Thursday, December 23, 2010

It Often Depends On How You Get There

How we come to a situation often determines how we understand what we are looking at. Here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about. I first noticed this phenomenon when chatting with a young woman in our church about her ancestors. She was an American Indian and when we asked her where her people came from said they had always been there and that the Great Spirit had put her people where they have lived ever since their creation. The context of the talk was about Indians and her history. The interesting thing about this response was that the young lady was one of the pillars of our church and just the week before we had been discussing Genesis 10, the tower of Babel. At that time she was right on board with the fact that God created Adam and Eve, Noah and his family made it through the flood, and her people more than likely came to the American continent through some sort of migration. Even the comment about the Great Spirit was incongruous with her understanding about God.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Life, Glory, Death

Men are in rebellion against God. Our rebellion began in Adam, progresses through Adam’s offspring, appears in our hearts, and comes out our fingertips. All a person needs to illustrate his sinfulness is time and opportunity. As soon as a person is old enough and powerful (strength and ability) enough, he will naturally sin.

Another Proof of God's Existence

God created man in his own image. This means that most of the way man is is very much like the way God is. Man knows right from wrong. He knows good from bad. He knows just from unjust. He knows about forgiveness, and confession. He knows that it is wrong to steal and murder and covet other people’s stuff. Men know these things because God created them that way. When they look in the mirror, they see themselves, but they also see a reflection of God peering back at them. Men know God exists because they see the creator reflected in themselves.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Thrill Now? Thrill Then?



When you have done what God asks, for the right reasons, the outcome is that you will feel victorious and joyful. If, after being obedient, you still feel like you would have rather done the sinful thing, you need to go back to God and confess not being satisfied with his grace and provision. Not being satisfied in what he has given is a form of grumbling and that's its own sin.

Feelings are important. They often tell us what our hearts are really lusting after. If we lust after God, we're doing well and he will satisfy our lusts filling us with joy. If we lust after sin we will feel ugly and dirty. So, how do you feel? If you want joy, long lasting and eternal joy, then walk with God. If you want the cheap, short lived, though very strong thrill that masquerades as joy, then sin. But know that God provides emotions for both choices we make. And he won't chase us around forever.
It is interesting that we don't get the same thrill before being obedient that we get while flirting with sin, but it is just the opposite after we've either obeyed or fallen to sin. I guess the question then is, do you want the thrill after the act or before the act? Which one pleases God and builds you, your family, your culture, and your world? Which one destroys you, your family, your culture, and your world?

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Vessels of Honor

Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:20–21).
God has created us to be vessels of honor. Some translations loosely translate ‘vessels’ as ‘pots.’ How appropriate.

His Name is Bill

Bill has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes.  This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.  He is brilliant.  Kind of esoteric and very, very bright.
He became a Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church.  They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there.  He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair.  The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.  The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat.  By now people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.  Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and, when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.  (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Total Church

This post is my take on Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. The book was published by Crossway Books, in 2008. 


Chester and Timmis are "ministers" in home churches in Great Britain and though they say early in the book that that will not cause them to have any biases, that is clearly not the case (p. 124 for their view of Clergy). Much of what they say is good and pretty standard fare for churches who want to serve the Lord. However, they have several serious problems: First, Total Church is man centered and focused rather than God centered. This is seen in that everything in the book, called "doing church" is geared to how it affects men and what men are doing to affect men. There is only one short sentence that even mentions worship and even then it does not seek to find out what God thinks about what they are thinking and recommending (p. 86). Second, rather than being worship focused (God centered) they write that there are several other things that should be central to good church (Word, Ministry, community, Gospel, Mission, etc. p. 16, 17). On the surface, placing the Word at the center should be a good thing, but when it is used to keep us focused on what men are doing and how they are doing it, it loses its attractiveness. Third, by emphasizing community the way they effectively negate the Biblical emphasis on the family and on individuals. Finally, the philosophy of the book is very similar to the commune model taught and attempted in the 70's here in the US. Which, by the way looked a lot like a cleaned up version of leftist liberation theology.

This doesn't mean that there aren't things in Total Church that shouldn't provoke thought in the average Christian. There is much good here in terms of thinking about ministry in areas where it may not have been thought about before. There is also much good in practical ways that a church, having acknowledged that God is the center, can then move out to minister to the community.  Once you get rid of that political thinking of course.

Friday, November 19, 2010

When Mother Dies

I'm praying that God would do his best for your mother. I know how great the grief is when you mother goes to be with the Lord.

I knew my mother was dying years before she actually died, but the loss still hits me from time to time and is very emotional. I didn't live with her for many years, but there's something about your mother dying that is a lot more than simply a close person leaving your life. I think it is connected to the sense of homeness (I know that isn't a word, but it should be). Home is wherever Mom is and when she dies there is a sense that home dies too. And then, what is there? A different kind of loneliness and even emptiness. I guess that's why the Bible encourages us with the idea that God is preparing a place for us to call home. And his home is much greater than anything we've experienced on this earth. But the missing is still present, and at least on this earth, there is nowhere to call home anymore.

