Theological Ponderings

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Book 1, chapter 2)

2010-04-04T21:08:00.003-05:00

Well, here's part 2 of the book. I hope to be more consistent with the posting of this, but I've had some troubles with the uploading process on youtube and working so many hours and being sick...

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Book 1, chapter 1) (Narrated by your's truly)

2010-03-31T22:39:00.004-05:00

I've decided to post this up for those of you who are not keen on the idea of trudging through all this difficult Old English. It's all because I luv ya!

Shamelessly plugging a contest yet again...

2010-03-07T00:35:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm gonna do it again. I'm not all that familiar with the Puritans, but I think I'd like to be. This contest may just give me the chance to get a little familiar with 'em, and it might just pay off for you too. Why don'tcha go on ahead and give it a try by checking out this link HERE

Jesus is the Most Valuable Treasure to be had in This Life

2010-02-28T23:44:00.004-06:00

Many people think that the laws that God has given are there to keep us from enjoying the most fun indulgences and activities in life. They believe that God is some mean old rule maker in the sky who is out to get us whenever we step out of line with His list of rules. I’ve contemplated this occasionally in the last couple months or so, and I’m convinced that so many people actually can’t see the absurdity in this mindset.

Let me tell you what I mean…

Let’s take sex, for example. Suppose a young guy and girl get together and start spending time with one another and decide that they want to have sex. They aren’t married, and they have no intention of getting married, but they don’t even consider that they should because everyone else in the world is having sex anyways. What’s the big deal? So, they take that step into sin, and they continue in it until they despise one another and part ways.

Now let me tell you what the big deal is…

The girl finds out that she’s pregnant, and since the guy wants nothing to do with the girl he decides to let her deal with it. “Get an abortion!” he replies. (Of course, this would be a sin as well) The girl decides to reject his “advise” and has the baby.

Now the girl has the burden (yet a blessing) of raising a kid on her own. She seeks child support from the ex, but this is nowhere near as helpful as having the guy around to take part in the kid’s life and help out with the many responsibilities. She has no time to go out or interact with her friends like she used to, so she doesn’t get to meet anyone else to have any kind of serious relationship with. She is lonely and tired and unfulfilled.

This affects the kid also. He wonders why his dad never comes to see him and what he did wrong or what is wrong with him that his dad doesn’t love him. He seeks acceptance by other male “role models” in his neighborhood and ends up being used by the older boys and gets in trouble by doing things for them that he shouldn’t be doing.

At the same time, the guy is struggling financially because of the raping of his paycheck by the child support agency. He wonders what the point of him working is anyways. His paychecks are so miniscule that he can never get ahead and wonders whether he should even worry about getting a good job or if he should just work under the table in order to avoid having to give up so much of his income.

This situation is just one example of the way in which sin can affect the whole life of many people. The most disappointing thing is that even though the guy and girl in this story will recognize their disappointment with the end result, they wouldn’t even consider turning away from the sin that got them into this mess to begin with. They will gladly go out and find someone else to jump into bed with in order to experience the pleasure of that act that doesn’t last long enough to make up for a lifetime of consequence. Not to mention the fact that the effects of the first sin could carry over into the relationships the kid has in the future.

This is just a great big mess.

I hope it’s obvious that God’s laws are a sure way to keep from having to deal with a ruined life. What I’m sure won’t be so easy for some to grasp is the fact that following God’s ways will ensure the most satisfaction and joy in this life. Then again, there’s no way for us to even come anywhere close to following these laws that God has given. However, God has given us real life examples like the one I just shared, and He has also given us His standard to show us that we fall short and are unable to do what we ought to do. Contrary to what some might believe, this is a good thing—if we recognize it.

The reason why it’s a good thing for us to know how far gone we are and how far off from the mark we are is because it shows how much we need something—or more properly, someONE to take care of this problem for us. I also tend to think that many people don’t realize that Jesus is the only one who EVER lived up to God’s laws and who gave Himself (and His perfectly lived life) as a substitute for everyone who will humble themselves by recognizing that they are not worthy but that they need Jesus to do for them what they can’t do for themselves. They apparently don’t realize that they can be changed progressively to want to do the things that please God and to be more like Jesus—the perfect one.

Finally, I’m sure that these people don’t realize that Jesus is the most valuable treasure that may be had in this life, and that He doesn’t cease to be the most valuable treasure in this life alone—He’ll be even more important when we pass from this life. Who would ever choose a moment of pleasure in exchange for a lifetime AND an eternity of pleasure and satisfaction and joy and completeness and TRUE HAPPINESS?

Nobody.

This must mean that people truly are blind. And to prove it, many of the people who have heard this message are going to close this window without confessing their sin and their dependence on Christ and will continue in their dead end (literally) ways. I pray that this isn’t the case for you.

Husband and Wife

2010-02-17T07:20:00.000-06:00

I thought this meditation by Ray Ortlund was too helpful not to post.

“Let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

God made Adam first and put him in the Garden with a job to do, a mission to fulfill. In the heart of every fallen man is the self-doubt that wonders, “Am I man enough to climb this mountain God has called me to? Can I fulfill my destiny?” A wise wife will understand that question at the center of her husband’s heart. And she will spend her life answering it, communicating to him in various ways, “Honey, I believe in your call. I know you can do this, by God’s power. Go for it.” In this way, she will breathe life into her man.

God made Eve from Adam, for Adam, to help him follow the call. In the heart of every fallen woman is the self-doubt that wonders, “Do I please you? Am I what you wanted?” A wise husband will understand that question at the center of his wife’s heart. And he will spend his life answering it, communicating to her in various ways, “Darling, you are the one I need. I cherish you. Let me hold you close.” In this way, he will breathe life into his wife.

Meditations on the Gospel (Part 2)

2010-02-16T20:36:00.002-06:00

I know it has been some time, but I plan to be consistent this time...no seriously!

Meditating in the Gospel is not optional...do we get that?

Enjoy!

The Object & Cause of Faith

“The cross which is the object of faith, is also, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the cause of it. Sit down and watch the dying Saviour till faith springs up spontaneously in your heart. There is no place like Calvary for creating confidence. The air of that sacred hill brings health to trembling faith.”

- C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (Chicago, Il.: Moody Press, n.d.), 75.

Did sin ever appear so hateful to God as here?

“He was the eternal and only begotten Son of God, the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person. Yet he must descend from the throne of majesty, divest himself of his robes of insupportable light, take upon him the form of a servant, become a curse, and bleed to death for sin. Did ever sin appear so hateful to God as here? To demonstrate God’s infinite holiness, and hatred of sin, he would have the most glorious and most excellent person in heaven and earth to suffer for it. He would have his own Son to die on a disgraceful cross, and be exposed to the terrible flames of Divine wrath, rather than sin should live, and his holiness remain for ever disparaged by the violations of his law.”

- Thomas Boston, The Beauties of Boston (Inverness, UK; Christian Focus Publications, 1979), 91.

The Costly Suffering of Forgiveness

“The Cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable — it is wrong. Jesus’ death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid — God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born — God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.”

- Timothy Keller, The Reason for God (New York, NY; Dutton, 2007), 193.

Waiting for Christ’s return

“The true Scriptural source of consolation, in the face of all that troubles us, is to keep steadily before our eyes the second coming of Christ.

We must grasp and realize the blessed fact that the rightful King of the world is returning soon, and shall have His own again; that He shall put down that old usurper, the devil, and take away the curse from off the earth.

Let us cultivate the habit of daily looking forward to the resurrection of the dead, the gathering together of the saints, the restitution of all things, the banishment of sorrow and sin, and the re-establishment of a new kingdom, of which the rule shall be righteousness.”

- J.C. Ryle, “Looking Unto Jesus”

Audio Book Review: Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

2010-02-09T20:50:00.008-06:00

This audio book review was made possible by the gracious generosity of the christianaudio.com reviewers program which supplied me with the copy for the review. Thanks guys!

This book is the key to knowing God's will for your life! Actually, the Bible is the key for knowing God's will for your life, but Kevin DeYoung displays the truth of this in this book quite well.

Apparently, there are many volumes published on the same subject, but as far as I'm concerned there doesn't need to be another. Seriously. How many times does it have to be demonstrated from God's word what God's straightforward desire for your life is? I mean, really? It seems quite clear that Pastor DeYoung has noticed the clarity with which God has addressed this topic, and I would recommend this book to anyone who has any doubts that it could be so simple.

From the outset, the narrator didn't seem to have enough variance in his voice to do DeYoung's writing style justice, but whether his voice grew on me or if the material itself was just compelling enough to shine through I ended up not in the least bit bothered by it. I think maybe the narrator was enjoying his job, and that may be why it progressively got better. Either way, I believe he did a good enough job to encourage me to listen to this again sometime in the future.

I also HIGHLY recommend this book to non-Calvinists and those who would call themselves Calvinists who don't take enough initiative on their own because of their persuasion that God is so sovereign that they don't really need to get involved in anything. Again, Kevin DeYoung does a superb job of dispelling the misconceptions held by both of these groups. I would be more clear as to how that is done, but that may discourage you from investing in this book and benefiting by it.

So, what are you waiting for? Don't just DO something--click the link and get listening:

CLICK ME!

An Important Read

2010-02-06T10:02:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm sitting at home now, waiting to hear from my supervisor to let me know if we'll be doing any work today. While I'm waiting, I decided to read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. I really can't tell you what caused me to decide to look this up and read it (besides the Holy Spirit); but I've heard many people tell me how important it is, and I now agree with them.

The unfortunate thing is that many Christians will never read this or ever consider what they actually believe (positive and negatively) about the Bible and how we got it and why it's important to consider these things. Fortunately for you, the reader of this post, you have the opportunity to read it by following this link:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/chicago.htm

Isn't it great that you have me looking out for your spiritual well being?

Well, my supervisor just gave me that call, so I gotta get off to work. Enjoy the edifying read!

Ponder this (rejoicing in sufferings):

2010-02-03T20:00:00.003-06:00

"...in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16b)

Every one of them "were written" by God.

They were specifically formed "for you."

Do you love the Lord you God? Does He love you? Perhaps you were foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified by God Himself (Romans 8:29-30--notice how they all necessarily flow from the previous?).

By the way, I'm asking if you're saved...

If so, then stop worrying and complaining about anything you might be worrying or complaining about. It has been put there by God Himself in order to burn off the impurities in your faith and make you more like Jesus. So, as I'm telling myself this I hope you can also see the wisdom in rejoicing in your sufferings (Rom. 5:3-5) and the foolishness of you complaints.

May you not have too many slap your forehead moments...

Audio Book Review: A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper

2010-01-06T05:03:00.006-06:00

As God’s word teaches us all things necessary for life and godliness (II Tim. 3:16-17) and for forming a proper Christian worldview, it is fitting for John Piper (by means of the voice of Grover Gardner, who has such a clear and pleasant reading voice) to walk us through the book of Ruth in order to teach us about the all-important doctrine of God’s sovereignty. I was quite delighted to be shown the fullness of God’s sovereignty in such specific aspects as shown in Ruth ; though, I was expecting the doctrine of the sovereignty of God to be shown by means of various citations. This could have easily been done as Dr. Piper points out (there are hundreds of texts that show this), but I appreciate the demonstration of the practicality of God’s word for our daily lives from the narratives of the Old Testament. I actually believe this to be the more practical method, as it encourages thoughtful and attentive study of the Bible’s biographies.

The practicality of the life of Ruth (and Naomi) for our lives is what I see as the most important focus of Piper’s book. Characteristically of John Piper, he applies the whole message of the book of Ruth (God’s sovereignty, the significance of interracial relations and equality and our sex lives) to the most practical aspects of our lives and calls us to form a proper Christian worldview by applying these truths. How ought we to live in light of these truths? That is the real question we should be asking, and it is for God’s glory and our joy that we must think about it. I invite you all to take and read (or in this case listen).

And you can order this audio book from christianaudio.com by simply clicking HERE.

John's got me SO pumped!

2009-11-20T21:48:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited to see a post from John! YES! haha And the substance of the post is great! Just what I expected. Well, I've been inspired...

I've been walking around with a song running through my head for well over a week now, and I'd like to share it with you. I'm teaching it to my kids, and my oldest daughter was singing it the grandparents earlier. I love it! And I just found an amazing version of the song on the internet that actually includes yours truly. As a matter of fact, it includes the whole cast of this blog here, and I think you'll be blessed as you listen. First, here's the lyrics:

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Great lyrics, huh? Now go listen to this powerful presentation of it:

BE BLESSED!

Meditations on the Gospel (Part 1)

2009-11-20T15:06:00.002-06:00

How do you view the Gospel? Do you think of the Gospel merely as something you trusted in the past? Or is it now simply the message you need to share with others in the future? God has done a mighty work in my life in regards to the Gospel studied, pondered and applied each day. Sanctification is impossible apart from the Gospel, thus I need the Gospel just as much today as I needed it June 16th of 2002. Here follows quotations from Gospel saturated men that have shepherded my soul and forced me to drink deeply of the Gospel every day. I pray these meditations will result in much fruit as you strive forward towards the goal of Christlikeness.

“I am your hell—and you are my heaven”

The mediatorial righteousness of Christ will answer to all the fears, doubts, and objections of your souls.

How shall I look up to God? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I have any communion with a holy God in this world? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I find acceptance with God? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I die? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I stand before the judgment seat? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ.

Your sure and only way under all temptations, fears, conflicts, doubts, and disputes, is by faith to remember Christ, and the sufferings of Christ, as your mediator and surety, and say, ‘O Christ! you are my sin—in being made sin for me; and you are my curse—in being made a curse for me. Or rather, I am your sin—and you are my righteousness; I am your curse—and you are my blessing; I am your death—and you are my life; I am the wrath of God to you—and you are the love of God to me; I am your hell—and you are my heaven.’

- Thomas Brooks, A Cabinet of Choice Jewels

Making sense of your story

“It is only when I see what God is doing with the world through Christ, and for the glory of Christ, that I am able to see where I fit in the big storyline of the universe or in the little storyline of my own life.

The Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans are familiar passages of comfort for believers. ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose’ (Rom 8:28). This verse does not mean, however, simply a cheery ‘What doesn’t kill you’ll make you stronger; hang in there.’ Instead, Paul says that the believer’s little story ultimately is a glorious one because it is part of a larger story, that I may be ‘conformed to the image of His Son, that He may be the firstborn among many brothers’ (Rom 8:29).

How do I know that my story ends happily? I only know this if I am found in Christ. But, if I am, then like all my forefathers and foremothers before me, I am free from condemnation, liberated from the curse, triumphant over death, the heir of the universe, the child of God in whom He is well pleased.”

—Russell Moore, “Beyond a Veggie Tales Gospel: Why We Must Preach Christ from Every Text”

In Our Place He Lived & Died

“God the Father entered into an eternal covenant with God the Son; he made Christ the head, the representative of the elect, as Adam was the head, the representative of all his seed. For these the Lord Jesus Christ undertook to fulfill the covenant of works. For these Jesus Christ died a painful, cursed, ignominious death; and by his obedience, and by his death, wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them.”

- George Whitefield, quoted by Steve Jeffery, et al. in Pierced for Our Transgressions (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway Books, 2007), 193.

More to follow...

And they say they want EQUAL rights?

2009-11-19T22:35:00.003-06:00

Well, James White has again posted another insightful entry on a topic that he has been on top of for a long time. The post has to do with the events happening now in the UK with the "gay rights" activists attempting to have civil union ceremonies performed in churches. He has some good things to add over at his blog HERE. I recommend his post to you.

Dr. White also links to the original article on his page, and I recommend reading that article too.

I have to say, this just seems downright ridiculous. How on earth can a group who is blatantly rebelling against Christianity and its long historical beliefs decide that it wants to storm the doors of these churches in order to have them bless something that they absolutely cannot even accept as valid? Why would this activist group even care what these churches think about their relationships? I would think that they would want to stay away from the churches rather than go to them.

On the other hand, the Bible says that those who reject God's rule over them will be judged in this way. And the judgment is their perverted sexual desires ruling them and causing them to bring more judgment on their own heads. And for those who think I'm merely spouting off bigoted slander, here's the passage in question:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, BECAUSE they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. [NOW WATCH THIS] For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Rom 1:18-32 ESV)

So, the Bible affirms this behavior as being the rebellion of creatures against their creator, and the extended vigor with which they pursue this rebellion is God's judgment upon them.

All this behavior coming from the extreme, radical gay activists is similar to the behavior I see from my children. Unless checked, my children will stomp their feet and deliberately disobey my commands just to spite me. They are naturally rebels. This is why it is so important to keep track of their actions and shepherd them in order that they don't end up rebelling against God and ending up eternally regretting it.

I see some gay people who are so extremely and overtly flamboyant and I wonder why they are so concerned with advertising. What I hope, though, is that we as Christ's ambassadors, who possess the only message of healing and reconciliation (II Cor. 5:20) will be willing to overlook these sinners' rebellion and attempt to befriend them in the hope that we will be given the opportunity to be used of God to pull them out of the fire and introduce them to their Savior. After all, we were all likewise rebellious sinners in need of this soul saving message, and we would be to blame and have blood on our hands if we neglected in any way to hold out this message of reconciliation for any reason--even if the sin we confront in the process makes us feel queasy.

Where my homies at?!

2009-11-18T21:00:00.002-06:00

If anyone recalls, I did invite a couple friends of mine to add some flavor to the blog a while back, but, as most can see, they are missing in action.

One friend is busy on the mission field, and the other is knee deep (shoulder deep maybe) in schoolwork; BUT I sure would like to get some contributions from them. Maybe we could get an update from the mission field with some testimony to God's awesomeness. Maybe we could get some updates and insight into a budding theologian's schoolwork and projects. Maybe these two fellows are hoarding the blessings and have no intention of sharing these things with us (one or two people who actually erad the blog).

Only time will tell...

Go check out the contrast...

2009-11-18T20:54:00.002-06:00

I posted the first of these two videos on my Facebook page, but I'll settle for a link to the source where I first encountered them. THIS is a link to James White's blog where he has a powerfully preached sermon straight from the heart of the man who first preached it, and then he has another video by Joel Osteen which is obviously a much different message. It's worth the time to watch--especially the first video. I recommend both, though, because it's nice to exercise our minds in worship to God by being familiar with the false messages in order to keep a clear understanding of the power and clarity of the truth.

Spurred on to reflection

2009-11-13T22:10:00.004-06:00

He gave His life as a ransom, I’m hyped and I’m dancing
When reciting my anthems of Christ, the Righteous Lamb who lights my lantern
Who else but the Lord of the nations
Can hype a heathen drunkard to write without even one word of self-glorification?
My feeble words- inadequate indeed to describe the Immaculate Seed
Destined to do miraculous deeds
At the age of twelve, he had the old heads amazed at His insights
Obeyed His parents, even though He created their wind pipes
A true Anomaly- and who can ponder the
Servant fighting the serpent in the desert with verses from Deuteronomy
Satan threw every obstacle at Him, but couldn’t fathom
The brilliant stratagems of the eschatological Adam
The uniqueness of His meekness is too deep to speak
And if you think meekness is weakness, try being meek for a week
Perfect humanity- yet bubbling with divinity
Fulfilling the eternal covenant within the Trinity
Excruciating suffering, infinite agony
Divine abandonment for the Inventor of gravity
No sin in His Majesty, He was a substitute
The fruit of His love was enough to scoop sin up from the root
The third day rose victorious- meaning history is
A play that God’s directing to make Jesus look glorious
We spit holy speech over beats to turn up the temperature
And no retreat though we seek the return of the Emperor!

"Obeyed His parents, even though He created their wind pipes?!" Every time I hear that line, I smile and consider the profundity of it! I love it! And how often do I reflect on thoughts like these? Not enough. Of course He created His parents' windpipes--He created their whole being! So why don't I take more time to reflect on little details of my Lord like this? I must not want to experience the blessing and joy that comes along with doing it. So, I guess that means that I'm stupid.

Well, I better work on that...

How about "Divine abandonment for the Inventor of gravity?" This is another classic line. Wow! God thought up all the minute details that we take for granted every day! Some might think this is a worthless, time wasting activity, but how worthy of our time and effort are the details of our Lord's life on this earth and His preexistence and transcendence and every other detail we can take the time to ponder over! These are worthy tasks that we should all consider taking the time to ponder over more often.

Of course, maybe I'm the only slacker on this area...

I love the fact that Shai Linne's songs are so well thought through. And I encourage everyone who is able to get online and purchase one or all of his albums because his songs are full of lines that are deep and so obvious at the same time. Many times I have listened and remarked, "Wow! Of course Jesus is _______! Why hasn't that affected me before?" Sometimes you just need to be reminded of His greatness, I guess. Well, at least I do. And if you'd like to be blessed by this lyrical theology, go check out his blog HERE to read some of his song lyrics, and get over HERE or HERE to pick up single songs or whole albums.

