David’s Lesson in Parenting an Adult

1 Kings 2:1-2 (KJV)

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

David was no less a sinner than any man. But he was a man after God’s heart, God’s promise to His family is one of the greatest imaginable and he is the founding father of the family from which Jesus came.

We see here David in his final days. He realizes his time has come to pass the baton if you will. Solomon had already been anointed king, but David still had his ear. That might be the greatest thing we could say about his parenting. It is certainly one of the most cherished things I, as a father, can possess. I understand that, in the case of this passage, David was about to die, leaving Solomon to move on without him. I think there are some lessons, however, that a parent might learn about letting go of our children at adulthood. Extreme interpretations of the Word of God imply that a child is under their parent’s authority until they marry. Whether you hold this interpretation or not, our culture insists that we let them go at about 18 years of age. If a child chooses to submit to their parents past that, it is either through intimidation (that’s not going to turn out good) or the humility of the child (we surely shouldn’t abuse that). I can’t imagine David wanted to “go the way of all the earth” but he had no choice. Perhaps a parent would be wise to recognize he or she doesn’t really have a choice regarding letting their child go either. So, what I notice in this account is:

David had an open door of communication with his son

I detect neither intimidation nor manipulation in the text. David charged his son and his son was fine with it. Parents should strive to maintain open lines of communication with their children. That begins at youth, by talking with them when the parent is the one who feels to busy to communicate. We train our children to not communicate with us when, as they were younger, we wouldn’t speak to them. It also necessitates that we provide opportunities for them to speak their ideas without being judged. While we are to guide our children, they have their own individual soul liberty. If we infringe upon it, they will quit speaking to us.

David appealed to Solomon’s faith 

Our children are never responsible to ape our opinions. What we pray they understand is that they are responsible to know and obey God and His Word. Our focus in their youth should be to teach them the Word of God, not just what we want them to believe and how we want them to behave.

David acknowledged Solomon’s wisdom

I would point out that this is before Solomon asked for and received that wisdom from above. He did not tell Solomon how to handle Joab, or Barzillai or Shimei. He merely pointed them out. David trusted his son to wisely execute his duties.

Here, I think, are some foundational principles for letting our adult children be adults: communicate openly and not judgmentally, trust them in the hands of the Lord, and finally, accept that they are adults and that they have the wisdom to handle life’s challenges without your lording over them.

Once David died he was no longer there for Solomon to get advice from. Let’s pray our adult children will feel welcome to come to us for advice as long as we remain on this earth.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

He’s A Vet

He sits up tall in an executive chair   

In a high-rise building in a big city somewhere   

He leads a multibillion-dollar corporation   

With firm composure and determination   

But then he sees across the way 

A flag waving on the windy bay 

His mind takes him to a swamp, so wet 

That’s right son – he’s a vet 

He wears his hair a little long 

And he insists that it’s not wrong 

He rides a Harley to places now 

Just to feel the breeze on his brow 

He has tattooed a girl he met 

Yes, that’s right, he’s a vet 

The farmer’s combine his is place 

He plants wheat seed in the earth’s face 

By faith he waits until its due 

In fall he’ll harvest all he can get 

You might have guessed that he’s a vet 

In factories, warehouses and assembly plants 

Across this country’s plains and slants 

The men who keep our commerce going 

Are men and women, the nicest yet 

Whose secret pride is - they’re a vet 

He rides fast horses and ropes steer horns 

He takes good care of the kids he’s born 

He works real hard with face a sweat 

He’s my dad, and he’s a vet 

             Marvin McKenzie November 11, 2015

The Lost Soul

The Lost Soul

A prisoner, but born that way.

J Oscar Wells was a missionary in China when Japan invaded. He and his wife were taken prisoner and forced to live, with hundreds of others, on a ship as prisoners of war. It was during those years that they gave birth to their daughter Shannon. Consider, she had her parents, food at least enough to survive. She had other children to play with. She had never known anything else. She didn’t know she was a prisoner.

The illusion of freedom

The lost soul is born a prisoner of the devil. He or she is provided well enough to survive and often to believe they are thriving. 

The reality

Though they believe themselves to be thriving, the reality is, the keeper of the prison plans their final destruction. Like an animal that is fed well, giving plenty of clean fresh water and even doted upon by the farmer, the plan is to slaughter the animal, so the devil may provide everything necessary to keep the lost soul content and happy but the plan for them is death.

