So Long "Fakebook"

So, I deactivated my personal Facebook page again. This time maybe for good. There comes a point when you have to weigh the pros and cons of everything. While I love keeping up with my family and seeing their posts and pictures, I do not enjoy all of the other stuff that goes with it.

For instance; I watched with a broken heart as one of my fellow preacher friends posted all kinds of worldly videos and music and say things that a Christian should not say. I noticed that his friend base changed and no longer were preachers and pastors liking his posts but the lost and wicked of the world were liking them. I watched as he ruined his testimony on Facebook for all of the world to see. The last I saw, I believe the Lord got ahold of him and he repented and got back on track, however, I can't help but wonder how many people were negatively influenced by someone who was supposed to be a child of the light acting like a child of the night.

I also began noticing that many of my fellow pastors were becoming the world's biggest braggers. Statements such as; "Wow! The place was packed! Wow! It was overflowing, you couldn't get another person in the parking lot! " etc... While I realize it is exciting to see God work in a Church, I assure you when you reach Heaven he is not going to congratulate you on your full parking lot but rather he will judge you according to your likeness to His Son (see Ephesians 4:13).

It just seems that God isn't receiving the glory for a lot of things that are being posted. The truth is there isn't a pastor on the face of this earth that is able to even get out of bed or take another breath unless God allows it. We can't do anything within ourselves. Every time we do things in our own power, we are not doing it for the glory of God.

The Scripture is very clear on how much the Lord hates pride, here are just a FEW examples:

• "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished." Proverbs 16:5. 
• "And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." Isaiah 13:11 
• "Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee." Jeremiah 50:31 
• "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." James 4:6

I guess the scariest part is, I found myself also being prideful as I would post things that happened at Church and brag about the number of people, etc... I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Charles Lawson a couple of weeks ago and he made mention of Facebook and how he was not on it and never would be. He said his nickname for it was "Fakebook" because everything on there was fake. The Lord convicted me of this and for now I think it best that I just stay deactivated on Facebook. 

You don't have to agree with any of this, and that is fine. This is my own personal conviction and if you can stand before the Lord and be okay with those kind of things then be my guest. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and not Fakebook.

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The Jesus of the Bible

Recently, a Facebook friend of mine posted the following question:

"Can someone tell me why there is no record of the Greatest Man ever Born Jesus from the age past 12 until around the age of 30. what went on in that time span?"

The question is one that has been pondered on through the ages and of course as mere mortals with human minds, we often wonder about such things. I didn't want to rush in an give my opinion quickly so I gave it careful consideration and sought God's guidance in what I would reply with. In between the time the question was posted there were a couple of well meaning folks that commented with their opinions; both which were not Biblically founded (which is what I was afraid would happen.) One pointed to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which is not included in the Cannon of Scriptures that we use because it is not a true Gospel, it is a false Gospel. It is a Gnostic writing to appease people's curiosity's concerning the early life of Jesus. The disturbing thing about this writing is that it casts Jesus in a light of acting in the flesh by killing at least 3 different people during his child/teen years and also striking people blind out of vengeance. This is obviously not the Jesus of the Bible. I would call the Infancy Gospel of Thomas for what it is, heresy.

Another commenter provided a link to Lee Strobel's book, A Case For Christ. A book written by a former atheist who conducted interviews with so-called "Biblical scholars" to prove that Jesus was really the Son of God. I have not read this book and cannot give an authoritative opinion, however, I base my beliefs on Faith, which is what every believer must do, and not some man's opinion.

So, after seeking the Lord's help, I answered the question with the following:

"No one on this earth can tell you why. Only the Lord would have the answer to that. One thing is for certain, we have all that we need because Scripture tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Those words "throughly furnished" mean fully equipped, in other words nothing else is needed. The last account that the Gospels give us between his childhood and adult years, is that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature," therefore, we must believe that His time was spent being obedient and about His Father's business. John 21:25 says: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." I think the important thing is to consider what is written about Him and to trust him as our Lord and Savior and not be worried about what isn't written."

Now, I'm not saying that I know everything there is to know concerning the Bible, far from it, but I do know that the Bible I use, the Authorized King James Version, is the perfect, infallible, inerrant Word of God, and it is complete and everything we need. There's nothing wrong with having questions about the Bible but all too often we worry about things that are NOT in the Bible instead of worrying about the things that ARE in the Bible. We need to concentrate on what we do have and leave the rest for the Lord to reveal to us in Heaven.

So, I end this post with one of my favorite quotes from Pastor Clarence Sexton: "The best commentary on the Bible, is the Bible." - Amen!

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Facebook?

Do you use Facebook? If so, why not visit the all-new Highland Baptist Church Facebook page and "like" it?

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