditions handed down by God. Traditions whose origins are with God must be followed. Notice what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (NASB). This is called “belief in the truth” (2:13). Those who were accepting anything else besides this tradition believed a lie and were unrighteous (2:11-12).

A little later on in 2 Thessalonians Paul talks about tradition “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us” (2 Th 3:6). This tradition is called “the word of the Lord” (3:1). It is commanded and must be done (3:4) It’s allowing the Lord to direct the heart (3:5). Anybody want to step up to the plate and tell God that tradition is what is preventing the world from getting closer to him?

Part 2 soon to come if anyone is interested…?

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb

Is John 4 Missing From Some Bibles?

2008-02-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Worship is a point of departure. It is with worship that the great majority of battles take place. Some will try to point to this as inconsistency and "the blight of our heritage," but in all truth it only makes sense. When the instrument was introduced into the churches of Christ by L.L. Pinkerton, and others, it was a visual display of a profound difference that was taking place with regard to the approach to Scripture.

In John 4 the Samaritan woman changes a discussion of her messed up (I would say screwed up here but some people have said that they think screwed up has sexual connotations - I tend to think it just conveys the idea that you personally got yourself in a huge mess) life to that of worship. Isn’t it interesting that her perception of Jesus as a prophet propels her to ask a question regarding worship? It’s really quite natural when you think of it. What was one thing that was a very visual, real, personal, interactive difference between the Jews and the Samaritans? The way they worshiped. There was no mistaking the difference. One worshiped up on a mountain in one place the other in a temple in a completely different place. Worship was a very visual and very real display of the theological differences with which the two groups approached and understood God and His will.

Some people who identify themselves with the church of Christ today scoff at the Lord’s church for making such a fuss over differences of worship. They want to hang their heads in shame because when they say they are members of the church of Christ people quickly reply, “Oh yeah, your those people that don’t have music!” Besides the fact that they have a skewed view of music by thinking that the none-use of instruments in singing doesn’t make it music, I’ve failed in all my years to understand why “us” being identified by this is such a horrible thing. Don’t get me wrong here – there are much more significant reasons why we are so different from the denominational and sectarian religious world, but it is in our worship they we are visually SEEN as different. And may I be so bold as to say that the reason why the Lord’s church is known for her a capella music is because it is a very visual, very audible, very tangible difference. The key is there IS a difference. Those amongst us who are trying to say that we are just like them don’t want to talk about difference. All they want to talk about is what we have in common. Did you know that the human being has DNA that is nearly identical to that of sharks!?!? I guess humans and sharks are just alike and should unite behind their commonalities - right??? I wonder if anyone will hear this... difference is not a virtue or a curse in and of itself and we would all do well to let that one sink into our noggins. Jesus was certainly different from Satan - that's a good thing for those of you who may be wondering. Sometimes difference is good, right, and moral.

In Jesus’ effort with the woman at the well he did not point to their commonality of worshiping and say, “Hey, we are all the same let’s embrace our differences and sing Kum By Yah together (with or without an instrument).” The difference was very real and visual and ultimately the underpinning problem was their source of authority. Jesus affirms that the Scriptures taught that salvation was coming through the Jews and they were worshipping in the right place. He then tells the woman that a time for change is coming and is here and that the way for her and Him and everyone else to worship correctly is to worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus was not ashamed of difference – he saw some difference being the difference between truth that sets a person free and a lie that traps them up forever. You know… sometimes I wonder if John 4 is just missing from some people’s Bible.

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb O’Hara

Same Ol' Music?

2008-02-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Jones has posted a very good piece on our songs in worship. He is on to something. It has been my experience that there are a lot of people who think it's terrible that so many are starting to sing "devo" songs in worship. "We don't need new songs the old ones are good enough," is the refrain of many. Thank goodness people didn't say that when His Graces Reaches Me first was written. If so we wouldn't have it today. Every song was a "new song" at some point. New is not always bad. People need to step back and realize that they can hinder spiritual growth and maturity by sticking to the old "tradition." The main problem is people understanding the difference between God given tradition (things handed down by God that we cannot change) and areas of expediency that can, and sometimes should, change.

