Sabbath Pulpit

Wrong Time for a Blessing?

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:12:13 +0000

Proverbs 27:14 reminds us that there can be a wrong time even for a blessing. When it is time for something else, and someone comes in and loudly shouts even the right sounding thing, we can find out blessing turning into a curse. This scripture gives the example of someone yelling the blessing to wake up the sleeper. It is time for sleeping. Sleeping has benefits and is a need for the human body. However, someone might feel the need to wake up the sleeper to give her a blessing.

Yes this is a common occurrence. Maybe not while literally sleeping, but often we find people giving us “blessings” when they are either not needed or not helpful. In fact, even when the sentiment is true, we might be giving the “blessing” at the wrong time. How many have been told to keep their chin up because God will be a “doctor in the sick room” right when the person has not even dealt with the reality of the diagnoses? How many have been told to “stop crying” for God will bless you right when their spouse has died?

Certainly these sentiments may be true, but just as the blessing that wakes the sleeper is the wrong time and becomes a curse, so does our promises of God’s aid at the wrong time. Certainly we should and must bless folks, but what this text tells me is to make sure that the blessing is at the right time, or it will become a curse to the one receiving it.

Do You Want Victory?

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:03:20 +0000

We often lose in our battle because we don’t really want to win. We talk about desiring victory over sin, but we keep the emblems of sin around, “just in case.” Sure we want victory, just not the victory that requires sacrifice. We want the victory that doesn’t require giving up anything. We want an easy victory

Romans 6:11 gives us the key to victory. It is a key that is not easy. It is not what we want to hear. But it is simply to “reckon” or “consider” yourself dead to sin. This is a very interesting image. Reckon yourself dead to sin. How does one do that? You do that by simply treating yourself as if you already have the victory. This is not to say that you will not fall again. You probably will. But what it does say is that you are not aiding the enemy in your defeat.

You are acting as if you are victorious. You are living as if you have already won. You are standing firm in the victory that God has already given to you. If you want victory, go ahead and stand in it. Go ahead and live in it. Victory is already yours. For we are simply living in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. (Romans 6:8-Romans 6:9)

The Complete Savior

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:03:33 +0000

As we near the close of this earth’s history, we find ourselves in need of a complete savior. Too often we fall into the trap of only wanting a partial savior. You know the savior who drapes us with a superficial sappy “love”, but never disciplines us.

However, the Jesus who came to this earth is both a savior and a from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin in our lives. We need to stop being happy with the “Jesus-lite” that forever promises us money and fame and success, but never changes us. We need to stop being happy with a Gospel that forgives but never empowers. We need to stop being happy with an incomplete savior.

Yes, Jesus is able to keep us from falling (Jude 1:24). Yes Jesus will forgive us, but also cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). Yes! Let us stop being happy with the “beginning things” and move on to the other things that God wants us to understand and live (Hebrews 6:1-3).

Hope That Transcends Death

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:12:40 +0000

Many of us live our lives with little thought for the future. We assume that we will never have to walk that lonely road that leads into forever. We see people dying everyday. We see sickness, accidents, and nature taking away even friends and family, but we never come face to the face with the reality that one day we will not be here.

How can we look at the inevitable demise of our earthly existence? I am glad that the Apostle reminds us that when we look at death, whether others or our own, we do not have to fear as others fear and have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). For there is another kingdom that we will have on the other side. The Apostle reminds us that death itself shall be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).

And if death “shall be” swallowed up in victory, then we need not fear death even today. We need not allow death and the fear of it to keep us from living the lives that God has given us to live. We should not allow fear, which will be totally defeated, to beat us. If we simply beieve what God has said, then all of our todays can be lived in light of this reality. We can seek to love when loving hurts, for our greatest foe, death, has already been defeated. If we simply believe this truth, then we can work when working is dangerous, for our greatest foe has been vanquished. If we would belive this, then we can hope again even when it doesn’t look like we have anything to hope for, becuase if death has been defeated, then why can’twe assume that God will work in God’s own time to take care of the other lessor entities.

