Month: July 2025

            The past weeks spent in Kentucky have given me opportunity to think about our place in the world and the purposes for which God put us here. Our lives are but a vapor that passes away which leaves us pondering what good we really do. Since recently dealt the blow of my wife’s death, much of my thinking has been about the brevity of life and the finality of death. There are hundreds of tombstones in cemeteries standing watch over graves with names etched in the granite but with truly little knowledge of who these people were. Of the billions of people who have lived on this earth, only an infinitesimal few have their names remembered by the next generation and beyond and often only momentarily by their own peers. Very few did anything that made an impression on the world.

            It is interesting that among those who did, theologians represent a significant part. Each week, I study the writings of dead guys to better understand God’s word. Not every book is an informative book, but we have thousands of centuries’ old books back in print for the modern Bible student to read. We cannot read every book, but we should still take some from the shelves and learn from their wisdom.

            The modern pulpit does not afford depth of wisdom because pastors do not study and what books they take time to read add nothing to true understanding of scripture. Imagine the pastor who spends his time reading Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren and the like when giants of theology such as Thomas Watson, Thomas Manton, Stephen Charnock, and many others of the puritans are left untouched. We wonder the reason people have so much trouble interpreting the word and have abandoned sound exegesis.

            Last week I mentioned Deitrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor and theologian who lived in the early to middle 20^th century. Nazi Germany executed him in 1945 only days before the end of the war. His crime was speaking out against the massacre of Jews and the infiltration of Naziism into the churches of his time. We cannot support all of Bonhoeffer’s theology, but he left a legacy of standing for truth without compromise. He wrote many important theological works, one of which is his book The Cost of Discipleship. A quote from his book caught my eye which is a foundational truth of scripture and for properly judging what 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to do: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves…” Bonhoeffer wrote: “Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” This seems like a simple truth which is one of the easiest to find in scriptures whether in Old or New Testament. Yet, those who ignore the instructions of scripture and want to continue in their sin still make the claim they know Christ and are serving Him regardless of whether they obey clearly written commands. The examination proves otherwise. Salvation in Christ enables us to do what we could not do—to serve, honor, and obey Him. It produces the desire to obey. If we do less, or decide for ourselves what constitutes obedience, we are not children of God no matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise.

            Paul’s admonishment in 2 Corinthians 13:5 is to warn those who may indeed be reprobates rather than true children of God. The Corinthians falsely produced much they thought was for Christ, but this church turned out to be one of the worst for sexual immorality and compromise. Paul laid their boasting bare by examining their record. Like Bonhoeffer, we will show our fidelity to Christ by our obedience. We will bear the cost of discipleship and not give up truth no matter who opposes us. I pray to God we leave a legacy of truth not soon forgotten.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

I thought how different the preaching styles are of those coming out of independent Baptist colleges today. In the past seventy-five years of fundamentalism, preachers adopted the style of the tent revival circus atmosphere of men like Billy Sunday. Many consider him a hero even though much more is thought of his style and his backflips off the platform than the depth of his theology. Thus, fundamental preaching today is often bereft of exposition in favor of shock value. Tying a fundamental preacher to the pulpit so he cannot wander away, would also deflate every point of his sermon.

Several weeks ago, I sat with Clarissa to watch a movie on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I will have something to say about him next time but there is one point I would like to make about the film. Bonhoeffer preached in Europe in World War II. The film shows him entering the pulpit to preach his first sermon. He walked up a flight of stairs to a pulpit platform mounted high above the congregation. There is no mistaking the purpose of these pulpits that were common during the Reformation. One of the serious contentions between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church was the supremacy of scripture. The Catholic Church placed the authority of the church and their magisterium above the word of God (and still do). In Reformed churches, the word of God placed high above the people exemplified the rallying cry Sola Scriptura (scripture only). It had nothing to do with exalting the authority or the persons of men. The pastor was managing the word of God and lifting it for the hearing of truth. First, if he did a backflip off the pulpit, he would break his neck. Secondly, he was not there to draw attention to anything he did. I commented to Clarissa that I wish we had these types of pulpits in our churches today. Would not this put the word of God above the music concerts and drama performed in many churches?

I have often expressed that the size of the pulpit matters to me. I had the one in our church constructed to cover me up, to stand behind completely, and to be a substantial piece of furniture that reflects the importance of the Word. You may wonder why you cannot see Jorge. Now you know. I must point out, however, that making the pulpit bigger does not make the sermon better. Fundamentalists can make the pulpit as big as they want but unless they limit their constant topical messages and go back to the solid exposition of the word, they will not support the longevity of the truth and the spiritual growth of the people.