The battle of liberty

It is not until the lost soul realizes their condition, a battle begins, that they have hope of true liberty. The battle may be intense. There is the loss of all that they believe is theirs but is really only what the enemy of their soul wished them to have. There are feelings of helplessness, Dread at the prospect of destruction. There is the hope of escape but anxiety that it may never happen (what if it is not real?) There is the separation from other prisoners not willing to take the risk to fight for liberty. 

Surrender

It is only after the soul battles through these that he or she comes to realize they can never escape on their own. They are hopelessly trapped without a Saviour. When they surrender to the battle, then Jesus steps in. They need not fight the battle. Jesus has won it already. 

Liberty

The saved soul realizes that his liberty was gained, not by his struggle but by the Lord. Liberty is found in following the Saviour.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

Remote Missions in the Continental United States

Seven o’clock AM. He climbs aboard a four-seat prop plane destined for tiny Stuart Island.  The wind is blowing badly. It'll be a rough trip. Today he’ll make three visits to remote peoples on two islands not accessible by public transportation. When he arrives, there will be no vehicle to pick him up. He'll walk to the homes or, in some cases, they may furnish a quad for quicker transportation.

Other days he’ll visit these, and other islands, by either chartered or private boat. The population of these tiny islands varies from a few hundred to a few thousand, depending on the season. The islands are inhabited by two vastly different people groups, the one, subsistence dwellers. They earn just enough to supplement what they can’t provide by living off the land. The other, wealthy people, drawn to the islands for their beauty, and their solitude. Both people groups have this in common, they aren’t fond of strangers on their island.

My son, Bohannan McKenzie, pastors Lighthouse Baptist Church in Anacortes, WA. His church is on the most populated of the San Juan Islands, and the last that is accessible by public roads. The others can only be reached by plane or ferry. Most of the islands in the San Juans have no public ferry system. The people who live on them do so precisely because they are secluded.

Bohannan also owns Anacortes Plumbing. That’s his invitation and his ticket in. These folks have their own tiny villages, their own postal service, even their own tiny schoolhouses. What they don’t want is a bunch of visitors. What they have to have, from time to time, is a craftsman willing to deal with the hassles of working in such remote areas. And it is the trade that provides Bohannan access to people who would otherwise have no witness for Jesus Christ.

A family who lost their son – but there is no preacher on their island. Bohannan has had a two-year conversation of comfort and hope with them. He believes they are close to trusting Christ as Saviour. Again, and again he makes visits to these tiny towns. Again, and again his trade of plumbing gets him fresh invitations to return. Again, and again he has the opportunity to tell them, these isolated citizens of the United States, of Jesus Christ.

This is remote missions work in the continental U.S.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields.

Why Dying Churches Die

A preacher friend of mine recently shared an article by Thom Rainer[1] with the same title. Rainer’s article cites the following reasons why churches die;

·      They refuse to admit they are sick

·      They are waiting for the “magic bullet” pastor

·      They fail to accept responsibility 

·      They are not willing to change

·      Their solutions are inward focused

·      They desire to return to the past 

I’ve read two of Rainer’s books and a number of his articles and blog videos. I am convinced that Thom Rainer is more of a problem than a helpful mentor to a solution. I understand the desire to see the church we pastor grow. I understand that a church member would like to see his church grow. Most of us would rather not that they die, that’s for sure. Rainer, and men like him, seem to offer solutions. But are those solutions biblical? What if the solution helps to see a church grow, but in the process, it loses its distinctiveness and purpose. What if it becomes altogether different than the commission upon which it was founded? If the ancient Baptists had followed Rainer’s ideas, they would have just given up their ideas, joined in with the “going congregations” of their day, and spared themselves a lot of misery.

I offer a few different reasons why a church might die

The congregation loses perspective of what is life

A living church is not defined by the number that attend, the programs it provides, or the perceived energy in the services. A living church is defined by the truth it preaches. A small church, that is certain the truth is preached among them, will have the motivation to continue attending and continue reaching out to others. The only problem with being small is when the people perceive numbers to be an indicator of worth and therefore, stop encouraging others to come to hear the message.

The pastor loses perspective on his purpose

The pastor’s work is not to build a church. That work belongs to Jesus alone. The pastor’s work is to proclaim the Word of God truthfully.

The pastor loses confidence in his call

It cannot be said that Paul was successful in every field he worked. In a prison cell, awaiting what would be his eventual execution, he said, 

1 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; and later, 

2 Timothy 1:11-13 (KJV)

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

If the preacher begins to evaluate his ministry based upon how many attend rather than what he has preached, he may lose confidence in his call, stop preaching passionately or stop preaching the truth.

