tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-231913152024-03-06T20:37:35.656-08:00Fat SoulsHo, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. —Isaiah 55:1-2Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger997125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-54835070343709039392012-05-17T14:20:00.003-07:002012-05-17T14:21:26.140-07:00New Web Site And BlogWe just opened a new ministry here at Christ Church. It is called the<a href="http://www.cbcmoscow.com/"> Center for Biblical Counseling</a>. Since I don't have a lot of time to blog, I thought I would let you all know that I won't be putting much up on this site any more, at least for awhile. But you can check out the new site <a href="http://www.cbcmoscow.com/">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-91958479991996876572012-03-16T14:53:00.000-07:002012-03-16T14:53:44.145-07:00The Cuckold Effect<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hi again Hazel,</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">As you remember we can't do anything for your husband with out talking with him. In other words, we can't help him through you. We can pray for him, which I do, but unless he wants my help, I can't help him directly.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">That said, the Bible does say that there is something you can do to win your husband to Christ and to Godliness. In 1 Peter 3 it says that if a husband is not living according to the Word, he can be won back to Christ by the behavior of his wife. This should be a source of great joy and comfort for wives whose husbands have strayed. To know that a sinful husband can come back to Christ and that his wife can help him is really good news to many wives.<a name='more'></a></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">The problem comes in that the way only a wife can help her husband seems to go against everything inside her. Most women want to talk. To talk it out. To discuss the problem and come up with solutions. To make a plan and then do the plan. But the text says that a wife must keep her mouth shut. She cannot win her husband by talking to him about it. She cannot chat, or discuss things, or bring things up. She also can't yell at him, or nag him, or coerce him. She can't burn the toast, give him the "look." Everything militates against the common female responses to sin in the ranks.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">The text says she is to win him without a word. It goes on to say what she is supposed to do. She is to make the home beautiful, to make herself beautiful, to make his life a joy in every way other than to talk to him or to point to things or to question him. She is to simply bow down and call him lord. She is to submit herself to him and lay down her life for him to become his slave.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Because this goes against all wisdom, it makes no sense, the woman needs to really spend a lot of time in prayer. She needs to be on her knees to the point where her own walk with God is pure, clean, holy. She needs to walk with God in a way that causes joy to ooze out of every pore on her person. It needs to have the kind of relationship with God that anyone could do anything to her and she would praise the Lord and say something like, "thank you, I am his servant and don't deserve anything more" (Luke 17:10).</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">All this is because love is efficacious. Love changes things. Loving your husband changes him. Changing him doesn't change him at all, in fact it causes things to go the other way. Only respectful, delightful, awe filled, worshipful love will change him.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">When Jesus is talking about how to treat enemies he says to love them (Lk. 6:27). Paul takes that a bit further and says that loving enemies is like pouring coals on their heads (Rom. 12:20). This is because loving someone changes them. They cannot stay enemies for long when someone is loving them from the heart.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">1 Peter 2 creates the context for chapter 3 by telling us that we need to be like Jesus, who went to the cross in order to love his enemies. To make his enemies he laid down his life for them and we are to do the same.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">You need to know that as you begin to love your husband in this way, things might get worse before they get better. I don't now him at all, but sometimes people who are being loved will lash out at the lover because they don't think they deserve to be loved in this way. Or because they think they are being manipulated. Or because they can't continue to hate if they are being loved. However, if you continue to love despite the abuse, it will begin to have its effect and things will change.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">You should also know, that if things are as you describe them, it sounds like your husband is under a load of shame and guilt. I don't know what it might be about. It might be that he feels guilty for your affair. Men who's wives have "cheated" on them feel a great loss of manness. Men are supposed to be manly and one of the things this means is that they are supposed to maintain their families, especially the love life of their wife. When their wife has an affair it rips the roots out of his life. It makes him feel much less than he ought to be. In many men, it destroys them. They become shells of their former selves. Sometimes they become angry all the time, sullen, withdrawn, moody, go through all sorts of strange changes, or sometimes they have their own affairs to prove that they still are men.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">So if you were here, I would tell you to run to Jesus with all your heart. Read your Bible, pray, sing, hang out with Godly Christian women. I would also recommend reading <i>Disciplines of a Godly Woman</i> by Barbara Hughes. Also, you might think about reading<i> Seeing with New Eyes</i> by David Powlison. It is a counseling book, but that isn't why I'm recommending it. I recommend it because David has a great attitude toward God and what God wants for us. Read it for yourself, not for your husband. Remember, you aren't allowed to say anything to him.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">If your husband does ask what is going on, tell him that you've decided to love Jesus and serve your husband in the love that Jesus gives. Don't lecture, don't tell him what he needs to do or not do. Don't try to fix him or the situation. If he has questions, point him to your pastor or to me. But don't you try to fix anything. Even if he wants to hear what you think, you should do all that you can to tell him without teaching him.