The Real Santa Claus

Mark Driscoll has a wonderful little article on the real St. Nick. Here.

There's another article here by one of the faculty at Southern Seminary. My favorite story about St. Nick is at the bottom. Here.

Merry Christmas!

Maybe some of you can identify with this; maybe you can't - but Christmas, because of dysfunctionality in my family, was always a really hard, sad time for me.

But God, in his sovereign grace, has redeemed my family.

He's also redeemed this time of year. Not because of his redemption of my family - but because of the way he's been renewing my mind.

So here's one reason why Christmas - the day we celebrate the fact that God the Son became a man - is a glorious, happy, necessity. There may be more forthcoming.

Jesus fully revealed God's glory. John 1:18 says this: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side - He made him known.

We all long to know God, don't we? If you're a Christian, this is certainly true. If you're not, consider this: do you have a yearning for purpose? For right and wrong to be done? For truth? For knowledge? For beauty? For something more wondrous than yourself?

Look no further. God has been fully and completely revealed in Jesus. Don't look to other religious or spiritual practices to 'feel' God. Look to Jesus as he's revealed in the Scriptures. He is there!

And don't look to the glory of lesser things for your ultimate satisfaction. True glory, true beauty, true awesomeness, true delight, peace - are in Jesus. Cling to him. Don't cope with life - cling to the one who made it.

Merry Christmas!

In Jesus' name...

Many of us were taught to pray and to close our prayers with the phrase "in Jesus' name." Unfortunately, we weren't taught what that actually means, and so it ends up sounding like magic words. And then we wind up wondering why he won't answer our prayers sometimes.

So what's it mean to pray "in Jesus' name?"

The short answer is this: "in Jesus' name" means to pray in union with Christ, and there are 2 facets of that.

First, it means praying with Jesus as our representative. We have no right to enter God's throne room in prayer without fearing condemnation unless Jesus suffered punishment in our place. Thus, praying in Jesus' name means that we are relying on his death and resurrection for acquittal in God's law court. (See Hebrews 4:14-16.)

Second, it means praying to represent Jesus. In other words, saying "in Jesus' name" is like saying, "I ask these things in so much as they represent Jesus' sovereign will." Or in other words, it's like saying "if it's your will, please do this." (See 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and 1 John 5:14-15.)

These truths should help how we pray. Note that we can't go to God except through the blood of Jesus. We need to depend. We need to recognize that we are sinners approaching a holy God. We need to see his love for us in permitting us to approach him.

We also need to see that prayer is for God. It is an act of worship. It is a means of God doing what he wants - not us getting what we want - unless it's what God wants. It is an act of submission.

That should guide how we pray and for what we pray.

What is Discipleship?

Perhaps that question is a tad broad. Every Christian is a disciple. However - let's define 'a discipleship relationship' for the sake of ministry.

Discipleship is a relationship involving teaching, modeling life and ministry, and delegating ministry. The content of the teachings can be categorized into doctrine, character, and ministry skill.

See Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11ff; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2. And go here for more Scripture.

These categories can be broken down as follows. This list is not exhaustive.


Doctrine
Orthodoxy
The Trinity
Justification by Faith Alone
Of Scripture (nature, authority, sufficiency, etc.)
The Gospel
Anthropology
Perseverance
Final State
(Justification, Sanctification, Glorification)



Character
Spirit-filled life
The 10 Commandments
The means of grace
Scripture taught
Fellowship
Prayer
Communion
Discipline/confrontation
Gospel-centered living




Ministry Skill
Evangelism
Discipleship
Strategic Planning
Problem solving and evaluation
Exegesis
Evangelistic Exhortatory Exposition
Leading a Bible study
Counseling (?)
Decision-making
Administration
Mercy//Hospitality

Is it a sin to use Facebook?

Great article here.

The Devil and My Sin

There's a wonderful article on the Devil's role in our lives... HERE.

My Daily Prayer Guide

As promised to you CLT... attenders... this is the prayer list I use daily. I hope it proves useful to you.

Worship
Psalm for the day

Confession
What sins does my Scripture reading reveal today?
What do I love more than Jesus today?
How am I failing to love Lacey (my wife) today?

Thanksgiving
The cross (Jesus dying in my place)
The gospel in the passage I read today
The things from yesterday that God did

Daily Requests
My love for God and making his name known
My love for Lacey as Jesus loves the Church
My love for the Church (God's children)
My love for people in general (made in God's image for his glory)
For my schedule for the day (every aspect of it)
For God to open doors to proclaim the gospel
The Missionaries I support
Those who financially and prayerfully support me
Family’s salvation
Students by name
The places where I've served in ministry, and those I've served with

Miscellaneous Requests
This is where I put things when people ask for prayer, along with things I might need.

Calvinism Vs. Arminianism... FIGHT!

The problem with such debates, which for some odd reason especially occur among college students, is this:

They often become philosophical rather than biblical. You need to look at what the Bible says and submit to it. Period. No extrapoloations from texts. No discussions of concepts and inferences and yadda yadda yadda...

If you can't cite Scripture and merely explain what it says, just shut up.

Submit to what God says. If you don't like it, you're sinning. Repent.

God loves you. He desires you to worship him - not your own wisdom. So love him as he's revealed himself in Holy Scripture.

Daily Worship

As I worshiped God today through the Psalms, I ran across this verse and thought I'd share it.

"You make known to me the path of life
in your presence there is fullness of joy
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Ps. 16:11)

David got it. One day Jesus will be revealed, we will see him and enjoy him forever, and we will worship!

Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

CLT on Romans 8

Last week at CLT we looked at Romans 8:1-13. I didn't really have notes, so I'm posting an exposition of Romans 8:1-17 here. I pray it proves beneficial to you. Have a Bible open as you read it.

Exposition
We’re at the point in Romans where something extremely significant is going to be brought up. In chapters 1-5, Paul defended the doctrine of justification by faith alone on the basis of Jesus’ work alone.

That gave rise to an objection: if justification is by faith alone, can we go on sinning? Paul says no in several ways. First, in Romans 6, he says that we have had a change of nature, therefore we can no longer live in sin. Second, in Romans 7, he says as Christians, Jesus has already met the demands of the Law for us so we no longer have something to rebel against or try to be justified by.

And that brings us to the third answer – and that is in Romans 8. The answer – in short – is the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of God’s people.

Now, Romans 8 begins where Romans 7 leaves off. The point of the end of Romans 7 is hat trying to obey God’s Law will just result in realizing that you can’t. Hence the cry at the end ‘who will save me from this body of death?’ The answer: God, in Jesus.

But if you can’t obey the Law by trying to obey it – where does that leave us? Paul gives us the answer in Romans 8: the Holy Spirit causes us who have received Jesus to obey him. Let’s take a look.

vv. 1-4
In verse 1 we have a statement. Note that there is a ground for it, given that it starts with ‘therefore.’ The ground comes in the verses after it (and whole chapters before). Note that there’s no condemnation now for everyone in Christ. That is, already, even before the future judgment, there is at this point in history, no condemnation, which by the way is the opposite of justification. Justification is being declared righteous; condemnation is being declared guilty and being punished for it.

Who’s ‘in Christ Jesus?’ It’s helpful here to consider Romans 6’s language of inclusion into Jesus – unification with him. Everyone unified to Jesus, and thus spiritually alive and believing, is in Jesus. So those people – right now, have already had the end time judgment of condemnation pass by them and have been judged righteous in Jesus.

What’s the reason for this, though? V. 2 says that the reason is that there are two governing principles – or worlds, realms, or Kingdoms at work. He’ll flesh this out more in vv. 5-8, but here, note that there’s no condemnation because the principles of the Spirit’s Kingdom have freed us through Jesus’ actions from the principles of the old realm, which is going to be condemned.

Verse three tells us how this happened. The law couldn’t save sinners, because sinners rebel against the law. What God did in Jesus is to kill, or condemn, sin by killing Jesus. And notice that it’s not ‘sins’ – it’s ‘sin.’ The old nature. The part of us, that is, according to ch. 6, now dead because Jesus died.

Verse four tells us that God had a purpose in destroying the old nature in the death of Jesus. That purpose is that our behavior would be transformed – that we’d walk according to God’s Holy Spirit and do what the law requires.

vv. 5-11
In this section, Paul’s going to contrast the two types of possible people then – people that live in the old world – old Kingdom – the ‘flesh.’ – vs. people that live in the new Kingdom in the Spirit.

Note that vv. 5-7 begin with the word ‘for’ – and so they’re providing a basis for what precede them. So in v. 5, the introduction of this idea – there’s two kinds of people – in the Kingdom and out – is the basis for what comes before, that God did stuff to cause us to walk in obedience to him.

But note what the differences are. If you’re in the flesh – in the old world, your thoughts are governed by it, will cause you to die, is hostile to God because it doesn’t submit to God’s law and actually is incapable of doing so.

If you’re in the Spirit, your thoughts are governed by the Spirit, he gives you life and peace,he wells in you, causes us to belong to Jesus, and has given us and will give us new life.

vv. 12-17
In this section, Paul begins to exhort believers to obey God and trust him through suffering.
Note that 12 is the conclusion of what precedes it. The Holy Spirit has given us new life and will raise us from the dead, so we don’t owe anything to the old world – the flesh – living according to its ways.

