A Lesson Learned from the New York Knicks and Fearing Ghosts

My wife and I attended the New York Knicks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game last Saturday night at the Ford Center. Oklahoma City won in a blowout--106-88. Really, the game wasn't even that close. The Thunder had a 29 point lead in the fourth quarter before exlusively playing their reserves the final six minutes. The OKC Thunder are young, athletic, and really good.

But what is fascinating about this game is the storyline afterwards. It seems that some of the Knick players blamed the loss on "ghosts" in the hotel where they slept the two nights before the game. That hotel, the Oklahoma City Skirvin, is a historic, recently renovated, five star hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. U.S. Presidents, Hollywood stars, international royalty and thousands of others have stayed at the Skirvin since its opening in the early 1900's. I love the Skirvin because OKC's history resonates in the lobby and halls. One of our church members was the night manager of the hotel when the Skirvin re-opened in 2007, and Rachelle and I were able to enjoy a few nights in the Skirvin at the "family and friends" rate. Last time we stayed there, I ran into my friend Chief Justice Robert Henry, who told me that the Skirvin had literally been his home while he attended law school at Oklahoma City University. He lived in the hotel, prior to its renovation, for over two years. Everyone in OKC who knows a little history of the Skirvin is familiar with the "ghost stories" about the hotel. We locals laugh about it.

But the Knicks weren't laughing. It seems that at least some of them were genuinely scared; to the point of not sleeping well. They blamed their lack of rest for the loss to the Thunder. Those of us watching the game knew the Knicks shot a great deal more poorly and rebounded far worse than the Thunder players. But if you had asked me after the game why this was so, I would have simply said, "OKC is a better basketball team." The ghost story, however, is a sure fire more interesting explanation than the straight forward one.

One of the traits of human behavior I've observed over the years is that when things don't go well for us, we have a tendency to blame other individuals, other circumstances, and other events for our failure, rather than taking responsibility and identifying the problem within us. There's something refreshing about a person or an organization that is performing poorly and simply says, "We are not very good right now. That doesn't mean we can't get better. It just means that unless things change, we will never fulfill our mission."

Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while each time expecting different results.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the Knicks/Skirvin ghost story its that when we struggle in our endeavors, we should ask God to keep us from seeing the kind of ghosts that drive us to insanity.

In His Grace,


Wade Burleson

See Jesus in the Feasts of the Jews this Easter

Years ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma I ministered to a group of people who taught me a great deal about one's love for Christ. On the podium where I taught every Sunday was a plaque with these words enscribed on it: "Sir, we would see Jesus."

Few western evangelicals realize that time (from a human perspective) is measured differently in the Bible than the way we measure it today. When the One who transcends time establishes a calendar for man's sake, He does so according to the moon, not the sun. The biblical was a lunar calendar, whereas our calendar in the United States is a solar calendar. The Jews measured months by the moon's rotation around the earth. Today, we measure time by the earth's rotation around the sun. Until you have a basic understanding of the biblical lunar calendar, it will be easy to miss some wonderful truths regarding the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Christ. This post, modified and reprinted from three years ago, fulfills for the Easter season of 2013 the injuction: "Sir, we would see Jesus."

The Biblical Calendar and the Moon

A calendar is a system of organizing units of time for the purpose of measuring time over extended periods. The word "calendar" is from the Latin and means, “to call attention to the new moon.” The Biblical calendar revolved around the people of God eyeballing the moon as it rotated around the earth and keeping track of the four seasons on earth (spring, summer, fall, winter). We know that the seasons are the result of the effects of the sun upon the earth--hot, cold and mild--but the Jews only measured "days" by the sun (from sunset to sunset). Their months and seasons, prescribed by God, were counted off by eyeballing the moon.

The Biblical months began with the new moon, and there were "new moon festivals" to celebrate the dawning of a new month. The Jews worshipped God in a prescribed way during these new moons. "Whenever burnt offerings are presented to the Lord at the new moon.... the people are to serve the Lord in the proper way prescribed for them" (I Chronicles 23:31). The worship of God by the Jews was prescribed for them by God because everything they did pointed to Jesus Christ, as we shall see.

Since it takes 29 ½ days for the moon to complete her cycle around the earth the Biblical calendar consisted of 12 or 13 lunar months in a year, with the odd number months consisting of 30 days and the even number months consisting of 29 days. The years that have an additional month, the thirteenth month, are the years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 in a nineteen-year cycle. The reason a thirteenth month had to be added to the biblical calendar seven times during a nineteen year span is because the lunar year is shorter than the solar year by 11 days. If the Hebrews had not added a thirteenth month every few years, the winter season would eventually move on the calendar and occur in the summer months, and vice versa! Though this all may sound complicated, to the Jewish priests, it was as simple as waching the sky for a "new moon" (i.e. the time the moon disappears in darkness),  knowing the agricultural seasons, and blowing the trumpets to mark the beginning of a new month.