Enjoy Jonathan's piece:

"He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God" (Psalm 40:3). The Bible often speaks of us singing a "new song" in praise to our God (Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3). I often tire of singing the same old songs over and over. Certainly there are some older songs that I treasure and will always love. Songs like "Abide with Me," "Nearer, Still Nearer," "Night with Ebon Pinion," and "I am a Wayfairing Stranger" will always be some of my favorites. But there is definitely something to be said about praising God with new words and new melodies. New words stimulate our minds to really sing with the "spirit and
understanding" (1 Cor. 14:15) instead of simply reciting words with little thought as to their meaning. New melodies stimulate our emotions as our hearts give way to the greatness of God and his relevance in our lives today.
Many of the older songs that we sing (let's really be honest), few of us know what we are singing. For example really listen to the words of a song we often sing in worship, "Drop thy still dews of quiteness, till all our strivings cease, take from our souls the stain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess, the beauty of thy peace." What?! We might as well sing in Latin. I'm not sure I can sing these words in good conscience, not knowing what I'm saying. Well, no wonder the song was written in 1872. When our worship services are filled with songs like this, most Christians between the ages of 18-45 become very discouraged. I can't blame them. We all desire to praise our God and let a meaningful message flow from our hearts up to God in worship. But in order to do this, we must know what we are singing, and be emotionally moved by it.
There are two great a capella CDs out called "praise and harmony" that are designed to teach new songs to congregations. You can listen to some of these songs for free from their website and purchase the CDs. I bought both of these recently at the Freed-Hardeman Lectureship and they are fantastic!

I Can't Believe It!

2008-02-14T00:03:00.001-08:00

I'm Finally Home! Flying on planes all day is all I wanted for my birthday! 26 - I'm really feeling old.

What About the Numbers?

2008-02-12T23:07:00.000-08:00

Today was our last full day in Tennessee. It has been a lot of fun but I simply cannot wait to be back in my own house and with my church family in Ripon. We are still at Ed and Penny’s house. It’s been so nice getting to spend time with them. They have been more than generous in letting us stay with them. They have taken care of me since they first met me and I believe with all my heart that the Lord knew I needed them.

Today we went to the Gospel Advocate bookstore. I had a good time visiting with the book dude there. His name has left me at one in the morning – go figure. While I was there I picked up a few books which you will probably be hearing more about in the future. The deal with my knew project I’m going to work on and possible use as my Master’s Thesis at Bear Valley.

I was reading Phil Sanders blog and posted below was my comment to his post on “For a More Balance Approach” which you can read by clicking on the title. Remember to sow the seed faithfully!

Although it be true that the "progressive" churches are losing just as many if
not more than they are gaining (I read on Mike Cope's blog a while back him
trying to justify why so many were leaving his church), a large area of concern
to me is anytime we try to justify our existence based upon numbers. Where did
we ever get the idea that increase or decrease in numbers meant the blessings or
cursings of God? At some point the Lord's church born on Pentecost began losing
numbers. Was it at that point that the Lord's church was no longer following
Christ or blessed by God? If my understanding of church history is at all
correct the majority of the church went with Augustine. Did the numbers justify
the doctrine?

Did hear me to be argumentative of the stats - they
are encouraging. My question deals more primarily with the whole idea of trying
to rationalize right or wrong based upon numbers. What if the numbers did show
we were dying? Does that mean it's time to give up the tripartite hermy and
embrace the ever enigmatic "new hermeneutic?" What if the numbers showed that
Instrumental Music churches were increasing in number and A Cappella churches
were loosing numbers? Does that mean it's not time to depart from the
understanding that silence can be prohibitive and God really does want to be
worshiped with mechanical instruments? Am I making any sense at
all?

Let me give you a real life example. The congregation where I
am at we have experienced an increase in numbers sense I got here 2 years ago.
Am I supposed to take from that we are doing everything right, if anything? How
about this... I know a man who has been preaching the gospel since Noah built
the ark and the congregation where he is at has dropped at that same time frame
(and he is one of the most evangelistic men I know). Does that mean his message
is not valid and "my" ministry is approved of by God more than "his" ministry?
Does that mean I'm successful and he is not?

I fear greatly that we
have put trust and faith in numbers instead of putting trust and faith in God's
word. It says what it says and I will follow regardless of the numbers – as I am
confident you will too. I think the great lesson to learn from all of this is
that their (progressives or whatever you want to call them) rational for
existence is entirely built upon numbers. They can stand on their numbers and I
will take God’s word.

