The Doctrines of Grace

Reposted from Desiring God's blog:

Rebuilding Some Basics of Bethlehem: The Doctrines of Grace
(Otherwise Known as the 5 Points of Calvinism or TULIP)
By John PiperSeptember 25, 2009

We believe that these 5 truths are biblical and therefore true. We believe that they magnify God’s precious grace and give unspeakable joy to sinners who have despaired of saving themselves.

Total Depravity

Our sinful corruption is so deep and so strong as to make us slaves of sin and morally unable to overcome our own rebellion and blindness. This inability to save ourselves from ourselves is total. We are utterly dependent on God’s grace to overcome our rebellion, give us eyes to see, and effectively draw us to the Savior.

We were dead in our trespasses. (Ephesians 2:5)

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8)

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Unconditional Election

God’s election is an unconditional act of free grace that was given through his Son Jesus before the world began. By this act, God chose, before the foundation of the world, those who would be delivered from bondage to sin and brought to repentance and saving faith in Jesus.

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:15-16)

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. (Romans 11:7; cf. 9:11-12; John 6:37)

My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me. (Isaiah 43:10)

Irresistible Grace

This means that the resistance that all human beings exert against God every day (Romans 3:10-12; Acts 7:51) is wonderfully overcome at the proper time by God’s saving grace for undeserving rebels whom he chooses freely to save.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:5)

No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. (John 6:65)

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 2:25)

Limited Atonement

The atonement of Christ is sufficient for all humans and effective for those who trust him. The full, saving effectiveness of the atonement that Jesus accomplished is limited to those for whom that saving effect was prepared. The availability of the total sufficiency of the atonement is for all people. Whosoever will—whoever believes—will be covered by the blood of Christ. And there is a divine design in the death of Christ to accomplish the promises of the new covenant for the chosen bride of Christ. Thus Christ died for all, but not for all in the same way.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. Revelation 22:17).

This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:20)

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:15)

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. . . . And for their sake I consecrate myself [that is, prepare to die], that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:9, 19)

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that all who are justified will win the fight of faith. They will persevere in faith and never surrender to the enemy of their souls. This perseverance is the promise of the new covenant, obtained by the blood of Christ, and worked in us by God himself, yet not so as to diminish, but only to empower and encourage, our vigilance; so that we may say in the end, I have fought the good fight, but it was not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 3:12)

AMEN

Where did the miracles go?

Last night at mens group we had a very interesting discussion take place. After weekly updates and before our prayer time, I asked a question to the four guys who regularly attend Tuesday night discipleship.

I asked if anyone in the group had ever seen a bona fide miracle. Something distinctly supernatural and unmistakably the hand of God. It was a question that I had been dealing with for awhile. When I open the Bible I see numerous things which appear to be beyond this realm of existence. Folks being healed by an apostles shadow, the resurrection of a dead man after he falls from a window, the many exorcisms recorded in scripture, etc...And these examples are not even things that Jesus did, they are things his early apostles performed. So, I pondered...why do we see that occurring then and not now? Where are the miracles in 21st century America?

Several of the guys told stories about miracles and supernatural things they had experienced...

- Steve talked about the miracle of his sons birth and he offered a suggestion that medicine is, in itself, a miracle of sorts. He also said that when someone is presupposed to disbelieve in the supernatural, they will explain it away no matter what.

- John spoke about his experience almost drowning in the middle of a lake and his sudden, unassisted, safe arrival at the shore. He admitted it might be that he had a memory block about finding a way to swim back to shore, but I doubt he would have blocked that detail while vividly remembering the rest. Looks like angelic intervention to me.

- Jeremy gave us a interesting story about a young man he took to church one Sunday, a man dealing with lots of demonic oppression, and how the congregation was led by the Spirit to see the very particular spiritual battles the man was dealing with (despite none of them knowing of him prior). A story that concluded well, with the boy leaving free of malevolence that night.

However, even with those stories on the table, it was clear that miracles and supernatural activities were not a regular or daily part of life for us. So, I found myself back at the question of why. Why do signs and wonders show up with such frequency in the Gospels and the book of Acts - yet, we are hard pressed to find any today?

The group threw out a few ideas...

- God can't do miracles. He never could or he can't anymore. (obviously, we didn't go with this one)

- God isn't in the miracles business anymore. The church and the canon are established, that's all we need. (aka the cessasionst view, none of us seemed to completely subscribe to this one either)

- God simply decides not to perform many miracles anymore. He could do them, he has just ordained to cut back on them. (as Calvinists, we all acknowledged this view of God's sovereign will, yet it still leaves one wondering why he would cut back on miracles between 200 years ago and today)

- We play some role in "blocking" our own supernatural experiences. Certainly salvation is all God and he is in complete control of all things, knowing the outcome before it occurs - but perhaps...could it be that he gives us some measure of responsibility thru faith and belief to cultivate these supernatural healings and occurrences for ourselves? That might explain the high number of miracles in countries that trust in such things as a reality.

My friend Andrew talked about this years ago...what if the reason Americans don't experience the supernatural is because we are so rational and explanatory. Could that "hinder" the wonders from happening in our midst. Couldn't that theory apply even within Christendom...charismatics have supernatural experiences all the time (or so they claim) and Calvinists rarely talk about the experience of the supernatural. Do reformed people hold a theology that is somewhat closed to the idea of regular miracles thereby blocking their occurrence?

What do you think? I am particularly interested in the opinions of Andrew (the most charismatic of my readers), Adam (the reformed intelligentsia of my readers), and Doc (my Catholic friend).

Why don't we experience miracles and supernatural events in the same way today as they did in the early church?

Discuss!

About this Blog

If you are new to my blog, you may be wondering what its all about.

Essentially, I spend alot of my time thinking about matters of faith.  In a culture so obsessed with materialism, consumerism, voyeurism, and a dozen other unhealthy "isms" - I can't find many people willing to discuss the things that most interest me.

As an exercise to get my thoughts "off of my chest," and in the hope that what I say might be used by God to bring others nearer to Him, I created this blog.  I also use this space to share articles, pics, and videos that I hope will be helpful to my readers.

The title of the blog is aptly based upon the first few verses of Colossians 3:

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life  appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (ESV)

I pray that my writings may be edifying and instructional to you AND glorifying to God.

Thanks for stopping by.
JG

800 million Christians...

Yesterday at work I was doing a manual labor project sorting about 700 boxes. I was working with an atheist and we were talking mostly about MMA. It was around lunch when another fellow employee, a known atheist who likes to start strange conversations that challenge others faith, came along.

When my project buddy (Mike) saw the rabble rouser (Will) coming close, even he said "oh hell." We were about to be surprised.