God told Moses to Alter the Lunar Calendar

When God delivered His people Israel from Egyptian bondage, He told Moses to make the month in which the Passover occurred (the Abib) "the beginning of months" (Exodus 12:2). This one verse alone should indicate to you that God has a purpose for "the lunar calendar." Every act of worship in the Old Covenant was a type or shadow of the reality to be fulfilled in the coming Anointed One. "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin" (Hebrews 10:4), but the One to whom the bulls and goats point in picture form does precisely this--He takes away our sin. The feasts of Israel, the animal sacrifices of the Jews, and the ritualistic worship of God's people all point to what Jesus did on our behalf.

There were seven major feasts prescribed by God in the Old Testament. Each of these Seven Feasts of Israel (sometimes called Festivals) were celebrated at God prescribed times according to the lunar calendar. When God incarnated Himself and walked among us His birth, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His gift of the Holy Spirit all occurred precisely the same time as the Feasts that foreshadowed Christ. The type (a particular Feast) was fulfilled in the anti-type (Jesus Christ).

In other words, the God who transcends time, keeps time for us, in order that as we measure time, He comes to us precisely "in the fulness of time." History is His Story. Let me show you.

The Feasts of Israel

The seven biblical Feasts or Festivals prescribed by God for the nation of Israel can be broken down into three major groupings.

(Grouping Number 1) --- The Three Spring Festivals
The Feast of Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of the Waving of the Sheaf of Firstfruits.

These three Feasts took place all within a few days of each other and occurred in the first month of the Biblical lunar (Nissan, also called "The Abib"), which corresponds to our March and April. These feasts were often lumped together as “Passover” or “The Feast of Unleavened Bread.”

“When I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). The Hebrew phrase “Passover” is in the Greek “pascha” thus the Passover lamb is the Paschal lamb, and all that pertains to the appointed lamb (a lamb without blemish, in the prime of its life, its blood shed for the family, etc...) pertains to the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Paschal Lamb of God. We know this to be true because of several events prophesied by the prophets regarding the Messiah’s death:

(1). Genesis 49:10 describes the precise age in which the Messiah would come.
(2). Daniel 9:26 describes the precise year in which the Messiah would die.
(3). Amos 8:9-10 describes the exact day on which the Messiah would die.

These three prophecies point us directly to the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners as our Paschal Lamb. Jesus died precisely at the time the Jews were slaying their lambs for the celebration of The Feast of Passover, on the 14th day of the Abib  (also called Nissan).  The Abib (notice the definitive article 'the') in Hebrew means "the act of parching by burning" and is it any wonder that when Jesus Christ died on the cross on the 14th day of the Abib, the fires of God's holiness and righteous judgment parched the life of His Son, the very One who became sin for us? The Passover was established and prescribed by God for Israel 1400 years before the death of Christ. In the fulness of time, Jesus fulfilled what the Passover represented. The Lamb was slain that the righteous judgment of God might pass over those who trust Him. Jesus could not have died at any other time, during any other day, for His death was prescribed by God and pictured in the Feast of Passover. When people sought to kill Jesus earlier in His ministry, He simply walked through them saying, "My time has not yet come" (John 7:30). A person may think he escapes God's judgment apart from the cross, but that kind of thinking is foolish and contrary to the explicit teaching of Scripture.

In love for sinners, God swept away the sin of His people through the death of His Son. This sweeping away of sin is pictured in the second feast of the Jews called The Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was observed for centuries the seven days after Passover. The Jews were to sweep out all leaven in their homes. This typifies all our sins being carried away by the Lamb of God. In the fulfillment of The Feast of Unleavened Bread, God does the sweeping. He removes our sins from us "as far as the east is from the west." It is an act of grace, a work of God, and it is accomplished by removing our sin from us, placing it on Christ, and pouring out righteous judgment on the Son for us.

The wages of sin is death. Every person, even believers in Christ, will one day die! Every person, even believers in Christ, still struggle with personal sins. What is our assurance that God, from His perspective, has removed judgment from us for our sins, and we have His unconditional love, favor and acceptance? The answer is found in The Feast of the Waving of the Sheaf of Firstfruits. Jesus Christ rose from the grave on the very day the Jews were celebrating this feast. This feast was prescribed by God to be celebrated "on the morrow after the Sabbath" during the week of Passover (Lev. 23:9-14). The Jews were told by God to go to the Temple on the "morning after the Sabbath" (Sunday morning) during the week of Passover and wave a "sheaf" of the first fruits of their grain harvest before the Lord. As they waved their first fruits of grain before God and gave it to the priests, they were told that God would prosper and bless "their entire harvest" in the same manner He had blessed the "firstfruits."

When Paul writes of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:20 he calls Christ "the firstfruits" of the resurrection--pointing out that God accepts and blesses all those whom Christ represents in His death and resurrection. In other words, your life--your eternal life--of blessing, favor, and prosperity from God is based upon the blessings of the firstfruits--Jesus Christ. You are guaranteed God's favor because Christ rose from the dead and you wave His life, His death, His resurrection before God by faith and acknowledge that any blessings you receive from your Creator are due to His obedience on your behalf. The death of Christ would have no meaning if it were not for the resurrection of Christ. God raised “His cursed son” (Galatians 3:13) from the dead as proof of His pleasure in His Son’s sacrifice! (Eph. 1:15-23). Those who trust in Christ will be raised to eternal life in the same manner.

