Theology Junkie

This Could Have Been Written Today

2011-06-10T04:30:00.003-05:00

What a joy it is to read books written a very long time ago by Godly men! It never ceases to amaze me how these men were so good to warn us of the consequences of popular thought patterns in their day. In our day, we see these consequences of these thoughts. We are living in the days that these men were warning of. Here is a great example from Louis Berkhof From his Systematic Theology :

“Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century the practice was all but general to begin the study of dogmatics with the doctrine of God; but a change came about under the influence of Schleiermacher, who sought to safeguard the scientific character of theology by the introduction of a new method. The religious consciousness of man was substituted for the Word of God as the source of theology. Faith in Scripture as an authoritative revelation of God was discredited and human insight based on man’s own emotional or rational apprehension became the standard of religious thought. Religion gradually took the place of God as the object of theology. Man ceased to recognize the knowledge of God as something that was given in Scripture, and began to pride himself on being a seeker after God. In course of Time it became rather common to speak of man’s discovering God, as if man ever discovered Him; and every discovery that was made in the process was dignified with the name “revelation.” God came in at the end of a syllogism, or as the last link in a chain of reasoning, or as the cap-stone of a structure of human thought. Under such circumstances it was but natural that some should regard it as incongruous to
begin Dogmatics with the study of God. It is rather surprising that so many, in spite of their subjectivism, continued the traditional arrangement.” Berkhof
Systematic Theology P. 19-20

Doesn’t this describe perfectly the seeker-sensitive/purpose driven model? The bible and the study of God is put on the shelf and instead, focus is placed on mans own subjective emotions and thoughts as divine dogma? Thoughts would be appreciated! Conversation welcome!

Does Discerning God's Will Mean Looking Into God's Secret Council?

2011-05-21T22:21:00.006-05:00

In the Church today, there is much teaching about how to discern the will of God. Most of these teachings are based on fear and mysticism. Somehow, the will of God is some thing that must be discerned by prying into the hidden councils of God. Somehow, those who by prayer and seeking of God do not receive the revealed mysteries of God are somehow second class Christians. Discerning the will of God is not done by magical incantations or by mysticism, but by time in God’s word and heeding what God has revealed, not prying into the mysteries that God, in his providence, has not revealed.

Michael Horton in his Systematic Theology, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way
gives us help in this area. It is a lengthy quotation, but I think it will be very helpful to all those who struggle with this question. Another great resource for understanding the will of God for us is Kevin DeYoung’s book Just Do Something: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers,
I hope you find this quote helpful and I welcome conversation on this topic!

“Calvin emphasized that whatever God has decreed that has not yet been publically revealed through the prophets and apostles, is beyond our capacity to know. God’s hidden will is distinguished from his revealed will. God cannot be charged with sin, but neither does it catch him by surprise. (Institutes 1:8.4.) We must not try to figure out god’s secret providence, but must attend to the means he has provided for our salvation (through word and sacrament) and earthly welfare (through vocations, friendships, and other common gifts we share with unbelievers) (Ibid). Where God has not revealed his secret plans in scripture, we have no way of discerning them. In fact, often god’s providence in the world is not apparent to us except by the clear promises in his word. So we are directed to seek out god’s will only in that which he has revealed—“In the law and the gospel.”

Through hidden in past ages, God’s secret purpose in Christ has been revealed in these last days. This knowledge is sufficient to ground our confidence in God’s purpose, even if we cannot discern his hand in our daily circumstance. God’s revealed will in his word is clear. “Yet his wonderful method of governing the universe is rightly called an abyss, because while it is hidden from us, we ought reverently to adore it.” (Institutes 1:17.2) just as we can know God only according to his works, not in his hidden essence, we can know God’s will only insofar as he has published it.

We must never forget that the place where the triumph of evil seemed so obvious and God’s saving care seemed most hidden was the cross. (Institutes 1:17.2.) God’s sovereign rule over nature and history in general cannot be separated from his saving purpose. Just as we find God in the “low place” of this world—lying in a dirty feeding trough in Bethlehem, wearily treading the road to Jerusalem, and crying out in dereliction on the cross—we trust that he is most present in our lives precisely where he seems most hidden.

That God has decreed all that comes to pass is not in question, but we lack any promise that we can access this information through proper formulas. In fact, the latter approach is characteristic of superstition rather than of Christian piety. Romans 12:2 promises that “by testing you may discern what is the will of god, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” On this basis, some have taught that God has a sovereign plan for our lives, but that we can step in and out of it. Often referred to as God’s “Perfect Will,” This notion of god’s sovereign plans considers it merely a Plan A—god’s best for our lives—rather than God’s secret but certain decree. Many believers struggle to discern God’s secret will in daily decisions because they confuse it with his “perfect will” in this passage.

However, Romans 12:2 is not speaking of God’s eternal councils, sure to be fulfilled yet hidden o us. Rather, the context (renewing the mind through the word) indicates that the perfect will that Paul calls us to discern is God’s moral and saving will (i.e.
the law and the gospel) insofar as he has revealed it in scripture. Therefore, when it comes to our vocations, whom we should marry, where we should live, and so forth, we are responsible to discern God’s will only insofar as it is revealed in scripture. For example, we must marry fellow believers (2 Co 6:14), but other considerations are left to our wisdom, the counsel of friends, and the desires of our hearts.

Unlike God’s good and perfect (revealed) will, God’s hidden decree is secret to us. We have no reason to believe that god will reveal to us where we should live, even though he has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of our dwelling place” (Acts 17:26. But we can be confident that he has revealed everything necessary for salvation and godliness. It is liberation to know that we cannot step in and out of God’s sovereign will, although it remains hidden to us, even if we discover that a decision was poorly made or circumstances did not work out as we had planned. It is not only unexpected that we should know God’s secret purposes; such inquisitiveness is treated in Scripture as an affront to God’s majesty (Rom 11:34).

Many Christians assume that, far from a “deep abyss” inaccessible to us, the secrets of god’s providence can be discerned by following certain formulas. Calvin rebukes the stoics for their fatalism: “for he who has set the limits to our live has at the same time entrusted to us its care; he has provided means and helps to preserve it; he has also made us able to foresee dangers; that they may not overwhelm us unaware, he has offered precautions and remedies” We are therefore bound to use them. (Institutes 1:17.4.) God has planned our future and is active in brining it to pass. “Meanwhile, nevertheless, a godly man will not overlook the secondary causes.” (Institutes 1:17.9.) So confident is Calvin in the sufficiency of that which has been revealed that he can conclude, “And it would not even be useful for us to know what god himself…willed to be hidden.” In fact, recalling a retort reported by Augustine, he added, “When a certain shameless fellow mockingly asked a pious old man what god had done before the creation of the world, the latter aptly countered that he had been building hell for the curious.” (Institutes 1:14.1) (Michael Horton Systematic Theology P. 362-364)

The Purpose-Driven/Seeker Sensitive 10 Commandments

2011-04-24T20:16:00.002-05:00

Since the Seeker-Sensitive Churches haven’t done it yet, I thought I would do them a favor and write down the 10 commandments of the Seeker-Sensitive/ Purpose-Driven Church. Here is the list:

I am the God your bearded Girlfriend who delivered your from a life without purpose

1. You shall love the vision God has given you with all your heart, soul, mind and strength

2. You shall engrave the vision God has given you on large tablets and in your journal so all that see it shall run. It came from heaven and you shall make it manifest on the earth. You shall bow down to serve it and fulfill the purpose God has given your life, for God is a God of purpose showing my purpose to the third and fourth generation of all who fulfill their purpose.

3. You shall not keep your God in a Box, for the Lord will not hold him blameless who keeps his God in a box!

4. You shall honor the day of Football and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day (Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and some Thursdays) is the day of Football. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male and female servants should still go to work so you can have the day off, but not the visitor within your gates. For six days in the week pass so you may rest and watch football, therefore the football day is made holy.

5. You shall always confess positive things over your life so that it might go well with you and you have a long and prosperous life.

6. You shall always do all you can to anger “religious” people

7. You shall not commit adultery and tell anyone so that you may receive forgiveness, God wants you to be happy and wouldn’t let you stay in an unhappy marriage

8. You shall always give your full 10% tithe and not rob God

9. You shall not tell big lies, God understands you need to tell little ones every now and then

10. You shall not settle for anything less than the best house, the best wife, the best job and employees, the best car, the best toys and have them all better than your neighbor and live you best life now!

So what do you think? Are there any I left out? Any that should be changed or fine tuned? Conversation is welcome!

True Orthodox Faith Means The Doctrine of Hell

2011-03-04T00:33:00.005-06:00

I have a friend that I used to go to school with who said (in so many words or at least my recollection of the conversation) that his goal in discipleship, and what he would like professed Christians to do is to do what it says in Jeremiah 6:16a which says, “Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” So I thought I would do that and point to one of these ancient fathers, and show his explanation of what the ancient path is. Irenaeus wrote a book called “Against Heresies” sometime between 182-188 A.D. This book was written before Constantine and before Nicaea so you can no accuse it of any conspiracy. If you wish to read the book, you may find it HERE. What was taught in the early church? What did they understand to be the faith once and for all delivered to the saints? This is what they confessed:

Chapter X.-Unity of the Faith of the Church throughout the Whole World.

"1. The Church though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the
ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this
faith:
[She believes] in one God,
The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven,
and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them;
And in one Christ
Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation;
and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things in one," and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess" to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses," and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the other hand, will he who is
deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it."

We notice that everlasting fire for those who do not repent and come to the grace of Christ is one of those things that have been historically taught. The doctrine of hell is not some recent and novel idea introduced into the Church; it is a matter of essential Christian orthodoxy. To deny the doctrine of hell is to put one outside the bounds of the Christian Faith. This is and has always been the teaching of the Church, the Apostles, the Prophets and the Scriptures.

One thing Rob Bell said in his recent video about his new book on hell is true, “what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about Who God is, and what God is like.” I couldn’t agree more. For and infinite God to not punish Sin infinitely is not a good God. Sin and unrighteousness must be punished if God is to be righteous. Righteousness and holiness make no sense without hell. But God provided a way that sinners might not go to hell. Because God is good and God is Love and God is Holy, he sent his perfect and holy Son Jesus Christ to live on this earth under the law, the law that you and I failed to keep. He lived and died under the full wrath of God, the wrath that was rightly for you. Christ bore the whole wrath of God and curse of the law in his body on the tree, and died. But that’s not the end. Three days later he rose from the dead and conquered death, sin and the devil, and ascended to the right hand of the father and presented his own blood as the pure and true sacrifice for sin and then sat down at the right hand of God, signifying that his work is done. And we may share in his sacrifice by repenting of the sins we have done, to feel heart felt sorrow from them, to confess them to God and turn from our sins. And place all our trust in the saving work of Christ. That is the good news of the Gospel. It is not a matter of works, but it is a matter of the works of Christ. Christ has done it all that all that comes to him will not die but have everlasting life. Come to the grace of Christ and embrace the true Gospel.

A Thank You to Rob Bell

2011-02-26T23:44:00.006-06:00

This might sound weird, but I would like to publicly thank Rob Bell for his new book. The reason that I would like to thank him, is the same reason I express thanks to Brian Mclaren and Tony Jones. They have finally come out and exposed to the world their heretical views. They can no longer try to hide behind an Orthodox Christian veneer. They have, by their own words, firmly put themselves out of the camp of Christianity and their words have exposed them for the wolves in sheep's clothing that they have always been. For that I thank them for finally saying what they truly believe and exposing their teeth for all the sheep to see, so they might run to the shepherd for safety

Rob Bell has been one of the slipperiest and influential heretics in recent memory. He has the ear of countless youth groups and young believers. I myself was an avid viewer of his videos when I first came to faith. He is very friendly and engaging in his delivery, very entertaining in his productions and presentations, and like every bit of rat poison, he says some stuff that sounds almost true. But he has been able to hide behind the cloud of fog created by his words, and now he is laid open and exposed. For proof of his heretical views, all you have to do IS TO CLICK HERE.

To answer Rob Bell, I will simply quote the words from J.C. Ryle. Listen to Bishop Ryle's response to one who denies hell:

They are preaching up the devil's old, favorite doctrine!

There is such a place as Hell. Let no one deceive you with vain words. What people do not like--they try hard not to believe. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to judge the world, He will punish all who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment!All who are found unrepentant and unbelieving; all who have clung to sin; all who have set their affections on worldly things; all who are without Christ--all such shall come to a dreadful end! "Anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life--was thrown into the Lake of Fire!" Revelation 20:15
1) I know that some people do not believe that there is any Hell at all. They think it impossible, that there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say that it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil of course, rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up the devil's old, favorite doctrine, "You shall not surely die!" Genesis 3:4
2) I know furthermore, that some do not believe that Hell is eternal! They tell us it is incredible, that a compassionate God will punish people forever. They imagine that He will surely open the prison doors of Hell at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil's cause.
3) I know also that some believe that there is a Hell--but never allow
that anybody is going there! They imagine that . . . all people are
good, all are sincere, all mean well, and all, they hope,
will go to Heaven when they die! Alas! what a common delusion is this!
If I never spoke of Hell--I would think I had kept back something that was profitable, and would look on myself as an accomplice of the devil. Reader, I beseech you, in all tender affection--beware of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of new and strange doctrines about Hell and the eternity of
punishment. Beware of manufacturing a god of your own:
a god who is all mercy--but not just;
a god who is all love--but not holy;
a god who has a Heaven for everybody--but a Hell for none;
a god who will make no distinction between godly and the ungodly in eternity.
Such a god is an idol of your own imagination! It is as truly an idol--as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple! The hands of your own imagination and sentimentality have made it! It is not the God of the Bible--and beside the God of the Bible, there is no God at all.

My Interaction in the Emergent Conversation Part 4

2011-02-25T21:54:00.002-06:00

Joe has posted the conclusion to his rebuttal of my position. Did he make his case? Am I wrong? Should I repent? Please come to his blog and join in the conversation!

His Blog May Be Found Here

My Interaction in the Emergent Conversation Part 3

2011-02-25T05:52:00.002-06:00

Joe, the individual that I am in conversation with, has posted a response to my posts on his blog. Please come and read. Has he refuted me? Am I wrong in my theology and should I repent? Has his case been made stronger, and mine weaker? Please comment and let me know, and comment on his blog and join into the conversation.

His Blog may be found here!

My Interaction in the Emergent Conversation Part 2

2011-02-23T07:54:00.005-06:00

I thought I would update all of you concerning my endeavors in the emergent conversation. This is a bit of a long post, but I promise it will be worth the read to get to the punchline. I have been in conversation with a seemingly nice fellow named Joe (his blog may be found HERE) on Jonathan Brinks website, and finally the root of the issue has surfaced. Allow me to share this conversation, but for those who have not read the first installment of this series, please come HERE and read the first installment. Then you will be all caught up and enjoy!

Joe:

Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the thoughtful discussion. I hope to be as gracious to you as you have been to me. Perhaps I should explain... Gen 1:31 is gospel.... Gen 3:15 is the gospel.... much of the prophets is gospel. The gospel is not just confined to the New Testament however, in the New Testament, as the article I wrote shows with a preponderance of evidence, Jesus and his followers (the New Testament authors) redefined the word of God to be the gospel and Jesus. This makes the scripture redemption focused. You must remember that during the period of the New Testament writings, the temple was still standing and many Jews were believers... they were still in transition between covenants Many of them including Paul were still doing temple sacrifices. It was a very different time than now. That is the first point.

Secondly, the strongest argument for the redemptive only position comes from this passage: 2Ti 3:15-17 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, *which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. * (16) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.... Paul states a redemptive purpose in verse 15 and most that quote the passage do not include it and, therefore do not include the relevant context which shows that in Paul's mind it is solely redemptive.

Let's face it, the scripture did not correct the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees. It did not prived them sound doctrine... it did not furnish then for every good work. They were worthless. Just like Ex 21:7-9 is worthless today. None would sell their daughter as a sex slave and claim the bible said they could.

Finally, for me.... the clearest declaration of the gospel is Isaiah 53. The redemptive decrees are more profoundly stated in the Old Testament than they are in the New because there was not a confusion about transitions and Jew/Gentile distinctions.

Ryan:
Thank you for calling me gracious, that is something I would have never thought to hear someone call me (I see myself as a bull in a china shop most of the time) Allow me to attempt gracious discourse once again. I would have to disagree with you. It seemed pretty common that Jesus scolded the Pharisees and the scribes because they should have known the things he was teaching. It was a dark room, the Old Testament, but it was a room fully furnished. Jesus was shocked that they didn’t know these things. Paul went into the synagogues and preached from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. He didn’t have a new testament with him; only a little bit of it was written. He had Luke because he quoted Luke, but he preached from the Hebrew cannon and showed that Jesus was the Christ. That says that it was all there to begin with. So the scriptures were to conform them to sound doctrine, but they missed it, 2 Tim 3:15-17 still stands on its own beautifully.

Also since it was brought up, no Christian picks and chooses which law to follow. I love every single one of the Hebrew commands. Every single one, because although I am not ethnic Israel living under the civil government of the nation of Israel, every one of those laws show me the nature of God and foreshadow Christ. Every one of those laws, yes, every single one, show me the nature of the father, his attributes, his loves, his hates, his judgments, his mercy, it shows me all these things. They also foreshadow Christ! This is of course harder to see if you deny Penal Substitutionary Atonement, (I’m not saying if you do or not, I don’t know you, but I’m positive that many who read this blog do not) but if you realize the truth of Christ giving his life for sins, all the law is opened up beautifully to show Christ.

Joe:

We do see things differently indeed. I am not an advocate for the penal substitution theory at all.... have not been for a long time and, that is one of the reasons that I am drawn to this blog and like the book Discovering the God Imagination.

Certainly, we do not have to agree but... it seems that you are ignoring the fact that Jesus and his followers completely redefined the term word of God. The emphasis was on gospel... of course Jesus was/is the living gospel. My point is that there are several valid ways to view the biblical narrative and, the one you have chosen does not deal well with much of the New Testament writings. They show eschatological imminence. They show a new way of obedience.... the obedience of faith "hupokoen pisteos." They show a transition of covenants to be finished at the destruction of the temple.... they show an imminent end of the age. Christ is not being shown by a regulation that allows men to sell their daughters as concubines (sex slaves.) The gospel is everywhere in both the old and new testaments but, all of the old and new testaments are not gospel and Jesus and his followers did the redefining not me and a theology that will not deal with that is off the mark.

Me:

How would you deal with the fact that Jesus said he did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it?

Joe:

Here is a blog article that explains it or, at the very least makes an interesting point about the passage you are speaking of . (Please read the blog by clicking here, to see his point.)

Me:

I did read your blog, and you did neglect much of the teaching of scripture on this. One has always been whether Jew or Gentile admitted into covenant with God by Faith (Romans 4) Faith has always been the way even before circumcision, and it still was faith that united us to God (Through Christ) even in the Mosaic Covenant. What Circumcision was, was a sign of entrance into that covenant. That is all, a sign of entrance. And we do have circumcision today (I will now unveil my reformed roots) We have it in the New birth, where God circumcises our hearts (The New Birth) which is a fulfillment to the promise given in the law in Deut 30:6, "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." and also in Jer 31:31-34, "31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to[d] them,”
declares the LORD.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

What the sign of entrance into the covenant with God in the church today is Baptism. Baptism is not mans statement to God, but God's statement to man. It is a sign of the covenant given in the new covenant, as we have in Col 2:8-15, "8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."

The Scriptures are unified in their teachings. All the laws point to Christ and all the law is fulfilled in Christ. How do you deal with the sacrificial law? What was God teaching them through the sacrifices if it was not that blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sin as it says in Hebrews 9:22, "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." And in the Law in Lev 17:11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life." Jesus fulfilled all of this through his life and death, and the whole purpose of the Law was to show the holiness of God, how far short men fall, and that they must be forgiven, and only by the shedding of blood can they be forgiven, and that there was a perfect sacrifice coming that would once and for all forgive their sins. (Gal 3-4, Heb 8-10)

Joe:

This is going to get too narrow to read.... I have copied your response to a word document and I intend to answer it. In short, you seem to be the one that does not want to deal with what the scripture says... In the passage in Matthew 5, Jesus says, until heaven and earth pass away and all is fulfilled not one jot or tittle will be removed from the law/Torah. Was Jesus just using hyperbole? I don't think so.... a paradigm shift is needed that does not have to construct a covenant between the Father and Son before time... an idea that I might add is questionably biblical but oh so necessary to create the sense of continuity. Anyway, I need to try to figure a way to answer these without using the tree as we will soon be down to one word wide. :)

And finally, we get to the heart of the issue. Did notice that statement? Said Joe, “In the passage in Matthew 5, Jesus says, until heaven and earth pass away and all is fulfilled not one jot or tittle will be removed from the law/Torah. Was Jesus just using hyperbole? I don't think so.... a paradigm shift is needed that does not have to construct a covenant between the Father and Son before time... an idea that I might add is questionably biblical but oh so necessary to create the sense of continuity.” Post modern arguments are not scriptural and they know it. They know that there is no bible to support the changes they propose. What is the warrant for such changes if it is not in the scripture? It must be in their own minds and heart. This is by definition making a god in your own image and likeness, and that would be blasphemy and Idolatry. Postmodern theology is sin and teaching others to sin.

Love: By George Herbert

2011-02-20T19:12:00.003-06:00

Today as I was driving to work I was listening to the White Horse Inn, as per usual on my Sunday evening drive. Michael Horton ended the program by quoting this poem from George Herbert intitled "Love." As it is the Lords day, and as I was reflecting on the Lord and our gathering in his name earlier today, this poem struck my heart. Oh, how the Gospel is so beautifully proclaimed in this poem!

Have we forgotten the pit in which we were rescued? Have we forgotten our path and how Christ has led us down the road of faith? Do we not remember the joy of our first love? Have we all been so taken in by Gnostisism that we see no connection between the matter of the thing and the sign of the thing signified? Have we forgotten the connection between the Gospel, the Church, and the Sacraments? Have we forgotten how much Christ has nourished our minds and hearts and changed those hearts to love him? Rejoice in the Love of Christ as you read this poem, and I pray for you all that:

Eph 3:14-19, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

LOVE

by: George Herbert (1593-1632)

LOVE bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'
Love said, 'You shall be he.'
'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.'
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
'Who made the eyes but I?'

'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.'
'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'
'My dear, then I will serve.'
'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'
So I did sit and eat.

My Interaction in the Emergent Conversation

2011-02-19T19:22:00.004-06:00

I am in a discussion on the website of Jonathan Brink. The coversation that is taking place can be found HERE. In the course of the discussion, a man named Joe was kind enough to point me to his blog to answer the concerns I raised. That blog may be found HERE. Here is my response to him, and what he wrote on his blog. What do you think? Is there anything I should have added? Was there anything that I was incorrect about? Let us now converse! Here are my words:

I did read your blog, and it was interesting, however, you perhaps didn’t
deal with the issues that would go against your thesis. Allow me to list
several, and you can decide if they are convincing.

First, when we look at 1
Tim 5:18 “18For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads
out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages." We notice something
interesting.
First, we have a quote used by Paul from Deut 25:4, but Paul also adds
Jesus’ words in Luke 10:7 and declares them both as “scripture.” From this we
learn that the words in the gospels were and are to be considered in the
totality of the Word of God. As we take the authority of the Mosaic Law and the
Prophets, so we should take the words of Jesus.

Second, we take 1 Cor 14:37
which Paul says, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should
acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.”
Paul, in his letter of correction to a church with many issues flat out says
that his words are the word of the Lord and should be seen as such. And in fact,
if anyone says that they are spiritual, they should acknowledge this fact. This
is yet even more truth that all of scripture must be seen as the Word of
God

Third, we take Peter’s words in 2 Peter 1:16-21, “16For we did not follow
cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For when he
received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by
the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," 18we
ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the
holy mountain. 19And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which
you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20knowing this first of
all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We learn that scripture is
greater than any personal experience; even greater than seeing Moses and Elijah,
and seeing the transfigured Christ with our naked eyes. Scripture is more
reliable than that, and that no prophet just wrote his own words, but the Holy
Spirit carried him along. The Spirit moved the authors to write exactly what
they wrote, because it is all the word of God, and is more reliable than any
personal experience, even such an amazing experience than the mount of
transfiguration.

I understand that this could be seen as only relating to the Old Testament,
but Peter goes on to say in Chapter 3, and I think this is remarkably telling as
he is about to die, what is the last thing you would want to say? 2 Peter
3:14-18, “14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to
be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15And count the patience
of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you
according to the wisdom given him, 16as he does in all his letters when he
speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to
understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as
they do the other Scriptures. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand,
take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and
lose your own stability. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.” Peter connects Paul’s writings to the Word of God by calling it
scripture. They twist Paul’s words “as they do the other scriptures” This one is
remarkable. Peter connects Paul’s words to the entirety of the Old Testament by
calling it the other scriptures. And failure to do this will cause a lost of
stability and doing it will lead to your own destruction.

From this we clearly see that the whole bible is the word of God, not just
parts, but the whole. The gospel is not just found in the gospels, but is found
everywhere in the Old Testament, and in every chapter of the bible (Even in the
conquests of Joshua).

A Message for Valentines day

2011-02-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

Here is a message for Valentines day. GO HOME AND LOVE YOUR WIFE!!!

A Great Message on Prayer

2011-02-14T05:33:00.002-06:00

I think that prayer is the hardest thing in the Christian life. This should not be, but I feel I'm not alone on that. Many of us don't do it because we don't want to, but because we don't know how to. This message will help with that. Please watch this video from Dr. Joel Beeke and be blessed by it! Please feel free to comment. I do want conversation on my blog.

