Posts
“To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” - Book of Jude 1:2-4
My dear friends, for lack of a better manner of introducing myself, my name is Alex Reese. And the above statement is my life.
As I begin yet another attempt at blogging (yes, yes, for those who know me, like the sixth time), and in the middle of a highly busy season of my life, I stopped to think seriously about the purpose behind my writing here. If I were to take on this project. Why? For what reason? And is it worth taking time away from other projects to do so?
I decided, obviously, that it was, for the above reason.
In this passage of Scripture, Jude states almost immediately within the first few lines of his letter, his urgent call to the churches to “contend zealously for the faith.” He deems it so urgent, that the entirety of this book is dedicated to the purpose of discerning these false teachers, and combating them. This is the divine and absolute Word of God, my friends. This is not an academic doctrine, or some theological quote. This is the absolute command of God Almighty, written in His Word, and those who disregard it, disregard at their own high peril.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is around this statement that I seek to build my life and calling. I believe that the nation around us is slowly beginning to die and decay in front of us simply because our many thousands of churches have all, one by one, stopped preaching and teaching sound, biblical doctrine and Scripture to the many who go to hear them. Brothers, our government, our homosexuality, or abortion, our gangs and drugs, our divorce rates and failing economy, I would argue, can all be traced to the simple root problem of a lack of biblical truth in our churches.
Thus, based on this problem, and the above statement, I am a reformer.
My friends, Jude commands us to defend the one and only faith handed us in Christ Jesus, and defend it zealously, urgently, and with passion and skill. Around us we see the results of a nation failing to do so. I do not know your situation. Your background, your faith, what you believe to be right or wrong, or true. And God forbid that I seek to elevate myself by saying these words. God knows I am by far the worse sinful creature alive. But I, for one, see this need, and will obey this Scripture.
I am a reformer of the church, a hunter of heresy and false teachings, and a defender of one and only Christian faith. I seek to preach, teach, and proclaim God's truth, and combat these lies that have corrupted our pulpits and pastors. Whether I will be very successful or not, I do not know. I may accomplish nothing. I hope that is not the case…but it may still be. But at least, if it is, I will have died doing all I could to defend my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as His most humble slave.
You will see my posts, and my words, directed mostly towards current church issues, commentary on social and ecclesiastical issues, discernment of true and false doctrine preached, defense against attacks from false teachers, as well as, God willing, teaching of the true Word of God, exegetical studies, church history, and encouragement.
My words will seem to many to be angry, overly judgmental, hateful, perhaps even evil. I am sorry if that is the case, this is not what I hope to portray. Indeed, I pray to present my words in the most humble way possible. God knows I am far from infallible, and open to correction (incentive to comment below!).
But as long as I still proclaim in accordance with, and not against, the Scriptures of God, I say to those who would have my stop:
"You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say." -Martin Luther
God bless you all! May grace and peace be with you.
~Alex
Phil. 4:13
0 comments:
Post a Comment