(Grouping Number 2) --- The One Summer Festival
Pentecost -- the Greek name for "The Feast of Weeks"

It is known by various other names including “The Feast of Harvest” and most commonly as “The Feast of Weeks "(or Pentecost) A week in Scripture represents the number seven (either days or years). In the case of this feast it represents days. Seven weeks (49 days) from the “Festival of the Sheaf of the Firstfruits” (on a Sunday) with Sunday being day one. When you get to the 49th day you arrive at a Saturday (The Jewish Sabbath). On the “morrow after the sabbath” (Lev. 23:15-21) you arrive at “The Fiftieth Day” (thus the Greek “Pente” meaning 5). Just like the day of Resurrection (The Festival of the Sheaf of Firstfuits) the fourth major Jewish festival occurs on a Sunday (the morrow after the Sabbath)

The number 50 is used throughout Scripture to represent liberty, freedom or deliverance. Every 50th year was the year of Jubilee for the nation of Israel. When Christ died in 30 A.D. the people of Israel were celebrating a year of Jubilee; 50 days after Christ died the disciples were in the upper room when the Spirit of God fell and empowered them. This day of Pentecost is the anti-type of the Old Testament Pentecost -- 50 days after Passover.

*Compare the differences between the Old Covenant Pentecost vs. New Covenant Pentecost. On the 50th day after Passover and leaving Egypt (Old Covenant), God gave Israel the law written on stone. On the 50th after the Passover of Christ’s death (New Covenant) God gave His people the law written on their hearts. On the day of Old Covenant Pentecost--recording in the Old Testament as the fiftieth day after leaving Egypt--3,000 people died at the giving of the Law, for the Law the law condemns. However, on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament--fifty days after the resurrection of Christ--3,000 people were saved, for the Spirit gives life. The glory of God shone on the face of Moses in the Old Covenant, but the glory of God lives in the hearts of His people through the Spirit in the New Covenant. The Old is the letter of the law, but the New is life in the Spirit. It is a tragedy when God's people seek to live by the letter of the Law when Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law  and abolished it. The church that acts like it is a Temple, the pastor who acts like he is a priest, the people who act like they owe God a tithe and sacrifices, and the kind of Christianity that emphasis the Law more than the Spirit is more suited to the Old Covenant order. When the Spirit fills Christ followers with the power of God, then God's people begin to focus their lives on fulfilling the Royal Law of God - loving others as Christ has loved us--and pay scant attention to little else.

(Grouping Number 3) --- The Three Fall Festivals
The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and The Feast of Tabernacles.

These three feasts took place within the seventh month of the lunar calendar (Ethanim or also called Tisri). This month corresponds to our September/October. It was this month in which the fruit harvest (mostly grapes) occurred.

These Fall festivals correspond to the two "comings" of Christ to earth--His first coming (Bethlehem) and His Second Coming (to establish His eternal kingdom). His birth in Bethlehem is pictured in The Feast of Tabernacles, when God came to earth and tabernacled among men (John 1:1). The intercession of Jesus as the High Priest for His people is pictured in the Feast of Atonement. His Second Coming is pictured in The Feast of Trumpets. Time does not permit to show the signficance of these three Jewish feasts, but needless to say, all three of them, like the other four feasts, all point to Jesus Christ and were fulfilled by Him precisely.

So, in summary, Jesus Christ came to earth during the Feast of Taberacles. He died on the Feast of Passover and was buried in the tomb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus rose on the day of the Feast of the Waving of the Sheaf, and He sent His Spirit as a gift on the Feast of Pentecost. He now intercedes on our behalf as our Great High Priest in fulfillment of the Feast of Atonement, and He will one day come to establish His eternal kingdom and judge the world in fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets.

Next time you read the Bible, remember that is is not written as a self-help manual. It is the meta-narrative of the only Savior this world will ever see. This Easter 2013, take a little time to thank God that time is measured in terms of His Son, and when you do, you will never waste a day by neglecting to think of and praise your Savior.

The Way a Preacher/Teacher Dresses Doesn't Necessarily Communicate Authenticity or Transparency

Rick Warren has been used by God as a messenger of the good news to tens of thousands of people in need of a Savior. The work being done by Pastor Warren is, without question, a work bringing about the transformation of lives for the glory of God. Our church has been training a hundred leaders in preparation for the launch of Celebrate Recovery, a ministry to help people to find recovery from chemical and non-chemical addictions through Jesus Christ. This ministry was begun by Pastor Warren's church and is being used by churches and pastors nation wide. Rick has been a family friend since the days he was a seminary student at Southwestern Theological Seminary and attended Southcliff Baptist Church, a church pastored by my father from 1976 to 1982. Rick would sometimes lead Sunday night worship sitting on a stool playing his guitar, wearing jeans and sandals. Little has changed over the years. Most of the time when Rick speaks to his church (see picture) he does so in casual dress. His influence is so vast, many young pastors imitate his style, including dressing casual when they teach/preach on Sundays.

