“Speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions.” (Isaiah 30:10 NASB)
Isaiah’s statements were for a people of another generation, but the demand of the unregenerate has remained the same. Speak to us what we want to hear and tell us clever stories that meet our illusions of who we call god.
Now go, write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll, that it may serve in the time to come as a witness forever. For this is a rebellious people, false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; and to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 30:8-11 NASB)
The demand from unregenerate men, women, and children are making these same expectations upon their pastors and these pastor are more influenced by the spirit of this age than the sufficiency of Scripture. Their demands are the same as those in Isaiah’s day. These “false sons” demand churches and/or pastors…
Stop telling us what is right.
Speak to us pleasant words.
Preach illusions.
Get out of the way.
Turn aside from the path.
We don’t want to hear about the Holy One of Israel.
Is there any in this generation who will require of their church and pastor to “speak to us Truth”?
I spent the day preparing and hand delivering a letter to the Twin Falls County Courthouse to express my hope that this county will stay with the strong historic language of “Husband” and “Wife” on the license application. (Here are my thoughts on this matter earlier today.)
The kind and helpful ladies in the county clerks office endured my questions and received my letter with grace and appreciation. I decided there were a few things I could do with the extended time of grace from God on this matter and decided I must speak kindly on this important topic to God.
This is what happens when Baptists don’t remain in their God appointed post speaking doctrinal clarity to their communities.
I’m not picking a fight with First Baptist Church, SLC. I respect that they are exercising their autonomy from any governing board or denomination. This is a distinctive I hold tightly to as a Baptist. This is an opportunity for me to remind Eastside Baptist why doctrine must not be ignored. This is why we must do the hard work and study Scripture. This why we submit to the Lordship of Christ and not obey our depraved passions and defend them as natural or God designed.
First Baptist Church, SLC has this statement on their website: “We are Baptists who are not too concerned with doctrine…”
This week First Baptist Church, SLC has been performing same-sex marriages with zeal.
Eastside Baptist Church, this is why we are concerned with doctrine. Fathers, be intentional to teach your households biblical doctrine.
We love all residents in Twin Falls, the Magic Valley and everywhere we sojourn because God loved us first. Because He loved us first we will continue to submit to the Lordship of Christ and the sufficiency of Scripture to speak into every thought, idea, emotion, philosophy and person of the truths of God defined by the Bible.
We warn all people, everywhere, of our total depravity and our immediate need for Christ to satisfy the full wrath of God on our behalf. God loved us while we were still sinners, all of us. We stand to warn all enemies of God to repent and call upon the name of Christ, the Messiah.
This is amazing love. God loved us so much to take the due, right, just punishment of our sin and save us from this wrath. Redeeming us unto Himself.
Doctrine matters! When it doesn’t, we get confused and begin to create a god for ourselves. I will look to no other god but God. I will preach no other god but God.
For clarity: Eastside Baptist Church has no affiliation with First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. We are both local churches with autonomous church polity and we respect this freedom. These views expressed are not views that all Baptists hold, but this Baptist does.
Tis the season for video posting of the extremely talented and fun to watch videos of the Piano Guys. If you’ve never heard of the Piano Guys you must still be accessing the internet with dial-up access (is that even still possible to do?).
Out of curiosity, a few years ago, I decided to do a little background research on the Piano Guys. Where there is no mistaking, they are talented and have engineered new ways of playing instruments (they usually don’t play the piano), but the platform of their faith is the reason for this caution.
Most don’t know that the Piano Guys are on public record as stating their faith. They offer full statement of belief on their website, it is as follows…
“We believe the purpose of life is to be happy. We believe the best way to be happy is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and to love others more than yourself.
We believe family is most important.
We believe we are all children of a God who loves us dearly.
We believe that good music can be a source of joy, inspiration, and fulfillment.
We believe as Bobby McFerrin once said, listening to only one kind of music is like insisting on living in only one room of your home your entire life.
We believe in as much laughter in life as possible.
We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as “LDS” or “Mormons”) to learn more about this church please visit mormon.org”
photo source: thepianoguys.com
Why is this important for me? Why should you find it a significant thing to think through?
Learning that the Piano Guys are LDS did not change the fact that these [piano] guys are talented. They are. What changed is the origin of their faith. When a Mormon speaks of the birth of Christ, sings of the birth of Christ, or even plays music [without words] of the birth of Christ I’m in a different place of critique. I’m no longer simply enjoying music, I’m in doctrinal conflicted with the musician. When a Mormon sings of the birth of Jesus, he means a god left heaven, came and had sexual relations with a woman, and she gave birth to a child. They are the same words an orthodox Christian may sing but the teaching behind those same words are radically different.
I can still respect the talent of the Piano Guys, but I can’t experience worship as a result of their music. I might feel emotion that their music creates but I can’t trust my emotions to lead me to worship. I must give direction to my emotions. It’s possible that many will disagree with me on this. I welcome the disagreement, I’m only stating my observation from comparing the doctrines of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
What do followers of Christ (defined by the Bible) have in common with Mormons? There is no place where the two are the same. The two doctrines are at conflict with each other, they have two different masters. The Bible teaches that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)
Can a follower of Christ enjoy the talent of the Piano Guys? I think that’s clearly possible. Can the Piano Guys lead a follower of Christ (defined by the Bible) to worship? The answer, in my observation, gets sticky. Because the Piano Guys state their beliefs on their website as clearly Mormon, and because I believe the Bible to be a sufficient rule for my life, I say no; they can only lead someone to worship their god, and clearly they want listeners to worship their god because they invite visitors of their website to check out Mormonism.
I might listen to music from the Piano Guys but I will direct my spirit to not be carried away with emotion. If I’m not careful, my emotion will deceive me and lure me into idolatry. Giving my emotions to another god must be guarded always. Clearly there is a secular product that is enjoyable by the Piano Guys, but just as clearly there is a spiritual component that must not be ignored. If I’m not careful, I can let the familiarity of the music played by the Piano Guys to eventually weaken my heart as to considering that ‘maybe we do worship the same deity.’ We don’t worship the same, so I’ll guard my heart