Will walked up with another co-worker in tow. This other gentleman is a fundamentalist Baptist named Ricky. Ricky and I share a commitment to the essential biblical truths and we both value Christ. Ricky is probably the closest person to me at my job in terms of faith.

Will has rubbed Ricky and me the wrong way many times in the past. We used to engage him pretty often in his questions. When it became apparent that Will is more interested in causing dissension than getting truthful and honest answers, that's when Ricky and I began to slow down on getting caught up in fruitless conversation with Will.

Will walked up and said that he heard there were 800 million Christians on the earth, but Ricky told him that was an inaccurate number and the only true Christians were born again Christians. Will proceeded to ask me if the only real Christians were born again and if so, did that mean that non-pentecostal/ charismatic denominations were going to hell.

First, I tackled the definition and history of born again. I explained the origin of the phrase in John 3 and I cleared up the misunderstanding that only certain denominations were born again (Will thought it was only the emotionally driven groups). I talked about the relatively new use of that term to describe the classical beliefs about regeneration and the inability of any group, especially relatively young groups like the charismatic movement, to lay claim to the term born again.

I told Will that being born again is an individual thing between a person and the God who gives them new spiritual life. Ultimately, that means that I can't judge if a person in the Orthodox church or the Catholic church or the Anglican communion is born again. I told Will that I could critique denominational doctrines against the plain truth of scripture - but I couldn't lump all catholics or all anglicans into "non-born again status."

I was glad that Mike was listening since I know him to be an atheist as well. And I was glad that Ricky has since told me that he was praying the whole time I was talking.

I went on to answer Wills next question..."how then do you get saved and go to heaven." That one was easy - believe on the Lord Jesus, confess with your mouth and believe with your heart, accept the free gift of grace that comes to you..." I elaborated with passages from James and Matthew to show that mental assent to facts isn't enough - the act of regeneration occurs when one is so moved to trust their life to Christ in whole.

I talked about our inability to do anything truly "good" on our own and I worked to clear up some legalistic thoughts that Will had been taught. I used my own testimony as a drunk, disrespectful, male whore coming to an unexpected and relatively quick 180 in my life to show that it is God who sovereignly changes us (the born again principle) and that no one is too bad for him to make new, just as no one is good enough to earn salvation.

I think we had an overall fruitful conversation. I told him that the 800 million statistic was certainly wrong due to the high numbers of nominal Christians, moral legalists, liberal religionists, etc... However, there was no real way to attain a number of "real" Christians (those who have been regenerated, made alive, born again) since these surveys are usually done too generally, too vaguely, and with an assumption that the participant is truthful.

Finally, Will asked me if that meant that the behavior of Christians wasn't important. I told him it was quite the opposite. Once a person is touched by the Spirit and adopted by God, they will begin to exhibit Christ-like love in their actions - not to earn their way to heaven or to feel better about themselves, but because the Spirit of a perfect God lives in them. They won't be perfect, but they will show steady remarkable improvement in their moral life on the whole over time. Again, I used my own life to give illustration.

I parted ways by encouraging Will to earnestly look for answers like he had that day and to steer clear of his usual attempts to cause controversy and doubt.

As Will and Ricky left, I was asked a question by Mike. Mike wanted to know what a charismatic was. He had heard the term in our conversation and he didn't know it. I went thru a brief sketch of the history of the church from the Apostles to Constantine to the Crusades and the Orthodox Schism to the Reformation to the Puritans to the Great Awakening to Finney then to the Pentecostal Movement to charismatic preachers to modern heresies like the prosperity gospel.

I tried to give Mike a large picture of the development of the faith and I used parts of that sketch to highlight the woes of politicizing the church, the return to Sola Scriptura, the American distortion of biblical truth into libertarian free will faith and the most recent ear tickling done by televangelist. I concluded by noting the newest phenomenon (of which I belong), the return to Protestant principles in the Young, Restless, and Reformed New Calvinists.

Despite attempting to make the short lesson fun and engaging, my audience was flat. It is really clear to me that Mike is simply uninterested in faith of any kind. It is a stark difference from Will, who wants to talk about nothing else.

I pray that God will use our conversation yesterday in the lives of both of these men, in different ways, to (in some small way) bring forth the new birth of their souls.

Quote, Context, and a Video

Quote

"There is no teaching in Christian theology that offends our contemporaries (especially our Christian friends and family), any more then the teaching of sola gratia. Americans hate to be told "no," that they are helpless. Surprisingly, the greatest opposition to the biblical teaching on this point comes not from a secular culture, but from household-name leaders in the American Church. From contemporary figures such as Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel to Bill Bright and Campus Crusade, to virtually all forms of revivalism and Pentecostalism which spring from the loins of one Charles Grandison Finney ... to Alexander Campbell and the Restorationist movement, to Joseph Smith and what later on became the cult known as Mormonism, to William Miller and the Adventist movement, and we can go on and on; all of these movements are based, at least in part, upon a denial of sola gratia, in direct opposition to Reformation theology, and the biblical teaching on this point. Americans hate to be told that God does not depend upon them and a decision that they make. And it is here, then, that we as Reformation Christians and historic Protestants run smack dab into our culture and to much of American Christianity. This is why our friends and families look at us like we have three heads when we speak of these doctrines. But this is the historic Protestant position, and the wholesale rejection of sola gratia demonstrates how far the "evangelical movement" has departed from the historic and biblical Evangelical faith."
- Dr. Kim Riddlebarger
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I was driving near Emory University today and I saw a rally of gay students carrying signs. One sign read "Judge Not - Jesus"

It struck me how people of all kinds (me included) like to take scripture out of both immediate and total context in order to suit their agenda.

They shouldn't do that, neither should we. A firm understanding of the entire redemptive story which is laid out for us in the Bible is key to seeing the whole picture and drawing close to God for who he is - not for who we want him to be.
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Must-see video (warning, UFC related - nothing to do with faith)


Meet The Heavyweights

Protecting Abortion

I don't normally write on political things here. I find that there are very few people who can talk about politics and keep a level-enough head in their demeanor to be sure that Christ is seen in the discussion. Most Christians who get excited talking about, or participating in, politics are either nominal in the faith or tend to be overzealous and quarrelsome. I would fall into the latter category, so I refrain most of the time.

However, something struck me yesterday as I read an Esquire magazine article at lunch about one particular abortion doctor and the US Marshalls that are protecting him. Yes, that is correct - a private abortionist has a federal law enforcement protection detail. I was struck enough to do some research.

Apparently, in the wake of the George Tiller murder at the beginning of the summer, Attorney General Eric Holder decided that US Marshalls should be sent "to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation."

Let me be clear...

George Tiller was a mass-murderer.

George Tiller should not have been killed by any fellow human being.

Like it or not, he was practicing a legal procedure in his state.