What’s the basis for that? 13 – because if we do live like that, we’ll die. However, if in the Spirit we kill the deeds of the body, we’ll live. Of course here it’s talking about eternally live and die. So in other words – we’re not debtors to the flesh because if we acted like that, we’d die. The other option – is trusting in the Spirit and relying on Him and doing the things he’s commanded in Scripture, actively fighting sin in our lives. If we do that – we belong to the Spirit and we will rise from the dead – live.

His basis for that statement is that if we’re doing that – being led by the Spirit to put to death evil deeds, we’re God’s children. Or in other words, we belong to God, not the flesh.
How do we know we’re sons of God? We got the Spirit that causes us to cry out to God, who bears witness that we’re his children, assuming that we suffer trusting ourselves to Jesus, looking forward to our future glory with him – our future being with him in the completely remade new creation.

CLT Audio

It's coming. God willing. A good brother's working on it!

CLT IV - The Gospel

The Gospel

Intro
Pray – and say questions can come during (and/or after)
Christians need the gospel
Not just to know how to share it well, but also…
To grow
To remember reality
To serve
To love the unloveable
For holiness in all of life
To view sex rightly
For confidence in living the Christian life
For hope
Thus, beware thinking you’ve outgrown it
Every prayer
Every time you read the Bible
Every relationship
Every word you speak
Titus 3:4-8
Rest of our time: defining the gospel
Before that, though, consider this: gospel = good news.
Let’s look at the world the good news is delivered to
-Sex trafficking (define – ave. age in US – 14, poss 100k this year; ave. age is 10-15 in Asia – even forced into it by parents)
-Thousands (i.e. 83 yr. old woman) losing homes to foreclosure
-man tries to explain to his autistic son why their house burned down in ca
-Haiti – wait and see if kids live to name them – oft choose which live/die
-Iraq – car bombs kill 1 person, injure around 20 – Tuesday
-People are born blind, without limbs, and into starvation
-marriages that began in love, end in messy divorce
-children molested by family, teachers, religious leaders
-hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, AIDS
-and you will work really hard your whole life to get by, looking to entertainment and relationships and even spirituality for happiness, only to find that they don’t satisfy your deepest needs – and then you will die.

And into this mess that we often ignore, Jesus has come to give us good news: Mark 1:15. The good news is that the Kingdom of God has come near.
Outline Why the Kingdom is good news
5 facts about the King
conquers hearts
has authority to forgive
changes lives
creates a loving family
will finish what he started

Why the Kingdom is good news
-saw bad situation
-contact point with unbelievers
-do not dull yourself with entertainment against reality (ecc. 7:4) (James 1:9-12) (my liking Bond…),
-The Kingdom is good news because of what the King will do - Joel 2:23-26 (provision – food, etc.); Is. 2:3, 4 (peace between nations, people obeying God’s laws); Dan. 12:2 (resurrection of the just and unjust); Jer 23:5 (KING who will do justice always); Is. 25:6-8 (joy, provision, resurrection, bringing all peoples together); Micah 2:1-3 (punishment of oppressors); Micah 2:12-13 (The LORD himself is King and shepherds his people); Is. 9:2-3 (joy in the experience of God);
-Why do you think Jesus did miracles?
-To starving Christians in Haiti – one day you will feast!
-To our brothers and sisters suffering in war – one day God will stop all conflict
-To those who are oppressed as in India (117 churches, 5k homes, 65 dead)
-To all of us who are pained and need the face of God – we will see his glory in his Son
-THINK of the gospel as good news (vs. boring)
-TELL the gospel because it’s good news

-repeat point

Fact 1: Jesus the King conquers hearts
-Problem: who we are by nature
-Rom 1:30 – ‘God-haters’
-Eph. 2:2 – obeyed Satan
-Matt. 7:11 – we’re evil
-Rom 8:7 8 – incapable of obedience
-John 6:65
-Rom. 3:10-12
-Rom. 1:18-22
-evangelism application (describing depth of sin)
-ev application – what we should expect from unbelievers’ views of data
-remember this to remember what you’re saved from!
-But Jesus has come as King, and conquers hearts…
-John 6:37-39
-Matt. 11:27
-John 3:5-8, 19-21 (result = coming to Jesus in faith!)
-app: thank God for conquering your heart!
-plead with him to conquer the hearts of others – because he CAN
-communicate confidently because he WILL
-don’t for a second think that you did a thing to bring yourself, lest you rob God of glory

Fact 2: Jesus the King has authority to forgive
-paralytic story in Mark 2
-Jesus’ coming as King is good news – but there’s a problem
-Is. 13:9
-God’s solution – justification by faith (define)
-Nah 1:3a
-solution – a substitute!
--punished in our place (Is. 53:5, 6, 10)
-firing squad analogy
-implication – no judgment awaits those who believe in Jesus
-turn to each other and say ‘God poured the fullness of hell on Jesus instead of you’
-‘Judgment day’ already begun (Jesus’ passion narrative!)
-obeyed in our place
-again: judgment by works
-Rom. 4:6 – Let me talk about crediting – (tax analogy)
-2 Cor. 5:21
-God looks at us in Jesus – since Jesus obeyed…
-Turn to the person next to you and say, “Jesus obeyed God for you – and all his rewards will be given to you”

-application: NO condemnation for you. But REWARD.
-if EVER you feel as if you are condemned…
-imperfect Christians are perfect in Jesus’ eyes (Jas. 4)
-basis for forgiveness - not some weird mysticism. Unbelievers are RIGHT when they say good people will go to heaven

-repeat point

Fact 3: Jesus as King changes lives
(repeat points so far)
-(whole point of next CLT – so not much time)
-Rom. 6:17-23 (context first!)
-point – God has promised the obedience of his children (parable of the sower)
-trust him for it
-thank him for it!
-answering non Christians re: can we just go on sinning?
-beware moralism!!!

-repeat point






Fact 4: Jesus the King creates a loving family
-Matt 19:29 (my experience)
-Ephesians 4:9-16
-Eph. 2:17-22
-Ps. 65:4 (picture of entering the temple – where God lives!)
-appreciate it
-participate in it
-love it – but realize that experience is from God’s Spirit AND word and isn’t perfect yet
-invite people into it

Fact 5: Jesus the King will finish what he started
-1 cor 15:21-28 (explain)
-rev 21:1-7; 22:1-5; 12-17, 20-21
-application – 1 peter 1:6, 7, 13; mark 8:32-34

-So what’s the good news?

Pray

Dissing Dispensationalism

If you don't know what dispensationalism is - and don't care how it affects how you interpret the Bible, this post will be quite boring to you.

That said, I was pointed to an article by Dan Phillips, one of the authors of the Pyromaniacs blog (here), called Twenty-Five Stupid Reasons for Dissing Dispensationalism (here).

Now, I admit, I do like to make fun of dispensationalism. Not out of spite or anything. I have great respect and love for Team Pyro. They love Jesus. And we agree on a heck of a lot.

But I thought I'd take a few moments and write a brief response to Phillips' exposition of these 25 Stupid Reasons.

That said, I took these 'reasons' as actual arguments, rather than merely 'disses.' I'm not sure technically what 'dissing' entails to be honest. So that said, I'm considering these arguments legitimately made against dispensationalism.

Here we go.

My response to ’25 Stupid reasons for dissing dispensationalism’

My responses are in italics.

1) All of the coolest guys are covenantal.

That’s just true. Granted, it’s a stupid argument. Not even an argument, really. But it’s true. It’s more like a kind hearted jab. Well, hopefully kind-hearted. Us Reformed can be jerks at times.

2) It’s new.

Well, it is. Though the solas and five points weren’t systematized before the Reformation, they were certainly around. Dispensationalism was not. Premillenialism was. They are not the same.

3) It’s not Reformed

This is true. Semantic issue, though, really. And agreed – bad argument.

4) So many dispies are goofs.

This is also true. I think there are more crazy dispies than crazy Reformed people, though.

But yeah – bad argument.

5) Dispy writers have made false predictions.

Again, true – but agreed, bad argument.

6) The best scholars hate dispensationalism.

I mean, yeah, this is, again, true. Even the good ‘dispensational’ scholars aren’t true dispies – they’re progressives.

But point conceded – scholarship doesn’t prove something. Arguments must be analyzed.

7) But someone wrote a book destroying dispensationalism.

I’ve never heard that one. I’ve never read a book that attempts to do so. But…. That’s okay. No response needed or given.

8) You can’t prove all those dispensational distinctives and prophetic features from the NT alone.

Never heard this argument. I agree, not a good one. But I also believe that we should base doctrine out of the many clear passages which interpret the few harder ones.

9) It isn’t a spiritual hermeneutic.

I don’t know what this even means.

10) Dispensationalists are antinomian.

Depends on what you mean by antinomian. If by it you’re referring to the OT moral law, then yes you are antinomian. That doesn’t mean you don’t care about morality, though.

11) We should interpret the OT by the NT.

And we should. We should look at how the NT interprets OT prophecy. Sometimes it is indeed difficult. Jesus held people accountable. They didn’t see because they were stupid. They didn’t see because of sin. Same is true of us.

12) You can’t take everything literally.

Again, I’ve never heard nor would I ever use this argument. What I would say is that you can’t take stuff in isolation.

13) Dispies are overliteral.

I’d never use this. Nor have I ever heard it.

14) I think Hal Lindsey is stupid. I like making fun of him.

I admit, I like making fun of Hal Lindsey. Granted, not an argument. But it’s so very much fun. I’d also probably do more than make fun of Harold Camping. I’d probably excommunicate him.

