Arminian Today

In my ongoing fictional account of Caleb Payton, the pastor of a seeker/evangelical church who was touched by the Spirit of God after spending a week in prayer, fasting, and studying the holiness of God, we have now come to the point that Caleb has preached the word that God revealed to him in His Word for the church.  Caleb preached a hard word on how God’s holiness illuminates our sinfulness and causes us to tremble before the Lord.  Like the children of Israel in Exodus 20:21, when we see how holy God is, we realize that apart from the grace given to us in Christ Jesus, who could stand before this God?  God’s holiness also shows us that He still takes sin seriously and that Romans 6:23 remains the same: the wages of sin is death.

Following the hard word, the people went home in a daze.  They had come that morning to hear another part in Caleb’s series, Family Ties, but instead they heard a word like they had never heard in an evangelical church and that was that God is holy and He hates sin.  They came to be entertained, not convicted.  They came to leave full of happiness and harmony and not at war with their flesh.  They came to hear about a God who is there for them and He loves them and is their Counselor when they are alone but instead they heard that this God is holy and fearsome (Hebrews 12:29) and they heard that His call to them is holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1).  They came hand in hand with the world but left with a feeling that they should actually despise this world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17).  They came to hear an upbeat band and a cool, relevant message from the Bible but instead they left feeling like the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5).

Satan was bound to attack.  Could the enemy sit by and let this church go from a “happy clappy” church to being serious about God?  Could Satan allow this church to begin to pray, to be challenged to holiness, to seek to evangelize their city for the kingdom of Christ?  Absolutely not!  Satan opposes the plan and purposes of God.

The first call that Caleb received that afternoon was from his associate pastor.  The associate simply wondered what had happened that morning?  Caleb told him the story about what God had been doing in his life that week and what the Spirit had taught him from the Scriptures.  His associate said little but you can sense the fear in his voice for he knew that Caleb’s preaching would spell doom for their church if he continued this route.  The associate gently asked him, “Are you going to finish the series then?”  Caleb said, “I want to hear from God.  I want to preach fresh manna from heaven that the Holy Spirit gives to me from verse by verse studying from the Word of God.  I’m tired of stealing sermons.  I want to hear from God (John 10:27).”

No sooner had Caleb hung up the phone then he received yet another call.  This time it came from his board of elders leader.  George Winsome was the lead elder and in a firm voice he told Caleb that he needed to see him this evening at the church.  The board of elders wanted to speak to Mr. Payton about the direction of the church and what had happened that morning.  Caleb knew that George Winsome was a business man through and through.  He was not a man of prayer.  He was not committed to evangelism.  He cared little about studying the Bible or really seeking God.  But he knew business.  He had even had leader/teacher John Maxwell come to the church once and speak at a men’s breakfast.  George Winsome had left as soon as he could from the church service that morning and it was clear in his voice that he was not happy with Caleb’s sermon.  He didn’t like the sermon, the emotions of people weeping and lifting their hands in prayer, etc.  He was a man on a mission to save this church from fanatics even if it meant that Caleb had to go.  George Winsome believed that Caleb could be reasoned with, however, and shown that if he continued on this path then the church would suffer financially and this would mean that Caleb would not have a job nor many of the other pastors.  This “holiness” sermon would be just an old memory soon and church life would get back to normal.  This was the goal of George Winsome.

When Caleb hung up with George Winsome, he retired to his home office.  He fell on his face before God and begin to pray.  He wept aloud and asked the Lord to give him strength to stand for the truth no matter what it cost him.  He opened his Bible to 1 Corinthians 4:13 and prayed this verse over and over again before the Lord.  He prayed that the other pastors and the elders would be touched by the fire of God and that they too would be completely transformed by the grace of God.  Tears ran down his face as he looked toward heaven knowing that the enemy was after him.  The devil would not let this sermon pass by.  He would attack but Caleb prayed Ephesians 6:11, that he might have the wisdom to know the devil’s schemes.

He also prayed that his passion would not be for money.  Money had destroyed so many good preachers.  No wonder, Caleb wondered, that Paul would say so much to Timothy about money (1 Timothy 6:3-10).  So many had sacrificed their passion for Jesus, for prayer, for the Word of God, for missions, on the altar of idolatry called money (Matthew 6:24).  Whereas they once preached for the love of God and for the love of souls, they now preached to pay the bills.  Even if they heard from God, as Caleb had about holiness, they would not preach that for they knew that the church needed money to survive and they did too for that matter.  So few were willing to be like Paul and work if necessary so that they could preach the gospel without compromise.  Sadly, compromise abounded.  Caleb had not worked a “secular” job since college and now he faced the reality that his pastoral schedule might change if he took a job.  He prayed for the Lord to give him wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).