We should respect the law and peacefully try to change it.

God is sovereign and He will take vengence as He deems.

In the wake of the Tiller murder, other abortionists may be likely targets for other fanatics.

That said, I cannot understand why the US Government would be providing security. If these physicians are private industry, shouldn't they hire a private security?

Around the same time as the Tiller murder, 2 soldiers were gunned down by a terrorist sympathizer outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas. To the best of my knowledge, US Marshalls have not been directed to protect the recruiting stations around the country and they ARE government entities.

Sending US Marshalls to protect the most prolific abortionists in America after Tillers murder is nothing more than a political move by the most abortion-friendly White House in history and an unethical use of US taxpayer dollars.

It seems to me that there are plenty of crimes occuring everyday that could use the attention of these highly-qualified LE officers - playing bodyguard to abortionists might offer abit of safety to those abortionists - but doesn't it ultimately leave the rest of us more vulnerable?

Quick Hits

A new format I plan to try out on occasion...

A few quick paragraphs on topics that don't require extensive treatment, yet which I want to get out of my head and "on paper."
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RIGHTEOUS POO

My oldest boy is pretty much potty trained these days. We have a kiddy potty in our house (and one in our car for MBMs - mobile bowel movements). Sometimes the duty (insert pun here) of cleaning a kiddy potty is dumped (is it too much yet) on me. As I was cleaning one out the other day, something struck me...

Everything we do in our own righteousness looks like poo to God in his sight. No matter how much we shine up our turdish works, they are all still smelling offensive to a holy God. Only by the Lord's gracious hand (by way of the cross) can our status before God be ontologically changed from feces to family. By the application of Christ's righteousness we may enter into the presence of a perfect Father without burning his nostrils and him subsequently burning us.

Note: To all of those offended by the tone of this post, I offer no apologies. Sometimes the use of otherwise crass language is completely appropriate to state a necessary point. Paul thought so in Phillippians 3:8 and Isaiah seemed to agree in 64:6 of his own book. In order to understand our own depravity and inability to please God, I felt that a visceral metaphor was appropriate.
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JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE CHURCH

My wife recently attended a friend's church to support the young lady being baptized. I didn't go with her, I went to our home church for the morning. As I was heading home, I got a call from my wife. She was expressing how thankful she was for our church. Apparently, the sermon at the church she visited was devoid of any gospel message, any mention of Christ, or any serious contextual look at scripture. Instead, the pastor gave a nice self-help sermon sprinkled with some random bible verses to try and support his "Dr Phil-ish" points. My understanding is that it was so generic a message that a rabbi, an iman, or a Mormon could have delivered the talk.

When my wife got home I looked at the bulletin that she had received. It was a joke. The main paragraph on the handout was entitled "What to expect at________" and it listed these qualities..."a message relevant to your life, fun and exciting worship, and the best day of your kids life." Nowhere on the paper did I see mention of anything that even resembled the name of Jesus. Additionally, the church service included a solo secular song performance (baby you're all that I need, when I'm lying here in your arms,...we're in heaven) and my wife was told that she could not keep our boy in the service with her because the pastor had ADD and children distracted him.

I know that different people do church differently and I am not suggesting that all believers follow a specific method of doing things. However, when a church works so hard to become relevant to the "cool culture" around them that they turn man-centered instead of Christ-centered - thats a real problem! I believe that American Christianity can largely be summed up in Paul's words to Timothy:

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Tim 4:3-4)
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FALL HAPPENINGS AT SOUTHPOINT

As the weather cools and the leaves fall, our home church begins a new season of ministry. This fall I am very excited about a number of things:
- I am back in my mens discipleship group, we are probably gonna do a Tim Keller study of James.
- Tiffany is now in a women's discipleship group with some awesome ladies.
- Tiff and I will be teaching Children's Church several times this fall.
- I have committed to work with the new Student Ministry at every other meeting they hold!
- We will be attending a membership class and subsequently, we shall become official members of Southpoint and the PCA.
- Both our boys will be getting baptized as a sign of the covenant promise that God has given them as the children of believers!

Thanks to God for leading us to a wonderful family of believers who embrace sound doctrine, who love and care for each other, and who labor to spread the message of the Gospel daily thru incarnational ministry.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"forcing tactics can only do damage, perhaps incalculable damage, to men's souls . . . Evangelism must rather be conceived as a long-term enterprise of patient teaching and instruction, in which God's servants seek simply to be faithful in delivering the gospel message and applying it to human lives, and leave it to God's Spirit to draw men to faith through this message in his own way and at his own speed"
(Packer, A Quest For Godliness , 164).
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CANCER UPDATE

Someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. They didn't tell many people and they still don't want it to be a fuss. Shortly after they found out, I asked them to come to my house for dinner and prayer. We had a group prayer meeting where we acknowledged the sovereignty and wisdom of God while crying out for his healing hand. Apparently, God has seen fit to grant his healing powers. I received an e-mail today that gave me an update. It seems that the main tumor has shrunk by 50% and all the other spots are gone! The doctor said that it was more than he ever hoped for...

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26
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PASTOR PRAYS FOR OBAMA'S DEATH

This kind of stuff is horrific. Whats wrong with this guy - he needs some prayer. We also need to pray that God would steer some media coverage to all of the intelligent, loving Christians out there who are demonstrating and proclaiming the gospel.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/31/phoenix-pastor-draws-protests-telling-church-prays-obamas-death/
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DEEPER

Just around the corner is the Deeper Conference. Its here in ATL. I wanted to go this year but medical bills from earlier this year surfaced and cut into our budget. It is put on by the Way of the Master folks and it will feature Ravi Z. and Greg Koukl as well. It looks like a good way to spend a weekend if you are free with extra cash. Just wanted to mention it.

http://www.deeperconference.com/
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SPELUNKING

I am doing a caving trip to PettyJohns in NW Georgia all day on Sept 26th. Its a cheap, challenging, and fun way to explore part of creation that most folks don't see. Come join me! Contact for details.
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Thats it gang. I think I caught caught up on my thoughts as quick as possible. Hope you enjoyed - hit me up with questions or comments.

My work...

Where I work - if you care. Its a 10 minute short film, but it is nicely done.

Become a Better You!

Mike Horton says:
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Under the Library of Congress identification system, Joel Osteen's book, Becoming a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day is classified as:

"1. Self-actualization (Psychology)-Religious Aspects-Christianity."

Even the Library of Congress seems to know what sort of message this represents.
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Read the whole Article HERE.

The Importance of Hell

An article recently recommended to me by someone who read the "Wrath of God" blog post from last week.