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">This is because what you are trying to do is to help him walk with God on his own and to restore the relationship you have with your husband in the Lord. If you teach him, you will be taking his spot in the family and this won't be helpful. Especially if part of the problem is that he doesn't think he is the man he ought to be. You both need to let God place you back in your proper places in the family.</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">I've said enough for now. I hope this helps.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-54420001745739914902012-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:002012-03-15T16:37:39.833-07:00Right and Wrong<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hi Ben,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">You ask a good question. Many non-Christians think they have the Christian stumped when they ask questions like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">You want a good response to the question: <span style="background: white;"> "Do you really expect me to believe that they [the Jews] made it all the way to Mount Sinai thinking everything was permissible only later to be told that it was to be avoided by God?"</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think you are on the right track with Rom. 2:15. However, I'm not sure I would quote it at someone, simply mention it in a paraphrased way. But first, I would say something like, "No, I'm not trying to get you to think that the Jews didn't know what was wrong or right until Sinai. Of course they knew wrong from right. Everyone knows wrong from right. Even you. In the same way you know wrong from right, you also know that wrong and right are objectively wrong and right and this is because God made it to be this way. And yes, I am telling you that you believe in God and the fact that you use terms like wrong and right, in an objective way, proves it." Rom. 2:15 is certainly in the background of this kind of answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don't know of it would be helpful to share this part with the non-Christian, at least in every case, but it would be good for you to know. God did not give the Law to the Jews at Sinai because they had never heard of right and wrong before. He was giving it to them because he was creating a relationship with them; a covenant relationship, with rights, promises and expectations, blessings and curses. It had nothing to do with knowing what right and wrong was. It had to do with God, the creator of the universe, naming them and calling them out to be a people, his people and he their God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was God telling the Israelites, I'm your God and you're my people and this is how we're going to relate to one another from now on. You guys do these things and I'll do these things. I'm your God and this is how its going to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">All the nations had their gods and all the nations had codes of behavior that their gods expected them to fulfill and to perform as part of their worship. It just happened that because YHWH was THE God his requirements were also the absolute requirements of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I hope this helps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-86606129551456628762012-03-12T12:47:00.000-07:002012-03-12T12:47:27.241-07:00The Explosion of Repentance — 2 Cor. 7:5-11<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Introduction:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">We live in a world where people feel bad for all sorts of things: People feel sorry for the pain they inflict on others. They feel sad because they do things that affect themselves. They sorrow over the loss of various things, homes, family, jobs, money, etc. People feel bad when they are caught in their sin, either by someone or by God. Shouldn’t we feel bad when bad things happen? Shouldn’t we be sorrowful when we do sinful things against one another? This passage has something to say about sorrow and what godly sorrow, that is sorrow that is helpful, looks like.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Text:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within… </span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">2 Cor. 7:5-11</span></i></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overview:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Paul begins our text by telling the Corinthians he has been afflicted in every way while he has been in Macedonia [he went there because he did not find Titus in Troas—2:13] (v. 5), but was comforted by God when God sent Titus to him (v. 6). Titus’ visit brought him comfort, but also and for the purposes of this letter the news brought Titus brought great comfort to Paul (v. 7). He then moved on to apologize for a letter he had previously written to the Corinthians. Apparently this letter was taken with a bit of offence at first and had caused the Corinthians some grief, which is why Paul sent Titus to them (v. 8). Paul told them that he had a difficult time writing it because he knew it would cause grief, but he also knew that not all grief was bad (v. 8). This letter had caused the folks to grieve only until they realized that what Paul had written was true and their grief turned to joy as they repented from their sins and turned to God (v. 9). And Paul is rejoicing because the repentance caused godliness, it did not cause them any permanent harm. They suffered no loss because of their sorrow (v. 9).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Then Paul contrasts the two kinds of directions grief and sorrow can take people: they can either respond in ungodliness, which leads to death, or they can respond in repentance which leads to salvation (v. 10). Paul finishes our section by describing the repentance produced by godly sorrow (v. 11). Godly sorrow produces repentance that is in a big hurry, desires strongly to clear the person’s name, indignation against the sin, fear of God, longing to be cleared of the offence, zeal to live a right life and revenge or punishment on all sinfulness (v. 11).