Some, including John Piper (see picture below), will rarely speak to their congregation without a suit and tie. It's been my practice over the years to also always wear a suit and tie when I teach from the Word of God. I don't think my example (or Piper's) is necessarily one that other pastors should be required to imitate. Personally, I think there are many factors that come into play when it comes to the pastor/teacher's dress on Sundays including culture, climate, tradition, etc... There seems to be no hard and fast rule on the subject found in Scripture. Why do I wear a suit and tie? Well, I never see a professional comedian (think Jay Leno, Dave Letterman, etc...) or a professional broadcaster (think Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, etc...) in the United States do their thing on television without a suit and tie. My personal feeling is that what I'm delivering is more important than either comedy or news, so I'm going to deliver it in an even better style than the the comedian or the broadcaster. BUT, (and this is a huge conjuction), in no form or fashion am I saying that someone else who does NOT wear a suit and tie is being unprofessional when they teach the gospel. I believe that Christians in churches should accept the decision of their pastor in this matter--even if the pastor's decision is different than your personal taste. Some of our members in the contemporary worship service (REFUGE) come very casual. Others in our two more traditional Sunday morning worship services come casual as well. I wear a suit and tie no matter which service I am speaking and trust that the people of Emmanuel accept my decision.

But the reason for this post is the attitude I've noticed among some (not all) of the emergent, contemporary or younger pastors. There is a sense that if a pastor does not dress casual, he is communicating to the congregation that he is not "authentic," "approachable" and "transparent." It's almost as if there is an unwritten rule among some pastors that "casual dress equals Christian authenticity." I don't think the way a preacher/teacher dresses on Sunday morning necessarily communicates authenticity or transparency. It's the way he lives his life, not the way he dresses himself, that communicates these important character qualities.

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

Good for GOOGLE; Shame on CHINA

SAN FRANCISCO (Michael Liedtke AP)- Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country after discovering that computers hackers had tricked human rights activists into opening their e-mail accounts to outsiders.

The change-of-heart announced Tuesday heralds a major shift for Google, which has repeatedly said it will obey Chinese laws that require some politically and socially sensitive issues to be blocked from search results that are available in other countries

Google disclosed in a blog post that it had detected a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China." Further investigation revealed that "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists," Google said in the post written by Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. {End of AP's Report}

Wade Burleson's question is simple: "What did China intend to do to the human rights activitists after the Chinese government cracked their Google email accounts?" It doesn't take much of an imagination to know it wouldn't have been pretty. The only way to deal with a bully is to punch him in the nose.

The Most Important Room at Emmanuel

All of us know that "the church" is not an institution or a building, but a people called out by God's grace to reflect the image of Christ in this world. I am thankful that God has His people in every nation, every tongue, every tribe of earth, not to mention people in every denomination, every assembly and every institution who names Christ as Lord. For the past eighteen years God has allowed me to be a part of a wonderful group of Christians at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid, Oklahoma. Being a pastor necessitates regular contact and ministry with these members through hospital visits, small groups, counseling sessions, funerals, weddings, etc..., but the pastors of Emmanuel do something very intentional that goes beyond regular pastoral ministry.

Every Tuesday morning we gather in the room pictured here and we pray for our members. There is a roster of 4,598 names of people who have an affiliation with Emmanuel. Each week I will assign ministry contacts to individual pastors, ranging in number from as few as four to as many as fifteen, depending on the pastor's schedule that week. I make sure no pastor has more ministry assignments than I. Our job is to personally visit with our assigned members that week and find out how things are going for them and their family members in every facet of their lives, particularly spiritually. We let them know up front that the following Tuesday the staff will be praying for them, and our task is to find out how we can more be specific in our prayers on their behalf.


The pastors know that nothing can be brought up during a prayer time that has not already been discussed with the person for whom we are praying. Too often, we Christians use "prayer request" time as an opportunity to talk about others and say things we would not say to them personally. Our pastoral rule is that our prayer times will only encompass those things which we have already discussed with our members. This precludes gossip. We also require each pastor to write down a report with the results his ministry contact, a copy of which will be attached to our member's profile. It's our desire, for instance, to follow through with our members in the months to come, covering those areas of prayer concerns from previous months to see how the Lord has graciously provided in their time of need. In addition, within a year's time, we will have completed our member ministry and will be starting over again. The reports provide a record of the previous contact.

Our support staff joins us for these hour and a half prayer and ministry times every Tuesday morning (8:30 to 10:00 am). It is absolutely amazing the amount of effective ministry that take places when we pastors see ourselves as spiritual shepherds and not spiritual overlords. The Chief Shepherd tells us that He knows His sheep by name, and it is my desire that every undershepherd at Emmanuel know every member, attender and prospect of Emmanuel by name--to know them with the same kind of loving, merciful knowledge that Jesus has for His people. These ministry and prayer times each Tuesday, the culmination of intentional ministry to approximately 75 to 100 family units by our pastoral staff during the previous week, makes this room the most important room at Emmanuel.

