The Doorkeeper's Delight

Will Your Trivial Pursuits Profit You in the End?

2010-06-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

It came to my attention today that a co-creator of the Trivial Pursuit board game died recently at the age of 59:

Chris Haney, a former Canadian journalist whose fascination with entertaining, barely useful tidbits of information led him to co-create the bestselling board game Trivial Pursuit, died May 31 at a Toronto hospital. He was 59.

He had kidney and circulatory problems, said Scott Abbott, who created the game with Haney more than 30 years ago and watched it become a cultural phenomenon across North America and around the world.

[...]

The game's success allowed Mr. Haney to indulge his passion for golf. With Abbott, he built Devil's Pulpit and Devil's Paintbrush in Ontario; they were named the best new golf courses in 1991 and 1992, respectively, by Golf Digest magazine. Mr. Haney spent every winter in Marbella, Spain, sailing there on an ocean liner because he was averse to flying.

I have no idea of the state of Mr. Haney's soul, but I do know he has faced the God who created Him and has judged Him in perfect righteousness. I also know you and I will one day face that same God to whom we owe perfect love and obedience.

The bad news is that we've fallen far short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), having lived our lives in pursuit of truly trivial things, exchanging the glory of God for all sorts of created things (1:18-23). God cannot overlook that. He must and will judge it, and that is a terrible but necessary thing (Hebrews 9:27).

The good news is there is escape from such wrath. There is escape from a life of trivial, self-glorifying pursuits, and it's only found in Jesus Christ, God's only Son (John 14:6).

On the cross, God poured out His wrath against sin on His perfect, sinless Son, so that whoever believes in Him should pass from judgment to pardon, from death to newness of life (John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:17).

I hope that Mr. Haney put his trust in Jesus before going before the bar of God's eternal justice. If he didn't, it's too late for him, but not for you reading this now.

Turn to Jesus, confess you are a sinner without excuse for your sins (Romans 1:20), that Jesus died in your place (10:9) and was raised from the dead on the third day (I Corinthians 15:4).

Trust in Him alone to be your righteousness before God, and you will be saved from God's judgment against your sinful, trivial pursuits (I Thessalonians 1:10).

Jesus, A Love That Waits, and the Hope of Resurrection

2010-03-08T20:12:00.000-05:00

Reading through John 11 recently, the following passage stuck out at me (John 11:1-15):

11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus [1] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Yet rather than drop everything he was doing to rush to Lazarus or even to heal him from a distance like he did the son of the official from Capernaum (John 4:46-54), Jesus waited an additional two days before setting out for Bethany.

Why the wait? The text above makes clear Jesus did this for the faith of his disciples, but we also can't escape the conclusion that Jesus's waiting in verse 6 in inextricably linked to his loving Lazarus in verse 5. Jesus wasn't just doing this for the faith of his traveling coterie of disciples or of those who would read this account in Scripture. Jesus did this for the benefit of Mary, Martha, and yes, even Lazarus.

Jesus could have healed Lazarus, but letting him die and raising him from the dead as a sign of his divine authority over death was the more loving thing to do.

Sure, it was painful to Lazarus, and more so to Mary and Martha, who were perplexed as to why Jesus took so long in arriving (see John 11:17-32). "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died," Martha and then Mary separately complained to Jesus.

But it seems to me Jesus understood that merely delaying Lazarus's death would not have served Lazarus nor Mary and Martha.

Lazarus, God had determined by His sovereign plan, would glorify God by dying and then being raised again from the dead by Jesus, becoming a living, breathing demonstration of Jesus's claim of authority in John 5:19-29.

"I am the resurrection and the life," Jesus assured Martha. "Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die," the Savior added, asking,, "Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world," Martha responded, confessing Jesus as the Messiah.

Plenty of people can work to delay the sting of death. We have a whole medical industry dedicated to alleviating suffering and healing wounds towards that end. But no human agency can transcend or conquer death. Only God can, and that's precisely what Jesus was demonstrating by the raising of Lazarus. Jesus was the Messiah, the very Son of God. He not only has the power to raise the dead and give life, he is resurrection life personified.

And that, I think, is the loving lesson Jesus showed Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The pain and suffering of this life is too light and momentary to expect that God must glorify Himself only through a display of His healing power.

Yes, it's well and good to pray and pray earnestly for God to heal people of all manner of sickness and disease and affliction.

However, God wants us first and foremost to trust in His Son Jesus, who IS the resurrection and the life and promises us eternal joy in a resurrected cosmos with Him.

"If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied," the Apostle Paul admonished the church at Corinth. But because Jesus went ahead of us in death and resurrection we can rest assured that God will likewise raise us to new life and glory in the Son [I Cor. 15:35-49]:

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; [5] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall [6] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Sickness, death and mourning are sadly part of our lot in this fallen world, but praise be to God that in Christ, we have newness of life and the glorious hope of resurrection when He returns!

Like Mary and Martha, we've no good reason to doubt our Lord when he tarries from answering our prayers. We know that He has His glory and our supreme joy in view.

'I Ain't Been Nuttin' But Bad' or Why I Need the Gospel for Christmas

2009-11-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
'Cuz I ain't been nuttin' but bad

So echoes the humorous chorus to a humorous song penned in the 1950s in which a bratty boy rattles off in verse his various sins of commission coupled with his refrain that "somebody snitched on me" before issuing an admonition to fellow and would-be rotten brats:

So you better be good whatever you do
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.

It's a funny song, but it made me think of how it's a great springboard to discuss the Gospel.

After all, the Bible tells us about how we've been "nuttin' but bad" and how that badness is pervasive, stemming from the very core of our being and manifesting in numerous sins that are fruits thereof. Simply put, we sin because we are sinners, we do bad things because we are bad: [Romans 3:10-20;22b-23]:

10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being [3] will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
[...]
22b For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

That's a very bleak indictment, but the good news comes in verses 21-28:

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

We're bad to the bone. We're sinners, and our attempts to paper over the fact by modifying our behavior to be, publicly at least, good boys and girls doesn't square with God, who has no room for our boasting in our own efforts, but who judges the heart. As Paul wrote the Ephesians:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [2:8-9]

That means the self-righteous snitches are in the same boat as the sinners they tattle on.

After all, Christ came not for the self-appointed righteous, but to rescue repentant sinners [Luke 5:27-32]:

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

So what is real repentance?

It's certainly not expressed in the close of the song:

I won't be seeing Santa Claus;
Somebody snitched on me.
He won't come visit me because
Somebody snitched on me.
Next year I'll be going straight;
Next year I'll be good, just wait
I'd start now, but it's too late;
Somebody snitched on me.

So you better be good whatever you do
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.

The kid in this song doesn't have a changed heart, he just sees a need to modify his behavior to mollify "mommy and daddy" and to sucker Santa Claus into coming by next Christmas with goodies. In other words, he's concerned with outward pretense and manipulation of a gracious but mysterious higher power.

Hmm. Sounds an awful lot like how we treat God apart from a regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

True repentance and the obedience of faith in Christ follows the good news of the Gospel: God in His grace gave undeserving, murderous sinners the gift of His Son.

Jesus took the wrath intended for our sins, even though he was nothing but good, wholly and purely righteous.

It's by faith in Him that we receive the unmerited free gift of salvation that was bought by Jesus's blood.

It's that astounding truth that leaves the Christian amazed and yields faith and repentance. We love because Christ first loved us and gave Himself as the propitiation for our sins [I John 4:9-10;19]. We love God not in hopes of getting something from Him, but because we are astounded at what He already has done for us in Christ.

We who believe on Jesus for our right-standing with God deserved nothing but wrath, but have known nothing but mercy, grace, forgiveness, and adoption as sons.

That's the best Christmas gift we could ever get and most certainly could never earn.

Taking Your Idol with You to the Grave

2009-11-02T15:40:00.001-05:00

Literally.

From Sunday's Washington Post front page:

Joe Kelly won't go as far as calling Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course a burial ground.
But the 91-year-old track historian is quite sure that Willie Doyle, who rode Effendi to victory in the 1909 Preakness, isn't the only guy whose remains are mingled with the turf where the great Seabiscuit and War Admiral famously battled.

"Oh yeah, it has happened fairly often, including a couple of bettors who were very well known," Kelly says. "They figured they'd spread their money around there; may as well spread their ashes."

While Doyle's choice of Pimlico's finish line as his final resting place is among the more colorful episodes in horseracing lore, it's hardly unique. From baseball parks to football stadiums to golf courses, sporting venues regularly field requests to scatter a loved one's cremated remains at the pitcher's mound, under a goal post or on a fairway overlooking the sea -- anywhere a sports hero has trod and triumphed.

Death is the ultimate reminder of our limitations, our creature-ness, if you will. We all are headed there and all will give an account to our Creator, yet without a changed heart, we will cling tenaciously to our idol(s) of choice, even to the cold recesses of the grave.

Perhaps to some die-hard sports fans, having their remains scattered or entombed in your sports temple of choice is a vain attempt to eternally live on in the ascribed glory of the gridiron or the race track.

But all human glory is fleeting. It never satisfies, and it always fades away.

That's why the witness of Christian burial can be such a powerful testimony to the victory of Christ over death, for Himself and by it for all who trust in Him [I Cor. 15:42-49; 53-57]:

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

[...]

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The glory the Christian hopes for is to share in Christ's glorious return, forever dwelling in a body that can never die nor fall sick or grow weary.

The Christian in death witnesses to His hope not in some athlete or some sports franchise or any other earthly power or prince, but in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who was slain and by whose blood there is forgiveness from sins and peace with God.

Spinning the Generalities

2009-10-27T20:36:00.000-04:00

Today's Non Sequitur comic strip drew a chuckle from me and has a theological hook, as it were, so I thought I'd include both:

How true. Confronted with God's holy law we try to justify ourselves by narrowly defining it to such an extent that we pass the test.

Under divine inspiration, the Apostle Paul wrote about this very thing in his letter to the Romans:

For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. [7:5-12]

God's law is "holy and righteous and good," but our sinful nature is aroused to further rebellion upon hearing it. God's law exposes our sin and our need for a Savior. It's clear we cannot perfectly fulfill the law. We are wholly opposed to it and its Author naturally.

What we need is a Savior who perfectly fulfills the Law and acts as our subsitute and then fills us with His Spirit so that we walk in obedience to Him.

That's where Jesus comes in. His perfect obedience is credited to us by faith, and our sin is credited to Him at the cross, where He died in place of sinners who would trust in Him. Risen from the dead and ascended to Heaven, He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of believers, producing the fruit of repentance from sin and faith in and obedience to Christ:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [Rom. 8:3-4]

[...]

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [Rom. 10:5-13]

Praise God, who gave us not only His holy law to expose our sin, but His only Son to pay the penalty for our sin and rescue us from the Law's just penalty!

A Pitiful Answer

2009-10-26T20:22:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I ventured with my wife up to New York City. On Saturday as she hung out with her sister who had taken the bus down from Boston, I ventured around Lower Manhattan, taking in the sites, including Trinity Church, a historic Episcopal parish on the corner of Broadway and Wall Street.

I walked around the graveyard and admired the beautiful architecture and art both inside and outside the church. I love seeing how God is glorified in the beautiful artwork that adorns sacred spaces intended for the heralding the Gospel.

But of course, the Episcopal Church USA these days is not generally -- especially in liberal urban centers -- a fearless defender or even proclaimer of the historic Christian faith, so it was a bittersweet visit, all the more confirmed by a visit this evening to the "What We Believe" Web page for Trinity.

It was the following portion from the FAQ that prompted this blog entry and its title, because anyone who believes the answer the parish provided is truly to be pitied:

Are you the church featured in the movie National Treasure?
Yes.

Is there any treasure?
Yes, but probably not the kind you are thinking of. Trinity’s greatest treasures are the people who make this a vibrant place, working every day for a world of good.

It's not only that answer is cheesy, which it is, but that it's man-focused, man-exalting, and Christless. After all, there are plenty of "good" people "working every day for a world of good" in all kinds of institutions, sacred and secular. But in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the people are NOT the treasure, Christ is!

In the church, the people are but the earthen vessels bearing within the greatest treasure (2 Cor. 4:1-7, emphasis mine):

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Yes, in some sense the Lord's church is a treasure. It is a treasure to Christ, who redeemed it with His own blood, and all who are truly born again of the Spirit are those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life.

In that sense, it's true that every saint is a precious treasure to God.

But let's not think that we individually or corporately in a church setting are a treasure to the surrounding community because of anything we have done or presently do. Our worth before God is solely a function of His grace poured out on unworthy sinners. Ultimately, that's the only good the church is to lost people as well: as heralds of the surpassing greatness of Christ.

Any church that fails to proclaim this humbling truth does a grave disservice to sinners who need to hear the pride-deflating truth of the Gospel so that they can repent of their sins and trust in Christ unto salvation.

Adoption: God's Work, Our Identity

2009-10-21T12:14:00.000-04:00

Last night as my wife and I hosted our small group for fellowship, something struck me about the passage preached on Sunday, Galatians 4:1-7. The Lord brought to my attention that the action verbs in the passage were all performed by God (see portions in bold), with the result being the blessing of our identity -- notice the verb "to be" in italics -- as adopted children of God.

The one action verb undertaken by those of us in Christ (shown in bold and italics) is that of receiving God's gift!:

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but [you are] a son, and if [you are] a son, then [you are] an heir through God.

Praise be to God! Salvation, and our adoption as sons, are gifts from God, to be received by faith in the work of His Son, and this is only possible because He has changed our hearts and sealed them with His Holy Spirit, who cries for us and with us, "Abba, Father!" [Rom. 8:15]

Because Christ Has Made Me His Own...

2009-10-19T23:15:00.002-04:00

Being at peace with God the Judge is great. Being made His child by His adopting grace in Jesus Christ is even greater, Sovereign Grace Ministries founder C.J. Mahaney preached in a guest sermon at Solid Rock Church in Riverdale, Maryland on October 18, from Galatians 4:1-7 on the doctrine of adoption.

Sovereign Grace churches are great about preaching, and should continue declaring the wondrous truth of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, but we should grow in our embrace of the even greater truth of our sonship in God's family through the atoning work of Christ.

Camp out on this truth, Mahaney urged, memorizing and meditating on the passage to make the joyous truth of it sink in.

It's that point that brought me to see a tie-in with the previous week's sermon passage from Philippians 3:2-14. That message, from guest preacher Mickey Connolly of Charlotte's CrossWay Community Church, focused on the surprassing worth of knowing (and being known) by Christ.

Verses 7-14 particularly stuck out at me (emphasis mine):

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

We are redeemed from our sin, stand justified and imputed with Christ's righteousness, joined to Christ and made part of God's family, sealed with His Holy Spirit, and yearning for His return, casting aside as rubbish the idols we used to so zealously treasure.

We know we will share in Christ's sufferings and so in His glorious resurrection (Rom. 8:18; I Peter 5:1).

And all of this is because we believe the truth that Christ has made us His own!

God didn't have to save us in the first place, and He could have merely saved us but had little if anything to do with us after the fact.

Yet God, in His infinite wisdom, sought to save a people from their sins and make them His people, His children, and the blood-bought bride of His Son. He made sons and daughters of the very people who killed His Son! He's brought us into His house and made us to sup at the Lord's table, remembering Christ's atoning death and anticipating the wedding supper of the Lamb.

What a glorious, mind-blowing truth. Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us: that we should be called the sons of God! (I John 3:1)

May this truth cause us to cling more tenaciously to Jesus, making the power of His death and resurrection our own, because He has made us his own! As we do this, let us never think we've "arrived," but let us "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Thoughts on Ted Kennedy's Papal Prayer Request

2009-08-30T14:52:00.009-04:00

Today's Washington Post published in full a letter that Ted Kennedy had President Barack Obama hand-deliver to the Pope a month ago.

Upon reading it, I felt grieved for the late senator and his family given how it seems Kennedy did not grasp the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and embrace the mercy available for him at the cross.

The letter (excerpted in full below) was full of lots of "I"s and reference to his practice of the Catholic faith, but nothing about the grace of the Lord Jesus:

Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand-deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him.

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life.

I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family. And both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.

I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator.

I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I'm committed to doing everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I'll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.

I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.

Only God knows with certainty Ted Kennedy's present and permanent residence: in the presence of our merciful Savior or in the abandonment and unending torment in Hell.

What I do know is that one's life work or good works can never get Ted Kennedy, yours truly, or any of us to the former. The Bible tells us that "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)

The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, continued by noting that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that those in Christ "are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

Later Paul asked the Romans "what becomes of our boasting?" and answered that "It is excluded.... For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul explains that that faith itself is also a gift of God, so that no one may boast. And yet good works do result, as fruit of a changed life (Ephesians 2:1-10 emphasis mine):

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ted Kennedy admitted in his letter that he has his shortcomings, but then said that he's always "tried to be a faithful Catholic."