You can access the original and many other resources by Tim Keller at Redeemer.
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The Importance of Hell
There are plenty of people today who don't believe in the Bible's teaching on everlasting punishment, even those who do find it an unreal and a remote concept.
by Tim Keller

In 2003 a research group discovered 64% of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die, but less than 1% think they might go to hell. Not only are there plenty of people today who don't believe in the Bible's teaching on everlasting punishment, even those who do find it an unreal and a remote concept. Nevertheless, it is a very important part of the Christian faith, for several reasons.

1. It is important because Jesus taught about it more than all other Biblical authors put together. Jesus speaks of "eternal fire and punishment" as the final abode of the angels and human beings who have rejected God (Matthew 25:41,46) He says that those who give into sin will be in danger of the "fire of hell" (Matthew 5:22; 18:8-9.) The word Jesus uses for 'hell' is Gehenna, a valley in which piles of garbage were daily burned as well as the corpses of those without families who could bury them. In Mark 9:43 Jesus speaks of a person going to "hell [gehenna], where 'their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' " Jesus is referring to the maggots that live in the corpses on the garbage heap. When all the flesh is consumed, the maggots die. Jesus is saying, however, that the spiritual decomposition of hell never ends, and that is why 'their worm does not die.'

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, "Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." He is speaking to disciples, some of whom will eventually be tortured, sawn in half, flayed and burned alive. Yet, he says, that is a picnic compared to hell. Clearly, for Jesus hell was a real place, since he said that after judgment day people would experience it in their bodies. Hell is a place not only of physical but also of spiritual misery.

Jesus constantly depicted hell as painful fire and "outer darkness" (Matt 25:30; cf. Jude 6,7,13,) a place of unimaginably terrible misery and unhappiness. If Jesus, the Lord of Love and Author of Grace spoke about hell more often, and in a more vivid, blood-curdling manner than anyone else, it must be a crucial truth. But why was it so important to Jesus?

2. It is important because it shows how infinitely dependent we are on God for everything. Virtually all commentators and theologians believe that the Biblical images of fire and outer darkness are metaphorical. (Since souls are in hell right now, without bodies, how could the fire be literal, physical fire?) Even Jonathan Edwards pointed out that the Biblical language for hell was symbolic, but, he added, 'when metaphors are used in Scripture about spiritual things . . . they fall short of the literal truth." (from "The Torments of Hell are Exceeding Great" in volume 14 of the Yale edition of Edwards works.) To say that the Scriptural image of hell-fire is not wholly literal is of no comfort whatsoever. The reality will be far worse than the image. What, then, are the 'fire' and 'darkness' symbols for? They are vivid ways to describe what happens when we lose the presence of God. Darkness refers to the isolation, and fire to the disintegration of being separated from God. Away from the favor and face of God, we literally, horrifically, and endlessly fall apart.

In the teaching of Jesus the ultimate condemnation from the mouth of God is 'depart from me.' That is remarkable--to simply be away from God is the worst thing that can happen to us! Why? We were originally created to walk in God's immediate presence (Genesis 2.) In one sense, of course, God is everywhere and upholds everything. Only in him do we all speak and move and have our being (Acts 17:28.) In that sense, then, it is impossible to depart from the Lord; even hell cannot exist unless God upholds it. But the Bible says sin excludes us from God's 'face' (Isaiah 59:2.) All the life, joy, love, strength, and meaning we have looked for and longed for is found in his face (Psalm 16:11)-that is, in his favor, presence, fellowship, and pleasure.

Sin removes us from that aspect of his power that sustains and supports us. It is to us as water is to a fish-away from it our life slowly ebbs away. That is what has been happening to us throughout history. That is why, for Paul, the everlasting fire and destruction of hell is 'exclusion from the presence of the Lord." (2 Thessalonians 1:9.) Separation from God and his blessings forever is the reality to which all the symbols point. For example, when Jesus speaks being 'destroyed' in hell, the word used is apollumi, meaning not to be annihilated out of existence but to be 'totaled' and ruined so as to be useless for its intended purpose.

The image of 'gehenna' and 'maggots' means decomposition. Once a body is dead it loses its beauty and strength and coherence, it begins to break into its constituent parts, to stink and to disintegrate. So what is a 'totaled' human soul? It does not cease to exist, but rather becomes completely incapable of all the things a human soul is for--reasoning, feeling, choosing, giving or receiving love or joy. Why? Because the human soul was built for worshipping and enjoying the true God, and all truly human life flows from that. In this world, all of humanity, even those who have turned away from God, still are supported by 'kindly providences' or 'common grace' (Acts 14:16-17; Psalm 104:10-30; James 1:17) keeping us still capable of wisdom, love, joy, and goodness. But when we lose God's supportive presence all together, the result is hell.

3. It is important because it unveils the seriousness and danger of living life for yourself. In Romans 1-2 Paul explains that God, in his wrath against those who reject him, 'gives them up' to the sinful passions of their hearts. Commentators (cf. Douglas Moo) point out that this cannot mean God impels people to sin, since in Ephesians 4:19 it is said that sinners give themselves up to their sinful desires. It means that the worst (and fairest) punishment God can give a person is to allow them their sinful hearts' deepest desire.

What is that? The desire of the sinful human heart is for independence. We want to choose and go our own way (Isaiah 53:6.) This is no idle 'wandering from the path.' As Jeremiah puts it, 'No one repents . . . each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle. (8:6)' (We want to get away from God-but, as we have seen, this is the very thing that is most destructive to us. Cain is warned not to sin because sin is slavery. (Genesis 4:7; John 8:34.) It destroys your ability to choose, love, enjoy. Sin also brings blindness-the more you reject the truth about God the more incapable you are of perceiving any truth about yourself or the world (Isaiah 29:9-10; Romans 1:21.)

What is hell, then? It is God actively giving us up to what we have freely chosen-to go our own way, be our own "the master of our fate, the captain of our soul," to get away from him and his control. It is God banishing us to regions we have desperately tried to get into all our lives. J.I.Packer writes: "Scripture sees hell as self-chosen . . . [H]ell appears as God's gesture of respect for human choice. All receive what they actually chose, either to be with God forever, worshipping him, or without God forever, worshipping themselves." (J.I.Packer, Concise Theology p.262-263.) If the thing you most want is to worship God in the beauty of his holiness, then that is what you will get (Ps 96:9-13.) If the thing you most want is to be your own master, then the holiness of God will become an agony, and the presence of God a terror you will flee forever (Rev 6:16; cf. Is 6:1-6.)

Why is this so extremely important to stress in our preaching and teaching today? The idea of hell is implausible to people because they see it as unfair that infinite punishment would be meted out for comparably minor, finite false steps (like not embracing Christianity.) Also, almost no one knows anyone (including themselves) that seem to be bad enough to merit hell. But the Biblical teaching on hell answers both of these objections. First, it tells us that people only get in the afterlife what they have most wanted-either to have God as Savior and Master or to be their own Saviors and Masters. Secondly, it tells us that hell is a natural consequence. Even in this world it is clear that self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness makes you miserable and blind. The more self-centered, self-absorbed, self-pitying, and self-justifying people are, the more breakdowns occur, relationally, psychologically, and even physically. They also go deeper into denial about the source of their problems.

