Hello Again!

It has been so long since I have had a chance to write here, so it’s good to be back and blogging again. For the past month or so I have been wrestling through the feelings I expressed in my recent post “Jesus, Save me from your followers!” I now realize that while I still believe there is truth in what I said, much of it was said out of bitterness, anger, and malice and for that, I apologize.

I have often been quick to point out the insensitivity of others in handling difficult questions but I failed to see that just as many times I have been equally guilty. So many times I merely want to express my opinions and have people think well of me. So many times I don’t actually have compassion for the people I should be trying to lovingly help and instead just want to hear myself talk.

It’s amazing to consider that Jesus, who despite having every reason to mock and deride us for the foolish things we believed about God, namely our “exchanging the truth of God for a lie”, humbled Himself and came to earth to save His church and make the Father known. Equally amazing is the way He both expressed true conviction and compassion in speaking to unbelievers. This same Jesus both warned people to “Repent or perish” (Luke 13:1-5) and wept over Jerusalem who would not receive Him (Luke 19:41-44).

Let’s look to Jesus as our example in speaking with others about their questions, remembering His grace to us even “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

Hello Folks!

Just wanted to throw up two great links that you should check out.

The first is a blog posting from a friend of mine that they wrote on the Gospel. It is good stuff, so do read it!

Five Small Stones Blog

This next one is a song by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, who has just released some EP albums. The song is “Somebody’s Baby.” Enjoy it and then go buy some of his music, it’s great stuff!

Hello Everyone!

     For better or worse, this post may be my first actual “rant.” Hopefully for the better. Maybe my post and the struggle I detail in it will help some people. At least I hope so. I’d really like to share a struggle I have had with Evangelicalism in general and more specifically, some of today’s reformed Calvinists.

     A few months ago, while at a Bible study I attend regularly, I attempted to ask a question about some sincere theological struggles I had been having at the time. When I posed the question to my Bible study leader, I was laughed at by some friends of mine who were there that night. In fact, my Bible study leader himself cracked a jocular smile at my question as if to dismiss to it (which related to the deity of Christ). Now, granted, my friends may have not been aware of the sincerity of the question and my struggles with it. Yet, I could not help but leave that night discouraged to ever ask the questions again and even a little hurt by how my questions had been mocked.

     This and other similar occurences lately have got me thinking. One looks out today at the growing Emergent Church movement and other Liberal strands of Christendom and finds people who hold broadly divergent and “unorthodox” views on so many issues, whether it be the deity of Christ or the role of the church. We also find that many of today’s most prominent atheists are former Christians. One of them is a man by the name of Bart Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus, who has made it his crusade to destroy the faith of Christians, largely because of his terribly negative run-ins with so many self-rightoues “believers.” 

     We have to wonder: “Where do all these folks come from with all these ‘out there’ views”? And I think we can conclude that in most cases these people have come from mainstream evangelical backgrounds. I only wonder if they had similar experiences to my own. Were there honest questions stifled or ignored or even mocked? Likely. Very likely. In fact, many of them have said so themselves.

     At this point I want to thank the Emergent Church for what they have done to correct mainstream evangelicals in this area. Church is the place where questions and doubts should be welcomed most! Yet in most evangelical churches today they are shunned and suppressed. Or even worse, many people are told they are not true believers if they don’t fully understand some doctrine immediately. The Emergent Church has fired back by getting people together for “conversations” where people are welcomed to ask honest questions and wrestle through their doubts. I even read in Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis how he held a “Doubt Night” at his church where people were invited to come with their doubts and struggles and ask the pastors their questions. What a great way to help someone with their faith!

     Anyway, I guess I am just tired of talking to so many of today’s young Calvinists (better known as “Cruel Calvinists”) who think they have the theological answer to everything (I myself am guilty of being one of them at times). It is amazing that so many twenty-somethings think they are more or less ready to be pastors because they have read Luther and Spurgeon, yet they have no real spiritual counselling experience with REAL people! Look deeply enough beneath the surface and I bet you’ll find alot of immature kids who care most about winning theological arguments and looking brilliant in front of their friends. Instead of loving people, they laugh at their “silly” questions.