Oh, and consider one more thought from this song:

"The uniqueness of His meekness is too deep to speak
And if you think meekness is weakness, try being meek for a week"

Go on, try it. If you do, you'll appreciate even more deeply the task that He accomplished and hopefully be forced to worship Him often for the perfection that He achieved on your behalf. And it's a good thing, too!

A Failure of Local Churches

2009-11-12T21:45:00.003-06:00

I'm reading an amazing book called Dear Timothy. It's a clever concept written by a group of seasoned pastors as a series of letters to a young pastor who is just starting out in his first church. It has some great insights for anyone planning to go into the pastoral ministry, and I highly recommend it.

This post, however, is not meant to be a review.

I wanted to share a paragraph cited in the book from another book written by A.W. Pink. This is from Mark Dever's chapter entitled "Do the Work of an Evangelist" on page 163. Apparently, Pink was writing on a subject that is depressingly still relevant that was going on in Australia (his home?) in the 1920s. Allow me to share:

General religious conditions here are very similar to those which obtain in the USA. The vast majority of the churches are in a sorry state. Those that are out-and-out worldly are at their wits' end to invent new devices for drawing a crowd. Others which still preserve an outward form of godliness provide nothing substantial for the soul; there is little ministering of Christ to the heart and little preaching of "sound doctrine," without which souls cannot be built up and established in the faith. The great majority of the "pastors" summon to their aid some professional "evangelist," who, for two to four weeks, puts on a high-pressure campaign and secures sufficient new "converts" to take the place of those who have "lapsed" since he was last with them. What a farce it all is! What an acknowledgement of their own failure! Imagine C. H. Spurgeon needing some evangelist to preach the Gospel for him for a month each year! Why do not these well-paid "pastors" heed 2 Timothy 4:5 and themselves "do the work of an evangelist," and thus "make full proof of their ministry"?

That's quite a question. I thought nothing of the significance or the error behind the position of a full time evangelist who travels to many churches in order to preach revivals and what not until I was in Bible college. I noticed then that there really is no such office in the NT expressed in the way it is now, and I wondered about the validity of it.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has pondered this, and I think that Pink may have been on to something.

I wonder what makes pastors think that they need to call on some professional "evangelist" when the pastor is to be the one doing the work of an evangelist and training his people to carry on that responsibility into their own lives (Eph 4:11-12). I know that the text in Ephesians names evangelists too, but not in the way that it is now expressed. Maybe it's due to the fact that it's been done for so long. Maybe it's because there are men training for this office and they need somebody to give em some work. I'm not really sure how it has come about, but I (and some godly men too) would like to know why.

I wonder if men leading churches today even care enough to start allowing God's Spirit to work through the faithful preaching of the word and attend to the responsibility of evangelizing people themselves. After all, it's not the visible results that your looking for--it's the faithful obedience that counts (or is it?).

Pyromaniacs: A Most Ingenious Paradox

2009-11-09T22:03:00.000-06:00

Is Your Theology...paradoxical? Oh, please read.

Pyromaniacs: A Most Ingenious Paradox

The Benevolent Rich Man

2009-10-26T10:43:00.000-05:00

I recently heard a great illustration that I wanted to pass along:

Suppose a rich man knew another extremely poor man who needed a series of surgeries in order to keep himself from dying from an otherwise terminal illness. The surgeries would cost the poor man a total of 10,000,000 dollars over time, but there would be no possibility of that ever happening for him. The rich man, being the benevolent man that he was, decided to offer the poor man the money needed for his surgery to be paid in full and applied at the right time in order to make the future surgeries a guarantee. The poor man realizes his need for the money and ecstatically accepts the money and is made well.

Now, suppose that the rich man not only offered the money to the one poor man in need, but he also offered the money to another poor man in the same financial situation, with the same disease. The only difference in this story is that while the first poor man accepts the gift from the benevolent rich man the second poor man declines the offer. Of course we know that the rich man is not lacking in any benevolence, but what can we say of the second poor man? What is the difference from the one to the other? They both need the money in order to survive, but only one recognizes that need while the other one doesn't. What is wrong with this picture? Is one completely stupid? Is he in denial? What makes the first poor man accept the offer over the other poor man? Is the first poor man smarter than the second? They're in the exact same situation with no advantage over the other, so what gives?

What do you suppose would be the answer?

Why "Roman Catholic" is Accurate, and Merely "Catholic" is Not by James White

2009-10-26T09:00:00.002-05:00

I wanted to pass this along because I think it's helpful. We cannot and never should we relinquish the deserving title of "catholic" to the Roman church. This would be inaccurate and irresponsible; but as Dr. White is much better at articulation, see what he has to say:

CLICK ME...

...for Spiritual Growth and Understanding

2009-10-19T22:55:00.005-05:00

For quite some time now I've been observing and engaging believers who are excited and motivated to do work for the Lord. I find it refreshing that these folks have gained a heart for the Lord and are anxious to see others come to know Him--as it should be. The thing that I find overwhelmingly disappointing, though, is the lack on the part of some to truly seek to mine the depths of the riches of the knowledge of God that He has approved of us having by giving them to us in the Scriptures. The reason for my disappointment is due to the fact that knowing God is the essence of eternal life (Jn 17:3), and if we don't pursue this knowledge then what on earth are we actually holding forth to the nations?!

I think I should be more precise...

There have been many times in which I have been speaking to friends about theological topics when they express some pious attitude about how they don't think they'll ever know the truth about some particular aspect of who God is or what He's done in this world and among His people. They claim that something is a "paradox" if it seems as though there is some tension between one thing that the Bible says and another thing. If these people are being sincere, then I understand their hesitation, but I would still encourage them not to give up there. If they call something a paradox because they don't want to be in disagreement with someone over something that has been disagreed on for a really long time, they are guilty of letting someone's feelings about them get in the way of their knowledge of God. They are allowing someone to get in the way of their eternal life. There are many explanations of why those apparent contradictions appear to be at odds with one another, and it doesn't have to mean that there is no resolution beside calling it a paradox.

I have an example:

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
(Joh 20:17)

Now, any orthodox Christian would say that Jesus Christ is God, and that God is a triune being. Though this is true, how does this verse fit with that belief? I've had Jehovah's Witnesses confront me with this verse, and it would not do to simply say, "Well, that's what Christians have always believed." No, this, in their minds, is a contradiction to your belief in the Trinity. Is this verse merely a paradoxical one that we just have to accept on the authority of tradition, or is this a verse that fits harmoniously together with those other verses that affirm the fact that Christ is indeed God in the flesh and that demonstrate His preexistence to all creation? We need to be able to affirm things like these, not on the basis of tradition, but on the authority that we believe that the Scriptures have as the authority to equip us for every good work (II Tim. 3:16-17).

Supposing we don't let the doctrine of the Trinity rest on mere tradition, have we satisfied ourselves with a surface level understanding of this truth about God based on a few verses that seem to fit this together for us? Hopefully, we've spent time reading the Bible and putting these things together in a way that truly satisfies our understanding of God because we love Him because of who He is and what He's done in our lives. Hopefully, we've done these things because we value the relationship that we've been given with Him and are pursuing this eternal life.

I have an illustration...

Imagine Tony, a 17 year old boy who sees Tanya, a girl of the same age walking to school every day past his house. Tony likes what Tanya has to offer him in the looks department, so he goes to talk to her, asks her out on a date, and they begin to get more deeply involved with one another. Eventually, their relationship leads to marriage, and they begin their life together.

Do you suppose Tony knows nothing about his wife? Does he know that she looks great, takes great care of the house, and treats him really nice; but he has no idea what her interests or goals are? Doesn't it makes sense that Tony would know the most intimate details about who Tanya is and what makes Tanya Tanya? And why would he know these things? Or why would he have even cared enough to do the hard work it sometimes takes to find these things out? It's because he loves her and he values his relationship with her.

Do you suppose that anyone would believe Tony's claim of loving his wife if he didn't desire to really KNOW his wife (and I'm not talking about King James "know")? Would you believe anyone who said that they loved their wife while not knowing anything about the woman? "Yeah, she looks great and don't bother me too much." Do you think that's love? No one would.

The point I'm trying to make is: if eternal life is knowing God, how much do we value this eternal life that we've been given? If we truly value the privilege of knowing God, can we really be content saying, "I don't want to worry about all those details, I just want to tell people about Him so they can be saved." Why? Why would they want to be saved? So they don't have to go to hell? Is that the real reason they should want to be saved? Is that the end all be all? Why do you want to tell them about Him? What is so great about Him anyways? Is it the fact that He can do this great thing for you? So, it's about what you can get from Him instead of getting HIM?

Somebody help me out here! I know I'm rambling, and I think rightly so! I'm frustrated! How can we call ourselves Christians while neglecting to spend time getting to know this Lover of our souls as we would some beautiful young woman or good-looking young man (if you're a woman)? How insulting to the One who loved us enough to crush and slay His Son in order to bring us close to Him! We would do this with no shame for "the one," so what keeps us from some discomfort in plumbing the depths of the word and discussing these truths and reading things outside of the Bible in order to fully understand (as far as possible in this life) the magnificence of our God?!

As I write this, I can't deny that I fall short in this. I know fully the fact that I should be spending more time in the word desperately seeking to know Him more than I did yesterday. This is something none of us can escape. We need more of God, and we ALL need to take time to understand who He is as far as His word will take us. And we need to do all that we can to understand how He saved us and what He has done in the world and why and every other detail that He has revealed to us in His word; and we should try and try until we have been fully convinced from His word that He has finally answered, "This far and no farther." Don't give up and don't give in. This is the greatest treasure that we have in this life--to know GOD!

Don't end up like the adopted son who gives people a bad impression of his dad. Get to know your Dad in order to represent Him accurately and becomingly. If we work harder at knowing God more fully, we can make an impact in pushing back the tide of error that has marked American Christianity for so many years. We can truly inform people of His love that can be experienced and relished for the rest of this life and on into eternity.

A Practical Plea...

2009-10-19T22:07:00.003-05:00

Imagine a young man of 17 being adopted by a man who owns a car dealership that specializes in buying clunkers in order to repair and resell them. Suppose this young man is excited to get down and dirty and work on those clunkers in order to add to his adopted father's success and notoriety. This young man has no earthly clue as to how you change oil, let alone how to replace an engine; but he is so anxious to make his father proud by getting these clunkers road worthy so they can serve his father's purpose.

Little does this adopted son realize, but his new father is more interested in doing business according to a particular method. His father has decided that he wants the best possible parts to be used by people that have been trained to do things according to the specific method that he has developed. The young man's father has arranged things in this way so that he will be regarded with honor and respect as the trustworthy architect of an upright business establishment.

However, the newly adopted son has realized the goodness of his gracious father and has decided to try to bring much more honor to his name by getting as many of his cars on the road as possible--no matter how shoddy the work ends up being in the process. Unfortunately, the son has missed the goal and the method of the father, and he has therefore allowed unworthy representative automobiles onto the road that have actually damaged his father's reputation...

Free Audiobook Anyone?

2009-09-23T11:40:00.006-05:00

Ya know, it simply just never dawned on me that I can share the really great things I come across with you all who read my blog. And for those of you who read my blog, you've had very little to do lately, I know--sorry. Anyways, I just LOVE audiobooks, and I'm on a list over at christianaudio.com to receive all their free offers in my email. Every month they offer something new, and occasionally they'll offer something spontaneously. That spontaneity is why I post today. Go over and complete this short survey, and you get some free Francis Schaeffer. Yeah, that's right. Francis Schaeffer, baby! *****Enjoy*****!

Some Thoughts from Church History

2009-08-28T20:34:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I last posted, and I'm not thinking that anyone is actually gonna read this one...

BUT I'm reading the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, and I'd like to at least log some thoughts on my reading. I hope someone else may benefit from these thoughts sometime in the future if/when they are dug up from a time capsule or somethin.

This letter is pretty much an exhortation to the Corinthians from what seems to be the elders at the church in Rome that these Corinthians would repent of some bad decisions and follow the path of righteousness. The half that I've read so far is not much more than a regurgitation of Scripture. Seriously, the bulk of the letter so far is one quotation after another, and this seems to me to be a great method of exhortation.

The few lines that gave rise to my posting of this comes from a paragraph focused on encouraging the Corinthians to make a sincere turn around and to let it show by the outward actions of their lives. Now, here's a few lines:

"Let us reflect how near He [God] is, and that none of the thoughts or reasonings in which we engage are hid from Him. It is right, therefore, that we should not leave the post which His will has assigned us. Let us rather offend those men who are foolish, and inconsiderate, and lifted up, and who glory in the pride of their speech, than [offend] God."

I think this is a useful thought to meditate on. To "reflect" on the fact that God is as good as standing right next to us as we reason through our sinful thoughts (and can hear every one of them as though we were speaking them out loud) is a reality that would hopefully keep us from committing these heinous acts. How often would we actually sin if we could see Jesus standing next to us with His eyes fixed on us as they were on Peter just after He denied his Lord? The sad reality is that we might just do those things anyways. Though we may consider these things, would we act as one who actively holds down his knowledge of his creator?

But the quotation also gives a practical and relevant exhortation to be prepared to offend those unbelievers (or practical atheist who call themselves believers) instead of chancing an offense toward God. This is a very relevant exhortation in our time because we are faced with this just about every day. We are most likely faced with the temptation every day when we consider ourselves as the ones who are "foolish," "inconsiderate," and prideful. We cannot be caterers to those around us who have no concern for our relationship with God. We absolutely MUST fight the spiritual battle against ourselves and others as we are tempted to do those things that are displeasing to God.

And with all that being said, I think that the closing words of the paragraph are the most fitting ones for the close of this post:

For He is a Searcher of the thoughts and desires [of the heart]: His breath is in us; and when He pleases, He will take it away.

[all quotations are from chapter xxi of The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians--just in case you want to look them up...]

The Great Logos Bible Giveaway!

2009-07-08T11:01:00.004-05:00

Hey everybody! I noticed that there have been many hits to my blog though I haven't had the time to post in a great long while. Since I noticed this, I decided to add a new blog post about a great little contest that I, as a Logos email update receiver, have just been made aware of.

I realize that if you're reading my blog that you probably have some interest in this contest, and I decided to share it with you all. I actually get entered into a contest to win a free new Bible if I post this on my blog, so I guess I have a bit of a selfish motive included here--but I love you all just the same. Anyways, here's the information that they would like for me to share with you all:

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

You'll also notice that I have a Bible search bar on the side of the blog, courtesy of logos.com, and I plan to keep that there for your convenience. Now get over to the logos blog and enter!

A Chance for Redemption

2009-05-21T11:26:00.002-05:00

I don't know who's read this and who hasn't, but John Piper calls this article a "good breeze." I have previously posted an article by Kevin Bauder in order to disagree with it, but this is a chance for me to be balanced and fair by sharing this article for which I cannot now think of a proper adjective. Great maybe? Delightful? I don't know, but I appreciate him writing this, and I pray that the proper response will be given.

Please, enjoy it for yourself: CLICK ME!!!

A Reponse to Elmer Towns' article

2009-04-21T06:06:00.001-05:00

Before you read my response, you should probably go read Dr. Town's article HERE.

Now that you've gotten that out of the way, you can read my response. Before you do, though, I just wanted to let it be known that someone gave me this article to read as a possible refutation of Calvinism, and I felt as though I should go ahead and read it. When I got into it, I decided that I should point out some flaws that have been made since they are common flaws made by many Arminians with the hope that others will see these decoys coming the next time they come across them.

And without further ado:

Page 5 (error #1): To be condescending enough to ask why one would, as a Baptist, want to be associated with John Calvin since John Calvin wasn’t a Baptist.

First of all, the system known as “Calvinism” is not believed by so many Baptists because they follow John Calvin. They believe it because they hold it to be the most accurate assessment of what the Scriptures teach. It seems that this article is starting off right away, not with Scriptural argumentation and support, but rather with irrelevant arguments against things that have no bearing on why Calvinists (such as myself) believe the Bible’s teaching on soteriology and other major doctrines to be summed up in these 5 points.

Page 5 (error #2): To go along with the argument that Calvinists are merely followers of John Calvin is an ad-hominem attack (very UN-Christian) against Calvin.

How on earth could it even be relevant that Servetus was burned in Geneva? Calvin did not have the final say in this matter, and he actually pled with Servetus to recant of his heresy. Heresy, by the way, was a capital offense in Geneva at that time, so Servetus’ lack of belief in God as the Trinity was a high crime. He actually believed that God was everything, from what I understand. I don’t condone his burning, but it was the normal thing back then for the church and the state to be intertwined as a result of the influence Rome had had on them in the younger years of the Reformation. Bottom line, Calvin wasn’t the only one involved, and he certainly didn’t have the power to overturn the decision; therefore, a man is engaging in slander against Calvin who attempts to besmirch his name with this crime.

Page 5 (error #3): “Be careful of some five pointers, with an intolerant DNA just like their forefathers.”

This blatant ad hominem, emotionally driven attack is not appropriate for something that calls itself a scholarly article. This really gives me an even lower opinion of the representatives of Liberty.

Based on the last paragraph on page 5, I’d say that I believe that I would probably be classified as one of these “flag waving 5-pointers” who “attack…other churches or other believers,” but from my experience, I have been willing to discuss this issue calmly and rationally and have been met with high emotions and irrationality based on the preconceived notions of what I believe.

Oh, and check out the footnotes at #10. This is filled with so many presuppositions and mere assertions that it would take a few pages to point out and refute. This paper was obviously meant to argue to a non-Calvinist audience that is already bent on hating this teaching.

Page 6 (error #4): Actually, he points out here what true, historic HYPER-Calvinism is.

Yes, HYPER-Calvinism is certainly a diversion against the Great Commission. I hope I don’t have to defend myself against this fallacious assertion since I witness every time I am not being disobedient based on whatever sinful apprehension takes hold of me at the time. I do, as regularly as I have opportunity, try to witness to unbelievers around me, and I also ask for prayer for those people to whom I witness. And I am not an anomaly either. This shouldn’t even have to be argued. Any idea what William Carey’s or George Whitfield’s or Charles Spurgeon’s theological convictions were? You guessed it—5-point Calvinism!

I will say, however, that I think that altar calls are regularly abused. About 100 verses of “Just as I Am” being sung while continuing to call to people to make a trip to the altar? Do we not believe that the Holy Spirit will do His job unless we drag the service out for an extra hour? We certainly pray like we believe He can bring sinners to repentance—Calvinists and Arminians alike. Why are the Calvinists the only ones who put their supposed beliefs into practice? Can you call it a true belief if it’s not acted out in real life?

Really, how many people who make a profession in a Southern Baptist church that conducts these extensive invitations are seen back again? Is the important thing to get people to make a momentary decision in order to chalk up some more numbers, or is it to clearly preach the message and thereby glorify God (whether by His grace in saving them by means of the Gospel or in His just judgment upon them because of their rejection of it)?

Page 6 (error #5): Spurgeon was a model of evangelistic Calvinism who didn’t preach within the tenets of five point Calvinism?

Calvinism IS evangelistic! I preach the Gospel because God’s elect are out there, and I don’t need to try to convince rebellious unbelievers to do something that the Scriptures plainly say that they cannot do (Rom 8:6-8; Heb 11:6)! I am the instrument in God’s hands who preaches the Gospel because that is the means by which God has determined to save those who believe (I Cor. 1:21). Therefore, I want to have the same mindset that Paul did when he said that he will “endure everything for the sake of the elect…” (II Tim 2:10a) And what’s so significant about this motivation is the fact that he says that his endurance is so that the elect “may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”(II Tim 2:10b) So, Paul is going out into the world to preach the Gospel to unbelievers with the hope that there may be some of God’s elect in the audience who will obtain the salvation to be had through faith in the message that he had been entrusted with.

Of course, Spurgeon was fully in line with Scripture when he preached “whosoever will, may come” just as I am when I say that. The thing is, no one will WILL to come unless given spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear the Gospel and respond to it.

Page 6 (error #6): The last sentence of the page uses a false distinction.

To say that a distinction was not made “between five point Calvinists and the generic Calvinist[s]” is not valid. This obviously shows a lack of concern for historic definitions. Calvinist is descriptive of those who hold to the 5 points. Therefore, the one who does not hold to the 5 points is NOT a Calvinist. This is a document that first outlines the 5 points in response to the disturbing Arminian teaching that arose: CLICK ME!

