16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God[b] may be competent, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16
With this post, I want to briefly show that God made theology (the study of God and the way He sees the world) to be practical, that is, in order to produce some kind of godly action. To demonstrate this, I randomly selected the book of Ephesian and filtered all the "therefore" conjunctions, attempting to show the connection between theology (in italic) and it's associated imperative (Bolded).
I also want to illustrate how we all need teachers from the past and present to help explain things in these verses and others in the Bible (B)
1. Ephesian 4:20-25
20But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- 21assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your old self,[c] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another Ephesian 4:20-25
(B) What does "put off your old self" and "put on the new self" mean? And how do we do that?
2. Ephesian 4:32-5:2
32Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesian 4:32-5:2
(B) How has God forgive us in Christ? Did he forgive everybody in the world, so therefore we can tell everyone to be "imitators of God"?
3. Ephesian 5:5-7
5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not associate with them- Ephesian 5:5-7
(B) What does sexually immoral, impure, and covetous mean? Does sexually immoral include "lust", does that mean I won't receive the kingdom of Christ and God? What is the kingdom of Christ and God, is that some spiritual cloud, I get to ride on for all eternity? Also, am I really never to "associate with people who are sexually immoral"?
3. Ephesian 5:15-17
15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is- Ephesian 5:15-17
(B) How are the days evil?
4. Ephesian 6:12-17
12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, -Ephesian 6:12-17
(B) Who are the "evil spiritual forces in the heavenly places" and what can they do to me? What is the "belt of truth", "breastplate of righteousness", "gospel of peace", "shield of faith", "helmet of salvation", and "sword of the Spirit"? How do I use these things to fight these evil forces?
Friday, March 03, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey
“Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey” is a wonderful introductory book on Jesus and the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). The book is set-up like an introductory textbook, providing easy to read chapters, informative charts/graphs, and review questions at the end of each chapter. Another great feature of this book is that at the end of each chapter, Dr. Blomberg provides a list of books for further study and categorizes each of them as “Introductory”, “Intermediate” or “Advance”.
“Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey” is divided into 5 major sections: (1) Historical Background for Studying the Gospels (2) Critical Methods for Studying the Gospels (3) Introduction to the Four Gospels (4) A Survey of the Life of Christ (5) Historical and Theological Syntheses. I found the fourth section to be very enriching, as Dr. Blomberg pieces all four of the Gospels in a seamless chronological order, something I tried to do a few years ago, but I quickly abandon the effort after being frustrated with the difficultly of the task.
I want to encourage anyone who desires to begin a serious study of Jesus or the Gospels to read this book, because I found it difficult to find a scholarly book on this topic from any conservative and evangelical authors, so finding this book was like finding rare treasure. Lastly, it was exciting and encouraging to read about Dr. Blomberg’s heart in writing this scholarly book:
“No matter what level of Gospel tradition one examines- the evangelist’s redaction, the developing oral tradition, or the bedrock core of what can securely be assigned to the historical Jesus – one impression remains the same. Jesus, like his earliest followers, was convinced that how one responded to him was the most important decision anyone could make in his or her life. On this response hinges one’s eternal destiny. We are called to become Christ’s followers, to be subject of the kingdom, to practice the “greater righteousness” that he demands but also makes possible for those who declare their allegiance to him….Simply admiring and imitating Jesus, however, is not adequate, unless it stems from our faith in his person as the unique God-man and our reception of the forgiveness of sins that he offers. If this book has enabled its readers to progress towards these goals, in the myriad of fascinating and controversial details that has it explored, then it will have proved worth the effort for both writer and readers.” – pg. 412
Thursday, February 23, 2006
THIS RITE EXHIBITS UNION WITH CHRIST by J. I. Packer
FPCers,
Here are thoughts on baptism by J.I. Packer:
THIS RITE EXHIBITS UNION WITH CHRIST by J. I. Packer
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ROMANS 6:3-4
Christian baptism, which has the form of a ceremonial washing (like John’s pre-Christian baptism), is a sign from God that signifies inward cleansing and remission of sins (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 5:25-27), Spirit-wrought regeneration and new life (Titus 3:5), and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit as God’s seal testifying and guaranteeing that one will be kept safe in Christ forever (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14). Baptism carries these meanings because first and fundamentally it signifies union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-7; Col. 2:11-12); and this union with Christ is the source of every element in our salvation (1 John 5:11-12). Receiving the sign in faith assures the persons baptized that God’s gift of new life in Christ is freely given to them. At the same time, it commits them to live henceforth in a new way as committed disciples of Jesus. Baptism signifies a watershed point in a human life because it signifies a new-creational engrafting into Christ’s risen life.
Christ instructed his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). This means that the covenant relation which baptism formally confers is one of acceptance by, communion with, and commitment to all three Persons of the Godhead. When Paul says that the Israelites were “baptized into Moses” (1 Cor. 10:2), he means that they were put under Moses’ control and direction. Thus, baptism into the name of the triune God signifies control and direction by God himself.
The outward sign does not automatically or magically convey the inward blessings that it signifies, and the candidates’ professions of faith are not always genuine. Peter had to tell the newly baptized Simon Magus that he was still unrenewed in heart (Acts 8:13-24).
As a sign of a once-for-all event, baptism should be administered to a person only once. Baptism is real and valid if water and the triune name are used, even if it is of an adult whose profession turns out to have been hypocritical. Simon Magus received baptism once, and if he came to real faith later it would have been incorrect to baptize him again.
No prescription of a particular mode of baptism can be found in the New Testament. The command to baptize may be fulfilled by immersion, dipping, or sprinkling; all three modes satisfy the meaning of the Greek verb baptizo and the symbolic requirement of passing under, and emerging from, cleansing water.
To baptize believers’ babies, in the belief that this accords with God’s revealed will, has been the historic practice of most churches. However, the worldwide baptist community, which includes distinguished Reformed thinkers, disputes it.
This links up with the baptist insistence that membership of local congregations is only for those who have publicly professed personal faith: an emphasis often buttressed by the claim that Christ instituted baptism primarily for a public profession of faith, and that such a profession is part of the definition of baptism, so that infant baptism is not really baptism at all. (Therefore baptist churches usually rebaptize as believers persons baptized in infancy who have come to faith; from the baptist standpoint they are still unbaptized.) Reformed theology negates the view that believer-baptism is the only baptism and rejects baptist denials of a place for believers’ children in the body of Christ by virtue of their parentage, and thus from birth. These differences about the visible church form the background for all discussions of infant baptism as such.
The case for baptizing believers’ infants (a practice that the New Testament neither illustrates nor prescribes nor forbids) rests on the claim that the transition from the “old” to the “new” form of God’s covenant that was brought about by the coming of Christ did not affect the principle of family solidarity in the covenant community (i.e., the church, as it is now called). Infants were therefore to be baptized, as Jewish male infants had previously been circumcised, not to confer on them covenant status, but to attest the covenant status that by God’s sovereign appointment their parentage had already given them.
In 1 Corinthians 7:14, Paul resolves the question of whether God accepts a marriage in which only one partner has become a Christian by invoking the certainty that the children of such a marriage are relationally and covenantally “holy,” that is, are dedicated to and accepted by God in company with their one Christian parent. So the principle of parent-and-child solidarity still stands, as Peter also indicated in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:39). But if infants share covenant status with their parent, it is fitting, other things being equal, to give them the sign of that status and of their place in the covenant community, and it would be unfitting for the church to withhold it. This fitness is demonstrated by the fact that when circumcision was the sign of covenant status and community inclusion, God commanded it explicitly (Gen. 17:9-14).
Against this, baptists affirm that (a) circumcision was primarily a sign of Jewish ethnic identity, so the parallel alleged between it and Christian baptism is a mistake; (b) under the new covenant, the requirement of personal faith before baptism is absolute; and (c) practices that Scripture does not explicitly recognize and approve must not be brought into church life.
Certainly, all adult church members should have professed faith personally before the church, and communities that baptize infants provide for this in a rite of confirmation or its equivalent. The Christian nurture of baptist and paedobaptist children will be similar: dedicated to God in infancy, either by baptism or by a dedication rite (which some will see as a dry baptism), they will then be brought up to live for the Lord and led to the point of publicly professing faith on their own account in confirmation or baptism (which some will see as a wet confirmation). After this they will enjoy full communicant status, unless indeed they come under discipline for some lapse. The ongoing debate is not about nurture but about God’s way of defining the church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs
Here are thoughts on baptism by J.I. Packer:
THIS RITE EXHIBITS UNION WITH CHRIST by J. I. Packer
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ROMANS 6:3-4
Christian baptism, which has the form of a ceremonial washing (like John’s pre-Christian baptism), is a sign from God that signifies inward cleansing and remission of sins (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 5:25-27), Spirit-wrought regeneration and new life (Titus 3:5), and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit as God’s seal testifying and guaranteeing that one will be kept safe in Christ forever (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14). Baptism carries these meanings because first and fundamentally it signifies union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-7; Col. 2:11-12); and this union with Christ is the source of every element in our salvation (1 John 5:11-12). Receiving the sign in faith assures the persons baptized that God’s gift of new life in Christ is freely given to them. At the same time, it commits them to live henceforth in a new way as committed disciples of Jesus. Baptism signifies a watershed point in a human life because it signifies a new-creational engrafting into Christ’s risen life.