     Moreover, why can’t we just put away our theological systems and read the Bible for what it is? If we really did this I think we would find that unlike our carefully constructed theological systems:

- Divorce is in fact ok in some instances (”I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness…”)

- That maybe Jesus’ identity can’t be neatly boiled down to this thing called the “Hypostatic Union” (which frankly, the Church made up)

- That evolution really did happen (Genesis 1 is NOT literal, sorry Ken Ham)

     In conclusion, maybe next time someone says something a little strange, put down your theological boxing gloves and try to actually help them instead of using them for your own self-glorification.

There, I said it.

     As I read the news today, one major story involves the discovery of a new tribe in the Amazon region of South America. In fact, this tribe has had absolutely no contact with the outside world. The photos of them were taken from an airplane that flew over the tribe’s village.

     Friends, let this serve as a fresh reminder to us regarding our call to world missions, to take the Gospel where it has not been preached.

As one pastor says it, there are three types of people when it comes to missions:

1) “Goers” - Those who sense a call to go to the peoples of the world with the Gospel (whether at home or abroad).

2) “Senders” - Those who are called to financially support those who go.

3) “Disobedient” - Self-explanatory…

     I urge you to pray and consider how God is calling you to respond to His mission call. Sadly, statistics show that of the money given to the church, less than 6% goes to foreign missions and of that 6%, less than 1% goes to reaching unreached people groups.

     As you pray about this, here are some verses that will hopefully speak to you:

Romans 10:14 : But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Romans 15:20-21 : And I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named…as it is written, “Those who have never been told of Him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

Psalm 96:3, 10 : Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!…Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

Revelation 5:9-10 : And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and 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…”

Matthew 9:37 : “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…”

Hello All!

     Here in Louisville, Kentucky for what should be an amazing Conference, featuring the following speakers:

- Joshua Harris - “Ripping, Burning, and Eating: A Right Response to God’s Word”

- C.J. Mahaney - “The Troubled Soul: God’s Word and our Feelings”

- John Piper - “”Fighting for Faith with God’s Word”

- Mark Dever - “The Authority of Scripture”

- Al Mohler - “Bible Q and A”

- Eric Simmons - “What’s the Point?: Why we should study God’s Word”

Check out this link for the messages as they become available.

     I think if we are honest, we struggle with the reality of suffering and pain in a world with hurricanes, tsunamis, and terrorist attacks, among a number of other calamities. Even the loss of a single loved one can make this pain real to us in a tremendous way.

How can a good God allow such horrible things to happen?

     This short video by John Piper and the message behind it have been very helpful to me as I have wrestled through the reality of God’s sovereignty. Do yourself a favor, take a few minutes and watch it.

     With school done, I had some free time today to read a bit of John Piper’s book The Future of Justification. In this work, Piper responds to the views of theologian N.T. Wright on the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ. What was stunning to me (and prompted this post) was that as I read what I consider an academic/theological work, my heart was struck by Piper’s exposition on Romans 3 and God’s Righteousness.

     Attempting to offer input for how Wright may be mistaken about the doctrine of justification (for example, Wright claims that imputation of God’s (Christ’s) righteousness to sinners is a “category mistake” and “makes no sense at all”), Piper explains how Wright makes his chief mistake in this area by misunderstanding the definition of God’s righteousness. Wright says that God’s righteousness should be understood as “keeping covenants, judging impartially, dealing with sin properly, and advocating for the helpless.”

     Piper points out that none of these actions are what righteousness is, rather he states that these are merely what righteousness does. From here, Piper continues to offer a proper understanding of God’s righteousness. This is where I was absolutely fascinated and enlightened.