In His Grace,


Wade Burleson

A Word of Caution from the Prince of Preachers

"Watch and pray, as a Christian church, each one of you as members of it, that we may not be allowed to flatter ourselves with a nominal increase, unless it be a real increase from God, for ‘what is the chaff to the wheat?’ Suppose the report should be that there are so many added to the church, but suppose that they are not added to the Lord now, nor found in Christ hereafter? We have done these people serious damage by, as it were, endorsing their pretensions to Christianity when they have no real claim to it. We may have helped their delusion, we may have rocked the cradle of delusive slumber into which they have fallen, and out of which they will never wake until they open their eyes in hell. ‘What is the chaff to the wheat?’ I wish that such a text as this would go whistling through some of the churches! I would like to hear of its being preached from every pulpit in London, and I would pray the Holy Spirit to apply it to the conscience of every hearer. Your admission into the church by infant sprinkling, or by confirmation, or by the right hand of fellowship, or by believers’ immersion, all go for nothing unless you have been admitted into union with Christ. Your sitting at the Lord’s table; coming often to holy communion; being found regularly occupying your place in public worship; joining in the solemn hymn; bending with others in earnest prayers—these things are all nothing, and less than nothing and mockery, unless your heart has been renewed. Unless you have the Spirit of Christ you are none of his. ‘Ye must be born again.’"

C.H. Spurgeon
January 17, 1867, Sermon No. 862

When an Atheist Makes More Sense than Louie Giglio

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Louie Giglio is a wonderful man, a great evangelical speaker, and is doing a fabulous work among the youth of our nation. Louie spoke at Emmanuel years ago, long before he became well-known in our evangelical community. Louie is a captivating speaker and we sincerely desire the Lord's continued blessing upon his life and ministry. This post is not intended to be critical of either Louie or his ministry; it is written as an encouragement for Christians, particularly young ones, to be cautious about swallowing what you hear from great, evangelical speakers "hook, line and sinker." For those of you love to fish, you know that if the hook, line and sinker are all swallowed, the fish is often unintentionally gutted and killed trying to retrieve the items.

The embedded video above is Louie speaking to thousands of young people on the subject of laminin. Laminin, in essence, is the "glue" that holds the biological universe together, including your body. Louie has toured the United States and spoken to thousands of young people, telling them that laminin is designed by God as a molecular cross--meaning the cross of Christ holds everything together. The best way to get an understanding of his concept is to watch the video.

Recently, I came across another video, produced by an atheist who, unlike me, is mocking Louie for his laminin speech. Normally, I would never agree with an atheist bent on minimizing the influence of an evangelical brother, but frankly, the atheist makes a good point. He posits that laminin has a closer resemblance to a cadeceus. The atheist suggests that flashing a photograph of a double helix laminin in front of thousands of young people should remind them of the magic wand of Hermes, not the cross of Jesus Christ.

The atheist rightly concludes that someone could just as easily point to laminin and urge people to follow the Greek gods. Ironically, it was through closely observing nature and the heavens that the Greeks created their list of multiple gods. The atheist's/humanist's video can be seen below.



One of the reasons I believe Bill Gothard got way off track is because he began pointing people to "nature" and left off the sound expositional/exegetical teaching of God's word. When an evangelical points people to the animal kingdom and deduces Christian "principles" by which they are to live, rather than pointing them to the simple (yet profound) teaching of the sacred text, there will soon be trouble within the hearts of the hearers. When an evangelical begins to point people to look within the toilet to see whether or not excrement "floats or sinks," rather than pointing people to the inspired and living Word of God, there will soon be cracks within Christendom. Likewise, when one of the more prominent evangelicals among us begins pointing impressionable young people to pictures of nature for "confirmation" of their faith, rather than directing them to be "workmen rightly dividing the word of truth," we might discover a generation arises that is unable to give an answer for the hope that is within them.

There is no understanding of the gospel of God apart from divine verbal or written revelation. Nature does not reveal the God who saves sinners. The holy Scriptures alone reveal for us the nature of a gracious God. Further, confirmation of our faith in this gracious God comes from our understanding of His specific revelation (the written word of God), not our understanding of His general revelation (nature).

"The New Testament emphasizes God's redemptive grace as decisively manifest in Christ, that Jesus was "put to death for our sins" and was raised to put us right with God (Rom. 4:25; cf. 1 Pet. 2:24, 3:18). Forgiveness of sins without substitution and satisfaction is biblically inconceivable for it would impugn God's justice (Rom. 3:21-26)." --- Carl Henry (See God, Revelation, and Authority Vol. 6: The God Who Stands and Stays, Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 1983 p. 364)

Because biblical understanding is far more important to our faith, I hope and pray this generation of young people becomes more inspired by an excellent exposition of God's Word than an inspirational talk on laminin.

In His Grace,

Wade

100 Years Since the Death of U.S. Deputy Bass Reeves: The Real True Grit

On Christmas Eve I had the privilege of visiting with, and praying for, my friend Harold T. Holden in his sculpting studio north of Enid. H., as Harold is known by his family and friends, is a a nationally acclaimed sculptor. When I arrived at his studio, I found H. hard at work on his latest project, a bronze of Bass Reeves. The Bass Reeve's Legacy Initiative selected H. to create a monument commemorating U.S. Deputy Marshall Bass Reeves (1838-1910). The monument will be placed in Pendergraft Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas, not far from the soon to be built $50 million Federal U.S. Marshal Museum The statue will be Arkansas' first equestrian bronze.