Christ instructed his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). This means that the covenant relation which baptism formally confers is one of acceptance by, communion with, and commitment to all three Persons of the Godhead. When Paul says that the Israelites were “baptized into Moses” (1 Cor. 10:2), he means that they were put under Moses’ control and direction. Thus, baptism into the name of the triune God signifies control and direction by God himself.
The outward sign does not automatically or magically convey the inward blessings that it signifies, and the candidates’ professions of faith are not always genuine. Peter had to tell the newly baptized Simon Magus that he was still unrenewed in heart (Acts 8:13-24).
As a sign of a once-for-all event, baptism should be administered to a person only once. Baptism is real and valid if water and the triune name are used, even if it is of an adult whose profession turns out to have been hypocritical. Simon Magus received baptism once, and if he came to real faith later it would have been incorrect to baptize him again.
No prescription of a particular mode of baptism can be found in the New Testament. The command to baptize may be fulfilled by immersion, dipping, or sprinkling; all three modes satisfy the meaning of the Greek verb baptizo and the symbolic requirement of passing under, and emerging from, cleansing water.
To baptize believers’ babies, in the belief that this accords with God’s revealed will, has been the historic practice of most churches. However, the worldwide baptist community, which includes distinguished Reformed thinkers, disputes it.
This links up with the baptist insistence that membership of local congregations is only for those who have publicly professed personal faith: an emphasis often buttressed by the claim that Christ instituted baptism primarily for a public profession of faith, and that such a profession is part of the definition of baptism, so that infant baptism is not really baptism at all. (Therefore baptist churches usually rebaptize as believers persons baptized in infancy who have come to faith; from the baptist standpoint they are still unbaptized.) Reformed theology negates the view that believer-baptism is the only baptism and rejects baptist denials of a place for believers’ children in the body of Christ by virtue of their parentage, and thus from birth. These differences about the visible church form the background for all discussions of infant baptism as such.
The case for baptizing believers’ infants (a practice that the New Testament neither illustrates nor prescribes nor forbids) rests on the claim that the transition from the “old” to the “new” form of God’s covenant that was brought about by the coming of Christ did not affect the principle of family solidarity in the covenant community (i.e., the church, as it is now called). Infants were therefore to be baptized, as Jewish male infants had previously been circumcised, not to confer on them covenant status, but to attest the covenant status that by God’s sovereign appointment their parentage had already given them.
In 1 Corinthians 7:14, Paul resolves the question of whether God accepts a marriage in which only one partner has become a Christian by invoking the certainty that the children of such a marriage are relationally and covenantally “holy,” that is, are dedicated to and accepted by God in company with their one Christian parent. So the principle of parent-and-child solidarity still stands, as Peter also indicated in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:39). But if infants share covenant status with their parent, it is fitting, other things being equal, to give them the sign of that status and of their place in the covenant community, and it would be unfitting for the church to withhold it. This fitness is demonstrated by the fact that when circumcision was the sign of covenant status and community inclusion, God commanded it explicitly (Gen. 17:9-14).
Against this, baptists affirm that (a) circumcision was primarily a sign of Jewish ethnic identity, so the parallel alleged between it and Christian baptism is a mistake; (b) under the new covenant, the requirement of personal faith before baptism is absolute; and (c) practices that Scripture does not explicitly recognize and approve must not be brought into church life.
Certainly, all adult church members should have professed faith personally before the church, and communities that baptize infants provide for this in a rite of confirmation or its equivalent. The Christian nurture of baptist and paedobaptist children will be similar: dedicated to God in infancy, either by baptism or by a dedication rite (which some will see as a dry baptism), they will then be brought up to live for the Lord and led to the point of publicly professing faith on their own account in confirmation or baptism (which some will see as a wet confirmation). After this they will enjoy full communicant status, unless indeed they come under discipline for some lapse. The ongoing debate is not about nurture but about God’s way of defining the church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs
Pastor John's Confirmation/Confessional Classes
Peoples,
Please respond and let Pastor John know, if you will be attending his confirmation/confessional classes for March. I think these classes can potentially be a sweet time in studying together the basic tenets of our faith and to understand why these truths are important. (I know I need it, as a recent survey states that I am Nestorian*, but there are many other reasons why I need these classes). I can't stress enough the importance of trying to know who God truly is, as revealed from the Bible. This process of understanding our God is a lifetime process, which have massive effects (even though sometimes we don't notice them) on how we do missions, evangelism, worship, prayer, our job, and etc (basically everything), and this process is not just for getting some survey "right", as I alluded earlier, even though I don't like being called a "Nestorian":)
Also this class should be a sweet time just to be together as a church (career, youth, adults, and Mike) because we don't normally study the word together as a whole group. So I hope everyone will try to come to these classes (the schedule is below).
*relating to an Asian Christian denomination that believes that two distinct persons, one divine and the other human, existed in Jesus Christ. This doctrine was declared heresy in ad 431. (It's funny that it's an Asian Christian Group)
dan
2006 FPC Lenten Youth Confirmation Class Info/Schedule: What: learning the basics of Christian faith and Presbyterian church membership. When: mostly Friday night youth activities during Lent Where: mostly at FPC (see schedule below)
Who and Why?: all welcome; students attending these classes, participating in reflection activities and expressing a desire to affirm their faith in Christ will have opportunity to be baptized and/or join FPC on Easter Sun, April 16, 2006.
Fri Mar 3: I—Creeds Intro: the Chief End of Man, Scripture
Fri Mar 10 or Wed Mar 8?: II—What We Believe About God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Fri Mar 17: III—What Duty God Requires of Us: 10 Commandments; Apostle’s Creed, Lord’s Prayer
Fri Mar 24: IV—Duty continued; Presbyterian identity
Fri Mar 31: V—Gospel in Action: Service Project/Testimonies
Thu Apr 6 or Sun Apr 9: VI—Examination by Session
Please respond and let Pastor John know, if you will be attending his confirmation/confessional classes for March. I think these classes can potentially be a sweet time in studying together the basic tenets of our faith and to understand why these truths are important. (I know I need it, as a recent survey states that I am Nestorian*, but there are many other reasons why I need these classes). I can't stress enough the importance of trying to know who God truly is, as revealed from the Bible. This process of understanding our God is a lifetime process, which have massive effects (even though sometimes we don't notice them) on how we do missions, evangelism, worship, prayer, our job, and etc (basically everything), and this process is not just for getting some survey "right", as I alluded earlier, even though I don't like being called a "Nestorian":)
Also this class should be a sweet time just to be together as a church (career, youth, adults, and Mike) because we don't normally study the word together as a whole group. So I hope everyone will try to come to these classes (the schedule is below).
*relating to an Asian Christian denomination that believes that two distinct persons, one divine and the other human, existed in Jesus Christ. This doctrine was declared heresy in ad 431. (It's funny that it's an Asian Christian Group)
dan
2006 FPC Lenten Youth Confirmation Class Info/Schedule: What: learning the basics of Christian faith and Presbyterian church membership. When: mostly Friday night youth activities during Lent Where: mostly at FPC (see schedule below)
Who and Why?: all welcome; students attending these classes, participating in reflection activities and expressing a desire to affirm their faith in Christ will have opportunity to be baptized and/or join FPC on Easter Sun, April 16, 2006.
Fri Mar 3: I—Creeds Intro: the Chief End of Man, Scripture
Fri Mar 10 or Wed Mar 8?: II—What We Believe About God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Fri Mar 17: III—What Duty God Requires of Us: 10 Commandments; Apostle’s Creed, Lord’s Prayer
Fri Mar 24: IV—Duty continued; Presbyterian identity
Fri Mar 31: V—Gospel in Action: Service Project/Testimonies
Thu Apr 6 or Sun Apr 9: VI—Examination by Session
Monday, February 20, 2006
The Balance of Doctrine and Social Engagement
In the last century, there always seems to be a tension between doctrinal commitment (right thinking) and social engagement (right living). In the early 20th century, there was the battle between fundamentalism (more doctrine concerned) and liberalism/modernism (more societal concerned), and then in the mid 20th century, there was the separation of the fundamentalist and evangelicals/neo-evangelicals, who were concerned about the fundamentalist’s separatism from social engagement (1). And more recently, there’s the Emerging Church Movement, in which, their passion and zeal for missions and outreach appears to have left doctrinal (propositional) truth behind (2).
In light of these historical patterns, I believe this is a reminder for FPC to seek a balance in our church. We need and should have a lifestyle that always seeks to understand truth (propositional) about God and all of his revelations in the Bible, because if we don’t, at the most basic-level we won’t have a message or a gospel to bring to people (1 John 5:12). But we shouldn’t just stop there, we also need to have a lifestyle that engages our society/community with love and compassion through the gospel message, especially to other Christians and the poor, because if we don’t, we will fail to be the type of Christians that God intended for us to be (1 John 3:16-18).
Recently, I have been excited about our current sermon study of the gospel of Mark and our pastoral version of “Preparing to Sharing”, because I think both these things carrying out the balance of doctrine (preparing) and societal engagement (sharing). Obviously, there’s still a lot of work in order to create a church lifestyle of doctrinal commitment and social engagement, but I am encouraged to see FPC moving in the right direction.