I work hard to make my eyes focus on the future heavenly home, and usually I do a good job of it, but there's something about a mother that is unique to all of life that way.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Maturity

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians tells us that we live by faith, not by sight. This means that even though we don’t see a thing the way God says it is, we live in accord with what God says rather than relying on our own understanding and wisdom. The reason this is true is because none of us are wise enough on our own to correctly interpret what we see around us.

The difference between a mature person and an immature person is that the more mature a person is, the more able he is to observe life and to judge it correctly according to what God says about it. This ability comes with a combination of concentrated study of God’s Word and time spent applying what he has learned. So an older man, having spent 40 years studying his Bible and applying it in his life, is almost sure to be more mature than a young man, who, though having diligently studied the Word since he was a young boy, has only lived into his 20’s. The young man can be assured that despite what he thinks, he is no match for a man who has the same training but many more years of experience. In addition, the fact that he thinks he has more wisdom and maturity shows that he doesn’t.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Impatience in Ministry

While the form of the advice comes from a pagan, the substance of the advice is thoroughly biblical. Because we have a perfect Word from God, we know exactly what direction we must go. Our goal in the Church’s ministry must be the same as Paul’s—to present every man complete in Christ (Col. 1:28). Because our worship is to glorify God, and not to please ourselves, we must never rest content until we worship Him the way the twenty-four elders do. We must never rest until the Church returns to the doctrine of Christ’s efficacious death for the sins of His people, and the appropriation of that salvation by faith alone. We make haste because we still fall short of the perfection required by God’s Word. Even in times of relative purity, the Church needs constantly to reform itself according to the Word. How much more in times of corruption!

Let Your Laughter Be Turned

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:8-10

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Checklist Approach

The second attitude is often a reaction to this modernist refusal to take God’s Word seriously. In this reaction, the list of attributes ceases to be descriptive of a certain kind of man and hardens into a checklist. And as with all “checklist” approaches to godliness, a clear arbitrariness begins to creep in—no less humanistic, even though it is thought to be “strict” or “conservative.” Countless churches have fallen away from faithfulness to Christ into an unbiblical woodenness because they were faithless first in how they selected their leaders.
Douglas Wilson, Fidelity, pg. 192.

Draw Near In Full Assurance

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:22

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Studying Arguments

Most discussions about divorce get tangled up far too quickly in discussions of what is “legal.” In others words, divorce is thought to be lawful if all the appropriate t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. And in the words of the Westminster Confession, men are apt to “study arguments” in order to make sure the whole is legal. This can happen in both the civil and biblical realms. In other words, we often treat divorce in the text as a very wooden phenomenon. If it happened “this way,” then it isn’t adultery to remarry. If it happened the “other way,” then it is. But our Lord teaches us here that divorce is a sexual phenomenon, and He relates it directly to a man’s motivations. So while we do have to consider first the outline of the biblical teaching on the nature of divorce, we must not forget this motivational question, which we will return to at the end of our chapter.
Douglas Wilson, Fidelity, pg. 68.

All These Things

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [clothing, food, shelter] will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Invisible Uniform

The problem today is that of the “invisible” uniform, the invisible worldview. Very few have eyes to see it. Remember that we are after the principle, and not a dress code, woodenly applied. The principle here is that sons must be taught not to hunger for a source of authority other than the Word of God—which is precisely what the concept of cool is. The problem is not this piece of fabric or that one, but rather a question of the source of legitimacy—is it to be found in the whims of designers and teenaged consumers, or is it to be found in the wisdom resident in Scripture?

Douglas Wilson, Future Men, pg. 158.

God Delights In Our Prayers

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Proverbs 15:8

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Having No Hands

In dealing with mysteries, wisdom is essential, and a set of wooden rules is useless. The Bible teaches us here that the relationship between the sexes is a profound mystery. This is true from the very inception of interest all the way through the fiftieth wedding anniversary. Paul tells us this explicitly: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31–32). Those who want the formation of this great mystery to be reduced to a simple checkoff list want something that cannot be. For those who have no hands, wisdom has no handles.
Douglas Wilson, Future Men, pg. 147.

Where is Your Delight?

I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
Psalm 119:47

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Not Perfectionism

Our goal is perfection, not perfectionism. The Word of God is absolute. But it is false to assume from this premise that the Bible provides a tidy list of do’s and don’ts, all of which must accord with a respectable and middle class common sense. Although the law required priests to have a  certain lineage which the usurping priests of Christ’s day did not have, the Bible still treats Caiaphas as the genuine high priest (Jn. 11:51); Hezekiah requested that God receive certain defiled Israelites coming to the reinstituted Passover (2 Chr. 30:17–19); Namaan received permission to escort his master into the house of Rimmon, and there to help him bow (2 Kgs. 5:17–18); David unlawfully ate the showbread and was praised by Christ (Mt. 12:4); and Christians should have no trouble eating meat that was offered up to an idol (1 Cor. 8:4). Perfectionism has the appearance of wisdom, but it is a work of the flesh. We do not counter perfectionism with imperfectionism; we counter perfectionism with obedience.
Douglas Wilson, Future Men, pg. 26.