The only problem is that he wouldn’t mind.

15) People have converted from being dispy to other things

Agreed. Stupid argument.

16-19) Disp. Is divisive, defeateist, fatalistic, and escapist.

Eh, people who hold it can be. But agreed. Stupid argument.

20) Dispensationalism teaches a false offer by Christ.

Now, okay, I’ve never heard this. I’m not sure what’s meant, exactly. If it means that Jesus was offering them the physical fullness of the Kingdom then – then… that’s just silly.

21) ‘All the promises of God find their yes in him.’ – 2 Cor. 1:20.

Dan’s argument here is interesting. I think the difference is that he’d take it to mean that Jesus mediates God’s promises, and we’d take it to mean that the promises are sure to those in him.

This requires much more serious discussion than Dan gives it.

22) Dispensationalism teaches two ways of salvation.

Some hypers did. Qutoing Berkhof there isn’t really relevant . Not sure Dan understands what Berkhof was saying.

23) I’m CT and use a grammatical-historical approach…

We do. We just don’t do it in isolation from the rest of Scripture, using our best guesses as assumptions for what we think God meant.

24) Dispensationalism divides the people of God.

Never heard this as an argument. It’s just kinda defining what dispensationalism is.

25) Dispensationalism fails to see Jesus in every verse of the Bible.

I think this is more of a charge of what practically happens in dispensational preaching. Often, it tends to be moralistic, rather than gospel centered.

That’s not an argument. Just an observation.

But yeah, I think Dan does reveal the problem with dispensationalism in this critique. He fails to understand covenants. The promises were not made to everyone in the visible community, dude. And we are in covenant relationship with Christ. And engrafted into Israel.

This isn’t decoder ring. This is just taking seriously what the Bible has to say about covenants, our position in Christ, and its own interpretation of OT texts.

We don't believe that the Church merely replaces Israel. We believe that those promises are made to elect Israel, ultimately through union with Christ, with whom the Church is united and engrafted into the covenant promises.

There is no replacement of Israel. Just an expansion of its borders.

You Need to Love the Law

You realize if you don't love God's Law - his commandments - his rules - you're in rebellion, right? (Read Psalm 119.)

You've probably heard that you need to preach the gospel to yourself daily. This is true.

But there is no Good News without the Law showing us what we're saved from. And to, for that matter (obedience to the Law - Romans 8:1-4; Hebrews 8, etc).

So, preach the Law to yourself daily. Tear yourself to shreds with it. Feel the pain of your rebellion against your Maker.

Then run to Jesus.

Do You Want to Know God Personally?

A personal relationship with God without an understanding of why Jesus died,
how he reigns as King,
faith alone apart from works,
and repentance from sins,

is naught but a personal relationship of hostility from both sides.

O God, reconcile your elect people to yourself!

John Owen on the idea that Jesus died for everyone

...in itself the whole is in expression so barbarous and remote from common sense, in substance such a wild, unchristian madness, as contempt would far better suit it than a reply.

Homosexuality in the news...

First, eHarmony has been forced to open a site for homosexuals. eHarmony was founded by a Christian, who, as such, believes homosexuality to be a breach of God's Law.

You can read the story here.

Is this the beginning of the government interfering with the Church exercising it's right - yea even duty - to act according to the gospel of Jesus Christ? I admit I'm surprised. Didn't expect this kind of stupidity this soon.

In a related story, Tony Jones, one of the heavy hitters in the emergent (we like to think happy thoughts, just not about Scripture) circles, decided that homosexuality is a-okay.

That story is here.

He says in the story that now his detractors have more ammo to say that he's continued his leftward slide.

Yes, you let go of Scriptural authority, and you will start calling evil 'good.' And you will let people go to hell feeling just a tad bit better about themselves.

CLT III - Discipleship - Notes

CLT III – Discipleship

Intro
-So one day an old friend called me… (Pat story)
-An important question (answers not only ‘how do I disciple’ – but also – what am I as a disciple)
-Where we’re going: 4 texts of Scripture – then ‘how to disciple someone’ steps
-Pray

-Get out your notes ‘n’ bibles, folks!

Matt 28:18-20 (remind, read)
-Authority!
-(Illustration: list: planets, molecules, cells – your soul, your heart, your mind – and everyone else’s!)
-Commands – go AND disciple the nations
-(he owns it – letting all nations know and inviting them to act accordingly)
-discipleship = baptism and teaching people to obey
(grammar lesson!)
-baptism –
represents what? (Matt. 3; Mark 10:38, 39);
-illustration: noah’s flood
act of worship (obedience, repentance towards God) (1 Peter 3)
-illustration: (as opposed to me coming out of the water and having people cheer for me)
-Baptism = important! (gospel; gift, worship towards God, command!)
-Also, teaching them to obey all I’ve commanded!
-So what does that say about you?
-About evangelism?
-illustration – (two circles)
-About the source of content in discipleship?
-‘I think’ and mere advice should never come from a teacher’s mouth!
-teach includes doctrine
-Think about the hearers of this: original recipients of the apostles.
Christ – exercising authority over all creation. He has sent out 12 dudes to invite people into that reign – that Kingdom. And we enter and are learning to obey what he said – all by his grace. We join him in his death and life through grace.
-Summarize!

2 Tim. 4:1-4 (remind, read)
-vv. 1-2
-To preachers – not necessarily directly to you –but shows what content should be
-Command: to preach!
-Content? (1 Cor. 2 and rest of 2 Tim 4:2 – AND Titus 2!)
-Cross is everything – all Scripture – character
-Why’s this command important? (vv. 3-4)
-False doctrines that feel good
-examples: accept Jesus and life will be better; answers to ‘why’s there suffering’ – what about people who haven’t heard – believing one can go to heaven if he’s prayed a prayer – even if there’s no life change – believing that people are the center of God’s universe…
-So what’s this mean for you?
-what teachers do you run to?
-if you’re discipling – what are you teaching???
-Summarize

Ephesians 4:11-16 (remind, read)
-Jesus gave certain people!
-response – worship!
-goal – for us all to be equipped to serve (see 1 Peter 4)
-none of us are to be an audience
-END goal – that the Church would be doing the works of Jesus on earth
-framework emerges!


Now – discipleship for Christian leadership…
2 Tim. 2:2 (remind, read)
-The things from Paul!
-Not thought or ‘practical help’– from God – his word – his face
-Entrust to faithful dudes
-faithful! (character! Elder lists!)
-able to teach
-growth is possible – the content is Scripture – nothing else!
-about elders – but applicable to leadership
-So first – 1 Tim. 3:1 – desiring leadership is desiring something noble
-THEREFORE – character!
-so should one lead? Character? Go thru 1 Tim. 3:1-7
-talk about accountability. Confession. Common sins. (Titus 2:13)
-So are you ready to be trained for leadership? Maybe, maybe not. Strive for the character necessary to take on the noble task!

A framework for discipleship falls out of all this:
Doctrine (Gospel, God – the Trinity, Scripture, man, sin, etc.)
Character (Spirit-filled life; moral law; means of grace – Scripture, fellowship, prayer, sacraments, discipline)
Min Skill – (Evangelism, Discipleship, oversight-strategic planning, problem solving, decision making; teaching; hospitality)


The how to:
-Relationship! (1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2)
-Modeling (2 Tim. 2:2 and Jesus)
(planning, evangelism, bible study, life stuff)
-Delegating (Mark 6 and sending the disciples to preach – but honestly just getting the body to serve! Everyone should be! Examples of what to delegate to?)
-Teaching the content (incl. accountability)

Tools of the trade:
-BIBLE.
-www.centerfieldproductions.com – Indianacru, pass – Indiana
-Westminster Confession of Faith on the 10 Commandments
-google
-Q. 137. Which is the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.[766]

Q. 138. What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?

A. The duties required in the seventh commandment are, chastity in body, mind, affections,[767] words,[768] and behavior;[769] and the preservation of it in ourselves and others;[770] watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses;[771] temperance,[772] keeping of chaste company,[773] modesty in apparel;[774] marriage by those that have not the gift of continency,[775] conjugal love,[776] and cohabitation;[777] diligent labor in our callings;[778] shunning all occasions of uncleanness, and resisting temptations thereunto.[779]

Q. 139. What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required,[780] are, adultery, fornication,[781] rape, incest,[782] sodomy, and all unnatural lusts;[783] all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections;[784] all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto;[785] wanton looks,[786] impudent or light behaviour, immodest apparel;[787] prohibiting of lawful,[788] and dispensing with unlawful marriages;[789] allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them;[790] entangling vows of single life,[791] undue delay of marriage,[792] having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;[793] unjust divorce,[794] or desertion;[795] idleness, gluttony, drunkenness,[796] unchaste company;[797] lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays;[798] and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.[799]

-What Jesus demands from the world – Piper
-your leaders – you want more? – tell us!

Summarize the whole thing! YOU are a disciple – doctrine, character, ministry.
Jesus has met this need
-Scripture
-leadership
-your giftings!
-End of all this? Eph 4 – the building up of Jesus’ body. His glory here. A mature spotless bride, his whole church, received unto him when he returns. Praise be to God!

Framework for the last three - most important subjects – The Gospel; The Holy Spirit; Means of Grace (Perseverance)

Stop Being Ethnocentric!