Page 6 (error #7): Footnote #11 makes another false claim

Whenever I preach the Gospel to unbelievers, I am certainly extending to them a message of hope. They have every reason to have hope and extreme joy IF they believe in the Gospel as their hope. If they believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rely on that fact, then they have much to hope for. And regardless of whether or not hope is the greatest motivation to “seek after God,” the fact of the matter is that no sinner will ever truly seek after God without receiving His grace that will ultimately lead to repentance and faith. We cannot make the mistake of believing that some people are seeking after God because they are acting curious. Hopefully this would be an evidence of God’s grace working in them, but we don’t know for sure. There have been many times when someone is looking for some self satisfaction that they think they can find in Christianity, but they are not looking to humble themselves in submission to their Creator. It is selfishly driven and not beneficial for their salvation.

Page 7 (error #8): The first paragraph asks whether all Calvinistic churches teach Calvinism and classifies those who don’t as “generic Calvinists.”

This is really disappointing because he is not only inventing a new understanding of what an acceptable Calvinist is based on his own opinions, but he is also saying that someone who is a historic Calvinist and is convinced of the truth of these things shouldn’t be imposing this belief on others. Question: How is this any different than radical atheist groups like the ACLU demanding that Christians not try to teach others what they believe about God? It isn’t. This statement reminds me of the way that radical homosexuals act against anyone who would try to inform them of the dangers of their lifestyle and disagree with it. It just isn’t based on a consistent standard. I’m certain that Dr. Towns wouldn’t appreciate someone disagreeing with him in the way that he is disagreeing with historic Calvinists. He is misrepresenting the position that he is disagreeing with, and he really doesn’t seem to have any problem with it, though no one appreciates someone doing this to them.

Page 7 (an agreement): He says that it is anachronistic to call Calvin a Calvinist.

Agreed. Though the reason the 5 points came into existence was not just because of the Remonstrance. They were merely systematized because of the rise of them.

Page 7 (possible error): The quotation from the Institutes may not be rightly cited.

Just because Calvin was using this type of language doesn’t mean that he wasn’t still making a distinction. He says things like “the goodness of God is offered unto all men without distinction” and that God “holds out the propitiation to the whole world” at the same time that he says “Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world.” While this could mean that Calvin renounced his former understanding of predestination as Dr. Towns claims, he certainly could have been more clear if that’s really what he did. Nevertheless, this is still a continuation of an irrelevant argument since no one I know is a Calvinist because of anything to do with John Calvin (though some may have been influenced by him in some way).

Pages 8-9 (confusion): The first question in the first paragraph under the “QUESTION THREE” heading.

Dr. Towns asks if 5 point Calvinism (a redundancy) is a new intolerance. I immediately thought to myself, “Seems more like the Calvinist hating Arminians who don’t want to call themselves Arminians are the intolerant ones,” but he then goes on to talk about the intolerant unbelievers and ecumenicals in the world and the intolerance that they hypocritically express. This confused me because I’m not sure why he would ask the question about Calvinists who stand up and defend the exclusivity of Christ and then talk about people who wouldn’t allow that sort of thing. Any help?

Page 9 (chronic inconsistency): He imposes the same false standard on Calvinist churches that he wouldn’t allow someone else to impose upon himself.
Again Dr. Towns is acting like an intolerant unbeliever in his attempt to brush Calvinist teaching to the side and say that it’s ok as long as they don’t really practice what they teach. This is preposterous.

Page 9 (error #9): He tries to belittle Calvinist teaching by saying that it focuses on one thing and ignores the rest.

I realize that Dr. Towns grew up in a Calvinist church, but so did Peter Kreeft who is now a philosophy professor at Boston College. Neither gentlemen seemed to have had very good experiences in their respective churches, and it may be for good reason. Maybe Dr. Towns had a pastor who was stuck on one subject and neglected the rest. Even if this is the case, it would not be appropriate for him to paint all Calvinists with this broad brush. It hasn’t been my experience. As a matter of fact, when I was totally stuck on the 5 points (some would say that I still am) I wondered why these Calvinist preachers weren’t spending enough time on the five points. This is simply a short-sighted assertion.

Page 10 (somewhat of an agreement): His assessment of “cage stage” Calvinists.

Although I don’t approve of Dr. Towns’ insulting illustration of Calvinists as dandelions (weeds that destroy lawns) as opposed to tulips (fragrant and enjoyable), I think I understand why he has such a harsh opinion of them. Yes, young Calvinists can be overzealous and undereducated (as was I—and may still be), but this tendency to broad brush everybody is not very comely of a man who has such a high position and expects others to be teachable.

I agree totally that arriving at a true, Biblical theology cannot be done by focusing on one or two words or doctrines or attributes of God. Still, this seems insulting because it assumes that he is the only one (well, he and anyone who is NOT a Calvinist) who has done the work of sorting through the Bible to find the TRUE teaching instead of getting hung up on predestination and ignoring everything else. You’d think that he’s never heard of John Owen or Charles Hodge or any other Reformed scholar who has written systematic theologies and multiple volumes on practical theology.

Pages 10-12 (assessment): Dr. Towns seems to be attempting to shut down discussion on the matter and call for a cease fire of sorts.

So, Dr. Towns says that Calvinist churches shouldn’t try to discuss these issues with non-Calvinists. Why? From the earliest days of the church, there have been discussions to sort through such issues. As a matter of fact, this very issue was being discussed all the way back in the 4th and 5th centuries by Augustine and Pelagius. Whitefield and Wesley also discussed it very rigorously a few hundred years ago, and when Wesley died, Whitefield had great things to say about him. This goes to show you that the topic can be discussed seriously and yet civilly. These issues probably should be discussed because they are not going away; and every time I read a non-Calvinist write against Calvinism they misrepresent it, so this must mean that that we are not taking the time to listen respectfully as we should be (we are Christians, after all).

Dr. Towns also seems to think that Southern Baptists ought to vote the Calvinists out of the SBC. He claims that a belief in Reformed Theology inevitably ends up in paedo-baptism and other such nonsense. This is certainly not a valid assertion because there have been plenty of Reformed Baptists for hundreds of years who would have no part in such things. So, apparently, Dr. Towns sees a seemingly logical conclusion that countless Baptists have not been snagged by.

He also seems to think that there is no need to attempt to correct other churches that you are associated with, but Christians are definitely called to look out for their spiritual siblings with the goal of restoring them and seeing them on the right track. Dr. Towns says that a church is ok as long as it “believes and teaches the fundamentals of the faith and commits itself to the Baptist Faith and Message,” so I’m confused as to why he is attacking Calvinists who affirm the fundamentals of the faith while the SBC is chock full of all out heretics. Rather, he is attacking people like Al Mohler and Mark Dever who are working hard to keep churches on track and clean up the SBC.

Page 11 (error #10): Dr. Towns continues to assume that Reformed Baptists are taken in by the errors of the not yet fully reformed churches of the Presbyterian persuasion. He also makes inappropriate comments about non-Calvinist churches not being influenced by the intricacies of the more difficult teachings of Scripture and about them merely “search[ing] out lost people, tak[ing] the Word of God at face value, and carry[ing] out the commands of the New Testament” as if becoming mature in the teachings of the Scriptures is not implicitly commanded as well.

It seems to me that a big part of the problem with the church in America today is the fact that we have not been diligent to teach our people about the Scriptures in order for them to have a solid foundation in the faith and a means by which they can continue to study for themselves. For all too long, pastors have been satisfied to give their people a weekly motivational speech and a surface level coverage of a particular topic rather than just opening the word to the people and letting God speak. This has resulted in churches full of people who couldn’t give an answer of the hope that lies within them to their co-workers and neighbors and family members. Instead, they can only say that the pastor told them so and invite those people to church. This is not following the Ephesians 4:11-12 model. The first paragraph on the 11th page is a prime example of the attitude that cultivates an unhealthy church.
It should be obvious to anyone who regularly reads their Bible that the leaders in the church are not to encourage a stick your head in the sand attitude. They are actually called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. In this era, that will definitely include teaching a congregation the more in-depth teachings of the Bible. Both Paul and the writer to the Hebrews had this in mind for the people to whom they were writing when they pointed out the fact that they should have been able to write to them with a more in-depth teaching but couldn’t due to their lack of maturity (I Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-13). And the responsibility for their maturity lied firstly in the hands of the pastors (Heb. 13:17). The pastors had (and still have) the responsibility to teach their people more than just some surface level understanding of any individual Biblical doctrine.

As for the error of blurring the lines between Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians, Dr. Towns has no excuse. He is a professor with a respected position at a prominent seminary, and there is simply no excuse for his lack of care in distinguishing between the two groups. This shows a complete lack of respect and arrogance. No Reformed Baptist sees baptism as a continuation of circumcision to be passed on to their young children by means of an unbiblical method of baptism, and no Reformed Baptist practices confirmation rather than calling their children to repentance and faith in Christ. On the other hand, no Reformed Baptist I’m aware of will put too much emphasis on an alter call since Baptists are concerned with a truly regenerate church membership and emotionally driven altar calls result in an abundance of false conversions. All these things give evidences of the concern of Reformed Baptists to continue in the historical Baptist traditions based on Biblical convictions and not in any conscious way to give tradition OR pragmatism the trump in the decision making process.

Page 11-12 (disappointment): Dr. Towns prefers to look the other way if a church has “wandered off into five point Calvinism.” He says that one church should not seek to correct another church, but that they should simply seek to vote them out of fellowship.

What?! In my understanding of Jesus’ teaching in Matt 18:15-20 (which is not totally applicable in these cases), the reason for the confrontation of erring brothers is for their restoration to the true path of righteousness. If the attitude is not to lovingly confront others, but to shun them instead, does this not demonstrate a lack of concern for another for whom Christ died (fruit of the Spirit--love)?

Conclusion:

I think that it has been proven well enough, in this article as well as in other responses to Reformed Theology, that the non-Calvinists are not capable of refuting Calvinism—let alone defending their own position Biblically in contrast to the Reformed faith. These attempted responses have done nothing more than try to throw sand in the air and preach to their own choirs. As refreshing as it would be to hear from an Arminian willing to attempt to refute the 5 points from the Bible and plain reason while demonstrating the superiority of his position Biblically, it just doesn’t seem to have been attempted as of yet.

I may not be as widely read on the subject as some would criticize me of being, but I have heard and read many attempted refutations that have always fallen short. So, I would like to issue a call to any Arminian who would be willing to defend his position in a way that doesn’t appeal to emotion and tradition, but rather to the Biblical evidence that he is convinced that he has. And since I ‘m not someone of notoriety and will probably not be heard in my challenge, would someone please refer me to any article or book that has been written that does attempt to meet this challenge? Until then, I will read whatever I come across and have the time to put in to.

A blasphemer being put in his place

2009-04-10T21:15:00.004-05:00

This is a good one.

I didn't want to be the only one to benefit from this:

ENJOY!
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A good "Good Friday" read

2009-04-10T20:33:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't been taking the time to post as frequently as I probably should, but my schedule is incredibly hectic. What I have taken the time to do, however, is to read a fitting article for the occasion. This is an article that asks one to ponder Christ's work on the cross and to ask oneself whether the Bible teaches that Christ actually accomplished something there or merely made something possible for all who will add their personal work (John 6:29) to His.

I challenge anyone reading this now to take 20 minutes (or less, depending on how fast you read) and read through this article. If you do, don't waste that time by merely blowing off the arguments made; rather, take the time to think through the challenges given, and think through how you would seriously answer these claims if you disagree with them. Then, do me a favor and take the time to write a short (or long) response to it in the comment box below.

Here's the goods: CLICK ME!

The Forgotten Following Verse

2009-04-06T19:09:00.007-05:00

Though I thought I had blogged more than once on Ephesians 2:8-9, I just searched for it and found that I only did it once, accompanied by a video, HERE. I hope you enjoyed it.

The reason why I was motivated to look for these posts is because, as I was sitting and reading through this passage again, I realized something that seemed profound and obvious all at the same time. That profoundly obvious detail was the very next verse:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Eph 2:10 ESV)

So, as I was reading this I realized more specifically what Paul was saying in this passage that makes it even more obvious as to what he means. He points out the fact that we as God's children have been gifted by God's grace this salvation through faith and that all three of these things are a gift that we cannot boast about.

And here's the main reason that we cannot boast...

For (or "Because") we are the work of His hands! We are the new creatures that He has created! And we were created anew by Him for the purpose that we would perform good works that make men glorify God in Heaven!

The funny thing about this is that I have been listening to a series by James White, and I just happened to be listening to a particular lecture in which he mentioned this very same topic and had pretty much the same things to say about this verse that I had decided to post about today. Only he used an illustration having to do with music being played freestyle, and I was going to mention the Scriptural illustration of a potter and the clay. Go figure.

Anyways, I decided that I'd share that because I thought I might not be the only one who's overlooked this detail, and I thought that it might even get somebody else excited like it did me. So, how do I close a post like this anyways? Well, that's easy...

Soli Deo Gloria!

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The Structure of Salvation History, Part 3: Which is it?

2009-04-05T10:53:00.007-05:00

So, which is it? Dispensations or covenants, and what is their relation, and how should we structure salvation history?

I closed my previous post by suggesting that it is appropriate to refer to all stages of salvaton history as dispensations. But, the question is raised, what are those stages?

My answer is this: it's not so important to develop a set of dispensations as it is to read Scripture dispensationally. You see, God plays His story out progressively, both in the revelation He gives to humanity and in the way He interacts with humanity. Some of the progressions He makes are major turning points in salvation history (such as the death of Christ), some are expansions of promises (such as the Abrahamic covenant), some are tweaks in the way humans interact with each other (such as capitol punishment after the flood), etc.

If we viewed any stage as a dispensation which is distinguishable from what was before it, we'd see dispensations everywhere! If we limited the dispensations to those stages which are also distinguishable from what comes after them (in the sense that something is detracted from them), we might see very few dispensations.

So, it seems to me that we ought to view salvation history as a progressive continuum. At some places along that continuum, a promise or stipulation is added. At some places, a covenant arrangement is detracted (the fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant, etc.). The important thing is that we view any given portion of Scripture in its preceding salvation-historical context. So, when reading our Bibles, we ask, "what was revealed by this point?" or, "what stipulations were given by this point?" etc. You see, this is not so much developing a set of dispensations as it is reading Scripture dispensationally.

But what is the relationship between dispensations and covenants? Well, that's a tough question to answer because because we're dealing with both little-d dispensations and capitol-D Dispensations, and because we're dealing with both little-c covenants and capitol-C Covenants. Consider the period between the flood and the Abrahamic covenant. People could now eat meat, and capitol punishment could now be practiced. This wasn't a major turning point in salvation history in the same sense that the giving of Mosaic Law was. But, it was distinguishable from what came before it. Depending on how broadly you want to define “dispensation” and “covenant,” you could apply both terms to this. Of course, a big-D Dispensation and big-C Covenant would be more like the Mosaic era.

Either way, we might say that a covenant is the arrangement communicatively, and a dispensation is the arrangement practically.

So, what is the best way to structure salvation history? I tend to think that there is no right or wrong answer. Dispensationalists recognize the importance of covenants, and covenantalists acknowledge the existence of dispensations. Moreover, there would be nothing inherently inconsistent about the inclusion of overarching “theological covenants” into dispensationalism.

In my opinion, there is value to “overlaying” multiple perspectives on salvation history. We could take a really wide angle snap-shot, and see salvation history in terms of the covenants of Works and Grace. Or, we could zoom in closer and see salvation history in terms of progressive covenants, dispensations, or promises. The best structuring of salvation history is multi-perspectival and includes all of these.

The Structure of Salvation History, Part 2: What About Dispensations?

2009-04-05T10:35:00.005-05:00

After my previous post, Mike asked whether or not I see dispensations in the Bible; and, if so, what their relation is to the covenants. Excellent question-- I'm glad you asked.

Yes, I acknowledge the existence and importance of dispensations (just as most covenantalists do).

"Dispensation" comes from the Latin dispensatio, which was used to translate oikonomia from the Greek. An oikonomos was the servant in charge of a household: an estate manager, or steward.

Sometimes, Paul refers to particular stages in salvation history as oikonomia's, or dispensations.

In Eph. 3:9 (see v.4ff) Paul refers to our current stage as the "dispensation of the mystery of Christ." Of course, his contrast with the previous stage implies that it was a dispensation too.

In Gal. 4, Paul is arguing that we are not under the Law like a child is under an oikonomos (see esp. v.1-2). This seems to be an intentional application of "dispensation" terminology to the Mosaic Covenant.

In Eph. 1:9-10, Paul refers to a dispensation during which all things are summed up in Christ. In context, this probably refers to our current dispensation; but, Paul's concept of "inaugurated eschatology" leads me to believe that he also had the future Millennium in mind when he said this.

So, Paul seems to use the word "dispensation" (stewardship, arrangement, administration, management) to refer to three different stages in salvation history. It seems appropriate to apply this terminology to all stages of salvation history.

The Structure of Salvation History, Part 1: Defining "Covenant"

2009-04-04T13:08:00.004-05:00

Although the structure of salvation history is not at the heart of the larger controversy, it is an aspect of the discussion; and, one's approach to structure will determine the light in which his “big picture” is set. Any discussion regarding this structure must involve “units” (covenants, dispensations, etc.) and these units must be defined. The way in which one defines his unit of emphasis will determine how and where that unit is applied, and this can have significant ramifications.

Recognizing the importance of this, we must ask, what is a covenant? The word is used over 300 times in Scripture, yet it is used in such a multiplicity of ways that we have a difficult time nailing down a definition. That notwithstanding, there is only one Hebrew word (berith) and one Greek word (diatheke) translated “covenant.”

As we survey the multifaceted uses of covenant in Scripture, it quickly becomes apparent that we must boil “covenant” down to a common denominator, and “arrangement” is a good place to start. “Arrangement” is a broad enough term to include every use; indeed our own use of the word can be legal-contractual, relational, promissory, imposed or volitional, etc. Along similar lines, Blaising says, “the word covenant...is used in the Bible to refer to a variety of formal or legal agreements.”

A covenant-arrangement is usually promissory, although “promise” may capture the meaning of one arrangement better than the next. A strait-forward promise is a kind of arrangement, but not every arrangement is a strait-forward promise. Some arrangements are promissory only in the sense that each parties' intent to “keep his end” is implicit.

In the ancient world, covenants could be of either the “grant” variety or the “suzerain-vassal" (Lit. “king-subject”) variety. The former was unilateral, involving an unconditional promise; the latter was bilateral, involving a conditional promise.

Some covenant-arrangements are not really promissory at all. For instance, Jerimiah 34:8-10 demonstrates that the range of meaning for “covenant” is broad enough to include a law or command.

Covenants are sometimes relational. Of course, they are always relational in the sense that any arrangement creates some kind of relationship (political, legal, etc.). But I mean more than this: sometimes, covenants create intimate, familial relationships (Jer. 31:32).

A covenant-arrangement involves stipulations; but, again, “stipulation” may communicate the way one arrangement works better than the next. For instance, in Genesis 17, God imposes a stipulation (circumcision) on the other party; but, some other arrangements have stipulations only in the sense that one party places a “stipulation” on himself by promising to do something.

Covenants are binding impositions—sometimes imposed on one party by a greater, sometimes imposed on one party by himself—but either way, they are never portrayed an anything less than a binding imposition.

Just how binding are covenants? The answer is that they are made “in blood,” which is to say that they are made “to the death.” Berith is popularly thought to be a derivative of the verb “to cut,” bara. Indeed, the word translated “make” in the phrase “make a covenant” is always this word for cut, so that the phrase literally reads “cut a covenant.” This almost certainly refers to the customary cutting of an animal in the making of a covenant, which symbolically communicated, “may this be done to any party that breaks this covenant.”

One final note is that, apparently, a covenant does not need to be named as such in order to be one: Hosea 6:7 refers to God's works-arrangement with Adam (obey and live, disobey and die) as a covenant.

So, having approached “covenant” both inductive-contextually and lexically, I conclude that a covenant is a “binding arrangement.” Adding to this definition may exclude some Scriptural uses of the word. However, one's understanding of this definition should be filled out by everything discussed above.

Revival? Reformation? Either way, it's God's power!

2009-03-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

I just had to make sure to have this documented on my blog:

TIME Magazine's "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now"

Number 3

Better to lose sleep.

2009-03-26T01:22:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's 2:23 AM right now, and I have to be up at 7 to get ready for the next person to take over for me after this shift so I can go get ready for work. I am actually delighted to be up this late knowing the anguish that I'll be experiencing tomorrow at my other job because of the reason that I'm still up. The reason is because I've been having a Gospel conversation.

I recently posted my status on Facebook as me being ecstatic about being in the world rather than secluded from it in The Middle of Nowhere, WI. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be than in the city, working 2 jobs with a bunch of complete unbelievers and a Jehovah's Witness (whom I just got through witnessing to). I have had so many opportunities to witness to just about everyone that I work with, and the ones I haven't been able to witness to have heard me talking to others. God is bringing the Good News to my Jerusalem through me.