God's Statutes a Delight

I will delight myself in thy statutes; I shall not forget Thy word.
Psalm 119:16

It is Good to Want God's Reward

You wrote, “…its all about ME serving God. Its [sic] makes me think that I’ve done something for God…Also, if I measure my good deeds to God’s law, they don’t look like much.”

When Christians do good deeds out of gratitude for what God has done in their lives, God blesses them. We are going to be judged according to the deeds we’ve done in this life (e.g. 1 Peter 1:17). Our deeds are evil if when we think we’ve done them on our own apart from Grace and that we’re in control. But if we acknowledge that nothing we do is done because we’re anyone, God blesses that. We know, for example, that when we pray and fast in secret our father sees us and rewards us (Matt. 6:6, 18). We also get a reward from God if we take care of folks who can’t take care of themselves (Matt. 10:42). I could go on and on. The point is that God does give rewards for things his children do. He is pleased when we obey and when we love one another by serving one another and the only way we can do this is by living out the Law.

Friday, September 03, 2010

Delight To Do His Will

I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
Psalm 40:8

Perfection VS Perfectionism

Our goal is perfection, not perfectionism. The Word of God is absolute. But it is false to assume from this premise that the Bible provides a tidy list of do’s and don’ts, all of which must accord with a respectable and middle class common sense. Although the law required priests to have a  certain lineage which the usurping priests of Christ’s day did not have, the Bible still treats Caiaphas as the genuine high priest (Jn. 11:51); Hezekiah requested that God receive certain defiled Israelites coming to the reinstituted Passover (2 Chr. 30:17–19); Namaan received permission to escort his master into the house of Rimmon, and there to help him bow (2 Kgs. 5:17–18); David unlawfully ate the showbread and was praised by Christ (Mt. 12:4); and Christians should have no trouble eating meat that was offered up to an idol (1 Cor. 8:4). Perfectionism has the appearance of wisdom, but it is a work of the flesh. We do not counter perfectionism with imperfectionism; we counter perfectionism with obedience.
Douglas Wilson, Future Men, pg. 26.

Walk By Faith

How do I work on sanctification?

You work on sanctification by receiving God’s free gifts of salvation, relationship, adoption, forgiveness, etc. Believe that these are all yours in Jesus’ Name. The Greek word that is translated believe is also translated faith and trust in various places in the Bible. In other words, when you believe that Jesus died for your sins, you trust yourself to him as Lord and you live in a way that reflects that trust. We call the reason for our submission to him, faith. Faith lives itself out in our lives by submitting to God in the Name of Jesus.

So salvation is by faith alone as they say but faith lives itself out in our lives when we obey and we do this by trusting that God knows more about what we need than we do. We rely on his wisdom and organize our lives around his Word. This organization puts us in the camp of sanctification. Notice in Colossians 2:6 it says, “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” We received the Lord by faith and were saved, now we are being called to trust him by faith and now live that way. So, you work on sanctification by trusting God for every facet of your life and living accordingly. Walk by faith, breath by faith, trust by faith, submit by faith. "For from him and through him and to are all things. To God be the glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Wearing a Frilly Apron

But in order to do this [helping boys behave like boys] properly, a right understanding of masculinity (on the part of the parents) is necessary. Small boys tend to think that masculinity consists of rolling around in the dirt, and so they are likely to dismiss a quiet studiousness in a boy as simply another form of indoor effeminacy. But we have already seen that a boy should be studying to become wise, studying to be a sage when he is old. This is not the same thing as wearing a frilly apron. Put another way, the distinction between masculinity and femininity is not one of “outdoors” and “indoors.” Women can consider a field and buy it for a vineyard, they can work in the garden, they can tend the fruit trees, and be a glory to their sex. Men can work inside too, helping and leading with many domestic duties, though their focus will be different. Role relationships are clear to the wise, but for those who want life to conform to wooden simplicities, they are a stumbling block.
Douglas Wilson, Future Men, pg. 20-21.

Delight In The Lord

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

The Jailer Touches the Prisoner

How do I get close to God?


By living according to his word. There is a doctrine called transcendence. This means that God is totally other than his creation. He is not a created being and everything else is created. This puts God in another category altogether. The temptation is to think that because God is totally other that we can’t have anything to do with him.

The Call of Death is The Beginning of Life

Joe Rosales
Greyfriars Hall
9.1.10
Hughs, Disciplines of a Godly Man


Here is a brief response to the Kent Hughes' book, Disciplines of a Godly Man.  As you will see, I focused on chapter three, which is titled, Discipline of Marriage.  I focused on this chapter because I believe that there is an obvious organic relationship which exists in the role of a husband, a pastor, and a savior, has been purposely ordained by God in marriage.  The organic relationship that exists between a husband, a pastor, and savior, is of great importance to our understanding of what marriage is and how we ought to live together as married folk.  The notion of giving yourself for someone else is the epitome of the the Christian faith, as much as giving of oneself is reflected in the person of Jesus.  As the one who gave himself to the world, and for the world, the man of God is equally called to exist in the same way.  His life is to be about giving.  Hughes' work touches on the interconnectedness between Jesus and marriage admirably, as he begins with the concept of union as the basis for all things practical.