Dr. RC Sproul has a wonderful little article about how we western Christians tend to think of Christianity as a western religion: a religion ruled by the west and a religion primarily captured in, by, and for the west.

And how stupid that is. Check it out here.

How to Study the Bible - CLT I - Notes

The Scriptures



Intro
-Intro CLT (purpose, dates…)
-Felt Needs (direction, skill, boring, motivation)
-Real needs (salvation – rom 1:18ff, growth in obedience – 1 John 2:3, 4)
-Sufficient solution (2 tim 3:14-17)
-outline – 4 facts – w/ skills that go along with each; q/a follows
-pray

Spiritual
From the Spirit – from another world (2 tim. 3:16)
-transformers analogy
-someone telling a sweet story about biophysics (language, caring)
We’re in the flesh world (1 Cor. 2:12ff; rom 3:10-12)
-good news – 1 Cor. 3:6ff
-HS like decoder in transformers; transforming power that makes you care about/understand biophysics
Skill – confess dependence/pray
Skill – discipline (study, under teaching, meditation) – discipline comes from care/need (why you date)

Authoritative
God breathed – true – binding – highest standard of knowledge (Rom 3:4; 2 Sam 22:31; Matt 5:19, 20; binding on mind, emotions, actions; compare to science- 2 Peter 1:16-21)
-personal application (if something rubs you the wrong way…)
-evangelism application
Skill – observation (bend the knee!) Rom. 1:8-17 (grammar note!) (questions too)

Human
Human product – specific people, places, situations – not written directly to YOU. (Gal. 5:12);
Skill – q and a (context – literary (2 are gathered!); analogy of Scripture- theological … essential truths of the Christian faith - sproul)
Skill 2: Big Idea of passage (Rom. 1:8-17) – (have ‘em do it)
Skill 2 ½: BI -> eternal big idea; theology book (Essentials – Sproul) – Rom. 1:8- 17…
Skill 3 – READING – forest/trees (what to look for when reading… THIS… segue)

Gospel Centered
What’s the gospel?
Give holistic definition
Luke 24:27; 44-47; Heb 1:1-3; John 1:12-18
Why is the Bible about the gospel?
-saves (Rom. 10; rom. 1)
-results in obedience – Galatians 3:1-3 (vs. commands -> death!)
-1 Corinthians 2:1ff; heb. 6; 2 cor 3:18
Skill 1 – Finding the sin condition(s)/need(s) that sin creates. How? Big idea
Do in Rom. 1
Skill 2 – Feel it. (Heb. 4:12 – ask how you break God’s commands – confess!)
-Decision Making (cuts, sufficient)
-Ferguson quote: (see below)
Skill 3 – Discover the gospel in the text – what’s Jesus’ cross done?
-this text?
-Matt 5:27-30 – (reading! Point of the gospel: Matt 27:46, 51-54)
-OT stuff is about Jesus! (Rom. 5:16; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Matthew 12:39-41; John 2:19ff)
-learn to search on biblegateway!
Skill 4 – Thank God for the gospel in the passage

Summary, Q and A following, prayer
Worship
Ann’c
Dismiss


Ferguson: "Christians in an earlier generation rarely thought of writing books on guidance. There is a reason for that (just as there is a reason why so many of us today are drawn to books that will tell us how to find God's will). Our forefathers in the faith were catechised, and they taught catechisms to their children. Often as much as half of the catechism would be devoted to an exposition of the answers to questions like the following: Question: Where do we find God's will? Answer: In the Scriptures. Question: Where in particular in the Scriptures? Answer: In the Commandments that God has given to us.

Why were these questions and answers so important? Because these Christians understood that God's law provides basic guidelines that cover the whole of life. Indeed, in the vast majority of instances, the answer to the question 'What does God want me to do?' will be found by answering the question: 'How does the law of God apply to this situation? What does the Lord require of me here in his word?'"

President-Bashing: The Biggest Problem in the Church?

I recently was pointed to an editorial which pointed out how our treatment of President Bush must make us look in the eyes of other nations. Here.

I wonder how many of us who call Jesus 'King' are also guilty of President-bashing? The root of the problem runs deeper than mere dislike of our current President, however.

It's a problem of authority. And it runs deep...
Who has authority?

Parents or children?

Pastors or church-members?

Governmental officials or citizens?

Men or their wives?

The Scriptures or my thoughts?

The Scriptures or my feelings?

The Scriptures or my experiences?

And ultimately... God... or me?

You Don't Have to Read the Bible... unless...

Modern Christians have the tendency of making principles from the Scriptures into binding Law for all Christians.

For instance, we are corporately commanded to make disciples of all nations. But if you haven't gone on a missions trip of some sort, you're sinning.

Or - we're commanded to meditate on the Scriptures. Let the doctrines dwell richly in us. Speak to others in doctrinal language. Sit under the right preaching of the Scriptures in a Bible-loving church.

But nowhere are we commanded to read the Bible (unless you're a pastor!) On the other hand - if you choose to read good Christians books written by good teachers (Piper, Sproul, Bridges, Bunyan, Packer, etc.) instead of the Bible, you're looked down upon.

Why? The command - the law - doesn't exist!

Surely the Scriptures are wonderful, and in them we see God revealed in Jesus - but lay Christians are not necessarily sinning if they don't study them. True - there may be a heart condition that is sinful and the reason they aren't.

But folks - let's not be legalistic. Let's hold people accountable to God's laws - not to 'spiritual disciplines' we made up.

Election Day Re-Post: How You Should Vote

A quick addendum to this before the repost.

God cares about social justice.

He cares about social justice because humans are in his image - and so a lack of compassion for hurting people is a lack of compassion for beings who exist to represent God.

So you are required to love social justice. So why don't you go and move to be with people who need you - and give freely of your own money? I mean, you could vote so the government gives handouts from mostly other peoples' money. But, I think you should probably just take responsibility before God for such things.

Also - what do you think God cares more about - making sure poor western people (who by the world's standards are NOT poor) have slightly more - or making sure his image is not destroyed while in the womb?

One more note: God doesn't really care about your portfolio. He cares about your holiness.

So stop and think. God loves justice - but that's because he loves himself. So vote to the glory of God.

So here are some principles from the Bible about God and government:

1) God created governments
2) God created governments to execute righteousness on earth
3) God’s righteousness is evinced in the Law – the OT Law
4) Other nations are held responsible for disobedience to God’s Law in the prophets
5) There is no normative ‘moral Law’ outside the OT Law – every time conscience/natural law is mentioned it’s negative and subjective
6) So the purpose of government is to uphold God’s Law
7) That includes everything in it – including just war, capital punishment, wisely taking care of the poor to an extent, and even the worship of God. – some things more important than others.
8) That will never actually happen until Jesus returns
9) But we have some authority in our government – and thus responsibility to make sure our government conforms to God’s Laws.
10) We also have the responsibility to be honest with our presuppositions – we don’t start from the position of pragmatism – we start with a belief that God owns us, and that his Law is an expression of love to bring us to Jesus.
11) We also have to start with the presupposition that international or national law (Geneva convention; Constitution) aren’t ultimate. We have to submit to law given, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek to change them.

Richie D, are you serious?

Richard Dawkins, infamous atheist and author of "The God Delusion," has decided that after his failed attempt at dethroning his creator and judge, perhaps he should set his sights lower.

On Harry Potter.

Richie, like many Christian critics of the series, has not read it. (He has read the Golden Compass and liked it. Surprising, I know - a radical atheist liking atheistic propoganda written for children.)

But, he thinks that raising children with stories that are 'non-scientific' may be negative.

He goes on to talk about how raising children in a religion is 'abuse' and 'evil.'

So, Dick, do you understand that...
1) you have no basis for belief in what may can be considered 'negative'?
2) you have no basis for belief in what may be considered 'good' nor 'evil'?
and 3) you have no basis for belief in conclusions from scientific data, the scientific data itself, nor truth in general...?

That is, you have no basis for belief in those things unless you make yourself the independent standard for declaring what is true. That isn't atheism, though. It's just declaring that, well, YOU'RE God.

Whoops.

I should note, that God has said that you do know him, by the way. You're just rebelling against said knowledge.

Click here for the article.

Manliness, manliness is what I long for...

I was having a conversation with a few guys about manhood a few days ago, and we got into a disagreement about what it means to be manly. So I figured, hey, let’s look at what the Bible has to say about manhood.

1) God expects us to just know what it means to be manly. In 1 Corinthians 16:13, Paul says, ‘Act like men.’ And in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15, Paul says, “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace for him…?”

We’ll get to that ‘long hair’ issue in a second – but note this: God expects us to just know what manliness is.

2) Some of what manliness is is culturally relative. 1 Corinthians 11 is about head coverings. In the verse I just cited, Paul says, essentially, don’t you know that a head covering (long hair) on a man is effeminate?

Now, we don’t ‘know’ that per se. It was something unique to the Corinthian culture. But the fact is – they would’ve known that wearing a head cover in their culture was effeminate.

Application? There are things in our culture that are girly. So I can say you listen to girly music. Or like girly movies. Or talk in a girly way. Knock it off and toughen up, guys.

3) Only men are called to exercise authority in their families and in the Church of God. Of course that authority should be gentle (1 Peter 3), not domineering (1 Peter 5), and for the love of the saints/one’s wife (1 Peter 5; Ephesians 5:22ff).

But it’s still authority. That means a dude has to be decisive, responsible, and a leader. He has to own the direction for his family – and before he can do that, he needs to be decisive and responsible about his position as a Christian.