On the other hand, a soul that has decided to center its life on God and his glory moves toward increasing joy and wholeness. We can see both of these 'trajectories' even in this life. But if, as the Bible teaches, our souls will go on forever, then just imagine where these two kinds of souls will be in a billion years. Hell is simply one's freely chosen path going on forever. We wanted to get away from God, and God, in his infinite justice, sends us where we wanted to go.

In the parable of Luke 16:19ff, Jesus tells us of a rich man who goes to hell and who is now in torment and horrible thirst because of the fire (v.24) But there are interesting insights into what is going on in his soul. He urges Abraham to send a messenger to go and warn his still-living brothers about the reality of hell. Commentators have pointed out that this is not a gesture of compassion, but rather an effort at blame-shifting. He is saying that he did not have a chance, he did not have adequate information to avoid hell. That is clearly his point, because Abraham says forcefully that people in this life have been well-informed through the Scriptures. It is intriguing to find exactly what we would expect-even knowing he is in hell and knowing God has sent him there, he is deeply in denial, angry at God, unable to admit that it was a just decision, wishing he could be less miserable (v.24) but in no way willing to repent or seek the presence of God.

I believe one of the reasons the Bible tells us about hell is so it can act like 'smelling salts' about the true danger and seriousness of even minor sins. However, I've found that only stressing the symbols of hell (fire and darkness) in preaching rather than going into what the symbols refer to (eternal, spiritual decomposition) actually prevents modern people from finding hell a deterrent. Some years ago I remember a man who said that talk about the fires of hell simply didn't scare him, it seemed too far-fetched, even silly. So I read him lines from C.S. Lewis:

Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others . . . but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God 'sending us' to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.

To my surprise he got very quiet and said, "Now that scares me to death." He almost immediately began to see that hell was a) perfectly fair and just, and b) something that he realized he might be headed for if he didn't change. If we really want skeptics and non-believers to be properly frightened by hell, we cannot simply repeat over and over that 'hell is a place of fire.' We must go deeper into the realities that the Biblical images represent. When we do so, we will find that even secular people can be affected.

We run from the presence of God and therefore God actively gives us up to our desire (Romans 1:24, 26.) Hell is therefore a prison in which the doors are first locked from the inside by us and therefore are locked from the outside by God (Luke 16:26.) Every indication is that those doors continue to stay forever barred from the inside. Though every knee and tongue in hell knows that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11,) no one can seek or want that Lordship without the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3.This is why we can say that no one goes to hell who does not choose both to go and to stay there. What could be more fair than that?

4. The doctrine of hell is important because it is the only way to know how much Jesus loved us and how much he did for us. In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says that no physical destruction can be compared with the spiritual destruction of hell, of losing the presence of God. But this is exactly what happened to Jesus on the cross-he was forsaken by the Father (Matthew 27:46.) In Luke 16:24 the rich man in hell is desperately thirsty (v.24) and on the cross Jesus said "I thirst" (John 19:28.) The water of life, the presence of God, was taken from him. The point is this. Unless we come to grips with this "terrible" doctrine, we will never even begin to understand the depths of what Jesus did for us on the cross. His body was being destroyed in the worst possible way, but that was a flea bite compared to what was happening to his soul. When he cried out that his God had forsaken him he was experiencing hell itself. But consider--if our debt for sin is so great that it is never paid off there, but our hell stretches on for eternity, then what are we to conclude from the fact that Jesus said the payment was "finished" (John 19:30) after only three hours? We learn that what he felt on the cross was far worse and deeper than all of our deserved hells put together.

And this makes emotional sense when we consider the relationship he lost. If a mild acquaintance denounces you and rejects you--that hurts. If a good friend does the same--that hurts far worse. However, if your spouse walks out on you saying, "I never want to see you again," that is far more devastating still. The longer, deeper, and more intimate the relationship, the more tortuous is any separation. But the Son's relationship with the Father was beginningless and infinitely greater than the most intimate and passionate human relationship. When Jesus was cut off from God he went into the deepest pit and most powerful furnace, beyond all imagining. He experienced the full wrath of the Father. And he did it voluntarily, for us.

Fairly often I meet people who say, "I have a personal relationship with a loving God, and yet I don't believe in Jesus Christ at all." Why, I ask? "My God is too loving to pour out infinite suffering on anyone for sin." But this shows a deep misunderstanding of both God and the cross. On the cross, God HIMSELF, incarnated as Jesus, took the punishment. He didn't visit it on a third party, however willing.

So the question becomes: what did it cost your kind of god to love us and embrace us? What did he endure in order to receive us? Where did this god agonize, cry out, and where were his nails and thorns? The only answer is: "I don't think that was necessary." But then ironically, in our effort to make God more loving, we have made him less loving. His love, in the end, needed to take no action. It was sentimentality, not love at all. The worship of a god like this will be at most impersonal, cognitive, and ethical. There will be no joyful self-abandonment, no humble boldness, no constant sense of wonder. We could not sing to him "love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." Only through the cross could our separation from God be removed, and we will spend all eternity loving and praising God for what he has done (Rev 5:9-14.)

And if Jesus did not experience hell itself for us, then we ourselves are devalued. In Isaiah, we are told, "The results of his suffering he shall see, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11). This is a stupendous thought. Jesus suffered infinitely more than any human soul in eternal hell, yet he looks at us and says, "It was worth it." What could make us feel more loved and valued than that? The Savior presented in the gospel waded through hell itself rather than lose us, and no other savior ever depicted has loved us at such a cost.

Conclusion The doctrine of hell is crucial-without it we can't understand our complete dependence on God, the character and danger of even the smallest sins, and the true scope of the costly love of Jesus. Nevertheless, it is possible to stress the doctrine of hell in unwise ways. Many, for fear of doctrinal compromise, want to put all the emphasis on God's active judgment, and none on the self-chosen character of hell. Ironically, as we have seen, this unBiblical imbalance often makes it less of a deterrent to non-believers rather than more of one. And some can preach hell in such a way that people reform their lives only out of a self-interested fear of avoiding consequences, not out of love and loyalty to the one who embraced and experienced hell in our place. The distinction between those two motives is all-important. The first creates a moralist, the second a born-again believer.