Lastly, I want to encourage all FPC members to attend Pastor John’s or Pastor Kho’s confessional classes held in March, regardless if you have been confirmed or not, so that we can continue to grow together in Christ through biblical truths, thus increasing our joy in Christ and increasing our knowledge of the gospel message, for which we are commanded to bring to the world. Also, if you have a desire to each the poor or to our existing and surrounding community through the gospel and would like to share your thoughts on exactly how to do so, please talk to Pastor John or Mike because they would love to hear your thoughts.
Dan
(1) From http://www.theopedia.com/Liberalism
http://www.covchurch.org/cov/companion/article/0602FutureorFad.pdf
Sunday, February 19, 2006
If Theologians were Basketball Players…
Dr. (Mark) Dever would be Lebron James. The reason Dr. Dever would be Lebron is that they are both fun and humorous (just listen to any of Mark’s interviews and watch Lebron’s latest commercials), but when it’s “game time” they become extremely serious about their profession.
Over the years, I have grown to truly admire Dr. Dever for his passion to help churches mature and grow through biblical methods rather than “program-oriented” or through pragmatism.
So future FPC leaders, please look for guidance from Dr. Dever for help in your future ministries.
Resources:
- 9 Marks Ministries – one stop shop on how to minister through biblical means.
- “9 Marks of Healthy Church” – this book should be read by all church leaders on how to build a healthy church.
- “The
4. Capital Hill Baptist – this is Dr. Dever’s church. On the website you can find sermons and articles that are helpful. Also, if you need help with Sunday School material, there’s a Core Seminar selection that is priceless.
http://www.capitolhillbaptist.org/
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Why Read Good Theology Books
First of all, if I had to choose reading my Bible or reading good theology books, I would choose to read my Bible and burn all of my books (but I don't think most of us have to make that choice) . Also, I don't think most people should read a lot of books, but they should master and know a few good books well. Please hear the advice of Martin Luther, the great reformer:
"A student who does not want his labor wasted must so read and reread some good writer that the author is changed, as it were, into his flesh and blood. For a great variety of reading confuses and does not teach. It makes the student like a man who dwells everywhere and, therefore, nowhere in particular. Just as we do not daily enjoy the society of every one of our friends but only that of a chosen few, so it should also be in our studying. The number of theological books should ... be reduced, and a selection should be made of the best of them; for many books do not make men learned, nor does much reading. But reading something good, and reading it frequently, however little it may be, is the practice that makes men learned in the Scripture and makes them pious besides." (thanks for the quote Geoff)
Well 4 years ago, 98% of all my reading consist of accounting books, sports magazines and newspapers. But then I met John Piper (see my debt to Piper at http://fpcinhouston.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193), who challenged me (and still does) in all the areas of my life. And one of Piper's challenges, is that if I wanted to make an impact or a difference in my life and others, I needed to know my Bible better, and one of the ways to do so was to read good books.
So why should you know your Bible Better? (just a few)
1. Knowing my Bible better allows me to know better the beauty and glory of the one and only living God and his son, Jesus Christ.
2. Seeing the glory of God through Christ (which we see in the Bible) produces sanctification, that is it produces holiness.
3. The Bible teaches how to love God and people by giving me principles.
4. The Bible teaches me the methods and priorities of the church, and defines the church
So why read "good" books?
Basically, I read good because most of the times I just don't understand the Bible and I need help from the universal church, both past and present, to teach me.
An Example
I just finished reading Dr. Moore's book "The Kingdom of Christ" and it taught and reminded me that "salvation" or "redemption" is broader than just individual forgiveness of sins and people going to this spiritual realm called "heaven", but "salvation/redemption" has a community aspect to it, and it's larger than just forgiveness of sins, that is, it consist of being progressively "saved" from sin through the Spirit (sanctification) and it involves the "redeeming" of a physical world, (not through violence,but sacrificial love of the church), in which the completion of "salvation/redemption" of both people, church, and the physical world happen when Christ comes back in his second coming to consummate his kingdom.
Therefore I believe if the church had a larger biblically vision of "salvation/redemption", we would act differently, that is we would have more concern for the physical realm, the community, the day to day fight of sin (sanctification), and etc....that's why I read good books.
"A student who does not want his labor wasted must so read and reread some good writer that the author is changed, as it were, into his flesh and blood. For a great variety of reading confuses and does not teach. It makes the student like a man who dwells everywhere and, therefore, nowhere in particular. Just as we do not daily enjoy the society of every one of our friends but only that of a chosen few, so it should also be in our studying. The number of theological books should ... be reduced, and a selection should be made of the best of them; for many books do not make men learned, nor does much reading. But reading something good, and reading it frequently, however little it may be, is the practice that makes men learned in the Scripture and makes them pious besides." (thanks for the quote Geoff)
Well 4 years ago, 98% of all my reading consist of accounting books, sports magazines and newspapers. But then I met John Piper (see my debt to Piper at http://fpcinhouston.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193), who challenged me (and still does) in all the areas of my life. And one of Piper's challenges, is that if I wanted to make an impact or a difference in my life and others, I needed to know my Bible better, and one of the ways to do so was to read good books.
So why should you know your Bible Better? (just a few)
1. Knowing my Bible better allows me to know better the beauty and glory of the one and only living God and his son, Jesus Christ.
2. Seeing the glory of God through Christ (which we see in the Bible) produces sanctification, that is it produces holiness.
3. The Bible teaches how to love God and people by giving me principles.
4. The Bible teaches me the methods and priorities of the church, and defines the church
So why read "good" books?
Basically, I read good because most of the times I just don't understand the Bible and I need help from the universal church, both past and present, to teach me.
An Example
I just finished reading Dr. Moore's book "The Kingdom of Christ" and it taught and reminded me that "salvation" or "redemption" is broader than just individual forgiveness of sins and people going to this spiritual realm called "heaven", but "salvation/redemption" has a community aspect to it, and it's larger than just forgiveness of sins, that is, it consist of being progressively "saved" from sin through the Spirit (sanctification) and it involves the "redeeming" of a physical world, (not through violence,but sacrificial love of the church), in which the completion of "salvation/redemption" of both people, church, and the physical world happen when Christ comes back in his second coming to consummate his kingdom.
Therefore I believe if the church had a larger biblically vision of "salvation/redemption", we would act differently, that is we would have more concern for the physical realm, the community, the day to day fight of sin (sanctification), and etc....that's why I read good books.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Don’t Waste Your Cancer
Don’t Waste Your Cancer
by John Piper
February 15, 2006
I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.
1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.
2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.
4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.
5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).
6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.
7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.
8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).
10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.
Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Pastor John
* you can find the article here:
http://desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2006/021506.html
by John Piper
February 15, 2006
I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.
1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.
2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.
4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.
5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).
6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.
7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.
8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).
10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.
Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Pastor John
* you can find the article here:
http://desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2006/021506.html
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
"If the Church Would Be The Church"
42And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved - Acts 2:42-47
Last weekend, I listened to my favorite Presbyterian preacher (Dr. Sinclair Ferguson) preach on the Acts 2:42-47, entitled "The Church's Birth Marks"*.
Towards the end of Dr. Ferguson's sermon he basically states that people would be more attracted to the church, "if the church would be the church", that is if the church would focus and rely on what God intended it to be instead of relying on gimmicks, misappropriated contextualization of biblical truth,and programs, for evangelism than the right growth may come about (v.47). Dr. Ferguson states that God intended the church to be 1) devoted to the apostles' teaching (THE BIBLE) (v.42), 2) devoted to having deep fellowship with one another (v.44 and v.46), which results in radical sacrificial love (v.45-46), and 3) devoted in having all these activities centered around the worship of God (v.47), then people would be attracted to the church.
I am encouraged, especially with the young FPCers, that they are being the church, that is they take serious the study of the Word of God and having deep fellowship with each other, while worshipping the living God.
* You can find the entire sermon here:
http://www.firstprescolumbia.org/Media/Audio/audio.asp
Last weekend, I listened to my favorite Presbyterian preacher (Dr. Sinclair Ferguson) preach on the Acts 2:42-47, entitled "The Church's Birth Marks"*.
Towards the end of Dr. Ferguson's sermon he basically states that people would be more attracted to the church, "if the church would be the church", that is if the church would focus and rely on what God intended it to be instead of relying on gimmicks, misappropriated contextualization of biblical truth,and programs, for evangelism than the right growth may come about (v.47). Dr. Ferguson states that God intended the church to be 1) devoted to the apostles' teaching (THE BIBLE) (v.42), 2) devoted to having deep fellowship with one another (v.44 and v.46), which results in radical sacrificial love (v.45-46), and 3) devoted in having all these activities centered around the worship of God (v.47), then people would be attracted to the church.
I am encouraged, especially with the young FPCers, that they are being the church, that is they take serious the study of the Word of God and having deep fellowship with each other, while worshipping the living God.
* You can find the entire sermon here:
http://www.firstprescolumbia.org/Media/Audio/audio.asp
Monday, February 13, 2006
Who Needs A Stinking Church?
Al Mohler has written a book review on George Barna's book "Revolution" (I haven't read the book), in which Barna tries to say that for a Christian a local church is unnecessary and is sometimes unhelpful.