I just wanted to take the time to praise God publicly while at the same time adding to my blog since it's been suffering since I've been working. And while I'm here, I want to ask for prayer for those to whom I've been able to share my faith with. Please take a second right now to pray that God will save Jacob, Leonard, Brad, Carla, Rashaun, Doug, Dennis, and Steven. Also pray that I will be able to speak specifically with Steven since I haven't yet been able to directly. Pray, as Paul asked, "that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." (Eph. 6:19-20).

To God alone be the glory!

Wouldn'tcha know it?

2009-03-13T20:38:00.002-05:00

Ya know what? I decided to ask yet another friend to go ahead and post on the blog. We're gonna have quite the crew once everyone gets involved. The next author on the list's name is Johnny Fiecka, and he is one who thinks practically and deeply and is serious about edifying those whom he comes into contact with. I'm sure that all of you (2? maybe 3?) who regularly read this blog will be encouraged and extremely edified by what my brother will be sharing with you all in the days to come...

A New Perspective?

2009-03-13T11:26:00.003-05:00

Recently, I've been keeping up on my blog much better than I ever have in the past. I think a big part of the reason is because I'm not going to school right now. Be that as it may, I have still asked a good friend of mine to go ahead and post some of his own thoughts on whatever topics he feels he might want to share, and I think that the mass of you should enjoy it.

This friend's name is Scott Cline, and maybe someone remembers a post that I put up on here when he first became a daddy. If you don't, this is the one: HERE! Scott and I may not share the same views on every little detail of theology; and that will be evident as he comments on my posts with the intention of rebuking me for my lack of sense (haha, just kidding--i think). No, but we will have some good discussion to start off some posts and here and there some Amens for good measure.

So, look for Scott's first post. I'm not sure when exactly that will be because he's still in school, but he is still a productive writer whom I don't expect to see a shortage of posts from...

Because of HIM

2009-03-07T22:01:00.001-06:00

I was thinking earlier about how some Christians may look at unbelievers as people without any sense since they continually disregard the claims of the Gospel. I admit, I have a tendency to look at others with a certain level of disbelief even though I know perfectly well the state that they’re in. This is actually the reason why I’ve decided to post this.

I know that we, as Christians, have a tendency to look at the behavior of the unbelievers around us and wonder what in the world could be going through their heads. My friend and I were talking earlier, and he mentioned the fact that the thinking of the world is, in fact, backwards. He actually gave a list of the ways in which the people of the world have demonstrated this, but I don’t really think it needs repeating. It is obvious. Romans 1 gives a clear presentation of the way that unbelievers look at the world and how they love the sin that they are so saturated in. Paul even goes so far as to say that they applaud one another in their wickedness.

Well, the reason for my writing this is because of the thought that unbelievers should be expected to act or think in any way other than the way that they do. You cannot expect them to reverence God in the least. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be offended by their irreverence. I actually think that it’s a good thing to be zealous for God’s glory to the point that hearing His name profaned stirs up a righteous anger in you. The thing is, we shouldn’t expect anything from them but this kind of behavior and worse.

The more specific reason I decided to post this thought was because I was thinking on this verse:

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
(1Co 1:30 ESV)

If you consider the fact that it had nothing to do with you, you should really appreciate the fact that they are not to be held in contempt for not seeing things your way. They absolutely WILL NOT see things your way (I’m assuming that your way is the way of thinking God’s thoughts after Him) until God acts by changing their hearts. They will not see things the way that you might be tempted to argue with them about until God sovereignly gives them the gifts of faith (Phil. 1:29; Eph. 2:8) and repentance (Acts 11:18; II Tim. 2:25). And I say all that to say this: you can be patient and persistent with the unbelievers you are trying to reach for Christ because you are merely the instrument in the hands of the one who will give that person the understanding necessary in His perfect timing if it be His will.

Paul Washer on the Wrath of GOD

2009-03-06T19:34:00.005-06:00

Whoa. This is some POWERFUL preaching. I'm out of breath. The reality of this message is breathtaking. How many people do you know who need to hear this message? Wow. This is truly powerful and extremely heavy.

I plan to bring a message to some people in a nursing home later this month that includes a section at the end on this subject, and I pray to God that He brings the full weight of the reality of the situation to bear on each and every person in that room.

Does your Gospel presentation include this essential element?

Dancing in the eternal state

2009-03-06T10:22:00.003-06:00

Ok, ok. So, I like the videos, ok? This one was shown to me by a friend a few months back, and I just love it. Try to take a look at it through the lens that I'm seeing it through:

One day, after the Lord comes back to gather in His own, He'll perfect us all. When that happens, we'll all be living with people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation as brothers and sisters with nothing keeping us from enjoying one another's company as we praise God together for all of eternity. We won't have any impure motives for gathering together and dancing to God's glory. We won't be trying to show off for the camera or dance seductively in order to draw attention to ourselves. No, we'll just be dancing as one body of Christ, perfected, and enjoying every moment that we can praise our God.

That's what I think of when I watch this video. I hope you like it too.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

And THAT not of yourselves...

2009-03-05T20:44:00.008-06:00

I'm gonna share another video, but this one has more to do with a Scripture passage that I believe everyone should take the time to examine. Most people who have any familiarity with the Bible know this verse, but not as many people have taken the time to think through it long enough to benefit from its true meaning. I say this assuming that most people had the same understanding of it that I had. Allow me to explain...

I would always read Ephesians 2:8 (For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,(Eph 2:8 ESV))as teaching that salvation is not by works and use it as an argument against those who incorporate works into their understanding of how to be saved. This is certainly valid, but there is so much more here to be understood. The thing that set me into a deeper study of the verse was my college English class. I was learning about demonstrative pronouns (this/these, that/those), and I learned that when these are used they usually refer to the word that immediately precede them. Taking our passage as an example, this would mean that faith is the word that this (or that, depending on your translation) is referring to.

This initial thought is what set me off into a study that included checking commentaries and the Greek that (notice the usage?) I had also been learning. I recall the pastor in this video saying something like "I don't know Greek, but I know how to listen to people who do." Well, I do know some Greek, and I can vouch for his presentation.

I figure that I couldn't possibly have been the only person to stumble upon this reality, but I don't think that many people let themselves take it for what it means. I think that many people probably do what I did and shrug off the sneaking suspicion that faith itself is indeed a gift (which inevitably leads to further complications in one's set of theological presuppositions). And if you are like I was, I'd say that the only reason you haven't let yourself take God's word at face value has everything to do with a concept that you thought didn't affect you...tradition. I'd like to write more, but I don't think I need to detract any more from the video. Enjoy!

Something that most people would read through without putting any real thought into

2009-02-25T23:40:00.002-06:00

I have been reading this book for a long time as I take notes and look things up and thoroughly enjoy the time I'm spending in it when I came across the quotation I'm going to share. This is an obvious argument against the rejection of the authority and perspicuity of Scripture that, I believe, is a detrimental argument. The thing is, Roman Catholics will most likely be satisfied to give it a quick read and criticize it without putting any real thought into it. I could be wrong about that, so I invite an honest, thinking Roman Catholic to respond to this argument with some seriously thought through responses.

This is taken from this book, but it is an actual quotation from a book by Richard Hanson and Reginald Fuller called The Church of Rome: A Dissuasive. You can check out the first link and buy the book(s) to get the rest of the info. Here's the goods:

"Indeed Roman Catholics often grossly overstate the incoherence and obscurity of the Bible, and even of the New Testament. The Bible can stand as a tradition by itself, as far as coherence and consistency of thought are concerned. The Church in no sense completes the Bible. It is indeed a stupid insult to the memory of the four evangelists and of St. Paul and the other apostolic writers to suggest that they failed in the first aim of their writings, which was to convey the meaning of the Christian Gospel to their hearers. We cannot imagine that the Christians at Corinth to whom Paul wrote, or that the Christians in Rome whom Mark probably had in view when he wrote his Gospel, were not expected to understand what was written for them until the writings were re-interpreted or explained to them by the Church. And if the Church were to undertake to complete the Bible, there is no source of doctrine from which it could legitimately do so except--the Bible." [bolnesses mine]

Such an insightful 12 -year old

2009-02-19T16:27:00.003-06:00

I saw this video the other day on the Alpha and Omega Ministries blog, and I was extremely impressed! I think that if a twelve year old girl can make such a well thought out argument against abortion then I really have to wonder how an honest liberal abortion supporter could continue to hold to such an obviously evil position.

Ask yourself as you watch the beginning of this video whether you think that most liberals would get bent outta shape and give a hearty AMEN! to this girl's video if she were talking about an Islamic family in Afghanistan who had no idea that a missile was heading their way. I'm not saying that bombing families in other countries is any better, but I simply say that to point out an inconsistency. I doubt very much that they would be consistent. I actually think that if a liberal stumbled across this video unknowingly that they might get all worked up thinking that it was a slam against George Bush and then feel pretty stupid when she revealed what she was actually talking about.

Sorry for rambling. Here's the video:

What Does Jesus Have to Say to the World?

2009-02-19T16:00:00.004-06:00

I was reading my Bible the other day, and I noticed a passage that I've read many times and have been well aware of. The verse I'm mainly referring to brought some thoughts to mind, though, and I wanted to share them with someone. Thanks for listening (reading). This is the verse I'm referring to:

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil."
(Joh 7:7 ESV)

Jesus is talking to His unbelieving brothers when they told Him to go prove the fact that He was really who He claimed to be at the festival in Judea. Since they are of the world (unbelieving), they get along just fine with the world, but He is from God which means that the world hates Him.

I find this funny because many people who call themselves Christians or who think that they can decide who Jesus is think that He is just fine with the sins that they commit daily. They think that they can do the exact opposite of what the Bible (God's word) says while God sits back and smiles approvingly. NO!!!

This is a most distorted view of who Jesus is. And mine is not some minority interpretation of Jesus' words in a single area of Scripture either. Notice also, that Jesus prays in John 17 for His disciples and "also for those who will believe in [Him] through their word." (verse 20)(By the way, this includes me and you Christian) And He also makes sure to point out the fact that He is "not praying for the world but for those whom [God has] given [Him]." (verse 9) So, if Jesus is specifically NOT praying for the world, then what is the warrant for believing that He is ok with you who have not obeyed Him by repenting and putting your trust in Him as your Savior and supreme desire?

This also gives us Christians a good perspective when witnessing to unbelievers. We most certainly should not coddle anyone's sinful lifestyle. If we are not clear about the way Jesus feels about sin and what He plans to do to those who commit it in complete disregard for His Gospel we are doing them no favors.

I think that this is something that we should all consider when sharing our faith. As a matter of fact, we need to be very clear that Jesus died to take the place of all who would repent and trust Him, but we should also be very clear that they have no part in that saving sacrifice if they don't obey the Gospel (John 3:36). After all, would He specifically not pray for them but then turn around and take their place on the cross?

God Glorifying Music

2009-02-19T15:26:00.003-06:00

I have struggled with the issue of which music is acceptable to be using--mostly in private, but also in a church setting. Not that I have struggled much myself, but I've had more problems struggling with others who seem to think that only certain types of music are acceptable while other (well done) music is not. I'm not talking about poorly constructed, thrown together, wild, abstract music, though I'm not willing to just brush certain things aside without giving a fair listen. This is why I'd like to share the perspective of a man who could be considered anything but a liberal or sloppy man of God.

This video is of Paul Washer, and he has some nice things to say about those who have have been titled "reformed rappers". I don't expect everyone to watch the whole thing, but you can get the gist of his opinion of the type of music I've been defending in the first few minutes. Like I said, Paul Washer is not one who doesn't consider the actions of believers to be important. He has preached whole sermons rebuking those who call themselves Christians who live like all the unbelieving people in America, so keep that in mind while watching this:

Edifying quotation from a John Owen book

2009-02-14T14:45:00.002-06:00

I have had this quotation on my computer ever since I found it a while back, and it is incredibly edifying to me. I just wanted to share this with all who might also find it edifying, so I', posting it here. If you're a Christian, you'll really feel the power and truth of this citation. It's actually a quotation from a book by Anselm of Canterbury sometime in the 1200s, but I found it in one of John Owen's books on ccel.org (which I have actually supplied a link to on the left as "Millions (many) MORE FREE books").

Like I said, if you're a Christian you'll really appreciate it, and if you think about it you'll really be edified by the fact that it was written long before the actual reformation. Check it out:

There was of old a direction for the visitation of the sick, composed, as they say, by Anselm, which expresses a better sense of these things than some seem to be convinced of:— [I have edited out the long Latin quotation here. You don't have to thank me.] — that is, “Dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved but by the death of Christ? The sick man answers, ‘Yes;’ then let it be said unto him, Go to, then, and whilst thy soul abideth in thee, put all thy confidence in this death alone, place thy trust in no other thing; commit thyself wholly to this death, cover thyself wholly with this alone, cast thyself wholly on this death, wrap thyself wholly in this death. And if God would judge thee, say, ‘Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy judgment; and otherwise I will not contend or enter into judgment with thee.’ And if he shall say unto thee that thou art a sinner, say, ‘I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my sins.’ If he shall say unto thee that thou hast deserved damnation, say, ‘Lord, I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between thee and all my sins; and I offer his merits for my own, which I should have, and have not.’ If he say that he is angry with thee, say, ‘Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy anger.’ ”

New Years Bible Reading Plan

2009-01-01T18:19:00.002-06:00

I was given a Bible reading plan a lil while ago by a wise (not so old) man, and I wanted to share it with everyone. The wise man who gave it to me said that the Lord has just been purging his mind and renewing it as he had been following this plan. When the Scriptures are coming in as much as this plan will accomplish (if followed), the Lord will surely bring Scripture to your mind at the most opportune times in order to give you wisdom, encouragement, or rebuke when needed; and the Spirit will certainly use that to mold you into Christ's image (which I hope is your goal). It'll take you through the Bible in 90 days, which means that you'll be reaping the benefits in very little time. So go get started now:

1.....Genesis 1-5; Job 1-6.....Matthew 1-3
2.....Genesis 6-10; Job 7-12.....Matthew 4-6
3.....Genesis 11-15; Job 13-18.....Matthew 7-9
4.....Genesis 16-20; Job 19-24.....Matthew 10-12
5.....Genesis 21-25; Job 25-30.....Matthew 13-15
6.....Genesis 26-30; Job 31-36.....Matthew 16-18
7.....Genesis 31-35; Job 37-42.....Matthew 19-21
8.....Genesis 36-40; Psalms 1-6.....Matthew 22-24
9.....Genesis 41-45; Psalms 7-12.....Matthew 25-26
10.....Genesis 46-50; Psalms 13-18.....Matthew 27-28
11.....Exodus 1-5; Psalms 19-24.....Mark 1-3
12.....Exodus 6-10; Psalms 25-30.....Mark 4-6
13.....Exodus 11-15; Psalms 31-36.....Mark 7-9
14.....Exodus 16-20; Psalms 37-42.....Mark 10-12
15.....Exodus 21-25; Psalms 43-48.....Mark 13-14
16.....Exodus 26-30; Psalms 49-54.....Mark 15-16
17.....Exodus 31-35; Psalms 55-60.....Luke 1-3
18.....Exodus 36-40; Psalms 61-66.....Luke 4-6
19.....Leviticus 1-5; Psalms 67-72.....Luke 7-9
20.....Leviticus 6-10; Psalms 73-78.....Luke 10-12
21.....Leviticus 11-15; Psalms 79-84.....Luke 13-15
22.....Leviticus 16-19; Psalms 85-90.....Luke 16-18
23.....Leviticus 20-23; Psalms 91-96.....Luke 19-21
24.....Leviticus 24-27; Psalms 97-102.....Luke 22-24
25.....Numbers 1-5; Psalms 103-108.....John 1-3
26.....Numbers 6-10; Psalms 109-114.....John 4-6
27.....Numbers 11-15; Psalms 115-120.....John 7-9
28.....Numbers 16-19; Psalms 121-126.....John 10-12
29.....Numbers 20-23; Psalms 127-132.....John 13-15
30.....Numbers 24-27; Psalms 133-138.....John 16-18
31.....Numbers 28-32; Psalms 139-144.....John 19-21
32.....Numbers 33-36; Psalms 145-150.....Acts 1-3
33.....Deuteronomy 1-5; Proverbs 1-6.....Acts 4-6
34.....Deuteronomy 6-10; Proverbs 7-11.....Acts 7-9
35.....Deuteronomy 11-15; Proverbs 12-16.....Acts 10-12
36.....Deuteronomy 16-20; Proverbs 17-21.....Acts 13-15
37.....Deuteronomy 21-25; Proverbs 22-26.....Acts 16-18
38.....Deuteronomy 26-30; Proverbs 27-31.....Acts 19-21
39.....Deuteronomy 31-34; Ecclesiastes 1-6.....Acts 22-24
40.....Joshua 1-5; Ecclesiastes 7-12.....Acts 25-28
41.....Joshua 6-10; Song of Songs 1-4.....Romans 1-3
42.....Joshua 11-15; Song of Songs 5-8.....Romans 4-6
43.....Joshua 16-20; Isaiah 1-6.....Romans 7-9
44.....Joshua 21-24; Isaiah 7-12.....Romans 10-12
45.....Judges 1-5; Isaiah 13-18.....Romans 13-16
46.....Judges 6-9; Isaiah 19-24.....1 Corinthians 1-3
47.....Judges 10-13; Isaiah 25-30.....1 Corinthians 4-6
48.....Judges 14-17; Isaiah 31-36.....1 Corinthians 7-9
49.....Judges 18-21; Isaiah 37-42.....1 Corinthians 10-12
50.....Ruth 1-4; Isaiah 43-48.....1 Corinthians 13-14
51.....1 Samuel 1-5; Isaiah 49-54.....1 Corinthians 15-16
52.....1 Samuel 6-10; Isaiah 55-60.....2 Corinthians 1-3
53.....1 Samuel 11-15; Isaiah 61-66.....2 Corinthians 4-6
54.....1 Samuel 16-19; Jeremiah 1-6.....2 Corinthians 7-9
55.....1 Samuel 20-23; Jeremiah 7-12.....2 Corinthians 10-11
56.....1 Samuel 24-27; Jeremiah 13-18.....2 Corinthians 12-13
57.....1 Samuel 28-31; Jeremiah 19-24.....Galatians 1-3
58.....2 Samuel 1-5; Jeremiah 25-30.....Galatians 4-6
59.....2 Samuel 6-10; Jeremiah 31-36.....Ephesians 1-3
60.....2 Samuel 11-15; Jeremiah 37-42.....Ephesians 4-6
61.....2 Samuel 16-20; Jeremiah 43-47.....Philippians 1-2
62.....2 Samuel 21-24; Jeremiah 48-52.....Philippians 3-4
63.....1 Kings 1-5; Lamentations 1-5.....Colossians 1-2
64.....1 Kings 6-10; Ezekiel 1-6.....Colossians 3-4
65.....1 Kings 11-14; Ezekiel 7-12.....1 Thessalonians 1-3
66.....1 Kings 15-18; Ezekiel 13-18.....1 Thessalonians 4-5
67.....1 Kings 19-22; Ezekiel 19-24.....2 Thessalonians 1-3
68.....2 Kings 1-5; Ezekiel 25-30.....1 Timothy 1-3
69.....2 Kings 6-10; Ezekiel 31-36.....1 Timothy 4-6
70.....2 Kings 11-15; Ezekiel 37-42.....2 Timothy 1-2
71.....2 Kings 16-20; Ezekiel 43-48.....2 Timothy 34
72.....2 Kings 21-25; Daniel 1-6.....Titus 1-3
73.....1 Chronicles 1-5; Daniel 7-12.....Philemon
74.....1 Chronicles 6-10; Hosea 1-4.....Hebrews 1-4
75.....1 Chronicles 11-15; Hosea 5-8.....Hebrews 5-7
76.....1 Chronicles 16-20; Hosea 9-11.....Hebrews 8-10
77.....1 Chronicles 21-25; Hosea 12-14.....Hebrews 11-13
78.....1 Chronicles 26-29; Joel 1-3.....James 1-3
79.....2 Chronicles 1-6; Amos 1-3.....James 4-5
80.....2 Chronicles 7-12; Amos 4-6.....1 Peter1-3
81.....2 Chronicles 13-18; Amos 7-9.....1 Peter 4-5
82.....2 Chronicles 19-24; Obadiah; Jonah 1-4.....2 Peter 1-3
83.....2 Chronicles 25-30; Micah 1-4.....1 John 1-3
84.....2 Chronicles 31-36; Micah 5-7.....1 John 4-5
85.....Ezra 1-5; Nahum 1-3; Habakkuk 1-3.....2 John; 3 John; Jude
86.....Ezra 6-10; Zephaniah 1-3; Haggai 1-2.....Revelation 1-5
87.....Nehemiah 1-7; Zechariah 1-4.....Revelation 6-10
88.....Nehemiah 8-13; Zechariah 5-9.....Revelation 11-14
89.....Esther 1-5; Zechariah 10-14.....Revelation 15-18
90.....Esther 6-10; Malachi 1-4.....Revelation 19-22

Enjoy!

