Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:23:13 +0900WeeblyTue, 30 Aug 2022 07:21:19 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/vaccines-and-the-mark-of-the-beast-666]]>Mon, 24 Jan 2022 02:13:26 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/8-christian-cliches-we-should-be-careful-how-we-useSometimes I wonder what the background to some of our Christian cliches are. I mean, who was the first person to say, “Let go, and let God”? I think that if we knew the circumstances it would help us to know what the original intent has.
For example, if you are struggling with a sin and someone says, “Let go (of your sin) and Let God (give you strength)” then that’s a good thing. But if you happen to be hanging off the edge of a cliff and some well-meaning spiritualist comes along and says “Let go, and let God”, maybe not such a good idea!
Our question concerns five well-known cliches which we hear all the time. And I want to comment on each one of them but I would also like to add a few others to the list:
1. God works in mysterious ways. This is partly true. Sometimes God very obviously does things that we don’t understand. After all:
Isaiah 55:8-9  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
But it is also true that God has given us principles in His word with promises attached whereby we know what God will do. God has written natural laws by which we know what the reaction to some action will be. And I have found that the Lord uses His natural laws far more often than he does His supernatural intervention of those laws.
2. Where God guides, He provides. This is true. But what we need to remember is that the key is knowing that the Lord is guiding, and then stepping out in obedience. At the same time, sometimes we like to look at our provisions as proof of God’s guidance but this may or may not be true.
3. Let go, and let God. This phrase highlights a believer’s need to surrender to the Lord’s control. But surrendering to God’s control doesn’t mean inactivity. It means trusting the Lord as we continue to follow what we believe His revealed will is for our lives. God doesn’t do everything for us. Have you ever noticed that God never changes the lightbulbs at church? So let go and Let God is good when we apply it to the aspect of trusting Him but isn’t an excuse for laziness.
4. Cleanliness is next to godliness. I’m not sure where this came from but it was probably a Christian mom speaking to a child about their room! First of all, it is good to be clean. It is good to focus on the little details but don’t forget what Jesus said to the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:25-26  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.  26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
It is good to be clean. Personally, I don’t like being in a dirty restaurant and I don’t like to be in closed spaces with people who don’t shower often enough or don’t brush their teeth. But you don’t become godly (Christlike) by using soap and water. You become godly by getting saved and then growing in God’s grace through obedience and trust.
5. God helps those who help themselves. - Came from Ben Franklin. If you think about it, it sounds almost opposite of “Let go, and let God”. The truth is, God helps those who realize that they are helpless without Christ. But I get it. The point is, don’t sit around and expect the Lord to do everything for you. He gave you a brain and a body so use them.
Now, let me add some other Christian cliches that you have probably heard:
6. When God closes a door, he opens a window. This is not always true. Sometimes God doesn’t want us to take any action whatsoever. God can also desire us to stay right where we are. It is called waiting on the Lord. I like to say, “Just keep doing what the Lord told you to do. He will make it clear if He wants you to do something else.”
7. You can’t out-give God. I think this is one I have heard the most coming from the pulpit when preachers are trying to get their people to give more financially. So let me begin by saying it is a biblical principle:
Luke 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
But I do see a danger in the way this saying is usually used. The idea is that if I give to the Lord then He will give me more. This is the prosperity gospel through-and-through. Nobody ever gave more than Jesus and yet Jesus had this to say about himself:
Luke 9:57-58  And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.  58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
It really all comes down to the motive of the heart.
8. God said. I believe it. That settles it. I saw this on a bumper sticker a number of times. One day I saw a bumper sticker that said, “God said it. That settles it whether you believe it or not.”  That’s probably more applicable to the society of faithlessness that we are living in today. Having said that, the next time you desire to say this, make sure that what you are referring to is actually what God said and not just what you think he said.
I’d like to make one more point about Christian cliches. When I was a young Christian I would here people say things like “Just trust the Lord” or “God knows what He is doing” or my all-time favorite, “He/she has gone to a better place”.
Look, I know you may mean well but remember that young believers want to trust God but don’t know exactly how to apply that concept. It is nice to know that God knows what he is doing but how do I live in the light of that truth?
And I will never forget how totally useless “She has gone to a better place” sounded to my aching heart at the graveside of my mother. When a person loses a loved one, they don’t need our theological prowess, they need our comfort and support. Just be there to weep with them. That’s what they really want and what they really need.
]]>Sat, 08 Jan 2022 02:39:24 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/problems-with-the-esvThe ESV is becoming quite popular and a lot of people speak very highly of it. But popularity doesn’t make something right. The real question is, “Can it be trusted”.
It is true that the ESV is becoming quite popular. In fact, it has been listed as one of the top-selling Bible translations since at least 2014. In the last 15 years, an estimated 200,000,000 copies have been sold world-wide. I would say that’s popular! 
The ESV was released in 2001, with minor revisions being released in 2007, 2011, and 2016.
From their web site:
The English Standard Version (ESV) is an "essentially literal" translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors, the ESV Bible emphasizes "word-for-word" accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning.
Not long ago, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee decided that they had brought their translation to the point where it was good enough to stop working on. In their words:
“the ESV Bible will remain unchanged in all future editions printed and published by Crossway—in much the same way that the King James Version (KJV) has remained unchanged ever since the final KJV text was established almost 250 years ago (in 1769).” 
They are calling their final revision the “Permanent Text of the ESV Bible”. This final revision included changes to 52 words found in 29 verses.
The foundation for their translation work was the Revised Standard Version (RSV) which was translated from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in the Old Testament and the Critical Greek Text in the New Testament.
So the Translators of the ESV basically took the RSV and tweaked it to be more of a formal equivalent translation (they call it “optimal equivalence”) of these same original language texts. Also, in their own words, there were occasions when they consulted  the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, and a few other things to “shed light” on the Old Testament Hebrew text.
So, the essential and most basic problem is that it is based upon inferior Hebrew and Greek texts. 
It’s ironic that they actually claim to be following in the tradition of the Tyndale translation and the KJV. This isn’t even remotely possible since the ESV is by all intents and purposes, nothing more than a revision of a translation based upon different Hebrew and Greek texts. A good number of scholars have basically come to the same conclusion. And yet, rather than address the elephant in the room, the ESV publishers just quietly ignore this fact.
Since the ESV is not based on the Textus Receptus, we should expect to find differences. And indeed we do. There are quite a number of verses that you will find in the KJV which are just not in the ESV. The reason is because those same verses are not in the Critical text from which the ESV was translated.
There are also phrases missing in quite a number of other verses. There are several lists available on the internet, if you are interested but I wanted to address a few which I believe are more critical:
Mathew 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.  KJV
And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.  ESV
This is critical because without this phrase, one could conclude that it is acceptable to married a woman who was divorced when Jesus clearly said otherwise. We may debate what the conditions are all day long. But we cannot simply remove the phrase.
Mark 1:2 (ESV) – As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
What’s the problem here, you ask? It’s not written in Isaiah. But that's what the Critical Text says so rather than do it what we like to call, "the right way", they went with it.