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Comfort God’s Way: Let’s talk about comfort for a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Paul describes comfort as something that comes from God. God comforts the downcast (v. 6). God is a comforting God. Who does he comfort? The downcast, those who suffer. In this context Paul is suffering in Maccedonia presumably for preaching the Gospel, for having written a hard letter to the Corinthians and not knowing the outcome, in being lonely. He says the conflict is coming from outside him, presumably from the Jews and Gentiles he was preaching the Gospel to, and from the fears and insecurity that comes along with ministry on the inside, namely concern for those who had heard and believed, those who were being seduced by false teaching, those where scandalizing weaker believers, and fearing the outcome of those who were being preyed upon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is important to know that God is a God of comfort. Peter </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">(1Pe 5:7)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> said to, “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Ps. 55:22)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">. But how does God give comfort? In this case he sent Titus to Paul. Typically God comforts his people by sending others to them. In Eph. 5:14 Paul tells us that those who have the light shined on them become visible and not only do they become visible, but they also become light. When God sends one of his little ones to us to give us comfort, God himself is coming to us. And when we go to someone who needs comfort, we are God giving comfort. We are incarnating Christ to someone in need. There is a strong sense in which, when we comfort someone in the name of Jesus it is Jesus we are reflecting and Jesus we have become to them. God coming and giving us comfort.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">This comfort is increased when the messenger comes with good news. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." (Isa 52:7). Titus brought good news to Paul. When you go to visit someone who needs comfort, you have the opportunity to bring good news to them. It might come in the form of information that sooths their soul, but it might also simply be a word from the Lord, a kind word, an uplifting word, or a simple blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Grief Two Ends:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Worldly grief, the text says, leads eventually to death. But what are some of the steps along the way? It helps a bit to talk first about worldly joy. What kinds of things give worldly people joy? They exult in the work of their hands, the works of the things around them, as if they made them. They exult in their families, friends, acquaintances. They boast in their minds, their thoughts, and their ability to think. They rejoice in their ability to play God with everything in their reach. They find joy in the ability to control things, situations, and people. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Now, take a look at their grief. What causes sorrow in the worldly person? Take away the things that give them joy and watch what happens (or point out that the thing they found joy in is either a lie or empty). Sorrow in a non-Christian produces resentment, anger, striving, bitterness, hardness of heart. And as Paul said in Romans 2:5 “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Think of Esau, Judas, the grief stricken merchants in Revelation 18:11ff. think of the co-worker who wakes up after a bender and feels horrible for what he’s done, but then does it again the very next weekend. That kind of sorrow traps and kills.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Grief that is in accord with God’s Will produces godly repentance which in turn produces life with no regrets. Look at what Godly sorrow produces. What repentance looks like from the outside. Paul really emphasizes this when he says, “Just look at what it produces!!!” (1) What hast, eagerness, zeal, and earnestness. What seriousness of purpose. (2) What defense of yourselves, the word is the word we get apologetics from. It is the kind of defense that is actually a very strong offense. (3) What indignation: probably at the source of the problem Paul is attacking, and at themselves for falling for that old trick. (4) What fear: probably something like a fear that their sin has caused great damage in the world that God so carefully made, and the Kingdom of God that Christ died to create. (5) What yearning, what longing, KJV has vehement desire: probably related to their zeal to do what is right and to be what God has for them. In Eph. 5:1 Paul tells the reader they are to imitate beloved children who want to be like their father, so we too are to be like God as beloved children. (6) Paul used a different word here from the Zealousness he used before. They have very similar meaning. The difference is that the first one has to do with speed. The second may have to do with depth of change. And (7) What Punishment, revenge, avenging the wrong, a strong desire to see wrongs righted and justice carried out and God lifted up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">At every point, the person who expresses godly repentance explodes with unreserved godliness and God focus. Every fiber of the repentant person is focused on serving, pleasing, and imitating God. They are so wrapped up in the joy of having been forgiven and given the opportunity to turn things around that they are almost literally on fire for God. Godly repentance produces an explosion in the life of the one who sorrows for their sin in a godly way. And it is the kind of explosion that everyone around him or her can see.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Conclusion:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Regret, remorse, sorrow, etc. for sin and repentance are not synonyms. “I’m sorry” is not the same thing as I repent and turn to God with my whole heart. Repentance is an explosion changes that reflect received grace and mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-10138179252486063762012-01-12T11:03:00.001-08:002012-01-12T11:03:26.742-08:00Piper and ChestertonThis is just great stuff: <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-sovereign-god-of-elfland-why-chestertons-anti-calvinism-doesnt-put-me-off">http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-sovereign-god-of-elfland-why-chestertons-anti-calvinism-doesnt-put-me-off</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-51993401019878306312011-12-06T16:10:00.000-08:002011-12-06T16:10:41.899-08:00On Reading Sermons<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When you do so much reading it is difficult to join with you in what you are saying. Reading tends to keep your emotion and intonation out of your presence and voice. In the same way that affirmation brings the person you are affirming along with you and puts them on your side, so too does emotion in the message. The preacher needs to get fired up about what he is talking about and then that emotion needs to carry over into the listener and bring them along with where the preacher is going.