We must come to grips with the fact that Jesus said more about hell than Daniel, Isaiah, Paul, John, Peter put together. Before we dismiss this, we have to realize we are saying to Jesus, the pre-eminent teacher of love and grace in history, "I am less barbaric than you, Jesus--I am more compassionate and wiser than you." Surely that should give us pause! Indeed, upon reflection, it is because of the doctrine of judgment and hell that Jesus' proclamations of grace and love are so astounding.

The Wrath of God

Today at work yielded an interesting conversation. I was speaking with a Catholic friend and we were discussing the Tornado and the Lutherans (see this post).

My Catholic friend, "John", said that he thought the tornado was probably a message of some type - but maybe not. Then he said that he figured God could judge a church seeking to ordain openly homosexual clergy, but he would just love and respect all people.

I asked him what he meant by that, was he saying that he would unjudgementally love and care for lost homosexuals. He said that he would. I agreed that was a good thing. Then I asked if he also meant that he would love and accept practicing homosexuals who were fellow Christians and members of a local church, even clergy. He said he would love and respect them as well. He misquoted the "Do not judge" passage here (Matthew 7).

I brought up the idea behind the last paragraph in 1 Corinthians 5, which is Paul telling the people of Corinth to disassociate (really excommunicate) unrepentant habitual sinners who call themselves a brother (sister) in Christ. My Catholic friend said that I must be taking the passage out of context. I grabbed a Bible (we keep one around) and showed John the passage. I asked him to explain to me what Paul meant if he didn't mean that we ARE to judge those within the church, not those outside the faith, but expressly those inside the church.

John didn't have an answer for me, other than pointing me to 1 Samuel 16:7


"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

That confused me. I asked him to clarify how that passage related to my interpretation of 1 Corinthians. He told me that God was the one who judged the heart - not us. I agreed with him that only God ultimately knows what a man thinks and does at all times, however - Paul seems to be saying that we are bound to pass disciplinary judgement on fellow church members if they are found to be engaged in persistent, wanton sin. Therefore (I argued) the Samuel passage did not conflict with the Corinthians passage, it was simply saying a different thing - "Don't judge others by apperance alone." The old book by its cover thing...(also see John 7:24)

John went on to tell me that he felt sorry for me because I was so pessimistic and I only saw the negative things of the faith. He said that I should look around and see the good in people.

I told him that I didn't see people as inherently good (and neither does the Bible). He argued that all people have something of Gods light in them and if I could just see that, I would stop from talking about wrath and condemnation so much.

I again grabbed the Bible and went to Ephesians 2 and Psalm 51 to make a case for original sin and our depraved, rebellious nature. I told him that we are dead children of wrath from birth and that none of us has the Spirit of God in us - until God sovereignly decides to make it so.

John told me that he didn't think we worshiped the same God. He said that he didn't see how his God, a God of love and mercy could square with my God, a God of wrath and judgement. I told him that we did worship the same God - only we each decided to emphasize diffrent attributes of him, but it was certainly the same God.

I went on to explain that I probably emphasize the holiness of God and the righteous indignation of God more, because I think we have abandoned that attribute in large part as American Christians. We are moving closer and closer to universalism and heresy instead of biblical theology and orthodox doctrine (many have already crossed the line). I told John that I felt we needed more voices in the wilderness crying out to tell people about their desperate need for repentance. I also told him "Thanks" for pointing out my focus on wrath - I have to be careful to always follow that message up with a clear picture of the gospel.

John told me that God was not a God of wrath anymore. He said that while the Old Testament was full of Gods wrath, the New Testament was full of Gods love. I told him that he was flat mistaken and that he needed to get into a good bible study where the entire scripture was opened and examined. In fact, I explained - the New Testament is really a continuation of and a more vivid portrayal of both Gods love and his wrath. Jesus is the apex of Gods love (the cross) and Jesus is the apex of Gods wrath (the pending Second Coming).

At this point, John was obviously over talking with me. I am sad for him. He is obviously entrenched in the mainline American believer mentality of a politically correct, lovey-dovey, God who would never be angry at anyone. What starts with a simple denial of the plain text on church discipline leads to a disregard for the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible. Ultimately, it can slide one into the path of a tornado.

I hope that God will use me in such a way as to speak truth to John in love about what scripture tell us. I pray that I might see John realize the full panoramic of God, his terrifying wrath along with his generous mercy. I also pray that God will keep me from ever delivering a message of Gods fury without including the path that takes us away from that anger - the path of Jesus Christ.

John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.."

True Blood

I am here to confess my obsession with the HBO miniseries "True Blood"

Its basically a vampire soap-opera currently in the second season. The show revolves around an alternate reality where the development of synthetic blood has allowed the undead to "come out of the coffin" and dwell openly amongst humans. The main character is a telepath named Sookie Stackhouse. She falls in love with a civil war-era vampire named Bill and they have lots of adventures.

USA Today said "Sexy, witty and unabashedly peculiar, True Blood is a blood-drenched Southern Gothic romantic parable set in a world where vampires are out and about and campaigning for equal rights. Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, True Blood proves that there's still vibrant life — or death — left in the "star-crossed cute lovers" paradigm."

I must admit that the show is overtly violent, sexually charged, profanity ridden, and generally negative towards Christians (at least the televangelists - which they use as the general stereotype)...

Nevertheless, I really enjoy the show. The topics that it deals with are often very human topics and you can find a lot of thought-provoking social commentary amidst the less wholesome moments.

I have examined my life carefully since I began watching it to see if it was being of any influence in my life. I know that everything we do, see, and interact with has some influence on us - however, I don't see any place in my life where True Blood is corrupting me beyond the struggles I always deal with.

Yet, I decided that I should look to others for advice on how they would view watching a show like True Blood while walking a Christian life. For fun, I came up with a few imaginary responses from famous pastors and theologians...

Calvin: What's a TV?

John Piper: You should just turn the TV off in general.

Mark Driscoll: You ought to watch it to maintain relevance with the culture.

Paul Washer: How do you expect to watch that filth and have the Spirit fill you up?

Jerry Falwell: If they show kids holding hands in that program - turn it off!

Joel Osteen: (smiling) You deserve to watch whatever makes you be the best person you can be.

TD Jakes: (sweating and yelling) Devil come out of that TV show right now, in the name of Jesus!

NOW...What about you? Even if you have never seen/ heard of the show, what do you think about me watching it after reading this post?

I appreciate your replies.

DG: The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality

From the Desiring God blog today (controversial I am sure, but spot on)

John Piper says:

I saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown Minneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, “That looks serious.”

It was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote,

On a day when no severe weather was predicted or expected...a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts—most saying they’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The city: Minneapolis.

The tornado happens on a Wednesday...during the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's national convention in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as its church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this purpose.

According to the ELCA’s printed convention schedule, at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19, the 5th session of the convention was to begin. The main item of the session: “Consideration: Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality.” The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry.