Me preaching on 2 Peter 1:5-15

2010-07-25T19:00:00.001-05:00

Here is me preaching on 2 Peter 1:5-15 on July 25th

http://www.mediafire.com/?e6a3qs6yhwdw9eh

Feminism Has Consequences

2010-07-20T02:15:00.007-05:00

Here is an amazing article from the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The ideas you teach your Children have consequences! Feminists need to read this, as well as every Christian. I really want conversation on this! Feminists, objectifying yourself is not empowering. It is degrading. It makes you an object. What do you want to be seen as? Biblical Christanity is the only place women can find true beauty, freedom and true self worth.

Please comment if you disagree with this. Or comment if you do. I have a daughter now...this stuff really scares me. What will she be dealing with in her day, if these ideas continue? You may find the original article HERE.

Exploited Miss America, Empowered Miss USA

Mary Kassian July 15, 2010
[Editor's note: The following post originally appeared on Mary Kassian's Girls Gone Wise blog]

In 1968, a group of “women-libbers” protested the Miss America Beauty Pageant. They argued that the pageant symbolized the cultural problem of men chauvinistically defining and exploiting women as sex objects. The protesters crowned a live sheep “Miss America” to parody that men treated women like animals at a county fair. They chained themselves to a life-size Miss America puppet which was paraded and auctioned off by a woman dressed up as a male Wall Street financier. “Step right up, gentlemen, get your late model woman right here–a lovely paper dolly to call your very own property … She can push your product, push your ego, or push your lawnmower …”

The highlight of the afternoon was the famous “Burn Your Bra” Freedom Trash Can. With elaborate ceremony and shouts of joy, the protesters threw away what they identified as male-promoted “instruments of torture”–high-heeled shoes, corsets, girdles, padded bras, stockings, false eyelashes, curlers, and copies of Playboy, Cosmopolitan, and Ladies Home Journal. They shouted “Freedom for Women!” and “No More Miss America” and hung a banner from the balcony reading “Women’s Liberation.”

The display marked the cultural launch of feminism—the philosophy that women have the right to define their own existence. Feminists argued that women had been wrongly defined by men as housewives and/or sex objects. They reasoned that women would find happiness, wholeness, and self-respect when they had the freedom to define themselves. And culture promptly set about giving them the power and right to do so.

Fast forward to 2010.

Last spring, Miss USA released the official contestant photos of 51 pageant hopefuls. The look? Lacy black lingerie, fishnets, smudged kohl eyeliner, knee-high boots, stilettos, voluptuous cleavage, and naked flesh, the like of which have traditionally been associated with prostitutes and porn stars, not beauty queens. The photo shoot, entitled “Waking up in Vegas,” featured steamy, seductive Playboy-like poses on a large bed and other bedroom furniture.

Rima Fakih made history as the first Arab-American to win the pageant. Besides being crowned Miss USA, she also has the dubious distinction of procuring top honors in a pole dancing competition. What’s even more startling than her lewd behavior, is that this behavior is supported by women. It’s women who uphold the right of Fakih and other contestants to break the “princess, good-girl” stereotype. According to female organizers, princess is passé – but the woman who exerts her sexual power is smart, sophisticated, and worthy of a Miss USA title.

What was once considered exploitative is now considered empowering.

How did this happen? The feminists of the past protested against the sexual objectification of women. Thus, it would appear that modern women have rejected the tenets of feminism. Ironically, however, quite the opposite is true. The raunch culture of today is due to the fact that young women have so thoroughly embraced feminist thought.

Feminism taught the new generation that:
1. Men have historically deprived women of power and freedom
2. Women need to reclaim their power and freedom
3. Women exert power and freedom by rejecting the restrictive, male-defined roles and boundaries of Judeo-Christianity
4. Women have the right to define their own behavior
5. Women have the right to define what womanhood is all about

The daughters of the feminist generation were raised on these ideas. They embraced them and took them to heart. Since sex is power, what better way for women to exert their power than through sexuality? They concluded that Girl Power is best expressed by throwing off all boundaries and becoming brazenly sexual. The Spice Girls, The Sex & the City stars, and celebrities such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan all modeled the idea that empowerment equals the right to be raunchy. The idea quickly caught on.

Joe Francis, the Hugh Hefner of Gen X and founder of the Girls Gone Wild porn video series, capitalized on the trend. Accompanied by his camera crews, Francis visited beaches, nightclubs, and parties across America seeking “everyday” college-age women who would flash their breasts, make out with each other, and be sexually lewd on camera in exchange for GGW-emblazoned T-shirts or hats. Francis raked in as much as forty million dollars a year from the sale of these videos. When asked why he thought thousands of young women were so eager to exhibit themselves for his cameras, so willing to objectify themselves in exchange for trucker hats and tank tops, Francis simply said: “It’s empowering. It’s freedom.”

This generation thinks that raunch equals power and freedom. Newsweek has dubbed this, “The Girls Gone Wild Effect.” Nowadays, raunchy sexuality has become the prevalent expression of a woman’s freedom and power.

Joe Francis sees the Girl-Gone-Wild phenomenon as the ultimate expression of feminism. Muzi Mei, the Carrie Bradshaw of Beijing who became a superstar by blogging about her sexual conquests, agrees. She told a reporter, “I express my freedom through sex. It’s my life, and I can do what I want.”

It’s the ultimate irony that the foundational beliefs of feminism have contributed to the increased sexual objectification and pornographication of women. Society’s thorough acceptance of feminist precepts is one of the reasons why behavior that was seen as destructive in 1968 is celebrated as desirable in 2010. When Miss America 1968 appeared in an evening gown and swimwear at the bequest of men, feminism identified her as “exploited.” But when Miss USA 2010 appears in fishnet stockings in sexy bedroom porn, and boldly rejects social convention by entering a pole dancing competition—and does so of her own choice, self-determination and exerting her right to freedom—she embraces and lives out feminism’s core tenets. Given a feminist belief system, culture has no choice but to identify her brash, immoral behavior as“empowered.”

Feminism didn’t provide the answer for woman’s happiness, wholeness, and self-identity. It’s just led us further away from the truth. Girls, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…. I think the time is ripe for a new movement—a seismic holy quake of counter-cultural men and women who dare to take God at his word, those who have the courage to stand against the popular tide, and believe and delight in God’s plan for male and female. A revolution of women embracing God’s design is the needed antidote to counter the self-deterministic feminist mindset that unwittingly justifies the Miss USA type of madness. © Mary A. Kassian, Girls Gone Wise. Visit Mary’s Website at: GirlsGoneWise.com

Now is the Time of Salvation!

2010-06-09T18:26:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder from Samuel Davies that the time is now for salvation! Christ's hand is extended to you now! Don't wait, you cannot guarantee tomorrow. Come to the Lord! Seek him while he may be found!

Samuel Davies, "A New Year's Gift!" January 1, 1760

"Knowing the TIME, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep!" Romans 13:11

TIME, like an ever-running stream, is perpetually gliding on--and hurrying each of us into the boundless ocean of eternity!Consider the UNCERTAINTY of your time! You may die . . .

the next year,

the next month,

the next week,

the next hour,

or the next moment!

I once knew a minister who, while he was speaking on this same point--was made a striking illustration of it--and instantly dropped down dead in the pulpit!You cannot call one day of this next year your own! Before that day comes, you may be done with time--and have entered upon eternity! People presume upon time, as if it were guaranteed to them for so many years; and this is the delusion which ruins multitudes!

How many are now in eternity, who began the last year with as little expectation of death, and hopes of long life--as you have at the beginning of the present year! And this may be your doom!Should a prophet be sent to open the book of the divine decrees to you--as Jeremiah did to Hananiah; some of you would no doubt see it written there by your name, "This very year you are going to die!" Jeremiah 28:16.

Some unexpected moment in this year--will put an end to all the labors and enjoyments of the present state, and all the duties and opportunities peculiar to it!Therefore, if sinners would repent and believe--NOW is the time, because this is the ONLY time they are certain of! Sinners, you may be in hell before this year finishes its round--if you delay the great business of salvation any longer!For remember, time is uncertain! Youth, health, strength, business, riches, power, wisdom, and whatever this world contains--cannot insure it. No, the thread of life is held by the divine hand alone; and God can snap it asunder, without warning, in whatever moment He pleases!

"It is appointed unto men once to die--and after that to face judgment!" Hebrews 9:27

Updated link...it should work this time

2010-06-08T10:12:00.001-05:00

The link should work this time...This is me preaching on the 6th of June to a Korean Presbyterian Youth Group

http://www.mediafire.com/ryancavanaugh

The Lion Of Princeton Teaching On The Difference Between Justification and Santification

2010-06-04T18:34:00.004-05:00

What an amazing and clarifying quote from B.B. Warfield. Very clear and very precisely worded. We are justified by Faith and Faith alone. Our sanctification comes from the justification won by Christ on the Cross. The Cross and Jesus justifying us causes us to be Sanctified. Beautiful! So much Confusion about this in the church.

Dear Christian, if you have faith in Christ, you are Justified before The Father, Because of what Christ has done, and the work on the cross. Christ is interceding for you at the Right Hand of The Father, and has blessed you with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3). The will of God is your Sanctification (1 Thes 4:3). You cannot be Justified without faith, and you cannot be sanctified without being Justified. The original Post may be found HERE.

"There is no evidence presented here that the New Testament represents
sanctification as received immediately by faith. In point of fact there is no
direct statement to that effect in the New Testament. It is to Jellinghaus’*
credit that he does not adduce for it either Acts xv.9 or xxvi.18, which are
often made to do duty in this sense. His strong conviction that sanctification
is obtained directly and immediately by faith is a product not of his Scriptural
studies, but of his “mediating theology.” According to that theology, when we
receive Christ by faith we receive in Him all that He is to us at once; all the
benefits which we receive in Him are conceived as received immediately and
directly by the faith through which we are united with Him and become sharers in
all that He is. Justification and sanctification, for example, are thought of as
parallel products of faith. This is not, however, the New Testament
representation. According to its teaching, sanctification is not related to
faith directly and immediately, so that in believing in Jesus we receive both
justification and sanctification as parallel products of our faith; or either
the one or the other, according as our faith is directed to the one or the
other. Sanctification is related directly not to faith but to justification; and
as faith is the instrumental cause of justification, so is justification the
instrumental cause of sanctification. The vinculum which binds justification and
sanctification together is not that they are both effects of faith – so that he
who believes must have both – because faith is the prius of both alike. Nor is
it even that both are obtained in Christ, so that he who has Christ, who is made
to us both righteousness and sanctification, must have both because Christ is
the common source of both. It is true that he who has faith has and must have
both; and it is true that he who has Christ has and must have both. But they do
not come out of faith or from Christ in the same way. Justification comes
through faith; sanctification through justification, and only mediately, through
justification, through faith. So that the order is invariable, faith,
justification, sanctification; not arbitrarily, but in the nature of the case.
(B. B. Warfield, “The German Higher Life Movement,” in Perfectionism, vol. 1,
pp. 362-363)

*Theodore Jellinghaus was a German Lutheran missionary to India, and later a Lutheran pastor in the vicinity of Potsdam.

The Fruit of American Christanity

2010-05-28T17:49:00.004-05:00

I guess they are trying to produce this...sad, sad, sad.....

Enthralled With The Doll Or The Rattle

2010-05-27T17:21:00.002-05:00

What a wonderful God Exulting Quote from Thomas Brooks! Christ is our treasure! To look to anything else than Christ will not satisfy. To not be satisfied in God and him only is an egregious evil! Scripture says the same in Jeremiah 2:12-13, a passage worth memorizing for all Christians. Exult in the Lord Your God with all your heart! find all your joy in HIM, not on his gifts. Worship and praise the giver, not the trinket.

Enthralled with the doll or the rattle
(Thomas Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You!" Psalm 63:1-3

Be sure that you don't take up your greatest delight . . .
in any creature,
in any comfort,
in any contentment,
in any worldly enjoyment.

When the mother sees that the child is enthralled with the doll or the rattle--she comes not in sight. If you take up your rest in any of the dolls and rattles--in any of the poor things of this world--God will certainly keep out of sight! He will never honor them
with His gracious presence--who enthralled with anything below Himself, below His presence.

When you begin to be tickled and enthralled with this and that worldly enjoyment, reason thus, "Here is a gracious spouse, here are precious children, here is a pleasant home, here is a wonderful climate, here is a gainful trade, etc. But what are all these to me--so long God has withdrawn His presence from me?"

Remember this once for all: that the whole world is but a barren wilderness--without the gracious presence of God!

Praying Beyond The Sick List

2010-05-24T15:32:00.004-05:00

Here is a very intersting post from the the Web Magazine "BY FAITH," Which is the Web Magazine for the PCA. You Can find the Original HERE

Praying Beyond the Sick List
David Powlison, Issue Number 8, April 2006

It sounds so simple. Pastors could so easily pray for the sick—pointedly and intelligently—couldn’t they? But so often these prayers from the pulpit sound like a nursing report at shift change in your local hospital: "The colon cancer in room 103 with uncertain prognosis … the lady in 110 with a gall bladder that’s not yielding to treatment … the broken leg that’s mending well … the heart patient going into surgery on Tuesday under Dr. Jones’s skilled hands … .”

Visitors to many of our churches might understandably conclude that God isn’t very good at doing what we ask, that He is just there to perk up our health. Chronic illnesses gradually fill up our prayer lists, and deep down we know that every person in every pew will die sooner or later. Pastoral prayers, prayer meetings, and prayer lists can have the net effect of actually disheartening and distracting the faith of God’s people. Prayer becomes either a dreary litany of familiar words, or a magical superstition verging on hysteria. This kind of prayer either dulls our expectations of God, or hypes up fantasy presumptions.

Prayers for the sick can even become a breeding ground for cynicism: those who improve would have gotten better anyway, right? This is easy to believe as nature takes its course or as medical interventions bring about predictable results. Or those who don’t improve may be questioned about their faith. Prayer can become a breeding ground for bizarre ideas and practices—a spiritually sanctioned version of the exact same obsession with health and medicine that characterizes the wider culture, naming and claiming your healing, a superstitious belief that the quantity or the fervency of prayer is decisive in getting God’s ear; the notion that prayer has some intrinsic “power.”

Changing How We Pray

It’s hard to learn how to pray—for the sick as well as the healthy. How often do we make intelligent, honest requests for something we need from capable, trustworthy friends? Prayer is a lot like that. But somehow when the making of a request is termed “praying” and the capable party is termed “God,” things tend to get tangled. You’ve seen it, heard it, done it: the contorted syntax, formulaic phrasing, meaningless repetition, “just reallys,” vague non-requests, artificially pious tone of voice, air of confusion. If you talked to your friends or parents that way they’d think you’d lost your mind. But what if your understanding of prayer changes, and if your practice of prayer then changes? What then? What if the prayer requests you make—and the ones you ask others to make—change?

Consider a few factors that can bring about such change.

The Sick: Keeping Spiritual Issues in View

First, notice a few things about James 5:13-20. This passage is the warrant for praying for the sick. It is certainly significant that James explicitly envisions prayer not in a congregational setting, but in what we might think of as a counseling setting. The sick person asks for help, meets with a few elders, honestly confesses sins, repents, and draws near to God. James describes earnest prayer as affecting both the physical and spiritual state of that person. Is it wrong to pray from the pulpit for sick people? Of course not. But we should consider that the classic text on praying for the sick describes something highly personal and interpersonal.

Notice also how pointedly James keeps spiritual issues in view. His letter is about growing in wisdom, and he doesn’t change that emphasis when it comes to helping the sick. What he writes is predicated on his understanding that suffering presents an occasion to become wise, a good gift from above: “Count it all joy when you meet various trials … If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask … .” He has already illustrated this regarding the issues of poverty, injustice, and interpersonal conflict. Now he illustrates it regarding sickness.

James’ focus on spiritual issues does not mean that people get sick because they’ve sinned. They do sometimes: IV drug use and sexual immorality do, for instance, lead to AIDS on occasion. People do reap in sickness what they sow in sin. But made into a universal rule, that idea is mere superstition. Remember Job’s heartless counselors.

God meets us in sickness, and we experience new dynamics through that meeting. Sickness can force us to stop and face ourselves, to stop and find the Lord. We discover sins we’ve been too busy to notice: neglectfulness, irritability, indifference, self-indulgence, unbelief, joylessness, worries, complaining, drivenness in work, trust in our own health and ability. As our need for Jesus’ mercies is quickened, our delight in God deepens. We will develop fruit of the Spirit that can develop no other way than by suffering well: endurance of faith, hope and joy that transcend circumstances, mature character, richer knowledge of the love of God, living for God not self, the humility of weakness, the ability to help others who suffer. (See Jam. 1:3; Rom. 5:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:6-8, 4:1-3; 2 Cor. 12:9f.)

And sickness, like any weakness or trouble, is itself a temptation. Whether you face life-threatening disease or just feel lousy for a couple days, it is amazing what that experience can bring out of your heart. Some people complain and grumble, getting grouchiest with the people who care most. Others get angry—at God, at themselves, at others, at the inconvenience. Others pretend nothing is wrong, denying reality. Others pretend they’re sicker than they are, seeking an excuse to avoid the responsibilities of job, school, or family. Some invest vast hopes, time, and money in pursuing doctor after doctor, book after book, drug after drug, diet after diet, quack after quack. Still others keep pressing on with life, doing, doing, doing—when God really intends that they stop and learn the lessons of weakness. Others become deeply fearful—“perhaps this is the big one”—imagining the worst, And others get depressed. Feeling lousy physically becomes an occasion to question the meaning and value of their entire existence. Some are too proud or embarrassed to ask for help. Others manipulate everyone within reach to serve their every need. Some brood that God must be out to get them, becoming morbidly introspective about every real or imaginary failing.

Sickness provides one of the richest opportunities imaginable for spiritual growth and pastoral counseling, as James 5 makes clear. Is God interested in healing any particular illness? Sometimes, sometimes not. But is He always interested in making us wise, holy, trusting, and loving, even in the context of our pain, disability, and dying? Yes, yes again, and amen. People learn to pray beyond the “sick list” when they realize what God is really all about.

Longing for Christ’s Kingdom

Consider the vast biblical teaching on prayer. How many of Scripture’s prayers focus on sickness? A significant few, giving good warrant to plead passionately with God for healing. In Isaiah 38, Hezekiah pleads for restoration of health, and he is healed. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul prays earnestly three times to be delivered from a painful affliction—but this time God says no. Psalm 35:12-14 mentions heartfelt prayer for the restoration of the sick, and portrays this as a natural expression of loving concern. Both Elijah and Elisha passionately plead with God on behalf of only sons whose sicknesses end in death, devastating their mothers (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 4). In both cases God mercifully restores them.

Coming at the issue from the opposite direction, the Bible’s last word on Asa is negative because “his disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). He is chided for failing to pray through sickness. Prayer has varying degrees of intensity, with supplication and outcry being the strongest. It is striking how passionate and blunt the prayers for healing are. These passages vividly challenge the perfunctory and medicine-centric prayers that often are said, even by people preoccupied with praying for the sick. When you pray for the sick, and as you teach the sick to seek God for themselves, it ought to be a fiercely thoughtful firestorm.

However, the majority of prayers in the Bible focus on other things. As shorthand, here are three emphases of biblical prayer: circumstantial prayers, wisdom prayers, and kingdom prayers. Praying for the sick is one form of the first.

1. Sometimes we ask God to change our circumstances—heal the sick, give us daily bread, protect us from suffering and evildoers, make our political leaders just, convert our friends and family, make our work and ministries prosper, provide us with a spouse, quiet this dangerous storm, send us rain, give us a child.

2. Sometimes we ask God to change us—deepen our faith, teach us to love each other, forgive our sins, make us wise where we tend to be foolish, help us know You better, give us understanding of Scripture, teach us how to encourage others.

3. Sometimes we ask God to change everything by revealing Himself more fully on the stage of real life, magnifying the degree to which His glory and rule are obvious—Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, be exalted above the heavens, let Your glory be over all of the earth, let Your glory fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, come Lord Jesus.

In the Lord’s prayer we see examples of all three. They are tightly interwoven when we pray rightly. The Lord’s kingdom (#3) involves the destruction of our sins (#2) and our sufferings (#1). His reign causes a flourishing of love’s perfect wisdom and a wealth of situational blessing. Prayers for God to change my circumstances and to change me are, in their inner logic, requests that He reveal His glory and mercy on the stage of this world.

When any of these three strands of prayer gets detached from the other two, prayer tends to go sour. If you just pray for better circumstances, then God becomes the errand boy (usually somewhat disappointing) who exists to give you your shopping list of desires and pleasures—no sanctifying purposes, no higher glory. Prayer becomes gimme, gimme, gimme. If you only pray for personal change, then it tends to reveal an obsession with moral self improvement, a self-absorbed spirituality detached from engaging with other people and the tasks of life. Where is the longing for Christ’s kingdom to right all wrongs, not just to alleviate my sins so I don’t feel bad about myself? Prayer pursues self-centered, morally-strenuous asceticism, with little evidence of real love, trust, or joy. If we only pray for the sweeping invasion of the kingdom, then prayers tend towards irrelevance and overgeneralization, failing to work out how the actual kingdom rights real wrongs, wipes away real tears, and removes real sins. Such prayers pursue a God who never touches ground until the last day.

Practicing the Three Strands of Prayer

We could give countless examples of these three strands of prayer operating wisely. Let me note a few. Consider the Psalms, the book of talking with God. About 90 psalms are “minor key.” Intercessions regarding sin and suffering predominate—always in light of God revealing His mercies, power, and kingdom. The battle with personal sin and guilt appears in about one third of these intercessions. Often there are requests that God make us wiser: “teach me,” “make me understand,” “revive me.” God reveals Himself (“for your name’s sake”) by changing us. Many more psalms reveal requests to change circumstances: deliver us from evildoers, be our refuge and fortress amid suffering, destroy Your enemies. These, too, are always tied to requests that God arrive with kingdom glory and power. God reveals Himself by making all these bad things and bad people go away. Then there are the 60 or so “major key” psalms. In these you see emphasis on the joy and praise that characterize God’s kingdom reign in action. Look at the prayers of Philippians 1:9-11 and Colossians 1:9-14. There is no mention of circumstances, no requests to be healed, fed, protected, or for other people to change. The requests focus entirely on gaining wisdom in the light of the coming glory of God’s kingdom. These two prayers plead with God on behalf of other people that two kinds of love would deepen: May God make you know Him better. May God make your love for people more intelligent. Look too at Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21. These intercessions focus on wisdom in the light of Christ’s glory. Again, there are no circumstantial requests. In fact, there aren’t even requests to grow in intelligent love for others. But Paul zeroes in on what we most need: I ask that God would make you know Him better. Praying Beyond the Sick List
Why don’t people pray beyond the sick list? We want circumstances to improve so that we might feel better and life might get better. These are often honest and good prayers—unless they’re the only requests. Unhinged from the purposes of sanctification and from groaning for the coming of the King, prayers for circumstances become self-centered. Learn, and teach others, to pray with the three-stranded braid of our real need. You will pray far beyond the sick list. And you will pray in a noticeably different way for the sick.

Luther's Simple Way to Pray

In the spring of 1535 Martin Luther’s barber and good friend, Peter Beskendorf, asked Luther for his advice on a simple way to pray. In response Luther wrote a 34-page booklet. A portion of the introduction reads as follows:

Dear Master Peter:

I will tell you as best I can what I do personally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody to do it better that I! Amen.

First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little Psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do.

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas that tell you, "Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that." Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs, which so hold your attention and involve you that noting comes of prayer for that day.

It may well be that you may have some tasks which are as good or better than prayer, especially in an emergency. There is a saying ascribed to St. Jerome that everything a believer does is prayer, and a proverb says, “Those who work faithfully pray twice.” This can be said because believers fear and honor God in their work and remember the commandment not to wrong anyone, or to try to steal, defraud, or cheat. Such thoughts and such faith undoubtedly transform their work into prayer and a sacrifice of praise….

Yet we must be careful not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine other works to be necessary which, after all, are nothing or the kind. Thus at the end we become lax and lazy, cool and listless toward prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer….

Great Quotes From A Smart Dead Guy

2010-05-20T20:13:00.004-05:00

Here is a great quote from Samuel Davies

Your salvation makes amends for all His sufferings!
(Samuel Davies, "The Sufferings of Christ, and Their Consequent Joys and Blessings")

"He shall see His seed! He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied!" Isaiah 53:10-11

Jesus is now exalted to His throne in the highest heavens; and from thence He takes a wide survey of the universe. He looks down upon our world--and beholds kings in their grandeur, victorious generals with all their power, nobles and great men in all their pomp. But these are not the objects that best please His eyes. "He shall see His seed!" He sees one here, and another there, bought with His blood, and born of His Spirit; and this is the most delightful sight our world can afford Him. Some of them may be oppressed with poverty, covered with rags, or ghastly with famine; they may make no great figure in mortal eyes; but He loves to look at them! He esteems them as His children, and the fruits of His dying pangs!

The happiness of His exalted state consists, in a great degree--in the pleasure of seeing the designs of His death accomplished in the conversion and salvation of sinners!

His eyes are graciously fixed upon this assembly today! And if there is one of His spiritual seed among us--He can distinguish them in the crowd. He sees you drinking in His Words with eager ears! He sees you at His table commemorating His love! He sees your hearts breaking with penitential sorrows, and melting at His cross!

But these are not the only children whom He delights to view; they are not all in such an abject, imperfect state. No! He sees a glorious company of them around His throne in heaven, arrived to maturity, enjoying their inheritance, and resembling their divine Parent!

How does His benevolent heart rejoice to look over the immense plains of heaven--and see them all peopled with His seed! When He takes a view of this numerous offspring, sprung from His blood, and when He looks down to our world--and sees so many infants in grace, gradually advancing to their adult age; when He sees some, perhaps every hour since He died upon Calvary, entering the gates of heaven, having finished their course of education upon earth; I say, when this prospect appears to Him on every hand--how does He rejoice!

Now the prophecy in my text is fulfilled! "He shall see of the travail of His soul--and shall be satisfied!" If you put the sentiments of His benevolent heart into language, methinks He would say, "Since My death has been so fruitful of such a glorious posterity--I am well satisfied. I desire no other reward for all My agonies for them. If this end is but answered--I am fully satisfied by My hanging on the tree for them!"