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Reading tends to cause you to lose the congregation's attention because you lose eye contact, you tend to read in either a sing songy tone, or a monotonous tone, or with a steady speed. Speaking extemporaneously allows you to vary what you are saying to keep the flow interesting for the listener and to engage them in the subject. They want to hear what you are saying because they are caught up in what you care about, because you care about it, and they care about you.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Reading keeps your personality out of the message. Some think this is a good thing because, they say, it lets Jesus and not the preacher shine through. But that goes against the Scriptural model. The Biblical preacher speaks for God, but each preacher is different because each one is also preaching. Isaiah is clearly not like Job. And Moses is clearly not like Paul. You can tell them apart because each man was also preaching. A preacher needs to let his own person shine through so the people can rally around him and come near to Christ with him. This can be done by a person reading most of his sermon, but only in rare circumstances and not for very long periods of time.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-91536858776203297602011-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:002011-12-02T14:12:39.237-08:00We Played the Flute and You Did Not Dance<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Luke 7</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Introduction:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you are careful, when you read the bible, you will see two very stark differences between the world of the Bible and the world we live in. First is that the culture of the godless world is incredibly godless. They evil seems to be able to get no worse. People kill one another at the drop of a hat. Kings and princes rule with absolute authority and no one, other than someone equally terrible has anything to say or do with it. At least in our world, people are generally nice. You can disagree on almost any topic without worrying that the one you are talking to will kill you the moment you turn around.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The other stark difference is that the Godly are immeasurably more godly than we are. Christians and god fearers in both Testaments are regularly killed for their faith. They are tortured, they are sawn in two, they are crucified, they are starved, lose their homes, are spit upon, families leave them, you name it, they receive it gladly because they know they have a glorious home waiting for them with Christ. You could say that this only highlights the first point. But I bring it up to show that Christians in the first century believed the truth of the Gospel to the point where they would put up with any and every affront to their personhood to obtain what was promised.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><a name='more'></a>Text:<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Capernaum</st1:city></st1:place>. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant… (Luke 7)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Summary of The Text:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Because this is a long chapter, I will summarize the text according to each vignette by vignette rather than verse by verse.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The end of chapter six finds Jesus preaching on what Luke calls the sermon on the plain, or the ESV has a “level place” (6:17). After that chat, Jesus goes down into <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Capernaum</st1:place></st1:city> (7:1). In <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Capernaum</st1:place></st1:city>, a centurion hears about Jesus and all the things he has been saying and doing. One of his favorite servants is sick and near death. The Centurion thinks the only hope the servant has is if Jesus will come and heal him, so because he is too humble to go himself, he persuades the Jewish leaders to go to Jesus and plead with him to come and heal him. As Jesus get near the house, the Centurion thinks further about who he is asking to do service to him and humbles himself even more when he tries to get Jesus to go on his way. He doesn’t even go to Jesus, he is too struck by his lowly position and sends servants to talk to Jesus. “I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He goes on to say that if only Jesus will simply say the word and the servant will be healed. He understands that Jesus is working in a realm far higher than the one he is working in. But he realizes too that Jesus is not a simple underling. He is in a position of authority and when he says something, things happen. The centurion likens it to the chain of command he has with his troops. This attitude causes Jesus to marvel at him and even though the man is a Roman, Jesus has found no greater faith in all <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> than what he sees in this man. And the text says, “when the ones who had been sent went home, they found the servant well.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Shortly after this event, Jesus went to a town called Nain (v. 11). There, Jesus comes across a funeral procession. He pauses, sees what is happening, goes to the mother and full of compassion, tells her to stop weeping. Then he reaches up on the bier and tells the young man to “rise up.” The dead man sat up and began chatting with everyone and Jesus gave him to his mother. The result was great fear of God and the word spread about Jesus like there was never any greater news on the planet.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When the news got to John the Baptist, he was, as Matthew tells us, in prison. He was near his own death and seemed to have wanted to make sure that his mission was truly over. He sent two of his disciples to Jesus to find out if he was the one they were waiting for or not. Jesus’ response was to tell them to examine the fruit. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (v. 22).