SabbathPulpit Under New Ownership

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:18:25 +0000

Hello,

I wish to take this time to thank you all for your support and emails of support for the work that we have done on this site. Thankfully someone has emerged to take continue this work.

This is my final post as the director of Sabbath Pulpit Ministries. While, I will no longer play a daily part in the work of this ministry, I pray that God will continue to bless the continued ministry of the Sabbath Pulpit.

Sherman Haywood Cox II

Who Authorized This Ministry?

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:51:04 +0000

The other day someone called the phone line for Sabbath Pulpit Ministries with an interesting question. It was a Seventh-day Adventist woman who wanted to know who authorized the website. She wanted to know if I had had proper permission to publish to the web from some denominational or ecclesial body. When I told her that my authorization comes solely from Jesus Christ’s command to “go ye therefore,” I could tell that the ministry had lost credibility in her eyes.

Still-Born Ministries – No Authorization

Initially, I saw this as simply one person’s indictment of this ministry. However, as I thought about this, the gravity of the situation hit me. This individual has a mindset that would preclude her from pushing forth her own God-given dreams of ministry because it was not “authorized properly.” And more, she would discourage anyone from pursuing their own ministry, if not “properly authorized.” Could it be that part of the long delay is that all of the God inspired ministries of our members are waiting for “proper authorization?”

Your ministry may not qualify you to be a member of ASI, but your is still a God given ministry. You may not have the right to call your ministry “Adventist,” but it is still a ministry. You may have people call you on your line and question your authorization, but yours is a ministry.

God’s Ministry Plan

The organized structure can’t contain the variety of the work that is to be done. When Joel 2:28 is fulfilled and God’s spirit is poured out on all flesh and our sons and daughters prophesy let us not be a hindreance to the work that God is doing. Whether authorized by the brethren or not…

So I encourage you to find the ministry that God has tailored you to. If that ministry is a department in the church, praise God and work in that. If that ministry is a new work that your church or conference wishes to support and promote, Go on ahead, in God’s grace and do that ministry. If you have been baptized, you are authorized for baptism is your ordination to the ministry God has called you to. If you are experienced in a field, find a way to use it for ministry. And if, yours is a ministry that the church cannot support due to financial or personnel reasons, go on ahead and do it. Just make sure that when someone asks you “who authorized this ministry” you can say with conviction, “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Laughing at God

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:10:22 +0000

When Abraham was told that he and Sarah were to have a child, Abraham fell down and laughed. (Gen 17:15-17). He laughed. Sarah, according to Gen 18:11-12, laughed as well. They both laughed at God because both were advanced in years. They were well past the child bearing age. However, the promise that was given to them was not based on their ability. The promise was not in Abraham or Sarah’s child bearing possibilities, but in another reality created by the powerful Word of God. The promise was based in the ability of the One giving the promise to fulfill the promise.

Abraham and Sarah desperately wanted this, but it was beyond reason to think it could be true. Think of laughing at God when God makes a promise. It was ridiculous, but this was God’s Word. It was impossible, but there is still the promise.

We Have Promises on Our Lives

All of us may have a promise on our lives. God has given us the promise, but it is too hard…nay maybe even impossible. You cannot do it. It is beyond your capability to complete. Perhaps your promise from God is not having a child, but maybe it is completing that degree. Maybe it is changing careers into one that God has been pushing you towards for so many years. Perhaps it is victory over that sin that so easily besets you. I don’t know what it is, but I know that you have a promise. This is probably something that you cannot complete, and yet there is still God’s promise.

Like so many stories in the Bible, I understand completely where Abraham and Sarah are coming from. It was impossible. It was their very understanding of their inability that clarified the impossibility. But understand or not, the promise is still there.