4) Godly men are to be willing to suffer. Ephesians 5:22 and following tells us a godly husband should suffer for the holiness of his wife because he loves her. So our love should compel us to suffer for the holiness of Christ’s bride and his people, in general.

Real men embrace suffering.

There’s a strength about that. You can look back to 1 Corinthians 16:13 about it.

5) Godly men protect God’s people against attacks against the glory of God.

Adam, as recorded in Genesis 2, was responsible for the commands God gave. Eve wasn’t even around when God gave them. And Adam did jack when Satan showed up.

He was supposed to speak up, act as his wife’s authority, and kill the serpent. Likewise, in the Church, the elders are commanded (Titus 1) to teach sound doctrine and silence those who contradict it.

Oh but that sounds so… harsh.

6) Men have a natural tendency towards violence – and that’s not a bad thing. Adam was supposed to kill the serpent. The priests (Numbers 3) were supposed to kill anyone who dared desecrate the temple. Only men were called to be soldiers.

Sometimes protection means we rebuke people. Sometimes protection means we use force. And that’s what men are called to.

Of course that can be abused. But those abuses aren’t what we’re talking about right now. Some things require violent action, and men are put in those positions for violent action. No man gets an exception.

7) Men are to lead courageously. In Judges 4, Barak failed to courageously lead God’s people into battle. Deborah, a judge in Israel, calls him out and mocks him – because he wanted to be protected by a woman.

8) Men are to determine the actions of their churches. In Isaiah 3 God mocks Israel – saying that women are leading them. He does that to mock the men. They should’ve been sticking up and leading Israel. They failed.

So there’s just a little bit. I’m not talking about stuff like love and gentleness here- those things that every Christian is commanded to obey. It’s clear from these Scriptures (and more) that men are to be uniquely men.

They are to lead. Take authority. Take responsibility for the Church of God. Silence those who would lead the sheep astray. Take responsibility for their families.

So men – you know this stuff. A few things to do:

A) Own your own spiritual growth. Stop being a spiritual coward, start following Jesus your King. That means submitting to his word and taking your own sin seriously.

B) Own your family’s spiritual growth if you have one.

C) Step up in the Church. Think of ministries to do. Do them. Step up when they ask for volunteers. Stop looking to be entertained and start taking risks to serve God.

D) Know the Bible. Speak the Bible. Rebuke those who contradict the Bible.

Guys – any more you can think of?

Free Will

I hear a lot of people saying that the Bible teaches the idea of free will.

Really? Can you show that?

And what exactly does free will mean? Do you have a workable definition?

And do you really believe God has a free will? Think about that.

The Betrayal of Jesus was the Will of God

I was recently asked if Judas freely chose to betray Jesus, or if it was God's will.

Now, biblically, the answer is both.

Let me give you some Scriptures on the subject:

Acts 1:16 and John 6:64 show that Judas' betrayal was fulfillment was prophecy.
Acts 1:25 shows that Judas belonged to destruction.
John 17:12 - Jesus calls Judas the son of destruction - and says that what Judas did was intended to fulfill prophecy. By the way - catch that 'intent.' Who intended it? God.
Acts 2:23 says that Jesus was delivered up in agreement with the definite plan and foreknowledge of God

As far as God's rule over all things goes, look at Ephesians 1:11, Amos 3:6, Job 1:21, and Psalm 115:3. Isaiah 45:7-13. God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass.

The following verses show God works in the hearts of people. See Isaiah 44:28-45:6; Romans 9; Genesis 50:15-20.

Bad Worship Songs and Coming Soon...

Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries wrote an article called 'Top Ten Ways to Write Bad Worship Songs.' I commend it to you. Check it out here.

Also, coming soon - Christian Manliness, and Modern Evangelicalism and Drinking (Booze!)

Christians and Vulgarity - a Summary - Part V

So we’ve looked at Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 5:4, and Colossians 3:8. I think it’s time for a summary. I’m just going to make three sections here: don’t – and do – and - how to obey God with your tongue.

Don’t
1) Do not speak as truth about God what Scripture does not teach.
2) Do not say things that will result in bad doctrine or bad behavior.
3) Do not say anything that doesn’t come from love of God and his people.
4) Do not say anything that will cause someone to lust sexually.
5) Do not say anything that will cause someone to desire things of this world – things that aren’t Jesus.
6) Don’t say things that you know will offend people unnecessarily. (Obviously, rebuking sin will offend people – we need to do that.)
7) Don’t say things to hurt people.

Do
1) Do seek to know sound doctrine so you can speak it.
2) Do live speaking to people about the cross of Christ.
3) Do consider what the people you’re talking to need from Jesus.
4) Do guard yourself against lust and greed.
5) Do publicly give thanks to God for the gospel.
6) Do love people from the heart – especially brothers and sisters in Christ.

How to Obey God with Your Tongue
1) Be quick to listen, and be slow to speak. Think before you speak! (James 1:19)
2) Control your tongue - but know you can't because your heart is indwelt with evil. (James 3:1-12)
3) Ask yourself what sort of heart/soul/self your speech reveals. (Matthew 15:18)
4) Admit how grave your soul’s sin is against God – to God and to people (1 John 1:9; James 5:16)
5) Tell yourself about the gospel! The passages we’ve examined occur in sections about how God has given us his Holy Spirit; about how we in Christ no longer are guilty because of Christ’s cross; about how Jesus’ death took away our old rebellious nature and guaranteed our heavenly future.
6) Pray for the strength to love Jesus – and to talk like you love Jesus.
7) Repeat steps 1-6 every day, and as often as your sin requires.

Campus Ministries and the Local Church

There's a wonderful article on the subject of the relationships of campus ministries to the local church here.

Christians and Vulgarity, Part IV

This will be the last Scripture I talk about on this subject. After that, God willing, I’ll post a summary of what we’ve seen from his book. Some of you are just waiting for this long winded stuff to be over so you can read the summary. I know this, because as I re-read what I’ve written, I just want the quick summary too.

That said, that last verse is Colossians 3:8. In the ESV, God says, “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Yes, kids, no obscene talk! Question is this: what’s obscene talk?

Well, what’s the Greek mean? It’s a compound word. The second is that classic word ‘logos’ – which refers here not to a particular word you’d use, but to entire speech content – which is made up of individual words. The first part of the compound word means something like ‘ugly’ or ‘unacceptable.’ BDAG, the standard New Testament Greek lexicon, says that it’s speech that is ‘generally considered in poor taste.’ It goes on to talk about the idea that this may include two different things – story-telling involving ‘unseemly deeds’ like adultery; or derogatory remarks.

So BDAG says this verse means either don’t tell stories about shameful, sinful, ugly things – and don’t rip on people.

That sounds good enough, really. How about some context real quick? Colossians 3 is a series of commands where Paul’s just saying – look, Jesus rose from the dead. That means, you Christian, have a different kind of life. Act like Jesus is your King, how about.

And he says that our old person has died. That is to say, that when Jesus died, the part of us that lived in the old, rebellious world, died. So act like that rebellious person is dead.

The rebellious you died. Act like it.

Then, starting in verse 8, Paul tells us what to get rid of. Those things are ‘anger, wrath, malice, slander,’ and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…”

Notice anything in common here? All of those things are against people. They’re not nice. Ever heard a parent say to a kid, ‘talk nice!’ Yeah, that’s what’s going on here.

Let’s go a little further in the text. God says we have a new life because we’re connected to Jesus – and Jesus rose from the dead. So Jesus’ new life gives us a new life. Here’s a few verses of what God says that we need to do:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”(Colossians 3:12-14).

In other words, love people. Do it from the heart. The opposite of all those bad things, including ‘obscene speech,’ is love.

Well, where’s this leave us? Paul doesn’t give us a guide for determining what naughty words are in English. And he never says that certain words are ‘bad.’ What he says, is love people with your language. That love starts in the heart – and love doesn’t want to hurt people. Love wants to push them towards Jesus.

So is the S-word wrong? No! The question is – am I loving the person in saying it? It does grate, doesn’t it? The F-word definitely makes people flinch, doesn’t it? The question is, am I using that language to point people away from this rebellious world to Jesus. Am I pointing out how horrible the good things in this world are – compared to Jesus – or am I just mad?

If I’m on the road by myself, and people aren’t driving like I want them to, and I yell ‘shit!’ – do I sin? Yes. I’m not trusting the sovereign God who works everything as he wants it to be (Ephesians 1:11, Romans 8:28, Amos 3:6, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Job 1:21). No one else is hurt by that exclamation if I’m by myself – except my holy God, whose Son died for me – who I apparently don’t trust enough to love me and to control the traffic for my good in knowing him!

Or maybe I’m just saying that knowing him isn’t good enough.

So I don’t love or trust God in those situations. The exclamation is merely the result – and the word is not sin. But my heart has blasphemed my Lord.

And are you more shocked and appalled by the word I just typed out - or by the fact that my anxious, controlling heart worships and serves itself and not its Creator, who is to be praised forever? Oh God, let our hearts be pained by how we fail you!

And this I say with full confidence – and with a good conscience – that everything on this earth is SHIT compared to knowing, loving, and serving Jesus. Everything.

Does that grate on you? It should. And so should everything in this world that distracts you from his service.

Coming next time – a summary of the commands of our Lord in these three verses regarding our speech, if God permits.

