The five finger plan of salvation was devised by Walter Scott as he systematized the steps of faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit, eternal life.   The five finger exercise of the plan of salvation has gone through considerable revision through the years.  The plan had steadily gone from a balance between God’s response and man’s response to the Gospel to a focus on man’s response only (Boring 385).  The present form of the plan of salvation is typically announced as hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized.  But ever so often the sixth step is attached onto the plan which is “be faithful unto death.”  Sometimes it is mentioned has live a faithful life.  People have accused one another within the fellowship of baptizing people without providing proper instruction and training to live a Christian life.  One should not be too shocked of this practice based on the theology of the movement.  When we have five steps to be saved and only one step to explain how to live the Christian life, we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The process of living the Christian life is difficult as people must be trained in godliness.  The art of Christian living is not a simple matter, but a difficult road to travel for many a sincere believers.  The charge of getting people wet, but not helping them to mature is seen through the plan of salvation that is advocated within the fellowship.  We are seeing the results of theology which places all the work up front with little mention of the Christian life afterwards.

As we are studying the book of Genesis the dream narrative is repeated multiple times.   Often God is communicating through dreams to the individuals.  As one surveys the Biblical text, one notices that through dreams God speaks His will to the people.    Genesis 20:3 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.’”  1 Kings 3:5 “In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish me to give you.”  Matthew 1:20 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’”  Matthew 27:19 “And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”  Also, the term vision in Acts 16:9; 18:9 could be referring to a dream.  As the text states “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision” both times.

The typical verses we use to discount communication through dreams are Galatians 1:6-9 which speaks of an Angel an another Gospel given as well as Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2  in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”  The Galatians’ text is a weak proof-text because of the communication through an Angel and mostly the text is dealing with another Gospel, so as long as the dream does not change the message of the gospel, than there could be some validity to the dream.  The Hebrew text carries more weight because it seems that communication through dreams ceases as the early church develops.  But this could be because the Holy Spirit is providing insight into God’s will for His people.  This is a topic I would like to study deeper as these are some shallow thoughts on the topic.  Also, I wonder if anyone has done a deep study of these ideas in the church?  Dreams are certainly a topic of interest in the culture.  It would be wise to have a full understanding of this phenomenon.

It seems that in the current church environment there are rivalries between ministers.  It seems unfortunate but some ministers write up, spread rumors, and engage in defamation of other ministers because of envy and jealousy.  Some ministers are territorial.  Fortunately I have been blessed with a minister who is supportive and wise.  Bobby Pinckley was the minister for 30 years at the Waynesboro church of Christ.  When I came to work in Waynesboro, he was still of member of the community but was preaching at another congregation.  Nevertheless, he still had a role within the local body of Christ.  But unlike some ministers who seem to revel in the power and position, who seem to be unable to release the control strings, Bobby was a seasoned professional in helping me in my ministry.  He had the art of appearing and disappearing at the appropriate times in my ministry.   One time, I had to head up to Nashville to be with a family whose love one was going to be taken off of life support.  As a rookie minister, this trip scared me to death.  What was I going to do, say in such a tense moment.  Fortunately Bobby was standing there in the hospital room.  I was never so relieved and happy.  Bobby has trained me through his example to conduct funerals and help the grieving family.  Also, Bobby has stayed on the sidelines in situations where I needed to handle the situation or where I would want more influence.  He has weaved his life into my ministry perfectly.  Bobby is back with us in Waynesboro, and this is a blessing because he is more concerned with the kingdom of God than he is with holding onto a position or influence.  We need more Bobby’s across the brotherhood.

Yesterday at FHU I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Woods.  A few weeks ago we received our mid-term tests back.  I had a respectable grade of 92.  As I was passing the test back in, I made a little comment of, “Dr. Woods, this is funny that the question I felt I knew the best was the one I did the poorest on.”  The teacher asked if I would like him to look at it again.  I said “no” because when you are about to graduate a few points does not make that much difference.  Yesterday though, Dr. Woods mentioned my test again.  He said that he changed the grade because he marked it poorly because of the terrible writing and misspellings in the answer.   He said that “you hand cannot keep up with your brain.”  I thought this was a classy act.  For those of you who know me, I have difficulty writing sometimes.  It seems that I am always misspelling a word or using the wrong word in a sentence.  In elementary and High School, I was labeled a slow learner because of this difficulty.   I was placed in the slow classes and had to attend resource because of this problem.  This created self-esteem problems and a defeatist attitude towards school.  In these schools I was given a label of “slow” but Dr.  Woods labeled me as “smart.”  I remember a few years back listening to Jack Welch’s autobiography in which he told the story about having a stutter.  His mother did not label him as slow but informed him he was too smart for his mouth to keep up with him.  Welch mentions this as a defining moment in life.  In fact, Dr. Woods increased my grade because he realized that I had a good grasp on the material, but the presentation was poor.   The way Dr. Woods treated me is the way I would like to treat others.  Instead of making people feel bad about their weaknesses, inspire them with their strengths.

He was a small man with a huge heart.  He taught me Counseling within the church context.   On the scale within the church from progressive to conservative, he was definitely on the progressive side.  The amazing part of the story was that he had a brother within the church who was on the extremely conservative side.  Few people in the classroom knew his brother, but coming from a Preaching Training School, I was extremely familiar with his brother.   Curiosity took over and after class I asked him why him and his brother were on such opposite extremes within the church.  His answered surprised me.  I expected some history of negative reactions to one side or the other.  Maybe I expected a journey of discovery by one of the parties, but I ended up with a never thought of answer.  My teacher said they believed differently because of personality differences.   This was fascinating to me.  Some personalities are given to thinking, while others are given to feelings.  Some people prefer everything nailed down, while others prefer open solutions.  I would love to do a study at some point to see how personality influences doctrine.  What does everyone think, does personality influence us in making doctrinal choices?