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After this, Jesus notices a number of people who were in attendance were talking in a derogatory way about John. Jesus lights into them and says that John had a cosmic role in the history of the world. He was sent to prepare the way for the Messiah and had done exactly as he was directed. Many of the people, who had been baptized by John rejoiced in John’s faithfulness. The rest, mostly Pharisees and lawyers, rejected God’s gift to them in John and now in Jesus (v. 30).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jesus goes on to say that their generation is like the children who wouldn’t dance though others played the flute for them (v. 32). The leaders played the tune, but John and now Jesus wouldn’t play the game they way they wanted it played and they were accusing John and Jesus of all sorts of things—interestingly they were opposite things. John was an ascetic and Jesus was a drunk. In the end wisdom is justified by her children.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The last story is one in which one of the Pharisees has invited Jesus to dine with the family. While he is there a woman, who is from the city and is a sinner, comes in and weeping, pours very expensive ointment on Jesus feet and mixes it with her tears and kisses and anoints Jesus’ feet with her hair. The Pharisee, of course, is incensed that Jesus wouldn’t know what kind of woman this was and that he would let her even touch him (v. 39).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jesus goes on to tell one the more famous stories of the Bible. If one person is forgiven a huge debt, he will be much more likely to feel close to the one who does the forgiving than someone whose debt is pretty minor. Simon knows this principle, but doesn’t see himself in the story. He doesn’t see, first that the women is simply responding to great forgives, and second that if he were seeing the world rightly he would realize that his sin is much greater than hers because his sin is against the Holy God who Simon pretends to serve. Jesus said, “<span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little" (v. 47).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE;">The Kind of Faith that Changes Nothing<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">This chapter teaches two kinds of faith. And these last two verses encapsulate them both. The first is the kind of faith that recognizes that something happened, “who is this, who even forgives sins?”, but nothing changes. The second kind of faith is exemplified by the statement, “your faith has saved you; go in peace.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">These two kinds of faith are potentially present in each story, but the stories are not about the first kind as much as they are illustrations of the second. If the centurion had heard about Jesus, but had not sent for him to have his servant healed, his servant would have died right then. If the woman had not stopped the bier to let Jesus touch her son, the son would have stayed dead. If none of the people Jesus healed had gotten out of their beds, or opened their eyes, or could actually hear, or had stayed on their piers, or had kept their crutches, or had stayed in their sins, they would have had the first kind of faith, but not the second.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">Later in the chapter the first kind of faith is exemplified by the Pharisees, the lawyers and their friends. They were the ones who went into the dessert to see a reed blowing around in the wind (v. 24). They were the ones who went to see a man in soft clothing (v. 25). But those kinds of men are in kings’ courts, the very places that these Pharisees and lawyers normally hung out. These people saw John, listened to him, saw the changes he made in all the people who believed his message, but did nothing about it. At the time of this discussion, John was languishing in prison awaiting the removal of his head. And they did nothing to free him from the Jewish king who ruled at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">And then, they complained when John and Jesus did what God wanted, ignored the “leaders” of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> and did what God wanted instead of what the Pharisees wanted. They wouldn’t dance. Matthew adds, “we sang a dirge for you, but you wouldn’t mourn” (11:17).They wouldn’t play the game. And they suffered the human consequences for their godliness, but also received the rewards of their holiness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE;">The Second Kind of Faith—Real Faith—Saving Faith<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">The main point of the chapter, however, is that when people heard about Jesus, they believed what they heard, and it transformed their lives. The centurion knowing who Jesus was, sent Jewish leaders, to use the chain of command, to Jesus, then thought about it further and sent his servants to ask Jesus to simply give a command to the cosmos and his daughter would be healed. The commanded young man got out of the bier and lived. The blind received their sight. The deaf heard. The lame walked and according to Acts leaped as well (Acts 3:8). The sinful woman crept into the pompous Pharisees house and poured her costly perfume on Jesus’ feet and weeping for the joy of having been in the presence of the creator of the universe, wiped it on his feet with her hair. All because they believed the news they heard about Jesus. And it changed their lives. It changed the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">I mentioned in the beginning that we live in a very different world from the one Jesus lived in. Our non-Christian world is no where near as ugly as the world John lived in when they cut off his head on the whim of a young girl. And our Christian world is not as holy as Jesus world when the woman wept on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her most precious possession with her hair. What is the difference? I believe it is that Christianity changed the world to be a much more watered down world in terms of evil. Nice is what rules our part of the world. Fair is another word you hear a lot. But this makes the non-Christians a lot “nicer ‘and a lot more “fair.” On the other hand, not having a worthy opponent has allowed the Christians to soften up. We no longer need to stand for Christ with the potential loss of limb or life. We have become correspondingly soft. As the world has become nicer, Christians have become less faithful. We have slowly slid into the first kind of faith. We read what Jesus did, but we don’t act on it anymore. We don’t stand up to the evil of the world, partly because it isn’t all that evil, but also because we don’t want to give up our cushy life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">But think about this, isn’t what we are doing the same thing as what the Pharisees were doing? Aren’t we asking Jesus to dance to our tune? Aren’t we asking Jesus to mourn when we cry our sad song? When Jesus says rise up, are you jumping up in strong and life changing belief, or are you stretching first and then slowly rising, making sure that it doesn’t offend anyone, or if it does, it does it in the most polite way?