Why I Serve

Periodically when people who support me as an elected official find out I'm a pastor they become curious why a preacher would serve as an elected official. And vise versa, when people who know me as a pastor learn I also serve as an elected official they wonder why I serve. Well... I guess I should explain.

For me public service is as much a part of who I am as breathing, and it seems odd to me that some would wonder why I do it. Growing up I was surrounded by men who had served their country as soldiers. My uncle had deformed feet because of frostbite during the battle of the bulge. Other uncles served in the military and various wars. My grandfather was a veteran of WWI. My step-father was a career soldier who also fought in the battle of the Bulge as an Armored Infantry First Sergeant. Our neighbor (my first girlfriend's father) had been a marine in the Pacific during World War II, and my pastor when I was a teenager was a WW II vet who served with the Fourth Marines. Almost all of these men continued to serve their neighbors in various capacities after their Military service. They were (and still are) giants to me... I remember you all... and I love you.

A citation signed by the president of the United States hung on our wall commending my mother's service during a disaster. One of my early memories was standing at an intersection in a clown suit with a bucket collecting money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. That was one of mom's many projects. I don't think I remember a time growing up when she was not serving as President of this organization or Secretary of that one. She wore many hats... and still does today at 80 years old.

Hardly a day goes by when I don't think of one of them with thanksgiving for their service to our country and influence on my life. Frankly, it never entered my mind that I wouldn't serve. I was taught we all owe something for our freedom. Dad told me repeatedly to make sure I always find a place to serve. So I have always served... not just as an elected official, I've served in disasters, as a police chaplain, and various other volunteer positions through the years. And I will continue to do so elected or not.

Some have wondered if I have the time to serve. Frankly... I don't. But neither did those young men and women who put their lives on hold to fight for my freedom. None of the men who died on the beaches of Normandy, Guadalcanal, or on the hills of Korea, or in the jungles of Vietnam or mountains of Afghanistan had time to die. But they did, and I owe them. It's part of who I am as an American to serve. So I work late and get up early because I must make time to serve.

I've seen people serve for all kinds of reasons. Some serve to build their resume, others to build their business. But I'm thankful there are still many Americans who serve because they believe they owe something to their country and to those who have given all for our freedom. So... I serve because of the way I was raised, because I'm free and I owe a debt for that freedom, and because I must.

Evania Appendigaster, A Roach Haters Best Friend

I heard Nora, my granddaughter, excitedly call, “Pawpaw! Come! Gug!” I immediately knew she wanted to capture and examine a bug so I hurriedly came to her aid. The bug she found was not just any bug though. While it is a fairly widespread insect in the U.S. it isn't all that common to find one, especially for a 2 1/2 year old. I retrieved my handy-dandy bug catcher and we captured the little critter. The more common name is Ensign Wasp. Don't worry they don't sting humans.

What is amazing about this little roach killer is not her looks, even though as wasps go her species has some very unique characteristics, but where she lays her eggs. She lays one egg in every common American roach egg case she can find. Since one case contains 16 roach eggs, just one wasp egg per case kills 16 roaches. This is a good creature to have around on the Texas gulf coast.

When the wasp finds an egg case she will examine it intensely for a few minutes, lay on her side with her legs firmly holding the case, then with a special boring apparatus she will spend up to half an hour boring through the hardened shell. When the hole is complete she deposits one egg in the case which will hatch and live in the shell for over 100 days while feasting on the eggs. It will molt 5 times in the egg, each time with a different set of jaws and teeth designed for specific tasks.

The complexity of this creature is simply outstanding. How does she know there is sustenance for her young inside the hardened roach case? Why does she have a specially designed body to bore into the egg case? And how does she know to use it to do the job? When it comes to the systems of creation the how and whys always point to a designer. And He is amazing!

Is Prayer Necessary For Salvation?

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I was asked the question in the title a few months back at the end of a Bible class. The notion that a prayer for salvation is necessary to receive salvation is so popular today that it is tightly woven into the fabric of contemporary Christianity. Question it and some look at you like you are seriously disturbed. So... I guess you can just call me crazy Larry, because... well... I questioned it...