How To Slit a Sermon's Throat

CJ Bowen
Greyfriars Hall
9.1.10
The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 1

Baxter's message rings out again and again – the preaching of the word depends on the holiness of the minister for its strength. A preacher must first allow himself to be captivated by his text, overcome by the gospel he preaches, before he can even think about having a meaningful ministry. (Not to slight the Spirit's ministry overcoming the sinfulness of preachers, and causing the true Word to shine through brittle crazy glass.) A genuine, honest man will bear more gospel fruit that the most silver-tongued of hypocrites, for, as Baxter memorably puts it, “One proud, surly, lordly word, one needless contention, one covetous action, may cut the throat of many a sermon.”

This is why the pastor needs spiritual formation just as much as he needs spiritual information. It is no injustice to evaluate the personal life of the leaders of the Church, as well as the doctrinal content of their messages. Baxter is highlighting the organic connection of doctrine and life, and exhorting pastors to watch both very carefully.

The underlying assumption of Baxter's call is that the preacher should be very concerned with his own reputation and the fruit his ministry is bearing. Now, it seems very pious to assert just the opposite, that the preacher should take no thought to how he is perceived, and “trust God” with the fruitfulness of his ministry. But Baxter is focusing on the pastor as a servant, an ambassador, one who acts on behalf of Christ. Because the preacher is called to show Christ, his reputation is tied to that of Christ. He guards his behavior not to feed his own pride, but to show forth Christ. Fruitfulness in ministry, then, is not a barometer of personal success, but a reflection of whether or not Christ is being set forth clearly.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Covenant Mantras

The federal mind is not a technique; it is a mind of wisdom. A man must always be careful to distinguish application from mindless conformity. A man can say, “I am the federal head of this place,” every morning when he gets up, but covenant mantras do not work any better than any other kind of mantra. Too many people want twelve steps, or seven steps, or three steps out of their problems, and this approach cannot be manipulated in this fashion.
Douglas Wilson, Federal Husband, Pg. 88.

He Delights In the Law of God

But his delight is in the law of the LORD
Psalm 1:2

He Delights In God

What is Sanctification?

Sanctification is the process whereby God changes sinful human beings into the image and likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Col. 2:9-10). I suppose the real question is, How does he do this?

God loves to do things through means. He makes the grass grow by the means of watering it. He saved us from our sins by means of Jesus’ death on the cross. And on and on. He makes us like Christ by bringing people into our lives and situations into our paths that cause us to choose him and his way over ourselves and our shortsighted ways.

The difference between us and Jesus is that Jesus was totally reliant on the Father for every facet of his life. We shun that reliance and continually want to go our own way and do our own thing. This is sin. But God continually causes us to see that we aren’t really smart enough, or smooth enough, or wise enough to rule our own hearts and so he brings us to the point of commitment over and over again.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Respectable Sins

Grace and Peace

"At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16: 11)

The Basket Case Chronicles #10

“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:24-25).

Left to themselves, the Jews seek after a sign. Left to themselves, the Greeks pursue what they call wisdom. But fortunately, in the grace of the gospel, the very last thing that God would do is leave us to ourselves. But notice here what God is not leaving us with—He does not abandon us to the sinfulness of seeking supernatural omens, or the stupidity of the philosophy class. When we think of sin, we tend to think of strippers and cocaine, while the apostle Paul thought of images of Jesus appearing in the clouds or the collected works of Aristotle. God’s wisdom cannot be made to line up easily with what respectable people believe to be good and wise.

When God is foolish, it is wiser than we are. When God is weak, He is far stronger than we. The reason we are constantly surprised is that not only are we foolish and weak, but we are also very slow learners.

Cordially in Christ,

Douglas Wilson

Repentance, The Gift of God

I’ve been doing some thinking about what repentance looks like so that I can explain it to those trapped in sin and who can’t seem to get out if it.

First of all everything is about God. Because he made us we are responsible to him for everything we think, do, and say. When we set ourselves up as god in our own life we sin and are not in submission to God as God. Even if we know that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but continue to live as if we didn’t know this, we have need of repentance and salvation may not be ours. Repentance means to change our minds from thinking we are the be all and end all of all things to thinking about things the way God thinks about things. That is to say we change our minds from thinking the way we want to think to thinking the way God wants us to think. Usually, we think of repentance as something we do. We stop sinning and we start doing deeds of righteousness. This is because we do what we think. Or put another way, what we think about God or god comes out our fingertips.

Not All Things Are Profitable

Dear Matt,

You should know, if you don’t already, that though we should be much better than we are, God takes us from where we actually are rather than from where we ought to be. You have sinned grievously but God forgives even the most heinous sin, if we come to him with our heart in our hand and submit ourselves to him lock stock and barrel.