The Idolatry of Biblical Theologians

John Piper reminds us how those of us who are theologically minded may fashion idols.

Here.

Christians and Vulgarity, Part III

So far we’ve looked at the general subject of Christians and the use of profanity, and then we looked at Ephesians 4:29. We saw that the whole content of what we say is to point people to Jesus – and that that means we shouldn’t be saying things that are untrue or things that result in sin.

This time, let’s look at Ephesians 5:4. We’ll look at the verse and its context first, then make nine observations, then draw and apply conclusions to ourselves.

The Verse and its Context
The translators of the ESV translate Eph. 5:4 as follows: “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

The context of the verse is (as always) the key here to understanding God’s meaning. This is part of a section in which Paul tells God’s children to imitate their divine Father – and that means loving everyone in His Church.

God said this: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:1-2).”

Paul then contrasts this with a few things in verses 3-4 – “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

Nine Observations
So – first observation: see that contrast in verse 3? The but? That means that whatever activity and speech are being talked about, they’re being contrasted with loving God’s people as God loves his people.

Second observation – the ‘foolish talk’ and ‘crude joking’ are somehow linked to sexual immorality and covetousness. I’m leaving out ‘filthiness’ because it’s not exclusively about speaking, necessarily; but the word means ‘shameful,’ essentially.

Third observation – ‘foolish talk’ is again from that word ‘logos’ – probably referring to entire speech content, and probably referring to doctrine. In other words, don’t say spiritually stupid stuff. Or in other words – have cross-centered speech.

Fourth observation – crude joking – or as some translations put it, ‘vulgar talk,’ is out. Again, this is about whole speech content, not about vocabulary – though certainly vulgar vocabulary is excluded.

But what is vulgar vocabulary? …let’s see if we can answer that question later.

Fifth observation – verse 5 gives the reason for both verses 3 and 4. So verses 3 and 4 ban a list of things, including stupid (doctrinally wrong!), vulgar talk. And then verse 5 comes in and God says that those things are out because, “everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Sixth observation – these manners of speaking are tied to sexual immorality and greed. A quick survey of all the instances of even the word impurity will show us that Paul ties the idea to sexuality. (As in Romans 1:24.)

Seventh observation – verse 4 contrasts these things that are forbidden with giving thanks. The positive command is ‘give thanks!’

Eight observation – impurity is linked in 4:19 again to sexual lust and material lust (greed) – and contrasted with sound doctrine in verse 25.

Ninth observation – this is all linked to things that non-Christians do in secret (5:12). This is probably talking about sex acts that are against God’s will.

Alright, I think that’s enough; I think we can draw some conclusions.

Conclusions, and How We Should Live and Talk
The content of our speech is to be cross-centered, correct doctrinally, and praising God for how he’s rescued us. In doing so, we love fellow Christians, since we point them to our Savior.

And because we’re to point people to Jesus, we need to avoid things that distract us from him. If we were to summarize all this banned stuff – we end up with this sort of general banned talk: we should not talk about things that cause people to desire stuff that is not God.

That would include making light of sexual sin – because it leads to hell (5:5). That would include greedy talk about material things as well. That might include certain words.

But let’s face it – is this verse about our vocabulary and ‘naughty’ words? Absolutely not! And to make it about that is to just make up a rule that we Christians can easily obey. I can easily not use the F-word – if that genuinely makes someone lust.

This verse is about something deeper. It commands that the entirety of my speech to point to Christ; and negatively commands me not to distract people from him. Do I lust after an i-Phone? A beautiful woman who’s not my wife? An HDTV? Financial security?

Do I express those lusts? Do I cause others to stumble into those hell-earning lusts, rather than being expressly thankful for Jesus, our Messiah, who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and is coming again?

Do you? What do you want? Is it stuff, or Jesus? What do you talk about wanting – stuff or Jesus? What do you happily talk about in general – stuff or Jesus?

I hope that drives the sword of the word of God into your soul! It does mine.

God commands us to be imitators of him – and that’s because we who believe in Jesus are his loved children. His Son died in the our places, and he is coming to collect us into his eternal kingdom. Let’s let that control our desires and talk like it does – and we’ll love our brothers and sisters by doing so.

Wives naturally submitting to their husbands...

There's a bit of common wisdom out there that says this:

"If a husband is sacrificially loving his wife consistently, her natural response will be to submit to him."

I think the person who wrote that forgot that we're sinners. Those commands are there because our natural inclination is to do the opposite.

A husband's natural inclination is not to sacrificially love his wife. That can only be done as, in the Spirit, he puts to death the deeds of his body.

Same goes for wives. They won't submit, except by the Spirit. It may be easier to submit to a loving husband - but it's the same internal, sinful, inclination and desire that must be overcome by submission to Christ.

So men - don't try to be a good husband and love your wife so she'll submit. Love your wife for her holiness to honor Christ.

And women - submit to your husbands as to the Lord - for his glory. Period.

Both - don't try to do it by yourself - depend on the Holy Spirit's power and choose to value Christ over yourself.

Christians and Vulgarity, Part II

Go here for Part I.

So we saw last time that there are three main passages used to tell Christians not to say 'naughty' words: Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; and Colossians 3:8. I say we take a look at these passages. Shall we?

Ephesians 4:29

Ephesians 4 hits two related topics. It first talks about all that the Holy Spirit is doing to build up Jesus’ Church. It’s cool stuff; check it.

The second topic it hits starts with this command: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds”(Ephesians 4:17). In other words, you used to not be a Christian. But now that you are a Christian, you shouldn’t live like a non-Christian.

Simple enough, right? Paul elaborates on what acting like a Christian means, and part of said elaboration is Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

The real question we have to answer here is this: what is ‘corrupting talk?’ I’ll just make a series of observations.

1) This passage is about the whole content of your speaking – not about particular words. ‘Corrupting talk,’ as in the ESV, is a decent translation of the Greek here. The NET renders the two words ‘unwholesome word’ – and while technically that’s a possibility, we’re not dealing with a ‘word’ in the English sense here; we’re dealing with a ‘word’ in the Greek sense – as in a message. It doesn’t refer to vocabulary so much as to entire content spoken.

As a matter of fact, Paul uses the word several times in Ephesians. In 1:13, he calls the Gospel itself the ‘word of truth.’ In Ephesians 6:19, Paul asks the Ephesians to pray that a message be given him to proclaim the gospel boldly. Your English translation may say ‘words’ – but the Greek is singular – ‘word.’ So the thing being spoken is a whole message – the whole content of one’s speech.

2) It’s possible that what is being spoken of here, particularly, is speech about doctrine. Again, the word ‘word’ here is used in Ephesians specifically about doctrinal words. See 1:13, 5:6, and 6:19. A quick survey of the word ‘word’ (logos) shows us that Paul doesn’t always mean a doctrinal message – but a majority of the time he does.

3) This speech has bad effects. The word translated ‘corrupting’ in the ESV means that the thing being talked about isn’t producing good stuff, at the very least. And is actually producing bad stuff. The bad stuff (I’m about to show) – is bad doctrine and bad behavior.

4) This speech is contrasted with good speech that’s characterized in three ways: it builds up; the needs of the moment are considered; and the purpose of the speaking is giving grace to those who hear.

Building up is a reference to 4:16 and the preceding verses. It’s about people maturing as Christians – in doctrine, character, and ministry skill.

There’s always a need for being built up, but those needs vary. So we’re to speak with reference to what’s needed.

And the purpose is giving grace to the hearers. Now grace, in Ephesians, always has God as the giver. And it’s always about how God himself is working in his people – in bringing his people home to heaven because of love. So giving grace? It’s getting people to experience Jesus. And how’s that happen? Well, by speaking to each other with – the gospel. With good doctrine, not bad.

So what’s this boil down to? There’s a prohibition placed here on speaking things that aren’t in line with what the Scriptures teach about reality. There’s a positive command to talk to people about the truth of the gospel, to be sensitive to the fact that they need that at different times and in different ways, and that it’s for their spiritual growth.

There’s nothing here about the particular vocabulary that one uses, except that the framework provided by Ephesians 4:29 should be used to examine everything we say.

The End of the Shack

I actually haven't reached the end of "The Shack."

I've read a tad further - and I've found that the author tells us that God is not angry, nor is he wrathful.

Really.

I think I can show that he's wrong. Click here.

That's 51 verses about the wrath of God, by the way. And I didn't even touch his anger, fury, or any other word for wrath.

Or hate. How about hate. "The LORD tests the righteous,but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence." (Psalm 11:5)

I wonder if Young knows that he's shredded the heart and soul out of the cross of the Christ, my great savior and my God.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace...

"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief..."
(Isaiah 53:5, 10)

I believe I'm done with this book. Why continue in it? Young creates idols, assaults the sufficiency of Scripture, tears down the incarnation of the Son of God, and maligns God's character - and thus the cross - and the gospel.

I know he means well. And I believe he's my brother. I pray that someone close to him will correct him and bring him under the authority of Scripture and of a Scripture-loving local church.

Don Carson, at Acts 29 - Five Trends in the Church Today

Here.

Why I'm a Christian

If you ask me why I'm a Christian, you're probably really asking me, "Why do you believe in Christianity?" Or maybe you're even asking, "What are the facts that lead you to Christian belief?" Or maybe you're even asking, "What are the things that made it intellectually feasible - but not only feasible, obligatory to believe?"