John 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  KJV
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  ESV 
This is an unfortunate deletion because the phrase teaches us the omnipresence of Christ. He was sitting down with Nicodemus when he said this. And he clearly said that he was in heaven. I don’t know of any other verse from the earthly ministry of Christ that makes this as clear as we see it here.
John 7:8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for My time is not yet full come.
You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.
The absence of that little word “yet” makes Jesus a liar in the ESV because in the ESV, Jesus told his brothers he wasn’t going to the feast and then later he went.
One of the more plain errors of the ESV is the fact that Elhanan is said to be the slayer of Goliath in 2 Samuel 21:19, even though any child who attended Sunday school knows that it was David. The reason for this translation error is that the faulty ESV Greek textual basis reads so. So if your Bible says Elhanan killed Goliath, that’s an error, even it clarifies it in a footnote.
One of the more controversial changes, which was actually debated quite strongly, was Genesis 3:16.
The ESV translators changed their earlier translation from “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you,” to “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
Of course the KJV says, “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee”.
The ESV sets it in stone that the woman, all women, will always have a naturally tendency to be contrary to the husband. And that is simply not what the Hebrew states.
I had originally thought that the ESV avoided gender neutral language but that is not always the case. The danger? Formal equivalence.
So, in summery, there are some negative things about the ESV almost all of them are textual, meaning, it is because the foundation is different. Some are translational. But none of the changes are warranted.
Nuff said?
]]>Thu, 15 Jul 2021 03:59:17 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/suicidePastor, if a person commits suicide, will they be lost?
Let’s read a classic verse on suicide:
2 Samuel 17:23  And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Have you ever read this verse and said to yourself, “Now there is a man with a bad temper. He didn’t get his way and so he kills himself?” What would cause a man to do something as irrational as this? 
It almost seems like a made-up story - something along the lines of Romeo and Juliet. I am in no way excusing the sin of suicide, but you can kind of understand in Romeo and Juliet’s case. They were in love and could not be together in life.
But simply because someone doesn’t do what you want them to do? Suicide seems a bit harsh! But this is a real story about real people who make real bad choices. There are reasons why people commit suicide but it basically comes down to a feeling of hopelessness - no way out.
There are seven suicides recorded in the Bible:

• In Judges 9:54, Abimelech killed himself because he had been wounded in a battle and saw no hope.
• In Judges 16:30, Samson was blind, enslaved, and humiliated and saw death as the only way to preserve any honor at all. There was no future for him and no hope of escape.
• In 1 Samuel 31:4, King Saul committed suicide because he was mortally wounded and saw no hope of living.
• Then, in 1 Samuel 31:5, Saul’s armor bearer, either saddened by Saul’s death, or seeing no future for himself, kills himself too.  
• In 2 Samuel 17:23, our text that we read earlier, Ahithophel killed himself because His advice was no longer followed. He had been exposed as a phony. He had no future. So he killed himself.
• In 1 Kings 16:18, Zimri burned the palace down around himself because he knew that he was about to be killed in a coup. He saw no hope of escape so he killed himself.
• The last suicide is Judas Iscariot. He betrayed Christ and when he saw the utter despicability of his actions, he could not live with himself. He truly had no hope.

By now, surely you have noticed a pattern. When a person feels that there is no future, when they lose hope, they are prime candidates for suicide.
Now, as to our question, if a Christian commits suicide, will they lose their salvation. The answer is no.
But how can we know this, you ask? By simply applying biblical truths to the situation.
First of all, God offers forgiveness of sins even while we are sinners. We didn’t have to clean up first in order to be saved.
Romans 5:6-8  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And that’s good news because we are all sinners and even if we wanted to clean ourselves up, we couldn’t do it. And God, knowing that we are totally incapable of saving ourselves, or even helping Him to save us,  has taken care of the whole thing!
Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
God’s forgiveness, and consequently, our eternal salvation, is totally dependent upon God’s mercy. The offer of mercy is from God, not from man. In fact, the offer of mercy is from God exactly because we are sinners.
The best person you know is still a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness. And no matter who a person may think they are, without Christ, they have only an eternal hell to look forward to. 
And you deserve it because God has gone so far as to sacrifice his own son so that you can be saved and you rejected the offer.
But the good news is that if we ask for forgiveness, God will forgive us and save us eternally.
1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If you have ever done this, you are eternally saved. And just as you were saved by God’s grace, so you will continue to be saved by God’s grace. You couldn’t earn salvation by your works and you can’t keep it by your works either.
Philippians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,  5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.  30  I and my Father are one.
1 John 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
So my salvation, and the keeping therefore, is in the hands of God and he has promised to keep me. The confidence I have in my salvation is not in my self but in Christ’s promises.
Now, suicide is a sin. It is self-murder. But there are many other sins that can cause our deaths which would not be deemed suicide. Why do we look at this one and rate it differently? I don’t know.
The fact is, suicide only proves what we already know from the Bible to be true. We are sinners. But salvation is a gift from God in spite of who we are, not because of who we are. We are saved because of who Jesus is! And the fact that God has given us the promises that he will keep us forever more ought to be answer enough to the question.
​]]>Mon, 21 Jun 2021 06:56:07 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/what-constitutes-a-biblical-sermonI just heard a sermon where the guy used just one verse and then spoke for the rest of the time. How much should a pastor use? Is there any guidance for this in the Bible? To boil it down: what constitutes a good sermon vs a bad sermon from a church’s pastor? (For Video Sermon)
​
What constitutes a good sermon? What a question! There are so many styles of preaching and so many styles of preachers. But if there is one thing that must be consistent is the use of the Word of God.
Frankly, I do not know what I would say if I didn’t have the Bible to draw my preaching from. I’m not very good at coming up with things on my own. That’s one reason among many why I love having the Bible to preach from.
I took a look at all the different ways that the word “preach” was used in the Bible and what exactly was being preached. Except for a handful of generic references where the subject of the preaching was not mentioned, I found the following:

• References to preaching the Kingdom of God (14 times)
• References for preaching the gospel/faith/cross (44 times)
• References to preaching repentance, forgiveness (5 times)
• References to preaching the Word (16 times)
• References to preaching Jesus/Christ/Lord(24 times)

In all of these cases, I find it would be totally impossible to follow the biblical examples without using the Bible.
But the question was not, “what to preach” but “How much Bible should be in the message?”
I once heard someone say that Spurgeon and Wesley often used only one verse in their messages. But actually, that’s far from the truth. They quotes verses and portions of verses in the course of their messages as they exegete the verse they began with.
I don’t personally like to hear a man speak for an hour when he hasn’t given me much from the Bible. The power is in the Word of God and not in the illustrations, funny stories, or memorable anecdotes.
Some preachers say that a message should be expository. In other words, the preacher takes a passage of scripture - maybe a few verses, maybe a paragraph, maybe a whole chapter, and expounds upon what the passage says, how it relates to the topic of that particular book or chapter, and how we should apply it.
Others like to preach topics where they skip around the Bible hitting major verses or passages on the topic. As they read each verse or passage, they expound upon how the passage relates to the topic and how we should apply it.
In either case, whether expository or topical, both styles have elements of the other style. But most importantly, both are grounded upon: 10 the reading of the Scriptures, 2) explaining what the Bible means, and 3) how it should be applied.
We see the same thing happening in the book of Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 8:8  So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
So, the foundation of everything in a sermon must be the Bible. And I cannot personally see how it can be called good preaching if only one verse is used.
The typical sermon has anywhere from 3 to 7 major points with a couple of important sub-points under each. Given that each main point may have one sub point of application and two points of theological support, a 7-point outline should have a main text, at least 1 supporting verse for each main point (usually taken from the main text in expository preaching) and a verse or part of a verse for each supporting sub-point.
Now, I am well aware that many preachers don’t feel the same way about preaching as I do. But I am also well aware that those who come to the Haven leave with a deep knowledge of the Bible and typically are unsatisfied until they find another church that uses the Bible in the preaching too.
If you examine the sermons of everyone in the New Testament, you will find that they use the Old Testament to prove their message. Even Jesus often used the Old Testament, even though everything He said was literally the Word of God.
Back to the verse in Nehemiah, we see three distinct things happening - they read the word, they gave the sense, they cause them to understand.
The read the Word in Hebrew. But since the majority of the Jews had been scattered throughout the Gentile world for the last 70 years or so, most of them didn’t understand Hebrew so they had to “give the sense”. In other words, translate it into their spoken language which would most likely had been Aramaic. 
In fact, a little known bit of trivia for you, did you know that Ezra 4:8-6:18, Ezra 7:12-10:6, Daniel 2:4-7:28, and Jeremiah 10:11 were all written in Aramaic and not Hebrew? That’s about 268 verses of the Old Testament. 
You might also remember from the book of Daniel that when the Jews were taken into captivity, the Babylonians made them learn their language and culture (Dan 1:4). So many of them would not have understood the reading of Hebrew without an interpreter.
Then, according to Nehemiah 8:8, they caused them to understand the reading. And this is what good preaching is. It is based upon the Word of God where the preacher helps the people understand what was read.
Having said all that, if I were looking for a good church, and I were taking a look at the kind of preaching that is done in a church, I would probably also take a look at whatever sermons I could get my hands on and try to discern if the preaching covered a multitude of subjects and not just the same messages from a different text. Something should be said about preaching the whole couple of God.]]>Tue, 01 Jun 2021 23:44:05 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/vaccines-and-obedience-to-the-governmentNowadays the Covid Vaccine is getting a lot of attention. Some people say a Christian should not get the vaccine. I want to do the right thing. Should I obey the government or follow my heart?
First of all, there are a number of different beliefs concerning vaccines and we should recognize it is not as simple as saying “some people like it and some don’t”.