But God is not impressed by our vain efforts. He is pleased when we admit we are weak and that we desperately need Him to save us. As Paul wrote the Galatians:

[F]ar be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

Religious ritual doesn't save. Good works don't save. Law-keeping doesn't save. Being a "good" man on balance doesn't save. It's clinging to Christ's cross that saves us from God's judgment and from the corruption endemic in our sinful flesh (Romans 7:21-25a):

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The book is closed on Ted Kennedy's life, and he has appeared before the judgment seat of Christ, as will all of us one day (Hebrews 9:27-28):

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The question for us is whether we will appear before that throne trusting in Christ's mercy alone, or pointing to our good works in a vain attempt to curry God's favor.

My plea with you today is to cry out to Jesus to save you from His wrath and from your sins, so that one day you may join that great heavenly multitude praising the spotless Innocent who died to save ungodly sinners like me (Romans 5:6-8; Rev. 5:6-14]:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[...]

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Resting in the Word of the Cross

2009-06-29T18:22:00.005-04:00

What follows is adapted from an e-mail I sent my father, explaining why I asked him to read John Piper's "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die." I thought I'd take that e-mail and expand a bit on it and make that a blog post. So here goes.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church (I Cor. 1:18):

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

and (I Cor. 2:2-5)

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

The word of the cross is the preaching of Christ's atoning work on the cross. Not only has belief in this gospel saved us [past tense --justification], it saves us [present tense -- our sanctification], in that it continually works grace in our lives, grounding our hope more and more in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as we "are being transformed into the same image [of Christ] from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Our faith rests not on the earthly wisdom of any kind but in the power of God. What is the power of God? It is the message of the cross, that is, Christ and Him crucified to ransom us from captivity to sin and reconcile us to God.

While our walk of faith can feel like a fight and indeed often is a fight of wrestling to subject all thoughts captive to the knowledge of Christ, Scripture teaches us that in its truest sense, faith is a fundamentally restful posture.

Faith is a restful reliance on the finished work of Christ, and it comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).

Our faith rests not "in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." So it does rest, by virtue of "wholly lean[ing] on Jesus' Name." In Christ we enter the true Sabbath day rest of the people of God (Heb. 4:9-12). His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30). It is He who has borne the sins of the heavy-laden sinners who by faith in Him are justified by His blood (Rom. 5:9).

How joyful is our task to rest in God's grace!

Praise God for the blessing of rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Relief of Confession and the Joy of Cleansing

2009-05-11T23:05:00.009-04:00

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. --I John 1:6-10

This passage really meant a lot to me earlier today as I was struggling with sins of pride and anger regarding a situation at work. The matter in question my sense of self-importance and arrogance in not wanting to be challenged, and my anger stemming from my self-important/self-righteous evaluation of my work performance and the real or imagined insult to my work ethic that was essentially being leveled.

Bottom line: in my heart and mind I was confronted with a boiling stew of sinful reactions to a situation that should be met with patient reliance on God's grace and strength, thankfulness for an occasion to see areas of improvement on the job, and humility to admit my weaknesses and sins.

So on the way home I prayed to the Lord and confessed these sins and meditated on this Scripture. I came to the realization that it's not so much forgiveness of these sins that worries me, it's the ongoing uncleanness of my unrighteousness.

My unrighteous pride and my unrighteous anger still remain under the surface. Yes, I'm sorry I sinned and yes I've confessed it, but I see my propensity to fall right into the same trap again. My pride, anger, and self-righteousness are deep-seated and not going away instantly.

But that's where the blood of the covenant comes in. It's the blood of Christ shed for my justification which also works my sanctification. As I walk in the light of the Gospel and confess my sin, the blood of Jesus cleanses me. This process of my sanctification is a certainty promised by Scripture, but it's not a process that will come on my timetable and conform to my whims. It is all of grace as the Spirit works within me, and as the Father sovereignly wills.

God is faithful and just to forgive me my sins and cleanse me from my unrighteousness. I am called to receive the promise by faith, confessing my sins and trusting in Christ for forgiveness and for the sanctifying grace to grow deeper in Christlike character and mortifying the flesh, dying to sin and self.

God is faithful to the covenant He has written in the blood of the Lamb (I Peter 1:17-19). He is just to forgive me because my sins are all paid for at the cross (Col. 2:13-15).

God is faithful to cleanse me of all unrighteousness because He finishes what He starts. He who began a good work in me is faithful to complete it (Phil. 1:6). God is just in cleansing me from all unrighteousness because I am already declared righteous by faith (Rom. 3:26; Phil. 3:8-11) in the finished work of the Son.

I'm called to trust in God's promises and walk openly in the light before Him, confessing and forsaking my sin, trusting in his promise of forgiveness and cleansing.

Praise God for sending his faithful and just Son the Lord Jesus to die in my place as the propitiation for my sins (I John 2:1-2), and who now ever lives to intercede for me (Heb. 7:23-25) as my advocate before the Father!

Sex to the Glory of God

2009-04-29T23:37:00.002-04:00

Let's preach about sex, baby?

No thanks, say some conservative Christian watchbloggers, who are quick to ready, fire, and aim on sermon series geared towards preaching about the Bible's teachings on sex and marriage. Certainly preaching on sex and marriage requires great discernment and dedication to proper exposition of preaching, but does purposefully planning and advertising a series on what the Bible says about sex a bad thing?

Should pastors, from the pulpit, exhort married couples to have frequent sex to the glory of God or should marriage's joys and challenges be preached to the virtual exclusion of the sexual dimension of the marital union? Does talking frankly about the joy of marital sex from the pulpit lead primarily to inflamed lusts or to greater joy in knowing God's sovereign care for our sexuality?

I'd answer those questions with an affirmative to the former options. After all, Paul instructed married couples to not deprive one another except for a short time and to prayer, and there is plenty of content in Scripture that speaks to the joy of sexual union between a husband and wife.

Of course, critics will protest, these things can and should be discussed frankly, in private, in marital counseling, but have no or little place being proclaimed from the pulpit.

Certainly preachers should be careful to rightly divide the word of truth, preaching expositionally in a way that is appropriate for a general audience on a Sunday morning. But God's Word is divinely inspired and profitable for all ages, and rightly preached and teached, sex should be addressed from the pulpit as it is encountered in scriptural texts.

As far as planning a sermon series on sex and marriage to draw a crowd, well, that's a question ultimately for the elders of the local church to prayerfully wrestle with. Preaching series can and should at times have in mind how to reach the community at large by addressing issues of concern in light of Scripture BUT the Gospel must be central, not peripheral to every sermon and the primary concern for the preaching calendar should be prophetically addressing the spiritual needs of the congregation, not the roping in of curious new crowds.

The church is the Lord's house and His people must be fed solid food from the preaching/teaching elders. That includes preaching and teaching both chastity in singleness and frequent, fruitful sexual congress in marriage, all to the glory of God.

What Will My Son Write About Me?

2009-04-27T23:16:00.002-04:00

Writer Christopher Buckley, son of famous conservative thinker, writer, and publisher William F. Buckley Jr., has a new "warts and all" book out about his famous father and socialite mother. Reading Chris Buckley's interview with the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz in the April 26 post got me thinking: what will my son write about me, and how will they look wildly different, yet perhaps all too accurate, from what the outside world sees?

I'm a sinner saved by grace, and while I see evidence of grace in the progress of my attitudes, behaviors, motives, and morality, I'm weak and prone to failure, especially as a husband and father. Simply put, I'm sure there are many sins and errors in judgment I'll commit against or make when I have kids.

So what will my son or daughter, should God bless me with children, write about me? I don't think I'd mind a warts and all portrayal, so long as they get out of my life that I didn't claim to be the ultimate example to look toward.

Yes, I want my children to follow me but only as I follow Christ. I want to teach them that dear old Dad is a sinner saved by grace through faith, and that not of himself, but it's a gift of God. My hope in life and death is that body and soul I belong to my Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for my sins. That's what I'll want my kids to take away from my life, and that's what I want the world at-large to see.

Poor Chris Buckley joked in his interview with Kurtz that maybe his dad, if he's in heaven, can argue him in on a technicality.

I want my kids to know that the only defense counsel that can work their acquital is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The price was His blood and his representation is pro bono, if only we repent of our sins and trust in Him.

I pray Chris Buckley does so before the Lord summons him to court, and that my kids will do the same.

The Glory of Election in Isaiah 6

2009-04-21T22:43:00.004-04:00

Today as I read from Isaiah 6, it struck me how Isaiah's salvation and call to ministry are all of grace. Of course Scripture as a whole shows us that our salvation is of the Lord and that we have absolutely nothing to do with earning it or being gifted it. It is unconditionally granted by God at His pleasure according to His will for His glory.

But it seems to me Isaiah 6 gives us a beautiful illustration of how God calls us to salvation and then to walk in light of that salvation by calling others to faith and repentance, even if it's a heart-breaking task that seems to us to yield little fruit.

Let's begin with verses 1-7:

6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train [1] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!” [2]

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah's experience with the Lord is ordained from all eternity, but happens in time. It occurs in the year King Uzziah died. We see Isaiah does nothing to seek God's presence or favor, but that the initiative is God's. God suddenly draws Isaiah into a vision of Himself in His glory.

Yet God doesn't just wow Isaiah with His glory, he lets him hear a sermon of sorts, which is actually a song of praise being sung by the seraphim, who are ascribing holiness to God and declaring that the "whole earth is filled with His glory." Interestingly enough, Isaiah records that the seraphim are not addressing Isaiah nor are they directly addressing God. They are "addressing one another" and singing the praises of God's holiness and glory. Even before the throne of God they are preaching and declaring to one another God's infinite worth and pure holiness, and God chooses to show this ongoing worship to Isaiah so that he might not just see and believe but hear and repent.

Undone by the weight of God's holiness and glory and the depths of his depravity and unholiness, Isaiah declares woe upon himself, confessing not just his generic sinfulness and uncleanness, but a particular besetting sin (unclean lips). He contrasts this with God's perfection and declares he is lost, that he is a goner. He recognizes no works or deeds on his part can justify or appease or propitiate the wrath of the holy Lord of hosts.

So what happens next? Even before he can plead for mercy, a seraph "flew" to him with cleansing fire from the altar, touching Isaiah's mouth with the burning coal and declaring absolution. Isaiah's guilt is taken away and his sin atoned for.

Remember, this happens immediately after Isaiah declares his utter inability to save himself. This happens not because Isaiah convinced God to save him but because God granted salvation of His own initiative to Isaiah and because the Lord is slow to anger but abounding in steadfast love, quick and eager to forgive the repentant sinner.

The grace to save Isaiah, to remove his guilt and atone his sins was all from God, wholly unearned or merited. It came immediately after Isaiah was brought to an awareness of his brokenness and sinfulness in light of God's holiness, and that awareness of God's holiness was made by divine revelation and by preaching the glory and holiness of God by the seraphim.

So Isaiah has seen the Lord's glory and lived to talk about it. What happens next? Let's look at verses 8-13:

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, [3] but do not understand;
keep on seeing, [4] but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, [5]
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned [6] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”

Isaiah is saved, and as a fruit of his salvation and repentance he desires to please God, to minister to God's people for the sake of God's elect by doing His will.

Yet God makes clear Isaiah will declare salvation but see very little to show for it. His preaching will harden hearts. People will ignore the call to repent and go merrily to destruction. Yet even so, God will preserve His people. He will call forward His elect through the preaching of His Word, just as He did with Isaiah, through the preaching of his glory by the seraphim.

Preaching will precede judgment and exile, but after exile an elect remnant shall return to the Promised Land. This was true of national/ethnic Israel in the Babylonian captivity, and it is true of Christ's church in spiritual Babylonian captivity.

We are saved by grace and called to proclaim that salvation to others by God's grace. Many times our hearts will be broken as call after call to repentance will go unheeded by most, but our call remains, as it did for Noah, who preached for 120 years while building the Ark but saw no converts from it (2 Peter 2:5).

Even so, like Isaiah we can rejoice that all the Lord has called to salvation will be saved, that faith that justifies comes by hearing and hearing by the preaching of Christ (Rom. 10:17), and that not one jot or tittle of God's Word will return to Him void; it will accomplish what it was sent forth to do (Isa. 55:11).

Soli Deo gloria!

Some Christianese We Should Rethink: 'Went Home to Be with the Lord'

2009-03-07T09:32:00.009-05:00

On Thursday I attended a funeral that I felt did not adequately explain the h0pe of the resurrection of the body.

Today I thought I'd address some Christianese I think tends to subtly leave out the hope of our bodily resurrection when spoken in front of non-believers.

Doubtless you've heard the expression, "went home to be with the Lord." It's not completely without scriptural merit, and indeed as the Apostle Paul wrote, "to live is Christ, to die is gain."

But left by itself, the phrase "went home to be with the Lord" communicates to an unbeliever that our bodily existence is to be cheerfully sloughed off, for our true home is to be disembodied in the Lord's presence.

Yet Paul wrote that our longing is NOT to be unclothed of our mortal body so much as look forward to the resurrection of our bodies to immortality, imperishability, and incorruptibility (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1-10):

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self [3] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on [1] we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

And in a similar passage from Romans 8:18-30:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because [6] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, [7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

We groan inwardly for release from the bondage to death and decay. So does all of creation. It doesn't long to die but to live, for death to be swallowed up in victory. Likewise we groan for the redemption of our bodies at the resurrection of the dead.

The bottom line is that heaven alone is not our ultimate home, our final dwelling. A glorious immortal body in the new heavens and new earth are our home, wherein righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:10-12):

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies [2] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. [3]
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Please Preach the R-Word at Funerals!

2009-03-05T15:47:00.005-05:00

Today I attended the funeral for a family friend and sister in the Lord. It was moving and touching, honoring her and glorying in God. But unfortunately, I fear, it assumed the Gospel and shortchanged attendees.

I could be mistaken, but I don't believe I once heard the R-word: resurrection.

The pastor who gave some "words of encouragement" noted that the dearly departed could credibly "be convicted in court" if being a Christian were illegal. He cited a passage from Micah and one from Matthew noting characteristics of those who are righteous, but not once did he say that the source of the departed's righteousness was faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, she was a godly lady and lived a life devoted to honoring and serving God. But that all is fruit of the sanctification which followed her justification by faith in Christ. This lady was saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Yet that wasn't explicitly mentioned. Nor was the hope of the resurrection.

There were tearful and moving goodbyes to my dear sister in Christ, but there was no reminder that while in Heaven that is not the final chapter. The dead in Christ WILL be raised to new life at the Resurrection, and those of us who remain alive at Christ's return will be transformed.

But nowhere was this glorious hope of the Resurrection explicitly preached or proclaimed.*

What's more, the pastor obliquely suggested that there are people in the congregation who need to repent and put their faith in Christ, but there was no clear call to repentance or explicit warning of the final judgment. Although a final day of judgment was suggested, it was not exposited.

In short, I fear the gospel was shortchanged and thereby God was robbed of the glory that could have been given him and unrepentant sinners were robbed of a chance to hear a clear gospel call to repentance.

All the same, there was plenty of Scripture and sound doctrine in eulogy and in song, and I pray that many people walked away with a greater sense of their mortality and the pending judgment to come.

Father, please work in the hearts of the lost who were there today. Call them to repentance and faith in Your Son Jesus, in whose Name I pray. Amen.

*The passage from John 11 where Jesus proclaims that He is the "resurrection and the life" was read, but one cannot assume people know the concept of resurrection and what it entails as a great hope for the Christian.

Escape Clause Righteousness

2009-02-18T23:35:00.005-05:00

This exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees from Mark's gospel account (10:1-12) struck me earlier today:

10:1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, [1] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Whole sermons can and have been preached on this, but what really struck me was how the Pharisees dodged Jesus's question, "What did Moses command you?" Notice that they answer "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away."

The Pharisees answered Jesus by noting what they viewed as an escape clause (see Deut. 24:1-4) to God's design for marriage. Self-righteous legalists --including yours truly all too often -- have a keen eye for loopholes. But Jesus goes back to God's ordaining marriage before the Fall, to God's original command regarding family life. This command was recorded in Genesis by none other than, you guessed it, the prophet Moses.

What's more, in the two verses that follow, can see that while the Pharisees are concerned with justifying themselves by making a legal case based on technicalities, Jesus demonstrates that you can technically and outwardly follow God's law while your heart is desperately sick with sin:

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Here Jesus addresses the heart motivation behind a lot of divorce common at the time. Sick of your wife? Want a younger, richer model? For the Pharisee, the answer might as well be to send the old one packing with a certificate of divorce and trade up.

Jesus makes clear that thinking doesn't cut it with God, who weighs the heart.