Suppose that He should this day appear to you in that suffering form--sweating great drops of blood, accused, insulted, bruised, scourged, nailed upon the cross! And suppose He should turn to you with a countenance full of love and pity, and drenched with blood and tears, and address you in such moving language as this:"See! sinners--see what I suffer for you! See at what a dear rate I purchase your salvation! See how I love you! And now I have only this to ask of you in return: that you would forsake those murderous sins which thus torment Me; that you would love and serve Me; and receive that salvation which I am now purchasing with the blood of My heart! This I ask, with all the importunity--of My last breath, of My bleeding wounds, and My expiring groans. Grant Me but this--and I am well satisfied! I shall think of all My sufferings, as well bestowed."

O sirs, must not your heart melt away within you, to hear such language as this? See the strength of the love of Jesus! If you are but saved--He does not begrudge His blood and life for you! Your salvation makes amends for all His sufferings! This He accounts His greatest joy--a joy more than equivalent to all the pains He endured for you! He has full satisfaction for all the sorrows you have caused Him!

But alas! If you are not saved--then you will perish forever under the weight of His righteous vengeance--and He will rejoice over your damnation! He will glorify Himself in your destruction! The flames of hell will burn dreadfully bright--when He will please Himself in the execution of His justice upon you!Alas! Is the happiness of heaven--the only kind of happiness that you are careless about? Is the salvation of your immortal soul--the only deliverance for which you have no desire? Alas! Have you become so stupidly wicked!!

"He shall see His seed! He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied!" Isaiah 53:10-11

A Check Up For Your Mouth

2010-05-18T20:48:00.013-05:00

If there is one thing (and there are more than that) that i hate about myself, It would be my filthy mouth. I know that my mouth, the words I use, and what comes out and how is such a gauge of my spiritual growth. I do not like what comes out, or how i speak. I love how my wonderful wife reminds me of my mouth and helps me to change my speech.

This is commonly overlooked and neglected as a teaching. When it is taught, it seems to be taught as law. We should go back to preaching our filthy mouths as a test to our spiritual growth.
With that in mind, Dr. Greg Bahnsen (Who coincidental preaches at a church with the same name as mine only in California) prepared this. It is called "A Check Up For Your Mouth." Please go through this and let it test your words. Perhaps also, consider putting the sanctification of our speech into our prayer time. I know it will be in mine much more. I failed all of these. The original may be seen HERE.

It is every Christian’s heart-felt desire to live a more holy life, one that better glorifies God and displays His love. The process by which believers grow in holiness is called "sanctification." It is the result of God’s powerful, transforming grace within us.

The outworking of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work is not as vague or mystical as many well-meaning Christians imagine. It can be seen in very definite ways in our conduct—particularly in the way we use our mouths. About our linguistic habits God tells us: "All of us stumble in many ways, but if anyone is never at fault in what he says, then he is mature, able to control his whole body" (James 3:2).

Reforming the way we use our words, then, is a key to sanctification. The mouth is so troublesome and sinful that, if it can be made more holy, so can other areas of our conduct. For that reason, the following "oral check-up" has been devised, summarizing much of what the Bible teaches us about the way we should speak. If Christian morality were more evident here, God would surely receive greater glory—not only among us, but also through us before the world.

Notice the Destructive Power of Words

"Thy tongue devises very wickedness: like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.... Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue" (Psalm 52:2, 4).

"Who have whet their tongue like a sword, and have aimed their arrows, even bitter words. (Psalm 64:3)

"There is rash speaking which is like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings health" (Proverbs 12:18).

"A worthless man devises mischief, and in his lips there is as a scorching fire" (Proverbs 16:27).

"Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips" (Romans 3:13).

Do You Defame Fellow Believers with Harsh Language?

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a grievous word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise utters

knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools pours out folly... A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit" (Proverbs 15:1-4).

"The tongue is a fire, the world of iniquity among our members which defiles the whole body...and is set on fire by hell.... It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith we bless the Lord and Father, and therewith we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God: out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.... If you have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom is not a wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.... But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits..." (James 3:5-18).

Do You Criticize Unnecessarily or Talk Too Much?

"In the multitude of words there is no lack of transgression, but he who refrains his lips does wisely" (Proverbs 10:19).

"He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter" (Proverbs 11:13).

"A perverse man scatters abroad strife, and a whisperer separates best friends" (Proverbs 16:28).

"He who spares his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise. (Proverbs 17:27-28).

"For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention ceases. As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to inflame strife. (Proverbs 26:20-21).

Do You Judgmentally or Maliciously Speak Evil of Fellow Believers?

"Speak not one against another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law...[and so] is not a doer of the law" (James 4:11).

"You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son" (Psalm 50:20).

"Who are you to judge the servant of another? Before his own lord he stands or falls.... But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you set at nought your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.... Let us not therefore judge one another any more. (Romans 14:4, 8-13).

"All the day long they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil" (Psalm 56:5).

"I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be...a reviler.... Be not deceived: neither fornicators...nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 5:11; 6:10).

Do You Speak Uncharitably?

"Love is longsuffering and is kind...does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not its own, is not provoked, takes not account of evil, rejoices not in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Do You Interpret People In The Best Light?

The man with unsound and ungodly attitudes] is puffed up...whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil suspicion..." (1 Timothy 6:4).

[By contrast, the inspired writer, after speaking of evil actions, said:] "But beloved we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation..." (Hebrews 6:9).

[Examples of seeing others in the worst light: 1 Samuel 1:13-15; 17:28; 2 Samuel 10:3; 16:3; 19:25-27; Nehemiah 6:6-8; Acts 24:2,5. We can take one instance —] "And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from [Paul’s] hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live (Acts 28:4).}

Is What You Say Kind?

"Let not kindness and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck: write them upon the tablet of your heart" (Proverbs 3:3).

"The wise in heart shall be called prudent; and the sweetness of the lips increases learning.... Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones" (Proverbs 16:21, 24).

"She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue" (Proverbs 31:26).

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

"And be kind one to another, tenderhearted" (Ephesians 4:32).

"Put on...a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering...and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:12,14).

"Finally, be all of you like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble-minded (1 Peter 3:8).

Does Your Speaking Show Humility?

"Do nothing through faction or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each count the other as better than himself" (Philippians 2:3).

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think....In love of the brethren be tenderly affectionate one to another; in honor preferring one another" (Romans 12:3, 10).

"With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).

Do You Speak Carelessly?

"He who guards his mouth keeps his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction" (Proverbs 13:3).

"The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things" (Proverbs 15:28).

"Whosoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles" (Proverbs 21:23).

"See a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 29:20).

"If any man thinks himself to be religious and does not bridle his tongue, he deceives himself and this man's religion is vain" (James 1:26).

"He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile" (1 Peter 3:10).

Do You Choose Your Words Cautiously and Fairly, or Do You Press into Service Provocative (Emotive) and Unqualified (Categorical) Expressions?

" I say unto you that...whoever shall say to his brother "Raca" [a term of contempt] shall be in danger of the council, and whoever shall say "You fool" shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5:22).

"I said in my haste, ‘All men are liars’" (Psalm 116:11).

[When we oversimplify and lump together the righteous and unrighteous under one condemning rubric, note:] "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 17:15).

"Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear" (Ephesians 4:29).

"Let us follow after things which make for peace and things whereby we may edify one another" (Romans 14:19).

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in network of silver. As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear" (Proverbs 25:11-12).

"The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver.... The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverseness" (Proverbs 10:20,32).

"A man has joy in the answer of his mouth, and a word in due season, how good it is!" (Proverbs 15:23)

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked" (Proverbs 10:11).

"A grievous word stirs up anger...the mouth of fools pours forth folly" (Proverbs 15:1,2).

Do You Gossip or Publicly Discredit People?

"You shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people" (Leviticus 19:16).

"Who shall dwell with Jehovah?... He who slanders not with his tongue...nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor" (Psalm 15:3).

"And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not" (1 Timothy 5:13).

"He who utters a slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18).

"The mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me.... They have compassed me about also with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause" (Psalm 109:2,3).

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile" (Psalm 34:13; 1 Peter 3:10).

"Let all bitterness...clamor and railing be put away from you, with all malice" (Ephesians 4:31).

"Put them in mind...to speak evil of no man, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all gentleness toward all men" (Titus 3:1-2).

[Whisperers and backbiters are condemned: Psalm 101:5; Romans 1:29,30; 2 Corinthians 12:20] "The north wind drives away rain, so does an angry countenance a backbiting tongue" (Proverbs 25:23).

Do You Publicly Criticize People Before First Speaking with Them and Seeking Their Restoration?

"He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.... He who pleads his cause first seems just, but his neighbor comes and searches him out" (Proverbs 18:13, 17).

"Go not hastily to strive, lest you know not what to do in the end thereof, when your neighbor has put you to shame. Debate your cause with your neighbor himself, and disclose not the secret of another, lest he who hears it revile thee and your infamy turn not away" (Proverbs 25:8-10).

"Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.... Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:1-2).

"My brethren, if any among you err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19-20).

"Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them who hear" (Ephesians 4:29; cf. Romans 14:19).

"And if your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone; if he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it unto the church" (Matthew 18:15-17).

Do You Speak with Sensitivity, the Way You Would Have Others Speak of You?

[See preceding passages about kindness, humility, and gentleness: for instance, 1 Peter 3:8; Ephesians 4:32; Titus 3:2; Romans 12:10]

"If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make full my joy that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord" (Philippians 2:1-2).

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:19; Romans 13:9).

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).

"All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, even so do also unto them, for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

Do You Exemplify the Very Things for Which You Criticize Others?

" Judge not that you be not judged. For by the same standard you judge, you shall be judged; and with the measure you mete it out, it shall be meted out to you.... You hypocrite, first cast out the beam in your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast out the speck from your brother’s eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).

"Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whosoever you are who judges. For in that very thing you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who who judges practices the same things" (Romans 2:1).

Do Your Words about Others Amount to Humiliation or Mockery?

" With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor" (Proverbs 11:9).

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit" (Proverbs 15:4).

"But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you not be consumed of one another" (Galatians 5:15).

[Examples of the sin of mockery: Genesis 21:9 with Galatians 4:29; Psalm 35:16, 21; Matthew 27:24]

[The opposite of humiliating words is commended: Proverbs 16:21, 24; 27:9, and preceding passages about kindness, sensitivity, etc.]

Do You Later Try to Evade Responsibility for Your Words

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.... And I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment; for by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:34b, 36-37).

"As a madman who casts firebrands and deadly arrows, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘I was only kidding’" (Proverbs 26:18-19).

"He who covers his transgressions shall not prosper, but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

"Yet you say ‘I am innocent....’ Surely I will enter into judgment with you because you say ‘I have not sinned’" (Jeremiah 2:35).

[Examples of attempting to evade responsibility and making excuses: Proverbs 30:20; Genesis 3:12-13; 4:9; Matthew 27:24; Luke 14:18]

Are You Always Careful to Tell the Truth When You Speak?

"A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow" (Proverbs 25:18).

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20; Matthew 19:18).

"For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts...false witness, railings: these are the things which defile the man" (Matthew 15:19-20).

"You shall not take up a false report; put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness" (Exodus 23:1).

"You shall not...lie one to another" (Leviticus 19:11).

"Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25).

"Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings" (Colossians 3:9).

"There are six things which Jehovah hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue...a false witness who utters lies" (Proverbs 6:16-19).

"He who utters truth shows forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit.... The lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (Proverbs 12:17, 19).

"Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and deceive not with your lips" (Proverbs 24:28).

"A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he who utters lies shall perish" (Proverbs 19:9; cf. 21:28).

[The mouths of unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, must be stopped by strong reproof (Titus 1:10-13).

"But for...all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Do You Keep the Promises that You Make?

[Who shall dwell with the Lord?] "He who swears to his own hurt and changes not" (Psalm 15:4).

[Among those who stand condemned by God are covenant-breakers (Romans 1:31; 2 Timothy 3:3).

Does Your Mouth Use Coarse Humor or Foolish Jesting?

"But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as becomes saints: nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting (Ephesians 5:3-4).

"Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth" (Ephesians 4:29).

"Put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth" (Colossians 3:8).

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be anything praiseworthy, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Do You Use Words to Boast or Flatter Yourself?

"The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things" (Psalm 12:3).

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters" (2 Timothy 3:2).

"Be not wise in your own conceits" (Romans 12:16).

"I hate pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth" (Proverbs 8:13).

"Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think" (Romans 12:3).

"Let another praise you and not your own mouth—a stranger and not your own lips" (Proverbs 27:2).

Does Your Conversation Use God’s Name Taken in Vain?

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).

"After this manner are you to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name" (Matthew 6:9).

[This requires that we reverence all of God's titles, attributes, works, etc.:] "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 29:2).

"O Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth" (Psalm 7:1).

"Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; neither by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black" (Matthew 5:34-36).

[It also requires that we profess the name of Christ and praise Him:] "If you shall confess with your mouth Jesus as the Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.... Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:9,13).

"No man speaking in the Spirit of God says ‘Jesus is anathema,’ and no man can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ but by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).

"Through Him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His name" (Hebrews 13:15).

[This entails that all of our speaking must be pleasing to God:] "And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17).

[We must not dishonor our profession of His name by our behavior:] "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you" (Romans 2:24).

"Let your lifestyle [conduct] be such as becomes the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27).

A Beautiful Testimony From A Pastor, Professor And Man Of God

2010-05-12T21:17:00.004-05:00

After I graduate with my Bachelors, I intend (of course it could change at some time if the Lord plans it so) to attend Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI (I would hope you get to know this seminary, the more I learn about it the more I love it). I was so pleased to hear that TIM CHALLIES, one of my hero's, (I have always thought if i could be so gifted I would love to read as much and with the retention of Charles Spurgeon, and analyze what is read like Tim Challies) began a podcast called "THE CONNECTED KINGDOM." His co-host is a man named David Murray, who is the Professor of Old Testament, Pastoral Counseling and Practical Theology. On the fifth episode of the podcast David Murray gave his testimony on how he became a child of God, a Pastor and Professor. David Murray is also the author of the Blog HEAD, HEART, HAND. I listened to it and it so encouraged me and made me so praising God for giving us such men to train up men for ministry. Please listen and I know it will bless you greatly
http://www.challies.com/writings/podcast/connected-kingdom-podcast-episode-5

How Close the Pentacostals and Catholics Are!

2010-05-12T15:41:00.006-05:00

Here is a wonderful post from Scott Clark and his blog THE HEIDELBLOG. I have been saying for a long time that Pentecostals have more in common with Roman Catholicism than they would care to realize. The search for counterfeit miracles is just one example. The relying on outside knowledge beyond the word of God is another. Allowing people to speak Ex CATHEDRA, (not papal Ex Cathedra but allowing people to speak with the authority of Jesus none the less) is so prevalent with men claiming words from God over and sometimes completely against what is said in scripture.
Let us return to the 5 Solas! Let us truly be Protestants! Let us fight for what the reformation was about and return to the Scriptures!
The original post may be seen HERE

Rome, Pentacostals, and Credulity

One of the creepier aspects of both Romanist and Pentecostalist piety is their virtually indistinguishable credulity about alleged “miracles.” I use the pejorative adjective intentionally because, at bottom, despite the formal differences between them, both are peddling magic and superstition and that’s creepy. John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801–90) is about to be “beatified.” (HT: Beggars All) but some questions have arisen about the truthfulness of the claims made by a Romanist deacon that he prayed to JHCN and that the latter heard his prayer and healed him miraculously. The late Roman high priest (pontifex maximus) is on the fast track for beatification and canonization but he too has hit a speed bump.

In Romanist piety “beatification” is part of the process of canonization whereby a dead Christian is recognized as a true object of veneration. The process requires that it be proved that this dead Christian heard and answered a prayer and performed a miracle. Hence the requirement for credulity in both senses of the word. The theological problems with such claims are not insignificant. First, one has to agree that finite, dead, humans, can, because they are glorified, hear prayers. This assumes a sort of omnipresence and omniscience that neither Scripture nor Christian theology confers upon them. Second, it assumes that humans, because they are glorified and particularly pious, are able to do that which only God can do: interrupt what we understand as the ordinary providence of God.

In medieval theology Credulitas referred to assent to and trust in the magisterial teaching of the church. In modern usage “credulity” denotes a “disposition to believe on weak or insufficient grounds” (Oxford English Dictionary). The Reformation attacked this confidence in conciliar and papal dogmas as misplaced. Only the triune God and his self-disclosure in Scripture is worthy of implicit faith and unquestioned (not to say unreasoning) confidence. Hence, against the medieval and the Tridentine (Romanist) doctrine of credulity and fides implicita the Protestants asserted and taught the doctrine of sola scriptura, that only Scripture is God’s Word, that only Scripture deserves the sort of authority Rome confers upon the church. Scripture forms the church; the church does not form the Scripture.

Reading about the controversies over whether JHCN and JPII heard and answered prayer and are thus qualified, according to Rome, for beatification, I was struck by how similar the language and rhetoric of the Romanist is to that of Benny Hinn and his ilk. Neither the Romanist nor the neo-Pentecostalist (neo-Montantist!) confesses the sole, unique authority of the Word of God. Neither the Romanist nor the neo-Pentecostalist recognizes the unique nature of the canonical revelation or of the canonical apostolic and prophetic offices. The piety of the Romanist and the neo-Pentecostalist depends to a considerable degree upon their claims of ongoing apostolic authority and demonstrations of power (e.g., “signs and wonders”). Neither of them is satisfied with the finished work of Christ. Neither of them understands the sufficiency of Christ, how that all of redemptive history pointed to and was fulfilled by Christ. Each, in his own tawdry way, wants us to think that what he claims happens today is substantially identical to what happened in canonical redemptive history. If Paul survived stoning and serpents, the neo-Pentecostalist has done the same and more! If the apostles put people to death and raised them from the grave, the neo-Pentecostalist has done the same. Of course both Rome and neo-Pentecostalism really specialize in claims of healing. That’s where the discussion usually focuses.

Since the rise of Wayne Grudem’s more sophisticated revision of neo-Pentecostalism (attempting to affirm a predestinarian version of neo-Pentecostalism and to synthesize it with the Reformed doctrine of canonicity) it is considered by some to be bad form to invoke Warfield but I must. We should all go back and read his marvelous de-bunking of the neo-Pentecostal and Romanist nonsense: Counterfeit Miracles. The question has never been whether our sovereign triune God can perform the canonical signs and wonders. After all, he did it the first time! The questions are whether Scripture promises that he will and whether we can honestly say that he has done and is doing now. The exegetical case for ongoing signs and wonders is precarious at best. As to empirical evidence, Warfield was right. It usually comes down either to lowering the standards of what happened in the apostolic (or more broadly) the canonical period or in elevating what is alleged to have happened in our time. Thus, the biblical glossolalia is re-defined and identified with a universal religious phenomenon. Alleged occurrences of “healing” and other modern signs and wonders become as hard to verify as the Romanist claims that the JHCN or JPII performed a miracle.

I am not saying that God is absent from the universe or that he is not active constantly and wonderfully. Not at all. The Biblical doctrine of providence says that God exercises the same power manifested in creation to uphold and govern and sustain and work through his creation today. He has promised to work wonders through the preaching of the holy gospel to bring his elect to faith and to sustain and confirm that faith through the use of the holy sacraments. I am not saying that God never wonderfully and unexpectedly heals anyone. I’m sure he does but I am as unsure that he has done so either through the intercession of dead cardinals and popes as I am that he does so through the imprecations and invocations of jet-setting, white-suited charlatans.

It is striking how, on examination, the cardinal, the pope, and the pentecostalist all begin to look the same but ironically none of them sees himself in the other.

Comming Soon

2010-05-07T12:40:00.001-05:00

In so many churches this is coming Sunday

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

It Must Be Tough Being A Hypocrite

2010-05-05T18:18:00.003-05:00

I'm really trying hard to understand exactly how sodomizing a Christian Man for trimming a Muslim man's beard shows how righteous you are. I can't understand this. I thought homosexuality is a sin for Muslims? How much good do you have to do to erase sodomizing a man? This shows what a true "Religion of Peace" looks like doesn't it. It must be tough to be a hypocrite.

Read what I'm talking about right HERE

Does Matthew 25 Teach Social Gospel?

2010-04-13T15:44:00.005-05:00

It seems that every time i get into an discussion with a "Social Justice Christian" He/She drops on me what they believe to be their trump card. This is the proof-text that the believe that I cannot respond to (the face is similar to those in the reformed community who, when getting into a discussion about election and predestination drops Eph 1:4, John 6:44, Rom 9:10-24, or any other of the glorious verses that teach the five points) . This is the Crux of their whole theology so it seems. that is Matthew 25. They will drop it on me and smile with the smile of someone who just believes that they have won the argument. That is until you actually tell them what Matthew 25 is talking about. Their face then drops and they have to disagree, but can't come back with any facts for their disagreement.

The other thing that "Social Justice Christians" do is to guilt trip you. They teach a works righteousness system. They are trying to put such a heavy yoke on you that it should make them shudder to think what it would mean if they had to lift it. "See," they say, "Salvation is based on what you did or didn't do to the poor, remember Jesus said, 'blessed are you poor!' We have to right the injustice in this world, or we are not doing the will of God." That might be an over-simplified reproduction of their statements, I am not trying to straw man them. They do however teach a works righteousness system. I'm sick and tired of having them say that if you are not for government intervention in the lives of the citizens, or if your against government health care, or you think that there should be lower, not higher taxes, then I am not doing the will of Christ.

I appeal to a wiser man than myself to help you to know what Matthew 25 means and how to respond to someone who tries to guilt you with this verse. If you are not acquainted with Kevin De Young's Blog, you should get to know it. He is a fount of wisdom and a wonderful brother in Christ.

By the way, I am not against social justice. I believe that we are mandated by the bible to correct INJUSTICE. Being poor is not dishonorable, nor is it injustice. I see the "Social Gospel" as almost another form of the "Prosperity Gospel." The difference, is that instead of thinking God is your magic Genie who grants you wishes like the Prosperity Heretics seem to think, The "Social Justice" Pharisees would rather treat you unjustly by taking your hard earned money and forcibly give it to those poorer, who have not earned it. Charity is a Christian virtue, and it is a determiner of whether or not someone is in the faith (1 John 3:17), But two things to remember.

1. "Brother in need" brothers and sisters are those who are in the faith! (Matt 12:46-50)

2. We are to love our neighbor, and that does mean meeting physical needs. I will never argue that we have to help those who do not have. I will argue that it should never be forced. You cannot force charity. If you do then it is not charity, it is a tax.

Here is Mr. DeYoung and his explanation

Seven Passages on Social Justice (4)
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an entry in this series, but I haven’t forgotten about it. There are seven “social justice” passages I want to examine: Isaiah 1, Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 22, Amos 5, Micah 6, Matthew 25, and Luke 4. I’d like to jump ahead today and deal with Matthew 25:31-46.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all
the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right,
but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I
was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I
was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and
you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did
we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did
we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did
we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them,
‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,
you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I
was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I
was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick
and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or
in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying,
‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did
not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25 has become a favorite passage for many progressives and younger evangelicals. Even in the mainstream media it seems like hardly a day goes by without someone referencing Jesus’ command to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. And few biblical phrases have gotten as much traction as “the least of these.” Whole movements have emerged whose central tenet is to care for “the least of these” ala Matthew 25. The implications–whether it be increased government spending, increased concern for “social justice,” or a general shame over not doing enough–are usually thought to be obvious from the text.

But in popular usage of the phrase, there’s almost no careful examination of what Jesus actually means by “the least of these.” Even brilliant scholars are not immune to this oversight. In his important book To Change the World, James Davison Hunter argues at one point that Christ makes “our treatment of strangers” a “measure of righteousness.” He then quotes from Matthew 25:34-40, followed by this conclusion: “To welcome the stranger–those outside of the community of faith–is to welcome Christ. Believer or nonbeliever, attractive or unattractive, admirable or disreputable, upstanding or vile–the stranger is marked by the image of God” (245). Now, it’s certainly true that we all are made in God’s image. It’s also true, on other grounds, that dealing kindly with strangers, even those outside the church, is a good thing (Gal. 6:10). But it’s difficult to conclude this is Jesus’ point in Matthew 25.
So who are “the least of these” if they are not society’s poor and downtrodden? “The least of these” refers to other Christians in need, in particular itinerant Christian teachers dependent on hospitality from their family of faith. Let me explain.

Four Supporting Points

1. In verse 45 Jesus uses the phrase “the least of these,” but in verse 40 he uses the more exact phrase “the least of these of my brothers.” The two phrases refer to the same group. So the more complete phrase in verse 40 should be used to explain the shorter phrase in verse 45. The reference to “my brothers” cannot be a reference to all of suffering humanity. “Brother” is not used that way in the New Testament. The word always refers to a physical-blood brother or to the spiritual family of God. Clearly Jesus is not asking us to only care for his brother James. So he must be insisting that whatever we do for our fellow Christians in need we do for him.
This interpretation is confirmed when we look at the last time before chapter 25 where Jesus talks about “brothers.” In Matthew 23, Jesus tells the crowds and disciples (1) that they are all brothers (8). The group of “brothers” is narrowed in the following verses to those who have one Father, who is in heaven (9) and have one instructor, Christ (10). Jesus does not call all people everywhere brothers. Those who belong to him and do his will are his brothers (Mark 3:35).

2. Likewise, it makes more sense to think Jesus is comparing service to fellow believers with service to him rather than imagining Jesus to be saying, “You should see my image in the faces of the poor.” Granted, Jesus was a “man of sorrows,” so to understand that sufferers may be able to identify with Jesus in a special way is wholly appropriate. But in the rest of the New Testament it’s the body of Christ that represents Christ on earth, not the poor. Christ “in us” is the promise of the gospel for those who believe, not for those living in a certain economic condition. Matthew 25 equates caring for Jesus’ spiritual family with caring for Jesus. The passage does not offer the generic message: “care for the poor and you’re caring for me.”