It is our conviction that once sin is confessed there is no need to look back on it in a way that beats you up for the sin. God has forgiven it and you need to accept his forgiveness and move on.

Stop Navel Gazing

How do I examine myself carefully without “navel gazing?”


The best way to do this is to turn everything around and look at yourself from God’s perspective. Instead of seeing the sin in your life, see God’s forgiveness. Instead of beating yourself up over the past, accept that God already beat Jesus up on your behalf and that’s the basis for your forgiveness. When you read the Bible, you can see that God loves you and sent Jesus to die for you so that when you look at yourself you see a forgiven sinner, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, working hard to live a life worthy of his great gift.

So instead of simply looking at yourself by yourself, see yourself through the reflection of the Word of God. Read it in order to see what it says about you and believe it. The Bible says the Word of God is a mirror to your soul (James 1:23-27). So, read the Bible and see what it says about who and what you are in Christ. And, in those areas where you struggle, trust God for the power to control yourself.

When Truth Dies

Socrates realized that the death of truth would mean the death of virtue, and that the death of virtue would spell the death of civilization. Without truth and virtue the only possible outcome is barbarianism.
(R. C. Sproul, The Consequences of Ideas p. 28).

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

About Fee-based Parachurch Counseling & CCEF

Hi Robert,

I've given it a lot of thought. I was thinking of doing it as a fee based operation under the authority and oversight of the church. I don't think we have the population base necessary to have it work full time. I think the fee gives people a sense of ownership and a kind of accountability they wouldn't otherwise have. I suppose it could be both a church ministry and fee based. We could charge a minimal amount and give the money to the church, or even give it back to the person if the counseling goes well. Most people don't think they are getting anything of value unless they pay for it. They don't understand Grace.

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Courting Model — Its for the girls

Hi William,

I think the thing you don’t understand is that our views of dating vs. courting have to do with defending and protecting our women, not about antagonizing and irritating guys.

If women were wired like men, much of what you have to say would make perfect sense. I could hang with a guy for an afternoon and never talk to him again in my whole life and it wouldn’t cause him any trouble or me any trouble. But if I asked a woman to hang with me for even fifteen minutes, I would be in serious trouble. This is because women and men are different.


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

This is His Commandment

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:21 ESV

Monday, June 28, 2010

If You Don't Love Your Brother...

If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20

Friday, June 25, 2010

How To Not Win An Arguement

Dear Pastor Lawyer,
I noticed on a recent Good Reads review of yours that you don’t like it when people criticize other's ideas through the lenses of the other's teachers or heroes. How should we approach others when we want to discuss their ideas?
Interested


Dear Interested,
                Before I address the main point of your question, let me remind you of several important things you need to remember as you prepare and as you comport yourself in the battle. First, you need to remember that you exist to bring honor and glory to God. You are not in this discussion to win an argument, but to represent Christ, to incarnate Christ to the person you are arguing (in the technical sense) with. The real goal is to make Christ look good so that God will receive any glory that comes out of the conversation.

We Do Not Define What Love Is

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11 ESV

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Is Evolution Really Science?

"Clinical observations," like all other observations, are interpretations in the light of theories; and for this reason alone they are apt to seem to support those theories in the light of which they were interpreted. But real support can be obtained only from observations undertaken as tests (by "attempted refutations"); and for this purpose criteria of refutation have to be laid down beforehand; it must be agreed which observable situations, if actually observed, mean that the theory is refuted.
Carl Popper, "Science as Falsification"

No Love ≠ Know God

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8 ESV

Friday, June 18, 2010

Trying To Be Somebody

Hey Dr. Lawyer,
I hope all is well.  What would you say is the biggest controversy with the FV?

Matthew

Hi Matthew,

I think the biggest controversy of the FV thing is a lack of Christian love being shown by those who think they know something, but who have never gotten it from the beginning. I don't really see the men who were first accused of FV theology writing anything lately, but I do see them being attacked without any real evidence and with strong vitriol.


Beloved, Let Us Love One Another

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 ESV

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

By This We Know

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
1 John 3:23-24 ESV

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Truly Love

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18 ESV

Unity in Action

The Lord’s Supper is one of those events that puts into practice the things we have been talking about here this morning. The Bible says that when we eat this meal together we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Co. 11:26). But we are saying much more than that Jesus died. We are also saying that he died for us. We are proclaiming that his death paid the price for all our sins. Jesus’ death took our punishment and his resurrection gave us life. We live because he lives.