Righteous Anger Is A Grieving Anger

2009-02-18T17:24:00.005-05:00

So I'm reading the Gospel of Mark now, partly spurred on by a book a friend gave me that attempts to interpret the gospel account through an existential lens. The result, of course, is stripping Christ of His divinity and his kingly reign.

But as Bible-believing Christians know, Mark's gospel is anything but a picture of a confused, befuddled postmodern Christ.

So I thought I'd camp out in Mark for a while, reading and re-reading the entire Gospel over the next few weeks.

Here's something that struck me the other day from the third chapter (vv. 1-6):

3:1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, [1] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Jesus looked at the Pharisees with anger, a response with which we can readily identify. Or can we? My anger would likely be an indignant, sinful human anger, full of nothing but rage.

Yet notice Jesus's anger is not a sinful anger of man. It's an anger accompanied by, complemented by, and tempered with grief over the hardness of heart caused by sin.

Jesus does not go on to angrily rail against the Pharisees.

Yes, there are plenty of times where Jesus does preach woe unto the Pharisees and does call them to repent. But here Jesus simply goes on to heal the man with the withered hand, determined to do the will of the Father and to do what his fiercest critics are so obsessively fixed on Him not doing: violating manmade laws about the Sabbath, laws the Pharisees made and kept in order to appear righteous before men.

Here Jesus did good on the Sabbath. Here Jesus saved life on the Sabbath. In response, the Pharisees went out and "immediately held counsel" about how to assassinate the Lord of glory. It is never lawful to hold counsel to murder the innocent, yet the Pharisees are so fixed in their hatred of Christ that they set to work on the conspiracy to kill him on the Sabbath day they professed to hold more strictly than others.

Indeed, the Pharisees were demonstrating the anger of man, which does not produce the righteousness of God but rather fixates on death and destruction.

By contrast, Jesus's righteous anger is just. It is directed at those who stubbornly oppose the gracious work of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Yet it is an anger that is not a blind and unremitting rage. It is an anger coupled with and inseparable from grief over the fatal effects of sin.

Jesus knows His opponents are dead in their sins, under the just wrath of God unless they repent. Jesus is angered at the Pharisees for "shut[ting] the kingdom of heaven in people's face", neither entering themselves "nor allow those who would enter to go in." (Matthew 23:13)

Yet Jesus is grief-stricken at their hardness of heart. Jesus demonstrates that He is slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

How often does my anger exhibit grief over sin? How often do I confuse sinful rage for righteous anger? How many times am I rightfully upset about an injustice but am not motivated to pray for the sinner who commits it? How often do I neglect to cry out for repentance and salvation to evildoers, rather than wish evil and death upon them?

Father, help me to watch my tongue and to guard my heart. Help me to respond to injustice with righteous anger that is demonstrated by grief over hardness of heart caused by sin.

Forgive me of self-righteous, prideful anger that compares myself favorably against other sinners, for I am a sinner saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is He alone that is perfectly righteous, and the righteousness I have is a gift from it, I have not earned it.

Thank you for forgiving me and adopting me into your family. Make my hearts cry be for the lost, including and especially those who in their hardness of heart violently oppose and conspire against the work of the Gospel. In the name of Your Son and my Lord Jesus I pray, Amen.

Apocryphal, But Edifying

2009-02-11T10:27:00.004-05:00

So a Catholic buddy of mine at work had this up as his Facebook status message last night:

found a great Bible quote: "Sober drinking is health to soul and body" [Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 31:37]

To which I replied:

Apocryphal, but edifying.

Thanks. I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

An Icy Sanctification: God Scraping Away My Sin

2009-01-28T15:27:00.005-05:00

So last night we had a bit of an ice storm. Freezing rain plus two cars equals a lot of work getting windshields cleared in preparation for the morning commute.

After showering and dressing but before eating breakfast, I headed out to de-ice my wife's car and then mine. As you can imagine, it's not my favorite task. My issue is not so much in serving my wife. I love serving her in this way. But my attitude as I scraped the ice off, about the inconvenience itself, was a battle.

God ordains all things, even freezing rain, I reminded myself. Looking back on this morning, I also am reminded that all those things work together for my good (Rom. 8:28), because God is using the annoyance of the morning ice-scraping to sanctify my attitude.

Who am I to complain either verbally or by mulling it over in my head, about the weather? Who am I to insist that my morning go according to how I've rehearsed it or experienced it many frost-less and freezing rain-less mornings before?

What's more, my minor inconveniences and sufferings can neither hold a candle to a) my Lord suffering in my place on the cross (Isa. 53:7-9) and b) the weight of glory to be revealed at His return (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

My Lord stepped down from the glories of Heaven to be born to a young virgin betrothed to a poor carpenter. As an infant he narrowly escaped slaughter by a paranoid power-hungry Herod (Matt. 2:16-18). Jesus didn't have a place to lay his head during his earthly ministry (Matt. 8:20), the leader of his apostles denied him thrice at his time of greatest need (Luke 22:22-24, 54-62), another stole money from the kitty and betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver (Luke 22:3-6). Then after that all he was beaten, whipped 39 times, and put to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who had himself declared Jesus guiltless.

Surely spending 15 minutes to warm up the cars and scrape off ice is no big trial. Except that in some ways, in my heart-felt attitude it was.

So I thank God for ordaining mornings like this. I thank Him that he's scraping me clean of these sins of pride and anger and frustration that he wants to purge from me, conforming me to the image of Christ.

Thank you Father for writing all my days in your book (Psa. 139:16). Thank you that my joy is in your Son Jesus, my only hope, the author of my faith and the prince of true peace.

So I'm Reading Augustine's City of God

2009-01-27T22:57:00.006-05:00

Aside from Scripture reading and dipping in and out of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, I'm presently reading Augustine's "City of God."

It's such a joy to read from a fellow saint, who, though long dead, still speaks. It's a great reminder that "nothing is new under the sun," especially when it comes to the enemies of the Gospel and the ready defense we are called to have when the world asks just what the heck is up with us that we have hope in hopeless times.

Though separated by 17 centuries and different sides of this present age, Augie and I share in the communion of saints, in a common citizenship in Heaven. We stand before the throne of grace in the "city of the living God" robed not in our own righteousness but that of our faithful Lord Jesus (Heb. 12:22-24) who has cleansed us with His blood:

But you have come toe Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, f the heavenly Jerusalem, and to g innumerable angels in festal gathering,23 and to h the assembly [1] of the firstborn who arei enrolled in heaven, and to j God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus,k the mediator of a new covenant, and to l the sprinkled blood m that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Please pray that the Lord speaks to me through His servant Augustine insofar as Augustine rightly divided the Scripture and that I grow in my thirst for and capability to wrestle with the collective wisdom of the writings of the saints who have preceded me into the presence of the Lord.

Year's End Thoughts

2008-12-31T19:09:00.005-05:00

Just a sobering thought on this day when revelers will drink the night away.

This New Year's Eve is the last that millions of people alive today will know.

Two thousand nine, like every year before it and preceding the return of the Lord Jesus, will see people pass in death from time to eternity. For those who trust in their own righteousness (Rom. 3:10-20), they will pass from death to death. Those who cling by faith to the grace of God shown in Jesus Christ will pass from death to life in the very presence of God (Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 5:1-10).

We all stand condemned and sit under God's just wrath, awaiting our appointment with the Judge (John 3:1-21). God's wrath abides on us unless we abide in His Son Jesus (John 15:1-17).

So tonight, settle up with your accuser (Luke 12:57-59), plead for mercy and trust in Him who died showing mercy to undeserving sinners (Luke 23:34, 43), for today is the day of salvation (Hebrews 3:7-19) and no one knows how many tomorrows they have left.

No, Jesus Is the Reason for EVERY Season

2008-12-25T22:16:00.005-05:00

Living in post-Christian "culture war" America, evangelical Christians like me have become used to certain catch phrases this time of year, some of which are very well-meaning and not altogether untruthful, that sell like hot cakes in Christian bookstores and the like.

Take, for instance, "Jesus Is the Reason for the Season." The age-old bumper sticker slogan cannot be discounted as blatantly false or misleading. The Christmas season is centered around the nativity of Jesus. Without Him there's no Christmas season. But while true it shortchanges the Reason quite significantly in this respect:

Jesus is the Reason for EVERY season!

Non-Christians the world over can readily accept the historicity of Jesus Christ. They accept Him as a "good" person in history, perhaps a wise man and/or moral exemplar, maybe a prophet, albeit sociopolitical if not theological. All these things men ascribe to Christ. All these things but accepting Jesus as God Himself, to Whom all glory, worship, and obedience is due.

Jesus's divinity is dismissed, scoffed at at ridiculous, and blasphemed day in and day out, but particularly at Christmastime. Yet Jesus truly is God incarnate, the Second Person of the Trinity tabernacled in human flesh. He was born to live a perfect, sinless life and die a gruesome substitutionary death for sinners. This is the glory of Christmas: God the Son stooping down from glory to take on humanity -- while maintaining his divinity -- to redeem, rescue, and resurrect fallen sinners and ultimately the entire sin-stained fallen universe (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-10; John 1:1-18).

The problem is not that the world doesn't know Jesus as the reason for the Christmas season, it's that the world doesn't acknowledge Him as the Creator of every season, the holy Judge to whom we must all give account (Heb. 9:27). As the Apostle John recalled (1:9-18):

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, [2] and his own people [3] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, [4] who is at the Father's side, [5] he has made him known.

The world doesn't know who Christ is, but we who have received Him, who believe Him, who have beheld His glory must tell the world who He is and call them to repentance and faith in Him.

Let's do that every day and every season, and let's start by telling people Jesus is the Reason for EVERY season.

Jesus Through the Whole Bible

2008-12-22T00:11:00.004-05:00

As Christmas draws nigh, I thought I'd share with you some outstanding podcasts that give a quick overview of Christ in the Old Testament, something we'd do well to have a better grasp of for a variety of reasons:

1) to better know our Lord and Savior as He's revealed in ALL of Scripture
2) worship Him more passionately and intelligently in light of #1
3) offer a stronger apologetic for the faith by pointing people to Christ as the key which unlocks the whole of Scripture, without whom the Bible would be purposeless and uncipherable.

So here goes, both from the White Horse Inn radio broadcast (audio archives available here):

Christ Our Prophet, Priest & King (Dec. 21, 2008) | Some 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But why did God become man? What was his mission, and why did he have to eventually suffer and die? On this special Christmas edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts will discuss the work of Christ, our Prophet, Priest, and King. Joining the hosts on this program is Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, President of Westminster Seminary California, and author of An Unexpected Journey, Discovering Reformed Christianity. (Originally broadcast December 25th, 2005).
Dawn of Redeeming Grace (Dec. 14, 2008)| Jesus told the religious people of his day that the Old Testament was chiefly about him. But where do we find Christ in the Old Testament? On this edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts trace the thread of redemption throughout all of Scripture as we make our way toward Christmas.

Priceless Humor at Expense of Prosperity Gospel Pusher

2008-12-19T14:59:00.008-05:00

An exchange between someone lampooning prosperity gospel preacher Joel Osteen and Westminster Theological Seminary 's bookstore:

FakeJoelOsteen asks:

Any chance you'll have a sale on one of my bestsellers?

wtsbooks answers:

Sorry, we only sell books, not kindling

Love it!

Have I Got a House for You, David

2008-12-17T00:25:00.002-05:00

Reading through Hebrews chapter 1 the other day, I came across a cross-reference from 2 Samuel 7. Taking a little detour, I read the passage in context and found the Lord speaking to me through it. Before I go into a bit of exposition, let me excerpt the portion below:

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges [1] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. [2] Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

So what do we have here? Well, basically King David one day was reflecting upon the riches of God's blessings to him --military conquest, a kingdom, political popularity, riches and comfort -- and struck by gratitude and awe and perhaps a tinge of guilt, David sought to express his worship by building the Lord a beautiful and permanent temple. After all, who is David to have a beautiful house of cedar while the presence of the Lord was housed merely in a tent?

The idea is a perfectly fine one, as the prophet Nathan rightly tells David, but the Lord takes this opportunity to speak a messianic prophecy through the mouth of Nathan. The Lord wants David to know that He is not only not needy of a house for His presence, but that He Himself will provide the permanent house for David and all of God's people Israel, the permanent dwelling of His presence in the person of the Messiah, His Son, who shall issue from David's line. Yes, the Lord will build His house by sending His Son, tabernacling the fullness of God in frail human flesh.

The Lord makes clear this Messiah will rise long after David has fallen asleep in death and that He will be acknowledged as the Son of God Himself. This kingdom shall "be made sure forever."

The bottom line: While David is fixated on building a perishable temple of wood and stone to the Lord, God the Father promises to build a permanent temple in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and those who are joined to Him by faith in Christ and His finished work as the perfect prophet, priest, and king of the Lord God.

So what does that mean for us today?

Many times in our lives as we reflect on God's goodness to us we are moved to worship and moved to desire to do great things for God. Some, indeed many of these things are legitimate and perfectly fine, but God desires that we know above all else that it is only His faithfulness in building the house of the Lord that we stand.

Our Lord Jesus has fulfilled the promise of the Father to establish a house and a kingdom that shall not pass away. The bloodline of this house flows from Calvary's tree. The throne of this kingdom is founded on Christ's perfect righteousness. This is the work that God has done, and it is a work that is received all of grace.

David marveled and rejoiced after hearing Nathan recount the word of the Lord (2 Samuel 7:18-24):

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them [3] great and awesome things by driving out [4] before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.

Let's worship the Lord this Christmas like our father David did. Let us be in awe that God has shown us such a great mercy, and that not just to save us from our sins and His wrath but to make us His people, His kingdom, His house, His people, both now and throughout all of eternity

Uproar Over Playboy Pose Exposes More Than Skin

2008-12-15T15:00:00.002-05:00

Playboy is known for exposing skin, but the uproar over the December 2008 edition of the magazine's Mexican licensee has exposed a whole lot more.

While there is justifiable anger at the sacrilegious treatment of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the outrage by some betrays a bit of hypocrisy within our culture. Publish a magazine the revels in the pornographic, lust-driven drive to gawk at disrobed women, eh, that's fine. Just don't dare pose a woman naked as the object of lust if she happens to be the Virgin Mary. That, for some reason, crosses a line.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that Playboy's photographers and editors definitely went for shock value in heavily Catholic Mexico by depicting model Maria Florencia Onori as Mary, and that the decision was inflammatory and insulting to Catholics, as well as Christians of all denominations.

But when all is said and done, it's no worse than any other pornographic depiction of the female form. What's more, finding Onori's depiction as Mary to be more morally offensive is symptomatic of a Marian idolatry that is equally offensive to a holy God who alone is worthy of worship.

As God shows us in His Word the Bible, the naked female form is to be adored and desired ONLY by the individual woman's husband, and vice versa. Just as Adam and Eve before the Fall were naked and unashamed, so husband and wife are to be naked and unashamed in their marital relationship. Sex is to be frequent and freely given (I Corinthians 7:5). Sex and sexual desire are very good, provided they are within God's design (Eph. 5:3-5;22-33).

As Jesus made clear, lusting for anyone other than one's wife or husband is truly adultery, an adultery at full flower in the heart and at risk of bearing fruit through speech and action. Playboy exists because men are willing to fork over cash to better practice their sexual lust. In doing so they practice a form of idolatry that worships the created above the Creator, perverting the gift of sexual desire and sexual beauty outside the parameters designed by the gift-giver, God.

God's standard may seem rigid, harsh and joyless to us at first, but that's because we judge by sinners' standards. It's a lot easier to feel righteous about ourselves when we draw artificial lines that say "tasteful" nudie mags like Playboy are okay, just so long as they don't portray a religious icon as an object of that lust.

Here's what God tells us in his word, as written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in his letter to the Romans (1:18-32):

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Is that not a proper indictment of our world in 2008? And yet it was written in the first century A.D. Fallen human nature hasn't changed and neither will the prescience and authority of God's Word.

Rather than huff and puff about the gall of Playboy in offending practicing Catholics, let's look at the bigger picture. Both Playboy "readers" and Marian devotional Catholics practice idolatry. The latter have a patina of religious righteousness about them that the former may lack, but God doesn't draw artificial distinctions, for there is no one righteous, "no, not one"(Romans 3:9-10) and what's more (3:19-20):

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being [3] will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Works of religious devotion do not earn righteousness. Righteousness is a gift of God, imputed to us by faith in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:6-11;Eph. 2:1-10).

Yes, Maria Florencia Oroni is not to be adored. Mary the mother of Jesus is not to be adored. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is to be adored. For he is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" (Hebrews 1:3) and yet he humbled himself to the point of death on a cross (Phil 2:8) so that now, resurrected in glory and seated at Father's right hand (2:9-10).

Let us fall on our knees and adore our Lord Jesus. Let's repent of the various idolatries we have in our lives, be they secular or religious in flavor. That would be a great act of adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ at this time of year when we celebration the incarnation of our Lord and Savior.