3. The word “least” is the superlative from of mikroi (little ones), which always refers to the disciples in Matthew’s gospel (10:42; 18:6, 10, 14; see also 11:11).

4. The similarity between Matthew 10 and 25 is not accidental. They are talking about the same thing. “Whoever receives you receive me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” (Matt. 10:40-42). Clearly Jesus is speaking hear of disciples. The context is Jesus sending out his disciples to do itinerant ministry (vv 5-15). In the face of persecution and a hostile world (vv. 16-39), Jesus wants to encourage his followers to care for the traveling minister no matter the cost. The disciples would be solely dependent upon the good will of others to welcome them, feed them, and support them in their traveling work. So Jesus assures his followers that to show love in this way is actually to love him.

One of the first post-canon documents, The Didache, demonstrates that caring for traveling ministers was a pressing issue in the first centuries of the church’s history. The Didache, which has been compared to a church constitution, contains 15 short chapters, three of which deal with the protocol for welcoming itinerant teachers, apostles, and prophets. Some so-called ministers, the document concludes, are cheats looking for a hand-out. But as for the true teacher: “welcome him as you would the Lord” (11:2).

Conclusion

Matthew 25 is about social justice in the sense that it is about caring for the needy. But the needy in view are fellow Christians, especially those dependent on our hospitality and generosity for their ministry. “The least of these” is not a blanket statement about the church’s responsibility to meet the needs of all the poor (though we do not want to be indifferent to hurting people). Nor should the phrase be used as a general cover for anything and everything we want to promote under the banner of social justice. Jesus says if we are too embarrassed, too lazy, or too cowardly to support our fellow Christians who depend on our assistance and are suffering for the sake of the gospel, we will go to hell. We should not make this passage say anything more or less than this.

I'd Rather Be A Doorkeeper In The House of The Lord

2010-04-12T19:01:00.003-05:00

I have a beautiful young wife. I have a baby comming. I have a low paying job. I have a lot of stress that i'm dealing with. Can I support my family? Do i have enough to provide? I am in a right postition to go chasing riches and to obsess over finances. I would be the first to go and chase after the wind...if I didn't realize how rich i am. I am the richest man in the world. I have Jesus Christ who has died for my sins. He died for me. The most vile, dirty and discusting man who has ever lived. Me, who creation was appaled to have me walk upon it, Jesus Christ died for me! He rose from the dead and conqured death so that I will never have to face death, and will dwell with Christ in perfect communion with the saints, Jesus Christ, the Holy Sprit, and God the father. I have Christ. I have everything! Here is Thomas Sherman giving some thoughts on such things.

If this is happiness--then give me misery!
(Thomas Sherman, "Divine Breathings; Or, a Pious Soul Thirsting after Christ")

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, and lived in luxury every day." Luke 16:19

How apt are many at the sight of a rich worldling--to envy him for what he has. But, for my part, I rather pity him for what he lacks!

He has a talent--but it lacks improvement;
he has a lamp--but it lacks oil;
he has a soul--but it lacks grace;
he has the creature--but he lacks the Creator;
he has a mansion--but he lacks heaven.

In his life, he floats upon a torrent of vanity--which rolls along into an ocean of vexation! And after death, it will be said of him, "Take this unprofitable servant, bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness! Consign his soul to the eternal lake of fire and brimstone!"

Where now is the object of your envy? It is not his gold that can then rescue him, nor his mansion that can then satisfy him, nor his friends that can then comfort him. Therefore, if he is worth the envying--then who can be worth the pitying? If this is happiness--then give me misery!Lord, rather make me poor with a holy heart--than rich with an evil heart of unbelief!

"Have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue--because I am in agony in this fire!" Luke 16:24

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment--but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46

Scott Clark Explaining the Problem with "Childrens Church"

2010-04-01T16:54:00.005-05:00

Bravo!!! Dr. Clark Hit a home run here, i couldn't have said it any better than this. If you do not read Scott Clark's Blog, you should start to. It is a fount of rich theology and understanding of Reformed Theology. You can find it HERE.

Here are his thoughts on Childrens Church. Stop taking the kids and youth away from the communion of the saints!!!

THE MYSTERY OF CHILDREN'S CHURCH
BY DR. SCOTT CLARK

I do not understand why so many ostensibly Reformed congregations have adopted the practice of dismissing their covenant children from the service to “children’s church” (or whatever more clever name it may have). From what I see this appears to be a common practice. Sometimes the bulletin explains that the children are sent out of public worship in order to “prepare them to worship.” Really? This seems like sending one’s child from the dinner table in order to prepare them to eat.
I understand the practical problem. At least some of the same congregations that have this practice also do not set aside time outside of the worship service for Christian instruction or catechism. So, it seems, they’re holding catechism during the worship service. I guess that the reason that there’s no additional time for catechism is that the parents won’t make time and the church won’t make them make time. So, congregations are making due.
It’s hard to know where to start with this complex of problems. Obviously there is a misunderstanding of the nature of the Sabbath. There’s a misunderstanding of the nature of worship. There’s a misunderstanding of the nature of baptismal vows and church membership. There’s a misunderstanding of Christian nurture and there’s a misunderstanding of the nature of Christian parenting. Other than these things, as they say, “it’s all good.”
In such a case, the act of sending children out of the the stated service for instruction sends a more powerful message than the instruction is likely to send. It sends the message to the children that they are not really members of the covenant community. It sends the message that the gathering for public worship may be marginalized if something else is deemed more important. It sends the message that it’s acceptable to arrange one’s priorities during the week so as to require this ad hoc solution, that church is something we do but not something we are.
Underneath all of this there is another series of misunderstandings: Of what we are, who Jesus is, what he did, and what the implications are for those who would follow him.
We may look like happy, upwardly mobile suburbanites but we’re not. We’re wretched, horrible people by nature. That manicured lawn covers over a multitude of hell-deserving sins. We’re gossips, murderers, adulterers, and God-haters. If the children’s church-sending parents understood that, if they really believed that about themselves and their children, they would find time during the week to see that their children are instructed. They would be catechizing their children, praying with and for them. Then it wouldn’t be a matter of squeezing a little instructional time into the Sabbath. They would be pleading with the minister to teach their children.
If we saw ourselves for what, but for the grace of God, we really are then we would understand the grace of God. If we understood the grace of God, we would more and more embrace the consequences of following Jesus. Death to self entails death to the successful suburban lifestyle where that lifestyle marginalizes Christ and his church. Jesus didn’t come to facilitate a happy, upwardly-mobile lifestyle and discipleship calls us to die to the mall and live to Christ.
Yes, having children in church means that it will be slightly less entertaining and possibly less moving emotionally. It’s a little harder to be enraptured by the latest chorus when your child is fidgeting next to you or someone else’s is wailing in your left ear. That’s okay. You might not have the same emotional “high” this week as you did when their was children’s church. That’s okay. Worship isn’t about your experience of religious ecstasy. It’s about hearing God and responding appropriately, according to his Word.
God doesn’t mind that your emotional experience is less intense. He takes the long view. Your children will grow up not segregated from public worship and the means of grace. They’ll grow up a part of the community of the redeemed and watching baptisms (so they can see what happened to them). They’ll see the supper administered and they ‘ll ask, “When can I have it?” They’ll hear the Law and the Gospel (Dv) and they’ll grow up knowing that this is their identity, that it’s really true, that God said, “I will be your God and your children’s God.”
Church leaders don’t want to challenge parents and parents don’t want to be challenged. The cycle has to end somewhere. It should start with pastors and elders. That’s why they call it leadership. A leader goes first. A leader takes the risk. Elders and pastors need to get over their desire to be popular, to be liked, to be “successful.” Perhaps the reason that parents don’t see any contradiction between their definition of “success” and the Christian life is because their pastors and elders haven’t shown it to them?
Children’s church is a problem but it’s not the problem. It’s a symptom of much larger problems. It’s not too late, because it’s never too late to repent. Grace is free for everyone, pastors and parents alike. God bless those noisy congregations with fidgeting and fussy children. Let the noise of children inhabit all our congregations.

I have unfairly judged...that would be sin

2010-03-26T19:31:00.007-05:00

I never thought of this before. Have you ever saw a preacher wearing a robe, or a collar or some other kind of (I'm using this word loosely) "costume" while they are preaching? I have to admit i might be a bit discriminatory against such things. I think the reason I may have that sin in my heart, would be first of all, because I'm sinful. But second, I have seen so many false prophets in the Catholic church, the Episcopalian Church, and the PCUSA, (not just them, but I could name many others. Such as N.T. Wright, John Shelby Spong, Gene Robinson, and anyone in the Federal Vision Movement), who wear their robes, and preach a false and heretical Gospel. I suppose that i have seen it as a source of false piety, and they would hide behind it to try to make their false gospel seem authoritative. I must confess that I am wrong and have sinned in this area.
I know many Godly and amazing preachers who wear robes. Men such as R.C. Sproul, Derek Thomas, Kim Riddleberger, and many others in the reformed faith that have blessed me and faithfully preached the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole point of those robes, is for the man to not be seen and a man of authority, called by God to the office of a preacher. I am probably in the Reformed Baptist camp of the church. I do not, nor does my pastor wear robes when I or He preaches. That being said, my Presbyterian, United Reformed, Christian Reformed, (many other reformed branches could be mentioned here) or Lutheran brothers may have something to teach us in this area.
I give for your consideration, an article from R.C. Sproul's magazine called "Table Talk." This article is by Gene Veith, who is Lutheran. Perhaps there is wisdom in having a man of God wear robes or some other signification to let the man disappear and project the image of a Called and Sent Out Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although this is not foolproof, there are many who will still pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ and play the true "Hypocrite" (the article will explain), the robe does not make the man hypocritical and heretical, his black and sinful heart is. Let us perhaps learn wisdom from men of strong and true faith. The original article may be seen HERE

Playing Your Part
by Gene Veith

As seen in other articles this month, the word hypocrisy derives from the Greek term for “playing a part.” The ordinary word for an actor on the stage in Greek drama was hypocrite. In the tragedies of Sophocles or the comedies of Aristophanes, the actors — the hypocrites — played their different parts by wearing masks. The moral transgression of hypocrisy also involves playing a part and wearing a mask. But there are also times when God calls us to play a part.
Today’s culture is tolerant of almost every behavior, except hypocrisy. Our society has no problem with someone who is homosexual or who uses pornography. But if a crusader against legalizing gay marriage turns out to be homosexual, or if a minister who preaches against pornography turns out to have porn on his computer, the full weight of ridicule, indignation, and social disapproval falls upon his head. Not for his vices, but for opposing the vices that he himself has. For wearing a mask of virtue when he himself is not virtuous. For being a hypocrite.
Christians need to expect this treatment. Hypocrisy is certainly wrong. But inconsistency between belief and behavior is not always hypocrisy. No one hates a sin more than someone who is honestly struggling with it in his own life.
Many Pharisees in the New Testament and the legalists of our own day consider themselves to be such good people that they do not need God’s forgiveness. But they do. Christians who are honest with themselves and with God — who, whatever their sins, are not hypocrites — may still be asked to “play a part.”
God redeems people through Christ, and then He calls them to live out their faith in their vocations. He calls Christians to love and serve their neighbors in their multiple vocations, which are the arenas for sanctification and Christian growth.
In vocation, God places us into certain “offices,” some of which share His authority. Some of these demand that we “play a part,” even putting on a mask. This is expressed in the ages-old custom that certain vocations be marked with special clothing. As a private citizen, a judge has no more right to send a person to prison than anyone else. But when he puts on his “robe of office,” he is acting in his official capacity as an agent of the law, and, according to Romans 13, of God Himself. Acting by virtue of his “office,” he does indeed have the authority to punish criminals on behalf of the state as a whole.
In many churches, a pastor wears a robe of some kind, signifying that when he is up in the pulpit, we in the pews should not consider him our good friend and fishing buddy, though he may be that. When he is acting in his office, he is teaching us not his word but God’s Word, which he has studied and is authorized to teach.
There was a study of patients who were attended to by a doctor who wore jeans and a t-shirt, rather than the traditional white lab coat. Patients universally objected! No one wants someone who looks like an ordinary man off the street to give them a medical examination. That white lab coat, though, is a symbol of vocation, that the doctor is authorized to poke around our bodies by virtue of his calling, his training, and his office.
This is why police officers wear uniforms. And why there are different standards in the Geneva Conventions for soldiers who wear the uniform of their country — and thus fall under a lawful chain of command that goes back to the Romans 13 authority of the lawful magistrate — and combatants such as terrorists who fight only on their own authority and who wear no uniform.
Sometimes the duties of our vocations — not all of which have uniforms — require us to fulfill an office, even if it goes against our nature. A father may have to discipline his child. He may not want to. He may even feel conflicted because he pulled the same stunt when he was his child’s age. A father who used marijuana as a teenager is not being hypocritical when he punishes his teenager for using drugs. He is fulfilling his office as father.
Against their inclinations but to carry out the duties of their offices, teachers sometimes have to give bad grades; employers must sometimes fire incompetent employees; pastors must sometimes exercise church discipline, even against a friend. A newly minted young officer fresh out of ROTC must assume authority over a company of rough combat veterans who are older than he is. He may be nervous and may feel out of place, but he puts on the mask of command and orders his troops to attention. Spouses may not always feel like loving husbands and loving wives, but in “playing their part” they fulfill their vocations and God’s will for their marriage.
If vocation requires us to put on masks, it is worth remembering that Luther taught that those who love and serve their neighbors in vocation are themselves “masks of God.” Looming behind the farmer, the doctor, the soldier, the pastor, and the parent is God Himself providing daily bread, healing, protecting, ministering, and giving life.
The parts we play may indeed be hypocritical. But when God asks us to play a part, He is also playing a part through us.

2010-03-25T18:02:00.004-05:00

When was the last time you heard a really good testimony? When is the last time you heard things like "I knew i was a sinner", and "I repented and put my trust in Christ." I have to admit it his been awhile. Usually in America they are something like, "well...my parents went to church and i gave my heart to Jesus when i was 6 but then..you know i partied in high school, and then there was college, and then i had to party some more, but now I'm married and have a kid, so its time i recommit myself to the lord, because that's what responsible moral people do." How about these testimonies from a great group called the "tomorrow club" in the Ukraine. Get to know this organization, they are fantastic. I love to hear children being taught the TRUE gospel and not evangelical silliness that this country is so infatuated with.

You can read more about the tomorrow club right HERE

Rima Samicheva (Club Leader) Kushoogum Club, Zaporizhia Oblast

There is no greater joy in this world than to see a sinner repent! Recently the angels had many reasons to rejoice – four children from the Tomorrow Club in Kushoogum Village, Zaporizhia Oblast have repented.
Sasha Komarov made the most important decision in his life right at church after the pastor made the altar call. The leaders of Tomorrow Club noticed that Sasha had changed a lot since he first came to the club, he has become very hungry for the Bible, and he has been asking a lot of questions, exploring the Bible himself, memorizing a lot of Bible verses and praying. God was talking to Sasha, changing his heart and transforming his life completely. But still the leaders were just stunned when Sasha came up in front of the church bold enough to kneel down and pray for forgiveness. Now Sasha always prays during the services and his simple sincere prayers move everyone to tears. I wonder if the angels cry tears of joy listening to him!
On March 6th Zaporizhia City hosted a Healthy Life sports tournament for the Tomorrow Clubs in the area promoting a healthy way of life without smoking, drinking and drugs. The Tomorrow Club in Kushoogum took first place and the children were so excited that they decided to talk about the joy of repentance for their next club meeting. We talked about temporary joyful moments and how fast they pass. We also talked about temporary satisfaction and emptiness after it’s gone. Then we shared about the peace we have in Jesus Christ when we trust our lives to Him only. At the end of that meeting three children made decisions to repent and trust Jesus Christ: Vika, 11 years old, Sasha 11 years old and Vladik, 9 years old.
The next Sunday they came to church. They were very nervous, but they came up front and shared their joy with the congregation. I should mention that these four children come from unchurched, non-christian families.
Another exciting note is that recently Vika’s mother started coming to church with her daughter and we pray that the seed planted by this 11-year old girl would grow so that her mother would also repent and trust Christ. The Tomorrow Clubs leaders and the church in Kushoogum Village are praising the Lord for this fruit of the ministry! Rima Samicheva, Tomorrow Club leader

Alex, 15 years old ( Eastern Ukraine)
I never thought that my life would change, that I would become different. Before June 2009, my life was pretty much the same as that of many teenage boys living in a big city in Ukraine: school, home, friends, small fights with my parents, no desire to go to school, and the constant search for a way to make some money. Looking back, I can see now that I lived a purposeless, selfish life. I was acting recklessly and irresponsibly, even though at age fifteen my life had barely gotten started. I always thought, “I have plenty of time; I’m still young. I’ll go to church later in life after I try other things.”
Praise the Lord for placing wonderful people on this earth who commit their lives to sharing their faith and love with others. Only when I was around Christians did I realize that I could never be as good as I thought I was on my own, that they had something I didn’t—something greater, everlasting, never changing, and real.
Last summer I was visiting my grandmother in the small town of Novonikolayevka. One day I was handed an invitation to attend a Tomorrow Club, a Christian camp where Americans were teaching English. I immediately thought it would be something my younger sister would like. So Monday morning I brought her to the camp and ended up staying for the day. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it until the end of the day. Our class was big, about 27 teenage boys and girls. It still amazes me how patient and kind our English and Bible teachers were with us for the whole camp, even when we misbehaved and disrupted the lessons. Every night after camp the Tomorrow Club leaders and the American team led small discussion groups for the unchurched youth. They shared testimonies, showed Christian movies, and discussed relevant issues to our lives. After the first two nights, I realized that I looked forward to that time every day. I listened, asked questions, opened up toward them, and made friends. God was changing my heart day by day, hour by hour. On Thursday night I knew God was talking to me through the speaker. I knew, and I accepted the call. I was ready for a change and prayed that night for forgiveness. It’s not been easy for me to change and to resist temptations. I was afraid that I would drop away from God after I came back home, back to my normal life, but the Lord is faithful. My neighbour turned out to be a Christian, and he invited me to his church. Now I go to church in Zaporozhye every Sunday and pray that God would use me to save many lives in Ukraine. I thank Him for sending that American team to Ukraine to do the English camp. Pray for me! -Alexey, 15 years old

Yulya Roman, 13 Years Old

My name is Yulya Roman. I grew up in Khmelnitskiy, Ukraine, in a family that had never even heard about God. When I was 8 years old, someone told me about a Tomorrow Club that met in the church on Saturdays. I began attending the club and became a member. There I learned that I am a sinner and that I need Jesus Christ to save me. Last summer when my pastor invited the congregation to repent, his words pierced my heart, and I felt they were meant for me. Despite my fears, I went up to the front of the church, knelt down, and cried to Jesus for forgiveness. Since that day God has been transforming me. My parents have noticed the change in me and are very happy.
I have been part of Tomorrow Clubs for four years now, and I love to come every Saturday to learn more and more about my God. This year I am an assistant with the four- and five-year-olds. Now I can share my love with other kids. I want God to use me because He makes me so happy!

Olena’s Story (Western Ukraine)
Olena's Story
For three years, 10-year-old Olena Volovin has been a champion of Tomorrow Clubs. She enthusiastically attends the club each week and brings many friends along with her. Though she is young, she has learned that prayer is powerful, and she spends significant time in prayer for her friends and invites them to pray alongside her. She recently volunteered to become an assistant to her Tomorrow Club leader, helping to organize games and some special events.
Just a few weeks ago, Olena arrived late to the club’s weekly meeting. Because she is always punctual and she lives quite close to the club, her leader curiously asked why she had been late. Olena sadly relayed that her parents are now separated and are planning to divorce after 10 years of marriage. Her mother had left Olena’s father and taken Olena to live far away with her grandmother. Though she now has to travel much farther, Olena continues to attend the club. Each week she smiles warmly, but leaders sense that she is struggling. Olena and the leaders have begun meeting together to pray for her family, pleading with the Lord to change her parents’ hearts and keep her family intact. Olena feels blessed to have somewhere to turn amidst the pain of her family’s separation and leaders are thankful to be part of Olena’s life at a time when she needs extra encouragement. Olena and the leaders know that it was God himself who orchestrated the bond between them. -Olena, 10 years old

A post from my amazing wife from her blog

2010-03-17T18:20:00.010-05:00

My wife wrote 2 amazing blogs. You all should become aquainted with her blog. her blog can be found HERE.

Here are the posts.

Christianity - Religion = "what" exactly?

Today's Christians seem to pride themselves on taking the eternal gospel of God and changing the verbiage from classic terminology to something more relevant or palatable. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for speaking in the common tongue of this age, but not at the expense of shaming, reviling or flat-out dismissing the message of salvation in Christ alone.

Here's an example of what I mean:

"Christianity isn't a religion- it's a relationship with God."

"... isn't a religion..." The dictionary says religion is the devote practice of one's beliefs. If the word religion is removed from Christianity all that remains is God's love without a responsible and measurable human response. Or, more commonly called, universalism (a heresy to Christianity); which means God saves all people everywhere, eventually.

It's true that God's love is unearned and unmerited, however we must respond in one of two ways- faithful obedience or further rebellion. Jesus said, "if you love me then keep my commands." What is the evidence God measures proving we love Him? Our devote practice of His commands- religion! "The proof is in the pudding!" Someone's grandmother had to have said. So, if Christians are not religious (devotedly practice their belief in God and His gospel according to the scripture) then they are 1) Unbelievers at heart because according to God practice/work/obedience is a strong evidence of one's conversion or 2) Silly, hip-relevant Christians because they are demonizing a good word to mean something it does not (e.g. religion means: legalism, rigid, spirit-quench, etc.) for the sake of... ya know, I'm not sure what! Bottom-line, Christianity is religion- true religion.

"... it's a relationship with God." Now, that doesn't define anything! Even the demons have a relationship with God- God is judge and they are condemned. Also, the unbeliever has a relationship with God- God is judge and they are condemned. Finally, the believer has a relationship with God, too- God is judge and we are redeemed by Christ. Being a Christian is not a relationship with God which allows us to continue living the same selfish, idolatrous, adulterous lives with new warm and fuzzy feelings of peace and joy accompanied by sensual worship music and an occasional ecstatic experience of His presence. We must turn from our sinful ways and follow God's commands if we say that we love Him! Christ Jesus is the apple of His eye and clothes us with His righteousness. The difference in our relationship to God as believers is that when we do sin, we can now boldly approach God asking Him to forgive us for the sake of Christ's work on the cross and turn from practicing what is sinful to practicing what is righteous. Whereas before, we loved our sin and had no desire to change- the pride, the self-seeking ambitions, the hidden lusts in our hearts, the jealousies, the covetousness, etc.

Christianity is true religion and all others are false. False, because they don't save us from the eternal penalty of our sin. False, because they are all legalistic telling us if we do this or do that we can save ourselves. True religion in Christ is NOT legalism (a bunch of do's and don'ts), but rather the freedom to love and serve Him whereas before we were bound to love and serve ourselves. Bottom-line, Christianity is religion, because without the persistent evidence of faith (works/deeds) we must ask ourselves, "are we saved at all?"

here is the Second

"Free From Religion"- why?

*Warning, content contains strong sarcasm- be sure to take an aspirin if you're prone to stroke.

Someone thought it'd be cool to slap this slogan on a t-shirt and balderdash some mock definition demonizing things like "organized institution" and "traditions" then finalizing their hypocrisy, I mean creativity with this line, "substituting spiritual realities with carnal rituals."

What do they consider a carnal ritual, I wonder? Regular communion, baptism by immersion, preaching of God's word for more than 17.5 minutes on a subject that is actually about God? All commanded by Jesus I thought... Oh, but carnal is surely not referring to secular concert-style worship with lyrics so hip you can hardly tell who or what they're about. And carnal rituals are definitely not referring to those hip sermon series talking illicitly about sex (justified perversion?), personal gain (greed?), or the latest sporting event (idolatry?), instead of Jesus Christ. Certainly those traditions of men don't mean carnal rituals. Surely the seeker-sensitive model of church is not an institution based on the traditions of men... traditions like ego, "just believe in yourself because God believes in you" or greed, "if you sow the best you can God will give you that miracle; our ministry takes check, cash, credit card..." Surely freedom from devote practice of one's belief (religion) must mean I can believe in God and practice whatever sinful lust I please. By Joe, that must be freedom from religion!

The 5 abuses of the Law

2010-03-05T20:24:00.006-06:00

here is a great post talking about the 5 abuses of the law. Churches have forgot the law and have severely neglected preaching it. the original post can be found HERE.

Five Illegal Uses of the Law by Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller

There are three good and legitimate uses of the Lord's law, the curb, mirror and guide. As a curb the Lord's law orders the things of creation and keeps society from chaos. As a mirror the law shows us our sin and our need for Jesus and His mercy and salvation. As a guide the law gives shape to our Christian love for our neighbor. These uses or functions of the law are good and right, they are the reasons that the Lord gave His law to humanity.

But more often than not the law of God is misused. Instead of the Lord using the law on us, we take up the law and use it ourselves, on God or on our neighbor. We could call this the “illegal use of the law”. Here are five examples to consider.

The Cosmetic Use (or the Mary-Kay Use). This is where the law is used to make us look good, all my blemishes are covered up. I dress myself up in outward righteousness so that my neighbor (or worse, God) would say, “My, look at how holy that fellow is!” Jesus calls this the “White-Washed Tomb Use”.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)

Instead of covering up our sinfulness, the Lord desires that we would confess our sins and hear His promise of forgiveness.