The eyewitness of the damage continues:

This curious tornado touches down just south of downtown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses I94. It is now downtown.

The time: 2PM.

The first buildings on the downtown side of I94 are the Minneapolis Convention Center and Central Lutheran. The tornado severely damages the convention center roof, shreds the tents, breaks off the steeple of Central Lutheran, splits what’s left of the steeple in two...and then lifts.

Let me venture an interpretation of this Providence with some biblical warrant.
1. The unrepentant practice of homosexual behavior (like other sins) will exclude a person from the kingdom of God.

The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

2. The church has always embraced those who forsake sexual sin but who still struggle with homosexual desires, rejoicing with them that all our fallen, sinful, disordered lives (all of us, no exceptions) are forgiven if we turn to Christ in faith.

Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

3. Therefore, official church pronouncements that condone the very sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God, are evil. They dishonor God, contradict Scripture, and implicitly promote damnation where salvation is freely offered.

4. Jesus Christ controls the wind, including all tornados.

Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:41)

5. When asked about a seemingly random calamity near Jerusalem where 18 people were killed, Jesus answered in general terms—an answer that would cover calamities in Minneapolis, Taiwan, or Baghdad. God’s message is repent, because none of us will otherwise escape God’s judgment.

Jesus: “Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)

6. Conclusion: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction. Reaffirm the great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of Scripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality. Rejoice in the pardon of the cross of Christ and its power to transform left and right wing sinners

Prayer 8/16/09

This week a prayer instead of a quote...

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

Buy the book here:
http://www.monergismbooks.com/The-Valley-of-Vision-A-Collection-of-Puritan-Prayers-Paperback-p-17135.html

A Shocking Message

This guy is abit loud and aggressive with his preaching, but maybe we all need some of that...

Prosperity theology is a False Gospel

It may seem like overkill since I have been writing on similar topics recently - but Al Mohler puts it more eloquently than I do. Check out his message from today:

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=4248

Death is Not Dying

Yesterday, a friend from church posted a link on facebook. I followed it and I was so happy that I did.

"Death is Not Dying" is a webpage devoted to the life of Rachel Barkey. Rachel recently passed away after years of fighting breast cancer, being a cancer survivor, finding out that the cancer returned, and receiving a terminal prognosis. On top of those things, Rachel was young and she had a husband and two small children. For many people, being put in that situation would lead to an abandonment of the faith or a deep anger at God. But, for Rachel - her walk with Christ only deepened.

The webpage has some great resources, including:

A 55 minute video of her speaking to 600 women shortly before her death. (A magnificent presentation of the hope we have in the gospel)
A stellar book list that was her personal reconmendations for further study and edification
A section with reprints of the numerous letters that Rachel wrote during her trial
A links section to several good sites

The story of Rachel Barkey is a moving tale of one women who faced certain death with untouchable hope - not in herself or her own skills and ability - but with a saving faith in the hope that Christ gave us thru his finished work on the cross and his ressurection. Its worth a look.

A Gospel Centered Church

Today in his blog, Tullian Tchividjian, quoted his seminary friend Bob Thune (pastor of Coram Deo Church in Omaha, Nebraska) who had written something to describe his church. He explained that every church has a “DNA” – a set of deeply rooted values or characteristics that define it. So what does that mean, exactly?

Bob says, “Churches often obscure the glory of the gospel by reducing it to something less than it is. Some understand the gospel only as doctrinal content to be believed. Others diminish it to a personal, subjective experience of God’s presence. Still others see it as a social cause to be championed. The gospel is none of these, and yet it is all of these. A truly gospel-centered church understands and embraces the fullness of the gospel as content, community, and cause.”

GOSPEL CONTENT
The Gospel is a message that is to be preached or proclaimed (Mark 1:14; Acts 14:21; Rom 1:15; 1 Peter 1:12). It is the story of God’s redemption of his fallen creation. It is the good news that God has acted in history to conquer evil and reconcile sinners to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:1-12). A gospel-centered church is one where the gospel is proclaimed clearly, consistently, and compellingly (1 Cor 9:16-23).

GOSPEL COMMUNITY
The gospel is not just a message to be believed, but a power to be experienced (Rom 1:16). The gospel shapes a new community as those who were formerly God’s enemies are reconciled to Him (Rom 5:10) and adopted into his family (Gal 4:4-7). The church is not a place, but a people – a community that is continually being reformed and renewed by the transforming power of the gospel (Col. 1:6).

GOSPEL CAUSE
The gospel is a call to action – a declaration that “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). God is not just interested in the salvation of humans, but in the restoration of all of creation to its original “good” (Gen 1:31; Rom 8:19-22). A gospel-centered church will be active in the work of mercy, justice, and cultural renewal, praying and working against the effects of sin so that God’s will might be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).
_______________________

I am so very glad that I go to a local church that is gospel-centered in all three aspects. If you are not familiar with our family church, please check it out at:
http://www.southpointpca.com/

A new season

After my faith, my family, and my friends - my next greatest passion is fighting. A new season of TUF is coming...

Ultimate Fighter Cast Preview | UFC | SPIKE.com

Response to comment on "Healing"

An Anonymous Friend said...

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about healing. I questioned my girlfriend about Isaiah 53, and she pointed me to Matthew 8:16-17. Matthew clearly interprets the "griefs" and "sorrows" in Isaiah 53:4 as "sicknesses."

"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

I will check back in a couple of days to see if you have replied. Take care!
_________________________

The passages in question (ESV):
__________________________
Matthew 8:14-17

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
__________________________
Ish 53:4-5

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.
___________________________

I appreciate folks stopping by with comments!

I looked back at my original post and it should be clear via the 2nd and 3rd point I made in my blog entry that I believe Christ's penal substitutionary atonement on the cross did vanquish both our sin debt and the effects of the fall/ death on our world. That includes sickness. However, my point is that those benefits are not provided to us in full until our death and glorification in the world to come with our ressurected body. We can all see that our acceptance of Christ's work in place of our own has secured our eternal life, yet we still have to endure in this mortal shell for a generation before sin is no longer our enemy for practical purposes. In that same way, we can bank that the cross did secure our physical perfection, but only after a season on this planet where we struggle with deep afflictions, shall we realize it in sum.

The whole broad narrative of Scripture is blatantly obvious about the multitude of painful trials that believers will encounter. We are encouraged to rest in our hope (that is Christ) and stand strong thru them - we are NOT called to take select verses out of context and create entire man-centered theologies around a false idea that true believers will never experience hardship.Seeing the entire redemptive plan means that Isaiah 53 could have lots to say about healing and it wouldn't affect my view. Jesus is sufficient for all things, physical healing included, but that does not mean that we inccur all the benefits immediately - just the opposite, we are to be patient as we wait for the ressurection of the saints and the ultimate realization of the victory that Christ already purchased.