Talking Turkey About Wrath, Justice, and Mercy

2008-11-29T10:36:00.005-05:00

O Lord, how patient and merciful you are to us.

When I think upon our greed, selfishness, lack of pity, and stubbornness illustrated in this tragic trampling death, I reflect that God is just in his seething wrath against such sins, and merciful and longsuffering in calling people to repentance:

NEW YORK (AP) - Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.
Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.
Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.
At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.
Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.
"This crowd was out of control," Fleming said. He described the scene as "utter chaos," and said the store didn't have enough security.
Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.
Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.
A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone.
Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."
"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

Such selfish disregard for others, such manic obsession with material things. You and I might never stand in the cold hours before store opening on Black Friday, but the same disease grows in our hearts and manifests in other ways, provoking the just wrath of God, which he is storing up on the last day, when he shall be the one trampling the vintage of his foaming wrath against lawlessness and sin (Rev. 14):

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. [2]

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Woe to us! We worship the beast everyday in American society. We worship wealth and influence, we worship sexual dominance and debauchery, we worship status and power. We worship the passing things of this world and the promise we can have it all and at falling prices too.

How it must grieve God on any day, but especially the day after we claim to celebrate thankfulness at His mercy and grace that we cram into stores and push and shove and clamor for the latest must-have thing to sate our flesh. We'll find it doesn't satisfy and yet we'll yearn next year for more of the same.

Father God, have mercy on us. May you bring us to repentance. I pray that in the midst of this trampling tragedy you help your ministers of the Word to preach Christ more boldly this Christmas season, to prophetically challenge people in pulpits across the land to trust not in earthly treasure, but in Heaven's greatest gift to man. Jesus Christ, our Immanuel, God with us.

Thank you Jesus, that you chose to step down from the glories of your heavenly throne to clothe yourself in frail human flesh, live the life we could not and would not live because of our moral deadness in sin. Jesus, you died the death we deserve, drinking in God's holy wrath. You died the death these tramplers deserve, being trampled by wave upon wave of the fierce white hot anger of God against sin. You died for these tramplers' sins. Lord, I pray that you show them your mercy. Awaken their hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit unto repentance. I pray each and every one of them may be preached the Gospel and that you may pierce their hearts through, burning their consciences with conviction and godly sorrow unto repentance and new life.

Lord, forgive me for any self-righteous judgment I've shown these tramplers. Forgive me for my selfishness, for my impudent demands to be god of my own mini universe. Forgive me for failing to hallow you in the holidays. May I always walk in humble repentance, recognizing that but for your grace I would still be dead in my sins, if not eternally lost in the burning wrath of your judgment in Hell.

Lord grant me your heart of compassion and mercy. While I long for justice, may my heart not be deafened to the pleas of mercy that you cause in the hearts of sinners you are regenerating by your saving grace.

Thank you Lord for your patience towards us. Thank you for not lashing out in your justified wrath but holding off in patient forebearance. I pray you help me do the same, Lord, and I pray your people in America and the world over would be imitators of you particularly in showing mercy.

In the name of your Son and my Savior Jesus I pray, Amen.

Journalist Advises Obama to Join 'Nominally' Christian D.C. Church

2008-11-23T01:55:00.008-05:00

Hailing the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as only nominally Christian, Newsweek "On Religion" moderator Sally Quinn declared the Episcopal Church U.S.A. (ECUSA) facility a perfect house of worship for President-elect Obama and his family when in residence at the White House in her Nov. 22 Washington Post op-ed.

Sadly either Ms. Quinn misses the point of church attendance for the Christian or she concludes that the religious inclinations of the Obama family is far from the historic, orthodox faith centered on the exclusive messianic claims of Jesus Christ, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Him alone (John 3:16-21; 14:1-6).

Trumpeting the merits of the National Cathedral, Quinn admired the institution's "programs on interfaith dialogue" and concluded satisfied that the "most pluralistic of the places of worship" she'd been to would be a "wonderful" message to Americans that President Obama would weekly worship "at a place most likely to welcome all Americans and all people of the world alike."

I've no doubt that the decidedly liberal National Cathedral is very welcoming, both of warm bodies in worship and cold hard cash in its coffers, but it seems Ms. Quinn is confusing lack of theological spine with warmth of welcome.

Biblically orthodox churches warmly welcome all people of all nations and backgrounds, because the church is God's instrumental means of declaring the Gospel to sinners the world over, declaring God's just and holy wrath against sin and His one and only provision for mercy in the substitutionary death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Granted, this warm welcome is one that challenges everyone to see themselves as the Bible shows them, not as our deceptive hearts distort us (Jer. 17:9). Granted, the pure, undiluted preaching of the Gospel is foolishness to those who reject its strong warnings, but the power of God unto salvation for those who believe (I Cor. 1:18-25). It's that salvation that opens the door to the greatest, warmest welcome, that of God the Father welcoming redeemed sinners into His presence because of the atoning death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ms. Quinn should be lauded for hoping that President-elect Obama's choice of a church in D.C. would be an inspiration not only to Americans but people all over the world. I just submit that the greatest inspiration he could bring in this matter is by worshiping at a church that joins the heavenly chorus of saints in singing of the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” [Rev. 5:9-10]

A New Church Family for the First Family

2008-11-17T18:01:00.005-05:00

Christianity Today's Sarah Pulliam puts the question to CT readers, "What Church Should Obama Attend?"

Aside from my home church, I'd recommend either Capitol Hill Baptist in the city proper or Fourth Presbyterian (EPC) in Bethesda, Maryland. Both are biblically sound churches where the Word of God is held forth in solid expository preaching.

Indeed, were the President-elect to ask me, not that he would, I'd gladly point him to 9Marks for helpful criteria for finding a new church home:

1. Expositional Preaching
2. Biblical Theology
3. Biblical Understanding of the Good News
4. Biblical Understanding of Conversion
5. Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
6. Biblical Understanding of Membership
7. Biblical Church Discipline
8. Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth
9. Biblical Understanding of Leadership

Following those guidelines will prevent the first family from sitting beneath the pulpit of a congregation that is more screedal than creedal and more obsessional than confessional.

Hallelujah, Our Lord Reigns

2008-10-07T11:43:00.000-04:00

With all the uncertainty of the credit crunch and the political situation in the United States, it's great to remember that financial markets may flourish or fail, nations may rise and fall, but Jesus Christ reigns over it all, and He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

That's why I love Mercy Me's song, "You Reign," which celebrates the eternal and victorious reign of the Lord Jesus Christ [see Rev. 5].

You can find the video here and the lyrics below:

Even before there was a drop in the ocean
Even before there was a star in the sky
Even before the world was put in motion
You were on Your throne
You were on Your throne

You reign
Glory in the highest
You reign
Let creation testify
By Your name
Every knee will bow
And every tongue proclaim
That Jesus Reigns

Even before Your hand made the heavens
Even before the breath of all mankind
Even before we had to be forgiven
You were on Your throne
You were on Your throne

Chorus

Yesterday, today and forever
You are God who was, and is and is to come

Chorus

Written by MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman
© 2007 Simpleville Music / Wet As A Fish Music / ASCAP (admin. by Simpleville Music, Inc.) Sparrow Song / Peach Hill Songs / BMI (administration by EMI-CMG Publishing)
All rights reserved.

Way to Go, Bishop Iker!

2008-09-30T13:54:00.004-04:00

Orthodox Christians within the Episcopal tradition in the United States must surely be heartened by the defense of the Gospel that Fort Worth Bishop Jack Leo Iker is leveling in a statement on his Web site where he advocates his diocese vote to "realign", essentially seceding from the Episcopal Church USA and submitting itself to the ecclesial authority of the more biblically faithful jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Iker lays out ten reasons for doing so, and some of it sounds like inside baseball to me as a Reformed charismatic evangelical. But the last and most important reason he lists got a very, very hearty Amen from me (emphasis mine):

Most importantly, this decision is about the truth of the Gospel and upholding the authority of the Holy Scriptures. We believe in God’s full self-revelation in Jesus Christ, not in the speculation of humanist unitarians who have been elected to high offices in our church. Many leaders of TEC [The Episcopal Church] are teaching a false Gospel and leading people astray. Now is the time for us to take a bold, public stand for the biblical faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.

My prayers are with Bishop Iker and my brothers and sisters in his Fort Worth diocese who are committed to the preaching of sound doctrine, evangelizing the lost for the kingdom of God. We might have differences on secondary issues of doctrine, but we share a love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the preaching of which alone has the power of God unto salvation.

May God grant wisdom, peace, and grace to Bishop Iker and his flock as they seek to herald the Gospel in spite of the ear-itching spirit of the age which has seized the ECUSA.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus: Lord and Christ, Not Mere Community Organizer

2008-09-11T00:34:00.005-04:00

If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation and believe what the Bible teaches about His person and work, the following has to be rebuked sharply and seized upon as a teaching moment, whether you're a liberal like Jim Wallis or basically conservative like Al Mohler.

"Remember, Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor."

That aphorism has been working its way through liberal Web sites and even onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

But such a snarky political line dismisses the true scope of the person and work of Jesus Christ, and should be rebuked as such. As St. John writes in Revelation 5, Jesus Christ is the central figure of all of history, fulfilling in his death and resurrection God's glorious plan of salvation for fallen, sinful humanity:

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

Now, if by community organizer one means that Christ has purchased with His blood His church from all tribes, languages, peoples and nations, then, okay, but that's not what is meant by the political slogan in question, which aims to denigrate GOP vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin while elevating Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (although tongue-in-cheekedly) to a saintly if not messianic height.

Christians left, right, and center should object, not out of prickly sensitivity but out of a desire to remind people that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, that he died for the sins of the world, that there is salvation in His Name alone, and that He is returning to earth some day to judge the living and the dead, rewarding those who love His appearing and casting away those who are dead in their sins.

So let's hear a strong objection from all self-professing evangelical Christians, regardless of their political views. Obama-voting evangelicals need not sit by while their Lord and Savior is dethroned from the right hand of the Father for mere political expediency.

Democrats, Abortion, and Evangelical Pandering

2008-08-27T15:50:00.001-04:00

Some evangelicals are hopeful about the Democratic Party given some new language in the party platform about abortion.

Christianity Today records the optimism of Wesley Theological Seminary's Shaun Casey. From an August 26 blog post:

It’s something that evangelicals ought to take quite seriously that the Democratic Party has made a commitment to reducing the number of abortions without reverting to criminalization. Based on my conversations with evangelicals, I think that resonates, I think a lot of evangelicals find that attractive, they find that helpful and hopeful, and it’s a reflection of who Sen. Obama is.

Ehhhh, not so much, Shaun. CT also gives its readers a look at the new abortion language and it really doesn't change anything of substance (emphasis mine):

"The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.
"The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education, which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.
"The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs."

"Any and all efforts to weaken or undermine" abortion are opposed by the Dem party platform and a right to abortion "regardless of ability to pay" means the Democratic Party opposes any ban on taxpayer financing of abortion. I fail to see how those strictures will result in less abortions.

What's more, given the Democratic Party's historic support from Planned Parenthood and NARAL, you can wager that the "age-appropriate sex education" will not adequately demonstrate the negative psychological and physical repercussions of abortion and will result in taxpayer dollars being funneled in greater measure towards abortion-providing firms.

No effort is or will be made to support 24-hour waiting periods, informed consent, parental notification, or any bans on procedures such as partial-birth abortion. The reduction in abortion foreseen by the Democratic platform has nothing to do with common sense restrictions or regulations of the procedure but in funneling more money towards liberal Democrat-friendly constituencies, something surely not desirable to evangelicals.

Simply put, the two paragraphs about pre- and neo-natal care are window dressing designed to distract from the party's fundamental commitment to abortion-on-demand.

Jesus is not a Democrat or a Republican, but we as Christ's flock are called to be gentle as doves but wise as serpents in a world full of ravenous wolves (Matt. 10:16).

Let's go into this election refusing to be co-opted by either political party and being wary not to be deceived with empty words.

Donald Miller's DNC Prayer Misrepresents Man's Goodness, Christ's Atoning Work

2008-08-25T23:43:00.004-04:00

Christian author Donald Miller gave the closing benediction for the opening night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

He prayed some things I wholeheartedly agree with and believe are scriptural, although I believe it is more appropriately the work of the church (in additional to evangelizing the lost):

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Where I think he went awry theologically, however, were in two regards: his view of the inherent goodness of man (or of the American people) and his view of the atoning sacrifice of Christ (emphases mine):

A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.

[...]
Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.
Amen.

The heart of the average American is bent on evil, just like the heart of the average person, period. Scripture is very clear about that.

As far as Jesus, he gave his life up willingly into the hands of sinful men who crucified Him unjustly, yes. And yes, Christ's love serves as an example for all who trust in Him. But Christ's death was not merely a death by government oppression or an example to be commended and followed or co-opted for a political program.

Christ died as the propitiation of God's just wrath against sin, and it's a poor treatment of the Gospel to isolate for political purposes the atonement to Christus examplar. What's more, citing Christ as example and asking God to Christianize our good works is to strive in vain for righteousness by works, something Scripture tells us just doesn't cut it with Jesus (emphasis mine):

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. [Rom. 3:21-27]

On Judgment Day the boasting of Democrats and Republicans, Obama and McCain won't matter. Wars won, budgets balanced, taxes cut, taxes waged, welfare rolls reduced, the sick nursed by government health care, etc., won't matter a whit to Christ in terms of earning brownie points with him.

Yes, we are to be faithful stewards of God's creation. Yes we are to be stewards of His grace and mercy and show the same to those around us, particularly the orphan and widow, the gravely ill and the destitute. But let's not confuse the political will to tackle these issues with gracious outflowing of care for these issues that stems from the changed heart of those who put their trust in Christ and in Christ alone for salvation.

The Heart: A Pathological Liar

2008-08-23T23:38:00.000-04:00

Meditating on a verse from Jeremiah, I came to the realization that, in effect, the Bible teaches us that there's a pathological liar beating in every human breast:

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it? [Jer. 17:9]

There's nothing filled with more deception than the heart, and because the heart informs the totality of a man, man is constantly being deceived and misled by the desires of his heart.

The heart is "desperately sick": The illness is chronic, the cancer of deceitful pervasive. "Who can understand it?", there's no human medicine or treatment to cure it.

Solomon concurs in Ecclesiastes, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Sprit:

3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. [Ecclesiastes 9:3]

And who better than the Great Physician to list some symptoms of an evil heart:

20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” [Mark 7:20-23]

The prognosis isn't good at all: Your heart dreams up evil, you do that evil, then you die and face God's wrath against that evil. What's needed is a heart transplant, something only God can perform:

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [Ezekiel 36: 24-27]

A changed heart sealed with the Holy Spirit is what fuels the Christian life of obedience to Christ. It's a heart changed and changing by the preaching of the Gospel and the inward working of the Holy Spirit that produces godly fruit in the Christian life.:

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, [4] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [Gal. 5:16-24]

Any attempt on our part to trust in our own perceived goodness or righteousness or to boil down the Christian life to mere moralism is to listen to the insane, chronically ill pathological liar within.

The Good News Is Never Old News

2008-08-21T13:20:00.000-04:00

I've been pondering lately the nature of the church and her mission in today's world, nearing two millennia after Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and glorious ascension to the right hand of the Father.

Ours is a time when many talk of a "new kind of Christian" and of "dialogue" with the culture, implicitly arguing that there's an "old kind" of Christian that can not properly relate to today's culture. That's a concept I reject, but it's a notion that is symptomatic of a greater ill: finding the preaching of the Gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ to be, well, old news.

Now, the Good News is seldom, if ever, dismissed in any Christian community as old news, at least not in a straightforward polemic. But I fear that many times the way we engage worship and preaching treats the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ as a stale narrative or as background noise, rather than the heart of our being and mission of the church.

In a post-Christian America, it's easy to presume that all Americans are familiar with the Gospel but reject it nonetheless. As such, it's become fashionable to think that the New Testament model of preaching, preaching, and more preaching is bound to fail. Dialogue and interactive (rather than didactic or expository) preaching are held up as more successful tools of ministry.

But the proper public ministry of the Gospel has always been and always will be centered around preaching Christ and Him crucified, as it's the preaching of the Gospel that God blesses as the instrumental means for calling men and women to new life in Christ and sustaining them in growth in godly character.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, [5] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” [Rom. 1:16-17]

[...]

11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? [3] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. [Rom. 10:11-17]

That preaching the Gospel can seem ineffective to critics is for one of two reasons: Christ isn't being properly preached from the pulpit and/or the seeming lack of conversion and obedience to Christ is held forth as evidence that preaching fails more often than it has measurable success.