The Pedestal Use. Perhaps the worse misuse of the law, this is where I place myself on a pedestal of good works in order to gain God's approval. This illegal use of the law has people saying, “I know I'll go to heaven. I'm a good person.” But this works-righteousness is called out in the Scriptures:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)

Rather than lift us us, the law casts us down so that the Gospel can lift us up and give us life.

The Parking Validation Use. How do I know that I'm saved, that I'm a Christian, that the Lord's loves me? Instead of looking to the Gospel and the means of grace, the Parking Validation Use of the Law looks to my works and obedience to find the answers to these questions. This illegal use of the law looks for comfort and consolation in good works. It is true that our works of love flow from faith, we do not look to the fruit of faith for comfort. To find comfort we look to the source of faith. St Paul excludes this illegal use of the law when he says things like this:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh-- though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: … as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:3-7)

We, with Paul, put no confidence in the flesh and avoid the Parking Validation Use of the Law. Our confidence is in Christ Jesus and His promise of forgiveness.

Measuring Stick Use. The law always counts and measures. We misuse the law when we use it like a measuring stick to see how much better I am than you. This illegal us of the law is always comparing, putting things in the balance, judging if things are fair, and it is always fixing the scales so that I come out on top. It keeps track of every sin committed against us. This misuse of the law fails to see the planks in our own eye, but sees very clearly the specks in our neighbor's eye. If your goal is to be better than your neighbor, the measuring stick will see to it. Jesus is speaking against this misuse of the Law when He says:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

We apply the law first to ourselves, and we do not measure up. No matter how deep our sin, the Lord's love is deeper still.

The Telescopic Use. A telescope will help you see clearly things that are very far away. When we use the law like a telescope we are examining the sins of others very closely while keeping a safe distance. While this use is similar to the measuring stick use, it is not comparing ourselves with sinners, but avoiding them. This misuse is often found in the pulpit where the law is preached about those “other people out there”, about the worldlings who are dead in sin. The Telescopic Use forgets the we, too, are sinners, that Jesus came to the earth for all of us sinners. The Telescopic Use gives the illusion that there is holiness in distance, in separation, but the Scriptures teach holiness is found in Christ. The Pharisees pull out their telescopes on Jesus, but Jesus destroys them with His parable of repentance.

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:2-7)

We are not given to find delight in other people's sin, but rather in the mercy and Love of Jesus.

All of us are experts at misusing the law. This is bad. Each and every misuse of the law steals honor from Christ and comfort from us. But praise be to God, the Holy Spirit wields the law perfectly to us. He convicts us of our sin, even our sin of misusing the law, and then He brings to us the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from every sin.

May the Holy Spirit continue to wield with us His precious law and Gospel, that we would know His joy and peace. Amen.

Lord's Blessings,
Pastor Wolfmueller

A great picture painted by J.R. Miller

2010-03-04T21:43:00.003-06:00

(J. R. Miller, "A Troubled Soul")

"A man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones!" Mark 5:2-5

In this demoniac, we have a sample of the work of Satan--when he gets full control in a man. He destroys every beautiful thing in the life, and leaves only ruin! No chains could bind this demoniac. When sin is on the throne, all other influences and constraints become like spiders' threads in comparison! No chain is strong enough to bind the man--who has yielded himself to the sway of the Evil One! The love of a godly mother is a strong bond--but many a child tears off this holy chain and rushes into wayward and evil paths! Home ties are strong--but these too are broken asunder, by the victim of Satan's ungodly rule.

We see that the demoniac cut and gashed himself with stones. This illustrates what in many ways, Satan's captives do. They may not literally go about cutting their flesh with knives or bruising their bodies with stones; but they do gash and bruise their souls! Sin always wounds the life--and one of its fearful consequences is the self-destruction it works. Every sin one commits leaves an ugly scar! We grieve God by our wrongdoing, and we harm others when we sin against them; but we always injure ourselves--by every evil word we speak, by every wrong act we commit, even by the evil thoughts we think in our hearts. The self-hurt of sin is one of its saddest consequences!

Demons find their pleasure in working mischief, and in ruining lives. Godly men count that day lost--in which they have done no act of kindness to another. Demons count the day lost--in which they have stained no pure soul or led no one into sin!

We ought to tear off Satan's mask and show him as he is! Evil comes to us pretending to be a friend. It holds flowers in its hands and whispers entrancing words, promising rich rewards: "Only do this--and it will bring you pleasure, honor, wealth and joy!" That is the way sin talks. But this is all false. Sin is never a friend to man. It never does good to anyone--but always harm. However plausibly Satan may present his temptations under the guise of pleasure--his secret aim is to destroy the soul he tempts. Nothing gives the Evil One so much pleasure--as to see a fair and beautiful life--stained and debauched!

It is most comforting to us, to find that Christ is able to dislodge even the most obdurate and persistent demon! No one could bind this demoniac, nor resist his superhuman strength. But at His word--the foul spirit was compelled to leave the man he had possessed for so long. No human hand can break the chains of sinful habits. No mere resolution can free one from Satan's bondage. Only Christ can set the devil's captives free! Those who have long been trying in vain to reform, to break away from evil practices--see in Christ, the Friend who alone can deliver them and save them. No demon-power can resist His command. Only Christ can free the poor slaves of Satan, and save them from his terrible sway!

"The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the swine. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned!" Mark 5:13

In the swine, under demoniac possession, rushing down the steep cliff and perishing in the lake--we have another illustration of the end of all Satan's ruinous work. It is with men--as it was here with the swine. It never yet has been known that Satan impelled anyone upward to a better life or to anything noble and lofty; he always drives down sin's steep ways--into choking floods. God's ways leads upward--it is always uphill to Christ and to heaven. But the devil always drives downward. These poor swine, demon-possessed, rushed down the steep bank, into the lake--and perished. Just so do human souls, demon-possessed, rush down sin's precipitous course and perish!

It would be well to keep this dreadful picture in our mind when we are tempted in any way by the devil; for if we follow him--this is the way it will surely end with us!

Uncool People Need Jesus Too (Bill Streger)

2010-03-04T15:17:00.005-06:00

Wow, I always kinda suspected this but was never able to put it into words. Here is one of my problems with the whole Acts 29 thing (Depending on how you define Acts 29)...maybe its because I'm not a cool guy and I'm bitter, or maybe I'm to "religious" or whatever that means this week. I just thought this post was right on the money. I just don't like it when a church tailors to one kind or perceived segment of society, when they are pursuing the wrong kind of person in society. They should be finding the lost sheep that Christ died for. I know many are, I'm not saying they are, but when churches spend so much time trying to be cool, not in a stupid seeker sensitive way, but in a sophisticated naturally relevant way, they end up attracting one element of society. I don't want one element of society in my church. I don't want church that is only full of men in skinny jeans (I'm sorry i am not relevant enough to know the proper female equivalent to the guy in skinny jeans).
This goes for you too, churches that only strive for one ethnic group. African American and Asian American churches as i see it are the most flagrant offenders in this category, but I'm sure there are others. I want a church full of Black people, and Asian people, and Mexican People, and Arab or Indian people (especially if we have some native Americans as well), divorced women with 3 kids in her 50's, single women in their teens and early 20's, young men who are in college, old men who are in college, anyone over 70, and every segment of society i can think of. And yes...Even guys in skinny jeans and the appropriate female equivalent. The way to do that is not focus on being cool. I know that's a generalization, I know they don't focus on being cool, they do focus on the Gospel and the doctrines of Grace. I mean in their orthopraxy, not their orthodoxy.
Church is a little slice of what heaven will be like. Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, man and woman, and all the nations of the world singing praises and worshiping God our Father in Spirit and Truth. I think its much harder to do that when we exude cool. I don't want anything to do with the coolness of the world. I want EVERYTHING to do with the Glory of God...So please read, and comments will be welcomed for conversation.

the original post may be found HERE

Uncool People Need Jesus Too

Through my work with the Acts 29 Network, I get the privilege of assessing a number of potential church planters each year. I also get to hear about dozens more from fellow pastors as well. When I guy comes in to get assessed, by the time he gets to the interview stage he’s already submitted a lot of paperwork. Resumes. Plans. Budgets. Demographic Analysis. Dental history. (Ok, just kidding on the last one).

And as I’ve looked at some amazing plans from church planters, I’ve started to notice a trend. They all sound the same.

It seems as the unique vision that God’s given so many church planters is almost identical. Phrases like “gospel-centered”, “missional”, and “cultural renewal” are littered throughout their proposals. It seems that the phrase “In the City. For the City.” or some variation of such has become church planting boilerplate.

Not only is the language the same, but so is the target group. It’s amazing how many young pastors feel that they are distinctly called to reach the upwardly-mobile, young, culture-shaping professionals and artists. Can we just be honest? Young, upper-middle-class urban professionals have become the new “Saddleback Sam”.

Seriously, this is literally the only group I see proposals for. I have yet to assess a church planter who wants to move to a declining, smaller city and reach out to blue collar factory workers, mechanics, or construction crews. Not one with an evangelsitic strategy to go after the 50-something administrative assistant who’s been working at the same low-paying insurance firm for three decades now.

Why is that? I can’t offer a definitive answer. It could be that God is legitimately calling an entire generation of young pastors to turn their focus to a small segment of the population that happens to look very much like they do.

Or it could be that we’re simply following in the footsteps of the church growth movement that we’ve loved to publically criticize while privately trying to emulate – we’ve just replaced Bill Hybels and Rick Warren with Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll.

Just thinking out loud…

a Fantastic Post from Kevin DeYoung

2010-03-04T15:01:00.004-06:00

This is a great post from Kevin DeYoung
the post can be found HERE

A Gloriously Particular Redemption

The doctrine of particular redemption is worth talking about because it gets to the heart of the gospel. Should we say “Christ died so that sinners might come to him”? Or, “Christ died for sinners”? There’s a big difference. Did Christ’s work on the cross make it possible for sinners to come to God? Or did Christ’s work on the cross actually reconcile sinners to God? In other words, does the death of Jesus Christ make us save-able or does it make us saved? If the atonement is not particularly and only for the sheep, then either we have universalism–Christ died in everyone’s place and therefore everyone is saved–or we have something less than full substitution. If Jesus died for every person on the planet then we no longer mean that he died in place of sinners, taking upon himself our shame, our sins, and our rebellion so that we have the death of death in the death of Christ. Rather, we mean that when Jesus died he made it possible to come to him if we will do our part and come to him. But this is only half a gospel. Certainly, we need to come to Christ in faith. But faith is not the last work that finally makes us saved. Faith is trusting that Jesus has in fact died in our place and bore the curse for us—effectually, particularly, and perfectly.

Reformed people talk of “limited” atonement not because they have an interest in limiting power of the cross, but in order to safeguard the central affirmation of the gospel that Christ is a Redeemer who really redeems. “We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ,” Spurgeon observed, “because we say that Christ has not made a satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved.” But, Spurgeon argues, it is the view of the atonement which says no one in particular was saved at the cross that actually limits Christ’s death. “We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.”

I belabor this point not to belittle Arminian brothers and sisters, but to give Jesus Christ his full glory. Christ does not come to us merely saying, “I’ve done my part. I laid down my life for everyone because I have saving love for everyone in the whole world. Now, if you would only believe and come to me I can save you.” Instead he says to us, “I was pierced for your transgressions. I was crushed for your iniquities (Isa. 53:5). I have purchased with my blood men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9). I myself bore your sins in my body on the tree, so that you might infallibly die to sins and assuredly live for righteousness. For my wounds did not merely make healing available. They healed you (1 Peter 2:24).”

“Amazing love!” a great Arminian once wrote. “How can it be that you, my Lord, should die for me?!” Praise be to our Good Shepherd who didn’t just make our salvation possible, but sustained the anger of God in body and soul, shouldered the curse, and laid down his life for the sheep

Win free tickets to the Psalm 119 conference

2010-03-01T16:02:00.000-06:00

just go here and follow instructions

http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2010/02/enter-to-win-2-tickets-to-psalm-119.html

Adoniram Judson's letter to ask permission to Court Ann

2010-02-23T19:50:00.004-06:00

On June 28, 1810 Judson and others presented themselves to the Congregationalists for missionary service in the East. He met Ann that same day and fell in love. After knowing Ann Hasseltine for one month he declared his intention to become a suitor, and wrote to her father the following letter:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left is heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteous, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?

....That is a man who knew his calling, Loved his God, Loved the Lost, Loved a Woman, and Loved authority enough to ask, even such a hard thing and with such honesty as this...I want to be a man of God like this. I have no need to ask to court anyone, as I'm married to the greatest woman in the world, but I want to be a man of God like Adoniram!

Sam Storms Quoting amazingly from C.S. Lewis

2010-02-16T22:18:00.003-06:00

At the 2010 Desiring god Pastors Conference, Sam Storms quoted C.S. Lewis Amazingly by saying thus:

7) God's passion for his glory is the consummate expression of love for you.

Considerate these words from C .S. Lewis in his essay, “The Problem of Praise in the Psalms” (found in Reflections on the Psalms):

We all despise the man who demands continued assurance of his own virtue, intelligence or delightfulness; we despise still more the crowd of people round every dictator, every millionaire, every celebrity, who gratify that demand. Thus a picture, at once ludicrous and horrible, both of God and His worshippers, threatened to appear in my mind. The Psalms were especially troublesome in this way - ‘Praise the Lord,' 'O praise the Lord with me,' 'Praise Him.' ... Worse still was the statement put into God's own mouth, 'whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me' (50:23). It was hideously like saying, 'What I most want is to be told that I am good and great.' . . . It was extremely distressing. It made one think what one least wanted to think. Gratitude to God, reverence to Him, obedience to Him, I thought I could understand; not this perpetual eulogy...

We don't like the athletes who always show off or the cosmetically enhanced actress posture and pose on the red carpet, because we know they care nothing for anyone but themselves. Again, Lewis says,

...it is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men. It is not of course the only way. But for many people at many times the 'fair beauty of the Lord' is revealed chiefly or only while they worship Him together. Even in Judaism the essence of the sacrifice was not really that men gave bulls and goats to God, but that by their so doing God gave Himself to men; in the central act of our own worship of course this is far clearer - there it is manifestly, even physically, God who gives and we who receive. The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard him, is implicitly answered by the words, 'If I be hungry I will not tell thee' (50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books.”

Lewis is answering the question, "Why do we worship a God who has no needs?" Here's how he answers it:

But the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game - praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . . Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. . . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with ...

If it were possible for a created soul fully . . . to 'appreciate', that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beatitude. . . . To see what the doctrine really means, we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God - drunk with, drowned in, dissolved by, that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable, hence hardly tolerable, bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression, our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds. The Scotch catechism says that man's chief end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

If God is to love you optimally, maximally, for your highest good, then he has to impart the highest gift he can to you, which is himself. If God really loves you, he has to give himself to you. And then he has to work by his Spirit and grace to awaken you to him. He must work by all means to enlarge your joy and satisfaction in him. So he comes to you and says, "Here I am. Look at me! Look at me ... in Jesus! See me! Savor me! Enjoy me! Celebrate who I am ... the eternal God!"

Does that sound like God glorifying himself? Yes, you bet it does. But it's also the best way for you be enthralled and captivated and fascinated in pure joy. That's why our greatest joy is found in the enjoyment of God.

For God to work for his glory in you (which is his love for you) and for him to work for his glory in himself (which is his love for his own glory) is the same thing. If we don't capture this, we'll drive people into fear, depression, legalism, etc. The only way for God to consummate your joy is by making his glory great to you.

That is why Psalm 16 says that at his right hand are pleasures that never ever end. There are pleasures that satisfy the human heart forevermore.

Tim Challies Judo Chop to Brian McLaren and His False Religion

2010-02-16T15:54:00.005-06:00

Tim Challies won the snarkey award of all time with this one. WOW!

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2010

A New Kind of Christianity

Early in George Orwell’s iconic 1984 is a particularly haunting scene. Winston, the hero of the story, is confessing to his diary a sexual encounter with a prostitute. Though Big Brother rigidly controls even sexual union and though sex is viewed as “a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema,” still Big Brother cannot remove from humanity the desire and the need for intimacy. One evening Winston spots a prostitute near a train station. “She had a young face,” he writes, “painted very thick. It was really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of it, like a mask, and the bright red lips. Party women never paint their faces.” In a society where abject fear and loneliness are the norm, Winston craves the intimacy of sex. But as he goes into this woman’s apartment and lies with her, he turns up a lamp, casting a bright light on her face. And immediately he sees that the appearance of beauty was a lie. “What he had suddenly seen in the lamplight was that the woman was old. The paint was plastered so thick on her face that it looked as though it might crack like a cardboard mask. There were streaks of white in her hair; but the truly dreadful detail was that her mouth had fallen a little open, revealing nothing except a cavernous blackness. She had no teeth at all.”

But, despite his horror, his revulsion, Winston continues. In his diary he writes “When I saw her in the light she was quite an old woman, fifty years old at least. But I went ahead and did it just the same.” Though the woman loses all sexual appeal, Winston continues in this act. He continues because, though his desire is quenched, still sex is an act of rebellion. By sleeping with this prostitute he is engaging in an act of heart-felt rebellion against Big Brother.

It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote about Brian McLaren and got in trouble. Reflecting on seeing him speak at a nearby church, I suggested that he appears to love Jesus but hate God. Based on immediate and furious reaction, I quickly retracted that statement. I should not have done so. I believed it then and I believe it now. And if it was true then, how much more true is it upon the release of his latest tome A New Kind of Christianity. In this book we finally see where McLaren’s journey has taken him; it has taken him into outright, rank, unapologetic apostasy. He hates God. Period.

“It’s time for a new quest,” write McLaren, “launched by new questions, a quest across denominations around the world, a quest for new ways to believe and new ways to live and serve faithfully in the way of Jesus, a quest for a new kind of Christian faith.” McLaren frames the book around “Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith.” They cut to the very heart of the faith, foundational in every way. He asks:
The narrative question: What is the overarching story line of the Bible?
The authority question: How should the Bible be understood?
The God question: Is God violent?
The Jesus question: Who is Jesus and why is he important?
The gospel question: What is the gospel?
The church question: What do we do about the church?
The sex question: Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it?
The future question: Can we find a better way of viewing the future?
The pluralism question: How should followers of Jesus relate to people of other religions?

The what-do-we-do-now question: How can we translate our quest into action?
His purpose, he insists, is not to answer the questions, but to provide responses to them. Answers indicate finality, responses indicate conversation and openness. “The responses I offer are not intended as a smash in tennis, delivered forcefully with a lot of topspin, in an effort to win the game and create a loser. Rather, they are offered as a gentle serve or lob; their primary goal is to start the interplay, to get things rolling, to invite your reply. Remember, our goal is not debate and division yielding hate or a new state, but rather questioning that leads to conversation and friendship on the new quest.” But that is mere semantics. Whether answering or responding (whether saying tomato or tomahto), what McLaren does through these ten questions is to completely rewrite the Christian faith. His “gentle lobs” rip the very heart out of the faith.

At the center of his remix of the faith is the claim that most Christians look at their faith through a flawed Platonic, Greco-Roman lens instead of through a biblical, Jewish lens. “God’s unfolding drama is not a narrative shaped by the six lines in the Greco-Roman scheme of perfection, fall, condemnation, salvation, and heavenly perfection or eternal perdition. It has a different story line entirely. It’s a story about the downside of ‘progress’—a story of human foolishness and God’s faithfulness, the human turn toward rebellion and God’s turn toward reconciliation, the human intention toward evil and God’s intention to overcome evil with good.” This Greco-Roman God, the one that most Christians believe in, is a “damnable idol … defended by many a well-meaning but misguided scholar and fire-breathing preacher.”
McLaren plays the all-too-typical “everyone else has it wrong” card. It turns out that most of us (all but a handful of enlightened intellectuals, as it happens) have been reading the Bible through the distorted lens of a Greco-Roman narrative. This narrative produced many false dualisms, an air of superiority and a false distinction between those who were “in” and those who were “out.” These three marks of false narrative have so impacted our faith that we can hardly see past them. But Brian is willing and eager to play Moses, leading us out of the Egypt of our own ignorance and into the Promised Land of the new Christianity.
It would take more time than I’d be willing to give it to offer a point-by-point explanation of what responses McLaren proposes for each of the ten questions or to document the ramifications of his new theology. He denies the Fall, he denies original sin, he denies human depravity, he denies hell. And that is just in the first few pages. Needless to say, all of this leads him to a radically unbiblical view of the cross and the purpose and work of Jesus. Though he insists that he considers the Bible “inspired” (though certainly not in a traditional sense) he also says that most Christians have read it wrong, having viewed it as a kind of constitution in which God gives Spirit-breathed, inerrant revelation of himself. “I’m recommending we read the Bible as an inspired library. This inspired library preserves, presents, and inspires an ongoing vigorous conversation with and about God, a living and vital civil argument into which we are all invited and through which God is revealed.” After all, “revelation doesn’t simply happen in statements. It happens in conversations and arguments that take place within and among communities of people who share the same essential questions across generations. Revelation accumulates in the relationships, interactions, and interplay between statements.”

What does the Bible accomplish then? What does it teach us about God? “Scripture faithfully reveals the evolution of our ancestors’ best attempts to communicate their successive best understandings of God. As human capacity grows to conceive of a higher and wiser view of God, each new vision is faithfully preserved in Scripture like fossils in layers of sediment.” The Bible is an ongoing conversation about God’s character in which humans come to progressively more accurate understandings of who he is. There is no reason to think that any of them actually had it right. His reinterpretations of Job and Romans are a sight to behold, so muddled and so fabricated that they become absolutely nonsensical. There is a deliberate ignorance at work here.

The arrogance of it all is stunning. McLaren is angrier than he has been before and more scornful. Still, though, he presents his ideas coated with the veneer of a false humility. But, handily, he builds into the book the means he will use to answer his critics. He will simply accuse his detractors of having this old Greco-Roman understanding of the faith. We poor fundamentalists cannot be among the new kind of Christian until we have been enlightened to understand the Bible through an entirely new narrative structure. Only then will this all become clear. Until then, more to be pitied are we than any men.

Here, in A New Kind of Christianity it’s as if McLaren is screaming “I hate God!” at the top of his lungs. And swarms of Christians are looking at him with admiration and saying, “See how that guy loves God?” I don’t know what McLaren could do to make the situation more clear. In fact, his book is nearly indistinguishable from many of the de-conversion narratives that are all the rage today. Compare it with Bart Ehrman’s God’s Problem and you’ll see many of the same arguments and the same misgivings; you’ll find, though, that Ehrman is at least more honest. He at least has the integrity to walk away from faith altogether rather than reinventing God in his own image.

McLaren says he would prefer atheism over belief in the God so many of us see in Scripture. Well, he is not far off. This new kind of Extreme Makeover: God Edition Christianity is no Christianity at all. It is not a faith made in the image of Jesus Christ, but a faith made in the image of a man who despises God and who is hell-bent on dragging others along with him as he becomes his own god.
As Winston turned up the light, he saw that prostitute for what she really was. Here McLaren turns up the light and we see what his faith, what his Christianity, really is. We see it in all its toothless, caked-on horror. This new kind of Christianity is simply paganism behind a thick coating of false humility and biblical language. It is an expression of rebellion against God far more than it is a pursuit of new intimacy with the Creator.
And like Orwell’s whore, many will go to this book seeking intimacy with God only to content themselves with rebellion against him. For each is satisfying in its own way.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones talking about Matt 5:4 and Spiritual Mourning

2010-02-08T17:19:00.002-06:00

If you have not read "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, I would highly recommend that you do so. The book is Gold just about anywhere you touch it. In reading through his writing on Matt 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted," he had some very good insights on the state of the Church and the world concerning Spiritual mourning and gauging out maturity in the faith. This is an extended quote, but like I said the whole book is gold, so extended quotes are sometimes in order.

"We come not to a consideration of the second Beatitude- "blessed (or happy) are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." This, like the first, stands out at once, and marks off the Christian as being quite unlike the man who is not a Christian and belongs to the world. Indeed the world would, and does, regard a statement like this as utterly ridiculous- Happy are those who mourn! The one thing the world tries to shun is mourning; its whole organization is based on the supposition that that is something to avoid. The philosophy of the world is, Forget your troubles, turn your back upon them, do everything you can not to face them. Things are bad enough as they are without your going to look for troubles, says the world; therefore be as happy as you can. The whole organization of life, the pleasure mania, the money, energy, and enthusiasm that are expended in entertaining people, are all just an expression of the great aim of the world to get away from this idea, of mourning and this spirit of morning. But the gospel says, "Happy are they that mourn." Indeed they are the only ones who are happy! If you turn to the parallel passage in Luke 6 you will find it is put in a still more striking manner, because there is the negative employed. "Woe unto you that laugh now!” our Lord says, “for ye shall mourn and weep.” This saying condemns the apparent laughter, joviality and happiness of the world by pronouncing a woe upon it. But it promises blessing and happiness, joy and peace to those who mourn. These preliminary statements, then, concerning the Christian are obviously of primary importance.

Once more it is clear, that we have here something which is entirely spiritual in its meaning. Our Lord did not say that those who mourn in a natural sense are happy, meaning by “mourning,” the sorrow experienced because of the death of someone. No, this is a spiritual mourning. As we saw that poverty of spirit was not something financial, but something essentially spiritual, so this again is something entirely spiritual and has nothing to do with our natural life in this world. All these Beatitudes have reference to a spiritual condition and to a spiritual attitude. Those who are commended are those who morning in spirit; They, says the Lord, are happy people.