Our world does not need larger churches. Our world needs more churches preaching faithfully the truth of God’s Word. Even if the congregation is very small, if the truth is preached, that lighthouse is alive with power, purpose and a need to keep on!

---

[1] https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/308041-dying-churches-die.html?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

This is my answer

In a recent post between myself and a fellow preacher, I responded by saying, “A Reformed Baptist cannot be an independent Baptist because the reformation teaches the universal church.”

To that response, a younger man (not a pastor) asked, “Why is belief in the universal church antithetical to being IFB?”

This is my answer

You've asked a fair question. The answer I think is found in our understanding of what exactly is independent Baptist. (I wish to point out that both Pastor ....... and I used the term independent Baptist, not IFB or Independent Fundamental Baptist). There are, of course, many many IFB churches that believe in the universal church. I use the term independent Baptist to mean a church that is free and independent. We have no head but Christ, we are answerable to no other but Christ. Though a church may claim to be independent and believe in the universal church, the positions are doctrinally exclusive. 

The doctrine of the universal church is that IT is the true church and local congregations are mere representations of the true (and that not perfect). 

The doctrine of the universal ( the word comes from the word Catholic) church was used by the Roman Emperor to secure his authority over all congregations in his realm. 

Those churches that rejected his authority were persecuted. Protestant doctrine never rejected the Catholic Church concept of church, they just revised it to mean an invisible, universal church. According to Protestant doctrine, that universal church maintains authority over local congregations. So, as I understand it an independent Baptist must reject any form of the universal church in order to be genuinely independent and free. 

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

A Novice Falls

1 Timothy 3:6 (KJV)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

I recently received a note from a pastor sharing an article regarding the suicide of a pastor. The article is intended to urge Christians to pray for their pastors, realize they are just human and recognize the spiritual battle they wage. These are fair objects of action for the believer. May our blessed Lord stir in the hearts of His people to indeed pray for the pastors!

But there are some other subjects that ought to be taken into consideration. I believe that the current Christian culture exposes believers to the dangers of such a fall. (I wonder how many would consider suicide a fall? - I do not believe by this fall they lose their salvation and therefore did not go to heaven due to suicide. But the devil did get the better of them, did he not?)

We are enamored with the big church/megachurch concept

I understand. It feels like we can do so much more good if we have a large following. It feels like we could have so much more influence if we led hundreds, even thousands of believers. It feels like we are more obedient to the Great Commission if we win that many more, baptize that many more, have in our membership that many more. But it also feeds the pride of the flesh when we are successful in reaching that many more.

We have a love affair with the youth over maturity

The pastor, who was the subject of this article, was just 30 years old. At the time of his suicide, I understand he was an associate pastor in a Charismatic Mega-church and had ministries especially meant to reach out to those with mental health issues and suicidal tendencies. 30 years old and largely responsible for the welfare of hundreds who faced the same battle with suicidal thoughts he had. 30 years old. Has anyone heard the verse, 1 Timothy 5:22 (KJV)

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.?

We are guilty of placing too much pressure on the unseasoned youth

When we allow them, teach them, urge them to enter into the ministry at a young age and then place them in positions where the flesh is easily lifted up through power and influence, we expose them ourselves to whatever sort of fall these novices experience.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

Pastoral Ethics

Philemon 1:14 (KJV)

But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.

I came to see the little epistle to Philemon as a lesson in pastoral ethics. Certainly, Paul was not pastoring at this time, but he was always much more than a pastor and an example to all pastors. I do not believe Philemon is a pastor either but that a church did meet in his house. Onesimus was a slave belonging to Philemon who ran away, probably stole from him to pay for his flight and ended up in Rome where he met Paul. Paul led him to the Lord, discipled him for a period of time sufficient that Onesimus had the character to follow Paul’s instructions and return to Philemon. Paul admitted that Onesimus was profitable to him and that he would have liked to keep him with him. 

Paul could have reasoned that he had done more good with Onesimus than Philemon did and the Onesimus was more likely to grow spiritually with him than with Philemon, who had not even won him to Christ. But Paul was not willing to keep him without Philemon’s approval. He trained Onesimus to return, sent him with a letter that did not actually request Onesimus return and perhaps Onesimus did not know the details of and offered to repay any damage Onesimus had caused. 

Pastors could learn from this. When a member of another church comes to them, their job is to return them in better spiritual condition than they found them. Even if they would like to keep them in their own ministry, it is not appropriate for them to say so. 

• They should work with them until they develop the character to return a better member than they were. They are not to judge the abilities of the other pastor. 
• They would be wise never to express a desire that the member remains with them, even when they have that desire. 
• They should contact the other pastor, not to tell them that a member visited in their church but to ask their pastor what his mind is concerning them. 