Is This My New Favorite Christmas Hymn?

2008-12-06T14:07:00.002-06:00

Charles Wesley was a gift to the church. He not only wrote my favorite hymn "And Can it Be?" but he has also written many other doctrinally delicious and spiritually stimulating hymns. He has written songs on the Trinity and our sinfulness and other Christmas songs like "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." The most recent of Wesley's gifts that I've come across is a two verse treasure called "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus."

Anybody else heard of this? I sure haven't. We sang it in chapel yesterday, and I couldn't believe what we were singing. I LOVE this song! I've heard it said that in a short verse or two of a poem or a good song you can say a volume's worth. This song does just that. It is definitely in line with the Charles Wesley tradition. And since I might as well continue with the musical recommendations, take a peek at these lyrics (and here's the music):

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Edifying Music (lyrics)

2008-12-05T20:44:00.002-06:00

Shai Linne has recently come out with an album, and even more recently he has posted the lyrics for all the songs on the album. One song in particular has made an impact on me, and the title of the song is "Martyrs." This is the account of 5 different martyrs (at least 3 of which I believe are true stories) done by 5 extremely talented artists.

This song has moved me to tears by putting me right into the shoes of the ones undergoing the persecution. This might not be as edifying for some as it will be for others because it has been written in the vernacular of the lyricists. Before I say anything more, though, take a look:

Martyrs
written by j. watson, c. njoroge, b. davis, s. linne, m. stokes

The Time: 20th Century

The Place: China

The Martyr: A young girl

“Yeah they went ahead of us, now the path is straight
And died so that we could have life past the grave”
-Da T.R.U.T.H from Our World from The Faith

(Json)

We would gather so Pastor could season us Christians

We were pleased just to hear the reading of Scripture

Because here in Asia, we can’t worship like the States

Because servants of grace might be murdered for their faith

So we give Christ the praises secretly, we ain’t treated equally

Even on today our bible study’s held illegally

As Pastor opened to read from the first sentence

Communist soldiers kicked the door straight off the hinges

I knew this could happen for accepting His precious gift

They threaten to kill us with guns clutched within their fist

I’m shaken and scared even though Jesus is my everything

I don’t know if I’m prepared to die at the age of seventeen

The leading official turned to my pastor and looked

Put a gun to his face and told him “Hand over the book!”

He reluctantly handed over the text that he so adored

They laughed as he grabbed it and it was smashed to the floor

I was truly grieved as I looked in his eyes

He said, “Any of you can leave if you spit on this book of lies!”

A man walked up, cried as he fell to the floor

“Father forgive me”- “Leave! Now you can go!”

I trembled with fear my mind started to think about death

Hair leaking with sweat I thought my heart would beat through my chest

A woman that walked up next spit on the Bible and left

The official shot in the air of the air continued yelling out threats

I was tempted to do it- I just wanted to leave

The moment I thought this, I felt overwhelmingly grieved

I gritted my teeth, tears began to stream down my face

I needed some faith I just started to think on His grace

In my head I said “forget it” as I walked toward the text

Kneeled to the floor, wiped the spit off the Bible with my dress

To live is Christ, to die is gain ain’t a popular song

I said, “Father forgive them as I was shot in the dome

The Time: 1536

The Place: Outside of Brussels

The Martyr: William Tyndale

(Evangel)

I refuse to look to John Huss whose goose was cooked

Lord, I wanna put your truth in books

Now concerning my faith no turning away

I know eternity awaits even if I’m burned at the stake

Like avoiding their attacks of me would profit me

Great Whore that could be properly the papacy and prophecy

They say the Pope’s the holiest

Only if these people could see its phoniness and Scripturally erroneous

The Pope of men fail to respect- they wanna seek death

of William Tyndale so then I inhale a deep breath

Two doors- my hands push

As I stride inside I was grabbed by men hiding- it’s an ambush!

I was sabotaged- he was disguised and camouflaged

As a friend of me- I didn’t know he was the enemy

Now through discerning, I see this group is yearning

With ill will to kill bill like Uma Thurman

It’s a chaotic frenzy as they plot against me

Hey if God defends me or ends me- He’ll soon determine

Now I plead for these people (forgive ‘em!) they grieve Your cathedral

I don’t wanna repay evil for evil

When I’m weak I’m made strong- got my brave face on

We’re sheep for the slaughter being killed all the day long

I’ll never be a man-pleaser

No matter how tight the grip of the hand squeezer

I can’t breathe- I’ll stand with Jesus

Even if plans are grievous as they try to put me to sleep like anesthesia

Now I’m gagging and gasping- I’m sold out for You

No doubt this noose won’t choke out the truth

And leave a lasting legacy- cats who would never read

your Word after the death of me cats can cleverly

get pass the heresy and grab for this weaponry

Your sword- now Lord I pass to the heavenlies

The Time: Approximately 100 A.D.

The Place: Rome

The Martyr: Anonymous

(God’s Servant)

My wrists bleed from the shackles, as I get dragged in the gravel

My ribs hurt, was arrested and tackled.

Snatched up, I was preaching, pulled in a packed road

beat for the God that I stand for

A young man, I’m a Roman, version of Daniel

But yo I got to be an example

Seized by decree of the emperor’s panel

to kill Christians in all of the land so

Yo now they got me, tied up, tugged, getting trampled

Hauled to my death while they chant yo

“NO GOSPEL, CHRIST IS A SCANDAL!”

The mob screams as I’m violently handled

But I am a sample of grace that is ample

to save though the pain isn’t cancelled

Strained as I’m maimed by the rage of the grapple

Each swing hurting me, more than the last blow

Kicked by their sandals, struck by their rods

Cracked from the whips in the hands of the guards

Mocked by the people they bask in their evil

Storing up wrath in the path of my God!

But AH! “What a relief it is to be in Jesus!”

Even beaten if Christ is the reason

Pulled to the center of Rome- a crowd’s meeting

They chant for my death and indict me with treason

I get tied to a pole by a soldier, shaped like an ogre

Rope ‘round my legs and rope ‘round my shoulders

He signals his boys and he yells out,

“Yo ya’ll bring the torch over!”

So now I’m facing the blaze, facing the pain

By grace putting faith in His name

He says, “Last call for a recant”, I say “we can’t!”

So he ignites me in flames

The Time: Approximately 62 A.D.

The Place: Jerusalem

The Martyr: James, the brother of Jesus

(shai)

Sovereign Lord, You’re so holy, you know me

I’m nothing but dust and I trust in You only

I see the faces in the crowd below me

I’m standing on the rooftop of the temple and they’re about to throw me

Off because I’ve been causing a major fuss

They call me James the Just- Jesus the name I trust

In the days of His flesh, He was my brother in the physical

I thought that He was crazy- enough that I would ridicule

But since His resurrection, I see He meticulously rules

And next to His perfections, I’m ridiculously minuscule

Astounding, I’m taking a pounding and bruised for Him

I look around and see the mountains surrounding Jerusalem

Suddenly I get calm

Reminded of God’s promise in verse 2 of the 125th Psalm

I hear their obscene chatter- for me no tears or screams scattered

Or fears of getting my spleen splattered

Christ is supreme, so extreme is the theme of His redeemed team

My no means is my dream shattered

Embracing what is after as I’m facing this disaster

I have to because no slave is greater than his master

They told me (to) deny Jesus and not be an Apostle

My response- “Repent and believe in the gospel!”

They threw me off the roof for that last phrase spoken

I hit the ground alive with both of my legs broken

They’re acting so wickedly with no sympathy

My blood flowed vividly, I felt stones hitting me

Yo, inwardly Jesus gave me peace like Steve and them

I reached up to heaven and began to intercede for them

“Father forgive them, though their sin’s great and enormous”

One of their own said, “Brothers, wait! He’s praying for us”

One cat had so much hate in his heart for Jesus

His blunt instrument crushed my skull into pieces

The Time: Modern Day

The Place: The Streets of New York

The Martyr: A street evangelist

(Techniq)

In the beginning, before throw backs and fitteds

I grew up in a world where no truth was in it

No hopes, no dreams, no future in it

Only crack heads with some state troopers in it

I grew up with a mother, brother, sister- no pops

Fam that’s locked up, DTs and crooked cops

Dope dealers and thugs on street corners and blocks

Dudes that push weight, catch seals and get knocked

That was my life before I married the Christ

So now I rep hard on the block the day and the night

2 A.M. in the morning, it’s my third week in

So far seventeen souls walked away from their sins

It’s a struggle on the block in the heart of the pits

Where the fiends look like zombies as they search for a fix

Fourteen, across the street, and she’s licking her lips

Asking Poppy for a date while she’s grinding her hips

I can’t believe what I’m seeing but thank God for the mission

Because He touches hearts and opens up the mind for the vision

And people saying I should make the right decision

Because the Devil’s steady lurking but I’m moving with precision

I can’t be scared- I’m a soldier for the kingdom

Armored up and I gotta rep hard ‘til I meet Him

And tell the world that it’s crucial they receive Him

Because He’s coming back- nobody knows the A.M. or the P.M.

And on the block I could see it was beef

The Spirit told me they was coming I refused to retreat

The leader stepped to my face saying he was the man

And ain’t no God in earth or heaven gonna ruin his plan

I looked him in the eyes and told him this ain’t have to be the end

The Lord loved him irregardless as to what he done or did

Satan filled his heart so he ain’t really care what I said

Cocked back the nine and bust three shots to my head

Now go listen to a clip at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Martyrs-Feat-Evangel-Servant-Techniq/dp/B001HTEJ4G/ref=sr_f2_4?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1228528262&sr=102-4

And when you're done sampling, buy it. ...aww, heck, buy the whole album, it's only $8.99!

I've been contemplating my hermeneutics

2008-11-15T18:01:00.003-06:00

I was just talking with a friend named Scott earlier, and one of us brought up the Koine Greek language and we were talking about how it was the common language of that day (when the New Testament was written, that is). I actually like to think about this because it just points out the fact that God meant for the common people to be able to read and understand His words as He gave them. I also pointed out the fact that many of us would be able to read certain portions of Scripture that we would consider to be plain on the surface such as Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

I think that if any of us were to be talking to, say, a Roman Catholic, at some point in the conversation we’d be tempted just to read this passage to them slowly and say, “SEE?!” Well, I sometimes find myself feeling the same way when I’m talking to some people about Romans 9:1-8 or some other passages, so I decided to just paste one of those passages up here and emphasize certain words that I’d like everyone to consider (I mean really think through instead of just brushing them aside because it doesn’t fit with your theological structure) by making the words bold or underlining them or putting them in all caps.

So that’s what I’m gonna do now. And I’m taking for granted that everyone knows the context of this particular book of the Bible (the old, shadowy, typological realities being replaced by the fullness of the prophesied blessings and inheritances), and I’m just taking one text and putting it out there for everyone’s consideration.

And without further ado…

For you (that means YOU as a believer) have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." But you HAVE COME (...pause...) to Mount Zion AND to the city of the living God, THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly (ie. the CHURCH) of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (the perfected saints in heaven), and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for RECEIVING a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
(Heb 12:18-29 ESV)

I like to read the things that I've put emphasis on right after "But you have come to..." (you have come to Mt. Zion; you have come to the heavenly Jerusalem; etc.) I just get so excited when I read passages like these, even when they're not as clear to my brothers who don't see the fullness of the blessings with which we've been blessed.

Obama's in...

2008-11-04T22:03:00.005-06:00

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Rom 1:24-32 ESV)

You could see this passage being realized on the TVs tonight as the final results came back from California and Obama was declared to be the new president of the United States. This certainly was no surprise, and I hope that all of us, as believers, are not in the least worried about the days ahead. Of course, many of us are mourning the wrath that God is evidently bringing upon this nation, but in the midst of all this let's make sure to give God all the glory, pray that HE holds up His people, and brings revival to the church in America today.

Happy Reformation Day!

2008-11-01T02:09:00.003-05:00

I know it's late, but I was busy earlier. I was at home with the kiddies while the wifey was at work, and I've been working on a sermon for class. The life of a poor college student is like that. *sigh*

Anyways, I could probably babble for a bit about the joys we have today in serving God freely because of His intervention in the life of good ol' Marty, but I just want to post a great little theme song of the reformation instead. I know that many people have already posted it here or there, but I wanna have it here so's I can locate it quickly in the future. So, for those of you who have no idea what I'm referring to, check this out:

The Reformation Polka
by Robert Gebel

[Sung to the tune of "Supercalifragilistic-expialidocious"]

When I was just ein junger Mann I studied canon law;
While Erfurt was a challenge, it was just to please my Pa.
Then came the storm, the lightning struck, I called upon Saint Anne,
I shaved my head, I took my vows, an Augustinian! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

When Tetzel came near Wittenberg, St. Peter's profits soared,
I wrote a little notice for the All Saints' Bull'tin board:
"You cannot purchase merits, for we're justified by grace!
Here's 95 more reasons, Brother Tetzel, in your face!" Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

They loved my tracts, adored my wit, all were exempleror;
The Pope, however, hauled me up before the Emperor.
"Are these your books? Do you recant?" King Charles did demand,
"I will not change my Diet, Sir, God help me here I stand!" Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

Duke Frederick took the Wise approach, responding to my words,
By knighting "George" as hostage in the Kingdom of the Birds.
Use Brother Martin's model if the languages you seek,
Stay locked inside a castle with your Hebrew and your Greek! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

Let's raise our steins and Concord Books while gathered in this place,
And spread the word that 'catholic' is spelled with lower case;
The Word remains unfettered when the Spirit gets his chance,
So come on, Katy, drop your lute, and join us in our dance! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

Happy Reformation Day everybody!

Theologically Sound Politics

2008-10-29T22:38:00.003-05:00

In light of the upcoming election and the fact that I've kinda struggled over whether or not I felt right about voting at all, I wanted to go ahead and post a thought that I had after reading an old Baptist confession from 1644.

Keep in mind that the men who wrote this confession didn't have the privilege that we in America have to take part in the process by which our leaders are appointed. They also had much more to lose than we do if the wrong person came to power; they had to worry about their lives while we worry about much more self centered things. This being said, they still had a Biblical attitude and outlook on the situation no matter who got in the office.

My questions when sharing this are:
1. Do we have the same attitude?
2. Do we believe that God is totally sovereign in the whole process?
3. Will we be content with whatever God brings about in this election?
4. Do we trust God with the outcome?
5. Will we submit to the authority (when it doesn't compromise our obedience to our God)?
6. Will we pray for the salvation of our leaders and our safety when they get there?

Well, here's the section of the confession that inspired me to write this. I really pray that we can have the same mind that they did on Wednesday morning no matter what God gives us...

XLVIII.

That a civil Magistracy is an ordinance of God set up by God for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well; and that in all lawful things commanded by them, subjection ought to be given by us in the Lord: and that we are to make supplication and prayer for Kings, and all that are in authority, that under them we may live a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty.

XLIX.

The supreme Magistracy of this Kingdom we believe to be the King and Parliament freely chosen by the Kingdom, and that in all those civil Laws which have been acted by them, or for the present is or shall be ordained, we are bound to yield subjection and obedience unto in the Lord, as conceiving ourselves bound to defend both the persons of those thus chosen, and all civil Laws made by them, with our persons, liberties, and estates, with all that is called ours, although we should suffer never so much from them in not actively submitting to some Ecclesiastical Laws, which might be conceived by them to be their duties to establish which we for the present could not see, nor our consciences could submit unto; yet are we bound to yield our persons to their pleasures.

L.

And if God should provide such a mercy for us, as to incline the Magistrates' hearts so far to tender our consciences, as that we might be protected by them from wrong, injury, oppression and molestation, which long we formerly have groaned under by the tyranny and oppression of the Prelatical Hierarchy, which God through mercy hath made this present King and Parliament wonderful honorable, as an instrument in his hand, to throw down; and we thereby have had some breathing time, we shall, we hope, look at it as a mercy beyond our expectation, and conceive ourselves further engaged forever to bless God for it.

LI.

But if God withhold the Magistrates' allowance and furtherance herein; yet we must notwithstanding proceed together in Christian communion, not daring to give place to suspend our practice, but to walk in obedience to Christ in the profession and holding forth this faith before mentioned, even in the midst of all trials and afflictions, not accounting our goods, lands, wives, children, fathers, mothers, brethren, sisters, yea, and our own lives dear unto us, so we may finish our course with joy: remembering always we ought to obey God rather than men, and grounding upon the commandment, commission and promise of our Lord and master Jesus Christ, who as he hath all power in heaven and earth, so also hath promised, if we keep his commandments which he hath given us, to be with us to the end of the world: and when we have finished our course, and kept the faith, to give us the crown of righteousness, which is laid up for all that love his appearing, and to whom we must give an account of all our actions, no man being able to discharge us of the same.

LII.

And likewise unto all men is to be given whatsoever is their due; tributes, customs, and all such lawful duties, ought willingly to be by us paid and performed, our lands, goods, and bodies, to submit to the Magistrate in the Lord and the Magistrate every way to be acknowledged, reverenced, and obeyed, according to godliness; not because of wrath only but for conscience sake. And finally, all men so to be esteemed and regarded, as is due and meet for their place, age, estate and condition.

LII. [sic]

And thus we desire to give unto God that which is God's, and to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to all men that which belongeth unto them, endeavoring ourselves to have always a clear conscience void of offence towards God, and towards man.

...and thanks to Phil Johnson for having this confession readily available on his blessing of a website, http://www.spurgeon.org/. Go check it out!

Lookin for Great Resources?

2008-10-10T19:15:00.005-05:00

Ya know, I'm not sure why I haven't mentioned it before, but while I was perusing through The Forgotten Trinity by James White I noticed that he had written about the fact that Jesus was shown to be Jehovah Almighty in John 12 long before I had come across this and pointed it out to the JDubs or written it on my blog. This caused me to wonder why I haven't recommended James White's resources already.

I have benefited from James White's ministry since before I got saved, and I think that I should at least recommend all his stuff to you all. I do mean all his stuff, by the way. Whether you will be in contact with Mormons or JDubs or Roman Catholics or Muslims you can learn much more about them and how to answer their false claims by checking out Dr. White's blog, mp3s, books, or whatever else he has to offer. Believe me, I'm not the only one that thinks so. I bought 3 books from his website, and I loaned The King James Only Controversy to someone and never got it back, and I have been asked to lend The Potter's Freedom out to someone, but I let my dad borrow that one first.

Anyways, I know that many of you that take the time to look at my blog are planning to go into some type of full time vocational ministry, so you're gonna need to not only be able to teach sound doctrine but also rebuke those who contradict it (Tit. 1:9). You can be sharpened in each of these areas by Dr. White's resources, and since we all would agree that we want to have the best resources for our itty bitty bankrolls we should add his stuff to our libraries.

And, by the way, Dr. White has some important debates planned for the next year that involves traveling around the US and overseas, and he is in need of support from those who do benefit from his ministry. I say this because I know the desire to get the best deals for your books by going to Amazon or some place else online, but consider supporting Alpha and Omega Ministries (Dr. White's ministry) in their continued efforts to equip the body by buying the books and mp3s (which I have the most of) directly from his website. It really doesn't help the cause of Christ or a relatively small ministry for us to buy these things from a large un-Christian company like Amazon, so consider going through AOMin.org. As a matter of fact, get on over there right now by clicking HERE!

A Pre-Review

2008-10-10T00:49:00.005-05:00

Not Peer-Review, Pre-review. It could in no way be a peer review since I am in no way man enough to be considered a peer of the one to be reviewed. On the other hand, I want to give a review of a book that I haven't finished reading yet. As a matter of fact, I'm not completely finished with the introduction. The reason that I felt the need to give a review now is because of the quality of the book thus far and the importance of the material being presented in the book. I'm actually reading the first volume of three in the set, and after reading the first few pages I'm quite anxious to get to the rest of the material. If it weren't for this stupid schoolwork!.

The Set is called Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, and I've been desiring this set for quite some time now. Just recently, the Lord used someone who I had not previously been acquainted with to supply me with this treasure. This person shall remain nameless due to the fact that I want to keep him safe from someone else attempting to mooch. Even still, thank you very much, sir, for your generosity. I pray that the Lord will produce fruit in and through me as a result of the knowledge that I gain from your (and your co-author's) contribution AND that he will continue to use you to bless others as you have been a blessing to me.