     In his book The Justification of God, Piper notes that the simple way of defining God’s righteousness consists in his “unwavering commitment to do what is right.” However, even this definition is lacking as Piper says “we don’t feel like we have gained much in defining ‘righteousness’ if we use the word ‘right’ to define it.” Thus, he shows through several Old Testament texts that “God defines right in terms of Himself.”

     Therefore, Piper shows that “what is right, most ultimately, is what upholds the value and honor of God - what esteems God’s glory.” Moreover, he points out that the highest value that God gives in accounting for His actions is “the glory of God, or sacred and infinite value of His holiness, or sometimes simply His name.”

     Taking this further, Piper adeptly explains how God demonstrated His righteousness through putting forth Christ as a sacrifice for sins. Here is Piper’s excellent explanation:

“But now we find God ‘passing over sin’ - that is, treating sin in a way that makes it look less outrageous than it is. This makes God look as though He does not properly esteem his own glory that sin belittles…In passing over countless belittlings of his glory (sins), he looks as though he counts his glory a small thing. This would be unrighteousness in God - the very essence of unrighteousness. Therefore, he puts Christ forward to vindicate his righteousness…When he justifies the ‘ungodly’…he is not unrighteous, because the death of Christ exhibits God’s wrath against God-belittling sin.” - Page 67

     This leads me to my main point, namely that every single person reading this, in fact, every person on earth, has experienced the loving grace of God. Not everyone will receive it eternally, but every single time we value or love something more than God and His glory (sin), we deserve the full and complete wrath of a just and Holy God. We have loved and cherished other things and people more and the God who is worthy of our love and honor, we have dishonored through our daily sin and turning away from Him.

     Have you ever stopped to consider that apart from God’s love revealed in Christ, we should and would all be in the face of God’s unimaginable wrath for sin at this very moment? And justly so at that.

     In a world where many cry, “Why do bad things happen to ‘good’ people?”, shouldn’t we instead be asking why more bad things don’t happen to us?

     I just wanted to let you all know about an amazing post Amy Roberts made over at Reform and Revive. Check it out here!

Hello All,

     This may be my last post for a while, but I wanted to relay something that stuck with me from reading John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin. Do yourself a favor and heed the following stern warning to all of us:

Danger 1 - Being Hardened by the Deceitfulness of Sin

Hebrews 3:12-13 : Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “Today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

“Beware”, he says, “use all means, consider your temptations, watch diligently; there is a treachery, a deceit in sin that tends to the hardening of your hearts from the fear of God.” This hardening is so serious that your heart becomes insensitive to moral influence. Sin leads to this. Every sin and lust will make a little progress in this direction. You who at one time were very tender and would melt under the influence of the Word and under trials will grow “sermon-proof” and “trial-proof.”

You who used to have great assurance of God’s love, trembling at His presence, the thought of death, and your appearance before Him, will now have a hardness in your heart that remains unmoved by these things.

You will have no more conviction in your soul about your sin. You will be able to pass over spiritual duties like prayer, hearing, and reading, with your heart not in the least affected by them. Sin will be a light thing to you and you will not be much troubled by it.

…Take heed! This is the outcome of harbouring your lust - the hardening of your heart, the searing of your conscience, the blinding of your mind, the dulling of your affections, and the deceiving of your whole soul.

If any of you thinks he is standing firm, take heed, lest he fall!

     In my final weeks of school here and am currently working on a term paper relating to the “prosperity gospel” in Africa. As I was reading an article written by Paul Gifford on the spread of the prosperity gospel in Africa, he notes one feature of the movement being that pastors are often considered to be almost infallible, especially in terms of prophecy. One pastor in particular is on record as saying, “The moment you doubt prophetic utterances, you are damned.” What a tragedy that a supposed “Man of God” would say something like this.

     Thank the Lord for verses like the following that allow us the freedom to test the spirits:

I John 4:1 : …do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Be blessed and look to the Cross! —> Romans 5:8