As I watched H. working on the Reeve's monument I couldn't help but recall the incredible and colorful life of this evangelical Christian who was once a slave but became the most famous U.S. Deputy Marshal in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). He was the first black lawman west of the Mississippi River, appointed just a dozen years after he had been freed from slavery by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Bass was sworn in as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in 1875 by Judge Isaac Parker ("The Hanging Judge) in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Most people over forty years of age have seen the movie True Grit, starring John Wayne, but few realize that Wayne's role was that of a Deputy Marshall in Indian Territory, one of "Parker's Men." Bass Reeves was the real "True Grit."

Reeves served thirty-two years as a United States Marshall, and rode horseback approximately 75,000 miles throughout the twin territories, Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. During his tenure, Marshal Reeves arrested and transported to Fort Smith over 3,000 fugitives, some of whom included the most wanted and colorful outlaws in the United States. In 1907 the twin territories became the state of Oklahoma, and Federal Deputy Marshalls gave way to county sheriffs and municipal police departments in Oklahoma. Bass Reeves retired from the Marshal's service and became a police officer in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he died exactly 100 years ago, January 12, 1910.

Bass Reeves career in law enforcement has not received the same acclaim as that of Marshals Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday. Reeves stood 6'2" and weighed 180 pounds. He was ambidextrous, able to shoot a pistol or rifle accurately with his right or left hand. Settlers in Indian Territory said Reeves could take two men with his bare hands, but always was a gentleman unless provoked. Some of the stories of how Deputy Marshall Reeves apprehended criminals defy reason. He brought fugitives by the hundreds into the Fort Smith federal prison to stand trial before Judge Parker. His peers revered him, and criminals feared him. The noted female outlaw Belle Starr turned herself in at Fort Smith when she found out Reeves had the warrant for her arrest. In 1902, Reeves arrested his own son, Bennie, for domestic murder in Muskogee after the other Deputy Marshals in the area refused to serve the warrant out of respect for Bass.

Rather than writing a detailed history of Bass Reeves for this post, I thought I would point out just one detail of his life that related to his Christian faith. Reeve's great nephew, Federal Judge Paul Brady had this to say about Marshal Reeves and why he took up a career in law enforcement with Judge Isaac Parker:

They developed a very close working relationship. In spite of the widely diverse backgrounds, one a slave, one a former congressman, one educated, one who was not. Bass had no semblance of any formal education. They developed a very deep respect for each other. I think that perhaps this was based upon their overriding sense of duty and responsibility that they had learned from their Christian backgrounds and Christian teachings. They were both very versed in the scriptures from their early learning, and Judge Parker convinced Bass to join him in helping to establish the rule of law over the rule of men, and to bring law where there had never been any law before. Parker reminded Bass, that he would be in a position to serve as a deputy to show the lawful as well as the lawless that a black man was the equal of any other law enforcement officer on the frontier.

Bass Reeves reminds us that we would be unwise to stereotype Christians. A Christian is one with faith in Jesus Christ, but some Christians can be really tough hombres when need be.

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

Kudos to Brit Hume: "Tiger Woods Should Turn to the Christian Faith"

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The embedded video of Brit Hume urging Tiger Woods to "turn to the Christian faith" is being hammered on the Internet by skeptics and scoffers. I, for one, say "Good for Brit Hume." A journalist who speaks his mind about the Christian faith--and in a positive manner--is a journalist worthy of a kind word from us all. Brit, knowing the show on which he spoke was short of time, and the length of his response was limited, could not flesh out what "the Christian faith" is... So, for all those who read this blog, particularly those curious about "the Christian faith," allow me to spell out why the gospel (i.e. "the Christian faith") is such good news for all of us who have failed morally.

“Righteousness will be credited to those of us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, (the One) who was delivered for our transgressions and raised again for our justification " (Romans 4:24-25).

C.S. Lewis observed that in centuries past people had no problem understanding that they were sinners, they just wanted answers on how to be delivered. Not today. Most people have a hard time seeing themselves as sinners--until something happens as flagrantly immoral as the behavior exhibited by Tiger Woods. Then, when sin is sensed, the question becomes: How can a such a vile sinner be made right with God? Or, to put it more succinctly and in modern English, "Can a person like Tiger be forgiven by God and become a changed man?" Yes. The six words in bold above illustrate how.

(1). RIGHTEOUSNESS (v. 24: “it”) means “to be right” or “as one should be” or “perfect.” Make no mistake: A perfect God requires a perfect creation. God doesn't just "wink" at people who fail and say, "That's all right." He declares, "Be ye perfect!" (Matthew 5:48). But the Bible is clear that “there is none righteous, no not one” (Rom. 3:10; Ps. 14:1). People who morally err like Tiger have little difficulty seeing their imperfections. Everyone, by nature, is crooked. Some peoples' imperfections are just more visible than others. Only God, by His grace, can make crooked sinners "as they should be." God alone, as a gift, can give to people the "righteousness" He demands.

(2). CREDITED: (v. 24: “imputed”) means “to credit” or “count in an account.” The perfection of moral character that God requires is not earned. Just as you keep a record of the things that are precious to you, so the Lord keeps a record of your
life. He never misses a detail, He never forgets an action, He never ignores a deed. He is in charge of the books of your life. Perfect righteousness wins his approval, while just one sin earns His condemnation. The bad news is that one sin occurred before you were even born (Rom. 5:17-19) and your sins only only add to to the condemnation of Adam's sin. For you to have the righteousness required by God means you must be given it by God; it must be "credited" to your account.