Understanding the Impossible

And God comes to us who think that God’s promise is too big for our understanding and simply says, “Is there anything too hard for God?” (Gen 18:14) This week hold on to that idea as you seek to live in God’s promise in your own lives. Then you will see God turn that laugh of disbelief into a laugh of celebration….

God as The Bubble Gum Machine or The Fire Thrower – Tithe Rhetoric

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:00:49 +0000

This is the question asked by Steve Addision at his blog. In Australia, according to the article, more than 60% of Adventist and Pentecostal members tithe.

The question the article asks is why do they do it, While those on the mainline have much lower levels of tithe returners?” The writer gives two possibilities…one is that the Pentecostals and Adventists are closer to a movement than an institution. Another possibility given by the article is that the Adventists and Pentecostals are legalists seeking to earn heaven.

Is Returning Tithe a Guarantee?

This brings a couple of interesting questions. I remember one individual telling me that he kept a record of how far his money went while tithing and then did an experiment of not tithing and looking at his money. He said that his experiment demonstrated that his money went much further when he was tithing. Such evidence can paint a problematic picture. It doesn’t take into account the woman who tithes faithfully and still loses her home. What about the man who tithes to the penny and still dies of cancer. What about the mother who tithes and her child never comes back to the church? This idea only paints a limited picture, unless someone really does wish to stand next to Job’s friends and condemn those who are going through problems as sinners who are guilty of some sin.

When listening to some folks speak of the benefits of tithing, I sometimes wonder if folks are tithing because they want the “window of heaven opened up and a blessing poured out.” (Malachi 3:10) One Stewardship leader guaranteed that you will be financially better off after tithing. Is that why we tithe? He said, I guarantee you will look back and be able to say, “I don’t know how I made it, but God did it!” Is that even true? Can such a guarantee be made? Does the Bible saying “prove me now herewith” mean that you are gonna get that car you always wanted? Does it mean you are going to get that house? I sometimes wonder if this kind of thinking helped to set us up for this economic crash where many were getting too much house, cars, etc, based on “God’s blessing?”
Isn’t this nothing more than an Adventist version of the “name-it-claim-it-theology?”

God will Kill You

Another motivation that I have heard used is so that you will not have terrible consequences put on you if you do not tithe. It seems that our tithe rhetoric is either God will “hook you up” if you tithe, or God will “mess you up” if you don’t.

With this idea we put it all on you. You can guarantee happiness and economic prosperity, all you have to do is put 10%, and make sure that it ends up at the conference office. Or you can have disease, lost jobs, misery, and despair if you don’t.

But life seems to be more complex than this. Sometimes the one who never tithes does get hooked up. That one sometimes gets the job. That one seemingly goes further than the one who returns the tithe. Sometimes the “blessing” seems to appear when we spent that tithe instead of returned it.

Simplistic Rhetoric

Our rhetoric is too simplistic…it is a very Job’s friends type of rhetoric. You return tithe, and you will find the goodies coming from the bubble gum machine in the sky. If you do not, you will find fire and brimstone coming from the same place both now and in the future.

By no means does everyone use these approaches. There are different ones given here and there. I don’t wish to trivialize and minimize others as they struggle with these texts. But I just want us to be careful of the bubble gum machine or the fire from heaven. Because it makes us think we know exactly how the world works and how God will work. And in the end we have no such certainty. All we can do is trust in the God who has brought us where we are and follow that God as God leads, even if we sometimes feel like saying: “Though he Slay Me Yet Will I trust Him.”

What Bind Does the Sabbath Get You Out Of?

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:37:43 +0000

A while back I wrote a post on “E. J. Waggoner as a Practical Theologian.” In it I quoted Waggoner who stated that “Every doctrine of the Bible is for our practical benefit, and should be studied for that purpose.”

Practical and Doctrinal Opposites?

This is a very interesting thought for much of our preaching and thinking. Often we think of “practical” and “doctrinal” as being on two sides with a chasm in between. We cannot go over the chasm. So sometimes we preach “practical” sermons, and sometimes we preach “doctrinal” sermons.