Al Mohler quotes Barna:
"Being in a right relationship with God and His people is what matters. Scripture teaches us that devoting your life to loving God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul is what honors Him. Being part of a local church may facilitate that. Or it might not."
Al Mohler states that Barna misses the point of the biblical view of the church and how it relates to Christians:
"What George Barna misses is the big picture of New Testament ecclesiology--a picture that identifies congregational life as the very means whereby believers are shaped into Christlikeness and Christian maturity through the ministry of the Word, the fellowship of the saints, and the normative patterns of church life. Barna's Revolutionaries may be involved on spiritual quests that have added dimensions of meaning to their lives, but what they lack is the accountability, deployment, mutuality, and koinonia of the local church as envisioned in the New Testament."
FPCers don't ever think you can generally be a Christian without a local church. A Christian generally isn't a "lone ranger". but is connected to a community of believers (a local church, with elders and leadership)
You can read the entire article here:
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mohler
Al Mohler quotes Barna:
"Being in a right relationship with God and His people is what matters. Scripture teaches us that devoting your life to loving God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul is what honors Him. Being part of a local church may facilitate that. Or it might not."
Al Mohler states that Barna misses the point of the biblical view of the church and how it relates to Christians:
"What George Barna misses is the big picture of New Testament ecclesiology--a picture that identifies congregational life as the very means whereby believers are shaped into Christlikeness and Christian maturity through the ministry of the Word, the fellowship of the saints, and the normative patterns of church life. Barna's Revolutionaries may be involved on spiritual quests that have added dimensions of meaning to their lives, but what they lack is the accountability, deployment, mutuality, and koinonia of the local church as envisioned in the New Testament."
FPCers don't ever think you can generally be a Christian without a local church. A Christian generally isn't a "lone ranger". but is connected to a community of believers (a local church, with elders and leadership)
You can read the entire article here:
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mohler
Friday, February 10, 2006
CNN, Ken Barbie, and Danny
This story reminds me of my friend Danny. I don't know why.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/09/ken.barbie.reut/index.html
Thursday, February 09, 2006
The Kingdom Of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective by Russell Moore
To be honest, when I purchased this book I wasn't expecting to learn much from it, but as I began to read through it I started to learn many new things.
First, Dr. Moore does a wonderful job of historical analysis on the 2 major evangelical camps ((dispensational and covenant theology) views of "The Kingdom of God" and how it relates to salvation (chapter 3) and the church (chapter 4), and how the two groups have gradually come up with a consensus that the kingdom is "the already, but not yet", that is the church is the inaugration of God's kingdom and Christ reigns now as king (the already), but God's kingdom has not been consummated (that is the full reign)until Christ's come back to establish the new heavens and new earth.
Dr. Moore also address how this new evangelical kingdom theology of the "the already, but not yet", will combat the "fundamentalist" camp withdrawal in the social and political arena, and the "social gospel" camp of pursuing social/political change without key Christian and biblical fundamentals (I.e. deny of individual redemption).
My only reservation of this book, is that the person choosing to read this book should have some knowledge of what dispensational and covenant theology are, otherwise one could be easily lost in Dr. Moore's detailed analysis (over 300-plus footnotes for each of the first 4 chapters). But I do recommend this book for all church leaders and teachers, I think this book will help lead the way of understanding that "The Kingdom of Christ" is broader and more glorious and the challenges of the church are deeper and more complex than once expected.
For more resources in engaging the social and political arena:
1. See Henry Institure
http://www.henryinstitute.org/
2. See Al Mohler
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php
3. For a quick understanding of "the already, but not yet" Kingdom Theology read, Dr (Edmund) Clowney's article, "The Politics of the Kingdome"
http://www.marshillaudio.org/resources/pdf/Clowney_Politics.pdf
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Piper Article
For those that haven't been keeping up with the news, recently there has been some violent riots in protest of Danish cartoons of Muhammad, an Islamic prophet. See. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/02/08/cartoon.protests/index.html
John Piper has written a thoughtful and powerful article, articulating the difference between Christ and Muhammad.
Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ’s Work, not Muhammad’s
February 8, 2006
What we saw this past week in the Islamic demonstrations over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad was another vivid depiction of the difference between Muhammad and Christ, and what it means to follow each. Not all Muslims approve the violence. But a deep lesson remains: The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery.
If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was his saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God. Already in the Psalms the path of mockery was promised: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads” (Psalm 22:7). “He was despised and rejected by men . . . as one from whom men hide their faces . . . and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).
When it actually happened it was worse than expected. “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. . . . And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him” (Matthew 27:28-30). His response to all this was patient endurance. This was the work he came to do. “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” (Isaiah 53:7).
This was not true of Muhammad. And Muslims do not believe it is true of Jesus. Most Muslims have been taught that Jesus was not crucified. One Sunni Muslim writes, “Muslims believe that Allah saved the Messiah from the ignominy of crucifixion.”1 Another adds, “We honor [Jesus] more than you [Christians] do. . . . We refuse to believe that God would permit him to suffer death on the cross.”2 An essential Muslim impulse is to avoid the “ignominy” of the cross.
That’s the most basic difference between Christ and Muhammad and between a Muslim and a follower of Christ. For Christ, enduring the mockery of the cross was the essence of his mission. And for a true follower of Christ enduring suffering patiently for the glory of Christ is the essence of obedience. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (Matthew 5:11). During his life on earth Jesus was called a bastard (John 8:41), a drunkard (Matthew 11:19), a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65), a devil (Matthew 10:25); and he promised his followers the same: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matthew 10:25).
The caricature and mockery of Christ has continued to this day. Martin Scorsese portrayed Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ as wracked with doubt and beset with sexual lust. Andres Serrano was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to portray Jesus on a cross sunk in a bottle of urine. The Da Vinci Code portrays Jesus as a mere mortal who married and fathered children.
How should his followers respond? On the one hand, we are grieved and angered. On the other hand, we identify with Christ, and embrace his suffering, and rejoice in our afflictions, and say with the apostle Paul that vengeance belongs to the Lord, let us love our enemies and win them with the gospel. If Christ did his work by being insulted, we must do ours likewise.
When Muhammad was portrayed in twelve cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the uproar across the Muslim world was intense and sometimes violent. Flags were burned, embassies were torched, and at least one Christian church was stoned. The cartoonists went into hiding in fear for their lives, like Salman Rushdie before them. What does this mean?
It means that a religion with no insulted Savior will not endure insults to win the scoffers. It means that this religion is destined to bear the impossible load of upholding the honor of one who did not die and rise again to make that possible. It means that Jesus Christ is still the only hope of peace with God and peace with man. And it means that his followers must be willing to “share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).
Footnotes
1 Badru D. Kateregga and David W. Shenk, Islam and Christianity: A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue (Nairobi: Usima Press, 1980), p. 141.
2 Quoted from The Muslim World in J. Dudley Woodberry, editor, Muslims and Christians on the Emmaus Road (Monrovia, CA: MARC, 1989), p. 164
Monday, February 06, 2006
Mediation on Romans 10:13-15:"Beautiful Feet"
13For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14But 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?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And 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!" - Romans 10:13-15
Everyone Who Calls on God Will Be Saved
God makes wonderful and spectacular promises throughout the Bible, and one of the greatest promise is that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (verses 13), that is anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior will received salvation (Romans 10:8-9).
13For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."-(v.13)
Dilemmas in Salvation
Dilemma 1: "How are people to call (in order to be saved) on God if they have not believed", that is how can someone confess their allegiance to God and Jesus Christ, if they don't trust and embrace Him?
14But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? -(v.14)
Dilemma 2: "How are they to believe in God of whom they have never heard?', that is how can someone trust in God if they don't even know or haven't ever heard of Him?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? -(v.14)
Dilemma 3:"How are they to hear without someone preaching?", that is how can someone hear and know God if there's not someone to tell them about Him?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching? -(v.14)
Dilemma 4: "How are they to preach unless they are sent?", that is how can they tell someone about God (preach) if they don't move their little feet and go to the unreach peoples?
15And how are they to preach unless they are sent?-(v.15)
Beautiful Feet
Then Paul states that those who share and preach the good news are so beautiful that their feet are beautiful.
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" -(v.15)
So FPC, let's not be beautiful the way the world defines beauty, but let us be truly beautiful based on God's definition by taking and preaching the good news.
Everyone Who Calls on God Will Be Saved
God makes wonderful and spectacular promises throughout the Bible, and one of the greatest promise is that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (verses 13), that is anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior will received salvation (Romans 10:8-9).
13For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."-(v.13)
Dilemmas in Salvation
Dilemma 1: "How are people to call (in order to be saved) on God if they have not believed", that is how can someone confess their allegiance to God and Jesus Christ, if they don't trust and embrace Him?
14But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? -(v.14)
Dilemma 2: "How are they to believe in God of whom they have never heard?', that is how can someone trust in God if they don't even know or haven't ever heard of Him?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? -(v.14)
Dilemma 3:"How are they to hear without someone preaching?", that is how can someone hear and know God if there's not someone to tell them about Him?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching? -(v.14)
Dilemma 4: "How are they to preach unless they are sent?", that is how can they tell someone about God (preach) if they don't move their little feet and go to the unreach peoples?