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">It is interesting that the world changed because the Christians acted like Christians, now we say our world is in the mess it is in because the non-Christians are so powerful, so mean and nasty. But who did God make to be the leaders around here? Christians led us into this mess, and only Christians, who believe, who have faith, and who trust in the promises of God can get us out of it. But only for God’s glory.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">God of glory, full of promises, we beseech you to reveal to us ways in which we have not believed like the centurion, the young dead man, the formerly blind, deaf, lame, poor, and the woman who wept at your son’s feet. Please turn the hearts of your people back to you in a way that shows a difference in the way we live in our families, in our jobs, in our studies, in every area and facet of our lives. We beg you to transform our lives as we believe you and believe in you. Help us in our unbelief. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus Christ the Holy one. Amen.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-20521768619374781352011-12-02T14:10:00.000-08:002011-12-02T14:10:04.941-08:00Living Together In Faith<div class="MsoNormal">We call this part of the service, Communion, because that is what we do here. We commune. We eat, we drink, we fellowship with and in the Lord. We do it in a somber and controlled way. In the early church they used to have what they called “love feasts.” It sounds like they had a rollicking good time. In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Corinth</st1:city></st1:place>, they even had people drinking enough wine to get drunk and eating so much that they were accused of debauchery and gluttony. I think it would be good to figure out a way to make the service a serious feast in both senses of serious: seriously lavish, and seriously solempne, as CS Lewis coined the word.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The main point of the service is to remember that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Jesus died on the Cross for us, rose from the dead with us, and now sits at the right hand of the father on high, interceding for us.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With a sermon like the one we just experienced we may be tempted to think we aren’t worthy to participate in this sort of meal. But this is the best place to begin acting out our faith.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you believe that Jesus died for your sin, even your sin of unbelief? Then this table is for you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you believe that Jesus lives so that you can live a new life, filled with the kind of life that many of the saints in history lived and in other parts of the world are living? Great! This meal if for you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you believe that try as hard as you might, much of the time you just can’t get it right? And do you believe that that is precisely why you need an arbiter, an intercessor, and a mouthpiece? Do you believe that only Jesus can fulfill that role? Wonderful! This meal is for you. So, come and eat, come and drink.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-61778764635331708492011-12-02T14:07:00.000-08:002011-12-02T14:08:04.980-08:00The Bema Judgment<div class="MsoNormal">I recently was reacquainted with a doctrine called the “Bema Judgment of God.” The Bema judgment is the teaching that says that at the end of time, before the final judgment of God all men will be judged for what they have done in this life, whether good or sinful.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The teaching comes primarily from Romans 14:10 which says “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” and 2 Cor. 5:10 which says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a>From these, Christians have concluded that though their sins may actually be forgiven (according to 1 John 1:9), they will still have to face God in the end, and explain all the crazy, sinful things they did in this life. They will stand before God and be embarrassed for all eternity because of their shameful behavior.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But the Bible does not teach this doctrine. The bible clearly and plainly teaches that those who have put their trust in Jesus have an advocate in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1), Jesus intercedes for those who come to God through him (Heb. 7:25), Jesus is our representative (Heb. 2:17), and because Jesus is our high priest (Heb. 4:15) we will stand before God bathed in the righteousness of Christ.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There will be a judgment in the end, but what the Bible teaches is that something like this will happen. God’s people will stand in the box and God will start to ask us to give an account of ourselves. That that point Jesus will step forward and shout for all creation to hear, “This is my brother. I died for him.” “This is my sister, I shed my blood on her behalf.” “This is my father and my mother, they are mine. They belong to me.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And God will say to Jesus, “That’s good enough for me.” Then, he will turn to us and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into my rest” (Matt. 25:21).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Bible does say that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), but it goes on to say that if we sin after having confessed them already, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 John 2:1). Once confessed, they will never be brought up again. They will be forgotten never to be remembered (Heb. 10:17).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">With this in mind, as you are able, join me in kneeling before the Lord of glory to confess our sins.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-45493905741908377922011-12-02T14:05:00.001-08:002011-12-02T14:05:32.128-08:00Everlasting God<div class="MsoNormal">O God, you are the everlasting God, you were before anything, and from you everything came. And because of you everything that lasts will last because you hold it in your hand and in you all things hold together.