But as Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote to the church in Corinth, Christ crucified will always be foolish to the vast majority of people:

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, [2] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being [3] might boast in the presence of God. [I Cor. 1:18-29]

"The word of the cross" is and ever will be folly to those who are perishing, but to those that God has raised to new life in the Son, it's the sweetest, dearest word of all. The spotless, sinless Son of God took on human flesh, lived the sinless life we sinners from birth could never live, died the wrathful death we deserved, taking our place for our sins, and rose again physically from the dead to everlasting life as testimony of and firstfruits of the glorious resurrection God promises all who trust in His Son Jesus.

That's good news now just as much as it was 2,000 years ago and even well before that, for this is what centuries of Hebrew prophets eagerly yearned for but did not see. (Matt. 13:16-17; I Peter 1:10-12;)

Let's never let the Good News seem like old news to us. But with Paul, let's rejoice in the gospel and how it reveals the "depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God." (Rom. 11:33)

And as ambassadors of Christ, let's continually, ceaselessly and passionately make our appeal to a lost and dying world to be reconciled to Christ. Let's preach the good news. Let's preach the unconditional surrender to God's sovereign rule that He is calling us to faithfully preach:

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. [2] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling [3] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [II Cor. 5:16-21]

I'm Engaged...

2008-08-15T17:16:00.004-04:00

...to be married to a very lovely and gracious woman. Her faith, her care, her prayers, her tenderness, and her love all point to God's grace in our lives, and I'm excited that the Lord has brought us together, and anxious to be married and for us to glorify God in our union.

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." Prov. 18:22 (ESV)

Sabbath in Seattle? Don't Travel on Sunday... For the Earth's Sake

2008-07-30T23:41:00.007-04:00

Ah the false religion of environmentalism. It not only has penance/monetary indulgences (carbon credits), restrictive dietary laws (organic only thank you), a fiery apocalypse (global warming), and works-based righteousness ("look at me, I bike to work"), it now is test-driving strict Sabbath observance of sorts:

As part of his ongoing effort to get people out of their cars and green up Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels on Wednesday announced a series of "car-free Sundays" in August and September.

Although the program is starting small, by closing a street in three different neighborhoods on consecutive Sundays, Nickels said the effort could expand next summer if it is successful.

"Neighbors will have three to six hours to experience our streets in a new way and to see how livable a city can be when people drive less," Nickels said. "This is our chance to experiment and to evaluate how these events work for people. And we'll be fighting global warming at the same time."

Bracing for expected criticism, Nickels advised drivers to take it easy.

"It's just for one day, just chill. Get out of the car and walk," he said.

Yikes. While I'd like to see more people easing up on Sundays and spending the day in worship and rest, I don't think Caesar is the guy to enforce it. What's more, shutting down streets to vehicular traffic is overly burdensome on families and individuals, including and especially those traveling to and from the house of the Lord.

That said, Christians in the Emerald City and everywhere really can consider practical ways to show care for the environment, not because we "belong to the Earth," but because "the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" and God tasked us with its care.

Perhaps, for example, more of us should consider car pooling with other families from our churches on Sunday mornings.

Even so, the church must always point out that any and all things done by Christians individually or corporately to benefit the environment are ultimately done as worship to a holy God that is coming back in the person of the risen Jesus Christ to judge sinful men and women, and that no amount of environmental do-gooding or any do-gooding can earn or merit salvation from his just wrath against their sin.

As God's people let's do good to all people, and take good faith efforts to steward God's creation. But let's not forget nor forget to preach that this world's greatest need is not greenhouse gas reduction, but the forgiveness of sins which comes to sinners by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

Acts: God's Sovereignty in Evangelism

2008-07-24T21:42:00.002-04:00

So I'm reading through Acts again, and for the first time I'm really picking up on the harmonious interplay with evangelism and the sovereignty of God. Critics of the Doctrines of Grace sovereign (Calvinism, however you want to style it) often argue that such a view of sovereignty and predestination militates against evangelism. That can be the case when the doctrines are dislodged from their biblical moorings, but when rightly understood and put into practice, Calvinism fuels evangelism.

I may blog about this more in depth later, but regardless of whether I do or not, I'd encourage you the next time you read through Acts to pray for the Lord to show you how the early church proclaimed the Gospel and how their understanding of God's sovereignty over all influenced, empowered, and compelled them to action.

Hug a Calvinist Day Is Finally Here

2008-07-10T11:25:00.003-04:00

Happy International Hug a Calvinist Day!

Read more about it here with my original post from February. And the Facebook page is here.

And I got some blog love from others noting the holiday. Check out Mama Archer here and Paul Quillman at Next Reformation, where gives a bio of the late great Reformer, who, were he alive today would be 399 years old.

The Sabbath and Swing Sets

2008-07-05T19:01:00.003-04:00

There's an interesting article in the July 5 Financial Times on how on the British Isle of Lewis, Sunday business closings are the rule, not the exception, and how it's a mixed blessing for tourists but a way of life for traditional residents.

While writer Matthew Engel seems to unfairly castigate Presbyterian norms on observing the Christian Sabbath, there is merit to the argument that legalistically governing Sabbatarian observance does more harm than good and takes the emphasis away from God's grace to the comparative self righteousness of strict adherents.

God commands His people to Sabbath, and He commands it as a blessing for His people. The grace of the Sabbath should not be lost in arguments between Christians on how strict or loosely observance should be drawn, and given the propensity within our evil hearts to look down on those who don't observe the Sabbath as we do, we must guard against self righteousness being the source of Sabbath observance.

For instance, it struck me how this warning adorns the gates of children's playgrounds on the Isle:

While the rest of Britain has long forgotten the notion of a sabbath, Lewis has
not. Tesco, which just moved into the capital, Stornoway, has no plans for
Sunday opening; the golf club is closed; the sports centre is closed; children’s
playgrounds carry signs saying “Please Respect the Sabbath”, which is Hebridean
for “Go Away”.

I'd argue taking your children to the playground after church service on a Sunday is not disrespectful of the Sabbath, particularly if the occasion is seen as opportunity to spend time with one's children talking to them about what they learned in Sunday School. After all, Scripture teaches fathers to turn everyday occasions into opportunities to preach the gospel to their kids (Deut. 6:4-9):

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [2] 5 You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your
heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk
of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you
lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

New Poll Shows Pluralism Rules the Day

2008-06-23T17:08:00.002-04:00

From the June 23, 2008 San Francisco Chronicle (emphasis mine):

Americans remain heavily religious, but their views rarely conform to dogma, according to a massive new survey released this morning.

Seventy percent of religious adherents in the United States believe multiple religions can lead a person to salvation, while 68 percent say there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion.

Those views are at the centerpiece of a survey of 36,000 people released today by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The survey - unprecedented in its combination of survey pool and breadth of questions - reveals that religious beliefs and practices in America defy doctrine.

- 57 percent of evangelical Christians say that multiple religions can lead to salvation, though nary an evangelical theologian or minister would say that.

So what's to blame for this? Poor preaching and teaching from America's pulpits? Christians living more like the world around them than in fidelity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are many of the respondents people that profess but do not possess saving faith, who are just part of the church crowd but have not put their faith in Christ and Christ alone and repented of their sins?

Perhaps all of the above play a part in this alarming statistic, but if the poll is anywhere near accurate, it should be a wake-up call to Christian pastors to preach the Gospel, and indeed, to insist on the Gospel week after week, Sunday after Sunday, sermon after sermon (emphases mine).

The Apostle Paul made it very clear in his writings (see below) that the Gospel was "of first importance" and something that must be insisted upon in regular preaching and instruction to the church:

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. [Titus 3:3-8]

| | | | | | |
15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, [1] of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [I Cor. 15:3-5]

The fallacy of religious pluralism* is just another manifestation of man's sinful, self-aggrandizing heart. This fallacy preys on our desire to be our own god, to live in a moral and spiritual reality largely of our own creation, not in response to God as He has graciously revealed himself. Religious pluralism basically says "I'm okay, you're okay, but when you or I don't feel okay, we can pursue our own separate ways to feel okay with ourselves and God."

In short, the problem is that apart from God graciously moving on our hearts to show us the reality that we are dead in sin, we think we're pretty good people. What's more, if we think we have messed up and sinned, in our deadness to sin we devise ways to work it off, as though it were the Freshman Fifteen and not an egregious act of what R. C. Sproul would call "cosmic treason" against a holy God.

The law of God is perfect and holy, but we are impure, corrupt, unholy, and rebellious (see Romans 7).

This contrasts with the perfect love and obedience of Jesus Christ, who alone can make atonement for sin and indeed did so for sinners at the cross.:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [1] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, [2] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:5-11]

| | | | |

...in Christ God was reconciling [3] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [II Cor. 5:19-21]

Jesus lived a sinless life of perfect obedience, took on the penalty of sin for sinners as their substitute, and was raised to life again and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, waiting to come back again to bring judgment and justice and establish his kingdom forever with men from every tongue, tribe, and nation redeemed by his blood. He has called his people to be ambassadors of His gospel, bearing the message forth to the whole worth: be reconciled to God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and repent of your sins.

That is what needs to be preached, and constantly, not just at Easter and Good Friday!

That's the exciting, powerful, life-changing, soul-saving nature of the Gospel. It is to be heralded boldly every Sunday from the pulpits across the land so that it might sink into the hearts of the faithful and result in ever-increasing worship of the Lord and to zealousness for good works in accordance with the Gospel.

Cotton candy theology won't cut it anymore. Moralistic topical sermons won't feed the sheep or call the sinner to repentance.

It's time we insist on our pastors insisting on the Gospel.

*by this I mean holding a plurality if not all religions as equally valid in their truth claims, not the passive tolerance of persons of differing beliefs. Indeed, Christ calls us to live in peace with everyone and desires us to be ambassadors of his grace, bringing the good news of salvation as a messenger would his intended recipient. We aim to win people to Christ by the preaching of the Word, not by the wielding of the sword.

Quote of the Day on Pop Christianity*

2008-06-17T16:50:00.001-04:00

We serve a precise God who has revealed himself with precision in his word; the least we could do is try to be clear with the message. --Erik Raymond @ Irish Calvinist

Check out his blog post linked above. Good stuff.

Here's an excerpt, where Raymond objects to a Christian T-shirt emblazoned with the saying, "God is crazy about you.":

I don’t know about you but to portray God like some ditzy teenage girl, snapping his gum and scribbling my name on a piece of scrap paper does not seem biblical. God is gracious, loving, merciful and just; he is not enchanted by my apparent value or worth; he is certainly not overcome by ‘crazy love’ (insert prom music here).

*a term I'll use to describe the use of Christianized slogans and products as a cultural alternative to pop culture.

Adoption: The Wonder of God's Love | Sermon Notes

2008-06-16T23:39:00.001-04:00

What follows is a rough outline of "Adoption: The Wonder of God's Love," a sermon by guest minister Robin Boisvert given at Solid Rock Church in Riverdale, Md., on June 15, 2008, Father's Day. Boisvert is a pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md. Please note that some of my thoughts are woven through what follows, particularly the notes following the bolded portions in the number list below.

Sermon audio available for download here.

The text for the sermon comes from I John 3:1-3 (ESV):

3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears [1] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Main point: Adoption is the highest privilege in the Christian life. Not only are we justified by God, imputed with Christ's righteousness and forgiven of our sins, and not only are our hearts regenerated, turned from stone to flesh, so that we desire God, but we are made His child.

Basically, it's like the judge stepping down from the bench and taking us home with him after acquitting us.

The passage here, and the totality of I John as a letter is that we might not only have but KNOW we have eternal life in Christ Jesus.

As such, there are four truths in this passage which can encourage us greatly:

1) Adoption is a wonderful privilege --"what kind of love" is an expression of wonder, of amazement at God's miraculous working upon our hearts, to adopt us and grant us His Holy Spirit by whom we cry, "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6)

2) Adoption is a present reality -- we are sons of God now. This has tremendous implications to our sojourn through this life, and quite markedly in our prayer life, as we address God as our Father

3) Adoption is a transforming truth

4) Adoption is a purifying hope -- Our adoption as sons of God gives us joyful desire to become more and more like the Son, Jesus Christ, living to His honor and glory, seeking to do that which is pleasing to the Father, not out of fear or mechanical obligation, but out of a desire to be like our heavenly Father

Something to Geek Out To: Why the Apocalypse Is Morally Necessary

2008-06-10T16:06:00.000-04:00

Good post by Dr. Albert Mohler today on the moral necessity of eschatology.

A good read for anyone, but particularly those who might argue the apocalyptic passages of Scripture are too esoteric or abstract to study privately or preach and expound upon publicly.

Also a good reminder of why churches shouldn't shy away from including the end of the age/return of Christ in their belief statements.

Here's a great excerpt (emphases mine):

The human mind cannot help but look to the end. For this reason, eschatology will always be a central feature of any worldview or belief system. The Christian doctrine of eschatology is necessary to the biblical story and to the Gospel narrative.

Put simply, the Christian story unravels unless God brings the entire course of human history under His visible and perfect judgment, unless God's justice is perfectly displayed, unless the Christ is revealed in glory so that every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father [Phil. 2:11], unless Christ claims His redeemed people, unless God's triumph in Christ over death, sin, evil, and injustice is made universal. Put simply, unless every eye is dry and every tear is wiped away.

There is no Christian Gospel if history simply unwinds into a meaningless puddle, if the cosmos simply escapes into a cataclysmic black hole, or if the universe finally dies of exhausted energy. Without belief in a biblical eschatology, there is no Christian hope. Without a sense of perfect moral judgment in the end, the human heart is homeless.

Like Nails on a Chalkboard to Me

2008-06-06T13:55:00.003-04:00

That's how I'd describe the song"We Shall Overcome." The anthem of the Civil Rights Movement was loosely based on an earlier hymn, but it in itself should not ever, in my opinion, be considered a Christian spiritual given its lack of focus on the person and work of the Overcomer, Jesus Christ, who redeems His people from sin and death and raises them to new life. It's also extremely gauzy and vague (see lyrics at bottom of post) and hence not very encouraging, scripturally speaking, for a hymn.

Here are my objections:

1) We can't overcome anything (sin, death, our guilt before a holy God who justly judges us for our sin) apart from our union with Christ.
2) The best corresponding biblical passage I can think of for this song is from Revelation 12:7-12, which makes clear the saints overcome by the "blood of the Lamb [Christ's atoning work] and by the word of their testimony [the Gospel]."
3) While it is true that one day we shall see the ultimate establishment of universal peace and justice under Christ in a new heaven and new earth, this is a victory already obtained by Christ at the cross, hence it is more proper for Christians to remember that and celebrate it in the past and present tense, just as Paul does in his letter to the Colossian church (2:13-15):

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, 14 by 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 [2] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. [3]

1. We shall overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome some day
CHORUS: Oh, deep in my heart I do believe We shall overcome some day
2. We'll walk hand in hand We'll walk hand in hand We'll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS

3. We shall all be free We shall all be free We shall all be free some day
CHORUS

4. We are not afraid We are not afraid We are not afraid some day
CHORUS

5. We are not alone We are not alone We are not alone some day
CHORUS

6. The whole wide world around The whole wide world around The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS

7. We shall overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome some day
CHORUS

Excellent Thoughts on Revival: Real and Counterfeit

2008-06-03T12:53:00.003-04:00

I came across an excellent item by Dan Edelen of Cerulean Sanctum about the marks of genuine revival versus the snake oil showmanship that leaves many a well-intentioned soul with a shipwrecked faith. His news hook, if you will, is all the buzz in some charismatic Christian circles about revivalist preacher Todd Bentley, who is based in Lakeland, Florida.

His full post is here, but below I've excerpted the five key points Edelen makes (emphases mine):

1. All true revival is marked by one overarching, indisputable reality: People are driven to repentance. And not “Me too, me too!” repentance, but the kind that soaks the carpeting in tears of holy remorse for sin. Any revival that is not first and foremost preceded by and given over to repentance is not a Holy Spirit-ordained revival. The number one fruit coming out of any revival will always be fruits of repentance. And those fruits remain. They don’t vanish six months after roadies pack up the revival tent; they last a lifetime. Want to gauge who’s behind this revival? Watch for fruits of repentance. If everything but repentance is visible front and center stage, then it’s not a revival from God.

2. There’s no fool like a charismatic fool. And I say that as a charismatic. Too many charismatics drink from poisoned wells only to clutch their guts in pain later, asking what went wrong. What went wrong is that no one was bold enough to test the spirits to see if they were from God. Want a wise foundation for that kind of discernment? Start right here.

3. Whenever the emphasis gets off Jesus, a revival’s focus is off target. The Holy Spirit always pulls people to Jesus. He doesn’t pull them toward angels, canny preachers, or displays of spiritual gifts. He doesn’t need gold teeth, gold dust, and angel feathers to point people to Jesus. (Those are illusionist and occultist tricks.) He just needs himself because He is sufficient to do the pointing. Real revival isn’t about what you or I want, but what Jesus Christ wants.