This, as we have seen is something which is never found in the world, and it presents a striking contrast to what is found there. But, again, I am constrained to say that this is something which is not evident in the Church today as it once was and as it is in the New Testament. In a sense, as I said earlier, that is really our main reason for considering this Sermon on the Mount. We are concerned about the state and life of the Church at the present time. I have not hesitation again in asserting that the failure of the Church to have a greater impact upon the life of men and women in the world today is due entirely to the fact that her own life is not in order. To me there is nothing more tragic or shortsighted or lacking in insight than the assumption, made by so many, that the Church herself is all right and all she has to do is to evangelize the world outside. Every revival proves clearly that men who are outside the Church always become attracted when the Church herself begins to function truly as the Christian Church, and as individual Christians approximate to the description here given in these beatitudes. So we must start with ourselves, and see why, unfortunately, this description of the Christian as one who “mourns” is one that makes us feel that somehow or another is not as evident in the Church today as it once was.
The explanation of this is fairly obvious. It is partly a reaction against the kind of false Puritanism (I say false Puritanism, not Puritanism) which, let us be frank, was too much in evidence towards the end of the last century and the beginning of the present one. It often manifested itself in an assumed piety. It was not natural; it did not come from within; but people affected and assumed a pious appearance. It almost gave the impression that to be religions was to be miserable; it turned its back upon many things that are perfectly natural and legitimate. In that way a picture was given of the Christian man that was not attractive, and, I think, there has been a violent reaction against it, a reaction so violent that it has gone to the other extreme.

But I also think that another explanation of this is the idea which has gained currency that if we as Christians are to attract those who are not Christian we must deliberately affect an appearance of brightness and joviality. Thus many try to assume a kind of joy and happiness which is not something that rises from within, but is something which is put on. Now probably that is the main explanation of the absence of this characteristic of mourning in the life of the Church today. It is this superficiality, this glibness of joviality that is almost unintelligent. It is this endeavor to appear to be something and to cut a certain figure, instead of a life arising from within, which controls and determines the whole of our appearance and behavior.

I sometimes think, however, that the ultimate explanation of it all is something still deeper and still more serious. I cannot help feeling that the final explanation of the state of the Church today is a defective sense of sin and a defective doctrine of sin. Coupled with that, of course, is a failure to understand the true nature of Christian joy. There is the double failure. There is not the real deep conviction of sin as was once the case; and on the other hand there is this superficial conception of joy and happiness which is very different indeed from that which we find in the New Testament. Thus the defective doctrine of sin and the shallow idea of joy, working together, of necessity produce a superficial kind of person and a very inadequate kind of Christian life.

Now this is obviously extremely important, especially as regards the matter of evangelism. It is not surprising that the Church is failing in her mission if her dual conception of sin and joy are thus defective and inadequate. And, therefore, it comes to pass that so much evangelism, whether organized on a large or a small scale (in spite of all that is claimed for it in figures and results), is obviously not affecting the life of the Church deeply. Indeed, the very statistics prove the failure in this respect. For this reason it is surly a very fundamental subject for us to consider. That is why it is so important that we should approach it all in terms of this Sermon on the Mount, which starts with negatives. We have to be poor in spirit before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Negative, before positive. And here again is another example of exactly the same thing- conviction must of necessity precede conversion, a real sense of sin must come before there can be a true joy of salvation. Now that is the whole essence of the gospel. So many people spend all their lives in trying to find this Christian Joy. They say that would give the whole world if they could only find it, or could be like some other person who has it. Well, I suggest that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred this is the explanation. They have failed to see that they must be convicted of sin before they can ever experience joy. They do not like the doctrine of sin. They dislike it intensely and they object to its being preached. They want joy apart from the conviction of sin. But that is impossible; it can never be obtained. Those who are going to be converted and who which to be truly happy and blessed are those who first of all mourn. Conviction is an essential preliminary to true conversion.”

Temple Prostitution: A Modest Proposal

2010-02-02T12:08:00.004-06:00

Temple Prostitution: A Modest Proposal

This bitting satirical article lays bare the absurd and unbiblical liberal hermeneutic that led the ELCA and other liberal denominations astray regarding homosexuality. Below are the opening few paragraphs of this brilliant piece.

Temple prostitution: a modest proposal
by Peter Speckhard, associate editor

November 2009 Forum Letter

Every now and then a new way of looking at things not only solves a problem but opens up unexpected opportunities for that one solution to lead to a whole host of related solutions. The recent decisions of the ELCA regarding homosexuality solved the problem faced by gay couples seeking church weddings. But even better, the new way of looking at the issue could solve several more perennial problems in the church with one grand innovation.

Facing our problems

What are the biggest problems, practical and theological, that Lutheran churches in America face today? I would submit the following:
—Inability to retain or reach out to young, single people, especially men. Think about it—on a typical Sunday in a typical Lutheran church, how many 28-year-old single men are sitting in the pews? How might we draw them in? What are their felt needs?
—Failure to use the gifts of the laity. Sure, it is easy to use the gifts of creative, educated, energetic, talented people. But many Christians are none of those things. Like the Little Drummer Boy, they have not much to offer. But if they sincerely, humbly, and faithfully offer whatever gifts they’ve been given, shouldn’t they expect their offering to meet the approval of their God?
—Declining revenue. Especially in a tough economy, we need new and creative ways to raise money if we’re adequately going to fund critical ministries such as feeding the hungry or blanketing Africa with condoms.
—Legalism. We can’t be a gospel-centered church with a do-this, don’t-do-that mentality. Legalism, a focus on rules and moralistic preaching have always threatened the freedom of the gospel.
—Biblicism. Too often we use selective proof-texts merely to maintain traditional opinions rather than really listening to the Spirit.
—Irrelevance. We need to address the real social needs in and of the world as it exists around us, not as it supposedly was in the 1950’s or how we might wish it were. We must face the joyful challenges of today.
—Worship without impact. Too often our worship is only a matter of words and music rather than an expression of radical freedom that encompasses the whole person.

Prostitution solution
Now imagine all those problems solved with one simple innovation. The answer: temple prostitution.

I know, I know. Outrageous and offensive. I can hear readers already dismissing the idea out of hand. And I admit that we may not be ready for it quite yet. But please hear me out on this.

First off, let’s address the common objections. Sure, there are a handful of Bible verses that might seem to condemn the practice. But all the condemnation of temple prostitution involves pagan practices or worship of false gods. The objectionable thing is the idolatry, not the physical act itself. Sanctified, faithful prostitution in service of the true God is a new thing. The Biblical writers never foresaw or contemplated sanctified, faithful, God-pleasing prostitution in the churches and thus never wrote about it. Attempts to find a Biblical injunction against the practice therefore fall short.

Interpretive nuance
Secondly, let’s not cherry-pick verses selectively. We don’t stone disobedient children to death. We don’t refrain from pork or sodomy merely because this or that verse says we should. We have to look at the whole Biblical witness in light of the freedom we have in Christ. For example, God ordered Hosea to marry a prostitute. Such Biblical precedent offers interpretive nuance to seemingly black-and-white prohibitions.

Thirdly, Jesus himself seemed to have a soft spot for prostitutes. Many reputable scholars today think he may have been married to one. And Jesus showed radical inclusivit

Theology Matters!

2010-01-29T15:11:00.001-06:00

here is a great video to remind us that theology matters. We cannot divorce our theology from our lives and pratice of our faith. If our life is off, or theology will be in error. If our theology is in error our life will be off.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

An Amazing Article from Dr. D.A. Carson

2010-01-28T02:42:00.003-06:00

I am in the process of teaching a hermeneutics class. I thought this was a great article, so i thought i would share.

Must I Learn How to Interpret the Bible?
by D.A. Carson

Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation; biblical hermeneutics is the art and science of interpreting the Bible. At the time of the Reformation, debates over interpretation played an enormously important role. These were debates over interpretation, not just over interpretations. In other words, the Reformers disagreed with their opponents not only over what this or that passage meant, but over the nature of interpretation, the locus of authority in interpretation, the role of the church and of the Spirit in interpretation, and much more.

During the last half-century, so many developments have taken place in the realm of hermeneutics that it would take a very long article even to sketch them in lightly. Sad to say, nowadays many scholars are more interested in the challenges of the discipline of hermeneutics itself, than in the Bible that hermeneutics should help us handle more responsibly. Ironically, there are still some people who think that there is something slightly sleazy about interpretation. Without being crass enough to say so, they secretly harbor the opinion that what others offer are interpretations, but what they offer is just what the Bible says.

Carl F. H. Henry is fond of saying that there are two kinds of presuppositionalists: those who admit it and those who don't. We might adapt his analysis to our topic: There are two kinds of practitioners of hermeneutics: those who admit it and those who don't.

The fact of the matter is that every time we find something in the Bible (whether it is there or not!), we have interpreted the Bible. There are good interpretations and there are bad interpretations, but there is no escape from interpretation.

This is not the place to lay out foundational principles, or to wrestle with the "new hermeneutic" and with "radical hermeneutics." [For more information and bibliography on these topics, and especially their relation to postmodernism and how to respond to it, see my book The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism, esp. chapters 2-3 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996).] I shall focus instead on one "simple" problem, one with which every serious Bible reader is occasionally confronted. What parts of the Bible are binding mandates for us, and what parts are not?

"Greet one another with a holy kiss": the French do it, Arab believers do it, but by and large we do not. Are we therefore unbiblical? Jesus tells his disciples that they should wash one another's feet (Jn 13:14), yet most of us have never done so. Why do we "disobey" that plain injunction, yet obey his injunction regarding the Lord's Table? If we find reasons to be flexible about the "holy kiss," how flexible may we be in other domains? May we replace the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper with yams and goat's milk if we are in a village church in Papua, New Guinea? If not, why not? And what about the broader questions circulating among theonomists regarding the continuing legal force of law set down under the Mosaic covenant? Should we as a nation, on the assumption that God graciously grants widespread revival and reformation, pass laws to execute adulterers by stoning? If not, why not? Is the injunction for women to keep silent in the church absolute (1 Cor 14:33-36)? If not, why not? Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again if he is to enter the kingdom; he tells the rich young man that he is to sell all that he has and give it to the poor. Why do we make the former demand absolute for all persons, and apparently fudge a little on the second?

Obviously, I have raised enough questions for a dissertation or two. What follows in this article is not a comprehensive key to answering all difficult interpretive questions, but some preliminary guidelines to sorting such matters out. The apostolic number of points are not put into any order of importance.

(1) As conscientiously as possible, seek the balance of Scripture, and avoid succumbing to historical and theological disjunctions.
Liberals have often provided us with nasty disjunctions: Jesus or Paul, the charismatic community or the "early catholic" church, and so forth. Protestants sometimes drop a wedge between Paul's faith apart from works (Rom 3:28) and James' faith and works (Jas 2:4); others absolutize Galatians 3:28 as if it were the controlling passage on all matters to do with women, and spend countless hours explaining away 1 Timothy 2:12 (or the reverse!).

Historically, many Reformed Baptists in England between the middle of the eighteenth century and the middle of the twentieth so emphasized God's sovereign grace in election that they became uncomfortable with general declarations of the Gospel. Unbelievers should not be told to repent and believe the Gospel: how could that be, since they are dead in trespasses and sin, and may not in any case belong to the elect? They should rather be encouraged to examine themselves to see if they have within themselves any of the first signs of the Spirit's work, any conviction of sin, any stirrings of shame. On the face of it, this is a long way from the Bible, but thousands of churches thought it was the hallmark of faithfulness. What has gone wrong, of course, is that the balance of Scripture has been lost. One element of Biblical truth has been elevated to a position where it is allowed to destroy or domesticate some other element of Biblical truth.

In fact, the "balance of Scripture" is not an easy thing to maintain, in part because there are different kinds of balance in Scripture. For example, there is the balance of diverse responsibilities laid on us (e.g. praying, being reliable at work, being a biblically faithful spouse and parent, evangelizing a neighbor, taking an orphan or widow under our wing, and so forth): these amount to balancing priorities within the limits of time and energy. There is the balance of Scripture's emphases as established by observing their relation to the Bible's central plot-line; there is also the balance of truths which we cannot at this point ultimately reconcile, but which we can easily distort if we do not listen carefully to the text (e.g. Jesus is both God and man; God is both the transcendent sovereign and yet personal; the elect alone are saved, and yet in some sense God loves horrible rebels so much that Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and God cries, "Turn, turn, why will you die? For the LORD has no pleasure in the death of the wicked."). In each case, a slightly different kind of Biblical balance comes into play, but there is no escaping the fact that Biblical balance is what we need.

(2) Recognize that the antithetical nature of certain parts of the Bible, not least some of Jesus' preaching, is a rhetorical device, not an absolute. The context must decide where this is the case.
Of course, there are absolute antitheses in Scripture that must not be watered down in any way. For example, the disjunctions between the curses and the blessings in Deuteronomy 27-28 are not mutually delimiting: the conduct that calls down the curses of God and the conduct that wins his approval stand in opposite camps, and must not be intermingled or diluted. But on the other hand, when eight centuries before Christ, God says, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hos 6:6), the sacrificial system of the Mosaic covenant is not thereby being destroyed. Rather, the Hebrew antithesis is a pointed way of saying, "If push comes to shove, mercy is more important than sacrifice. Whatever you do, you must not rank the marks of formal religion in this case, burnt offerings and other mandated ritual sacrifices with fundamental acknowledgment of God, or confuse the extent to which God cherishes compassion and mercy with the firmness with which he demands the observance of the formalities of the sacrificial system."

Similarly, when Jesus insists that if anyone is to become his disciple, he must hate his parents (Lk 14:26), we must not think Jesus is sanctioning raw hatred of family members. What is at issue is that the claims of Jesus are more urgent and binding than even the most precious and prized human relationships (as the parallel in Mt 10:37 makes clear).

Sometimes the apparent antithesis is formed by comparing utterances from two distant passages. On the one hand, Jesus insists that the praying of his followers should not be like the babbling of the pagans who think they are heard because of their many words (Mt 6:7). On the other hand, Jesus can elsewhere tell a parable with the pointed lesson that his disciples should pray perseveringly and not give up (Lk 18:1-8). Yet, if we were to suppose that the formal clash between the two injunctions is more than superficial, we would be betraying not only our ignorance of Jesus' preaching style, but also our insensitivity to pastoral demands. The first injunction is vital against those who think they can wheedle things out of God by their interminable prayers; the second is vital against those whose spiritual commitments are so shallow that their mumbled one-liners constitute the whole of their prayer life.

(3) Be cautious about absolutizing what is said or commanded only once.
The reason is not that God must say things more than once for them to be true or binding. The reason, rather, is that if something is said only once it is easily misunderstood or misapplied. When something is repeated on several occasions and in slightly different contexts, readers will enjoy a better grasp of what is meant and what is at stake.

That is why the famous "baptism for the dead" passage (1 Cor 15:29) is not unpacked at length and made a major plank in, say, the Heidelberg Catechism or the Westminster Confession. Over forty interpretations of that passage have been offered in the history of the church. Mormons are quite sure what it means, of course, but the reason why they are sure is because they are reading it in the context of other books that they claim are inspired and authoritative.

This principle also underlies one of the reasons why most Christians do not view Christ's command to wash one another's feet as a third sacrament or ordinance. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are certainly treated more than once, and there is ample evidence that the early church observed both, but neither can be said about foot washing. But there is more to be said.

(4) Carefully examine the biblical rationale for any saying or command.
The purpose of this counsel is not to suggest that if you cannot discern the rationale you should flout the command. It is to insist that God is neither arbitrary nor whimsical, and by and large he provides reasons and structures of thought behind the truths he discloses and the demands he makes. Trying to uncover this rationale can be a help in understanding what is of the essence of what God is saying, and what is the peculiar cultural expression of it.

Before I give a couple of examples, it is important to recognize that all of Scripture is culturally bound. For a start, it is given in human languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) and languages are a cultural phenomenon. Nor are the words God speaks to be thought of as, say, generic Greek. Rather, they belong to the Greek of the Hellenistic period (it isn't Homeric Greek or Attic Greek or modern Greek). Indeed, this Greek changes somewhat from writer to writer (Paul does not always use words the same way that Matthew does) and from genre to genre (apocalyptic does not sound exactly like an epistle). None of this should frighten us. It is part of the glory of our great God that he has accommodated himself to human speech, which is necessarily time-bound and therefore changing. Despite some postmodern philosophers, this does not jeopardize God's capacity for speaking truth. It does mean that we finite human beings shall never know truth exhaustively (that would require omniscience), but there is no reason why we cannot know some truth truly. Nevertheless, all such truth as God discloses to us in words comes dressed in cultural forms. Careful and godly interpretation does not mean stripping away such forms to find absolute truth beneath, for that is not possible: we can never escape our finiteness. It does mean understanding those cultural forms and by God's grace discovering the truth that God has disclosed through them.

So when God commands people to rend their clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, are these precise actions so much of the essence of repentance that there is no true repentance without them? When Paul tells us to greet one another with a holy kiss, does he mean that there is no true Christian greeting without such a kiss?

When we examine the rationale for these actions, and ask whether or not ashes and kissing are integratively related to God's revelation, we see the way forward. There is no theology of kissing; there is a theology of mutual love and committed fellowship among the members of the church. There is no theology of sackcloth and ashes; there is a theology of repentance that demands both radical sorrow and profound change.

If this reasoning is right, it has a bearing on both foot washing and on head-coverings. Apart from the fact that foot washing appears only once in the New Testament as something commanded by the Lord, the act itself is theologically tied, in John 13, to the urgent need for humility among God's people, and to the cross. Similarly, there is no theology of head-coverings, but there is a profound and recurrent theology of that of which the head-coverings were a first-century Corinthian expression: the proper relationships between men and women, between husbands and wives.

(5) Carefully observe that the formal universality of proverbs and of proverbial sayings is only rarely an absolute universality. If proverbs are treated as statutes or case law, major interpretive and pastoral errors will inevitably ensue.
Compare these two sayings of Jesus: (a) "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" (Mt 12:30). (b) "...for whoever is not against us is for us" (Mk 9:40; cf. Lk 9:50). As has often been noted, the sayings are not contradictory if the first is uttered to indifferent people against themselves, and the second to the disciples about others whose zeal outstrips their knowledge. But the two statements are certainly difficult to reconcile if each is taken absolutely, without thinking through such matters.

Or consider two adjacent proverbs in Proverbs 26: (a) "Do not answer a fool according to his folly..." (26:4), or (b) "Answer a fool according to his folly..." (26:5). If these are statutes or examples of case law, there is unavoidable contradiction. On the other hand, the second line of each proverb provides enough of a rationale that we glimpse what we should have seen anyway: proverbs are not statutes. They are distilled wisdom, frequently put into pungent, aphoristic forms that demand reflection, or that describe effects in society at large (but not necessarily in every individual), or that demand consideration of just how and when they apply.

Let us spell out these two proverbs again, this time with the second line included in each case: (a) "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." (b) "Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes." Side by side as they are, these two proverbs demand reflection on when is the part of prudence to refrain from answering fools, lest we be dragged down to their level, and when it is the part of wisdom to offer a sharp, "foolish" rejoinder that has the effect of pricking the pretensions of the fool. The text does not spell this out explicitly, but if the rationales of the two cases are kept in mind, we will have a solid principle of discrimination.

So when a well-known parachurch organization keeps quoting "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" as if it were case law, what are we to think?

This proverbial utterance must not be stripped of its force: it is a powerful incentive to responsible, God-fearing, child-rearing. Nevertheless, it is a proverb; it is not a covenantal promise. Nor does it specify at what point the children will be brought into line. Of course, many children from Christian homes go astray because the parents really have been very foolish or unbiblical or downright sinful; but many of us have witnessed the burdens of unnecessary guilt and shame borne by really godly parents when their grown children are, say, 40 years of age and demonstrably unconverted.

(6) The application of some themes and subjects must be handled with special care, not only because of their intrinsic complexity, but also because of essential shifts in social structures between Biblical times and our own day.
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves" (Rom 13:1-2). Some Christians have reasoned from this passage that we must always submit to the governing authorities, except in matters of conscience before God (Acts 4:19). Even then, we "submit" to the authorities by patiently bearing the sanctions they impose on us in this fallen world. Other Christians have reasoned from this passage that since Paul goes on to say that the purpose of rulers is to uphold justice (Rom 13:3-4), then if rulers are no longer up- holding justice, the time may come when righteous people should oppose them, and even, if necessary, overthrow them. The issues are exceedingly complex, and were thought through in some detail by the Reformers.

But there is of course a new wrinkle added to the fabric of debate when one moves from a totalitarian regime, or from an oligarchy, or from a view of government bound up with an inherited monarchy, to some form of democracy. This is not to elevate democracy to heights it must not occupy. It is to say, rather, that in theory at least, a democracy allows you to "overthrow" a government without violence or bloodshed. And if the causes of justice cannot do so, it is because the country as a whole has slid into a miasma that lacks the will, courage, and vision to do what it has the power to do. What, precisely, are the Christian's responsibilities in that case (whatever your view of the meaning of Romans 13 in its own context)?

In other words, new social structures beyond anything Paul could have imagined, though they cannot overturn what he said, may force us to see that the valid application demands that we bring into the discussion some considerations he could not have foreseen. It is a great comfort, and epistemologically important, to remember that God did foresee them but that does not itself reduce the hermeneutical responsibilities we have.

The Earthquake in Haiti

2010-01-14T15:20:00.006-06:00

As i was planning to write about this earthquake I was thinking about the passage of scripture that I always go to when there is a natural disaster or terrorist attack or any such devastation, and that is Luke 13. I then saw this post from the white horse inn...and i couldn't say it any better than this

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/333.html

Calvin's Inventory of Relics

2010-01-11T20:49:00.004-06:00

This is hilarious! This John Calvin's Inventory of Relics. Why do I love John Calvin so much? One of many reasons is he was neurotic enough not only to write against the use of Relics (by the way, relics are still alive and well in the modern catholic churhc) but he was neurotic enough to try to cataloug and write an inventory of them! My kinda guy! Read and hear the sarcasm!!!

Jesus ((number of locations) = location if known)

Altar from Temple on which Jesus was laid (1) = Church of St James in Rome.

Blood (5) = Rochelle in Aunis in Nicodemus' handkerchief; Mantua in a full phial; Billom in Auvergne liquid in a crystal vase; Also in Billom coagulated blood; Eustathins at Rome in a goblet.

Blood and water (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Branch which Jesus carried as He rode upon a donkey into Jerusalem (1) = Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Bread from the Feeding of the Five Thousand (2) = Church of Maria Nova in Rome; Church of St Salvador in Spain.

Broiled fish, piece of, which Jesus ate after His resurrection and while on the shore with the Apostles (1) = place unknown.

Cradle (1) = Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Crown of Thorns (18) = 1/3 part in the Holy Chapel in Paris; 3 thorns in the Church of Santa Croce in Rome; portion in the Church of St Eustathius in Rome; numerous thorns at Sienna; 1 thorn at Vineennes; 5 thorns at Bourges; 3 thorns in the Church of St John [place unknown]; 3 thorns at Koningsberg; several thorns in the Church of St Salvator in Spain; 2 thorns in the Church of St Jago in Compostella; 3 thorns in Vivarais; 1 thorn at Toulouse; 1 thorn at Mascon; 1 thorn at Charrox in Poicton; 1 thorn at St Clair; 1 thorn at Sanflor; 1 thorn at San Maximinin Provence in the monastery of Selles; 1 thorn in the Church of St Martin at Noyon.

Cross, piece of (?) = John Calvin: "There is no town, however small, which has not some morsel of it . . . There is no abbey so poor as to have a specimen. In some places, larger fragments exist, as at Paris, in the Holy Chapel, at Poictiers, and at Rome. . . . If all the pieces which could be found were collected into a heap, they would form a good shipload."

Cross which appeared to Constantine on the day before his decisive victory in battle (2) = Brescia; Cortonia.

Crucifix on which a beard has grown (3) = Burgos in Spain; Church of St Salvator in Spain; Aurengia.

Dice used to cast lots for Jesus' tunic (2) = Treves; the Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Earth on which Jesus stood when He raised Lazarus from the dead (1) = Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Foreskin (1) = Charrox, Rome.

Infant sleeping shirt (1) = Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Last Supper

Bread from the Last Supper (1) = Church of St Salvador in Spain.
Chalice from the Last Supper (2) = Church of Mary Insulane near Lyons; Vivarais in the monastery of Angustines.
Knife from the Last Supper which was used to cut up the Passover Lamb (1) = Treves.
Plate on which the Passover Lamb was served (3) = Rome; Genoa; Arles.
Table from the Last Supper (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.
Towel with which the Apostles' feet were dried after Footwashing (2) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome; Church of Cornelius in Acqs, Germany [this one has the mark of Judas' foot on it].
Linen (2) = Church of Saint Paul in Rome; a portion in the Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Manger = Church of the Elder Mary in Rome.

Nails from the Cross of Jesus (14) = Church of St Helena in Rome; Church of Santa Croce in Rome; Sienna; Venice; Church of the Three Manes in Cologne, Germany; Treves, Germany; Holy Chapel in Paris; possession of the Carmelites [location unknown]; Church of St Denis in the Isle of France; Abbey of Ciseaux; in Bourges; Draguignan in France; Milan; Carpeutras.

Napkin (or portion of it) on which Jesus' head was laid in the tomb (7) = Augustin monastery at Carcassone; Nice; Acps in Germany; Macstricht; Bensancon; Vindon in Limoges; Lorraine on the border of Alsace; Church of St Salvator's in Spain; Ausgustin monestary in Vivarais; a nunnery in Rome.

Pillars (3) around which Jesus was led after being scourged (1) = Church of Santa Croce.

Pillar on which Christ leaned in the temple when in discussion (1) = place unknown.

Pillar on which Christ was bound when scourged (1) = Church of Praxed.

Reed, that which was placed in Jesus hand as a scepter (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Robe which Mary used to wrap the dead Jesus (2) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome; Augustin monastery at Carcassone.

Robe which was placed on Jesus by the soldiers (2) = Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris; Treves.

Shoes (1) = Rome [specific location unknown].

Soldier's spear which pierced Jesus' side (4) = Holy Chapel in Paris; Rome [specific location unknown]; Saintongue in the monastery of Ciseaux in France; Selve near Bourdeaux.

Sponge, that which was filled with vinegar and offered to Jesus (1) = Church of Santa Croce in Rome.

Steps of Pilate's judgment seat (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome [it has holes which are supposedly made when Jesus' blood dripped onto it].