(3). BELIEVE (v.24) --- also to “trust” (v. 24), to be “fully persuaded,” to “have faith.” The only way you will ever be "right" with God, or more precisely, the only way you will ever be deemed "righteous" by a Holy God and allowed into fellowship with Him is if you "believe" on Him who raised Christ from the dead. The essence of Christianity is faith in God (“to believe on him”). This is opposite of what every single religion in the world teaches, but it is at the heart of true religion. The world's religions tell you to perform to be accepted by God (including Buddhism), but Christianity tells you to trust God. "Faith is reason at rest in God, ” C.H. Spurgeon. When you place your trust in Him “who raised up Jesus from the dead,” your faith is credited "for righteousness.” God cooks your books! He takes out all the condemnation you earn by your moral failures and grants you all the blessings earned by Christ's perfect obedience.

(4). DELIVERED (v.25). --- means to “send” or “to give.” Jesus Christ our Lord was "delivered for our offenses” (v.25). God delivered for sinners His Son. Jesus Christ died on Calvary as a gift for the ungodly who will believe on Him. God loved you before you ever loved Him. He delivered His Son to deliver you.

(5). TRANSGRESSIONS (v. 25) – which means living outside the boundaries of God’s law for your life. Christ was delivered "for your transgressions." In other words, the condemnation and punishment of a Holy God for your sins was born by the Son of God who was "delivered" to bear the punishment. God in His love for “sinners” sent Jesus Christ to die for those who will believe on Him.

(6). JUSTIFICATION (v.25) --- means “a declaration of perfect righteousness.” The Bible says that “God justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). God declares ungodly people perfectly righteous --- in Christ, “who was raised for our justification.” This is the essence of the Christian faith.

It is the ability for imperfect, morally deficient human beings to lie down at night at peace with their Creator because they have trusted Him to place their guilt and condemnation on the Son He delivered for sinners. God, who gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins, counts my faith in Him as righteousness, because He considers me perfect in Christ, my Savior and Lord.

May Tiger Woods come to peace with God through Christ.

In His Grace,

Wade

The Devilish Origin of Questioning Another Believer's Salvation

When the proprietor of the Oklahoma Station on the Sante Fe railroad stop in Indian Territory, a man named William Couch, went to bed on Sunday night, April 21, 1889, he could not have dreamed of the changes that would be coming the very next day. The United States government had determined to open up the Unassigned Territories of I.T. (Indian Territory)--the land surrounding the Oklahoma Station Santa Fe Depot--to white settlement. The government called this land "unassigned" because no Indian tribe had been assigned it since the U.S. had taken it away from the Seminole and Kickappoo tribes in retaliation for siding with the Confederacy during the Civil War. At 12:00 noon on Monday, April 22, 1889, tens of thousands of white people responded to the synchonrized shotgun blasts and raced to stake a claim on the choicest lots of these Unassigned Territories. Overnight, the tent city called Oklahoma City was born, with over 10,000 people camping around William Couch and the Sante Fe Depot. The sketch (above left) is the first one ever to be made of Oklahoma City, drawn just ten months after the Land Run.

The 89'er Land Run drew some unsavory characters. Criminals who wished to sneak into the Unassigned Territories ahead of time to get a headstart on obtaining the best land (the Sooners) would be challenged in their land claims by those fast-riding, law abiding citizens (the Boomers) who knew nobody could have beaten them in a race. The beginning of Oklahoma City is filled with colorful stories of people with questionable character fighting to position themselves as legitimate landholders in the real wild west.

No individual, though, had more questionable character in the early days of Oklahoma City than a tall, African-American woman named Martha Fleming. Martha, a native of Virginia, was one of the early Sooners. She promptly established a brothel immediately north of the Santa Fe Depot and her wickedly sinful influence spread throughout the east fringes of the new OKC, the area we now call Bricktown. She headquartered at corner of the north/south Front Street (now E.K. Gaylord) and the east/west Grand Street (now Sheridan), at what is of the main western entrances into Bricktown. "Old Zulu," as Martha came to be known, was arrested more than any other person in Oklahoma City during the sixteen years from the Land Run to statehood (1907). Her crimes included assualt and battery, robbery, prostitution, public drunkenness, and a great many more. She spent so many nights in jail, that Old Zulu eventually was sent by officials to Leavenworth Federal Prison in Kansas to finish serving her sentence. Oklahoma City's governing law enforcement at the time was the federal U.S. Marshalls service since Oklahoma was still a territory of the United States and not yet a state. Just before statehood, Old Zulu and others criminals from I.T., were pardoned by the Territorial Governor. She was released from federal prison in early 1907 and made her way back to Oklahoma City where she promptly picked up her trade as a madam in charge of a brothel.