This is not such a difficult question to answer, but it may be difficult to hear the answer. I didn't have time in that class to answer the question properly, so I wrote this answer to make it available for our members to read and carefully study. I have posted it on my blog to make it available to anyone who wants to study the subject. So… here goes… first some Bible facts:

• There is not one verse in the Bible that claims a person must pray to be saved… not one.
• Even though the Bible records various examples of people being evangelized, there is no example in the Bible of any believer asking an unbeliever to pray for salvation… not one.
• There is no place in the Bible where prayer as a component of salvation is systematically discussed. What I mean by that is there is no place in the Bible where a serious Bible student can go to find instruction on how this prayer for salvation thing works.
• There is no place in the Bible that tells me what should be said in this prayer or any example of a prayer for salvation. Some might say that Luke 18:13 tells us what must be said. But that prayer doesn’t meet the standard usually required by those who teach prayer for salvation from Romans 10:13. There is no confession, and no mention of Jesus in the prayer. This prayer contains no acknowledgment of saving faith or the Gospel, and there is no place in the context of this verse or the rest of the Bible which promotes the use of this prayer by others.
• There is also no place in the Bible where a person is requested to “ask Jesus into your heart.” In fact the two words “ask Jesus” never appear together in the Bible.
• There is no place in the Bible where prayer and salvation are discussed in the same context. Ah, but some may say Romans 10:13 meets that standard. Before I go there let me first mention that resting an essential salvation doctrine on one verse that appeared decades after the ministry of Jesus is dangerous.

Romans 10:13 is a partial quote of the Old Testament passage Joel 2:32. So in order to interpret it properly it must be studied in two locations, first the Old Testament and then the New Testament. But it is interesting that I have never come across a proponent of prayer for salvation who even knew this was a quote from the Old Testament. I'm not trying to be rude, but if a person hasn't studied the verse enough to know it is a quote, then it is clear that person hasn't studied the subject sufficiently enough to even have an opinion. Especially when dealing with the bible doctrine of salvation.

It must be noted that the word “prayer” does not appear in Romans 10:13. Paul did use the word prayer in Romans 10:1, but not anywhere else in chapter 10. The words translated prayer and call are not the same words. Confession, as it is used in Romans 10:9-10, is also not prayer. Confess means, "a public statement of what one believes." (Friberg's Analytical Greek Lexicon) The word call is used in Romans 10:12, and the Old Testament verse quoted in Romans 10:13 was used by Paul to support the statement he made in Romans 10:12. Verse 12 is part of the contextual discussion that Jews and non-Jews can now have the same standing with God.

The word call in Romans 10:12 is a present participle. Which means it defines “its subject as belonging to a certain class.” (Burton’s Greek Grammar) Call is not something done once, but it is a repetitive habitual action which identifies someone as belonging to a specific class of people. This class of people has already believed (Romans 10:14) and are, therefore, in the class of those who regularly call on the Lord. The intent of this verse is to teach that God "is rich" to this class of people no matter their race. 

Call in Romans 10:13 comes from a Hebrew word which means “to enter into an intensive relationship as someone who calls.” (Koehler-Baumgartner Hebrew Lexicon) Paul’s reason for using this Old Testament verse was to support the truth that Jews and Gentiles can now both be in a relationship with the Messiah because of the “righteousness which is of faith” (Romans 10:6). Paul was not discussing how a person gets into a relationship with God, but what class of persons are in a relationship with Him. This righteousness which comes by faith to all who believe the gospel, both Jew and Greek, has been the heart of Paul's discussion since the beginning of Romans.

An understanding of the gospel is necessary for salvation along with belief in that gospel. In every case of evangelism in the New Testament people were called to believe or have faith in that gospel. Those who have believed the gospel can and will now freely and regularly “call” on the name of the Lord. This teaching of salvation by grace through faith in the gospel of the Lord Jesus is supported throughout the New Testament. Prayer associated with the immediate work of salvation is supported nowhere in Scripture.