Members long for “practical” preaching that will help us live faithfully in our daily lives. However, there is also a call for us to know “doctrine.” We are to gain a deeper awareness and understanding of the truths that hold us up.

We Cannot Forget Doctrine

We cannot forget doctrine. When we do we lose something of who we are. The deity of Christ is a doctrine that is hotly debated in some circles today. However, the doctrine is an important one in our Christian heritage. The doctrine of the Sabbath also has a call on us as Seventh day Sabbatarians.

And for this reason, sometimes we teach and preach doctrines, while other times we teach and preach themes of practical living. E. J. Waggoner comes in and asks us why do we have this dichotomy? Why not preach doctrine by emphasizing its practical relevance? Why not preach doctrine by emphasizing its importance in our daily living? Why not preach and teach doctrine in such a way that we will immediately see its practical relevance just as we see the practical relevance of the traditional “practical” sermons?

Lowry’s Question

In short, we ask the same question that Eugene Lowry, the homilitician, wrote in his classic preaching text The Homiletical Plot. Lowry asks of any doctrine before he preaches it, “What bind does the doctrine get you out of?” In short, how does this doctrine help me overcome a problem?

Certainly there are times for more didactic teaching, but all of our doctrinal preaching need not be in lecture form. If we truly are to teach the Sabbath more fully, then we must find a way to live out the implications of the Sabbath in our daily lives. To do that, we must listen to both Lowry and Waggoner by asking about the practical benefit of the Sabbath. Then we will be in a position to be the witness to the Sabbath that God has called our movement to be.

The Hospice Mindset

Sherman Haywood Cox II — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:39:16 +0000

The church is not a place for the righteous, it is a hospital for sinners.

So goes the popular saying that has taken on almost cliche-like proportions in many of our churches. The idea is that anyone who expects church members to live differently than those who are not members.

Is the Statement Helpful?

The statement is a helpful thing to keep in mind if it reminds us of our own hypocracy or even lack of understanding that the Christian life is one of growth and that we cannot expect new people to be as far along as some of our more seasoned members. It is helpful when it reminds us of these things.

However, too often the saying promotes a situation where there is no growth. It can hide the fact that often it is not the new members who are still falling to the sin that so easily besets them, but the old ones. Too often, it promotes the illogical and unchristian idea that we should not expect Christians to live any differently than those on the outside. Too often the saying promotes a mindset that is quick to call anyone a hypocrite who is calling the church to live better.

Do They Mean Hospice?

In short, too often the saying is used incorrectly. When the saying is used to support Christians who do not grow, then the speaker should say that “the church is not a hospital but a hospice.

A hospice is a place where the sick go to be comforted before dying. The sick go to have their pains masked by drugs while they wait for that same illness to overtake and kill them. Too often, we want to make the church a place where the sick can be confortable while they continue the dying process. A place where they will not be confronted by the realization that healing is possible in Jesus Christ. A place where those who do not wish to be bothered by any of the ethical implications of the gospel can go to have a good shout and go home to live unchanged lives.

Too often we want the church to be a hospice where we do not allow Jesus to take from us our most cherished sins. Too often we want the church to be a hospice where the same sin that elicited our need for Jesus ultimtaely kills us!

Reclaiming the Truth in the Statement

But the saying is right, the church is not a hospice, no, it is a hospital. It is a place where Jesus shows up. It is a place where sick folks are healed. Yes, people are broken in need of great help, but Jesus does something. Yes the church is a hospital.

To not expect that the sinner will get better is not a hospital mindset it is a hospice mindset. To not expect that Jesus is able to help me to overcome all of my weakness is a hospice mindset not a hospital mindset. Certainly the church is a place where the sick congregate, but are the sick expected to get better after a confrontation with the King of the Universe, or are the sick simply entertained while the ailment that brought them there ultimately kills them?

That is the question. Is it truly a hospital where the sick get well or a hospice where the sick are comforted and entertained before they die in their sins?