I am thankful for those who preach truth without compromise. I appreciate systematic theological preaching that declares the whole counsel of God’s word. It is the Holy Spirit that moves the heart with the word not the badgering of preachers who demand performance. God help us no matter what size or shape our pulpits to preach Solus Christus and not ourselves or our agendas.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

            Since moving to California more than twenty-five years ago, one of the most missed aspects of life in Kentucky is the pronounced and distinct change in seasons. There are times when these changes are only slight because of unusual weather years but this is not what I experienced when I was home in the first part of this year. The weather was unbelievably volatile. On one evening, it rained four inches creating floods throughout the state and then as the rain was ending, there were violent thunderstorms and tornados. I went to bed watching the flashes of lightning only to wake up to an extremely wintry morning with the fields and trees around my daughter’s house blanketed in a glistening white snowfall. This sequence of weather events was unusual to say the least as these events are distinct characteristics of spring, summer, and winter. If there were still colorful leaves on the trees, fall would have been present which means I could have experienced all the seasons in one day.

            It is not the unusual weather patterns that most intrigued me. It was a gorgeous snowfall blanketing the ground. White has long been a symbol of purity and without taxing our brains too much we can compare how a thick blanket of snow covers the impurities of the earth. At the end of last summer, my daughter constructed a new barn on her small farm. Construction materials lie scattered about along with the messes made by her sheep, goats, and chickens. All of this is visible and is a reminder of the chaos that ensues when not constantly cleaning. The snowfall covered these imperfections leaving exquisite beauty as far as the eye could see.

            This type of beauty with the complete covering of blemishes by a snowfall is emblematic of the righteousness of Christ spoken of in scripture as the white garments of the saints. As the snowfall is a divine act sent down from heaven above, so is the righteousness of Christ a divine act of grace that covers, purifies, and hides our imperfections from the God of heaven. Christ does this for us through faith as He clothes us in His perfection. None of us could place the first snowflake on the earth and neither can we attain to one meritorious act that would welcome us into the presence of God.

            Per usual, the types in scripture will break down when we press them too far. In three days, the snow melted exposing all the blemishes beneath. The beauty now forgotten, reminds that we still need to clean up messes. This is not true for the one covered in the righteousness of Christ. It is true we still sin, but all the Father sees is this white robe of Christ. Unlike snow that cannot remove the impurities, Christ’s blood and righteousness can. God is satisfied throughout eternity based on the merits of Christ righteousness earned by His perfect life imputed to us by faith alone in Him.

            I wrote this sitting by a warm fireplace, and it was another day of snow. It was cold outside, and I had no desire to go out and leave my tracks in the white pristine blanket. Soon I would be back in California. No offense to trash and potholes—I kept pictures of this Kentucky beauty. Likewise, the scriptures are a photo album of lovely imagery constantly refreshing us in a very often ugly world.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

               This week when I sat down to write the bulletin article, one of my grandchildren asked if I ever had trouble deciding my subject. You have heard me comment on this several times that deciding on bulletin articles is much more difficult than deciding on what my sermon should be. Each week I preach in sequence because I am nearly always going through a book of the Bible verse by verse and chapter by chapter. One sermon leaves off where the next one must begin in the sequence.

               Bulletin articles are much more random. There may be a current event in the church that stimulates my thinking and thus a bulletin article is born, while at other times, I stare aimlessly out of windows until the deadline presses hurried activity. This week my thoughts run towards the church, which is an expected path because I have not seen you for eight weeks. Although I am missing, I am confident that what you hear from the pulpit in my absence will not be significantly different from what you hear me teach from week to week. When listening to some of the sermons, I must be honest and admit there are comments I do not agree with, and this is why it is important for you to read the qualifier in the earlier sentence. There will not be significant differences—or differences that lead us down paths of serious doctrinal disparity.

               While contemplating this thought, I read Acts 4:32. This event was in the early days of the church after Pentecost. The scripture says, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.” The key to doctrinal unity is our mutual understanding of the scriptures. Without walking through the church doors, a modicum of doctrinal agreement greets us on the church sign. We are a Baptist church which defines a few key areas of what we believe. I do not recommend that anyone trust the sign alone because it is clear Baptist churches in significant numbers have strayed from original New Testament doctrines taught by our forefathers. Still, being of one heart is critical for the success of our mission as a church. While other ministries try to poke holes in our barriers with other denominations or try to soften our stands on moral issues to be more inclusive, these are Satan’s works to destroy the principle of “one heart.” The scriptures require unity in the faith (one Lord, one faith, one baptism) which also includes our stands on moral issues. There is not a quicker way to tear down strong doctrinal stands than by weakening the moral character of those whom we permit to be members of our church. We only need to witness the demise of major denominations who have taken up the mantle of the social gospel to see how quickly their weak morals have demoralized their entire congregations. The result is no Lord to obey, no faith to guide personal lives, and no example of baptism in which lives are like Christ and well-pleasing to the Father. Further, personal conflict and infighting result when membership begins to act like Old Testament Israel. How frightening this description of the times of the Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25). When each member decides for himself what God decrees for the leadership to instruct, the church informs itself with a new, inferior standard.

               These are thoughts intended for this purpose—how do we keep the church of one heart until we are together again? It will not be by going your own way, but by heeding the word your leadership taught.

Pastor V. Mark Smith