4. When the sons of Aaron offered “strange fire” before the Lord, their offering was probably close to what it should have been. After all, they knew the formalities. The problem was that close doesn’t count except in horseshoes and hand grenades. God doesn’t put up with close. His worshipers worship Him in Spirit and in truth. And there’s no “almost” in truth. You want “almost” when it comes to truth? Consider Satan; he’s a master of the almost truth. If we’ve got experienced charismatics at a revival with folded arms and scrunched brows saying, “Well, you know…,” then it’s strange fire.

5. Real revival doesn’t just draw one kind of Christian. It draws everyone. It draws Episcopalians, Lutherans, Reformed, Presbyterian, Nazarene, Brethren, Mennonite, Methodist, Baptist—everyone. And not just Christians, either. Real revival pulls in hundreds of the unsaved and the cultists. Real revival spills out of the cup that first held it. It rains down on whomever is near because God doesn’t discriminate. He’s an equal opportunity anointer of those who wholeheartedly seek Him.

I would also add that real revival is marked by an intense and earnest thirst for the study of the Word of God. That was after all the hallmark of one of the greatest revival's of modern history: the Reformation.

Thoughts After One Year of Calvinism

2008-06-02T18:46:00.002-04:00

I can't pinpoint the date exactly, but it was in late May and early June of 2007 that the Lord brought me around to a more biblical understanding of salvation. It's commonly nicknamed Calvinism, although I prefer to style the soteriology as many others do more accurately as the Doctrines of Grace.

This post, however, is not designed to explore the oft-acronymed five points of TULIP (or as I think I prefer RUPEP), but merely to posit this:

A right understanding of God's grace will cause the Christian to realize a mind-blowing truth.: Every person who trusts in Christ unto salvation is the result of a miracle performed by God himself.

That I am a Christian is a miracle.

It's not because I am smarter than those who reject Christ or more spiritually attuned. It's not because I've dispassionately weighed the options and chosen Christ. It's not because I've chosen Christ or stuck with him after opting to "try Jesus."

No, I'm adopted into God's family not by my initiative but because I've been born again by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. My rebirth spiritually preceded my faith and it made possible and alive my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. [John 3; I Peter 1:3-9]

Before God awakened my heart to believe and trust in him, I was dead in sin. Dead men don't make choices. Dean men don't believe things. Dead men just decay, and so did I, spiritually, until God brought me from death unto life. [John 5:24]

But praise be to God and God alone for [Eph. 2: 8-10; Gal. 3:10-14; Rom. 3:10-12, 21-28; 8:18-30; 10:17; Phil. 1:6]:

choosing to save me before the foundation of the world
sending Jesus to die for my sins, bearing God's just wrath against them in my place
sending faithful messengers to preach the Word of God to me of so great a salvation
summoning my heart to new life and faith in Christ through His Holy Spirit
preserving me by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to cling to my only hope, Christ Jesus

That's the heart of the Calvinist understanding of predestination. More importantly it's at the heart of the Gospel.

God initiated every facet of my salvation, and He'll complete every facet, and it's all for the praise of His glory. [Heb. 12:1-2; 10:19-39]

Soli Deo gloria! To God alone be the glory.

Christian Bloggers Should Be Vessels of Mercy

2008-05-19T17:38:00.005-04:00

Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was hospitalized over the weekend for a seizure, is and should be in the prayers of faithful Christians who oppose abortion. This isn't because he "deserves" it -- that would suggest he merits prayer by virtue of his righteousness -- but because it is a practical way for the Christian to apply mercy.

That's why seeing this from a Christian blogger this morning was saddening:

Abortion is war. It is war on the unborn. I hope God takes out every last one of them responsible.

I do realize that some people come to the point of salvation and change. And that is great.

[...]

I hope that before Christians pray for this man's healing, that they stop and think about what he will do once back in his office of Senator.

Of course these sentiments aren't what we get from Scripture. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy," Jesus preached (Matthew 5:7). As Christians, we receive mercy from God by believing on His Son Jesus Christ, trusting in Him to save us from our sins by the merit of His atoning work on the cross. Knowing the depths of our sin, we forgive those who wrong us personally, as well as those who harm others by perpetrating and/or excusing evil committed against them.

These people are, truly, our enemies. But Christ calls us to love them:

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic [2] either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36)

Our heavenly Father is merciful and kind to the ungrateful and evil, and our expression of mercy will find itself in doing good to those who persecute us and who abuse the innocent. We are to pray for them, knowing that day after day they are storing up the wrath of God on the day of judgment (Romans 2:5) if they don't repent.

Sen. Ted Kennedy is still alive. God can change his heart, granting him repentance (II Timothy 2:25). He can still be saved and glorify God as an object of God's mercy as opposed to being a vessel of His just wrath.

That should be the prayer of any Christian, who by his/her very recreated-in-Christ nature is a vessel of mercy (Romans 9:21-24).

Mercy Me: F-Word Gaffe Calls for Grace, Humility

2008-05-14T17:16:00.002-04:00

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. -- James 3:5-6

I'm sure Sue Simmons knows a lot about that today. The WNBC anchor may well lose her job due to an inadvertent incident of on-air cursing. While it certainly wouldn't be unfair to can Ms. Simmons for the slip-up, it would be far from gracious. And can't we all use a few heaping helpings of grace, particularly when it comes to our speech? After all, anyone who never fails in his speech to speak graciously is a perfect person. Too bad no one can tame the tongue, although certainly we are called to bridle and restrain it (James 3:2,8).

While I do think Simmons should be willing to accept some form of discipline, it seems to me firing the long-time anchor over this would be merciless. Would it be fair or just according to her contract of employment? I'm no lawyer, but most likely yes.

But gracious and merciful? Far from it.

But what about the children, some will ask. They must be shown that this language is unacceptable.

To that I'd argue that extending mercy and teaching children the value of forgiveness and reconciliation far surpass that of satisfying our self-righteous wrath over one F-word said carelessly on the airwaves. Yes, I do mean self-righteous.

Are we angry because Simmons offended OUR moral standards, or because she offended a holy God who calls sinners to repentance?

If it's the latter, then how much more should we be humbled by how great a debt of sin God has forgiven us for Christ's sake, and so then extend mercy and prayers for Ms. Simmons (Eph. 4:32). If it's the former, well, James tells us that "the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (1:20)

For the Christian parent the Sue Simmons incident serves as a wonderful object lesson on extending mercy and forgiveness, and praying for those caught in sin.

How much better a witness is it for children to hear their parents explain that Simmons' cursing exposes a sickness of the heart that only Jesus can heal? Yes, you add, that doesn't mean she isn't responsible for what she said, but regardless, who are we to judge harshly when we too are sinners who have received grace and mercy we never deserved in the first place?

The Sun [of Righteousness] and the Cloud [of Witnesses]

2008-05-12T16:04:00.001-04:00

This week I'm reading and re-reading with my Bible study buddy Hebrews 11 and 12:1-2.

Why not just stop at the end of Hebrews 11? Because the next two verses wrap up neatly the prior chapter. Let's take a look:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The prior chapter was filled with a great "cloud of witnesses" but in each and every case their faith was in a sovereign God and in His purpose and plan of salvation. The author of Hebrews makes clear that they never realized in their lifetimes the fulfillment of the promise: the coming of the Messiah, but they believed and acted on that belief and it was credited as righteousness.

How much more shall we, having the testimony of the apostles to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all the more look to Jesus, "the founder and perfecter of our faith"?

To read the prior chapter as a pep talk in faith by looking at the "heroes of faith" would be to "cloud" up the point. The real Hero is Christ, while the "heroes" of chapter 11 are "commended" for their faith but serve us as "witnesses" to the surprassing glory of Christ.

While that point is mostly tacit, the author does draw readers to the hope of Moses in Christ in his keeping of the Passover (vv. 24-28):

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

At no other point in this chapter are the words "Jesus" or "Christ" invoked, but in this case, drawing the original readers of Hebrews (Jewish Christians) to the truth that Christ is the Lamb of God, foreshadowed in the Passover. His blood doesn't merely cover sins like that of sheep or goats, His blood satisfies God's wrath and cleanses from sin, as the author of Hebrews made clear earlier in his letter (9:22-28):

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

And so let us eagerly wait, but await him as ones running towards him joyfully:

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Trial That Tests the Gift

2008-05-06T18:38:00.001-04:00

When I was younger, the New Testament epistles seemed to me these long laundry lists of exhortations and proscriptions. Now, I still see these things in the Scripture, but in context of the whole thrust of the letter.

James is no exception. It's amazing how the whole letter is informed by the notion of persevering in grace, in God keeping us whole and secure in Him as we grow through our trials and response to temptation to conform to the very image of God's Son, Jesus Christ.

What really struck me last night as I read through my daily portion of James (1:1-18) was this:

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [4] 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It's tempting to read James in opposition to the Pauline texts, which more explicitly deal with grace and which demolish the notion of works-righteousness. But grace soaks the entirety of James, and we see it in this passage above.

We struggle with our own enticing desires, which "give[s] birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." We know from elsewhere in Scripture that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

James picks up on this theme, noting that of no doing of our own God has "brought us forth by the word of truth" so that "we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." (1:18)

It is God who saves us, by his initiative, by His will. In response to this He calls us to "receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (1:21)

To be sure, we shall know trial and opposition, but we are to count it all joy (1:2) because the "testing of our faith" produces "steadfastness... that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Our walk with Christ is not an uncertain works-laden quest to obtain salvation. Ours is a fiery trial of walking in Christ, having received our salvation, persevering in our salvation, so that at the end of our trial, we may "receive the crown of life" and that we may do so being "perfect and complete" in Christ, "lacking in nothing."

The key verb of course is "receive." Not "earn" or "deserve" but receive, a fitting verb connoting the object in question is a gift. And indeed we have this "good gift" and "perfect gift" that "[comes] down from the Father of lights." (1:17)

Praise be to God, who saves for Himself a people to glory in Him NOT on the basis of works lest any man boast, but wholly and freely of grace, received through faith.

Adventures in Eisegesis: Jeremiah Wright Distorts Christ's Teaching On Salvation

2008-04-28T19:00:00.001-04:00

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary entry for eisegesis:

Main Entry:
eis·ege·sis
Pronunciation:
\ˌī-sə-ˈjē-səs, ˈī-sə-ˌ\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural eis·ege·ses \-ˌsēz\
Etymology:
Greek eis into (akin to Greek en in) + English exegesis — more at in
Date:
1892

: the interpretation of a text (as of the Bible) by reading into it one's own ideas — compare exegesis

Ah, yes, eisegesis. We all commit it unintentionally time and again in our walk with the Lord. But of course a pastor should take due diligence to not deliberately or unintentionally through gross negligence do violence to the teaching of Scripture (see James 3:1-2).

Yet that is precisely what Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama's former minister, did this morning in a Q&A session at the National Press Club when he pitted Jesus Christ against Jesus Christ on the clear teaching of Scripture about salvation through no other name than Jesus (Acts 4:12).

Question to Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but through me.' Do you believe this and do you think Islam is a way to salvation?"

Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "Jesus also said other sheep have I who are not of this fold."

[loud applause from attendees at National Press Club]

Either Wright is saying that Jesus is contradicting himself, or that Jesus' claim of exclusivity of salvation has been historically misunderstood by the church. Either way, Wright is placing himself outside the bounds of historic, orthodox Christian teaching, and he's doing so by plucking out of context Jesus's parable of the sheepfold.

Let's look at the passage from the tenth chapter of John's gospel account:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's back up a second to verses 7-9, particularly verse 9:

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Jesus is "the door" by which "if anyone enters" he "will be saved" and "find pasture." Jesus emphasizes that His people know Him and He calls them out by name (vv. 3-4). What's more, these sheep know to flee false shepherds (vv. 5) who would lead them astray from the one true Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

What's so special about Christ? He's the good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (v. 15). But what's more, after laying down His life, he picks it up again (v. 17), AND He goes out to bring in sheep who don't belong to "this fold" so that "there will be one flock, one shepherd."

That one flock is the whole church under one shepherd, Jesus Christ. The other sheep "not of this fold" are Gentile believers who would come to trust in Jesus after His resurrection thanks to the witness, preaching and teaching of the apostles. This becomes clearer later in John's gospel in chapter 17 in what is commonly referred to as the High Priestly Prayer:

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

[...]

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus here is praying for his apostles after the Last Supper and before His betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. But He's not only praying for their faith but for the faith of ALL who would come to believe upon Jesus for salvation thanks to the spoken and later record (in New Testament Scripture) of the Apostles.

This High Priestly Prayer essentially sweeps the whole scope of church history. Everyone who comes to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior today comes to such a knowledge thanks to the preaching of the Gospel, as Paul made clear in his letter to the Romans (10:14-17):

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? [3] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

But back to John. It's perfectly clear that Jesus's claim of exclusivity of salvation is just as urgent in the John chapter 10 passage as it is in John 14 where He proclaims Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). And that famous passage from John 3:16, well, that goes without saying.

Same urgency, same claim of exclusivity, and it's all predicated on Jesus Christ as THE provision from God the Father for atonement of sin and the satisfaction of God's holy wrath against sinful man. To trust in the teaching of Muhammad for salvation, or on the teachings of any other religious figure or leader in history is to vainly trust in a false shepherd.

Jesus clearly taught as much and his apostles bore witness to the same in Scripture.

Rev. Wright should make no mistake: any and all imagined paths to peace with God the Father without trusting in the death and resurrection of Christ are illusory. Jesus Christ is THE Way. THE Truth, and THE Life. He's the Door of the the sheepfold and THE Good Shepherd who calls his own sheep into safe pasture.

This is the glorious Gospel that Rev. Jeremiah Wright SHOULD preach. Sadly, one has to conclude he either doesn't believe it, or he chooses to eschew it in favor of a powerless, though bombastic social gospel.

The Faithful Wounds of Fellowship

2008-04-24T01:40:00.002-04:00

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. -- Proverbs 27:6

The other night I had the blessing of such a wounding from the sharp but loving rebuke of a sister in Christ who helped expose to the light a sinful attitude I was harboring in my heart.

This sister is laid up in bed recovering from foot surgery and we had spent a while in prayer and in reading and studying Scripture that evening. Remarking on the lateness of the hour I mentioned how I had to get up early the next morning for a prayer meeting with an older gentleman from church. But in doing so, I kinda joked around about how I'd been in the habit of showing up about 15 minutes late for these sessions two weeks in a row.

It was then that this sister lit into me with a sharp but encouraging rebuke about my cavalier attitude, how lightly I was taking the friendship and fellowship of my brother in Christ and how lightly I was taking this time of coming before the Lord in prayer. Simply put I was not according this prayer time the due diligence on my part it deserved in terms of disciplining myself to stop slamming down the snooze button in the morning and to get up early, get a move on, and show up on time.

At first I protested this sister's rebuke, only to realize the flimsiness of my excuses, the cavalier attitude I had left unchecked, albeit unintended, towards this time of prayer, and my responsibility to repent and take action to address my sinful attitudes.

I did, and I'm delighted to say that I showed up on time, 7:30 a.m. on the dot this Wednesday for prayer, all because of the "faithful wounds" of a friend.

Thank God for the fellowship of the saints and the faithfulness of my sister in Christ to call me on the carpet for my sinful attitude. I hope to avoid the need for such faithful wounds in the future, but I can be arrogant and stubborn in many things and I trust that I'll need them from time to time as the Lord sees fit to ordain for His glory and my good.

Holy Sepulcher! A Tussle in the Tomb Reveals Dissension, Idolatry

2008-04-21T17:01:00.002-04:00

From the AP's Sarah El Deeb:

JERUSALEM - Dozens of Greek and Armenian priests and worshippers exchanged blows at one of Christianity's holiest shrines on Orthodox Palm Sunday, and used palm fronds to pummel police who tried to break up the brawl.

The fight came amid growing rivalry over religious rights at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the site in Jerusalem where tradition says Jesus was buried and resurrected.

It erupted when Armenian clergy kicked out a Greek priest from their midst, pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to witnesses.

When police intervened, some worshippers hit them with the palm fronds they were holding for the religious holiday. The Eastern Orthodox churches, including the Armenians and Greek Orthodox, follow a different calendar from Western Christians and celebrate Easter next Sunday.

Guys: It's JUST a tomb. Yes, it may be in fact THE tomb in which Christ was laid, but He's not there anymore. I'm not saying not to hold worship services there, but clearly these sectarian differences and strifes are becoming gods and idols to you that set themselves up against the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Simply put, this is not something to scuffle over.

Remember that what matters above all for the Christian is the Gospel. Both Armenians and Greeks (and yours truly) are undeserving sinners for whom Christ died. Our salvation is an act of mercy by a God who could have dealt justly with our sins by letting us die in them. But He saved us not because of anything we've done but because of His good pleasure to save a people for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation on earth.