Now, let me bless you readers with a tidbit from the first volume…

From the start, the author (David King) shares a quote from a man who was a Protestant who converted to Roman Catholicism and back to Protestantism that was edifying. This quote had some insightful observations that I'm surprised others who are close to Roman Catholic (RC) teaching haven't been able to admit. It just goes to show you that the light must come from God. This man basically said that the RC Church had such a history of contradiction that anyone would have to be crazy to trust them as an authority for truth. He contrasted the absurdity of Rome with the unshakable reliability of the Scriptures. Can I get a Amen?!

Well, I only want to share one last thing to entice you to add this one to your library. The introduction recounts a tale of when John Calvin was attending a debate that his friends were having with some RC officials. His friend urged him to get involved, but Calvin declined because he knew that his friends had the other guys handled. Calvin apparently changed his mind when one of the RCs accused the reformers of mishandling the Church Fathers, and he quickly stood up and put them in their place by rightfully turning the accusation back at the rightful offenders. The most edifying quote from one of the accusing RC friars follows:

"It seems to me that the sin against the Spirit which the Scriptures speak of is the stubbornness which rebels against manifest truth. In accordance with that which I have heard, I confess to be guilty, because of ignorance I have lived in error and I have spread the wrong teaching. I ask God's pardon for everything I have said and done against His honor; and ask the pardon of all you people for the offenses which I gave with my preaching up until now. I defrock myself henceforth to follow Christ and His pure doctrine alone…"

I wrote in the margin next to this quote "!!!God is A-mazing!" I think that this one is a no-brainer for the personal library, and the best price I've found is for the whole set on James White's website. Here's the link: Click me! Go buy it now and thank me later.

“Eternal Security” part 2 (intermingled with Roman Catholicism part 2)

2008-08-21T00:02:00.005-05:00

The reason I entitled this post thusly is because I was dialoguing with a Roman Catholic following my first post on Roman Catholicism, and he mentioned a text that I cover in this post. I hope that he reads this; and I hope to have some good interaction on this; and I hope this is helpful and edifying to those who can be delighted by it. And so I continue…

Some point out the warning passages as evidence that someone can actually walk away from the faith and ultimately end up in hell, but this is simply not so. An examination of the contexts of these passages will once again vindicate my claim. The only thing that you can gather from the warning passages is that if someone walks away from the faith then they were never actually saved to begin with.

Take I John 2:19: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us."

The warning passages were written to those whom the authors were actually quite hopeful about. They were warning their recipients, but they were sure that those reading were not of the sort who would "fall away." The writer to the Hebrews made sure to mention the fact that he didn't expect his readers to "fall away." He said, "Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. (Heb. 6:9)" So, the writer apparently didn't believe that "falling away" was something that "belonged to salvation." In other words, if you had true salvation that was brought about by God, you wouldn't "fall away."

Another passage that is frequently twisted by Roman Catholics is Philippians chapter 2, verse 12:

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," (Php 2:12 ESV)

A Roman Catholic will attempt to utilize this verse in teaching to have a fear of losing your salvation, but by simply reading and contemplating the very next verse, this erroneous perspective falls apart:

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
(Php 2:13 ESV)

I actually commented on this passage once before elsewhere, so I'll just post it here instead of writing it all over again:

"Paul tells believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Why? According to the RC understanding, it is because we need to be worried about maintaining our standing in God's favor. This seems like a feasible understanding of the text, too. Never mind if Paul informs believers in verses such as Romans 5:1 or Philippians 1:6 that we are at peace with God and that He will bring us through this life in a good standing with Him. That is, it seems feasible unless Paul indicates another meaning behind it.
So what does Paul say within the context of Philippians 2:12? Well, how bout we read it with the next verse?

Php 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (13) for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So, it seems as if Paul is telling believers to "work out [their] salvation" in this way "FOR (or because, or for this reason) it is GOD" doing these things in them-- not themselves. God forbid we should get the false assumption that we have anything to do with our salvation. GOD has done, is doing, and WILL DO all of it. We are simply recipients of His grace who have the privilege of being used by Him to bring Himself glory and praise. How sweet the sound of that grace!"

And here's something for further reflection: Paul points out the fact that God gives the will AND the work in verse 13. First of all, what do you think this means? It seems to me that Paul is saying that God is actually performing the works through us that bring Him pleasure. In other words, believers are instruments in God's hands that are used to accomplish the things that He likes to see. I realize that others have a slightly different understanding of this, but I think that this is the most legitimate reading. The main point, though, is that if God is the one performing the actual works that believers do, how can we fall short of the promised reward? This is the point of Paul's warning; if we don't have the desire or the works, we should be very afraid to the point of following the exhortation in II Corinthians 13:5--Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Each of us should reflect upon both of these passages and respond to the Spirit's leading, whether that means falling on our faces before God in humble repentance or singing to God the praise in our hearts for the great work of salvation He has, is and will perform in us. He is worthy of all our praise!

An Epiphany!

2008-08-17T00:54:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've been struggling with finding enjoyment in my relationship with God. I honestly have not been able to experience the enjoyment in my prayer life and daily fellowship with God as I once had. I'm not really sure why (though I have a few clues), but I have been content to endure through this valley until my Savior will refresh me in His perfect time.

Well, I realized as I was listening to the message at church last Sunday that this is a preposterous way of handling the situation. I don't remember what exactly the Lord used to bring this to my attention, but an illustration I heard when listening to Desiring God shined a whole new light on the situation. The illustration basically says that a man's wife would not be honored by her husband bringing her a dozen long-stemmed roses if, when she expressed her gratitude, her husband says, "Don't mention it; it's my duty." This illustration, I'm ashamed to say, sums up my recent relationship with the God Who plucked me out of my sinfully destructive lifestyle and placed me into His heavenly family. He has saved me from eternal torment and given me not only eternal life, but He has given me abundant life on this earth; and I should be fighting to experience that joyfully abundant life. Me not doing this is nothing less than sin.

Lately, though, I have been reading and listening to some more devotional material such as Desiring God, Pursuit of God and Augustine's Confessions; and God has been pleased to reveal Himself in a deeper way to me through the insights of these much appreciated saints. I have been encouraged to not seek to enjoy God by saying, "Boy, these sure are great gifts that God has given," but rather by saying, "God is my most valued treasure, and I have nothing that I desire but You, oh Lord!" These, by far, are what I most need to recognize and to strive after.

The only problem I've had with these encouragements has been the fact that I have nothing tangible to focus my attention on because God is Spirit. How do you focus you praise and adoration on an abstract being? Many people that have gone before me have made this same error; and this, of course, is a sure way to lead to idolatrous worship. Though, by God's grace, I've been enabled to grasp one aspect of this beholding of and worshiping of God for Him rather than His gifts…

Lately, I have been pondering certain things about the nature of God and how Christ upholds the universe. In Colossians 1:17 Paul informs us that all things are held together in Christ. How does this work? Does Jesus consciously direct each and every blood vessel and muscle fiber in my body, or has He simply determined the laws by which those things operate, set them in motion and then hold those laws within a certain parameter? Adding to my curiosity is Ephesians 1:11 which says that God "works ALL things according to the counsel of his will." Really? All things? For some, this topic might not hold any appeal; for me, though, the topic has consumed much of my thinking lately.

But the real significance of this train of thought is the fact that as I was pondering this the other day, I began to wonder what it will be like when I sit in the presence of God Himself. Will He reveal these things to me? I'm sure that He will reveal more than what I now know. I can picture myself sitting, listening as Jesus explains the complexities of all of history. Why did he allow those gruesome acts to take place? After all, God not only knows what has happened in history, but He knows why it happened. He determined that it would happen. And I will one day sit in His presence. The mere fact that He may enlighten my understanding of the past is not good enough, though. The mere fact that I will be in His presence is the thing that brings me joy. I will one day be in the presence of God, and anything I can imagine that experience to be will not do it justice.

Actually, I am in God's presence now. He Who is everywhere and nowhere at once. He is right here with me now. He sees all that I do. He causes my heart to groan after Him. I love Him for all these things. I pray that I will realize these things more frequently and that I will be aware of anything that will take this awareness and joy away before I allow myself to plunge into unnecessary misery again.

I Need a Subscription to WORLD magazine…

2008-08-12T22:06:00.002-05:00

Well, I got my new issue of TIME magazine today, and guess whose mug is plastered across the front of it? None other than Rick Warren. Apparently, "America's most powerful religious leader," as TIME titles him, is doing some incredibly charitable acts in nearly every corner of the globe. It seems that he has a good start, as well; but he has also encountered some roadblocks. TIME has the complete story (what they've covered of it, anyhow) here: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1830147,00.html.

As I skeptically began reading this article, I expected to find more ecumenically condemning snippets than I did, but I must say that I have finished more disappointed than anything. The disappointment, maybe to your surprise, is not what you may have guessed. The article relates Warren's plans of setting up (Purpose Driven) churches in every country in order to meet the needs of the…needy. I heard previously that Warren was teaming with many different non-Christian religious leaders in order to accomplish this aspiration of his, but I didn't hear much about that in this article. Rather, Warren seems to be gaining popularity with political leaders.

Athough Warren is rubbing elbows with the likes of Barack Obama and the president of some African country, he maintains his allegiance to his pastoral role. On the other hand, Warren has invited America's two presidential candidates to discuss the issues at hand on August 16^th in his church. I really don't see anything wrong with this; as a matter of fact, this is normal historically. The topics are what concerns me: according to TIME, Warren plans to shy away from "'sin issues'—like abortion and gay marriage" in order to focus on "questions that he feels are 'uniting,' such as 'poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights…'"

To sum up, the reason why I have come away from this article in disappointment is not because Warren is accomplishing these kind acts for mankind all over the world. I do, however, believe that he is being rather political in his approach in order to be successful, and he probably is enlisting the aid of non-Christians to accomplish his goal. I just don't condone this unification with unbelievers from someone who calls himself a preacher of the Gospel. But the disappointment I feel is that someone like Warren has initiated this movement to reach the world in order to meet their physical needs when someone who would be more likely to have a focus on meeting their spiritual needs is not.

All in all, I think it's nice that someone is taking the initiative to gets these things done, and I pray that—no matter how flawed Warren's methods—God will use those associated with this movement to reach those others for whom Christ died. Brings to mind the thought of God raising up rocks to bring Him glory...

A Worth-while Pondering

2008-08-09T23:46:00.004-05:00

I originally posted this as a note on my Facebook, but I realized that some of the people that see this blog don't necessarily see my Facebook. I think that this is worthy of the blog since this is a very practical theological pondering. Please take a moment to ponder these words and meditate on them and how they may be applied to your own walk with the Lord. If you don't see the validity of them, or if you can't see yourself mustering up the affections necessary for such a pursuit--get on your knees.

Enjoyment is something that we all seek. If we're seeking it in something other than God, we are denying God the rightful place in our lives.

This paragraph is from one of CS. Lewis's sermons entitled "The Weight of Gory." I came across it when listening to the first chapter of Desiring God. I believe that it's an accurate assessment of most people's flawed understanding of what our motives ought to be when seeking to serve God and others. Take a look, and lemme know what you think...

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order to follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half- hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Now, before you deny this as being applicable to you, seriously consider your true motives when seeking to serve others...do you simply deny yourself something and take pleasure in your own piety? Do you exalt yourself in your own mind? Do you rob yourself of your heavenly reward? There is a fine line between seeking joy in serving others and seeking self satisfaction in your own pride. This is truly something to think about. Please prayerfully consider these things, and aim (as I have been seeking to do) toward the pure goal of satisfaction and joy in bringing joy to others and glorifying God in the process.

“Eternal Security”

2008-08-08T01:12:00.006-05:00

Lately, the topic of security in Christ has come up in more than one conversation. I am alarmed when I hear of this, but I’m not quite as bothered by it as when some believe that they are “once saved, always saved” because many times this position is without proper Biblical backing. The alert over the doubting of some is why, in this post, I hope to give a summary of some Biblical texts that teach the true meaning of security in Christ. This will cover some texts that are twisted by some religious groups to keep their followers from ever truly trusting in Christ, and I hope will quell the doubts of whomever might read this while struggling with this issue.

The thing of first importance in this, I believe, is a correct theology of salvation. This begins by realizing that everyone is born a dead sinner who is blind and deaf to spiritual things. If this is realized, one huge hindrance in the process of complete trust in Christ is subdued. I don’t desire to make this a book-length blog post, so I won’t delve into many of the supporting texts concerning this truth. I will, however, cite one that teaches both the inadequacy of man to respond to spiritual things and the sufficiency of Christ to keep those who do respond. So, this theology of salvation will be taken mainly from John 6:37-39 & 44.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (44) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (Joh 6:37-39, 44 ESV)

Notice that Jesus points out the fact that “All” those given to Him by the Father “will” come. We know from the context that not everyone is given to Jesus because no one can come without being drawn (v. 44), and whoever is drawn WILL come (v. 37). This is imperative because it means that God is the one accomplishing the action—not man. Therefore, if God has performed this action we can be confident that it WILL be accomplished (Phil. 1:6).

Notice also that Jesus says that everyone who is drawn not only WILL come, but they will be raised up at the last day. Jesus points this out in verses 39 and 44. My question to the one struggling with security in salvation is, “Can Jesus fail?” Even if you were to say that you walking away is what keeps you from being raised up, doesn’t this ultimately mean that Jesus kept you from persevering? It would necessarily mean that Jesus actually DID lose some of the ones that He was not supposed to lose. Though, if it’s the will of the Father for Jesus to keep all who come to Him, He must accomplish His task or fail. I submit that He will NEVER fail in this mission. On the contrary, He CANNOT lose any of them—He’s God for cryin out loud!

I know it was short, but for this time, I’ll quit here. I think that the obvious truth of this passage is…well, obvious! I pray that anyone reading this is able to see the fact that if it was God’s intention to save you in spite of your insurmountable shortcomings, then He’ll most certainly not change His mind and let you walk away from Him afterwards. Though I was short, I pray that anyone who is unsure of this truth will take the time to read this section in John 6; and if you have any objections, I’m happy to spend some time interacting on this topic. In the meantime, keep an open eye for my next post on this same topic…

Commendation

2008-08-06T19:20:00.005-05:00

Ya know, this John Piper guy is someone with a huge following by many at my school, and there are many others who just make so much of this guy that when I first heard of him I was a bit leery of even listening to him. I remember when I decided to actually watch a Piper videocalled “The Blazing Center” that I borrowed from a friend who had lots of Piper’s resources. After watching, I started to understand why these kids were so infatuated with Piper, but I was not so sure about this “Christian Hedonist” concept that he was going on about. I understood the concept; I just didn’t think that hedonist was the best word to express it (bad connotations, you know). At this point, though, I had an idea of what Piper taught, and I didn’t think his teaching was all too dangerous.

Now that I’ve heard many Piper sermons and have even seen him speak at the 2008 T4G conference, I have really grown to appreciate this man’s ministry. I have been excited by him to behold the glory of God. I have actually heard Dr. Piper speak and read some things he has written, and even when I start out disagreeing with him I normally have to concede to his point by the time I finish. He is an exegete, and I cannot find many of his things I disagree with when I consider carefully. And he always accomplishes the goal of giving God much glory as far as I’ve seen. His whole ministry is focused on this and directing others to take joy in God and to make Christ their treasure.

I recently heard this quote by Dr. Piper: “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your treasure?” I think this sums it all up. I heard this quote when I was listening to my new favorite book in audio form—Desiring God. I cannot more highly recommend this book. This book is about making much of God and making the pursuit of your life to seek joy in God in everything you do. I think this is a high calling that every child of the King should be adopting.

We should most definitely seek to achieve the highest form of pleasure in this life, and this pleasure is to be found nowhere but in God. If we seek pleasure in anything else, we are disobeying many of God's commands. This also extends to serving others and is stated very well in Desiring God like this: “Love is the overflow of joy in God gladly meeting the needs of others.”

I realize that many people do not care for John Piper, and I have a friend who seemed to have some helpful insight into why this might be. He said that they are either (1) Jealous of the following that Piper has, (2) Are not saved, or (3) They have simply not experienced this enjoyment in God. I’m not really sure how you can separate the last two, but when I realized as I was listening to this book that I was not enjoying God as I once was I was overcome with grief. I had to plead with God to forgive me and to recreate in me this passion for Him to overflow into every area of my life. So, if John Piper exudes a joy in God that spreads to others then I think that he’s not as bad as some would make him out to be.

I must say in closing that I would not commend a man like this in most cases, but John Piper is not one who seems to be out to promote himself. If there ever was a man who pointed away from himself and to God it’s him. He certainly does carry himself well (I thought he was about 6 feet tall, but he’s about 4’10”!) and speak captivatingly, but all of these gifts are being used to point others to Christ over any miniscule pleasure this world has to offer. So, I will gladly commend John Piper to anyone in the hopes that they will catch a passion for the glory of God in all things and join the ranks of the Christian Hedonists who are provoking others to do the same.

Thank God for John Piper! And thank God I’m a Christian Hedonist too!

Think on these things...

2008-07-01T23:30:00.004-05:00

I've been listening to Shai Linne again. Oh how edifying! One song I listened to most today was "My Portion" (the other was "Gospel Music" which is incredible!). "My Portion" starts out with this challenging quote from John Piper:

"Would you be satisfied to go to Heaven, have everybody there in your family that you want there, have all the health and restoration of your prime and everything you disliked about yourself fixed, have every recreation you've ever dreamed available to you and have infinite resources of money to spend? Would you be satisfied?...if God weren't there?"

So as I'm honestly thinking through this question I ponder what my speculations about Heaven entail, and I wonder what is it that I am looking forward to in Heaven. I suppose that I assumed that God's children would be forever before His throne praising Him. I believe that that would be most satisfying, but I am not convinced that that will be our only task.

I've been doing a bit of studying in eschatology (I posted my position paper from my Systematic Theology class a few months ago), and I can't help but consider the idea that when God creates the new Heavens and new Earth that He will place His people into those perfect environments. I got to thinking that when we are in our resurrection bodies, not suffering from any sinful thoughts or temptations which would normally take our minds off of our God, walking through the fields and up the paths which God has given us that we will enjoy it and every gift that God has given us for exactly what it is--God's gift to us! We will no longer take a breathe without glorifying God with our gratitude for that breath. We will no longer eat a meal without glorifying God by enjoying it and recognizing who gave us that enjoyment. We will no longer gaze upon the beauty of the creation that God has placed us into without a perfect realization of what we are enjoying and how we have come to be able to partake in it. We will no longer sin in these things or in any other way!

I don't know about you, but I suffer from temptation and sinful lapses daily, and to be able to have God at the forefront of all of my thoughts without Him slipping to the back of my mind would be the most satisfying thing for me. And to not only know what is being enjoyed and Who has given it, but to also be able to communicate with Him personally. I mean IN PERSON!

Well, I bring all this up to hopefully encourage anyone reading this who is in Christ with the hope of Heaven having been laid before you. And if these things are any kind of possibility for our future, then we should be striving in our prayers and in our daily actions to think this way. Everything in your life is a gift from God. I don't care if it's something as seemingly insignificant as the bowl of cereal that you had for breakfast to something all encompassing as a serious injury that keeps you out of work for a year. We, as children of our heavenly Father, should be reminding ourselves and our siblings in Christ that our Father loves us and is accomplishing all of the events in our lives for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory and that we ought to be grateful for every little detail.

Read Romans 8 regularly. As a matter of fact, read Romans 7-8 when you struggle with or fall into sin. Also read I Peter regularly. Remember when reading this book that God has plucked you out of your sinful, hopeless lifestyle, and given you a sure hope in Heaven with Him. He has not only chosen you for that blessing but for the blessings of hardships in order for you to fully realize your dependence on Him and to love Him that much more.

Oh, to have our minds transformed in this way! Let's work on it and pray for God's assistance, without which we will never persevere. And may God be glorified in our enjoyment of Him!

Apologetics and Evangelism: Roman Catholicism part 1 (I've been neglecting this for too long)

2008-06-27T20:28:00.019-05:00

Imagine that you (as I was) were driving through Green Bay, WI and decided to take an alternate route in order to become more familiar with the layout of the city when you stumbled upon this sight:

------------------------------------>If you’re anything like me, you would be very disappointed/enraged/distraught/saddened by this spectacle. You would probably share the same sense of provokedness in your spirit as Paul did when he was walking through Athens amidst all of the idols that were being worshiped.

This picture, by the way, was taken of the side of someone's house.

I have been involved in quite a bit of study and interaction with Roman Catholics (RC’s) in the last 5 years or so and I have had quite a burden for them mainly due to the fact that my in-laws are RC’s. I have learned much about the way in which RC’s understand the Gospel (or misunderstand), and I have spent a lot of time on discussion forums discussing this and other issues with them.