• Some people believe vaccines are harmful in general and they do not want to get any type of vaccine for any reason.
• Some people think vaccines are generally safe except that this one has not been properly vetted.
• Some people do not like the idea but will go with the program because without the vaccine, they are limited in travel, work, etc.
• Some people have no problem with the vaccine and will receive it without any qualms whatsoever.

Any nothing I say here is going to change anyone’s opinion. And depending upon your position, you, as a believer will read the Bible and come to your own conclusion which you believe to be biblical. At least I would hope that you would.
Are vaccines harmful? Well, there are always a few who will have problems with just about any medicine or treatment so let’s just set those aside and look at the data. The data suggests that vaccines are not harmful. 
So, if you believe that they are, you must also believe that there is some sort of conspiracy of lies to coerce the general public into getting the vaccine. And of course, you would have to have some sort of motive as well.
That being said, we have no, I repeat, NO long-term data for the Covid vaccines. So, at this point, we really don’t know if it is harmful or not. And that kind of flows into the second position, “has it been properly vetted?”
Again, we can only go with the information given to us but normally, it takes several years to get something FDA approved. In this case, they did do step 1, step 2, step 3, in order. They say they accomplished several steps at the same time so they could cut the time down. They also began mass producing so it would be ready once it was approved.
And you have to know that these companies have a very big financial interest in getting it approved, especially since they spent millions in mass-producing before it could even be used. All I can say is that they must have really had a lot of confidence in their product. So, at the very least, they believed that their product would be deemed safe.
Now here is a thought that I am not sure I have heard anyone address. But the government has a social medicine program and they pay out when people get sick. So it stands to reason that the government would mandate the general populace to take certain steps to keep it healthy.
We can talk about social medicine some other time, and I have some pretty strong thoughts on that too. But for now, understand that it is only natural for the government to strongly push vaccines.
So I have said a lot of things and thrown out a lot of thoughts and now its time to apply some Scripture:
Romans 13:1-2  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
The Bible mandates that we obey our government. Its that simple.
But there are times when we don’t submit to the government and that is when it is telling us to do something unbiblical.
For example, if we believe the vaccine is harmful, then we are also supposed to protect our families and ourselves. But before we can accurately make that kind of decision, we need more data.
Sure, it works. We have the data for that. But what will be the long-term affects? We don’t know that yet.
There are those who are complaining about the possibility of not being able to travel abroad or shop in certain places because they demand the vaccine. All I can say is if you make your decision based on conviction, you have to be willing to pay the price. This world is not our home. We don’t get to write the rules. And besides, the Bible said things would get difficult for the believer toward the end anyway.
What about me? Well, right now I don’t have to make a decision because I am not eligible for the shot yet here in Korea. So I still have time to wait, watch, study, and see if there are long-term issue we don’t know about yet.
But whatever decision I make, it won’t be because I believe the vaccine is the mark of the beast. Last time I read my Bible, it said that the mark of the beast would be upon the right hand or the forehead. The vaccine goes in the arm.
I heard that there are some people on the internet holding magnets to their arms in order to prove the vaccine has some sort of metal property to it. They believe there are micro-dots or something in it. I have some friends that have already had the vaccine and I assure you, magnets do not stick to them.
For more information nation about the mark of the beast, I recommend you watch our video on the subject entitled, “The Mark of the Beast”. It will be on our Youtube channel this Saturday.
]]>Fri, 28 May 2021 22:26:09 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/are-there-modern-day-apostlesThere are those who seem to think that they are the modern apostles in the same vein as the apostles of the first century.

• The leader of the Mormon Church (and I use this term very lightly) is called an apostle. 
• The Apostolic Pentecostal churches have leaders who are are called apostles. There are many others who call themselves apostles.
• There are denominations which believe in apostolic succession. They don’t usually use the word apostle but still believe the office exists today.
  • • The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Old Catholic, Swedish Lutheran, and Anglican churches accept the doctrine of apostolic succession and believe that the only valid ministry is based on bishops whose office has descended from the Apostles
  • But this is impossible, by biblical qualifications, for any of them to be true apostles. 