With that in mind, like the Samaritan woman to whom Jesus preached, we should go worship God in Spirit and in Truth, including and especially by declaring the Gospel message to others, bringing them to the feet of Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.:

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. [John 4:19-41]

My Advice for Pope's UN Address: Borrow from Peter

2008-04-18T10:37:00.002-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today. What should he say? Talk about AIDS? Middle East peace? Poverty? Global warming?

No. No. No, and no. Well, he probably will touch on some or all of those, but my unsolicited advice for the pontiff: preach the Gospel.

I'm sure the man traditionally recognized as the first "bishop of Rome" wouldn't mind a bit of borrowing, so here's my suggestion: adapt from the Apostle Peter's sermon at Pentecost and call the crowd to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ:

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Jim Wallis Punts on Abortion, Although God is 'a God of Justice'

2008-04-17T14:30:00.003-04:00

Before I throw out these excerpts I do wish to make this clear: the biggest challenge to American evangelicals today is not succeeding politically in criminalizing abortion or any other political objective. It is in presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a decaying, dead-in-their-sins world, calling them to repentance.

The Gospel message must always be central and we must never compromise the starkness of it. We are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God and as such deserve God's just wrath. But God sent His Son to die for our sins so that by trusting in Him, we might "escape the wrath to come," dying to sin and living to righteousness through union with the risen Christ. (I Thess. 1:10)

That being said, the immorality and the gravity of abortion is something Christians must never downplay, regardless of our political allegiances. Sadly, liberal theologian and activist Jim Wallis does precisely that in a recent Christianity Today interview (emphasis mine):

Jim Wallis wants you to know he's not a liberal. Yes, he's been a chief critic of the Religious Right since its inception, gave the Democratic weekly radio address after the 2006 midterm elections, and has been an often-controversial voice for social justice since his early-'70s days at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. "There is a Religious Left in this country, and I'm not a part of it," Wallis said when he stopped by Christianity Today's offices during his February tour for his latest book, The Great Awakening.

[...]

I don't think that abortion is the moral equivalent issue to slavery that Wilberforce dealt with. I think that poverty is the new slavery. Poverty and global inequality are the fundamental moral issues of our time. That's my judgment.

Of course, later in his interview Wallis conceded that:

...The God of the Bible is not just a God of charity. The God of the Bible is a God of justice, and they understood that.

Jim Wallis, please stop this foolishness. Abortion is murder. It's wrong and when government allows it, that government violates the purpose for which God has ordained civil governmental authorities: the execution of justice and the protection of the innocent. As American Christians who have the God-given privilege of living in a country where WE elect our leaders, we have a moral responsibility to use our votes to glorify God and defend the innocent.

That you view poverty as a "moral issue" of greater gravity than legalized murder should be a clarion call to Christians everywhere that your theology and your priorities are out of whack.

Oh, and Jim, stop lying to us about your politics. A tree is known by its fruit. (Matt. 12:23)

Solomon Had Singers and Concubines, We Have iPods and Porn

2008-04-14T14:02:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite books of the Old Testament is Ecclesiastes. Solomon laments in his first chapter that (vv. 9-10):

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.

Of course, many might say, "but Solomon was a wealthy king in ancient Israel. His life is nothing like mine. Look at all the progress we've made, our technology, our advancements in learning and culture."

Actually, I'd argue the lives of the average American is quite like Solomon's.

Perhaps one of the more striking similarities comes from the second chapter in which Solomon describes how he tried to find pleasure and purpose in entertainment, to no avail (vv. 8-11):

I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, [1] the delight of the children of man.
So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Okay, so we use greenbacks and credit cards, not silver and gold, and we don't have singers on demand, or concubines. Or do we?

Today's "silver and gold" and the "treasure of kings and provinces" take many forms, all widely accessible to your average middle or working-class American. Computers, art, clothing, jewelry, status, education. All these sort of things we have today that in centuries past would have been available only to the wealthy elite.

And singers and concubines? Don't we have both on demand with our vast wealth of music and in the sexual idols we fashion for ourselves in models, actresses, athletes and porn stars? Aren't these the gods and manmade idols of modern American society?

They take slightly different forms than they did millennia ago, but truly nothing is new under the sun, the human heart is the same in every age: an idol factory.

Eagerly Desire to Serve in Love (I Corinthians 12:27-13:8)

2008-03-31T18:59:00.002-04:00

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. (I Cor. 12:27-31)

Notice that? Paul's talking about the different Spirit-empowered gifts, services and activities that individual members of the church exercise. Paul gives eight kinds of gifts then rhetorically asks seven times if "all" in any given church exercise said gifts. Two of those rhetorical queries (tongues and interpret) branch out from one listed gift, that of "various kinds of tongues." Left out of these series of rhetoricals are "helping" and "administrating."

Why might that be? It's clear Paul means that not everyone has the gift of tongues or healing or teaching or prophecy. But helps and administration seem to be different. They seem to be gifts and acts of service to the church that are broadly based.

After all, on some level, albeit in different offices and complementary functions, every member of the church is to minister in helps and administration. Relatively few publicly exercise apostolic, prophetic, or teaching authority in the administration of the church, yet all Christians have a role in the administration of the work of the body of Christ on earth.

But I can think of another and perhaps more important reason, given the context of Paul's instructions to the church at Corinth. Regardless of what gifts we have or haven't, our exercise of all of them should be characterized by the love of Jesus Christ for His church flowing through us.

Love is what Paul calls "a still more excellent way" in the closing verse of chapter 12 and is to be characteristic of our use of any spiritual gift:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, [1] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [2] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [I Cor. 13:1-8]

Our service to the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ should be patient, kind, content, humble, gracious, yielding to authority, thick-skinned, centered on God's loving kindness, and joyous in the truth of the Gospel.

Walking in Christ's love we should:

bear with diverse personalities within the church
tolerate a diversity of opinion on secondary theological issues
bear with the sinful shortcomings and disappointments we're bound to experience in an assembly of sinners being saved by the grace of God from the wrath to come

We will become quite familiar with these challenges to our pride and our self-importance when we humble ourselves and engage in practical, self-sacrificial service, especially when that service is not noticed and praised by men.

It's a tall order, but we're called to not only walk in love but to pursue it, to seek out our growth in it (I. Cor. 14:1). This requires frequent self-examination of the motives of our hearts that is brutally honest before a holy God.

Let's examine our hearts and see what drives us. Where we've sinned, let's repent, and move on, continuing to do good to all, "especially to those who are of the household of faith," knowing that in due season, we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:1-10).

Sermon Notes: Resurrection of the Dead

2008-03-25T22:54:00.004-04:00

The following are some sermon notes from Easter Sunday (March 23, 2008) at Solid Rock Church in Riverdale, Md. The sermon was delivered by senior pastor John Loftness.

[If the sermon is added to the Web site I'll update with a link to the audio here.]

The text was I Corinthians 15:1-8;12-28

Three Major Points (my paraphrase in italics):

The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the heart of the Gospel, of first importance (vv. 1-8), preceding all else. Christ's death in place of sinners and resurrection from the dead is the Gospel. If we preach Christ merely as moral example, we deny the message of the Gospel: Christ died for sinners and He calls sinners to repent and believe in Him and His sacrifice for their sins.
If you deny the resurrection, you deny the whole Gospel (vv. 12-19).

Preaching is in vain if there's no Resurrection (v.14)
The apostles would be lying about the nature of God if there's no resurrection (v.15)
We're still in our sins w/o resurrection of Christ (v. 17)
Those who died in the faith are lost forever (v.18)

The Resurrection of Christ resolves every human problem, including and ultimately the final enemy, death (vv.20-28).

Closing Thoughts (vv. 54-58):

We have victory over death in the resurrection as given us "through our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 57)
Because of this hope we are to be "steadfast, immovable" and "always abounding in the work of the Lord" as we know our "labor is not in vain." (v.58)

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

2008-03-25T18:46:00.002-04:00

...has God ordained praise (Matt. 21:16)

From Mark Driscoll's latest note on Facebook re: Easter and Good Friday services at Mars Hill Church (emphasis mine):

Something broke this weekend, spiritually. I’m not sure how to explain it, but God’s favor was evident everywhere. We had 8,070 people attend on Sunday, plus however many could not make it into the Eastside Campus or stand up outside the building to listen on speakers because there was no room in the parking lot or on the sidewalk. We had 3,648 for Good Friday services plus however many hundreds got turned away from the 7 p.m. service at Ballard. We had at least 11,718 people altogether this weekend, somewhere near 200 baptisms yesterday alone, and are still trying to figure out how many people got saved. My children loved seeing all the new converts and baptisms yesterday and my two-year-old son Gideon cracked us all up by calling them bath-tisms and asking if he could take a bath in the church too. We told him he can have a bath-tism in a few years when he gets a bit older.

[...]

Yesterday while singing with the congregation at each of the five services I preach live, I could not stop weeping. People were singing loudly with their hands in the air. They cheered all day as people came forward to give their lives to Jesus and be baptized. The pastors were up front laying hands on people, praying over them, and leading them to Christ by the dozens at every service. I stood off to the side during the singing to watch what God was doing and multiple people walked up to me weeping and asked me to pray with them to become a Christian. I met people who had flown in from out of state and out of country to celebrate Easter with us. I even met a couple who had organized their honeymoon to spend Easter with us before flying home to South Carolina. And I only got to see a fraction of what God was doing.

On Good Friday we had eight services on six campuses and for Easter Sunday we had seventeen services on six campuses. I am so glad we have gone multi-site and so glad for the trust we have in the campus pastors and their teams of elders, deacons, and church members. Most of all I am glad for God’

Sounds pretty sweet.

Soli Deo gloria.

Good Friday Tenebrae at Fourth Presbyterian

2008-03-22T13:49:00.002-04:00

My girlfriend and I thought it would be good to find a Good Friday service to attend last night so we checked out the Tenebrae at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda.

The service was wonderful and awe-inspiringly worshipful, albeit a bit staid compared to what I'm used to in the Reformed charismatic tradition. The sermon was drawn from Isaiah 53. I'll post a link to the MP3 of the sermon when it's added online, but you can check out their Web site here.

Aside from prayers, hymns, and the sermon, there was a series of Bible readings after each of which a candle was extinguished to represent Christ's passion, death, and burial. As the bulletin explained, the practice is "taken from an early Christian service called Tenebrae," Latin for "darkness" or "shadows.":

The Shadow of Betrayal Matt. 26:20-25
The Shadow of Desertion Matt. 26:30-35
The Shadow of Unshared Vigil Luke 22:39-46
The Shadow of Accusation Mark 14:43-65
The Shadow of Crucifixion Matt. 27:27-38
The Shadow of Death Luke 23:44-49
The Shadow of the Tomb John 19:38-42

Those readings were then followed by a choral response but no benediction "as it is a service of anticipation, awaiting Easter Morning and the Resurrection of our crucified Christ."

It's Good Friday Because It Was Bad News for the 'Ruler of This World'

2008-03-17T21:42:00.004-04:00

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. [John 12:27-33]

The final judgment is yet to come. It shall happen with Christ's return. But in one sense the day of judgment has already happened, and that's why Good Friday is so good, for it was judgment day against the ruler of this world, Satan. (John 12:31; John 16:11; Col. 2:6-15)

In John 12 we see Jesus expressing how troubled his soul was due to the impending hour: his imminent execution at the hands of wicked men and His bearing the wrath of God against sin to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).

At that point an audible voice comes from heaven for Jesus says to his disciples "your sake, not mine," for, "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

John makes clear in verse 33 to us that "lifted up" refers to "what kind of death he was going to die," the crucifixion.

Jesus tells us the judgment of the world: damnation of the wicked, salvation for those who trust in Christ, and the vanquishing of Satan (the ruler of this world), are all tied to and made possible by His suffering and death on the cross. That is why he could cry "It is finished." (John 19:30)

What's more, Christ's death on the cross is to "draw all people to" Him. This is why the church must preach Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 2:2), it's how Jesus himself tells us that he draws people to Himself from every race and tribe and tongue to himself (see also Rev. 5:5-10 below).

Death on a cross is gruesome, hideous, horrifying, enough to make you weep, as well we should, over our sin and rebellion against God putting Christ there.

Yet that weeping is for but a while. Christ is risen from the dead(Luke 24:5-7), interceding for His church (Heb. 7:25), and returning again in glory (I Thess. 4:16). His death and resurrection prove that He alone is worthy, as the Lord of all history, to open the scroll of God's will, as John testifies in his account from Revelation chapter 5. Because of this, all of heaven rejoices.:

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Salt of the Earth: Mars Hill Preserving a Decaying City

2008-03-17T17:37:00.001-04:00

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:13-16)

Sounds like Mars Hill Church of Seattle, Washington, which yesterday opened its newest campus in a former, shall we say, den of iniquity:

Mars Hill Church opens in ex-Tabella nightclub
By BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTER
[...]
The 400 or so people who attended the first service at Mars Hill Church's new downtown campus Sunday were witnesses to a startling transformation: They heard a sermon while seated on the former dance floor of one of Seattle's most notorious nightclubs.

At Tabella Restaurant and Lounge, the music was loud, the crowds rowdy.

Seattle police often raced to the club to break up brawls.
[...]
In October, Mars Hill bought the two-story, 15,000- square-foot building on Western Avenue for nearly $4 million, making the Belltown venue its sixth campus.

The church sank about $370,000 into the renovation, with volunteers spending months ripping up carpet and painting walls, Gaydos said.

When a worker was installing wiring, a black bag dropped from the ceiling. Inside was a crack pipe and cocaine. Police had to be called -- one more time.

[...]

The remaining go-go dancer's cage has been converted into a coat hanger.

The condom dispenser is now a diaper-changing station.

"It's amazing how God can change things," said Sarah Rosenberger, a 29-year-old Lynnwood mother who attended Sunday's service with her infant son.
[...]
Down the street at Elbasha Cafe, manager Sam Alramahi recalled how often police cruisers used to pull up to the club to quell late-night fights.

"We're very glad we have a church there," said Alramahi, who lives in the neighborhood. "It saves us hassles."

Wow. Good stuff, Mars Hill. May God richly bless you all and may you turn all that blessing around to the praise and glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wall Street Woes? Try Habakkuk on for Size

2008-03-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Back away from the ledge. Close the window.

Sit down and read Habakkuk 3:17-19. Heck, read the whole book too, but the song of praise at the end reminds us to put our joy in the Lord and in "the God of my salvation."

Course, if the "god" of your salvation is anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to repent and seek salvation from the One who truly offers it, from the One who truly conquered death, Hell, and the grave by taking our sin and the wrath of God in our place.

That need being met, we can truly say that though our "flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls," we take our strength from the Lord:

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.

Eliot Spitzer and Slavery to Sin

2008-03-12T17:58:00.002-04:00

The whole Eliot Spitzer matter might have many of you thinking, How could a guy who prosecuted prostitution rings and knew the high risk of being caught NOT keep himself from engaging in the same thing he very well knew to be morally and legally wrong time and time again? How could he do something so foolish, so stupid, so thoughtless, all to attempt to sate this lust?

Scripture has a simple answer, not just in Spitzer's case but to explain the whole of sin and human addiction to it, no matter the form (smoking addiction, foul language, lust, greed, envy, rage, lying, worry, pride, etc.).

As Jesus told us, he who sins is a slave to sin (John 34:31-36):

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave [2] to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We as Americans love to think of ourselves as free, and we certainly are, politically and culturally speaking. But spiritually, we are slaves, as is the rest of humanity, to sin. Sin rules us, guides us, governs us, suffocates us in its oppressive rule over us.

Only in Christ do we find freedom from the bondage of sin and death and loving adoption into the family of God. What Gov. Spitzer needs is not mere moralizing on his failures as a public official and a husband, but to be told of the penalty he faces as a sinner estranged from God by his sinful rebellion and of the pardon he can receive in Christ's blood.

Spitzer, like all of us, needs the Gospel message proclaimed to him, for how can he repent and believe unless he hears the good news? (Rom. 10:12-17):

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? [3] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

I, Not Eliot Spitzer, Am the Chief of Sinners

2008-03-10T17:55:00.001-04:00

My title is a good reminder for myself. I struggle with a self-righteous desire to make light of the demise of politicians, particularly those like Gov. Spitzer with whom I rarely agree politically.

But such delight, such glee is sinful. It's based on pride and a sense of self-righteousness, and it runs counter to God's Word (Prov. 24:17-20):

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
19 Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
and be not envious of the wicked,
20 for the evil man has no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

So should I not rejoice so that God's anger will continue to abide on my enemies, real or imagined? Heaven forbid! I too was once God's enemy. I too was once subject to wrath. My lamp was subject to being snuffed out by a God righteously indignant with my sin. None of my morality or self-righteousness amounts to anything before God. My salvation, my hope, my joy is in Christ and His mercy towards me, a sinner.