He Has Touched Your Lips

And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged” (Isaiah 6:7).
            The Bible says there is great joy among the angels of God when one sinner repents. You have confessed and repented from your sin, and I like to join with angels and so it gives me great joy to confirm for you that your iniquity is taken away, your sin is purged and your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God

Forgive the Drift

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Father of glory and light. We come to you as people who live in land which has been blessed in incredible ways. We are the first truly Christian nation, founded on Christian principles and lead be Christian men. But over the years we have seen the world, out there, and have envied what we’ve seen in what we think they have. We have left our first love as a nation. We have elected officials and leaders who do not love you and consequently don’t love us either.
Father forgive us for our drift from godly judgment, for our sin of forgetting how we got here and more importantly who got us here.  Please transform our hearts and make our nation, once again, a nation of priests and kings. Then, please give us leaders who will honor you and work hard to glorify you in all that they do and say. Please transform us into a people set on a hill so that the other nations will want what we have. They will want you. And then give yourself to them and make them like Jesus too.
We offer up our private confessions now… In the great name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

The Danger of Drifting Away

The author to the letter to the Hebrews warns his readers that they should pay special attention to the things they know about God and his salvation, lest they drift away and be lost (2:1). After a pretty impressive list of things the Ephesians are doing well and right, the author to the book of Revelation warns them that they have abandoned their first love and are in danger of being lost forever (2:4). In the book of Judges, we find a pattern played out over and over again: God was with his people, but they, in their comfort, forgot where that comfort came from and they drifted away from their relationship with God.

He Will Fulfill His Purpose For Us

We will praise you, O LORD, with all our heart; before the "gods" we will sing your praise.

As your holy temple we will bow down and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

When we called, you answered us; you make us bold and stouthearted.

May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.

May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for you glory O LORD is great.

Though you are on high, you look upon the lowly, but the proud you know from afar.

Though we walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve our life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of our foes, with your right hand you save us.

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for us; your love, O LORD, endures forever—You will not abandon the works of your hands.

And so, Father of Love, of Joy, of Holiness, we come to you now in the great name of our Lord and redeemer Jesus Christ, and in the Power of your Holy Spirit. And Amen!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Got Love?

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16 ESV

Friday, June 11, 2010

Assurance of Salvation

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
1 John 3:14 ESV

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

One of the Oldest Commands

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:11 ESV

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Children of God are Evident

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10 ESV

One Command, Two Commands

Introduction:
In many Christian circles the relationship between faith and works seems to be an interesting topic to fight over. Some say we are saved by faith and if you add anything after that sentence you are on your way to the bad place. Others say, “Faith, schmaith. What you believe doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you are doing something for the kingdom. The first readers of John’s letter were living in a situation where this topic was of first importance. But there is a third way to view these things.

Text:
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. (1 John 3:23)

Rejected With A Flair

Gracious Lord, we have indeed sinned in many and grievous ways. Left to ourselves we would be but dust on the ground. But you are a God who delights to forgive your people and so we come to you now asking that you would forgive us our sins. We know that if we were to come clothed in our own righteousness we would be rejected with a flair, but we come instead in the name of Jesus our redeemer, our holy one. We come to you in Jesus name and ask that you would please forgive us for our wandering, our drifting, and for our outright rebellion. Amen.

Strolling Over A Cliff

The Bible tells us that Jesus is Lord over all. This does not mean there aren’t other authorities in our lives, but it does mean that they are not absolute and they are not going to be able to do anything for us eternally. They can, however, affect us eternally because everything we face can be a test, or temptation to either draw nearer to our Lord, or to fall away from him. If we are told to follow someone who is asking us to sin, we are forced to choose between two authorities. Will we follow Jesus and obey God? Or will we obey the lesser authority and disobey God?

Sometimes this antithesis is obvious. For example, if your boss were to tell you to cheat one of your customers, this is clearly a violation of the law of God. Or suppose you saw one of your friends wearing a really great pair of new shoes and you want a pair just like them. So you covet your friend’s shoes, or the money he has that allows him to buy great shoes, and thus you sin against the law of God.

From Everlasting To Everlasting

Oh God, you are our God, the God of our salvation. Please hear our prayers and our praise this morning as we come to you in the Name of Jesus our conqueror. Please gather and deliver us from among the nations. Our own nation has gone adrift and is rapidly succumbing to the false idols of power and empire that other nations before us have followed. They resemble their idols and we are well on our way to doing the same. Please deliver our nation and give us repentance, reformation, and revival that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.

You are blessed O  LORD, you are the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And so we worship you now in Spirit and in truth. One God, father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Knowing and Obeying Are the Same Thing

Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 Jn 2:4-6 ESV)

The Issue of Imigration

This came from my Uncle Irvin Pentoney. I don't know whether it is one of those internet myths or not, but it made a lot of sense to me either way and so I thought I'd put it on my blog. I know I don't usually put political things on my blog. This is because politics is not our savior, Jesus is. And since that is true, I've been specifically interested in talking about the savior. Every once in a while, however, something comes along that needs to be posted in as many places as possible and this is one of them. So here you go.

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

 Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Slow to Anger

"The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..."
Exodus 34:6-7 ESV

1 John 1

Remember we begin with the “what does it say?” questions, move to the “what does it mean?” questions, and then, “what do we do with it?” questions.

Vss. 1-4
This first chapter is not really written in a flowing sort of way. One sentence does not really lead into the next sentence. So we’ll have to approach the text in a different way than with most of the rest of the book.