A true apostle had to be divinely appointed. 
The original 12 were appointed during Christ’s earthly ministry. (Luke 6:13-16)
If you recall, when Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, the disciples cast lots. They did not choose Matthias. God did.
Proverbs 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.
Jesus chose the apostles. The apostles did not choose to apostles. 
You may wonder how Paul could be qualified but Paul makes it clear in Galatians that Jesus chose him and trained him.
Galatians 1:1  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
He says the same basic thing in 1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 2 Tim 1:1) You would have to say that the Bible is not the word of God to discredit such ample testimony.


They had to have been taught by the Lord Jesus Christ personally.
Galatians 1:11-12  But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  12  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.


Paul also mentions in several passages that he was taught by revelation. (Gal 1:12; Gal 2:2; Eph 3:3; 1 Corp 15:3)


They had to have personally witnessed the resurrected Lord:


Acts 1:22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.


1 Corinthians 9:1  Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?


The time of the apostles came to an end  when John the apostle died.  Since that time, the office of the apostle ceased. It was no longer necessary since the original apostles were the foundation and the foundation was firmly set:
Ephesians 2:19-21  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;  20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;  21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:


If 2000 years later we are still laying the foundation of the Church, there is something seriously wrong!




So what should we do with those who call themselves apostles today? I think we should follow the example of the church of Ephesus:
Revelation 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:


Reject them. Plain and simple.
​]]>Wed, 23 Jan 2019 02:11:51 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/stealth-christian-music-interesting-conceptI recently read a very interesting article in the BBC News. The title of the article was the first thing that caught my attention. It said, “5pop songs you (probably) didn't know were about God”.

I thought to myself, even before I read the article, “There is something wrong when the message of the gospel does not come through loud and clear.” Interesting. We now have “stealth Christian music”! And the world is so blind to it that we have to have news reporters explain it to us! 

And then I read the article. I was amazed. I could not believe that the performers listed could ever be confused for true Christians. I was also amazed that these  supposed Christian pop songs could ever be labelled as Christian music . So here is the list:

• Lenny Cravitz- Really? I’m not passing judgment on his salvation here but the guy uses foul language in interviews! He HAS to know his words are going down in print!
• Candi Staton- According to her, she’s all cleaned up now, and I am thankful for that. But even she admits that’s while she was on top of the music charts she was living a life of drunkenness. 
• U2- Bono, leader of U2 is a pretty open guy concerning his brand of religion, which by the way, is very emerging churchand Catholic. But according to his interview with Rolling Stones magazine (link provided as a proof-source only. I do not recommend reading it), he thinks "Paul was a tough @#$%." but wrong about women and homosexuality. Clearly, the Bible is not his final authority.
• Prince- Wow. Just wow. Probably one of the most lustfully charged songs in pop music. The guy died a Jehovah's Witness. 

The article goes on to list quite a few more that would surprise us - Kanye West, Bob Marley, David Bowie, and quite a few others.

To top it off, while researching data for this newsletter, I came across another interesting article by an extremely liberal (God-hating, I might add) News agency, BuzzFeed. The title of this article was "11 Bands You Might Not Realize Are Christian".

The article listed some of the same groups that was in the BBC article but it listed one group that totally blew my mind! I mean, I NEVER would have suspected that ANYONE would have considered Black Sabbath to be a Christian group! Their old material was already pretty bad. Their new material isn't much better. 

So I asked myself, "what in the world is going on here? How is it that these supposed Christian artists, and Christ songs could go unnoticed by not just believers like me, but even the world? Why did some news reporters have to write an article to tell us this?"

The answer is pretty simple. The world has no idea what Christian music or Christian standards even look like. They think that if you say "Jesus" or "church" that it is suddenly "Christian". But we know better, don't we!

Or do we????

The biggest contributor to this blatant epidemic of ignorance is that so many believers are "stealth believers". They are doing their best to make it through this life unnoticed. And that's sad.

The reality is that the world is not going to get the gospel message, the only thing that can change them, unless those of us who know the truth start telling them.