Why is this so important? Well there are at least three reasons:

1. Salvation is the most important doctrine in the world and accuracy on this subject is profoundly important. Even if you differ with me on this subject of prayer the importance of the doctrine should cause you to pause and carefully seek the truth apart from your own tradition or personal desires.
2. The bible is the rule of our faith and practice, so every belief should be tested by the Scriptures.
3. People who have been led in a prayer for salvation, as I was, often struggle with doubts about their salvation. They may tend to examine their prayer and wonder if it was good enough... did I say the right words, or was I sincere enough? Instead of looking with faith and confidence at the gospel for salvation and trusting that Jesus did everything right on our behalf they may be forever bound to look at themselves and their performance for confidence. And that leads to doubt and spiritual struggles, because we can never be sure we did something good enough. If you were led in a prayer for salvation I am not saying you are now lost, what I am saying is there is no evidence that prayer has any essential role to play in salvation. Turn your attention to the gospel work of Jesus Christ... that is where the firm confidence of salvation is found. Prayer is a good thing... but it cannot save. Only Jesus' Gospel work can reconcile us to God.

The Ultimate Source

John 3:3 “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The word translated “again” has been said to mean: “from above.” It does mean that, but not just in the sense of direction (up), it can also mean “from the top” Mark 15:38, or “from the beginning” Acts 26:5. It can be used to mark the beginning of a process, Luke 1:3. As used here the word literally means: “extension from a source that is above.” BDAG This word was also used for the repetition of a process starting at the source or, in some cases, the beginning.

Nicodemus understood the word, when used with born, to mean a repetition of the process of being “begotten” all over again. So he asked Jesus if a man can “enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?” But Nicodemus was thinking of the wrong source: a mother. Jesus was speaking of the ultimate source of life: God. Isaiah 44:2,24; 49:5; Jeremiah 1:5 teach that God is the ultimate source of all births. And this is the source that Jesus referred to in this passage. The Apostle John spoke of this in 1:13; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. Nicodemus should have understood this. 3:10

Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, that God must qualify him for the kingdom of God or he would not get in… and this qualification involved God making his life all over again. This was jolting to Nicodemus. But Jesus also used the pronoun “anyone” translated “a man” in v.3. He was not just making a qualification that applied only to Nicodemus. It was a qualification for any person who would enter His kingdom. It doesn't matter who a person has been born to, or in what religious ceremonies someone has participated, Jesus requires everyone to be born again. To continue this thought please read Jesus' Kingdom Immigration Policy. You can read all related posts Here.

Birth Begins At Conception

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

We have no better English word to translate this Greek word than born… but it still is not a full translation. Let me explain. Bible writers used the same basic word for conception and the birth itself. We use the word birth or born for the process of a child exiting the birth canal. But in the Bible the word born can include the act of conception and all that results from it. This usage includes everything involved in bringing a baby into the world.

Here are a couple of examples:

• Matthew 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” Note the explanation of the “birth” of Jesus takes in the context and conception of His bodily existence before Mary delivered Him. In the Bible way of thinking the exit of the child from the mother's body was not the beginning of the child, it was the result of the context of the being of the child, just like every other experience of the child will be the effect or result of the context of its life, which began as a relationship between the child's parents. There is also a sense in which the Jewish context of birth includes the child's ancestors as well.
• 1 John 5:1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” The word translated “born” includes a completed paternal action (begat and begotten) which happened at conception.

The notion that the Bible teaches anything but human life beginning in the context of conception would have been foreign to the writers of the New Testament. I think someone espousing that notion would have had to explain it to the Biblical authors first, because it would be so alien to them, then the proponent of that position would have been met with bewildered faces wondering how anyone could be so incomplete in their thinking. For them it would be the same as someone thinking a child has no parentage or context of being, as if the child had been individually created. Birth and, therefore, life begins in the context of conception.

I have addressed this in the context of Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus in two posts: Jesus Opened The Gates To Let The Trash Blow In and Jesus' Kingdom Immigration Policy.