The cry of my heart should be for Gov. Spitzer to repent of his sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! There but for the grace of God go I. There but for His mercy towards me in Christ Jesus, I'd be where Eliot Spitzer is, or worse!

I know this in my head and yet I must study this afresh to make the truth richly dwell in my heart.

The Apostle Paul put, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, put it well (emphasis mine; I Timothy 1:15-16):

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

For more on that text, see my blog post from January 28 (excerpt below):

Three Major Points for Application:

Remember the Gospel ["Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"]
Remember your own sinfulness ["to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost"] --Apply this mindset to our lives. We are the worst sinners we know, we are most intimately aware of our hidden sins, our sinful thoughts, attitudes, lusts, etc. Being aware of our sinfulness makes all all the more aware of God's grace to us and keeps us humble in our relationships with others
Remember your life is to be a display of God's patience ["Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life"] --My walk with Christ is not so much about my performance as it is about God's patience towards me, a sinner saved by His grace and being conformed to the image of Christ in spite of my sinful flesh which is at war with the Spirit.

Seven New Sins, Same Saving Grace

2008-03-10T13:57:00.002-04:00

Heard about this yet?:

The Vatican has outlined seven new deadly sins for our times, designed to make worshippers consider the increased impact their lives have on other people in light of globalisation.

The new lists condemns genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs.

Pretty much all of the above fall under the rubric of falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), except perhaps being "obscenely wealthy," since trust in riches and love of money, not possession of riches and wealth in and of themselves, is what's at issue with financial sin.

Of course, I highly doubt anyone needs a new-fangled list of official sins to guard against. After all, we aren't sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. Probably a good 90 percent of our sins escape our immediate notice because they involve the heart, mind, and will, not necessary the mouth or other members set among our body.

It's out of the heart that all sin originates (Gen. 8:21; Psa. 14; Matt. 15:18-20; Mark 7:20-23; James 1:14-15) and only God can change the heart, replacing a hardened heart of stone with a heart of flesh which desires to honor and glorify God (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26; Acts 7:51; Rom. 2:29).

What then must we do? We are to throw ourselves at God's mercy, trusting in Christ's death in our place, accepting salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and then living our lives in accord with the Gospel, worthy of the calling, bearing fruit by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. It's then that we can bring the Gospel to bear on modern day twists on age-old sins.

Rather than fixating on all the evils plaguing modern day life, we must remain transfixed by the surpassing glory of Christ Jesus: triumphant over sin and death in the cross, risen again by the power of God from the dead, seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for His Bride the Church, and coming again in glory for the same (Col. 2:6-15; Phil. 2:9-11; I Tim. 3:14-16; Heb. 7:25; I Thess. 4:16-18).

This message, this deposit of faith "once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3) always has and always will be the witness of the church, the message of salvation that contains the "power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16).

Soli Deo gloria!

The Doctrine of the Trinity Explained In Rap

2008-03-05T14:37:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I'm not a big fan of rap and I usually make fun of artists who don't capitalize their names, but shai linne has got some phenomenal work. I might have to buy his stuff! Check him out his music here and his blog here. (h/t Sovereign Grace blog)

"Were You There" is pretty good ( lyrics found here), although my favorite thus far is "Triune Praise,"(lyrics here) wherein linne weaves an awesome rap that explains the doctrine of the Trinity, including the work of the three Persons in the Trinity in the salvation of the elect. For example, here's how linne raps about irresistible grace (effectual calling) and the perseverance of the saints:

Praise God the Holy Spirit, 3rd person of the Trinity (Mat. 28:19)*
Distinct from Father and Son, yet share in Their divinity (Acts 5:3-4, 2 Cor. 3:17)
Holy Spirit we praise You, You don't like the spotlight
You'd rather point away from yourself and give props to Christ (John 15:26, John 16:13-14)
And yet because You're God, You deserve veneration (Mark 3:29)
And You're the One responsible for our regeneration (John 3:5-6)
You apply the finished work of Christ to all the elect (John 6:37, 1 Peter 1:1-2)
Your call is effectual- You haven't lost one yet (Romans 8:30, 2 Thess. 2:13-14)

*Scripture references added by linne and available on his MySpace page.

'Salt' of the Earth on VH1?

2008-03-04T14:08:00.001-05:00

(Religion News Service via CT)

When Cheryl James abruptly abandoned her red-hot career as "Salt" of the hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa and became a Christian, she also shattered her relationship with partner Sandra "Pepa" Denton. Ten years after drifting away from the band, James, 43, is trying to be true to both faith and friendship by reconciling with Denton in the VH1 reality show The Salt-N-Pepa Show (Mondays at 10 PM EST). "Kids look at (fame) and all they see is the glamour," James said in an interview from New York recently, "but there's a dark side.

[...]

Some might be taken aback by James's decision to team up with Denton, an unreformed party girl, but James sees the struggle of finding common ground and rebuilding friendship as compatible with, even necessary to Christian faith. "There are different kinds of people in the word," she said. "Christians often want to hide behind the walls of the church, where we are comfortable, but sometimes we have to come out of the box."

I wouldn't say I'm taken aback but I am sure Ms. James is somewhat aware of the danger of slipping back into choices characteristic of her life before Christ. Her work with VH1 is an issue of conscience and something I pray she's doing with a good deal of input and accountability from brothers and sisters in Christ. It can be done in a wholesome and God-honoring way, but it may be a bit of a struggle with the temptations she's opening herself, not to mention that reality shows often aren't great vehicles for evangelism.

So, Salt, I'm praying that you might be salt 'n' light to Pepa and everyone at VH1, and grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (I Peter 3:14-17)

Spong to Christians: Drop Dead

2008-03-03T12:22:00.003-05:00

Resurrection-denier and all-around heretic extraordinaire John Shelby Spong once again jabs two middle fingers skyward as he revels in the wisdom of this world and holds in low regard the wisdom of God [for relevant Scripture see I Cor. 1:18-2:16] (emphasis mine):

The traditional church always fights every new intellectual insight, making it difficult for educated people not to stray. Recall the fate of Galileo in the 17th Century. Observe how the church still fights Darwin with such silly things as intelligent design. Look at the present debate in the church over homosexuality in which people use a definition of homosexuality that is no longer saluted anywhere in scientific or medical circles upon which to justify their prejudice. When knowledge collides with traditional faith change is inevitable. I welcome it and if the church cannot engage this intellectually driven change, then it probably should die.

What height of arrogance and humanistic idolatry! And yet, it's understandable why Spong would be so bitter. After all, if Christ is not resurrected, neither shall we be, and we are above all men to be pitied (I Cor. 15:19). If Christ is not resurrected, He is not God, and any and all worship of Him is vain idolatry, a projection of our worship onto a mere dead human being.

But praise be to God that Christ is risen and is coming again in glory!

Spong's problem is not that he is too intellectual for "traditional" Christianity or that Christians are too unintellectual for a changing world, but that Spong is spiteful of Christ himself.

Spong is ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ: filled with disdain at the foolishness of His cross, blinded to the reality of His divinity, willfully seditious against Christ's lordship, leading open rebellion against Him from his ecclesial perch.

In short, Spong is grievously in error and leading others astray, preaching a damnable "gospel" (Gal. 1:6-8) that has an appearance of godliness but denies the power thereof. (II Timothy 3:1-9)

Let us pray that the Lord will grant former Bishop Spong repentance unto a knowledge of the truth, and that Episcopals and Anglicans specifically, and orthodox Christians generally, will not so much as bid him God speed until such time as he does (II John 8-11).

March-ing Through Psalm 119

2008-02-29T10:34:00.003-05:00

I've always had trouble with the sheer length of Psalm 119, the longest Psalm with a grand total of 176 verses. It's an acrostic poem with each stanza starting with a successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc.).

So what I plan on doing starting tomorrow, March 1, is this: read one stanza a day, where possible starting my day by reading the stanza, and returning to it throughout the day from time to time to re-read and meditate on it.

With one stanza a day -- reading Sin and Shin (vv. 161-8) and Taw (vv. 169-176) together for the final day -- I should be able to finish Psa. 119 in three weeks, concluding on March 21, Good Friday. Of course, I know how I am with plans and schedules, both those made for me and those I make for myself, so I appreciate your prayers for me to be faithful to this plan.

After all, my aim is to grow in my delight in the law of the Lord, and to say with the psalmist, "I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil." (119:162)

Michael Jackson on Total Depravity (Sorta)

2008-02-27T09:31:00.003-05:00

An oldie but a goodie I just had to post. If you're limited on time, I recommend starting from 42 seconds in:

Abortion, Anguish, and The Man of Sorrows

2008-02-24T15:48:00.002-05:00

This story from the London Daily Telegraph broke my heart when I read it, and I thought I'd share it with you for two reasons: to talk about the fatal weight that guilt from sin can yield in our lives (II Cor. 7:10) and the hope we have for release from guilt and pardon of our sins in the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross.

Sadly, this young lady did not place her trust in Christ's sacrifice and committed suicide so overwhelmed was she by the guilt of having an abortion:

An artist killed herself after aborting her twins when she was eight weeks pregnant, leaving a note saying: "I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum."
Emma Beck was found hanging at her home in Helston, Cornwall, on Feb 1 2007. She was declared dead early the following day - her 31st birthday.
Her suicide note read: "I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies: they need me, no-one else does."

The guilt over sin expressed in those words is crushing. Indeed, while she didn't put it in such language , it seems her guilt led her in some way to feel a need to atone for that sin by her own life. Scripture tells us there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22), but Scripture also makes clear only the blood of the perfectly sinless and righteous Son of God can cleanse us from sin and its guilt (Heb. 9:11-15).

Ms. Beck's case is heartbreaking, her final act of helplessness irrevocable. But my prayer is that from this widely-reported tragedy that the Gospel may advance. I trust many more gifted men of God will blog and preach on this matter, but in my own small way, I hope now to apply the good news of the Gospel so that, whoever reads this might take heart in the truth of the Gospel: all sin, even murder of the unborn, can be washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus.

All of us feel the weight of shame and guilt for sins we've done. All of us are sinners deserving God's wrath, persistently obstinate rebels against his divine reign. But the good news is Jesus Christ has borne our sin and shame in his crushed and broken body on the cross. Christ has tasted death so that we might have forgiveness and new life as children of God (Isa. 53:3-12):

3 He was despised and rejected [2] by men;
a man of sorrows, [3] and acquainted with [4] grief; [5]
and as one from whom men hide their faces [6]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief; [7]
when his soul makes [8] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see [9] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, [10]
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, [11]
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Ms. Beck's soul was exceedingly anguished with guilt and she offered herself as a sacrifice for it, but if she placed her trust in Christ she could have rested in the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God made Himself the one true perfect sacrifice for sin and guilt. Jesus' death on the cross has made effectual a salvation that makes "many to be accounted righteous" and that sacrifice is ordained by God's own will and hence fully pleasing to Him.

Because Jesus has borne our grief, our shame, and our guilt, all the while despising the shame of the cross for the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:1-3), we can through faith in Him be dead to sin and alive unto God, new creations in Christ Jesus (Gal. 2:20-21; Col. 2:6-15; II Cor. 5:17).

We can never by our own tainted blood atone for our sin and guilt. Praise be to God that He's provided the perfect sacrifice in his only begotten Son (John 3:16-21).

If in reading this you have been cut to the heart, I would urge you to "Repent and be baptized... in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2:37-38)

Sing to the Lord a New Hymn

2008-02-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

There's an excellent interview over at ChristianityToday.com with hymnists Keith and Kristyn Getty. In the excerpt below they note the two aims of their hymn-writing: sound doctrine and ease of use for diverse congregations (emphasis mine).:

Why the emphasis on doctrine?
Keith: I'm a child of the modern worship movement. We both are. I have a great affection for both modern worship music and traditional church music. I wanted to do two things. One was to write songs that helped teach the faith, and the second was to write songs that every generation could sing. I don't think of music as only teaching, but I do think that what we sing profoundly affects how we think. It profoundly affects how we feel. It affects, therefore, our emotional and our didactic relationship with God. But what we sing is for people of all ages.
The radical thing is that in the Old Testament, everybody came together and sang. And in the New Testament, the Jew and the Gentile, the Greek and the Roman, the young and the old all came together and sang together. That's the witness of church history. It's not some kind of food court where everyone chooses their favorite music and goes that direction.
I don't for a minute think that what I write will become everyone's favorite. That's just nonsense. The radical thing about a church service is that people of every age and every wealth bracket and every background come together and sing together. So we write these quasi-folk melodies that everyone can sing, and we hope there's an enduring quality to them.

I believe these are excellent principles for worship in any church, but particularly evangelical churches that have in the past 25-30 years seen a song repertoire that often lacks theological substance by downplaying or avoiding matters such as God's holiness, our sinfulness, God's judgment against sinners, God's mercy towards us in Christ, the atonement, Christ's passion and resurrection, and eternity.

International Hug a Calvinist Day

2008-02-20T10:53:00.006-05:00

A little silly holiday I created on Facebook for the heck of it.

So stop and smell the TULIPs on July 10 and hug your nearest Calvinist. We don't bite.

Update (Feb. 21 | 15:14 EST): Welcome to readers of Reformed Chicks Blabbing. I hope you stick around my blog and check out some other things I've written.

Photo update (Feb. 22 | 11:40 EST): Some Calvinist/Reformed T-shirts at CafePress, including the design shown in the photo are perfect for July 10.

Would the Vatican Make Samson a Saint?

2008-02-18T17:40:00.003-05:00

Poor Samson and Rahab. Under new Vatican guidelines methinks the Old Testament saints (see Heb. 11:31-32), a lust-driven womanizer and a Jerichoan whore respectively, wouldn't make the cut (via USA Today emphasis mine):

It's getting more difficult to become a saint.

The Vatican, which has more than 2,200 potential saints in the pipeline, says it wants bishops to exercise more "rigor" and "sobriety" when it comes to choosing someone worthy of beatification, according to the Associated Press.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, chief of the church's sainthood office, tells reporters that candidates must have a "true reputation for holiness" in order to warrant consideration.

DPA, the German news agency, has a detailed overview of the rules.

Now, by no means am I excusing or condoning sinful behavior, and certainly not sexual immorality, but true sainthood is an office and/or quality that is NEVER earned by personal moral merit, it is ALWAYS bestowed by God's grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Ultimately, it depends on Christ's merit and Christ's work.

The only person with a perfect "true reputation for holiness" in the entirety of human history is Jesus Christ, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and there is none righteous, no, not one. [Rom. 3:10, 23; Psa. 14:1]

What's more, the Bible is replete with references to "saints" who were, when addressed as such, living, breathing, and most assuredly still-sinning believers.

We sin -- fall short of God's holy perfection -- every day, intentionally or accidentally, in thought, word, deed, and motive. Sure, we strive by God's grace to grow in holiness, as we are called in God's Word, but our saintliness is never, biblically speaking, a subjective function of our personal sanctification, rather it's the objective forensic declaration of God at our justification. [I Peter 1:14-21; II Timothy 1:8-14]

Look no further than Paul's epistles to the Corinthians. That's a screwed up church if ever there was one. You had people getting drunk at communion, their worship services were completely chaotic, there was a dude in the church openly and proudly sinning sexually by sleeping with his father's step-mom, and the Corinthians had the nasty habit of filing lawsuits against one another, dragging each other before bewildered pagans in Roman courts, among other problems.

And yet, despite all that, Paul calls the people in the church saints, even as he admonishes them to get their act together. Indeed, in his opening greeting, he calls the Corinthians "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." [I Cor. 1:2;]

God sees the end from the beginning and completes the good work He began in us. [Phil. 1:6; Heb. 12:2; Rom. 8:31-39] It's He who declares us righteous in Christ and who, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the washing of the Word of God sanctifies us in this life until we conform to the image of Christ Jesus. [Eph. 5:25-27]

That's what being a real saint is: clinging for dear life to Christ's finished work on the cross, trusting in Him as we live out our lives in the world, but not of it. [Col. 1:21-23; II Peter 1:3-11; I Cor. 5:6-13; 6:18-20]

[A closing prayer for all who trust in Jesus as their Savior]: Thank you, Heavenly Father, for saving us not by virtue of our self-perceived merits, but by the perfect merit of your spotless, holy Son. Thank you Jesus for living the perfect obedient life I couldn't live and dying the death I deserved to die so that I could spend eternity glorifying you.

Thank you for adopting us and sanctifying us, cleansing us from sin by your shed blood, renewing our minds to conform more and more to your image by the washing of your Word. Thank you that none of this is because of our striving, effort, or any goodness inherent in us. It is all of grace, lest any man boast. We bless your Name, Amen.