To these questions, I can only really say one thing. God made me a Christian. See, the presupposition in those questions is that my mind and will are free - that I'm somehow able to analyze facts in an unbiased fashion and arrive at Christianity - or not.

But God has taught that my mind and will are not free, but rather, are in a state of rebellion against him - as are yours. I can look at all the facts in the world that point to the authority of Scripture - but I - and you - will interpret those facts through rebellious lenses.

The mind is not neutral. It is in rebellion.

So why am I a Christian? God gave me a new soul - a new nature - one that responds to and sees his glory in his book.

If you're asking me what facts in the world agree with Christian belief, well, that's a different question. But in asking it, realize this - all those facts will be interpreted through rebellious lenses - unless God so chooses to have mercy, act, and open one's eyes.

Christians and Vulgarity, Part I

Though I’m sure it’d be an interesting study, I’m not going to pretend to give a history of the whole matter at hand. I don’t know it. Instead, I’ll just give you my own experience with the issue.

1) I discovered at some point in my youth that there were ‘vulgarities’ in the Bible; words translated ‘rubbish,’ ‘may it never be,’ and ‘eliminated.’

2) People in the emergent movement apparently also discovered this and started using vulgarities – a lot. (They should've also discovered two other things - 1) The Bible, 2) history.)

3) Mark Driscoll became popular as ‘Mark the cussing pastor,’ a label, from what I understand, he’s not proud of. I also understand that much of that cussing was in anger at the emergent movement.

4) Piper invited Driscoll to be a speaker at the Desiring God conference in 2006. A whole lot of people that usually love Piper were irate. Emails were written and many that would’ve normally come to the annual conference didn’t. (Kind of reminds me of my mom banning cereal companies that supported liberal causes...)

5) This year, the Desiring God Conference is entitled “The Power of Words and the Wonder of God.” Paul Tripp, of the CCEF and Westminster Seminary, is one of the speakers. He’s a big deal in the Christian counseling world and, I believe, an ordained PCA minister. In a promotional video for the conference, he repeatedly uses a common vulgarity for POOP to demonstrate that the way we use words isn’t so much about our vocabulary as our intentions.

Now – if people were irate that Piper invited Driscoll – how does he think people will respond to this?

I don’t know about widespread reaction – but I do know some now think Piper has ‘forgotten his Bible.’ They certainly think he’s in grave sin.

It begs the question – what’s the Bible say about vulgarity? Why don’t we look at the three Scriptures cited that are commonly cited to show that… well, to show that Paul Tripp and John Piper are in sin – Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; and Colossians 3:8.

That examination will follow soon, God willing.

Spurgeon Quote on Infant Baptism

Credit to Steve-o on this one.

"If we could find infant baptism in the word of God, we would adopt it. It would help us out of a great difficulty, for it would take away from us that reproach which is attached to us-- that we are odd and do not as other people do. But we have looked well through the Bible and cannot find it, and do not believe it is there, nor do we believe that others can find infant baptism in the Sriptures, unless they themselves first put it there."*

* Charles H. Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon Autobiography (reprint ed., Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962), 1:152.

Indianapolis Law

From the Indiana government's website: Hopefully I'll never be a victim of this grave offense.

Illegal Dumping

Illegal dumping is unfortunately common in Indianapolis and is a punishable offense. If you witness illegal dumping, please call the Mayor's Action Center (MAC) at 327-4MAC and report the incident.

Illegal dumping usually occurs in alleys, vacant lots, and in heavily wooded areas.

Sermon - Christians Need the Gospel

-Intro me and what I do (talk about holistic evangelism) (and define the gospel ASAP!!!)
-Be honest with hindrances – scary, rejection, naturally shy, I haven’t made it, I’d rather watch – or even talk about - a good movie

-Our task – evangelism (be specific about THEIR neighborhood and work throughout this whole thing!) – 1 Peter 2:9 (proclaim! We must do good works and show Jesus off – but we’re to speak about Jesus)

-What gets in our way? (Things I mentioned) – Question of values – if we loved the gospel more than other things, we’d talk about it (movie example). To love the gospel we need to experience it (dating). And to experience it, we need to HEAR it – over and over again – our memories are dull and the distractions are MANY (how many of you still celebrate the colts victory every day?)

-MBI – Christians need the gospel all the time. YOU need the gospel all the time. Only then will you participate in the joy that you should have in Jesus. And only then will you participate in God’s work in this world!

-Remind, read Romans 1:13-17,
-pray
-where we’re going:
-what’s going on this passage
-4 things that the gospel does
-leads to obedience(!)
-creates a debt (because of our sense of need)
-creates a boldness for the gospel
-it saves believers
-things you can do
(pray gospel; speak gospel; learn gospel)

I What’s going on…
-read v. 15
-how’d the church at Rome come to be?
-Paul longed to go
-wanted to preach the gospel to them!
-what it’s not (evangelistic crusade, special worship service with a juggler where the gospel is shared with a puppet show afterwards…)
-wanted to preach the gospel to CHRISTIANS
-shows us our need for hearing it –
-might say ‘ but I KNOW the gospel’ – (my example in youth group)
-really? If you believed it all the time you’d live out of such gratitude that you’d never sin. (house guest example)
-so again – the gospel is for Christians!

II - 4 things that the gospel does

1) leads to obedience – v. 13
-explain (w. Rom. 7:4)
-fruit = result – (ex: John 15)
-what that’s NOT! - self effort (Every Man’s Battle example)
-So stop believing that you can change your life – that you can make you a worshiper!
-And start believing that by hearing the gospel, the Holy Spirit will
-(repeat point)

2) creates a debt to everyone– v. 14
-what that’s NOT (debt to God)
-God owns everything (Acts 17)
-you have nothing to give him
-and makes a mockery of salvation/grace
- so do not act like you are a debtor to God – you’re not, you’re a child, who’s loved, and an heir of his Kingdom
-what that is – (verse again)
-why that debt exists…
-(I am Legend example)
-(my own story on the quad before graduation)
-they’re getting what I deserve
-elimnates prejudice! (race, income, education, age) – debt to everyone!
-(repeat point)

3) creates a boldness for the gospel – vv. 15, 16
-Why isn’t he ashamed? (v. 16b)
-(explain 16b – it’s the way God saves people!)
-So why would hearing the gospel motivate us to boldness? (reminds us of reality!) (talk about salvation here!)
-Polycarp example –

Then, the proconsul was urging him, and saying, "Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ;" Polycarp declared, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?"
The proconsul then said to him, "I have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast you, except you relent." But he answered, "Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil; [449] and it is well for me to be changed from what is evil to what is righteous." [450] But again the proconsul said to him, "I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you don’t fear the wild beasts, if you wilt not repent." But Polycarp said, "You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but art ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But what are you waiting for? Bring forth what you will."

-Why wasn’t Polycarp afraid? He was dwelling – camping, in the Gospel
(repeat point)

4) saves believers – vv. 16-17
-(explain)
-(The life of Martin Luther)
-Why would the righteousness of God be good news??? (1:18; 2:5-11) (run King/treason analogy throughout)
-(Rom 5:16-19)
(explain all this!)
(repeat point…)

-(repeat all four observations about what the gospel does…)

III – Three things you can do in response

1) Pray the Gospel
-what’s that look like? (confession, thanksgiving, asking for Kingdom!)

2) Speak the gospel
-at every opportunity, speak about Jesus
-be honest about your sins to others – so you can talk about forgiveness

3) Learn the gospel
-church!
-memorize Scripture (Romans 5!)
-don’t fill yourselves with what is Christian – light. (Christian twinkies! Taste good, but end up killing you)
(but rather, what is teaching Scripture in light of Jesus saving us by his death – 1 Cor. 2) (short book – 70 pages – cross centered life)


Dream a little bit with me. What would it look like to change your community. To change your family. To change your workplace. To change this city. To change this country. To change this world – to bring all of it into obedience to Jesus Christ, Ruler, Owner, and Creator of every individual person on this planet.

Who doesn’t want that? The fact is – it has to start here – in your own soul. And it starts – and continues – and grows – by hearing the Gospel.

You’re not going to change this world. You’re not going to change you. But the good news is that Jesus already has. And he’s going to continue to. And he’s going to make himself known through you. Through this church.

People of God, hear the Gospel! Jesus died. He rose from the dead as Ruler of this world! He forgives all of the disobedience of everyone who believes in him! He’s coming back one day to judge – and to bring every believer into his presence forever!

Why I Wish I Could Be a Presbyterian... but Can't

So I wish I could be a Presbyterian and just say I subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Finding a home church would be so easy. Ministry and support raising would be so easy. Plus, I'd have the backing of an entire denomination in missions, not to speak of the tremendous history of the Westminster tradition.

Except I disagree with one question in the Westminster. Just one. Just a teeney one.

No way I can baptize infants.

What follows is a skeleton outline of why baptizing the infants of believers is wrong. It's just a skeleton; if you need warrants for these statements, that's the meat they're missing, and we can dialog through them.

And not one of these arguments is necessarily a 'magic bullet' that seals the argument. But I think the cumulative force of them all together is a debilitating blow to Reformed Paedobaptism. So without further ado, the reasons...

1) In Scripture, faith and baptism aren't just linked in terms of objective meaning, but in terms of subjective experience.

2) Infant baptism is never commanded. My Reformed Paedobaptist friends would do well to remember their own regulative principle, Deuteronomy 12:32, and need to show that not only would paedobaptism have to be assumed, but properly assumed by the earliest Christians.