Tail of the donkey Jesus rode in the Triumphal Entry (1) = Genoa.

Tears of Jesus (3 ) = Vindon; Church of St Maximin at Treves [when Jesus was washing the Apostles' feet]; Church of Peter Puellare at Orleans.

Title, piece of wood named above Jesus' head on the Cross (2) = Tholouse; Church of Santa Croce.

Veronica's napkin (which Veronica used to wipe the face of Jesus and which as His face imprinted on it) (1) = St Peter's in Rome.

Water pots in which Jesus turned water to wine in Cana (5) = Ilavenna; Pisa; Cluny; Angers; Church of St Salvator in Spain.

Wine that Jesus changed from water (1) = Orleans [Once a year they give a tasting to any who bring an offering, Calvin].

Mary & Joseph ((number of locations) = location if known)

Mary

Appearance of Michael the Archangel to Mary

Michael's dagger (3) = Carcassone; church of St Julian in Tours; Church of St Michael [location unknown].
Michael's shield (1) = Church of St Michael [location unknown].
Comb ( 2) = St Martin's at Rome; St John's Besancon [location unknown].

Hair (6) = Church of Mary supra Minerva in Rome; Church of St Salvator's in Spain; Mascon; Cluny; Nocera; Sanfior; St. James [location unknown].

Girdles (2) =Prague; St Lago of Montserrat.

Gowns (2) = Church of St Maximin in Treves; Lisia in Italy.

Marriage ring (1) = Perugia.

Milk = John Calvin: "It cannot be necessary to enumerate all the places where it is shown. Indeed, the task would be endless, for there is no town, however small, no monastery or nunnery, however insignificant, which does not possess it, some in less, and others in greater quantities."

Pictures of Mary painted by Luke (4)

Church of St Mary the Immaculate in Rome, hung behind the altar.
Church of Mary Nova in Rome, painted at Troas and brought there by an angel.
Church of St Mary called Aracali painted in the form of a cross.
Church of St Augustine, which is the one Luke carried with him.
Ring of Betrothal (1) = Church of St Mary the Immaculate in Rome.

Scarf (1) = Bonne.

Shirt (2) = Chartrain; Acqs in Germany.

Various parts of wardrobe (4) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome; Church of St Barbara in Rome; Church of Mary supra Minerva in Rome; Church of St Salvator's in Spain.

Slipper (1) = St James.

Shoe (1) = Sanfior.

Joseph

Shoes (3) = Acqs in Germany; Treves; monastery of Simeon.

John the Baptist ((number of locations) = location if known)

Head

Front part (2) = Amiens; Joannes Angelicus.
Forehead and hair (1) = Church of St Salvator's in Spain.
Forehead to back of neck (1) = Malta.
Back of head (1) = Nevers.
Brain (1) = Novium Rantraviensis.
Part of head (3)= Joannes Morienus; Noyon; Lueca.
Jaw (1) = Church of John the Elder in Besancon.
Part of jaw (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Paris.
Tip of ear (1) = Canflor.
Whole head (1) = Monastery of Sylvester in Rome.
Altar on which he said prayers in the desert (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Arm (1) = Sienna.

Ashes from John's cremation (2) = Genoa; Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Finger with which John the Baptist pointed out Jesus (6) = Church of John the Great in Besancon; Tholouse; Lyons; Bourges; Florence; Church of Fortuitus near Maseon.

Girdle (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Linen Cloth which was placed under him when he was beheaded (1) = Acqs, Germany.

Shoe (1) = Monastery of the Carthusians in Paris.

Sword with which his head was cut off (1) = Avignon.

Peter ((number of locations) = location if known)

Beard (1) = Poictiers.

Body = 1/2 at St Peter's in Rome; 1/2 at St Paul's in Rome.

Bones, various (1) = Treves.

Chain with which Peter was bound (1) = St Peter's in Rome.

Chair in which Peter sat (1) = Rome [specific location unknown].

Cheekbone (1) = Poictiers.

Head (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Petronilla, body of [name of Peter's daughter; she is not named in the Gospels; this name was probably a later addition] (2) = St Peter's in Rome; La Maine [this relic was believed to be able to cure fevers.]

Pillar on which Peter was beheaded (1) = Church of St Anastasius. [This causes some confusion. Early church tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down.]

Robe in which Peter said mass (1) = Rome [specific location unknown].

Staff, walking (3) = Church of St Stephen a' Pierre in Paris; Cologne; Treves.

Sword with which the servant's ear was cut off (1) = [location unknown].

Tooth (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Paul ((number of locations) = location if known)

Body = 1/2 at St Peter's in Rome; 1/2 at St Paul's in Rome.

Bones, various = Treves.

Head (1) = Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome.

Shoulder (1) = Berri.

Apostles ((number of locations) = location if known)

Andrew, body of (2) = Melfi; Tholouse.

Andrew, arm (1) = Church of Holy Spirit.

Andrew, foot (1) = Aix.

Andrew, head (1) = Church of St Peter in Rome.

Andrew, rib (1) = St Eustathius.

Andrew, shoulder (1) = Grisgon.

Andrew, unknown part of body = Church of St. Blaise.

Bartholomew, body of (2) = Naples; Church of St Bartholomew in Rome.

Bartholomew, finger (1) = Frene.

Bartholomew, head (1) = Treves.

Bartholomew, skin (1) = Pisa.

James the Greater, body of (1) = Tholouse.

James, arm (2) = Grisgon; Church of the Holy Apostles.

James, hand (1) = Church of St Peter in Rome.

James the Less, body of (2) = Church of the Holy Apostles; Tholouse.

John, the chain with which he was bound when brought from Ephesus [to Patmos?] (1) = location unknown.

John, cup out of which he drank poison after he was condemned by Emperor Domitian (2) = Bonlogue; Church of Joannes Lateranensis in Rome. [Early church tradition holds that John is the only Apostle to have died a natural death from old age.]

John, tunic (1) = location unknown.

Jude, body of (2) = Church of St Peter; Tholouse.

Matthew, body of (1) = Salerno.

Matthew, arm (1) = Church of St Marcelius in Rome.

Matthew, head (1) = St. Nicholas.

Matthew, various bones = Treves.

Matthias, body of (3) = Padua; Church of the Elder Mary in Rome; Treves.

Matthias, arm (1) = location unknown.

Matthias, head (1) = location unknown.

Philip, body of (2) = Church of the Holy Apostles; Tholouse.

Philip, foot (1) = Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome.

Philip, unknown part of body = Church of St Barbara in Rome.

Simeon, body of (2) = Church of St Peter; Tholouse.

Thomas, body of (1) = Ortona.

Various Relics ((number of locations) = location if known)

Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary, body of (2) = Apte in Provence; church of Mary Insulan in Lyons.

Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary, arm (1) = St Paul's in Rome.

Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary, hand (3) = Treves; Turin; Thuringia.

Combs, one for each Apostle = church of Mary Insulan, near Lyons.

Lazarus, body of (3) = Marseilles; Austum; Avallon.

Longinus [name given to soldier who speared Jesus on the cross], body of (2) = Mantua; Church of Mary Insulan at Lyons.

Magi, bodies of (2 locations claimed to have all three) = Cologne; Milan.

Mary Magdalene, body of (2) = Vesoul, near Auxerre; San Maximin of Provence.

Stephen (the first martyred Christian), body of (1) = Church of St Stephen in Rome.

Stephen, head (1) = Aries

Stephen, stones with which he was killed (4 ) = Florence; Monastery of the Augustins in Aries; Vigeon in Aquitaine; Carmelites of Poictiers [one of the stones in Poictiers was said to ease the pain of childbirth].

Stephen, various bones = John Calvin, "[The] bones are in more than two hundred places."

Jonathan Edwards Reslolutions

2010-01-04T18:53:00.004-06:00

I do not make new years resolutions. So many people ask me what resolutions i make and i tell them none. If they ask me and they are Christian, i tell them about Jonathan Edwards. He wrote a list of 70 that are so stellar, i believe no one could have made a better list. They are soul searching, they are prayerful, they are so edifying and deep. The amazing thing is that he wrote them all before he was 21!!! he would pray through his list every week, the end of every month and the end of every year to monitor his improvement or his digression in them. Think about applying these to your life.

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don't hinder.

12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.

14. Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.

15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings.

16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.

19. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.

20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

21. Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power; might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God's glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.

26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.

27. Resolved, never willfully to omit anything, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.

30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is

perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.

32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that in Prov. 20:6, "A faithful man who can find?" may not be partly fulfilled in me.

33. Resolved, always to do what I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, when it can be without over-balancing detriment in other respects. Dec.26, 1722.

34. Resolved, in narration's never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity.

35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.

36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.

37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself: also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec.22 and 26, 1722.

38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord's day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.

39. Resolved, never to do anything that I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or no; except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.

43. Resolved, never henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's, agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12. Jan.12, 1723.

44- Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan.12, 1723.

45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan.12 and 13.1723.

46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eve: and to be especially careful of it, with respect to any of our family.

47. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peace able, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5,1723.

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.

50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether ~ have done my duty, and resolve to do it; and let it be just as providence orders it, I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.

58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May27, and July 13, 1723.

59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July ii, and July 13.

60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.

61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; "knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord." June 25 and July 13, 1723.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan.14' and July '3' 1723.

64. Resolved, when I find those "groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those "breakings of soul for the longing it hath," of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be wear', of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton's 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.

66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.

68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

Aug. 17, 1723

I am sick with Love

2010-01-01T22:09:00.004-06:00

My favroite book in the bible is the Song of Solomon. I so love it. I so love Jesus. I love being in the presence of Christ. I do not want to be anywhere else.
I love my wife as well, and she is out of town at the moment. I was laying in my bed last night, unable to sleep. The bed was cold my wife was not there, and i thought on Song of Solomon. As bad as i feel in my bed with my wife not there, no matter how comfortable it is, it is so empty without her. No matter how comfortable my life is, it is completely empty, cold and nothing without my Jesus. Here is Charles Spurgeon speaking of being Love sick for christ

"I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love."—Song of Solomon 5:8.
SICK! THAT IS A SAD THING; it moves your pity. Sick of love—love-sick! that stirs up other emotions which we shall presently attempt to explain. No doubt certain sicknesses are peculiar to the saints: the ungodly are never visited with them. Strange to say, these sicknesses, to which the refined sensibilities of the children of God render them peculiarly liable, are signs of vigorous health. Who but the beloved of the Lord ever experience that sin-sickness in which the soul loathes the very name of transgression, is unmoved by the enchantments of the tempter, finds no sweetness in its besetting sins, but turns with detestation and abhorrence from the very thought of iniquity? Not less is it for these, and these alone, to feel that self-sickness whereby the heart revolts from all creature-confidence and strength, having been made sick of self, self-seeking, self-exalting, self-reliance, and self of every sort. The Lord afflicts us more and more with such self-sickness till we are dead to self, its puny conceits, its lofty aims, and its unsanctified desires. Then there is a twofold love-sickness. Of the one kind is that love-sickness which comes upon the Christian when he is transported with the full enjoyment of Jesus, even as the bride elated by the favor, melted by the tenderness of her Lord, says in the fifth verse of the second chapter of the Song, "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love." The soul overjoyed with the divine communications of happiness and bliss which came from Christ, the body scarcely able to bear the excessive delirium of delight which the soul possessed, she was so glad to be in the embraces of her Lord, that she needed to be stayed under her overpowering weight of joy. Another kind of love-sickness widely different from the first, is that in which the soul is sick, not because it has too much of Christ's love, but because it has not enough present consciousness of it; sick, not of the enjoyment, but of the longing for it; sick, not because of excess of delight, but because of sorrow for an absent lover. It is to this sickness we call your attention this morning. Their love-sickness breaks out in two ways, and may be viewed in two lights. It is, first of all, the soul longing for a view of Jesus Christ in grace; and then again, it is the same soul possessing the view of grace, and longing for a sight of Jesus Christ in glory. In both these senses we, us accurately as the spouse, may adopt the languishing words, "If ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love."
I. First, then, let us consider our text as the language of a soul LONGING FOR THE VIEW OF JESUS CHRIST IN GRACE.
1. Do ye ask me concerning the sickness itself: What is it? It is the sickness of a soul panting after communion with Christ. The man is a believer; he is not longing after salvation as a penitent sinner under conviction, for he is saved. Moreover, he has love to Christ, and knows it; he does not doubt his evidence as to the reality of his affection for his Lord, for you see the word used is "My beloved," which would not be applicable if the person speaking had any doubt about her interest; nor did she doubt her love, for she calls the spouse, "My beloved." It is the longing of a soul, then, not for salvation, and not even for the certainty of salvation, but for the enjoyment of present fellowship with him who is her soul's life, her soul's all. The heart is panting to be brought once more under the apple tree; to feel once again his "left hand under her head, while his right hand doth embrace her." She has known, in days past, what it is to be brought into his banqueting-house, and to see the banner of love waved over her, and she therefore crieth to have love visits renewed. It is a panting after communion. Gracious hours, my dear friends, are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for mark you, when they are not near to Christ, they lose their peace. The nearer to Jesus, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; and the further from Jesus, the nearer to that troubled sea which images the continual unrest of the wicked. There is no peace to the man who doth not dwell constantly under the shadow of the cross; for Jesus is our peace, and if he be absent, our peace is absent too. I know that being justified, we have peace with God, but it is "through our Lord Jesus Christ." So that the justified man himself cannot reap the fruit of justification, except by abiding in Christ Jesus, who is the Lord and Giver of peace. The Christian without fellowship with Christ loses all his life and energy; he is like a dead thing. Though saved, he lies like a lumpish log—
"His soul can neither fly nor go
To reach eternal joys."

He is without vivacity, yea, more, he is without animation till Jesus comes; but when the Lord sensibly sheds abroad his love in our hearts, then his love kindles ours; then our blood leaps in our veins for joy, like the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth. The heart when near to Jesus has strong pulsations, for since Jesus is in that heart, it is full of life, of vigor, and of strength. Peace, liveliness, vigor—all depend upon the constant enjoyment of communion with Christ Jesus. The soul of a Christian never knows what joy means in its true solidity, except when she sits like Mary at Jesus' feet. Beloved, all the joys of life are nothing to us; we have melted them all down in our crucible, and found them to be dross. You and I have tried earth's vanities, and they cannot satisfy us; nay, they do not give a morsel of meat to satiate our hunger. Being in a state of dissatisfaction with all mortal things, we have learned through divine grace, that none but Jesus, none but Jesus can make our souls glad. "Philosophers are happy without music" said one of old. So Christians are happy without the world's good. Christians, with the world's good, are sure to bemoan themselves as naked, poor, and miserable, unless their Savior be with them. You that have ever tasted communion with Christ, will soon know why it is that a soul longs after him. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothes to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveler in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us. What the turtle is to her mate, what the husband is to his spouse, what the head is to the body, such is Jesus Christ to us; and therefore, if we have him not, nay, if we are not conscious of having him; if we are not one with him, nay, if we are not consciously one with him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love." Such is the character of this love-sickness. We may say of it, however, before we leave that point, that it is a sickness which has a blessing attending it: "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness;" and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One—after him, who in the highest perfection embodies pure, immaculate, spotless righteousness. Blessed is that hunger, for it comes from God. It bears a blessing within it; for if I may not have the blessedness in full bloom of being filled, the next best thing is the same blessedness in sweet bud of being empty till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to be allowed to hunger and thirst after him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. Yet it is a sickness, dear friends, which, despite the blessing, causes much pain. The man who is sick after Jesus, will be dissatisfied with everything else; he will find that dainties have lost their sweetness, and music its melody, and light its brightness, and life itself will be darkened with the shadow of death to him, till he finds his Lord, and can rejoice in him. Beloved, ye shall find that this thirsting, this sickness, if it ever gets hold upon you, is attended with great vehemence. The desire is vehement, as coals of juniper. Ye have heard of hunger that it breaks through stone walls: but stone walls are no prison to a soul that desires Christ. Stone walls, nay, the strongest natural barriers, cannot keep a lovesick heart from Jesus. I will venture to say that the temptation of heaven itself, if it could be offered to the believer without his Christ, would be as less than nothing; and the pains of hell, if they could be endured, would be gladly ventured upon by a love-sick soul, if he might but find Christ. As lovers sometimes talk of doing impossibilities for their fair ones, so certainly a spirit that is set on Christ will laugh at impossibility, and say, "It shall be done." It will venture upon the hardest task, go cheerfully to prison and joyfully to death, if it may but find its beloved, and have its love-sickness satisfied with his presence. Perhaps this may suffice for a description of the sickness here intended.
2. Ye may enquire concerning the cause of this love-sickness. What maketh a man's soul so sick after Christ? Understand that it is the absence of Christ which makes this sickness in a mind that really understands the preciousness of his presence. The spouse had been very wilful and wayward, she had taken off her garments, had gone to her rest, her sluggish slothful rest, when her beloved knocked at the door. He said "Open to me, my beloved; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." She was too slothful to wake up to let him in. She urged excuses—"I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet: how shall I defile them?" The beloved stood waiting, but since she opened not he put in his hand by the hole of the lock, and then her bowels were moved towards him. She went to the door to open it, and to her surprise, her hands dropped with myrrh, and her fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. There was the token that he had been there, but he was gone. Now she began to bestir herself, and seek after him. She sought him through the city, but she found him not. Her soul failed her; she called after him, but he gave her no answer, and the watchman, who ought to have helped her in the search, smote her, and took away her veil from her. Therefore it is that now she is seeking, because she has lost her beloved. She should have held him fast, and not have permitted him to go. He is absent, and she is sick till she findeth him. Mingled with the sense of absence is a consciousness of wrong doing. Something in her seemed to say, "How couldst thou drive him away? That heavenly bridegroom who knocked and pleaded hard, how couldst thou keep him longer there amidst the cold dews of night? O unkind heart! what if thy feet had been made to bleed by thy rising? What if all thy body had seen chilled by the cold wind, when thou wast treading the floor? What had it been compared with his love to thee?" And so she is sick to see him, that she may weep out her love and tell him how vexed she is with herself that she should have held to him so loosely, and permitted him so readily to depart. So, too, mixed with this, was great wretchedness because he was gone. She had been for a little time easy in his absence. That downy bed, that warm coverlet, had given her a peace, a false, cruel, and a wicked peace, but she has risen now, the watchmen have smitten her, her veil is gone, and, without a friend, the princess, deserted in the midst of Jerusalem's streets, has her soul melted for heaviness, and she pours out her heart within her as she pineth after her lord. "No love but my love, no lord but my lord," saith she, with sobbing tongue and weeping eyes; for none else can gratify her heart or appease her anxiety. Beloved, have you never been in such a state, when your faith has begun to droop, and your heart and spirits have fled from you? Even then it was your soul was sick for him. You could do without him when Mr. Carnal-security was in the house, and feasted you, but when he and his house have both been burned with fire, the old love-sickness came back, and you wanted Christ, nor could ye be satisfied till ye found him once again. There was true love in all this, and this is the very pith of all love-sickness. Had not she loved, absence would not have made her sick, nor would her repentance have made her grieve. Had she not loved, there would have been no pain because of absence, and no sinking of spirits, but she did love, thence all this sickness. It is a delightful thing to be able to know when we have lost Christ's company, that we do love him—"'Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.' I did deny thee, yea, in the moment of thy sorrow, I said, 'I know not the man.' I did curse and swear that men might think I was no follower of thine, but still thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." When you can feel this, dear friends, the consciousness that you love will soon work in you a heart-burning, so that your soul will not be satisfied till you can tell out that love in the Master's presence, and he shall say unto you, as a token of forgiveness, "Feed my sheep." I do not doubt that in this sickness there had been some degree of fear. Sorrowful woman! She was half afraid she might never find him again. She had been about the city—where could he be? She had sought him on the walls and on the ramparts, but he was not there. In every ordinance, in every means of grace, in secret and in public prayer, in the Lord's Supper, and in the reading of the Word, she had looked after him, but he was not there; and now she was half afraid that though he might give his presence to others, yet never to her, and when she speaks, you notice there is half a fear in it. She would not have asked others to tell him if she had any assuring hope that she should meet him herself—"If ye find him," she seems to say, "O ye true converts, you that are the real grace-bow daughters of Jerusalem; if he reveals himself to you, though he never may to me, do me this kindness, tell him that I am sick of love." There is half a fear here, and yet there is some hope. She feels that he must love her still, or else why send a message at all? She would surely never send this sweet message to a flinty, adamantine heart, "Tell him I am sick of love," but she remembered when the glancings of her eyes had ravished him; she remembered when a motion from her hand had made his heart melt, and when one tear of her eyes had opened all his wounds afresh. She thinks, "Perhaps, he loves me still as he loved me then, and my moanings will enchain him; my groans will constrain him and lead him to my help." So she sends the message to him—"Tell him, tell him I am sick of love."
To gather up the causes of this love-sickness in a few words, does not the whole matter spring from relationship? She is his spouse; can the spouse be happy without her beloved lord? It springs from union; she is part of himself. Can the hand be happy and healthy if the life-floods stream not from the heart and from the head. Fondly realizing her dependence, she feels that she owes all to him, and gets her all from him. If then the fountain be cut off, if the streams be dried, if the great source of all be taken from her, how can she but be sick? And there is besides this, a life and a nature in her which makes her sick. There is a life like the life of Christ, nay, her life is in Christ, it is hid with Christ in God; her nature is a part of the divine nature; she is a partaker of the divine nature. Moreover she is in union with Jesus, and this piece divided, as it were, from the body, wriggles, like a worm cut asunder, and pants to get back to where it came from. These are the causes of it. You will not understand my sermon this morning but think me raving, unless you are spiritual men. "But the spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."
3. What endeavors such love-sick souls will put forth. Those who are sick for Christ will first send their desires to him. Men use pigeons sometimes to send their messages. Why, what sort of carrier pigeons do they use? The pigeon is of no use to send anywhere but to the place from which it came, and my desires after Christ came from him, and so they will always go back to the place from which they came, they know the way to their own dovecot, so I will send him my sighs and my groans, my tears and my moans. Go, go, sweet doves, with swift and clipping wings, and tell him I am sick of love. Then she would send her prayers. Ah! methinks she would say of her desires, "They will never reach him; they know the way but their wings are broken, and they will fall to the ground and never reach him." Yet she will send them whether they reach him or not. As for her prayers, they are like arrows. Sometimes messages have been sent into besieged towns bound to an arrow, so she binds her desires upon the arrow of her prayers, and then shoots them forth from the bow of her faith. She is afraid they will never reach him, for her bow is slack, and she knoweth not how to draw it with her feeble hands which hang down. So what does she? She has traversed the streets; she has used the means; she has done everything; she has sighed her heart out, and emptied her soul out in prayers. She is all wounds till he heals her; she is all a hungry mouth till he fills her; she is all an empty brook till he replenishes her once again, and so now she goeth to her companions, and she saith, "If ye find my beloved, tell him I am sick of love." This is using the intercession of the saints. It is unbelief that makes her use it, and yet there is a little faith mixed in her unbelief. It was an unbelief but not a misbelief. There is efficacy in the intercession of saints. Not of dead saints—they have enough to do to be singing God's praises in heaven without praying for us—but saints on earth can take up our case. The king has his favourites; he has his cup-bearers; he has some that are admitted into great familiarity with him: give me a share in a good man's prayers. I attribute under God the success the Lord has given me, to the number of souls in every quarter of the earth who pray for me—not you alone, but in every land there are some that forget me not when they draw near in their supplications. Oh! we are so rich when we have the prayers of saints. When it is well with thee, speak for me to the Captain of the host, and if he should say to thee, "What was his message?" I have no other message but that of the spouse, "Tell him I am sick of love." Any of you who have close familiarity with Jesus, be the messengers, be the heavenly tale-bearers between love-sick souls and their divine Lord. Tell him, tell him we are sick of love. And you that cannot thus go to him, do seek the help and aid of others. But after all, as I have said this is unbelief though it is not misbelief, for how much better it would have been for her to tell him herself. "But," you say, "she could not find him." Nay, but if she had had faith she would have known that her prayers could; for our prayers know where Christ is when we do not know, or rather, Christ knows where our prayers are, and when we cannot see him they reach him nevertheless. A man who fires a cannon is not expected to see all the way which the shot goes. If he has his cannon rightly sighted and fires it, there may come on a thick fog, but the shot will reach the place; and if you have your hearts sighted by divine grace after Christ, you may depend upon it, however thick the fog, the hot-shot of your prayer will reach the gates of heaven though ye cannot tell how or where. Be ye satisfied to go to a Christ yourself. If your brethren will go, well and good, but methinks their proper answer to your question would be in the language of the women in the sixth chapter, the first verse, "Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee." They will not seek him for us they say, but they can seek him with us. Sometimes when there are six pair of eyes, they will see better than one; and so, if five or six Christians seek the Lord in company, in the prayer-meeting, or at his table, they are more likely to find him. "We will seek him with thee."
4. Blessed love-sickness! we have seen its character and its cause, and the endeavors of the soul under it; let us just notice the comforts which belong to such a state as this. Briefly they are these—you shall be filled. It is impossible for Christ to set you longing after him without intending to give himself to you. It is as when a great man doth make a feast. He first puts plates upon the table, and then afterwards there cometh the meat. Your longings and desirings are the empty plates to hold the meat. Is it likely that he means to mock you? Would he have put the dishes there if he did not intend to fill them with his oxen and with his fatlings? He makes you long: he will certainly satisfy your longings. Remember, again, that he will give you himself all the sooner for the bitterness of your longings. The more pained your heart is at his absence the shorter will the absence be. If you have a grain of contentment without Christ, that will keep you longer tarrying but when your soul is sick till your heart is ready to break, till you cry, "Why tarrieth he? why are his chariots so long in coming?" when your soul fainteth until your beloved speaks unto you, and you are ready to die from your youth up, then in no long space he will lift the veil from his dear face, and your sun shall rise with healing beneath his wings. Let that console you. Then, again, when he does come, as come he will, oh, how sweet it will be! Methinks I have the flavour in my mouth now, and the fullness of the feast is yet to come. There is such a delight about the very thought that he will come, that the thought itself is the prelude, the foretaste, the antepast of the happy greeting. What! Will he once again speak comfortably to me? Shall I again walk the bed of spices with him? Shall I ramble with him amongst the groves while the flowers give forth their sweet perfume: I shall! I shall! and even now my spirit feels his presence by anticipation: "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib." You know how sweet it was in the past. Beloved, what times we have had, some of us. Oh, whether in the body or out of the body, we cannot tell—God knoweth. What mountings! Talk ye of eagles' wings—they are earthly pinions, and may not be compared with the wings with which he carried us up from earth. Speak of mounting beyond clouds and stars!—they were left far, far behind. We entered into the unseen, beheld the invisible, lived in the immortal, drank in the ineffable, and were blessed with the fullness of God in Christ Jesus, being made to sit together in heavenly places in him. Well, all this is to come again, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice." "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me." "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Think of this. Why, we have comfort even in this sickness of love. Our heart, though sick, is still whole, while we are panting and pining after the Lord Jesus.
"O love divine, how sweet thou art,
When shall I find my willing heart
All taken up with thee?
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
The fullness of redeeming love—
The love of Christ to me."