That would be pastoral ethics. 

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

A Word of Caution Concerning John Piper

Prompted by a link from a couple of independent Baptist pastors, I viewed a five-minute segment of a message delivered by John Piper to the American Association of Christian Counsellors.[1]Someone wrote that this is the “Scott’s Tots” of preaching, a term I had never heard before. Apparently, it is a reference to a particularly funny episode of a television comedy show. 

One response to the Scott’s Tots remark was to say, “if this is Scott’s Tots preaching, sign me up.”

John Piper is the son of a fundamentalist preacher and the retired pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Piper is a class act. He always appears to be gracious, kind and compassionate. 

May I remind my reader that class does not equate with correctness?

I consider John Piper to be one of the most detrimental Christian thinkers of this generation. He is so articulate, so classy and so soft-spoken that it would be possible to forget that his theology is wrong. 

·      He is strongly Calvinist

·      He once proposed, unsuccessfully, to his “Baptist” church that they invite unbaptized believers into the membership of the church and trust God He will lead them to scriptural baptism some time in the future. 

Piper is friendly with Fundamentalists and has written a document declaring such.[2]All that means is that fundamental Baptist preachers may read his materials without feeling threatened as they are being unwittingly sucked down the same path from Fundamentalism to error as he is. 

He is dangerous. I suggest he be avoided. I certainly urge caution and recommend a strong mentor help a younger preacher through Piper’s materials. 

Marvin McKenzie 

In the fields

---

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdTddzmIvWA

[2]https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/20-reasons-i-dont-take-potshots-at-fundamentalists

Will We Observe the Feast of Tabernacles?

I am semi-frequently in conversation with a man who practices Messianic Judaism. He is pleasant in his exchanges with me, but he is quite clear concerning areas of difference. Recently he challenged me regarding a Daily Visit with God where I mentioned the Jews and the Feast of Tabernacles. He had only one objection; he pointed out that the Jews were not the only ones who observed the Feast of Tabernacles, there were eleven other tribes in Israel. He then also encouraged me to find a group observing the Feast of Tabernacles to witness it first hand. Finally, he asked if I believe we will observe the Feast of Tabernacles in the Millennial Kingdom.

Below is my answer

“I too appreciate our exchanges. I especially appreciate that you offer more than an "I agree" or "Amen." It is good for the head to have a bit more to chew on than that.

One of the interesting things to ponder, at least in my mind, is how one's foundational paradigm impacts everything else he understands. You and have I think, differing foundational premises. Because of that we tend to interpret the same concepts differently. I am thankful that, so far anyway, we have been able to differ pleasantly. :-)

First, regarding the term, Jews, while it might be true that the term Jew is derived from the word Judah, not every etymologist agrees. It may not have any relationship with Judah. It is an English word, made to refer to the people of Israel and has a few potential roots, Judah being just one of them. Let's assume though, that it does derive from Judah, By the time we find the term used in the Bible, it is obviously being used to refer to more than the tribe of Judah. Jesus was born more than the King of Judah, but the King of Israel yet we find the term "King of the Jews" used repeatedly in the N.T.

1 Corinthians 10:32 (KJV)

Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

The word Jews in this verse obviously references all of the people in Israel just as Gentiles references all of the nations not belonging to Israel.
I used the word Jews in the most normal sense today, not in the strictest sense.

Regarding observing a group observing the Feast of Tabernacles today - I think that is an excellent idea! There would be great insights to be gleaned. I would suggest though, that they would not be Biblical insights. The Jews have long ago lost any real Biblical insights and merely practice tradition. After these many thousands of years, I do not believe they have any better understanding of how the Feast of Tabernacles is to be practiced than I do because I have the only fully preserved set of instructions in my Bible.

I do not believe "we" who are Christians today, will be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the Millennial Kingdom. We will have been changed, we will have taken the likeness of Christ and will be joint-heirs with Him. We will rule with Him. I do believe that, for the 1000 years of the Millennial Kingdom, the Jews (who survived the seven-year Tribulation and the judgment in the valley[1]) will observe Temple related holy days and feasts. I can assume that would include the Feast of Tabernacles. But whatever Temple practices they have will have a different significance because of the presence of Jesus Christ. Every holy day, feast, and sacrifice was a type of Jesus Christ and finds its fulfillment in Jesus. None of them are necessary today - or in the Kingdom - because they have been finished in the work of Christ.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

---

[1]Joel 3:14 (KJV)

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Matthew 25:32-33 (KJV)

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.