15And how are they to preach unless they are sent?-(v.15)
Beautiful Feet
Then Paul states that those who share and preach the good news are so beautiful that their feet are beautiful.
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" -(v.15)
So FPC, let's not be beautiful the way the world defines beauty, but let us be truly beautiful based on God's definition by taking and preaching the good news.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Getting “Salvation” and “Redemption” Right
Here’s a quote from Russell Moore’s (a conservative evangelical and Vice Pres. of Southern Seminary) book “The Kingdom of Christ”, explaining salvation.
“The priority of personal regeneration is maintained precisely because salvation is seen, holistically, in terms of a bodily resurrection, the reversal of the Edenic curse, and the restoration of humanity as vicegerents of the created order. The work of the Spirit in regenerating the heart is not therefore seen as purely “spiritual” matter. Instead, it is the uniting of the individual to the pioneer of salvation (Heb.2:10), the One who is “justified” by God, has merited resurrection from the dead, and who therefore can claim the cosmos as His inheritance (Ps.2:1-12; 45:6-17;Acts 2:22-36; 1 Cor. 15:21-28; Heb. 1:2; Rev.1:4-6). Resurrection is seen as central to God’s redemptive purposes because it is central to God’s Kingdom purposes. Salvation is pictured, not in terms of escape from the world, but as restoring the human person’s right to rule over the world (Matt.19:28; Rev.3:21). Thus, the writer of Hebrews pictures salvation in Christ in terms of the psalmist’s paean to the place of humanity in the cultural mandate (Ps. 8:4-6; Heb.2:5-9). Jesus claims the right to rule over the earth and to claim His Kingdom precisely because He has been raised from the dead (Rev. 1:18). Jesus’ Davidic kingship is established by His resurrection from the dead (Rom.1:3-4), as is His right to pour out the Spirit (Acts2:32-33).” pg.111
“…Thus, the apostle Paul pictures the indwelling of the Spirit and personal regeneration, not in terms of an otherworldly flight from creation, but as that which joins the believer to the resurrection of Christ (Rom.8:11), thereby enabling the believer to share in His inheritance as ruler of the earth (
My hope is that FPC wouldn’t quickly write-off conservative evangelicals, thinking that they got it all wrong, and quickly jump ship on what appears to be “new” and “innovative” .
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Mediations on 1 John 1:5-10 "Indicators of Divine Fellowship"
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But 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. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
God is Holy and Sinless
In verse 5, John's message states that God is holy (light) and sinless (there is no darkness).
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all
First Indicator If We Have Fellowship with God: "Do you practice sin or holiness?"
In verse 6, John states that some people may say they have fellowship with God, but if they walk in darkness, that is practice progressive sinning, they are in fact hypocrites and don't really know the truth about God.
6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk like we are being sanctified (becoming more like Christ and holy) then we are truly in fellowship with God and Christ and have indicated or given evidence that Christ has forgiven our sins (justification).
7But 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.
Second Indicator If We Have Fellowship With God: "Do you believe that you're a sinner?"
If we believe that we are sinless, then we fool ourselves and we don't have fellowship with God.
8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
But if we humbly admit that we have sinned, God will forgive us of all our sins.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Again if we don't believe that we have sinned, we not only deceive ourselves (v.7) but make God out to be liar, who states that we are sinners, thus indicating that we are not in fellowship with God..
10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
God is Holy and Sinless
In verse 5, John's message states that God is holy (light) and sinless (there is no darkness).
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all
First Indicator If We Have Fellowship with God: "Do you practice sin or holiness?"
In verse 6, John states that some people may say they have fellowship with God, but if they walk in darkness, that is practice progressive sinning, they are in fact hypocrites and don't really know the truth about God.
6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk like we are being sanctified (becoming more like Christ and holy) then we are truly in fellowship with God and Christ and have indicated or given evidence that Christ has forgiven our sins (justification).
7But 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.
Second Indicator If We Have Fellowship With God: "Do you believe that you're a sinner?"
If we believe that we are sinless, then we fool ourselves and we don't have fellowship with God.
8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
But if we humbly admit that we have sinned, God will forgive us of all our sins.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Again if we don't believe that we have sinned, we not only deceive ourselves (v.7) but make God out to be liar, who states that we are sinners, thus indicating that we are not in fellowship with God..
10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Mediations on 1 John 1:1-4 "So That Our Joy May Be Complete"
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-- 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete. - 1John 1:1-4
1. John proclaims the message of Christ (the Gospel) because of his experience with Christ.
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (Jesus Christ)-- 2the life (Jesus Christ) was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life. (v.1-2)
Even though John experienced fellowship with Christ physically, and we haven't, we can still deeply experienced the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:8 Gal. 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:6). And may it be that it's because we (FPC) haven't experienced Christ, that is why we are slow to proclaim Him?
2. John's proclamation of Christ (the Gospel) is aimed to produce a fellowship with the church, God and Jesus Christ.
3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ
It's important to note that John's proclamation of the gospel wasn't just for the sake of forgiveness of sins or in order to get someone into some spiritual realm called "heaven", but so that the person may have fellowship with other Christians (the church). The implication of this verse is that we should evangelize with the aim to incorporate people to a local church, and not let them be some "individual Christian", who's not committed or a baptized member of a local church.
The second thing to note, is that John's goal of fellowship is that it includes a fellowship with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should structure our church fellowship with the knowledge and the message that we are not just a bunch of Asian gathered together to play football or eat together, but that the real attraction and beauty of our fellowship is that includes the living God and Jesus Christ.
3. John's proclaims the message of Christ to seek a holy and divine fellowship with others in order to complete his joy.
4And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete
The question for us (FPC) is "do we feel some kind of unhappiness because we are not evangelizing and bring other to a fellowship with the living God through a local church?".
1. John proclaims the message of Christ (the Gospel) because of his experience with Christ.
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (Jesus Christ)-- 2the life (Jesus Christ) was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life. (v.1-2)
Even though John experienced fellowship with Christ physically, and we haven't, we can still deeply experienced the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:8 Gal. 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:6). And may it be that it's because we (FPC) haven't experienced Christ, that is why we are slow to proclaim Him?
2. John's proclamation of Christ (the Gospel) is aimed to produce a fellowship with the church, God and Jesus Christ.
3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ
It's important to note that John's proclamation of the gospel wasn't just for the sake of forgiveness of sins or in order to get someone into some spiritual realm called "heaven", but so that the person may have fellowship with other Christians (the church). The implication of this verse is that we should evangelize with the aim to incorporate people to a local church, and not let them be some "individual Christian", who's not committed or a baptized member of a local church.
The second thing to note, is that John's goal of fellowship is that it includes a fellowship with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should structure our church fellowship with the knowledge and the message that we are not just a bunch of Asian gathered together to play football or eat together, but that the real attraction and beauty of our fellowship is that includes the living God and Jesus Christ.
3. John's proclaims the message of Christ to seek a holy and divine fellowship with others in order to complete his joy.
4And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete
The question for us (FPC) is "do we feel some kind of unhappiness because we are not evangelizing and bring other to a fellowship with the living God through a local church?".
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Who's Jesus: Mediations on Hebrews 1:1-3
1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high Hebrews 1:1-3
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (v.1-2.)
1. Jesus is the current revelation of God, that is if you want to know the one true God, you must seek and know Jesus (John 14:6).
whom he appointed the heir of all things (v.2)
2. Jesus is God's appointed heir of all things, that is Jesus is the inheritor of everything (Gal 3:16).
through whom also he created the world(v.2)
3. Jesus is God's means of creating the world, that is he helped God create the universe (Col.1:16)
He is the radiance of the glory of God(v.3)
4. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, that he is the beauty of God shown forth to the world (John 1:14)
the exact imprint of his nature(v.3)
5. Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature, that is he is very essence of God (He is God) (John 1:1)
he upholds the universe by the word of his power(v.3)
6. Jesus upholds the universe by his breath, that is he provides the strength for the world to be in existence (Col.1:17)
After making purification for sins(v.3)
7. Jesus has purifies sins, that is he died for the sins of the world (John 3:16)
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high(v.3)
8. Jesus is at the right hand of God, that is he is in position of authority over all things (Col.1:16)
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (v.1-2.)
1. Jesus is the current revelation of God, that is if you want to know the one true God, you must seek and know Jesus (John 14:6).
whom he appointed the heir of all things (v.2)
2. Jesus is God's appointed heir of all things, that is Jesus is the inheritor of everything (Gal 3:16).
through whom also he created the world(v.2)
3. Jesus is God's means of creating the world, that is he helped God create the universe (Col.1:16)
He is the radiance of the glory of God(v.3)
4. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, that he is the beauty of God shown forth to the world (John 1:14)
the exact imprint of his nature(v.3)
5. Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature, that is he is very essence of God (He is God) (John 1:1)
he upholds the universe by the word of his power(v.3)
6. Jesus upholds the universe by his breath, that is he provides the strength for the world to be in existence (Col.1:17)
After making purification for sins(v.3)
7. Jesus has purifies sins, that is he died for the sins of the world (John 3:16)
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high(v.3)
8. Jesus is at the right hand of God, that is he is in position of authority over all things (Col.1:16)
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Thoughts On Homosexuality
1. Is homosexuality wrong?
Yes, according to God, who defines what’s right and wrong, He states that it’s wrong.
a. 26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and 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.-Romans 1:26-27
1. The reason homosexuality exist is because God in His judgment gave people over to their evil desires and away from loving God. (v26)
2. The Bible calls homosexual activity as unnatural, shameless, and deserving of due penalty (v 27)
B. The Bible describes God’s design for marriage to be between a man and a woman
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. – Genesis 3:24
C. God designed sexual acts to be in a marriage (man and woman, not in a same sex) relationship.
1Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." 2But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. – 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
D. Homosexual unions distorts the symbol of marriage which is suppose to point to Christ (the husband) and the church (the wife)
31"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church – Ephesians 5:24
E. Verses
9Do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
F. Other verses (Lev. 18:22, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Jude 7)
2. Isn’t Christianity all about love, why should we rebuke homosexual practices?
a. We should never rebuke someone unless we first love them (1 Corinthians 13).
b. But we should rebuke homosexual practices because God has declared it to be sin, and like any other sin; we must repent and turn to Christ and His commandments. Love always seek the greatest good for a person, therefore it is "loving" to correct someone behavoral in order for them to enjoy Christ, which is there greatest good.