This week I have been given some thought to the doctrine of the covenant in the book of Genesis.  Really I am writing a paper on the covenant concept as seen in the Genesis records.  The doctrine of covenant is a controversial concept in the religious world.  The theology behind the nature and purpose of covenant is fascinating.   As I was studying this little known topic within the churches of Christ, we typical focus on the separation of the Old Covenant and New Covenant as seen in the O.T. and the N.T.  But the doctrine of covenant is larger than these huge separations.  On to the point about being a legalist, for a legalist should not be criticized for desiring to keep all the laws that God has spoken about and be correct on all inspired doctrine.   If this is done with the heart desiring to please the Lord at all costs, how could this been seen in a negative light?  But I have found that the legalist is inconsistent about which doctrines one must be correct on to be pleasing to the Lord.  It seems that the legalist picks and chooses which doctrines are important ones for orthodoxy.  It seems that the legalist in the church highlights instrumental music, marriage issues, the nature of the church, the Lord Supper, and women roles to be the defining elements in a sound faith.  But my charge to the legalist is that if one must be correct on every feature of the Lord’s inspired will, I want a correct doctrine on the covenant concept, the nature of the fall,  and a proper interpretation for all parts of scripture.  It seems to me that the legalist is ignorant on the vast complexity of the doctrine that is taught in the Bible.  He has become blinded by the issues, but not informed by the Word.

In these prayers, Jeremiah gives voice to the people.  He shows the people how to emerge from victimization, to express their experience, and give meaning to the suffering.  Jeremiah’s torrent of charges against God seems incredibly sacrilegious.  He accuses God of being unjust in the management of the world.  “Righteous art Thou, O LORD, that I would plead my case with Thee; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with Thee: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?â€Â  Jeremiah is angry with God.  He charges God with being a traitor, a false friend who has forsaken him.  He releases his vehement emotions with this analogy.  “Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Wilt Thou indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable? (Jer. 15:18).  Jeremiah says that God has been like a wadi, which was a stream that would vanish during the dry season but would later become a flooding river sweeping away anything in its path during the rainy season. 

    These laments of Jeremiah express the anger of the people over the suffering of the present day.  They are the embodiment of a nation’s desire to stay connected to the Lord.  Even though the tones of the laments are fiercely bitter, it seems that God would rather have man express his anger before Him than to be silent in prayer.  Even in anger, Jeremiah proves faithful to the Lord because he continues to pray to the Lord.  Jeremiah keeps communication alive in the midst of destruction and despair.  Even in the suffering, God is always accessible.  God would rather have the sufferer screaming at Him than to have the sufferer give Him the silent treatment.

Elders say, “We want you to visit the members more.”  The minister says, “I will visit as much as possible.”  He does.  The members says “I hope that minister does not drop by unannounced.”  Visitation is a difficult discipline to practice because some people are annoyed by the minister coming over to the house.  I have been refused entry into a home before because of the mess the house was in, so I was told.  I have certainly felt like the vacuum cleaner salesman at the door before.  A inconvenience to be shooed away.  On other occasions I was treated to lunch, cake, and a warm welcome.  An elder and myself had a mission of visiting all the members that needed encouraging one winter.  We accomplished this work.  But at the time, it seemed that the numbers were not increasing (Realizing now this was the wrong attitude).  After we stopped the numbers started to increase, so I thought that visitation does not make a difference.  Looking back we were seeing the results from a disciplined visitation mission.  So how do we do this unpopular or popular work in the church.  First of all, visit the people who need it.  This includes the shut in, the older members who enjoy it, and anyone else where this work means something to them.  Second of all, avoid the busy professionals who see a visit as just another inconvenience to a pressed life.  Third of all, do not attempt to visit everyone in the congregation, some people do not want you there.  Fourth of all, if you visit the people who need it, the grandmother of the busy professional family, it is as if you cared for them too.  A visit can flow down a family tree.  I do not want you in my home, but it means the world to me if you visit my sick mother.  Hope this helps everyone practice this difficult discipline.

This morning I will be starting a three piece series on the story of God.  The lessons will focus on the foreshadowing of the Old Testament with the Light revealing the truth behind the scenes.  In the “Divine Embrace” the book explored the idea that spiritual development comes from connecting to the story of God.  The lessons will highlight the major events in the history of God’s people.  Hopefully these lessons will be on the podcast later on today.  As we learn more about God’s works, the idea of covenant, the model of God’s abiding love, we grow in spirituality because we remove ourselves from individualistic spirituality to communion with one another.  The journey of faith is one done within community.  Spiritual formation is found within the story of God.

In the desire to be relevant and up-to-date in reaching out to the community, a minister can teach about the outdated methods of the past by pointing out their diminishing effectiveness.  The young upstart minister following some of the new styles for outreach will discourage door knocking and personal studies in the home as methods of the past.  One can recognize the need to be up-to-date in reaching out to the lost.  This morning I was in the courtroom for moral support to a recently converted member in his court case.  At this time, I met his wife who also announced that she will begin to attend services with us.  She was previously not doing this.  This is called relational evangelism.  But sometimes in this desire to be with the times in outreach we leave the impression that nothing works in reaching out.  We must be careful about putting down the methods of the past.  When we do we leave the older generation discouraged about the future of the church.  This breeds a mindset of doing nothing in evangelism.  If nothing is working, let us just do nothing.  This style of evangelism never works.  I think the Waynesboro congregation will have a door-knocking campaign next year.