Lately, I haven’t given much time or thought to the subject, but when I see disappointing examples like the one in this picture I have to ask myself why I’ve not been taking the time to evangelize these lost and deceived people. I have spent much time in a priest by the name of Sean’s house attempting to reason with him, but when he realized that the reason I was attempting to convince him of the truth of substitutionary atonement was because I didn’t believe him to be a Christian he told me not to come back. This greatly disturbed me, but it’s in the Lord’s hands, not mine. In the future, I hope to have some more interaction with him, and I pray that the Lord will reveal to him that I deeply care for him and am concerned for his soul. Nevertheless, I would like to spend some time on some future posts to explore the topic of Roman Catholicism and how to approach those infected by the false teaching contained therein.

Without getting into any specific issues in this post, I would just like to lay out some guidelines that I think to be helpful when approaching RC’s with the Gospel:

Do NOT attempt to argue with them about Mary, purgatory, the papacy, or any other absurdity that will appear absurd to them upon a realization of the true Gospel and the finished work of Christ.

If they attempt to cite any particular Bible verses as a proof text for their position and you have the luxury of looking at that text with them, do it. Without fail, an examination of the context will reveal the fallacy of their understanding of that verse. If you have a prior knowledge of the context of the verse in question and no time to look at it, remind them of it and invite them (humbly) to take a look at it.

Ask them if they think that they are a good person, and follow the steps in The Way of the Master evangelistic approach (see the link in the left column that asks if you are a good person). This approach is a good technique for showing someone the weight of their sin in God’s eyes and why they need the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well, I hope to add to this soon, and I hope to cover as many areas as possible by the time I’m finished. Until then, find a Roman Catholic and tell ‘em about the Jesus Who saves AND keeps to the very end (John 6:39).

Apologetics and Evangelism: JW's side note

2008-06-02T01:16:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to make sure that everyone who reads this is clear on the fact that my goal in studying and practicing apologetics is evangelism. I think that I've been pretty clear on it, but I have received a comment on another post that indicates that others think that I shouldn't believe in evangelizing others based on my theology (the theology that I believe is consistently Biblical).

With that being said, I wanted to ask for some input from some more well rounded readers. While witnessing to the JW's at the Kingdom Hall last week, my focus was to understand what they believed and to approach them in the wisest possible way with the Gospel. I found that they would answer correctly when I asked what it takes to become a part of Jehovah's family and to take part in the life to come (more or less). I decided to approach them by pointing out that they can have a real, solid faith in this one whom they call Jesus Christ, but that if their faith was in the wrong Jesus Christ (they believe that Jesus is the alter-ego of Michael the archangel) they were lost in their sins. I attempted to inform them that for them to say that they believed in a Jesus Christ who is actually Michael the archangel then they are about as well off as I would be if I said my faith was in a Jesus who, in my mind, was actually John Fieck (my friend who just happened to be standing there at the moment).

I know that it's pretty evident by my previous posts that I'm not the most tactful fellow, so I wonder if anyone can contribute a suggestion as to how I can most tactfully inform them of this massive detail. I would like to be able to approach them with these facts without being offensive because the Gospel is offensive enough without my foot-in-mouth syndrome getting in the way of the perfectly pure, Spirit-designed offense. So, would anyone like to inform me of my flawed ways and how you would correct them?

Apologetics and Evangelism: JW's part 2

2008-06-01T01:01:00.002-05:00

I recently paid a visit to the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. It was quite interesting. It actually reminded me of some old sales meetings that I used to attend when I sold CUTCO knives (which are the best ever). Thay did some role-playing in preparation for the front door visits and when speaking to people in the workplace. It was not what I expected, but in hindsight I guess it shoud have been. A few of the people from the Kingdom Hall actually stood up to speak and were given feedback by one of the more experienced JW's. I have to say, this type of preparation puts many (if not most) of our churches to shame. I won't say anything more about that.

The reason for my visit (on which I was accompanied by my two friends: John and Enric) was because I have been visited a couple of times by JW's, and the last time (last Tuesday) one of them told me where he attended. My goal was to be an open witness because I was told that it was a question and answer time. It wasn't, though. We had to endure the whole "service" before we were able to interact with the people. By God's grace, we had the opportunity to witness to several people.

I have noticed in my more recent dealings with these folks that they are apt to use Proverbs 8 as evidence for Christ's lack of eternality. They assert that Christ is who is being referred to as wisdom in this passage. They say that since this wisdom speaks of herself (wisdom refers to herself in the feminine) as being "produced" (v. 23 New World Translation=NWT) and "brought forth as with labor pains" (v. 24 NWT), then Christ was a merely a creation of God who was "beside" God (v. 30) during the creation of everything else.

There are a couple problems with this theory of theirs. First, there is no other place in Scripture, to my knowledge, which lends support for this view. I appreciate typology in the OT referring to Christ, but I think that since there are no explicit explanations of this passage as referring to Christ then we should be careful how far we take this. Second (and adding to the first), wisdom is said to "dwell with prudence" (v. 12 NWT). Does this mean that Jesus has a sister named Prudence? Wisdom is also referred to as a she in this passage. I know that that isn't the strongest argument, but no one is going to agree to the idea that Christ is a feminine being no matter how much our post-modern culture tries.

I think that Proverbs 8 needs to be stretched pretty far in order to apply it fully to Christ. Sure, wisdom could be some kind of picture of Christ as the ultimate example of wisdom displayed in history, but in order to fully apply a passage as a type we need more Scriptural interpretation than what is asserted by the JW's. For example, in Isaiah 6 we are told that Isaiah "got to see Jehovah" (v. 1 NWT). We are also told in John 1:18, "No man has seen God (notice the big G) at any time..." but "...the only begotten god (and the little g)..." If this is true, who did Isaiah see. The text says that he saw JEHOVAH. Well, in John 12:41 we are told by the inspired writer of Scripture that Isaiah was speaking of Christ. So if Isaiah said that He saw Jehovah and John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said that Isaiah was speaking of Christ, then we are safe in concluding that Christ is Jehovah. That is a safe way of interpreting unclear passages in the OT. Look to a confirmation of your theory by a NT writer.

If your JW friend has a problem seeing the connection between John 12 and Isaiah 6, tell him to take a look at the cross reference at verse 41 in John 12. It references Isaiah 6:1.

And God said, "Let there be [LIFE]!"

2008-05-20T23:42:00.003-05:00

Well, this is a fateful day for Scott and Elisabeth as they welcome the newborn baby Bryce (I hope I spelled that correctly) into this cruel world. I was smiling from ear to ear when I listened to the voicemail from Scott announcing this joyous occasion. I am truly ecstatic for the young couple, and I can't wait for our childrento all be running around together (unless they leave for the mission field sooner, that is).

I won't ask how many times Scott passed out during the ordeal, but I'm sure it's safe to say that they are both relieved to have it over and done with. I've been there. Come this time next year, you might even be doing it again. HAHA!

CONGRATS!

Thanks to God for answered prayer in the form of health for the baby and survival for the parents! We'll keep praying that Bryce will follow the Lord along with all of my kids...

And since I didn't have a picture of the boy to post on my blog I pasted a picture/link to Scott's website. We'll work on adding a picture of the newbie soon.

Apologetics and Evangelism: JW's part 1

2008-05-17T23:28:00.006-05:00

The thing that has been most on my mind lately is the health of the church today. This has been overwhelming me to the point that I have made that passion supersede the practical outworkings that I’ve been so disappointed not to see in the Church today. Since I’ve been made aware of this problem, I’ve decided to attempt to share some of the things that I think necessary for us in the Church to be aware of in order for us to have a more effective witness with those around us. So I’ll be sharing some of the things that I’ve gleaned from my studies and the experiences that I’ve had with members of false religions in my future posts along with the issues that I believe are important in the Church today.

When I got saved, I was pretty anxious to tell people about Jesus, and I’m sure that this was the case with most upon their conversion as well. I, however, had the urge not only to tell others whom I knew didn’t know Christ, but I was also very interested in telling others from false religions. I began arguing with Roman Catholics and their priests before I got saved, but after I came to know the Lord I began to notice the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) leaving for their Saturday morning rounds as I was delivering newspapers. This introduced me to a unique evangelistic opportunity.

The first few encounters I had with JW’s were slightly confusing. I once had the opportunity to meet with two JW’s at the local Kingdom Hall to discuss their beliefs. I was hoping that it would be a good witnessing opportunity, but one of the two guys was overzealous and my head was spinning dizzily by the time we were through. Since this time, I’ve had encounters with JW’s in discussion forums (an incredible place to learn) and on my front door step. I have been blessed to listen to and read informative resources on JW’s and put that learning into practice. Now I feel quite comfortable speaking to them and find myself hoping to get a knock on my door on Saturday mornings but they have decided not to grace me with their presence anymore.

I’d like to encourage all born again believers to never avoid an opportunity to speak with a JW who shows up on your doorstep. This is a straight to your doorstep delivery of a potential convert. We should be anxious for these opportunities, right? And if a JW or two shows up at your door, consider these tips:

Whichever text he attempts to persuade you with, take the time to read through the immediate context with him. This is something that he will most likely not appreciate because the context generally will cause his argument to crumble.
Do not allow him to move to another verse to attempt to back up his claims. Make sure that he concedes to the fact that the passage he is hoping to use to prove his position does not in fact teach what he’d like you to think it means.
Inform him of the fact that Jesus is God and that he is commanded to repent of his sinful denial of Jesus’ position and his attempts to achieve and maintain a right standing before God by knocking on peoples’ doors to tell them about his religion. Inform him that God has commanded that he trust in Christ alone for his salvation. He will inform you that he believes that Christ is the savior, but he must also conced to the fact that he is hoping to maintain his “salvation” by his works.

I just wanted to add some initial encouragements and pointers, but I plan to add more as time goes on. One text I would encourage you to take your JW friend to is Philippians 2:1-11 focusing mainly on verses 5-7:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Php 2:5-7 ESV)

Point out to your friend the fact that Paul is encouraging the Philippian church to have a humble attitude in the first 4 verses, and then he uses Christ as an example. The example that Christ gave them (and us) was in humbling Himself by not grasping the position that He had “in the form of God.” Then ask your friend if an angel (which is who they think Christ to be) would be considered humble by not attempting to usurp the position of equality with God. It doesn’t seem as if that would be considered as humble; it would rather be something to be expected, right? The only way for this passage to make sense is if Christ was actually humbling Himself by stepping down from a position of “equality with God” that He had the right to have in the first place

A Contribution by D.A. Carson Highlighted on Andy Naselli's Blog

2008-05-06T16:50:00.004-05:00

I cannot endorse everyone who contributed to this volume, but I recommend reading the outline of D.A. Carson's contribution at the following link:

http://andynaselli.com/theology/d-a-carson-the-wrath-of-god#more-404

I think he's on to something. I've done some meditating on God's wrath and righteousness and my relationship to that aspect of Who He is, and it is humbling and glorious.

I especially agree with one of Dr. Carson's headings:

“Rightly integrated into Christian theology, the wrath of God enhances our grasp of God’s love.”

This is such a worthwhile topic for meditation. Consider what you as a degenerate sinner were headed for before God touched your life and brought you up out the pit. You who hated him in all of your self gratifying actions previous to Him graciously bringing you to spiritual life and allowing you to serve Him. Consider how His love was demonstrated by His wrath being transferred to Christ on your behalf. The wrath that you deserved every bit of was poured out on Christ. May this come to mind as you neglect to consider Him in all of your thoughts and actions. Consider this demonstration of His love toward you each day, and give Him praise for sending Christ to absorb the wrath that should have your name on it.

Response to a Defense of 4 Point "Calvinism"

2008-05-04T17:12:00.001-05:00

This is an article I found by Kevin Bauder defending the "4 point" position. I had a few comments that I had written down as I was reading, and I wanted to know what anybody else thought. I have nothing against Dr. Bauder; as a matter of fact, I hear nothing but good things about him from everyone I know. I hear that he is interested in moving the fundamentalist movement in a more positive direct, and I greatly appreciate that. I would love to assist him in that effort if I can, but in the case of the article that I’m linking to we disagree. Please take the time to follow this link and read the short article that Dr. Bauder has written before reading my response.

Thanks. Here’s the link:

http://www.thevine.co.nz/article/read/29175/1127/logic-limited-atonement?print

The question is not whether Dr. Bauder has arrived at logical conclusions. The question is whether he has started with logical premises, and I would argue that he hasn’t.
For example, Dr. Bauder begins with the premise that Christ died to provide salvation not merely for the elect of the Father, but for each and every person without exception. This, I believe is a definitely faulty premise.

First of all, let’s consider how a man is saved: Paul, speaking to believers in the book of Ephesians, says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” Now, the question is whether someone can be saved without having been given grace and faith. Considering the passage before us, we have to ask the question, “What does the word ‘this’ refer to in the phrase ‘And this is not your own doing’?” Without getting into the Greek behind it, I think that we can safely say that it is referring to all three things mentioned previously. Grace is definitely not something that we can conjure up on our own; we are definitely not saved by our own doing; and (I assume Dr. Bauder would agree with me on this one) we, in our depraved, separated, spiritually dead condition, certainly did not spontaneously generate the necessary faith towards God. For the moment, I will consider this last point something that we agree on; but if anyone would like to investigate further, go check out Philippians 1:29 and II Tim. 2:24-26.

Next, we must ask ourselves whether it is legitimate to assert that Christ has actually provided salvation for all those who have, do, and will end up in hell. Can we truly affirm this if they never have saving faith? If in order to be saved, a man must exercise faith in Christ as his all sufficient Savior, and the unbelieving multitudes who are suffering in hell because they never expressed this gift of faith, has Christ truly provided for their salvation? If He didn’t provide for this required faith, did He really provide for their salvation? Was it Christ’s intention to provide faith for the non-elect? I won’t even consider that to be true or that anyone would agree to that because of the potentially blasphemous conclusions that we would have to arrive at if it were. So, if we agree that Christ didn’t intend to provide faith for the non-elect then we must conclude that Christ never actually intended to purchase them fully; He never intended to provide salvation for them because a full provision would include the gift of saving faith that cannot be separated from the gift of salvation.

I will consider one more thing. I’m assuming that the other option would be that Christ never intended to die in the place of anyone in particular (which denies Penal Substitution), and that the purpose of His death was merely to provide a way for God to justify sinners by providing a general sacrifice which is meritorious enough for God to apply it to particular sinners’ accounts whenever He decides to do so. Well, I don’t think this works either because that would negate the teachings of Christ in passages such as John 6, 10 and 17.

In John 6, Jesus, when explaining why the unbelieving Jews are not believing explains that they do not and CANNOT believe unless drawn by the Father, and that all that the Father draws (based on His predetermination) WILL COME. So, if the Father has sent the true Bread down from heaven in order to give life to the world (vv. 32-33) and this life that He gives is eternal life (vv. 50-51, 54, 58), was Christ sent to provide this eternal life for each and every individual in the world without exception? No. We can all agree on that, so we must conclude that the eternal life which He intended to provide was specifically intended for the ones whom the Father had chosen to draw.

In John 10, Jesus is illustrating His relationship to His sheep as the Good Shepherd. He demonstrates the closeness of the Shepherd for His sheep, which is something that His audience would have understood clearly. I’m , quite honestly, not all that studied in the historical relationships between shepherd and their sheep; but the illustrations Jesus gave concerning the way that shepherds must’ve felt for their sheep gives me the idea that they were very close to them and were not willing to neglect them in any way. I doubt the same could be said for the other shepherd’s sheep that they knew, let alone the relationship Jesus would have had with the Devil’s sheep. The bottom line in this passage is that Jesus lays down His life for His sheep (vv. 11, 14, 17-18) and He gives them eternal life (v. 28). He also says that the Jews don’t believe because they’re not His sheep (vv.25-26), which reminds me of the things I mentioned earlier about the gift of faith.

Some have argued that the conclusion that I come to concerning Jesus not laying down His life for the Jews because He says that He laid down His life for His sheep is merely a logical conclusion based on ambiguous premises. My intention here, however, is simply to provide evidence for a substitutionary atonement. On the other hand, since the people who have argued from the perspective that Jesus may have meant that He lays down His life for everyone else and that His sheep were the only ones He was mentioning in this particular instance, I would have to ask if He also gives everyone else eternal life since He also mentions this as something that He does in behalf of His sheep. I think that my conclusion is valid, but I’m open to critique.

I won’t say much about John 17 right now because I need to get to my homework and study, but Jesus was pretty clear about His relationship to His people again by saying things like, “…you [the Father] have given him [Christ] authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him,” and “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world BUT for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” (all emphases mine)Finally, he prays for the Church in this present time: "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…” Notice that He is very specific in His prayer, making it very clear that He is considering all that the Father had previously chosen, not the “whole world.”

I have one last objection. Dr. Bauder says:

“Prior to their conversion, even the elect are dead in trespasses and sins. Until they believe they remain children of wrath.”

This issue was raised to me not too long ago. I would affirm the first sentence; but it seems as though the second sentence is taken from Ephesians 2:3, and I would have to disagree with its usage in Dr. Bauder’s article.

I think that from the perspective of the elect sinner, we were dead in sin and had no desire for God whatsoever. We, according to this passage in Ephesians 2, were totally depraved in our nature. Paul’s goal in this passage (vv. 1-3) is to remind us of who we were, and how our minds and desires operated “…like the rest of mankind.” He points this out in order to point our attention back to the fact that God “raised us up” in order that we may see the things which God has done for us. And by pointing this out, he is pointing to the fact that God did this for us as an undeserving bunch of degenerate sinners. In short, the context indicates that Paul is speaking of our condition from our perspective, not God’s. This passage, therefore, is not a good support for the idea that the atonement wasn’t actually applied at the cross.

In summary, I believe that Limited Atonement is not only true, but it is a magnificent way in which God in Christ has decided to glorify Himself. And, as Shai Linne has put it: this is not controversy for the sake of controversy or theological nitpicking. Salvation is of the Lord, and Christ’s particular role in the bringing about of the salvation of the select persons that the Father has chosen and that the Spirit brings to spiritual life is every bit as important and meaningful and purposeful as the other two persons of the Godhead. This means that it is worth defending.

Soli Deo Gloria.

At Long Last...

2008-05-02T11:58:00.001-05:00

It has been quite some time since my last blog post, I know. The semester has been very trying, and I've been doing all that I could to keep my head above water without going out of my mind. The time for me to post is now, though.

I didn't have to write many papers this semester, but I did just finish with one. It's my eschatology position paper for my systematic theology class. I am unsure in a couple of areas; but as you read this, please lend me some advice as to where I may look to increase my understanding of what God's Word teaches concerning this subject. Well, without further ado, here's the goods:

I. Second Coming of Christ

I affirm that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Head of the Church, will one day return to this earth in order to judge the unbelievers of the past, now present and then future. This will happen at a time unknown to anyone but God Himself. At the time when Christ returns, He will gather His people (living and dead) to Himself before He unleashes His fury on the world.

a. Signs

Jesus, when asked by His disciples what the time was that He would return (Matt. 24 and Mk. 13), says that there will be numerous signs to look for before He actually returns.

i. Wars/rumors of wars (Matt. 24:6; Mk. 13:7)

ii. Famines (Matt. 24:7; Mk. 13:8)

iii. Earthquakes (Matt. 24:7; Mk. 13:8)

iv. Tribulation (Matt.24:9-29; Mk.13: 9-25

v. The Gospel will be preached to all nations (Matt. 24:14;13:10)

We can see the signs, and have been able to see them throughout the history of the Church. We cannot deny the fact that many wars have been fought between many nations, and famines and earthquakes have been common occurrences as well. Tribulations in areas where Jesus’ followers have been in the minority have been frequent, and in areas where they are considered to be the largest religious group they are receiving increasing levels of persecution. This has been accompanied by an increased desire by many people in the world to be able to do whatever they want to do without having consequences from the government, and part of that includes being given benefits exclusive to married couples without getting married. These two things display a desire for and pursuit of lawlessness and a loss of love for one another in that they don’t want to commit to a monogamous relationship. The last sign that we have to look for is the Gospel having been preached to all nations/people groups. It seems, at this point in history, that we are very near to this goal; therefore, we must be very near to the time which Christ will return.

b. Tribulation

When looking to the same passages as a guideline, we notice that Jesus told His disciples that there would be false Christs and wars and many of the other signs appearing which He calls “the beginning of the birth pains” (Matt. 24:8; Mk. 13:8 ESV). Directly following this statement in Matthew, He says “then.” This would indicate a chronological sequence directing us to find out what happens next by reading the next statement. So, the next thing He says is that there will be tribulation, and He gives many examples of how things will play out during this time including one very significant sign that I mentioned before: “The Gospel will be preached to all nations.” Then He seems to digress a bit in order to elaborate on the details of the tribulation period. He formerly mentioned that many will fall away, hate each other, and be led astray by false prophets. In elaborating on this, He mentions the abomination of desolation and the fact that the time will be a great tribulation in which many will be led astray. Finally, Jesus tells us that “Immediately after the tribulation” (Matt. 24:29 ESV; “after that tribulation” Mk. 13:24) they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds and sending out His angels with a loud trumpet call to gather in His elect.