Just my thoughts,
Caleb

Sunday in Tennessee

2008-02-10T22:09:00.001-08:00

This morning we worshiped with the brethren at Highland in Columbia. It was so wonderful to see old faces and reacquainted. After worship we went to lunch at Legends with the Jetts, Curtis and Fay, and the White's. L.G. and Curtis were so wonderful to me while we were here. They are great godly men. They are also down to earth and easy to talk to - the conversation is never boring. L.G. told us today about catching himself on fire for a few seconds burning stumps. This came on the heels of me asking what he is doing as a retired guy. The answer? Burning stumps! I told him that's better than smoking weeds. Such great people - did I mention that yet?

It was so nice spending time with the Jetts. They are such sweet and loving people. We think of them like another set of parents and the kids love them. Today Travis and I went for a quick drive in his BMW Z3 - it's a cool car. Travis really likes the loud horn he bought for it. Ahhhh - I'm really going to miss them. I think of the people at Highland often.

This evening we went to services at Spring Meadows in Spring Hill again. After services we had a nice potluck dinner. We are staying with our good friends Ed and Penny McCormick in Spring Hill. My sisters family is all sick so the McCormick's are bailing us out. It's so nice getting to spend time with them too. It's comfortable being with them - just like at home.

Although Freed's lectures were a bit disappointing to me I still enjoyed myself and learned. One thing is for sure, I have a renewed desire to study John. Bad thing is because I disagreed with most peoples exegesis of John! :) Question of the day - What is the purpose of John's gospel?

Worship in Music

2008-02-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

I ran into this post by a accident looking at tornado damage in Jackson. It’s priceless for some of us to see the shifting in thinking going on in the denominational world. It’s also an opening for the Lord’s church. Here are a couple quotes with emphasis added.

I think the entire evangelical world ought to put a moratorium on any kind of
instrumental music, and just chant psalms in their worship services—for the next
ten years.

I wonder if the whole “excellence in praise and worship music” phenomenon we’ve
seen over the past few years—for all the good it’s done—hasn’t also had some
less-than-desirable effects on young Christians. I wonder if it hasn’t created a
generation of functional mystics who gauge their relationship with God by
emotional experience rather than the objective reality of
redemption.

I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a
generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent
music.

My sense is that "excellent music" has become something of
an idol.

The next post on his blog is by a Bob Kauflin who was asked to respond to his blog post. You can read the whole thing here. The most important one, and where we need to jump in, is this one, “Lack of teaching on worship in the church.” I don’t agree with the way he develops this point but the statement is absolutely 100% true. The problem is they are not going back to the Scriptures to find what the Lord has said on matters of worship.

Your thoughts? Leave comments.

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb

Tornado Pictures

2008-02-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

You need to check this out. Before we left Jackson we took a bunch of pictures, and a couple videos, from the road near the tornado damage (I will post those when I get the time). It's so very hard for me to grasp how close this was and nobody was acting like anything was wrong. Everyone was acting like it was no big deal. When we arrive in Henderson we went straight to the basement. Everyone there thought we were crazy - I think everyone here is crazy! They all talk about us and earthquakes and how they are used to tornados like we are earthquakes. Well forgive me for pointing this out, but if we had a warning that the earthquake was coming we would be taking shelter immediately. These crazy people just went on like nothing was coming! This is crazy to be saying, but I need to get back to California so I can have some sanity back in my life.

Today I was thinking about what a great man Earl Edwards is. I was not able to hear him speak at the lectureship this year but I did take a Master's level course on 1 and 2 Thessalonians by him. I was so blown away by his genuine attention that he paid to everything you said, along with his obvious personal love for God. He is a great man.

Today we visited the Nashville Zoo and the Opryland Mills Mall. There were times when I was not sure which was which. We have to stop going into that Mall because I keep getting poorer and this crazy Tennesseans are getting richer. I still haven't spent a dime at Bass Pro Shop. That is sure to change before we leave.