3. If homosexuality is natural, how can God still condemn us?
For one, homosexuality being genetic in nature is debatable, but even if we say it is, God is just in condemning homosexuality because all sins inherently come from our fallen nature since birth, therefore if God is just to condemn those sins, He is just in condemning homosexuality.
4. How Should We Deal with Homosexuals?
a. Love them and be patient with them.
b. Tell them the truth about their life-style.
c. Point them to Christ, who forgives all sins.
d. Point them to Christ, who provides the power to break sin, even though it may be slow.
e. Pray for them
5. To Those That Are Homosexual
a. FPC will love you.
b. FPC will fight with you if you decide to battle your sin.
c. FPC will always point you to Christ
Yes, according to God, who defines what’s right and wrong, He states that it’s wrong.
a. 26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and 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.-Romans 1:26-27
1. The reason homosexuality exist is because God in His judgment gave people over to their evil desires and away from loving God. (v26)
2. The Bible calls homosexual activity as unnatural, shameless, and deserving of due penalty (v 27)
B. The Bible describes God’s design for marriage to be between a man and a woman
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. – Genesis 3:24
C. God designed sexual acts to be in a marriage (man and woman, not in a same sex) relationship.
1Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." 2But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. – 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
D. Homosexual unions distorts the symbol of marriage which is suppose to point to Christ (the husband) and the church (the wife)
31"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church – Ephesians 5:24
E. Verses
9Do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
F. Other verses (Lev. 18:22, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Jude 7)
2. Isn’t Christianity all about love, why should we rebuke homosexual practices?
a. We should never rebuke someone unless we first love them (1 Corinthians 13).
b. But we should rebuke homosexual practices because God has declared it to be sin, and like any other sin; we must repent and turn to Christ and His commandments. Love always seek the greatest good for a person, therefore it is "loving" to correct someone behavoral in order for them to enjoy Christ, which is there greatest good.
3. If homosexuality is natural, how can God still condemn us?
For one, homosexuality being genetic in nature is debatable, but even if we say it is, God is just in condemning homosexuality because all sins inherently come from our fallen nature since birth, therefore if God is just to condemn those sins, He is just in condemning homosexuality.
4. How Should We Deal with Homosexuals?
a. Love them and be patient with them.
b. Tell them the truth about their life-style.
c. Point them to Christ, who forgives all sins.
d. Point them to Christ, who provides the power to break sin, even though it may be slow.
e. Pray for them
5. To Those That Are Homosexual
a. FPC will love you.
b. FPC will fight with you if you decide to battle your sin.
c. FPC will always point you to Christ
Thursday, January 19, 2006
God to You
7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you- Genesis 17:7
In Genesis 17:7, God made a covenant with Abraham that was so amazing and wonderful, that is He promised "to be God" to Abraham So the God, who created the world (Genesis 1), promised Abraham, that he would have an intimate and covenantal relationship with the almighty and authoritative God.
But God doesn't just make an everlasting covenant with Abraham, but he also promised "to be God" to Abraham's offspring. So then the question is who is his offspring? Apostle Paul helps answer this question in Galatians 3:16, 26-29.
16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ- Gal. 3:16
26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.- Gal. 3:26-29
I take these verses to mean that God made the everlasting promise of "God to you" not to all of Israel (or the world) but first to Abraham and Jesus Christ (v.16), and then to those connected to Christ by faith, i.e. Christians (v.26-29).
The implications of these verses are huge for a Christian. First, we should be overwhelmed with the fact that the God, who created and controls the universe, promises Christians (Kevin, Silly, Tracy, Jenny, Neil, Jason, Maria, Tree, Anna, Justin, IJ and Wilson) now and forever (everlasting covenant) that He will be "God to you". Secondly, we should "boast only in the cross of Christ" because it's only because of our connection with Christ, who died for our sins and imputes his righteousness(Gal. 3:13, Romans 3 and 4), that the promise is made truth for us. Thirdly, we now know that we have a wonderful message to the world, that is the world can now have a covenantal relationship with God through faith in Christ.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Molher on "Homosexual Unions and Brokeback Mountain"
Being a biblical voice in the public arena is not an easy thing, that's why I admire Dr (Al) Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, so much. Last night Al Mohler was on the Larry King Live Show, speaking against homosexual unions, and throughout the show he was pictured as unloving, naive, and was even called a "bigot".
LARRY KING: For example, you're a reverend, didn't you have some compassion for what happened to the younger one of the two (referring to Brokeback Mountain)?
CALLER: . Have they (Molher and the other person against against homosexual unions) -- my question is, have they ever had the privilege of having a friendship with a gay person? I hope they will so they will not speak of them as sub-human the way they are tonight. It's breaking my heart.
CALLER: Hi, Larry. I just wanted to ask Mr. Mohler and Ms. Parshall, they both sound so bigoted. And since they haven't seen the movie, would they not consider opening their minds and receiving, as Judge Judy says, just receive and see if they will consider going to see the movie? Thank you.
I don't doubt that there are Christians, who are unloving towards homosexuals, but I don't think you can call Dr.Mohler that (both with his words and his message-just read the transcript*). What Dr. Mohler was actually doing was "love" when he speaks against homosexual acts because he is articulating what God has defined as truth love, truth beauty and true joy.
MOHLER states: You know my main concern, Larry, is not with the gospel of heterosexuality, even though I think that's very important. It's with the gospel of Jesus Christ and what I find lacking in the movie, the screenplay and in the short story is any resolution that really brings these persons to know why they were created and how God really intends them to live and how they would find their greatest satisfaction in living just as God had intended them for his glory.
MOHLER (responding to a caller, who has a gay son): I hear this mom, I love her love for her son, but you know, we have to be really careful that we don't accept the wrong things when it comes to behavior, and we don't bless the wrong hopes. And that's where -- I want to come back to say, I don't know thinking about sex that's really all that important to know, that other people haven't figured out a long time ago. But God, our creator has something to say about sex in his word and to that, we're absolutely accountable. But beyond that, Larry, I think one of the sad things about most conversations about homosexuality and especially when you have people like I'm honored to be with on your panel tonight, I don't want for homosexuals to know less joy than they know now. I want them to know more joy, great joy, eternal joy. And I believe that can only happen as they come to know the Lord Jesus Christ his savior and as they find out what God's perfect intention and design was for their lives all along.
So it's important to remember that true love is defined by God's word and it contains boundaries (we shouldn't murder people or marry our mother's- and call it "love"), and love is not based entirely on what "feels" right or how it effects or is defined by our society. God bless Dr. Mohler for providing us a model of strength and love for people and truth.
"Transcript of the Larry King Show:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/17/lkl.01.html
**You can listen to Dr. Mohler's daily radio show at:
http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_list.php
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The Anh "DANG...you're going to New Orleans?" Interview Part 2
10. You mentioned Pastor (Tim) Keller, a well-respected Presbyterianpastor in NY, as one of your heroes, could you briefly describe whohe is and why exactly do you consider him a "hero"?
Tim Keller is the senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NewYork City that has a vision of building a great city through the gospel movement that "brings about personal conversion, community formation, social justice and cultural renewal in New York andthroughout the world." For me, heroes are people who can identify a need, make a plan, organize resources, and take action. Tim Keller has an amazing ability to speak truth and cast a vision for thekingdom of God that inspires and challenges all to think more deeply about how to live out faith.
11. Pastor Keller's church (Redeemer) is known for it's diversity. What have you learned at that church that has helped you in dealingwith diverse people, especially living in NY? What advice and encouragement would you give to a church that isn't necessarily diverse racially or social-economically? And why do you it's important to be diverse?--dan… this isn't a question I necessary agree with. redeemer isn'tactually a diverse church at all… it's made up of mainly Asians andCaucasians, highly educated, mostly middle class and upper class,young adults. It's basically known for its great teaching, mainly Tim Keller. They have a church planting model that is great and highly encourage people to take part in the local churches and communities. So although I still listen to his sermons and follow what is happening at redeemer, I actually go to a local church and serve there. What I realize with going to the local church is how much more connected you are with the body of believers and how that keeps you accountable for how you live out faith. With a smaller community, you can make so much more impact as a whole than being in a huge community that is disconnected with each other.