At this point, I would say that Christ would most likely be wiping out those who are disobedient to the Gospel. The reason I would say this is because He uses the scenario with Noah as an illustration to describe what it will be like when He comes (Matt. 24:37-39).

c. Rapture

I believe that Christ will return to gather in His people “immediately after the tribulation” and before the final wrath which He will pour out upon the disobedient, unbelieving remainder of the human race. This doctrine, I believe, is taught in I Thessalonians 4:13-17 where Paul assures believers that the Lord will return for His people; and from this point we will forever be with Him.

I do not believe that this will happen until all of the previously mentioned signs are manifested, and the Antichrist (Man of Lawlessness) is revealed. It seems to me that Paul is correcting a mistaken view that the Thessalonian believers had by letting them know that this would be the order of things. In chapter 3 of II Thessalonians Paul corrects some who were under the impression that they didn’t need to be working. I’ve heard it said that those lazy ones seemed to be under the impression that they were going to be raptured out soon (imminently), and this seems to be plausible to me. If that is the case, Paul didn’t simply tell them to get to work until that happens; rather, he added a significant sign for them to look for before they would be gathered together to the Lord. He told them in II Thessalonians 2:1-4 that they would not be gathered together (raptured) to the Lord until the Man of Lawlessness came.

I understand that some people in the past history of the Church have believed that many political or religious leaders have been this Man of Lawlessness, but it seems more likely that he will be recognizable enough to all if Paul is pointing to him as the sign to look for to know that the Lord would be there soon.

d. Wrath

When the returns to inflict His wrath upon the earth and everyone left in it, He will destroy everything that’s left as the flood destroyed everything in Noah’s day. This time, though, He will destroy everything with fire (II Pet. 3:7).

II. Millennium

a. I honestly have not been able to determine my position on this one. I can say that I need to do much more study in the area of the last times, including the tribulation; but I believe that the Scriptural evidence is clear enough for me to point to the time which Christ will return in relation to the tribulation period. I cannot say the same thing for the millennium, though. I see passages like Revelation 20 that speak of a thousand year period, and I read passages that point to the New Covenant as being something very similar to what’s going on now with Jesus reigning in the world among His people. I have studied too little on this subject to this point to make any solid claims based on passages that seem to have so much symbolism surrounding them, but I assure you that I will keep studying.

III. The Eternal State

a. Hell

Without a doubt, those who deny the Son will end up in a literal place of separation from God and torment for eternity. “This is the second death” as the book of Revelation calls it (Rev. 20:14; 21:8). The passages in Revelation can be substantiated by the words of Jesus (Matt. 13:40-42; Lk. 16:19-31), so I think that there is something more to them than some vivid illustration of a time in the future when unbelievers will simply be annihilated or kept from the presence of God alone. No, this seems to me to be a literal place of torment inflicted upon those who spent their entire lives rebelling against their Creator and choosing themselves at every opportunity.

b. The New Heavens and New Earth

The renewing of God’s creation seems to be an inevitable event. When God created all things, He pronounced the good, and I believe that He is working all things together for the purpose of bringing it all back to a perfect existence again. I read passages like Romans 8:19-23 and Revelation 21:1-7 which seem to teach that the earth and the heavens (the whole creation) will be renewed upon the passing away of the corrupted creation. These two passages also indicate that the redeemed of the Lord will be the inhabitants of this renewed creation.

These final things, I believe are the culmination of the whole of history, and we will all see (believers and unbelievers alike) the magnificently intricate details that went into this timeline that we were a part of. These things will bring all things to an ultimate head wherein Christ will receive recognition as Lord before all, and God will get the most possible glory as He graciously escorts His people into an age of peace and joy while justly condemning those who rejected Him. These who He sends into condemnation will recognize the position that they have chosen as the one that they deserve, and God’s redeemed will glorify Him and humbly enjoy the gift that our Lord has bestowed upon us undeservedly for the rest of eternity.

Philosophy of Ministry: Evangelism

2008-02-07T10:55:00.000-06:00

This is a topic that I’ve been anxious to cover since the last article that I posted. This topic actually stems from the previous article, but I didn’t want to prolong the discussion or bring too many issues to the table at once. I hope that this is something that I’m not alone in being disappointed over. We will see…hopefully, soon after I post.

The element of most ministries that I have been able to observe (since I’ve been paying attention) that concerns me the most is their evangelistic strategy. I would go so far as to say that the thing that concerns me the most will seem like a normal thing to everyone reading this article, but I believe that it is not only an unbiblical method of evangelism but also a rather ineffective one on the whole. This method, as you may have guessed, is to invite people to church. Whether you meet someone in the store or on visitation night from your church, is your primary motive in evangelism to invite them to church?

Quite possibly, many Christians today believe that they are operating with good intentions based on the idea that the people whom they are inviting to church will get the chance to hear the Gospel. I think that it goes without saying that this idea stems from the concern addressed in my last post. Since when did the Great Commission receive the amendment “…preach the Gospel [by inviting people to the local assembly]?” I actually witnessed a couple of girls who seemed to have a good rapport with a guy at a gas station—instead of telling the man how to be saved—invite him to a festival at their Bible college! What a travesty! This man was in need of being confronted with his sin and directed to the Savior, and the ones who were qualified to inform him left him clueless. I believe that, at times, we can all get cold feet when an opportunity arises, but will anyone disagree with my inference that they were accustomed to inviting people to come hear the Gospel from their preacher or someone else rather than proclaiming it themselves?

Maybe Christians today believe that they need to develop a relationship with an unbeliever before they or the unbeliever can feel comfortable enough to bring up the subject. The first flaw we need to analyze in this form of reasoning is the idea that a believer must develop a relationship with an unbeliever. Does anyone besides me notice the flaw in that reasoning? **2Co 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ** Perhaps modern believers are using the example given to us in the NT by the apostles in which they developed relationships with those they came across before preaching the Gospel to them? **???Rom. 19:3-7? I Pet. 7:13-22???** I believe that this method is not only unbiblical, but dangerous as well. The second flaw is the idea that we or the unbeliever must feel comfortable discussing these things concerning sin and salvation. First of all, how good of a relationship do you have with your mom? Good, right? Probably better than most. If your mom was an unbeliever, would you feel comfortable telling her that she is going to hell? Probably not. Should this keep you from telling her about the only hope that she has and the reason that she needs to acknowledge this only hope? No, but you will most likely fell a bit uncomfortable in telling her something that will eat away at you until you do. At least I hope it would. The bottom line is that we must and will tell people—all people whom the Lord allows us to be in contact with—about the desperate need that they have if we love them. And if you don’t have a love and burden for the lost, read II Corinthians 13:5.

I’m sure that we all know of people who are “cultural Christians,” right? Many of you reading this article have grown up either in Christian school or around students of Christian schools who were no different than unbelievers in regard to their lifestyles. Basically, these people consider themselves to be Christians because they grew up in church and probably even said the “sinner’s prayer” at some point in their lives. Does this necessarily make them a Christian? Of course not! Consider the neighbor who was invited to church for a “fun night.” The church family got together for games and snacks and a movie at the church—you fill in the activity. Mr. neighbor gets to know the Christians pretty well, and he decides that his new Christian friends are not so stuck up as he thought before. They know how to have fun, and Mr. neighbor doesn’t really have any other friends. Long story short—Mr. neighbor decides to get “saved” in order that he can hang out with them and not be pestered about it anymore. He concludes that they are nice people to be around, and he hasn’t been able to make any other friends since he moved in last summer. Now there is an unconverted member at the local church due to a lack of Biblical evangelism. Not directly because he deceived anyone, but because he was allowed to be brought into fellowship with believers unequally.

I don’t believe that there is any evidence for the validity of this preposterous philosophy of evangelism. Consider the early church: under persecution and fear of infiltrators giving the churches up to the authorities, how many unbelievers were invited to church on any given Sunday? With this in mind, consider the massive growth experienced by the early church. Now taking these things into consideration along with the books being written on church growth and the equally absurd methods of outreach that draw people into the church buildings today, why are we being so dense as to think that we need to find some new way of reaching people and growing our congregations? If it ain’t broke—don’t fix it, right?

Then again, I could be wrong. If I am out of line please let me know. If not, please join me in advocating a shift back into Biblical evangelism.

Allow me to praise the Lord for an example He has given me last night when I was on visitation with my visitation partner, Audrius. We had the privilege of speaking with 3 out of the 5 doors that we knocked on. We were able to leave a tract with one girl who was talking on the phone when we got there, but we had no doors slammed in our face and no one cussed us out. Of the 3 people we had the chance to actually speak to, we gave the Gospel to all 3. I could tell that Audrius had recently listened to Ray Comfort because he was able to bring up sin, hell, judgment, and Christ in the conversation. It was glorious! The Lord gave Audrius the words and nerve to be as straight forward as possible while still being gracious. The next woman we spoke with was just peeking out the door, and when I tried to ask her about sin and her awareness of it she cut me off and replied that she was not interested. I don’t know what came over me, but I froze up and handed her a tract, not wanting to be too pushy. What a disappointment I am! The most important message that the woman will ever hear, and I was ready to allow her to disregard it. Praise God that Audrius wasn’t havin it! He interjected upon my retreat, and told her that she ought to listen and gave her the Gospel as well. This is a good example of why it is important to go in pairs with someone who has experience. The 3^rd person we were able to meet had a cross drawn on his forehead with ashes from his Catholic priest. This opportunity was especially amazing for me because I had the opportunity to give him the full Gospel message complete with the demonstration from Scripture that man can have peace with God over against the insecurity of the Roman Catholic system. I had no idea where the words came from, to be honest. I may very well have frozen up again, but the Lord gave me the words and the boldness, so all praise to Him!

This, I believe is the Biblical model in for our day. Why would we escape the uncomfortability of telling people that they need to be saved from their hopeless state by inviting them to a place that we can’t be sure that they will ever show up to? I can’t think of a good reason. How bout you?

Suffering From Malnutrion

2008-01-29T14:30:00.003-06:00

I shouldn’t be writing this right now. I should be studying or reading, but in order to keep the masses happy, I will post!

I’ve been meaning to compose these thoughts for about a week now, but the last post had such a positive response (any response at this point would be positive); and I have been participating with the feedbackers. The subject that has been pressing upon me has not just recently sprung up in my mind. This has been weighing on me for some time now, and I would just like to voice my opinion about it. As many of you may already know, I don’t suffer from a lack of opinion on many things; I hope you all can agree with me on this concern, though. I also pray that if the Lord hasn’t already burdened you with this that He will after you ponder the following thoughts.

My concern is the well being of the church in America today. These concerns may well hold true in other countries, but I live in America which mean I only get to see firsthand the results of what I will suggest is the cause in this fine nation. As we notice the things on TV and on the bookshelves at Wal-mart or the local Christian bookstore being produced by televangelists and other mainstream “Christian” pastors (rather, motivational speakers), we may chuckle at the absurdity of the message that those popular authors/entertainers are propagating. I, myself, feel an uncontrollable sense of disgust and even a bit of anger. That anyone would take them seriously is rather absurd, but the fact of the matter is that the businessmen and women producing these materials are becoming very successful as they lead countless souls to hell. I hope we can all get a little angry over these things, but I think we must realize that this is only a result—the symptom of the real problem. Now I want to turn from this point to what I believe is the root of the problem.

I can’t speak for everyone that may be reading this, but I sure would like to be able to stand up in front of the entire population of the U.S. and proclaim the truth of God’s word over against the serious error that is plaguing so-called “Christianity” today. Where have we gone wrong? I know many people would claim that it is due to the masses of “seekers” with “itching ears,” and I would agree to a certain extent. Certainly there are millions of citizens of the United States who are looking for a feel good pill, and they get that prescription filled at the local church; and they also, I’m sure, get their sense of appeasing God done in the process. By the way, I think that apart from the Biblical evidence for elder rule church government the real life evidence is tremendously strong (maybe I’ll cover this in another post). These evidences being granted, I don’t believe that this is the real root problem here—even though I realize that these current events have been prophesied.

The prophecies of end times disaster within the church (which has been evident since the inception of the last days), I believe, are simply giving us an observation of the result of a lack of the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-16). Like I said, this is not simply a modern occurrence. Dissenters have been a thorn in the side of the church since the very beginning, BUT what are the local churches doing to secure their borders from them and send out troops? Since Paul was traveling this planet planting churches all over the known world false teachers have been pushing their own agendas (rather, Satan’s). And there have been those great heroes of the past who have stood up against them here and there, but what is the realistic solution to our problem? Should we sit back and watch the John MacArthur’s and James Whites of this country confront and refute the false teachers while we applaud the Lord for the work that they’re doing, or do we step up and do the work that we were called to do?

Whether we openly admit it or have even taken the time to think through it or not, we all can recognize the fact that if each pastor took the time to continue to learn in order to teach their sheep the deeper things of the faith we would be a much healthier church. Some pastors would say, “My people wouldn’t understand these things and it would just confuse them.” I say, “Maybe YOU’RE confused over these things, and if not, it’s YOU’RE job to make them UNconfused.” I’m pretty sure that, as a pastor, you are called to teach DOCTRINE, right? Here’s a good verse for the pastor: “He (the overseer/pastor/elder) must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Tit 1:9 ESV) We also read in Hebrews an admonition to progress beyond the elementary teachings of the faith in order that we may seek to know the deeper things of Christ (Heb. 6:1-2). These admonitions are given to those who have “their powers of discernment trained” (Heb. 5:14). “See!” the pastor says, “The deeper things are not for those without discernment!” But when we read the next part of the verse we are told that the one who has discernment obtains this “…by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” How do they practice this art? By having their minds transformed by the word. I don’t think I’ll have any disagreement there, will I?

Back home we had an instance when a man who had attended our church for years wrote a book denying the deity of Christ and the veracity of Scripture tried to, and I believe he succeeded, turn people away from the faith. At this point, my dad (who is the pastor) preached a masterful sermon refuting the book, and many were more grounded in their faith as a result. I praise the Lord for that; and this is an example of something that is necessary, but I believe that the refutations and training in the Scriptures should be a constant--in every church. Some of you may be blessed to attend a church that does confirm the major doctrines of the faith and supplement them with Scriptural exposition demonstrating these truths on a regular basis which is outstanding, but in my experience that kind of teaching is scarce.

What are we afraid of? We should be afraid of answering to God for the shoddy job of shepherding that we’re doing. Why are some pastors not continuing their education? Why don’t we teach our people about the great heroes of the past and the errors and accomplishments that marked their lives? Why don’t we proclaim the truths that the Holy Spirit has taught the church over the years from His word? Why don’t we supply our people with responses to the cults when they come knocking? Why don’t we encourage our people to witness to them instead of slamming the door in their faces? Why are we living like practical atheists and not fearfully working out our salvation and being salt and light? Why are preachers fashioning sermons that are merely motivational speeches to encourage the people emotionally instead of equipping them spiritually for battle in this evil world?

The world is a very dangerous place for Christ’s sheep. The appointed shepherds of the flock must be toiling relentlessly to prepare and protect them from the opposition. We need not point the finger at anyone, and indeed we cannot until we take the beams out of our eyes and live up to the highest calling ever achievable in this life that has been given to us. One day we will all meet our gloriously wonderful and merciful Savior. Imagine the intense heart breaking anguish you will experience if He not only lacks to tell you “Well done,” but He shakes His head at you and tells you how disappointing it was to watch you pass over every opportunity to bless the people He left in your care.

Where do we draw the lines?

2008-01-24T12:39:00.000-06:00

At the moment, I am attending a Bible college where I am majoring in Biblical Languages, and I have been doing some deep thought and study into the various theological positions that have had an impact on the church over the years. Aside from the ever controversial subjects of predestination, election, the sovereignty of God, the responsibility of man, and the atonement of Christ, I have begun to put much thought into things like eschatology. This was a subject which I was basically forced into by my boss while working at the school over the summer. I casually commented on the fact that I saw a couple of problems with the Dispensational distinction between Israel and the Church based on one lonely passage in Galatians 3. The passage I'm referring to is located in verses 5-7 & 16 which speak of all those who are of faith are children of Abraham and the promises made to Abraham were made to Christ--which to me seemed to indicate the idea that all those who were in Christ were not only children of Abraham but heirs to the promises. This has since led to many other questions reaching into various other areas.

The question that these former topics of study and discussion have led me to ponder is: "By what do we measure what is important in determining the level of fellowship we have with others who claim the name of Christ?" I have had discussions with fellow students of the Bible who have taken a stand on music issues and declared that certain people cannot glorify God with the gifts and talents that He has given them. I don't think that it's necessary to point out how dogmatic Dispensationalists are when it comes to certain areas of Bible interpretation. I have had debates over the power and extent of the atonement with others which have ended in certain people jokingly calling me a heretic, and I even tried to point out the fact that one particular verse did not support the idea of a universal atonement based on the context in which the verse was nestled and I was called a heretic with no joking intended (although he did apologize later and gave me a hug). All these events have culminated in my ultimate questioning of whether or not one who professes to know God could possibly know Him when they deny His person, power, and purpose.

As I consider the Dispensationalist conclusions I realize that in order to come to the same conclusion that they have I need to start with certain presuppositions (Israel and the church are distinct) and rules of interpretation. Then, I must abandon one or the other of those rules in particular instances involving something that goes against my initial presuppositions (when reading Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, etc...).

I'd like my question to be more pointed, though, so I believe that I'll narrow it down a bit. I happened to be listening to a recent edition of the Iron Sharpens Iron broadcast (which can be accessed in my "Edification" section to the left of my blog), and the host of the show, Chris Arnzen, had a pastor's round table discussion focusing on the thoughts of these particular pastors' opinions of whether or not someone's salvation was dependent on their position regarding the Doctrines of Grace. This is one particular question that I've been wrestling with.

I realize that salvation is not based on some theological system. It is by the grace of God through faith (complete trust) in His Son Jesus Christ. This is something that most evangelicals would agree to, and as I've had interaction with many Roman Catholic priests I've come to find that they will acknowledge this as well. This being said, I hope that your ears have perked up in wondering, "How can this be?" Well, it all goes back to your definition. A Catholic's definition of grace is much different than the traditional, reformed, Biblical one. They believe (actually they hope) that they will receive the "graces" necessary to perform whatever works necessary to be saved at the end of their life, and they hope to die in that "state of grace" in order that they may go to purgatory to pay for the rest of their sins. Now, if salvation is not based on a theological system, I think that some would be able to stand with me in agreement that this particular theological system will keep them from true salvation.

Based on what we understand about the Catholic teaching, I have to reflect upon my own upbringing in an Independent Fundamental Baptist church. I was taught that I am saved by grace through faith--not works. I was also taught that all someone needed to do was to believe in Christ, and I believed that this was something that anyone could do. I won't give you my testimony in this article, but I eventually came to realize that God wasn't who I had imagined Him to be--He was much more glorious, to be sure. In fact, God was so much in control of all of the events of history and the present that nothing happened apart from His sovereign direction. I began to realize this when I started studying the Bible. I would read and read and ask questions about particular passages that spoke of God's elect and the sufficiency of Christ's work on the cross and as High Priest. Then I was introduced to the Doctrines of Grace. Everything just sort of...fell into place. God's word was a coherent whole. I was taught for so long to overlook some passages of Scripture and give definitions that didn't always fit, but when I realized that there were answers to these conundrums that demonstrated God's glory in all of time and creation (yes, I know that time is a creation) I couldn't deny the validity of it--by the grace of God, I now realize.

Sorry for the prolonged prologue--now for my question: If someone is presented with these truths of God's sovereignty and grace--yet they reject this God as a repugnant philosophical or logical conclusion of the Calvinists--even though the exegesis of the texts are presented, then are they truly saved? As I've been pondering this question, I've been confronted with commandment #2. Are these people worshiping the One, True, God, or are they worshiping a god that they have created in their minds based on traditional teachings and expectations?

I realize that some people might be offended that I would ask a question like this, but please realize that I haven't come to any conclusions for myself. I am simply pondering this question that has been hounding me in many ways and wondering if anyone can give me some insight as to where I should go from here. Please try to answer in a non-emotional way in order that the exchange may be edifying.