Who wrote the book? Who was it written to?
What is John talking about right from the start?
What other book begins by talking about the word?

Monday, March 22, 2010

If Your Heart is Wise

My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.
Proverbs 23:15-19 ESV

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Let the Godly Exult In Glory

Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!
Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
Psalm 149:1-5 ESV

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Judgment: A Good Thing

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 96:11-13 ESV

Monday, March 15, 2010

Who Knows the Festal Shout

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
who exult in your name all the day and
in your righteousness are exalted.
Psalm 89:15-16 ESV

Friday, March 12, 2010

His Name is the Lord

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
Psalm 68:4 ESV

Tired of Mediocrity

This came from my friend Jim Wilson's blog.

To Know This Mystery by Dr. Lewis L. Brock, M.D.

Status Quo!

I’m so tired of mediocrity, Lord,
Weary of the commonplace
Jaded by the customary
Of business as usual
Of life restrained
Shallow and muted

Better Alive and Theologically Immature than Dead and Mature

Wilbur,

There's a lot here. First, I don't think you are in sin because you go to an Arminian church. I would rather go to a church where the basic Gospel is taught and lived, where people love one another and are reaching out to their neighbors in love and grace, than go to a solidly Reformed church that is doctrinally right but dry, dead,  and ingrown. I would rather go to an Arminian church where they have pot-luck dinners and care for the poor, than to a Reformed church where they bicker and fight over every little thing.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Better the Eggs the Better the Omelet

Pastor Mike,

What is my role in God's Kingdom?

Wilbur


Hi Wilbur,

That's quite a question. The way I see it the goal of every Christian is to be like Christ. At the same time the church is the body of Christ and thus the whole body should be looking more and more like Christ. So we have individuals looking like Christ and the whole church looking like Christ. Sort of like eggs in an omelet. To have an omelet, you have to have eggs. The better the eggs the better the omelet.

According the tone and context of Scripture the Christian life begins with corporate worship and that is normally on Sundays. Everything else springs from that. Worship includes the music, prayer, ministry of the word, Lord's Supper, fellowship with God and with the saints, and doing it all as whole families.


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Our Guilt Has Mounted Up

"O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens."Ezra 9:6 ESV

Monday, March 08, 2010

Real and More Real

We come now to the portion of our service where we join together at the Table of the Lord. The Bible tells us that when we joined together to worship God, even though we look around and see a gym, we are, in reality sitting in the throne room of God. For the past hour and a half we have been seated in the heavenly places with myriads and myriads of angels, elders, and saints. If you would like to read about what is happening all around you turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapters 4-6. Not only are we worshipping with saints who have gone before us to their rewards, we are also worshipping with all the saints who are currently worshipping in our time zones. So, those saints down the street who don't have their act quite as together as we do are probably seated right next to us in glory. We just can't see them because we are bound to this earth.

Suffering Reveals Allegiances

The Bible tells us that until Jesus comes there will always be suffering. People close to us will die. As we grow older, we will have to deal with impaired health. People will sin. There will be opportunities for you to become angry, battle evil desires, put up with frustrations, hide from fears, flee immorality, be confused, become defensive, suffer the cruelty of others, have interpersonal disasters, live in unstable conditions, be confronted with misery, have friends who are caught up in various kinds of substance abuse, and to be anxious about everything the world throws at us.

To the Faithful and True

O father of lights we come to you this morning fleeing from the darkness that has overtaken the world. We run from the darkness because it is our hearts desire to have fellowship with you and with your son Jesus Christ. In you is light, and in this light the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin. We acknowledge that if we say we have no sin, we lie and are deceiving ourselves and calling you a liar. But we also know that if we confess our sins, you are faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You are the faithful and true God. You alone love your people enough to send your only son to die in our place. You alone are holy and pure and have vindicated your son, our redeemer, by raising him from the dead. Not only have you raised him from the dead, you have seated him at your right hand where he now sits interceding for us your people. In the light of this we worship you now through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end, amen.

Be Transformed

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 ESV

Eldon Cernik RIP

Our God and Father, we come to you this morning offering our prayers and our lives to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We know that through Jesus’ death and because of his resurrection we are brought into your presence and a relationship with you. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead shows us not only that you love and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, but also that you accept us in his name and will always accept us in his name. We come to you now and because of Jesus’ resurrection we know that we will come to you in death. We have confidence in this and rejoice and exalt your Holy Name.

Friday, March 05, 2010

This is the Will of God

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.
1 Thess. 4:3-6 ESV

1 John 2

What is the context? What happened last week?
Why did John write the letter?
What does sin have to do with it?
What should we do if we sin?
What are we saying if we say we have not sinned and/or have no sin?

Vss. 1-6

v. 1—Who does he address first?
What does John mean by little children? Is he addressing the small children in the congregation?
Why is he writing to the little children?