Stealth Christians help no one. They don't help the lost because they hide what the lost need to hear. They don't help their churches because they are actually hindering the work of the great commission. And they hinder themselves because there is so much more that they could experience if they would simply start sharing their faith.
]]>Thu, 20 Oct 2016 08:40:26 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/haven-headlines-16-04-is-hot-off-the-pressWell, it is almost election time! Everybody is thinking about politics. I thought I would write an issue of the Haven Headlines highlighting a tidbit of America's political history. Click here for the latest issue!

]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2016 22:04:14 GMThttps://hbcingunsan.com/pastors-blog/laodicean-pastorsTonight I heard a wonderful message from one of our young preachers as he brought a tremendous application from the letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation chapter 3.

He pointed out something that really intrigued me. He pointed out that the letter is not really to the church but to the angel of the church. And that little statement got me thinking. . .
Each of the seven letters to the seven churches can be viewed in three different aspects. First, the primary meaning is that each letter is to a real church that existed in the first century. As such, the letters describe the existing spiritual condition that prevailed in each of the churches.
Second, each letter contains a personal application - characteristics of individual believers - some good, and some not so good. So, as we read each of the letters, we may examine our own lives to see how we should apply the truths of each letter.
But thirdly, there is a prophetic picture to each letter where the characteristics of the church seems to parallel the characteristics that are prevalent in Christendom from the first century until now. And if that is true, then we are living in the Laodicean church age.
And that's where these two different thoughts bumped together in my head and I immediately began to see the letter in a much more serious light. You see, each letter starts out by saying, "unto the angel of the church of . . . ". 
The word “angel" comes from a Greek word (angelos) that the KJV translators also translated as "messenger". In fact, it is translated as “messenger’ or ‘messengers’ in 7 places - Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:24, Luke 7:27, Luke 9:52, 2 Cor 12:7, and James 2:25. So, even though, in the Book of Revelation, the KJV translators used the word as “angel" it is pretty obvious, when you consider the context, that the implication is for pastors of the churches who are held responsible for the spiritual condition that existed within their respective churches.
So what does all of this mean? It means very simply that those of us who are church leaders in this Laodicean age need to take the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:14-22 VERY personally and VERY seriously. If there is to be any prophetic application  made, then WE are the ones who are lukewarm. WE are the ones who are self-sufficient and believe we are in need of nothing. WE are the ones who are totally blind to our true spiritual deficiencies. And WE are the ones who need to repent of our condition.
It's not my church, not my deacon, but it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer!
The longer I have been in the ministry, the more I have noticed just how prevalent that these conditions are in so many so-called men of God all over the world. We could all name pastors who no longer speak directly to the sins of their congregation because they try to be accepted by everyone. It is not that they preach heresy. They just don’t preach anything that would make their people uncomfortable. They are lukewarm. (Rev 3:16) They are not a refreshing cold drink of water on a hot day to nourish a thirsty soul. Nor are they useful as hot water to cleanse or purify (http://www.livestrong.com/article/421331-why-is-it-healthy-to-drink-hot-water/). They are lukewarm and practically ineffective. They may not be offensive to their followers and may even be well-liked, but Jesus said he will spew them out of His mouth.
We all know preachers who believe they can build their churches on business models, programs, or promotions. They believe that since they have nice buildings and comfortable bank accounts that their church is being blessed of God. Of course, they would never say that they are relying on these things but their actions speak loud and clear. But what is the Lord’s estimation of their attitude? Jesus says they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev 3:17)  
You can go to just about any preacher's fellowship meeting and hear them brag about all the material assets that their church has attained. They equate their assets with the blessings of God. They speak as if riches or popularity is the measuring stick of God's favor. And the saddest part about this is that they don't really realize their true condition. “and knowest not” (Rev 3:17)
The Letter to the angel of the church of Laodicea ends with a command to turn back to Christ and allow Him to be our sufficiency. (Rev 3:18, 19) If we are to see true results to our preaching, it will not be in our oratorical training. It will not be in our carefully outlined sermons. We will know the power of God when we humbly beseech the God of all power. We will see true results when we repent of our pride and arrogance. We will will see true spiritual results when we open our doors (Rev 3:20) and allow Christ to take His rightful place as Head of the body, the church.
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Rev 3:18)
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