12. Recently you have made it known that you have quit your job in NYand will be going to New Orleans to help in the "recovery" process. Could you briefly explain what you will be doing there and what you plan to accomplish?
Just to clarify, although I have quit my job, I am not actually moving out of NYC and moving to New Orleans just yet. I am actually just taking an extended time to do some relief work in New Orleans and hopefully return to NYC when my time in New Orleans is finished. I will be going down to New Orleans with some friends to continue the relief effort to restore a sense of hope to the community there in NewOrleans by working with some relief organizations(www.commongroundrelief.org) and churches and helping families rebuild their homes. part of my return to new orleans is doing research for a project exploring how design and technology can be applied in ways to create awareness of social issues among groups which hopefully will then generate activism for social justice.
13. How did you know that God was calling you to New Orleans? How do your parents feel about the decision?
In all honesty, I'm still a bit baffled about how all this have come about. I think God has just provided the best circumstances for me to do this in terms of being able take a break from my jobs and do some off site freelance work and concentrate on doing some relief work and doing research for another project and being able to come back whenever. Sometimes, I think you just have to take a leap of faith and see where you land. as God has richly blessed me with amazing experiences in my profession thus far, it seems like a good time to take a break in the midst of transition to give back what I've learned and practiced and apply it to a cause that is worthwhile. Since I took the leap, it has been surprising how things just fall into place in terms of people, especially my employers and my parents, being incredibly supportive and encouraging. All in all, I think being there taught be the importance of presence in the midst of disaster that restores hope to those who may have given up hope-- which is the very essence of what Christianity is about. If we can live our lives giving hope to others, it will bless them, bless us, and bless the Lord. There's a quote from CS Lewis that I particularly like in terms of embracing the moment for God's glory:" happy work is best done by the man who takes his long term plan somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment "as to the Lord."it's only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. the present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received."
14. I get the impression that you see your life as some kind of "journey" and New Orleans being one of the destination. In your life,what directs you in your journey and how do you know you're going in the right direction?
I do see life as a sort of journey and New Orleans is actually more of a tangent than not. I'm a bit of a Calvinist in believing the God has predestined our journeys and paths. And so I guess what has been important for me is to just continue to walk on in faith and trust in the Lord. And the hard thing is sometimes it's hard to walk on in faith and trust in the Lord. But all of that is part of the journeyand part of growing in faith. In the end, I guess the journey is more important than the destination.
15. How can we pray for you?
Please pray for restoration and healing for the people in New Orleans and all other disaster stricken areas here and abroad.Please pray for all the volunteers who come down for good health and good spirits.Please pray that wisdom and grace and love be evident to those we interact with. 1 peter 2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thingin which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
The Anh "DANG...you're going to New Orleans?" Interview Part 1
I have known Anh Dang, since freshman year of college. She always been a cool girl to hang and to talk to and she has always been a good friend to Julia. So it was an extreme honor to hear Anh's thoughts on life, since it's been hard to keep up with her in New York. It was also amazing to hear her thoughts on going to New Orleans to help minister to that city.
I hope this interview will help you dream a dream on how to love people,
dan
1. Tell us briefly about your background, especially as it relates to God and Christ? Borned and raised in deep in the heart of texas in the city of houston, i began a spiritual journey as a youth sitting in a language and culture class taught by nuns. this laid the foundation of my faith, though at the time, all i knew was that God existed. then in college, attending church on a whim, getting involved in a bible study, & christian fellowship group, I started to discover what it meant to be a person of faith and the idea of letting go (of trying to figure out life on my own terms) and letting God (trusting God with my life by accepting that Jesus was the sacrifice for connecting me back to God). so in the spring of my freshman year in college, i let go and let God.
2. What are you currently doing now?- design consultant in New York City which means i look at things and try to make it look pretty and be functional... specifically, I look at websites and software applications and think of ways in which design can be better implemented to improve its ability.
3. What type of Christian ministry, whether at work or church, are you involved in?- artist/design community where i often get to present the gospel in an interactive project (http://thirteensquares.com/gospelspectrum) i didf or my graduate thesis project.
4. What do you find to be the hardest part of your ministry?- balance and time: time for self. time for others. time for god. time for work. time for play. time for sleep.
5. What advice would you give a young person in discerning God's direction for them in their future occupation and ministry?
Seek wisdom. Feelings often change in a moments notice based on circumstances. through your experiences and the experiences of those you confide in and seek advice from, god has poured out his wisdom to you. seek wisdom and cultivate it. use wisdom to discern what is best. often times you may not know what to do, but trust that things will always fall into place and know that things can also change and be ok with that.
Network.Talk to people who are working in the area you are interested in. The beauty of community is sharing experiences with one another. More likely than not, you will walk away knowing more about if a certain profession or ministry is a good fit.
Be adventurous. Try new things. It'll give you teach you so much as you explore new terrains of whatever it is that you are doing.
Be connected.In what ever you do and wherever you go, stay connected to a communitythat will encourage you, support you, and help you along.
6. What people have influence you the most in your Christian life? in undergrad: laurie lau, mentor post grad: chad karger, pastorgrad: tim keller, pastor, sonja lee, friend
7. What are 5 essential books you would recommend, besides the Bible?
for theological ponderings: total truth, the courage to be, blue likejazz, mere christianity, celebration of disciplines
for good life lessons: oh the places you go, the giving tree, harrypotter books, chronicles of narnia, the little prince (hmmm.. is itweird that these are all children books?!)
8. What advice would you give a young Christian, as he or she walks with God?
Seek mentors (or a community) who can share his/her wisdom and guide you along your journey of faith. Faith is meant to be lived outtogether.
9. What are some of your hobbies?
designing, reading, photographing, traveling, learning, exploring,baking cookies, and eating icecream on rooftops.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
That's Why We Memorize Scripture
From Pipers sermon "How God’s Word Produces Our Work"
"On December 21 when the urologist said, “Your prostate feels irregular, we need to do a biopsy,” and left me in the room alone to get ready, a stab of fear went through my heart. I had no Bible with me, but I had my memory. I prayed and called to mind the promises of God. And Christ came by his word with the sweetest peace, and I almost fell asleep on the table before the doctor came back.
And that’s the way we have walked together since then. Word, prayer, peace. He has come to me in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Among the thousands of good things God is doing through this cancer, I know one of them beyond the shadow of a doubt: it is to make me rely less upon myself and more upon God. That is crystal clear. I thank God for this mercy.
He has come to me in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” John Piper is not destined for wrath, Christ died so whether I died or live, I live with him. What a great salvation we have! Do you have this?
He has come to me in Psalm 4:7-8, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I thank God for the gift of peace and sleep. It has come every night.
Finally, he has come to me in today’s text: Death is swallowed up in victory because of Christ. Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, and work your fanny off for Christ and his kingdom. I said to the elders, “Settling it in your mind and heart by grace that Christ is real is a wonderfully energizing thing.”
That’s what the “therefore” of verse 58 means. Know the Christ who conquered your death, and know how he did it—read that, memorize that—and then pray, and God will give you peace and strength and a passion for his cause in the world. I am deeply thankful for your prayers. "*
Taken from:
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/06/010806.html
"On December 21 when the urologist said, “Your prostate feels irregular, we need to do a biopsy,” and left me in the room alone to get ready, a stab of fear went through my heart. I had no Bible with me, but I had my memory. I prayed and called to mind the promises of God. And Christ came by his word with the sweetest peace, and I almost fell asleep on the table before the doctor came back.
And that’s the way we have walked together since then. Word, prayer, peace. He has come to me in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Among the thousands of good things God is doing through this cancer, I know one of them beyond the shadow of a doubt: it is to make me rely less upon myself and more upon God. That is crystal clear. I thank God for this mercy.
He has come to me in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” John Piper is not destined for wrath, Christ died so whether I died or live, I live with him. What a great salvation we have! Do you have this?
He has come to me in Psalm 4:7-8, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I thank God for the gift of peace and sleep. It has come every night.
Finally, he has come to me in today’s text: Death is swallowed up in victory because of Christ. Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, and work your fanny off for Christ and his kingdom. I said to the elders, “Settling it in your mind and heart by grace that Christ is real is a wonderfully energizing thing.”
That’s what the “therefore” of verse 58 means. Know the Christ who conquered your death, and know how he did it—read that, memorize that—and then pray, and God will give you peace and strength and a passion for his cause in the world. I am deeply thankful for your prayers. "*
Taken from:
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/06/010806.html
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Purpose and Happiness
Purpose and happiness do not have to belong together. One could create a purpose in exclusion of happiness, for example, your parents could say"your purpose in school is to get straight A's and get into UT regardless if the process is or produces joy or not". But your parents could create a purpose that doesn't exclude your happiness, that is they could say "get straight A's, get into UT, and you must be happy in the process and it also must produce more joy".
According to Q1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, God's ultimate purpose for humans includes our happiness, that is "the chief end of man (the main purpose of man)" is to glorify God (make Him look valuable) AND to enjoy him for ever. So God has created a universe that commands you to glorify Him AND to find your HAPPINESS in HIM (Piper would say this is one and the same, that is glorifying God IS enjoying God (I agree)).