Tomorrow we are going to worship with the Highland church of Christ in Columbia. They became our semi-home when we were looking for work in Tennessee. Such great people. Too bad things did not work out and we did not end up working with them. Their preacher had said he was leaving but had not left yet when we were here. I preached for him once when he was out of town. There were absolutely no guarantees they would have hired me (probably not), but it's neither here nor there as we had to move back to California before the preacher left. We are looking forward to worshiping with them, and getting caught up. Our time with the Jett's has been fabulous. They are like another set of grandparents to the boys. Reagan and Caleb have done very well on this trip with all things considered. It is going to be nice to be back in a normal routine at home though!

We have been gone a little over a week now and I'm really missing my brethren back home in Ripon. I love them, and the work there, so much it's hard to vacation. I needed the break though. When I return home I'm making a commitment to reenergize and concentrate more on my study, preaching, and evangelism. It's easy to get into "routine" and not stay on the edge and giving it your all. On top of that I need to CLEP 32 hours before June so I can be done with my B.A. from Regions University. Oh man, I have lots of Master's work to do for Bear Valley too. I'm getting depressed just thinking about going home now! Now I want to go home and I don't!

One final thing... I have not been staying in shape while I have been gone. Not once have a I ran. And I'm missing Jiu Jitsu a lot! When I get home I'm going to get whooped up on bad because my cardio won't be there and it always takes a few times to get back to where sweeping from the guard is instinct and not going through a move by move check list as if I'm putting together a plastic model.

Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb

p.s. For those of you who know I was a big Fred Thompson supperter, I formally renounce my prior support for him now that he has endorsed McCain.
p.p.s. R.I.P. The Republican Party

Ministry and Technology

2008-02-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

Dale Jenkins has a good post from a few weeks back on technology resources for ministers right here. It's a good collection of resources. If you are looking for the primo-supremo Bible study software go to http://www.logos.com/. It cost a healthy amount of $$$$ but it's features are priceless, especially if you are a college student. It's become somewhat of a right hand for me.

We are leaving Jackson, TN today and heading to Columbia to spend some time with our friends the Jetts (where we got Reagan Jett's middle name from). I probably will not have internet access for a couple days.

So Long For Now,
Caleb

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention that Mike Hite has a Technolog and Ministry blog http://ministrytech.blogspot.com/ check it out sometime!

FHU Thursday Lectures

2008-02-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

I am sorry there have been no updates today. My wireless signal would not work at Freed. It would connect to their network but would not give me an outside line. There were other people there who were able to get out. I have a pretty good feeling my computer was specifically blocked on their network. Maybe someone at FHU did not like my reviews.

Today's update is going to be short and to the point. The chapel speaker created a huge stir to which Earl Edwards had to get up and mildly rebuke him. I'm listening to the lesson again as we speak so I can give greater detail. Right after lunch I caught Alex Bayes in Loyd Auditorium. I totally disagreed with the entire background of the speaker and thus his entire lesson was based on a bad foundation. His main point was that Peter, in John 21, was just making a choice between better and best when he went back to fishing. The entire context of John 21 is the wavering faith of Peter. Jesus is driving to make Peter commit to "follow me." Peter went back to his old way of life before Jesus had called him, he went back to fishing. This was not a choice between better and best this was a returning to the old way of life! The good side was that he was animated and passionate about what he spoke. The zeal was wonderful. The foundation needed some work though.

After that I listened to James Gardner on the variation of language on John 21. Again he made the same mistakes as the previous speaker. He was doing a word study on agapao and phileo and his conclusion is that the variance in the language is insignificant. He stands on ground with good language scholars like D.A. Carson who believes there is no significance. To make this short, again the context is ignored. Context always overrules words. The context of Peter's wavering faith is obvious. John's usage of the two words and the various nuances can be clearly seen when they are studied out. Can the differences in words be taken too far - absolutely! However, in this text the context seems clear. Oh yes, I almost forget, he said that Peter and Jesus had this discussion in Aramaic so therefore they didn't use any of these words. That is a big stretch. Where does he get that this conversation was in Aramaic and not Koine Greek?

The people seemed to disappear after these sessions. Open forum was sparse and uneventful today. Sorry there was no live blog, but I could not get a connection. If I get time I may blog a few comments about it. At least last year it was more exciting with the whole hand clapping debate. All in all I felt pretty down today. I've been looking for that passionate textually based thunder sermon and have been left wanting. I keep thinking, "Is this the best we can do?" Disappointed is the best word I can come up with at the moment.