3) People in the New Covenant are all regenerate. See Hebrews 8 and Jeremiah 31.

4) The Abrahamic Covenant was not just spiritual. It had both spiritual/eternal and physical/ethnic aspects.

5) Circumcision in the Old Testament is fulfilled in (and prophesied) regeneration, not baptism.

6) Circumcision and baptism are never talked about as if they were identical signs.

7) Baptism is never talked about as the simple solution to the problems of the Judaizers - which would've been the case had it been the replacement for circumcision.

8) New Covenant people are spiritual and defined by spiritual birth.

9) No where is there a promise that children of believers are elect - only set apart because they'll hear the word of God.

10) The covenantal paedobaptism position is nowhere in history until Zwingli. Baptism and faith were always linked in experience in theological writings until then (even if sometimes mistakenly so).

11) Nowhere is baptism ever talked about as the sign of entry into the visible church. It's always in terms of one's regeneration - being in the invisible church.

12) Paedobaptists assume that the Abrahamic covenant IS the covenant of grace - not merely a dispensation of it. They look at the fulfillment of the covenant of grace (the new covenant) in terms of the Abrahamic covenant, as opposed to the Abrahamic covenant as a downpayment for and in terms of how the New Covenant fulfills it. (That is to say, they look at the relationship between the two covenants as essentially merely repeats of each other as opposed to looking at them in terms of promise-fulfillment.)

That's what I got off the top of my head. I'll add more as I think of them, God willing!

DA Carson on Deeds of Mercy and The Gospel

Presbyterian post tomorrow, God willing, I'm tired.

But for now - DA Carson, NT professor of awesome, notes two things in answer to this question:

"Granted that we ought to be engaged in acts of mercy, what safeguards can be set in place so as to minimize the risk that the deeds of mercy will finally swamp the proclamation of the gospel and the passionate desire to see men and women reconciled to God by faith in Christ Jesus and his atoning death and resurrection?"

The two are...

"First, it is helpful to distinguish between the responsibilities of the church qua church and the responsibilities of Christians. Some writers flip back and forth between references to "Christians" and references to "church" as if there is no difference whatsoever. But many Christian thinkers, from Kuyperians to Baptists, have argued that if the church qua church is responsible for some of these substantial works of mercy, such works of mercy ought to come under the leaders of the church. It is very difficult to find any warrant for that step in the New Testament. Even before there were pastors/elders/overseers, the apostles themselves, according to Acts, recognized that they should not be diverted from the ministry of the Word and prayer, even by the inequities of food distribution among the faithful, so they saw to it that others were appointed to tackle the problem. Ministers of the gospel ought so to be teaching the Bible in all its comprehensiveness that they will be raising up believers with many different avenues of service, but they themselves must not become so embroiled in such multiplying ministries that their ministries of evangelism, Bible teaching, making disciples, instructing, baptizing, and the like, somehow get squeezed to the periphery and take on a purely formal veneer.

Second, one pastor astutely urged, "Preach hell." Two things follow from this. (1) By adopting this priority we remind ourselves that as Christians we desire to relieve all suffering, from the temporal to the eternal. If we do not maintain such a panoramic vision, the relief of immediate suffering, as important as it is, may so command our focus that we fail to remind ourselves of Jesus' rhetorical question, "What good will it be for you to gain the whole world yet forfeit your soul?" Read the closing lines of Revelation 14 and Revelation 20 when your vision becomes myopic. (2) As long as you are prepared to plead with men and women to be reconciled to God and to flee the coming wrath, you are preserving something that is central in the Bible, something that is intimately and irrefragably tied to the gospel itself—and those who want to shunt such themes aside and focus only on the relief of present suffering will not want to have much to do with you. Thus you will be free to preach and teach the whole counsel of God and to relieve all suffering, temporal and eternal, without being drawn into endless alliances in which people never focus on anything beyond threescore years and ten."

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That simple.


Coming soon


1) Why I wish I could be a Presbyterian - but can't.
2) More impressions of "The Shack" and "Blue Like Jazz"
3) Sermon Notes - "Why Christians Need the Gospel"
4) Christians and Vulgarity
5) Why Christians should drink (booze!)

Non Christians Not Gossiping?

Check out this article.

Very interesting. So hey kids, we struggle with gossip - let's face it. How do you fight it? Spill it!

John, Stick to Hunting and Fishing.

Eldredge has just released a new book.

It's about praying for guidance. He says stuff like, 'God, should I go fishing today?' And, according to him, God answers.

I for one, believe the Holy Scriptures are sufficient for every good work. And I don't see this sort of behavior or guidance in them. I see meditation on God's word, the Spirit applying it to our very core beings.

Blogger Tim Challies cites theologian Sinclair Ferguson:

"Christians in an earlier generation rarely thought of writing books on guidance. There is a reason for that (just as there is a reason why so many of us today are drawn to books that will tell us how to find God's will). Our forefathers in the faith were catechised, and they taught catechisms to their children. Often as much as half of the catechism would be devoted to an exposition of the answers to questions like the following: Question: Where do we find God's will? Answer: In the Scriptures. Question: Where in particular in the Scriptures? Answer: In the Commandments that God has given to us.

Why were these questions and answers so important? Because these Christians understood that God's law provides basic guidelines that cover the whole of life. Indeed, in the vast majority of instances, the answer to the question 'What does God want me to do?' will be found by answering the question: 'How does the law of God apply to this situation? What does the Lord require of me here in his word?'"

Here's an article about decision-making. Here. Click it. You know you wanna.

I KNOW you love readin' Chronicles!

Most of you probably don't read the Old Testament much. I understand that. It can feel really boring, full of inconsequential detail - and just plain hard to read.

But it is God's word, good for doctrine and life - and it's here for you.

So let me share with you a paradigm you can use to read through Kings and Chronicles - and all the narratives about kings in Israel.

Read the end of Judges - God's people kept rejecting God because they had no king. Then Israel wanted a king that would essentially act like the pagan kings instead of merely being God's spokesman.

But then God gave them a king - David - who executed God's Law, and God ushered in an era of peace and prosperity and obedience. Awesome. And promised David that his line would be forever.

Oh, and Jesus fulfills that. By the way. (2 Sam 7; Romans 1:3, 4)

So when you're reading about these kings, who show varied levels of obedience and disobedience, compare them to Jesus.

Look at how they sin. Look at how you share in their sin. And look at how Jesus is a better King. How he obeyed God perfectly. How he commanded us perfectly (as recorded in Scripture). How he actually causes our obedience (through the Spirit). How he died for our sins. How he rose and reigns at God's right hand - and how he's coming again to rescue his people from the ills of this world - and to usher us into his presence.

Why Do Good People Suffer?

Or in other words, why, if God is 'good,' does 'evil' exist?

This is the question "The Shack" seeks to answer. I don't know how it answers it yet. But I figured I'd give you four answers God gives.

1) Shut up. (That is, don't question God. He's God, and you're not.) (Job 38 through the end and Romans 9)

2) Evil exists to show the glory of God in his love (Romans 9, Romans 5:12-21, John 9:2-3, Matthew 11:25-26).

3) Wait - God's going to fix it! (Which is a good thing for those he's forgiven - bad for those he hasn't.) (ALL over the prophets, psalms, etc.)

4) Suffering exists as the beginning of punishment for unbelievers, and as holiness-producing discipline for believers (Luke 13:1 and following; 1 Peter 4:12 and following; Hebrews 12:1-10 ish).

If you want more ref's, I can grab 'em.

It's too bad that people aren't willing to just say - 'hey, what's the Bible say on this?' I shouldn't ask my pastor or someone to explain what the bible says - I should read some stupid book that denigrates God. But hey, it's written well and makes me feel good.

A friend of mine coined the term 'spiritual masturbation' to refer to such things. He's right. And I'd apologize for the ugliness of the term, except for the fact that what is being done in creating and worshiping an idol is worse.

More Shack-alicious and First Impressions of Blue Like Yazz...

I've taken it on myself to start reading pop-Christian literature. I usually don't because, well, there's a lot of really good Bible teaching stuff out there.

Take that as you will.

Anyway, I watched Driscoll on "The Shack" last night, and was pleasantly encouraged to see his analysis was very similar to my own. One verse he drew on that I forgot about was this:

God has said in Romans 1:22-23, "Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

Whoops.

Whoops seems a light word when that 'mistake' results in the wrath of God, actually (from 1:18 and 2:1-11).

So I've started reading Blue Like Jazz. First impressions:
1) Miller has an amazing ability to write conversationally.
2) These conversations, so far, have done a great job pointing out the sin of man. He's done an excellent job showing how universal it is. He's done a great job showing how it's rooted in the self - in self-pleasure. He's done a great job showing that infects even the good things we do. He's done a great job in showing that everyone is sinful. Awesome.
3) He does a lot of needless ripping on nameless, descriptionless 'fundamentalists.' I'm not sure that's edifying or loving to certain people in the Church.
4) He makes a big deal out of being a political liberal. Eh, frustrating. I'd never say that being a Christian means you have to vote Republican (at least without some argument from Scripture), but at the same time, I don't like it. I think ALL Christians should have some sort of biblical political ethic - a biblical basis for what they think government should be and how we should interact with it - before engaging in such speech. Both Republicans and Democrats. Let's elevate God's words, not our unfounded opinions. Again, that goes for you all on both sides. Knock it off.