II. And now, secondly, with as great brevity as we can. This love-sickness may be seen in A SOUL-LONGING FOR A VIEW OF JESUS IN HIS GLORY.
1. And here we will consider the complaint itself for a moment. This ailment is not merely a longing after communion with Christ on earth—that has been enjoyed, and generally this sickness follows that:—
"When I have tasted of the grapes,
I sometimes long to go
Where my dear Lord the vineyard keeps
And all the clusters grow."

It is the enjoyment of Eshcol's first fruits which makes us desire to sit under our own vine and our own fig tree before the throne of God in the blessed land.
Beloved, this sickness is characterized by certain marked symptoms; I will tell you what they are. There is a loving and a longing, a loathing and a languishing. Happy soul that understands these things by experience. There is a loving in which the heart cleaves to Jesus:—
"Do not I love thee from my soul?
Then let me nothing love:
Dead be my heart to every joy
When Jesus cannot move."

A sense of his beauty! an admiration of his charms! a consciousness of his infinite perfection! Yea; greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray combine to enchant the soul till it is so ravished after him that it crieth with the spouse, "Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem." Sweet loving this—a love which binds the heart with chains of more than silken softness, and yet than adamant more firm.
Then there is a longing. She loves him so that she cannot endure to be absent from him; she pants and pines. You know it has been so with saints in all ages; whenever they have begun to love they have always begun to long after Christ. John, the most loving of spirits, is the author of those words which he so frequently uses—"Come quickly, even so, come quickly." "Come quickly" is sure to be the fruit of earnest love. See how the spouse puts it—"O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised." She longs to get hold of him; she cannot conclude her song without saying, "Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices." There is a longing to be with Christ. I would not give much for your religion if you do not long to be with the object of your heart's affections.
Then comes a loathing. When a man is sick with the first lovesickness, then he does not loathe—it is, "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples." When a man has Christ, he can enjoy other things; but when a man is longing after Christ and seeking after Christ, he loathes everything else—he cannot bear anything besides. Here is my message to Jesus: "Tell him—" what? Do I want crowns and diadems? crowns and diadems are nought to me. Do I want wealth, and health, and strength? they are all very well in their way. No—"Tell him, tell the beloved of my soul that I grieve after himself—his gifts are good—I ought to be more grateful for them than I am, but let me see his face; let me hear his voice. I am sick of love, and nothing but that can satisfy me, everything else is distasteful to me."
And then there is a languishing. Since she cannot get the society of Christ, cannot as yet behold him on his throne nor worship him face to face, she is sick until she can. For a heart so set on Christ will walk about traversing highway and by-way, resting nowhere till it finds him. As the needle once magnetized will never be easy until it finds the pole, so the heart once Christianized never will be satisfied until it rests on Christ—rests on him, too, in the fullness of the beatific vision before the throne. This is the character of the love-sickness.
2. As to its object—what is that? "Tell him that I am sick of love;" but what is the sickness for? Brethren, when you and I want to go to heaven I hope it is the true love-sickness. I catch myself sometimes wanting to die and be in heaven for the sake of rest; but is not that a lazy desire? There is a sluggish wish that makes me long for rest. Perhaps, we long for the happiness of heaven—the harps and crowns. There is a little selfishness in that, is there not? Allowable, I grant you; but is not there a little like selfishness? Perhaps, we long to see dear children, beloved friends that have gone before; but there is a little of the earthy there. The soul may be as sick as it will, without rebuke, when it is sick to be with Jesus. You may indulge this carry it to its utmost extent without either sin or folly. What am I sick with love for? For the pearly gates?—No; but for the pearls that are in his wounds. What am I sick for? For the streets of gold?—No; but for his head which is as much fine gold. For the melody of the harps and angelic songs?—No, but for the melodious notes that come from his dear mouth. What am I sick for? For the nectar that angels drink?—No; but for the kisses of his lips. For the manna on which heavenly souls do feed?—No; but for himself, who is the meat and drink of his saints himself, himself—my soul pines to see him. Oh, what a heaven to gaze upon! What bliss to talk with the man, the God, crucified for me; to weep my heart out before him; to tell him how I love him, for he loved me and gave himself for me; to read my name written on his hands and on his side—yea, and to let him see that his name is written on my heart in indelible lines; to embrace him, oh! what an embrace when the creature shall embrace his God—to be for ever so close to him, that not a doubt, nor a fear, nor a wandering thought can come between my soul and him for ever—
"For ever to behold him shine,
For evermore to call him mine,
And see him still before me;
For ever on his face to gaze,
And meet his full assembled rays,
While all the Father he displays
To all the saints in glory."

What else can there be that our spirit longeth for? This seems an empty thing to worldlings, but to the Christian this is heaven summed up in a word—"To be with Christ, which is far better" than all the joys of earth. This is the object, then, of this love-sickness.
3. Ask ye yet again what are the excitements of this sickness? What is it makes the Christian long to be at home with Jesus? There are many things. There are sometimes some very little things that set a Christian longing to be at home. You know the old story of Swiss soldiers, that when they have enlisted into foreign service they never will permit the band to play the "Ranz des Vaches"—the Song of the Cows, because as soon as ever the Swiss hears the Song of the Cows, he thinks of his own dear Alps, and the bells upon the cows necks, and the strange calls of the herd-boys, as they sing to one another from the mountains' peaks; and he grows sick and ill with home-sickness. So if you were banished, if you were taken prisoner or a slave, why, to hear some note of one of old England's songs would set your spirit a-pining for home, and I do confess, when I hear you sing sometimes—
"Jerusalem! my happy home!
Name ever dear to me;
When shall my labors have an end,
In joy, and peace, and thee?"

it makes me say, "Ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell him, that I am sick of love." It is the home-song that brings the home-sickness. When we remember what he used to be to us, what sweet visits we have had from him, then we get sick to be always with him, and, best of all, when we are in his presence, when our soul is overjoyed with his delights, when the great deep sea of his love has rolled over the mast-head of our highest thoughts, and the ship of our spirit has gone right down, foundering at sea in the midst of an ocean of delights, ah, then its highest, its deepest thought is, "O that I may always be with him, in him, where he is, that I might behold his glory—the glory which his Father gave him, and which he has given me, that I may be one with him, world without end." I do believe, brethren, that all the bitters and all the sweets make a Christian, when he is in a healthy state, sick after Christ: the sweets make his mouth water for more sweets, and the bitters make him pant for the time when the last dregs of bitterness shall be over. Wearying temptations, as well as rapt enjoyments, all set the spirit on the wing after Jesus.
4. Well now, friends, what is the cure of this love-sickness? Is it a sickness for which there is any specific remedy? There is only one cure that I know of, but there are some palliatives. A man that is sick after Christ, longs to be with him, and pants for the better land, singing as we did just now—
"Father, I long, I faint to see
The place of thine abode."

He must have the desire realized, before the thirst of his fever will be assuaged. There are some palliatives, and I will recommend them to you. Such for example is a strong faith that realizes the day of the Lord and the presence of Christ, as Moses beheld the promised land and the goodly heritage, when he stood on the top of Pisgah. If you do not get heaven when you want it, you may attain to that which is next door to heaven, and this may bear you up for a little season. If you cannot get to behold Christ face to face, it is a blessed make-shift for the time to see him in the Scriptures, and to look at him through the glass of the Word. These are palliatives, but I warn ye, I warn ye of them. I do not mean to keep you from them, use them as much as ever you can, but I warn you from expecting that it will cure that love-sickness. It will give you ease but it will make you more sick still, for he that lives on Christ gets more hungry after Christ. As for a man being satisfied and wanting no more when he gets Christ—why he wants nothing but Christ it is true, in that sense he will never thirst; but he wants more, and more, and more, and more of Christ. To live on Christ is like drinking sea-water, the more ye drink the more thirsty ye grow. There is something very satisfying in Christ's flesh, you will never hunger except for that, but the more you eat of it the more ye may; and he that is the heartiest feaster, and hath eaten the most, hath the best appetite for more. Oh, strange is this, but so it is; that which we would think would remove the lovesickness, and is the best stay to the soul under it, is just that which brings it on more and more. But there is a cure, there is a cure, and you shall have it soon—a black draught, and in it a pearl:—a black draught called Death. Ye shall drink it, but ye shall not know it is bitter, for ye shall swallow it up in victory. There is a pearl, too, in it—melted in it. Jesus died as well as you, and as you drink it, that pearl shall take away all ill effect from the tremendous draught. You shall say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" When you have once drank that black draught, you are secure against that love-sickness for ever. For where are you? No pilgrimage, no weary flight through cold ether, thou art with him in paradise. Dost thou hear that, soul? Thou art with him in paradise, never to be separated, not for an instant; never to have a wandering thought, not one; never to find thy love waning or growing cold again; never to doubt his love to thee any more; never more to be vexed and tempted by sighing after what thou canst not view. Thou shalt be with him, where he is—
"Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in."

Till then, beloved, let us strive to live near the cross. Those two mountains, Calvary and Zion, stand right opposite one another. The eye of faith can sometimes almost span the interval. And the loving heart, by some deep mystery of which we can offer you no solution, will often have its sweetest rapture of joy in the fellowship of his griefs. So have I found a satisfaction in the wounds of a crucified Jesus, which can only be excelled by the satisfaction I have yet to find in the sparkling eyes of the same Jesus glorified. Yes; the same Jesus! Well spake the angels on Mount Olivet—"This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." This same Jesus! my soul coats on the words; my lips are fond of repeating them. This same Jesus!
"If in my soul such joy abounds,
While weeping faith explores his wounds,
How glorious will those sears appear,
When perfect bliss forbids a tear!
Think, O my soul, if 'tis so sweet
On earth to sit at Jesus' feet,
What must it be to wear a crown
And sit with him upon his throne?"

Would to God you all had this love-sickness! I am afraid many of you have it not. May he give it to you. But oh! if there be a soul here that wants Jesus, he is welcome. If there is one heart here that says, "Give me Christ," you shall have your desire. Trust Jesus Christ, and he is thine; rely upon him, thou art his. God save thee and make thee sick of vanities, sick after verities; pining even unto sickness for Jesus Christ, the beloved of my soul, the sum of all my hope, the sinners only refuge, and the praise of all his saints; to whom be everlasting glory. Amen.

Do We Really Need Youth Groups?

2009-12-22T15:58:00.005-06:00

Are Youth Groups really necessary? I don't mean this to attack good and passionate youth ministers. I know that there are some very good youth groups and very good youth ministers out there. I know that there will be some youth ministers reading this and i can think of two in particular that may read this blog that i respect greatly. (I'm sure you know who you are. I have told you before that you and your husband are some of the good ones.) Please just show me where it is biblical?

I can illustrate this point. I see in the bible the body of Christ coming together for exposition of the word and for the sacraments. I do not see the youth separated at all in the body of Christ. The youth and the Children contribute to the body as a whole. Why do you rob your congregation of their contributions? We have made it where you can go through your growing up in the church and never be part of the church. You are in nursery, then into children's church, then into junior high group, then youth group, then into college and singles, and are never part of the body of believers coming together. So when they go away to college, they think that Campus Crusade is Church, just like I did, because i was never taught about the communion of the saints. I was never taught Ecclesiology. Why are we not teaching our children about the communion of the saints? The reason they feel they need there own thing, is because they have never been allowed to belong to the Communion of the saints. This is tragic

Parents, you are youth ministers! If you are not training your children, if you are not leading your family in worship at home, if you are not catechising and praying with your family, then YOU ARE SINNING! This used to be a matter that called for church discipline. If you were not leading your family in worship you were subject to church discipline. This needs to be resurrected. We must understand the brevity of what we are doing. The whole church has been entrusted to bring the children up in the faith. God was good and blessed our congregations with youth and children. WHY WOULD WE NOT WANT THEM WITH US!

What makes more of an impact on a young persons life? Somebody barely older than them teaching them a little bit here and there between the games? Or an older man or older woman taking that young person under their wing and investing in them. Personally investing in them. Showing them what a family is to look like, teaching them how to study and pray, taking responsibility over them and showing them how to be a follower of Christ. Some youth do not have good families, they have hethen parents who suject them to who knows how many torments. Don't you think that an older family taking responsibility for that young person would do so much more than some little 20 minute message on a wednesday with a cool game and loud music? Show them what a family is supposed to look like, so that when they get their own family you will be the model and not their horrible home life. No one ever did that with me, so now i'm scared to death! I've never seen a father, i've never seen a family that is functional. I have only recently in the last few years by the grace of God been around Godly families and have seen it. Now i can put some looks on what my family should look like, if we are to honor God.

Our small groups in our churches should look like the church! Our small Groups should be full of single moms, and families with children, and teenagers, and old widows, and single college people all together worshiping and walking with Christ together. Church, we have a responsibility to raise up our children in the faith. It starts at home, and it continues into the life of the church. I could write about his for days and days, but now just a few words to say what is on my mind and to start the conversation. If I am wrong please tell me...I just don't see how I am. this is a link to crosstalk where they talk about some of these issues. http://www.crosstalkblog.com/2009/12/time-to-dump-youth-ministry-in-churches/ Please comment, lets talk about this.

Me Preaching on 2 Peter 1:1

2009-12-20T01:54:00.004-06:00

This is me preaching on Nov 14th 2009 on 2 Peter 1:1

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=53191

John MacArthur speaking about the Dangers of TBN

2009-12-11T15:18:00.002-06:00

I have said for years that we as christians would be better off without TBN or ANY of these allegedly christian television networks. Most of what the world knows of Christianity is from these networks, and they are learning a FALSE christianity. They are learning a CULT! and its a damning cult at that. Here is John MacArthur talking about the worst of them all TBN. Normally i just cut and paste the whole article into my blogs, but i want you to be able to check out the links and proof he provides. Please read and warn others of the dangers of this cult!

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A392

Tiger Woods taught us a lesson we should pay attention to

2009-12-02T17:24:00.004-06:00

Prov 6:25-29 "Do not desire her beauty in your heart,and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her will go unpunished."

Tiger Woods has shown us all something. You can have a billion dollars in the bank, (he is the first Golfer to ever earn a billion dollars) you can have an amazingly beautiful supermodel Swedish Wife, you can live in several mansions, you can be one of the most famous and recognizable celebrities in the world, you can have all the athletic skill in the world...and without Christ you will still be unsatisfied. If we don't take Christ as our treasure, then we will spend our whole lives searching for trifles and fleeting happiness...and none of it will satisfy.
Ps 19:14 "satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

Ps 84:10-12 " For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Believe the Promises of God! And use them to FIGHT Sin in your life when it comes up!

Twilight is like Pornography

2009-11-30T17:38:00.003-06:00

I really don't think people realize the lure of vampire stories. When i was away from Christ, i absoutly adored vampire stories. I wanted to be one. I acted like them. A vampire can do anything, have anyone, be always the coolest and most powerful. There is no way to devorce vampirism and sexuality. Everything about vampires is foused on sex. What these stories are is emotional pornography. You can sin in your heart sexually just as much as in your mind or with your body. Here is an interesting thought on a side of this that people don't talk about it...how women should be aware of this and aware of themselves likeing these stories from visionarydaughters.com

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL POST
November 24, 2009, by Elizabeth
A Horror Story About a Horror Story
Once upon a dark and stormy year, tens of millions of women and girls, of all ages, all nations, all religions, fell under the spell of one 17-year-old boy…
who was not even human…
and was not even real.
This imaginary man-god from the underworld became the new standard by which millions of real husbands, boyfriends and suitors were weighed in the balance and found wanting. To millions of women, reality began to pale in comparison to his dark and fantastical world – the only world where they could be with Their Edward.
“i dont really understand why but it makes me so sad when i think of edward, almost like i know he will never exsits expect in fictionly stories. i wish i would already find him and be eternaly happy just holding his hand :/”[1]
Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight may be fiction, but this story is real. Edward Cullen is no more than an idea, but ideas have consequences, and Edward-obsession is creeping into real history.
This week Twilight proved its mighty cultural force when the second film in the series, New Moon, broke all-time opening-day box office records, beating out Titanic and Dark Knight. [2] Since the release of the first Twilight book in 2005, 85 million subsequent books in the series have been sold. Twilight’s cultural conquest is phenomenal. But how did this averagely-written, clichéd storyline capture so many hearts, minds and imaginations (not to mention over one billion dollars in book, DVD and ticket sales)?
“I am obsessed, it seems to have taken over my life, everytime I think about putting the books up for good and reading something new, I nearly have an anxiety attack!”
We have a few theories. Though Stephanie Meyer is not a brilliant author, she knows how to make an illicit romance with a vampire look like a clean, pro-abstinence story of unconditional love and good vs. evil (and convince even Christians.) [3]
We believe her greatest genius, though, is her keen intuition into the sin nature and fleshly desires of women. Being, ourselves, young women in her target demographic, we know Twilight presents a very attractive alternate universe to tempt any girl’s flesh: a self-centered, autonomous life, a self-gratifying romance, and no real-world responsibilities or consequences. Best of all, the perfection of the hero has no human limitations. Move over, Mr. Darcy – with your every earthly quality, you’re still only human. Mr. Cullen is superhumanly handsome, brilliant, strong, rich, romantic, and most of all, superhumanly capable of unconditional love. He even has the “bad-boy” appeal of being a blood-lusting creature of the underworld, but with the impeccable Victorian manners and sensitive feminine feelings of the “good boy.” Half-demon, half-angel; there’s something for everyone in Edward Cullen.
Of course, intrinsic to Edward’s irresistible allure is the sheer, titillating “forbidden” factor. Twilight’s now-iconic cover art portrays the hands of a young girl holding an apple, an allusion to Eve’s contemplating the forbidden fruit – a metaphor for Bella’s temptation for an unthinkable relationship with a vampire. The message of the cover is perfectly apropos; the choice presented, however, is before more than just Bella, Twilight’s protagonist. Will we fall into our own love affair with Edward Cullen? Will we succumb to the charms of fantasy men in fantasy worlds?
Emotional Pornography
“He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn’t imagine how an angel could be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon.” (Bella Swan, Twilight, Chapter 12, p.241)
For this discussion, we would like to set aside the dark paranormal element of Twilight, though that is a concern on its own. We believe what ultimately draws women into this series and other romance novels in millions-strong droves is the same thing that lures men into an estimated $3-4 billion-a-year pornography industry.
Journalist Alisa Harris explains: “It’s called emotional porn. When men glut their physical lust with pictures of airbrushed girls pumped full of silicone, they become dissatisfied with real women’s bodies. When women plug their emotional caverns with chick flicks and chick lit, they become dissatisfied with the real men they know because they can’t measure up to the guys from The Notebook or Pride and Prejudice or Walk to Remember.” (Alisa Harris, “Beating Darcy Down”, Kritik Magazine)
Pornography is not simply about pictures. At its core, pornography starts with:
1. A desire to use people as self-gratification machines2. A preference for man-made reality and man-made people over the real thing.
These hold as much temptation for women as for men, though romance novels often feed their fire better than pictures. (It has been found, however, that pictures of Robert Pattinson don’t put a damper on anything.) [4]
R.J. Rushdoony asks, “Why should an unreal female be exciting, and a far better and real woman not be so? The key is the essence of imagination: the fantasy woman is totally the creation and creature of man, whereas the real woman is God’s creation and creature. It is essential to imagination to create a man-made world and a man-ordained decree of predestination. It is the essence of sin to demand such a world.” [5]
Why should Edward, Mr. Darcy and other romantic heroes be more interesting than “far better and real” men? Because these men are the creations of women, tailor-made just the way we want them… rather than the way God made them.
Why Can’t a Man… Be More Like a Woman?
“A normal guy would wait for you to make him breakfast. Edward Cullen would make you breakfast everyday.” (Normal Guy Vs. Edward Cullen)
The problem with real guys, it often seems, is that they aren’t enough like, well… girls. The airbrushed, artificially enhanced heroes of romantic fiction have usually undergone some gender-blurring to make them more romantically satisfying: more beautiful, more delicately-featured, more sensitive, more domestic, better behaved, more in tune with our feelings. In short, more like us. Ultimately, they must also take on a different role, because real men are not all about what we wish they were all about (us).
In God’s world, the woman was created for the man; in the wonderful world of romance novels, the man is usually created as an accessory to the woman. God created men to have a dominion-focus, not a woman-focus, and the woman was to be his helper in his mission. [6] In romance-novel-land, however, the heroine is the center of the hero’s universe and his reason for living. As Edward tells Bella in Twilight, “You are my life now.” [7]
Better than Life
But there is something more that makes the real and living pine for the non-existent and undead.
“I am sad that [the books] are over. For me that means no more escape from real life. I need a good read to fill that void where reality meets fantasy.”
Though some may profess immunity to teen-vampire-horror-romance, everyone tainted by sin faces this temptation to escape to another world. A different “reality,” where what is impossible in real life is possible in our minds – where we can indulge in desires we would never fulfill in the real world. It’s about more than going batty for vampires. It’s about a chance to take a “time off” from law and consequences.
R.J. Rushdoony points out, “Because ours is an age with a will to fiction, the role of imagination is extremely important. Men who will not be governed by God’s word will not be governed by reality, because reality is not of their making. God having created all things, reality reflects the mind of God, not man. Hence, it is the essence of sin to resort to imagination to escape God’s law world.”[8]
We who feel “the urge to escape sometimes” should ask ourselves why a world apart from God’s character, God’s laws, and God’s created order would be a world a Christian would desire to live in? [9] What would make us want to run, like Jonah, from God and His presence? “Escapism is only medicine to one who views the reality of God and His creation as a disease.” [10] The answer for those in need of “escape” from life’s hardships is running to God – not away from Him.
Here is the ultimate question for those of us who delight in being titillated by unbiblical violence, unbiblical death, unbiblical spiritualism, and unbiblical romance – even when it’s “just pretend”: Are we are of the spirit, or still of the flesh?
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:5-9)
To Be As Goddesses
Stephanie Meyers certainly hit the jackpot, we believe, because she knows what it is that women really want in their fantasies: a god to worship them as a goddess.
And really, the desire to be “as gods” – the temptation Eve succumbed to – is the lure tempting every girl to create her own world and her own men, and define what is good and evil for herself. As we pointed out at the beginning, the choice before each of us is the choice Meyers wrote in for Bella: to eat of the forbidden fruit, or not? Our prayer is that the daughters of our generation will flee temptation, and make the better choice.
We realize this article has taken a hard line, and we certainly didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but we don’t really have to: Twilight will spoil its own fun.
“When I finished [the last book in the series] I felt like my world would collapse. I had been living in Forks for so long that I didn’t want to go back to my boring not-at-all-interesting life! …Then reality hit me and I realized I’m not Bella and my husband is not Edward. That was hard for me to swallow.”
The reality that will eventually hit Twi-hards is that this infatuation is its own punishment. No amount of ticket sales, Twilight addiction “fixes,” and I-Want-to-Marry-Edward-Cullen fansites will change the fact that Edward Cullen is still not human, and still not real. Mercifully, we have a God Who is.
———Footnotes:
1. All fan quotes are from various online Twilight discussion groups
2. According to Deadline.com, “NEW MOON opened with a phenomenal performance of a gargantuan $140.7 million first weekend in North America and, $118.1M from 25 international markets from Wednesday through Sunday, and a worldwide 5-day total of $258.8M. …With the audience exactly split under and over age 21, exit polling showed that 80% were female.” Read the entire report here: http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/phenomenal-breaking-records-new-moon-doing-dark-knight-midnight-numbers/
3. Twilight does present some heavy themes like good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, heaven vs. hell, but without any moral clarity. What is good and what is evil, and by what standard? In Twilight’s ethical system, carrying on a secret relationship with a killer is good, while going against one’s heart is bad, etc.
4.Bella’s own “love” for Edward is hardly pure (or selfless, or rational); it seems based on the emotional and physical feelings she gets when she looks at him. Bella responds to Edward’s “pale, glorious face,” “voice…like melting honey,” “hypnotic eyes,” etc., like a stimulus-response mechanism, with estrogen for brains. Girls learn to salivate along with her, like Pavlovian dogs, at every mention of the world “gorgeous.”
5. R.J. Rushdoony, Systematic Theology Volume I, pp. 474, 475
6. Genesis 2:18-20, 1 Corinthians 11:8-12
7. Twilight, Chapter 15, p.314
8. R.J. Rushdoony, Systematic Theology Volume I, Rushdoony, pp. 474,
9. Read Doug Phillips’s excellent article on this subject: “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade: Is it Scripturally moral to present immoral behavior in fantasy stories?”
10. We borrowed this astute observation from our brother Benjamin. Keep an eye on his blog (www.BenBotkin.com) for his future writings on this subject.