As for the correspondence between Isaiah 53 and Matthew 8...I can see that Matthew makes reference to the Isaiah passage and he is obviously talking about physical sickness. However, in my blog I did not deal with 53:4, I dealt with 53:5. I think that the two are completely different sentences and separate thoughts/ prophecies about the coming Messiah (the suffering servant).

Verse 4 (together with the Matthew version) seems to be telling of a man who would heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform other miracles while his own people ignored his power and made plans to make him suffer. This is exactly what happened to Christ, he came and proved that he was who he claimed he was via his miracles - yet the Jews despised him and plotted to have him killed.

Verse 5 on the other hand is the one that actually refers to healing and is usually taken out of context to speak of physical healing. The language here (transgression and iniquities) is obviously related to our sin nature and not our sickness. When that verse mentions "peace" it is clear that the meaning is primarily "spiritual peace with God" not "physical peace from suffering" - why is it so clear? I think that a plain reading is pretty forthright, but another way to see the clarity is to once again look at all of the Bible and open one's eyes to the suffering that the apostles endured in the early church...

When Paul tells Timothy to have some wine (1 Tim 5:23), its good for the stomach, that implies that Timothy's probably had stomach aches. Thats a simple example of the fact that even the earliest saints were dealing with sickness and mortal fragility while they remained alive.

It is so easy to get captured by the word-faith movement and the teaching on healing - it appeals to our dark and self-centered heart..."oh, you mean that I don't have to be sick or poor if I truly believe, wow that Jesus guy is pretty sweet" Instead we should see the biblical portrait, which is..."Christ is worthy no matter my physical or financial condition, he alone is God and he is a good and merciful God who only does what is right and just and loving - even if I don't understand."

If you build your faith on prosperity theology, your foundation will be swept away when great calamity hits your life. If you build your house on the sovereignty of our Lord, you will endure all storms - it may still be scary when they strike, but you will pull through intact!"

Interview Outcome

Lots of people are probably interested in how my interview went yesterday - so I figured that it would be easiest to give the rundown on here and then simply direct folks to this link.

I think that I did very well in the interview itself. I met with 3 of the top folks at the Court of Appeals Chief Executives Office. I wasn't flabbergasted by any questions and I felt they were overall impressed. At the end of the interview they asked me if I had any questions and thats when things when south.

I asked them about the daily routine, the hours, the chance for upward mobility, etc...

They were very honest and they gave me a lot to think about. Here is the situation as it looks now.

PRO to this job - $375.00 a month net income increase (thats a minivan)

CONS to this job:
- take away $100.00 of that increase immediately for my bus pass to get there
- add 1 to 1 ½ hours away from my family each day due to a longer commute
- no upward mobility (they were very honest about the fact that the court rarely has new vacancies and that they rarely hire from internal candidates even when they do have openings)
- suspension of civil service protections (I would work at the pleasure of the Chief Judge, so all the benefits of government job security are out the window)
- need to go buy dress pants, shirts, and shoes (no more shorts and tees)
- travel on Mother's Day to judicial conference every other year
- no cost of living increases ( Court is cutting budget they explained and they are about to stop giving both "step" increases and annual cost of living increases)
- working as a "gopher" for 12 appellate judges who see themselves as demi-gods (obviously fun)

So, as you can see I am not too excited about this job prospect. I have decided to continue with the application process if they call me in for the second interview. If they do eventually offer me the job, I will accept on the condition that they reimburse me the cost of my bus pass each month (hey, its going green isn't it?!?)

Thanks to everyone who was praying for me. God doesn't always answer in the affirmative and it might be that the uneasy feeling I got yesterday about this job is His way of saying "I have something better around the bend." I am not sure yet of the choice I'll make in this situation - but I pray that He will continue to be with me for my joy and His glory.

'Stillborn' 1.1.-Pound Baby Wakes Up Just Before Funeral

He is still in the miracle business...

ASUNCION, Paraguay — A baby boy born 16 weeks prematurely was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Paraguay only to wake up in time for his funeral wake hours later.

Dr. Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric care at the state-run hospital in the capital of Asuncion, said the baby weighed just 1,1 pounds when he was born.

"Initially, the baby didn't move, he practically didn't have any respiratory reflexes, nor did we hear a heartbeat and, as a result, we declared a premature fetus of 24 weeks dead," Weber told Reuters Television.

The family was given a death certificate and a cardboard box with the baby's name scribbled on the outside which served as a makeshift coffin.

But when the family took him from the hospital to prepare him for his funeral, the unbelievable happened.

"I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said "the baby's crying" ... and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared," said one member of the family, Liliana Alvarenga.

Hours after the baby's death had been declared he was found to be alive. The hospital has begun an investigation and the baby is now in a stable condition in an incubator.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538721,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.192287:b27050028:z0

GIVE HIM PRAISE!

My iPod

Sometimes people ask me about the music I am listening to on my iPod. I have lots of different stuff on there. Much of my life inside the headphones does not revolve around music at all. I listen to lots of podcasts (free talk radio from Apple). You can get a podcast for just about any subject, I listen to lots of preaching.

Currently, my iPod hosts sermons from John Piper, John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll, and Allistar Begg. Additionally, I have several teaching programs downloaded, including stuff from Greg Koukl, RC Sproul, and William Lane Craig. All of these resources have been one part of growing my faith – namely, they grew my theological understanding and critical thinking skills. I am very grateful for the use I have gotten out of my iPod. I paid $200 for it back in 2006 – great investment!

Of course, I do have some music stored away as well. It may seem cheesy, but I have lots of Christian music. I am not one of those people who thinks that a believer can’t listen to secular music, it is my own personal conviction to distance myself from most music that isn’t overtly Christian. Music tends to bring back memories for me and I don’t need to spend my day thinking about drunk fighting (rock music) or promiscuity (hip hop). To keep my head uncluttered, I listen to lots of explicitly religious stuff.

I would say that my two favorite “artists” are Indelible Grace and LeCrae. IG is actually a group of folks that sprung out of Belmont University. They have an amazing knack for setting old hymms to modern arrangement. It is really laid back, yet deep music. Best of all, they are very sound in their lyrics, one can learn a lot about what Scripture says by the songs they sing. It’s a great way to reinforce daily time in the Word and prayer. The other artist is a Christian rapper named LeCrae. He is able to put catchy beats in the background of some insanely profound rhymes. His work is so Christo-centric and right-on, John Piper has teamed up with him for several projects.

Before I post the webpages of these 2 artists, let me invite you (my awesome reader) to send me a comment with your favorite Christian artist/ song. I appreciate it!

http://www.igracemusic.com/

http://www.lecrae.net/