Q2 of the Shorter Catechism, tells us to the rule or authority on how we may glorify and enjoy God, that is through the authority of the Bible. So mediating and reading on the Bible isn't something we do in exclusion of our happiness, but the instrument that teaches us how to glorify and enjoy God.
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]
Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11
Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, [a] is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. [b] [Flavel]
Matt. 19:4-5 with Gen. 2:24; Luke 24:27, 44; I Cor. 2:13; 14:37; II Pet.1:20-21; 3:2, 15-16
Deut. 4:2; Ps. 19:7-11; Isa. 18:20; John 15:11; 20:30-31; Acts 17:11; II Tim. 3:15-17; I John 1:4
According to Q1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, God's ultimate purpose for humans includes our happiness, that is "the chief end of man (the main purpose of man)" is to glorify God (make Him look valuable) AND to enjoy him for ever. So God has created a universe that commands you to glorify Him AND to find your HAPPINESS in HIM (Piper would say this is one and the same, that is glorifying God IS enjoying God (I agree)).
Q2 of the Shorter Catechism, tells us to the rule or authority on how we may glorify and enjoy God, that is through the authority of the Bible. So mediating and reading on the Bible isn't something we do in exclusion of our happiness, but the instrument that teaches us how to glorify and enjoy God.
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]
Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11
Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, [a] is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. [b] [Flavel]
Matt. 19:4-5 with Gen. 2:24; Luke 24:27, 44; I Cor. 2:13; 14:37; II Pet.1:20-21; 3:2, 15-16
Deut. 4:2; Ps. 19:7-11; Isa. 18:20; John 15:11; 20:30-31; Acts 17:11; II Tim. 3:15-17; I John 1:4
Monday, January 09, 2006
Pray for Piper
Pray for Piper
*Article take from:
http://www.desiringgod.org/news_events/dgm_news/2006/20060106_cancer_announcement.html
John Piper Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer*
January 6, 2006
Dear Friends,
I hope this letter will encourage your prayer, strengthen your hope, and minister peace. I am writing with the blessing of the Council of Elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church to help you receive the news about my prostate cancer. At my annual urological exam on Wednesday, December 21, the doctor felt an abnormality in the prostate and suggested a biopsy. He called the next day with the following facts: 1) cancer cells were found in two of the ten samples and the estimate is that perhaps 5% of the gland is affected; 2) my PSA count was 1.6, which is good (below 4 is normal); 3) the Gleason score is 6 (signaling that the cancer is not aggressive). These three facts incline the doctor to think that it is unlikely that the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, and that it is possible with successful treatment to be cancer-free. Before going with my wife, Noël, to consult in person with the doctor on December 29 about treatment options, I shared this news with the Bethlehem staff on Tuesday morning, December 27, and with the elders that evening. Both groups prayed over me for healing and for wisdom in the treatment choices that lie before us. These were sweet times before the throne of grace with much-loved colleagues. All things considered, Noël and I believe that I should pursue the treatment called radical prostatectomy, which means the surgical removal of the prostate. We would ask you to pray that the surgery be completely successful in the removal of all cancer and freedom from possible side effects. With the approval of Bethlehem’s executive staff and elder leadership, we are planning surgery in February. The recovery time is about three weeks before returning to a slow work pace, and six weeks to be back to all normal activities. This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet. For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”
So I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2) don’t let the people of Bethlehem miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for you supremacy for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way.
With deep confidence that
“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.” 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Pastor John
With Sam Crabtree, Lead Pastor for Life TrainingKenny Stokes, Lead Pastor for SpreadingTim Johnson, Chairman of the Council of EldersRoss Anderson, MD, Bethlehem Elder
*Article take from:
http://www.desiringgod.org/news_events/dgm_news/2006/20060106_cancer_announcement.html
John Piper Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer*
January 6, 2006
Dear Friends,
I hope this letter will encourage your prayer, strengthen your hope, and minister peace. I am writing with the blessing of the Council of Elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church to help you receive the news about my prostate cancer. At my annual urological exam on Wednesday, December 21, the doctor felt an abnormality in the prostate and suggested a biopsy. He called the next day with the following facts: 1) cancer cells were found in two of the ten samples and the estimate is that perhaps 5% of the gland is affected; 2) my PSA count was 1.6, which is good (below 4 is normal); 3) the Gleason score is 6 (signaling that the cancer is not aggressive). These three facts incline the doctor to think that it is unlikely that the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, and that it is possible with successful treatment to be cancer-free. Before going with my wife, Noël, to consult in person with the doctor on December 29 about treatment options, I shared this news with the Bethlehem staff on Tuesday morning, December 27, and with the elders that evening. Both groups prayed over me for healing and for wisdom in the treatment choices that lie before us. These were sweet times before the throne of grace with much-loved colleagues. All things considered, Noël and I believe that I should pursue the treatment called radical prostatectomy, which means the surgical removal of the prostate. We would ask you to pray that the surgery be completely successful in the removal of all cancer and freedom from possible side effects. With the approval of Bethlehem’s executive staff and elder leadership, we are planning surgery in February. The recovery time is about three weeks before returning to a slow work pace, and six weeks to be back to all normal activities. This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet. For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”
So I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2) don’t let the people of Bethlehem miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for you supremacy for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way.
With deep confidence that
“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.” 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Pastor John
With Sam Crabtree, Lead Pastor for Life TrainingKenny Stokes, Lead Pastor for SpreadingTim Johnson, Chairman of the Council of EldersRoss Anderson, MD, Bethlehem Elder
Thursday, January 05, 2006
What Type of FPCer Are You?
What type of FPCer are you? Answer "Yes" or "No" to the following questions and check the chart below:
1. Do you know what "chicken-butt" is?
2. Have you played "Powerball"?
3. Do you know that Marie is a "tree" and Big Amy is "Shaq" and Silly is "Silly" and that Kevin, Justin, and Wilson are "SCRUBS"?
4. Have you played "Bang"?
5. Have you eaten at China Bear?
6. Do you know that "everyone is a winner"?
7. Have you played flag football?
8. Do you listen to Chris Tomlin and DCB?
9. Have you heard one of Mike's corny jokes?
10. Do you desire "Basketball Supremacy" and dislike "Darko"?
11. Do you call Albert, "Albert" instead of "Alberto or Berto"?
12 Have you been poked by Matthew, Fernando, Kevin or Justin with their finger?
13 Have you ever said to yourself "that Guillermo sure is loud!"?
14. Have you heard Jenny Jong say how cute Chris Tomlin is?
15. Have you ever screamed "WHOOOOOOOO" at retreats, lockins, service, whenever anything happens, and for pleasure?
0-2 "Yes" - "What's FPC?"
2-5 "Yes" - First time at a fpc lockin, retreat, or church
6-8 "Yes" - I only come during big events
9-10 "Yes" - Baby Voltron or Teen Girl Status
11-13 "Yes" - Young Voltron or Teen Girl Status
13-15 "Yes" - Full-fledge member of Voltron or Teen Girl Squad
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I Don't Do Tax Returns
Dr. (Kim) Riddlebarger on his blog, from "White Horse Inn" radio show, indirectly takes a shot at me. He writes (commenting on Dave Hunt's book):
"Dave Hunt is living proof that accountants should not do theology, just as ministers should not prepare tax returns. I don't recognize my own position in Hunt's book, but then again it is patently obvious that Mr. Hunt (who, I am sure is a fine CPA) has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to Reformed theology. Shouldn't you actually read some Reformed theology before you set out to refute it? Hunt's efforts are just plain lame. "*
*http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/just-plain-nutty/
"Dave Hunt is living proof that accountants should not do theology, just as ministers should not prepare tax returns. I don't recognize my own position in Hunt's book, but then again it is patently obvious that Mr. Hunt (who, I am sure is a fine CPA) has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to Reformed theology. Shouldn't you actually read some Reformed theology before you set out to refute it? Hunt's efforts are just plain lame. "*
*http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/just-plain-nutty/
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Monday, January 02, 2006
If Theologians Were Basketball Players...
If Theologians were Basketball Players...John Calvin, the great Protestant Reformer, would be Dr. James Naismith, Basketball inventor.
Calvin on Christ's Righteousness to Christians -"That Christ, by his obedience, truly purchased and merited grace for us with the Father, is accurately inferred from several passages of Scripture. I take it for granted, that if Christ satisfied for our sins, if he paid the penalty due by us, if he appeased God by his obedience; in fine, if he suffered the just for the unjust, salvation was obtained for us by his righteousness; which
is just equivalent to meriting. Now, Paul's testimony is, that we were reconciled, and received reconciliation through his death, (Rom. 5: 11.) But there is no room for reconciliation unless where offence has preceded. The meaning, therefore, is, that God, to whom we were hateful through sin, was appeased by the death of his Son, and made propitious to us. And the antithesis which immediately follows is carefully to be observed, "As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous," (Rom. 5: 19.) For the meaning is - As by the sin of Adam we were alienated from God and doomed to destruction, so by the obedience of Christ we are restored to his favour as if we were righteous. The future tense of the verb does not exclude present righteousness, as is apparent from the context. For he had previously said, "the free gift is of many offences unto justification." - Calvin Institutes Chapter 17, Section 3.
More on John Calvin check out:
1. http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/calvin.html
2. Read John Piper's Bio on Calvin at http://www.desiringgod.org/library/biographies/97calvin.html
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