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Create In Me A Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12 ESV

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Salvation for All People

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14 ESV

Friday, February 26, 2010

Emotions and Memory

I was defending my Doctor of Ministry research project the other day and one of my readers, Ed Welch, mentioned something about the place of emotions in counseling. I said that I thought emotions impacted the various events in our lives in a way that made them stand out in our experience. The stronger the emotion we feel the more likely it will be that the event that gave rise to the emotion will be one we will remember for a long time. Our emotions act as a kind of carrier which make events more vivid and the memory of the experience more full. For example everyone can remember what happened at 9:00 AM on September 11, 2001, but not many can remember what they were doing at 9:00 AM on September 10, 2001. The reason might be that there has been a lot of attention given to the former date and not much to the latter. But I would contend that it is actually because there was more emotion associated with 9/11 than with 9/10.

No Shame

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Genesis 2:21-25

Friday, February 19, 2010

Jubilant With Joy

But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD; exult before him!
Psalm 68:3-4 ESV

The Grace of God Trains Us

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14 ESV

Confusing Stew

People often present a stew of problems: anger, desires, frustrations, fears, immorality, confusion, defensiveness, cruelty, interpersonal disasters, instability, misery, substance abuse, and anxiety. These defy simple categorization on a behavioral problem list! But such a confusing stew can be tied, item after item, to organizing themes in a person’s life. The Scripture presents many such themes: pride, the fear of man, mammon, the desires of the flesh, idolatry, trust in man and so forth. Biblical counselors need to learn to think thematically about the heart.
David Powlison, Crucial Issues in Contemporary Biblical Counseling, 60.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

1 John 1:1-10

Remember we begin with the “what does it say?” questions, move to the “what does it mean?” questions, and then, “what do we do with it?” questions.

Vss. 1-4
This first chapter is not really written in a flowing sort of way. One sentence does not really lead into the next sentence. So we’ll have to approach the text in a different way than with most of the rest of the book.

Who wrote the book? Who was it written to?
What is John talking about right from the start?
What other book begins by talking about the word?
What has John done with the word? “Word of life” Phil 2:16

Where Knowledge Begins

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 ESV

Let All the Upright in Heart Exult!

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, "Who can see them?"
They search out injustice, saying,
"We have accomplished a diligent search."
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!
But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
They are brought to ruin,
with their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.
Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!
Psalm 64:1-10 ESV

Monday, February 15, 2010

I Wait All Day Long

Make me to know your ways,
O LORD; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 25:4-5 ESV

Pressing On

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

Friday, February 12, 2010

With Thankfulness in Your Heart

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:16-17 ESV

Be Glad and Exult in God

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2 ESV

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Take Refuge in Him

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5:11-12 ESV

Monday, February 08, 2010

Running is Good

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.
2 Timothy 2:22-23 ESV

Monday, February 01, 2010

My Servant Shall Be Exhalted

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.  As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
Isaiah 52:13-15 ESV

Not Real Science

Hi Wilbur,

I understand what you said [an explanation of evolution]. Except for a few of the particulars, I've known what you're saying for the past 50 years or so. There's nothing new here.

What I'm wondering about is why you are so content to believe what they are telling you. You must not be a baby boomer. In the baby boomer generation, one of the creeds was, "Why?" "Why should I believe you?" "Who says?" "Where did you get that?"

The way we used it was to challenge authority, and to upset anything that stood for solidarity or permanence. Change was always good, even if it was for its own sake.

Friday, January 29, 2010

He Has Taken Up Our Cause

I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;
         you heard my plea, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help!'
You came near when I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear!'
         You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.
Lamentations 3:55-58 ESV

Changing Habits

  1. Identify the Habit you want to change.
    1. You might need help with this. If so, get help.
  2. Identify the path of the habit.
    1. Identify how you go from not doing the habit to doing the habit.
    2. What is it that starts you on the journey and what are the steps that make up the journey?
    3. How do you stop doing the habit after you’ve begun doing it?
    4. What do you do as a result of having done the habit yet again?

Consistent Living In A World Gone Mad

One of our young gents, I’ll call him Bill, wrote a post in response to Pastor Douglas Wilson’s posts regarding the issue of food. Food? You say. Yes, food. They are both arguing that food has something to do with spreading the Gospel. Pastor Wilson says that we can eat anything we want, as long as we are grateful to the Lord for providing it. He adds that there is nothing sinful about food unless one attempts to bind the consciences of those brothers and sisters around us who think differently than we do.

Bill agrees with Pastor Wilson, but doesn’t think Pastor Wilson goes far enough with his train of thought. He agrees with Pastor Wilson that we live in an ugly world, which is growing uglier every day. Abortion, murder, rape, and any number of other sinful practices are growing in leaps and bounds all around us. Bill says that food, or rather, where we get the food, impacts this discussion because many of our food sources come from people who mistreat their animals, mistreat the earth, mistreat just about everything around them, and therefore we should not partake of their wares. In fact, if we do, we are sinning.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Great Is the Lord

I will extol you, my God and King,
         and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
         and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
         and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
         and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
         and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
         and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
         and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
         slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.