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">O God, you are the everlasting God, you chose our father Abram from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Ur</st1:city></st1:place> of the Chaldeans and separated him from his relative and his land and brought him into a foreign land in order to create an everlasting covenant.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">O God, you are the everlasting God, you sent your only Son to die in our place so that we could be included in that same covenant. You raised Jesus from the dead so that we could live new lives.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">O God, you are the everlasting God, you chose us to continue the everlasting covenant into all eternity.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We come to you now, in the great Name of Jesus asking that you would accept our worship because he died for us and now intercedes on our behalf. We know fully that you are from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And so Everlasting Father, we worship You now through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end, amen.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-63772886874456725942011-12-02T13:56:00.000-08:002011-12-02T13:56:47.455-08:00Terminal Illness<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At times like this it is good to remember that God is God. We/you don't have to do anything except wait on him and remember that he is God. Everything will work out the way he wants it to work out and everything will work out for his glory.</span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What I mean by times like this isn't the events that are happening all around you. I mean the results or affects that you can have in those events. These, in particular, are events whose results are totally outside your ability to control them. Nothing you can do, say, think, or feel will change anything. You can only rest in God's judgments, mercy and grace. You can only draw closer to him and wait and see what he's going to do.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-3207394715850064102011-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:002011-10-25T15:53:12.794-07:00Radically Changed My Life<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #333333;">Leading this ministry has radically changed my life. It's dramatically impacting the hurting souls of men and women.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #333333;">From <i>Equipping Counselors for Your Church</i>, by Robert Kellemen, p. 142.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-13302502991406481692011-10-25T15:49:00.000-07:002011-10-25T15:49:24.307-07:00Rejoice Before the Lord<div class="MsoNormal">And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters...</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">Deuteronomy 12:12</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-61081834159615598052011-10-25T15:47:00.001-07:002011-10-25T15:47:34.796-07:00Members of One Another<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">Romans 12:4-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-81447790584129855122011-10-21T16:40:00.000-07:002011-10-21T16:40:55.332-07:00Gives Grace to None But...<div class="MsoNormal">Martin Luther describes this good news: “God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead….He has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rid of My Dis<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">grace</b></i>, p. 17</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">The Luther quote is from Martin Luther, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Seven Penitential Psalms</i>, 1517</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-15792092833447439582011-10-21T16:34:00.001-07:002011-10-21T16:34:55.724-07:00As I Have Loved You<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">John 13:34</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-28628940571200132812011-10-19T15:10:00.000-07:002011-10-19T15:10:37.804-07:00Peace With One Another<div class="MsoNormal">Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">Mark 9:50</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-13952132240960330482011-10-19T15:06:00.000-07:002011-10-19T15:06:28.389-07:00Marx's Greatest Error<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">This was Marx’s greatest error. He assumed the myth that the rich can only get rich at the expense of the poor. One man’s gain must spell another man’s loss. That may be true in a poker game, but not in the real world of business. With the increase of production by better tools, the cost per unit of goods declines (through the law of supply and demand). This makes it easier for people to receive the goods and services, and it raises the poor person’s standard of living. No economic system has been as effective as capitalism in raising the human standard of living.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">R. C. Sproul, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Consequences of Ideas </i>p. 144.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-77222858356626086132011-10-19T14:57:00.000-07:002011-10-19T14:57:48.481-07:00Primarily a Savior<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Paul's religion was based not on right ideas about God and His relations to the world, but upon one thing that God had done. Not upon an eternal truth, the Fatherhood of God, but upon the fact that God had chosen to become the Father of those who accept the redemption offered by Christ. The religion of Paul was rooted altogether in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Jesus for Paul, was not primarily a revealer, but a Savior.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Gresham Machen</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-65346556654764674032011-10-19T14:55:00.000-07:002011-10-19T14:55:50.407-07:00A Bit of News<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There were lots of moral teachers in the ancient world, but Christianity was started not by lots of moral teachers in the ancient world, but by a bit of news." The news that He was born, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">suffered, raised, and ascended.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Gresham Machen</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-66217028427404985552011-10-19T14:53:00.001-07:002011-10-19T14:53:47.177-07:00Recently Happened<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The religion of Paul was a religion of redemption. It was founded not upon what had always been true but upon what had recently happened.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Gresham Machen</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-17600557679330652362011-10-04T09:43:00.000-07:002011-10-04T09:43:37.509-07:00Change for the Long Haul<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hello Pastor Elmore,</span><br />