But an amazing thing happened to "Old Zulu" on Friday night, November 15, 1907, the night before Oklahoma became a state. There was revival sweeping through what the locals called "dark-town," and dozens of people were had gathered and inside the once-notorious Blue Front Saloon Building, just across from where Old Zulu plied her trade. A banner hung across the broad windows of the saloon, whose blinds were now pulled tight, that read: "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God." Old Zulu must have been struck by the words, for she entered the revival service, heard the gospel of Jesus Christ that night, and gave her life to Christ. It is obvious she believed on Christ's work at Calvary for the forgiveness of her sins and an eternal home in heaven because of what happened that night. Amateur historian Albert McRill, who himself once served as Oklahoma City's City Manager, writes of Old Zulu's conversion:

The night before statehood, "Old Zulu" wandered into the meeting and "found salvation." Her antics that night were said to surpass anything she had displayed during all her long walk with the devil. "Heben iz mah home," she bellowed, rolling over the floor of the old saloon. "Dis city am on de road tuh hell, and ah iz jez' stoppin' heah.'

McRill goes on in his book, And Satan Came Also to question Old Zulu's conversion. McRill falsely states Old Zulu was baptized in the "freezing" waters of the North Canadian the next day, November 16th, 1907--the day of Oklahoma statehood. In reality, Old Zulu and a number of others converted during the 1907 'OKC Awakening' were baptized in a "baptismal service" in the North Canadian River seven months later, July 4, 1908. Author Albert McRill (1880-1956), the former OKC attorney and leader in the Methodist Church, implies Zulu was not truly converted. Though she shut down the brothel, McRill writes of a confrontation Old Zulu had with OKC police years later, shortly before her death--the details for the reasons of this last arrest are not given by McRill. Nor was I able to find any information about it in the archives of The Daily Oklahoman. There has always been a question in the back of my mind as to why McRill would question Old Zulu's salvation.

The title of Albert McRill's very rare book where Old Zulu's conversion is given a chapter is And Satan Came Also. The title comes from Job 1:6 where the Bible states, "One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also with them" . Ironically, the reason the devil came before the Lord in Job 1:6 was to question Job's righteousness. "Is Job really yours?" asks Satan. "Take your protective hand off Job's possessions and he will curse you to your face." So, the reason "the devil came also" was to question the redemption of Job's soul.

In over four years of blogging about religious issues within evangelicalism as a whole, one of the common traits I see among Christians is the tendency to question the salvation of other people. I think there is biblical warrant for each of us to "examine ourselves" to see whether we be in the faith, but nowhere do I see that it is our duty to question the salvation of a fellow believer. In fact, I would propose that the origin of questioning another believer's salvation is devilish. I will give four reasons for this belief.

(1). Salvation of a sinner is solely and completely the work of Christ. The Puritans would often look "within" themselves for evidence of Christ's deliverance, but evangelicals have taken the works of the Puritans and twisted them--we look for evidence within others. Only God and I know my heart--you don't. Only God and you know your heart--I don't. Regeneration is a matter of the heart, but atonement is an objective work of Christ. Who am I to question the salvation and deliverance of a believing sinner, no matter how vile, by the work of Christ's atonement? He chooses to save sinners by His work on their behalf, and I cannot thwart or question His sovereign work. I will only question the evidence of His regeneration in my own heart.

(2). Jesus tells us that if a sinner simply says "I repent" (Luke 17:4), we are to trust the sinner's word and forgive. What's weird is that Jesus has just said that that particular sinner has already come against you seven times in a day and has sinned in the same manner against you seven times, but each time after the transgression he says "I repent." Most of us want "evidence" that the sinner repents. What does he do from then on? Is he living the kind of life that shows it? Jesus says we are to trust what the believing sinner "says"! That's grace. That's trusting Christ to accomplish His work in the sinner's life. Having the sinner prove it is a performance oriented religion. We Southern Baptists want peformances from others like ticket seekers on Broadway. Too bad. We miss the glory of grace.

(3). To question the conversion of a believing sinner is to question the ability of Christ. If we truly believe, like Jonah, that "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), then we will not place our faith in what we see, but in what we cannot see--the Invisible, Eternal, Omnipotent, Sovereign One who redeems sinners by His grace and for His glory.

(4). If you object and say, "By their fruits they shall be known" (Matthew 7:16), I ask a simple question. What is that 'fruit'? Most evangelicals say, "Works!" What it is the believing sinner does confirms his salvation! The text, however, denies this conclusion. Jesus goes on to describe the Pharisees "who cast out demons and do many wonderful works." But Jesus says to these wonder workers "Depart from me, I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23). It seems to me "the fruit" is NOT what a person DOES, but who a person IS. A "believing" sinner never fully conquers sin, but trusts the One who died for Him and never hesitates to acknowledge his sin and his faith in Christ's work. In other words, the fruit is an inner work that no man can judge but God. This is why Jesus said in the beginning of Matthew 7--"Do not judge anyone" (v. 1). He is not speaking of a human judge in the courts of law, nor is He speaking of a wise person who makes judgments regarding his own behavior; Jesus is telling His disciples to refrain from JUDGING THE HEARTS OF OTHERS--particularly, whether or not Christ is at work in the lives of others. Take the word of a believing sinner at face value and trust Christ.

My commitment in 2010 is to not question the salvation of a sinner who believes on Christ. In my opinion, that kind of activity has devilish origins.

In his Grace,

Wade Burleson