<div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I hope this letter finds you doing well. I can give you some answers.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">First, always remember that there is a higher right than being right. Love covers a multitude of wrong doctrine, immaturity, and sins. Let it do so.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Second, guard like the plague becoming tight shoed and getting your skivvies in a knot. The temptation, as your church studies doctrine, will be to become students of the word instead of worshippers of God. Don't let that happen. Knowledge of God is only good as long as it is expressed in worship of God and devotion to one another.<a name='more'></a></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Third, change slowly. It took us around 10 years to have all wine in in the communion trays after Pastor Wilson decided that we should be doing that. He taught on it, and mentioned it, and made oblique references to it until everyone was screaming at him for taking so long to actually do it. This doesn't mean that you have to wait until every single person in your congregation is behind you, but wait until the vast majority are board. There will always be curmudgeons who won't want to change no matter what it is about. Just blow right by these folks, kindly, but don't let them hold you back.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Fourth plan for the long haul. This goes with the third one, but it can't be emphasized enough. Try very hard to keep your sights on the horizon without letting that view keep you from ministering to the flock at your feet.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Fifth, and this goes to one of the earlier ones too. Make worship on Sunday mornings central to all that you do as a church. Make fellowship, parties, feasts, hoop-la second. And have a great time. Make joy in the presence of God the aim. Hold that vision in front of the people all the time.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sixth, be careful not to be heavy handed in your leadership. You'll need to incarnate the love of Jesus in all that you propose to do. If what you want is not godly and reflecting the love of Christ, you might as well hang it all up.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Some books to read to start would be <i>Mother Kirk</i> and <i>Angels in the Architecture</i> both by Doug Wilson the second was written with Doug Jones.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-17679190571386390342011-10-03T12:31:00.001-07:002011-10-03T12:31:52.634-07:00Worried About Health<div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Worry is generally a situation where people take trust for the future out of God's hands and try to figure it out for themselves. But we are limited and can't see very far into the future and so we worry.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While it is true that we are all dying and that many of us will die of not very comfortable things, God is still using the circumstances in our lives to make us like Jesus. Last week's lecture pointed out that God often doesn't change our circumstances, but he will and does change how we think about those circumstances. Yesterday, our pastor preached through 1 Samuel 23 and noted that even though David was the rightful King of Israel, he was still hiding in the woods. He needed Jonathan to come and give him comfort. Did David have reason to worry? Well in the sense that he didn't know the future, yes. But in the sense that he knew the one who controls the future, no.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Worry is always a lack of trust that God has things under control. Either he does, or he doesn't. Either he loves us or he doesn't. He can be in control, and he can let us die of a terrible untreatable cancer, and he loves us, all at the same time. Colossians 2:6 says that we are to live our lives from day to day in the same way we came to Christ in the first place--by faith. 'Faith' is translated from the Greek word that is also translated 'belief' and 'trust.' When we walk by faith, we are living in a way that trusts whatever God has in store for us.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The only thing worry can do is to bring on the thing we tend to worry the most about--bad health. It robs our joy. It saps our strength. It makes us edgy. It gives us an excuse to be angry with God, which unrecognized turns into bitterness. And it makes us no fun to be around.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The end of Matthew 6 has a lot of good things to say about worry.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Whatever you do with your wife, to it gently and kindly. Relate with her in such a way that she will want to be like you, trusting in Jesus for every aspect of life.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-15736622295162004292011-09-13T09:57:00.001-07:002011-09-13T09:57:30.369-07:00To This You Were Called<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="mso-bidi-language: HE;">1 Peter 3:9<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23191315.post-64681065748335315042011-09-13T09:55:00.001-07:002011-09-13T09:55:27.364-07:00Confession and Petition<div class="editnote" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 9.65pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.</span></div><div class="editnote" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 9.65pt;"><span class="highlight"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="editnote" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 9.65pt;"><span class="highlight"><span style="color: #333333;">I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy</span></span> <span class="highlight"><span style="color: #333333;">love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.</span></span></div><div class="editnote" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 9.65pt;"><br />
</div><div class="editnote" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 9.65pt;"><span class="highlight"><span style="color: #333333;">No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of Jeshurun, for helping me to</span></span> <span class="highlight"><span style="color: #333333;">be upright.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0