4sixteen

Sherlock Holmes and the Christian Mind: Reflections on Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Romans 12:2

2010-08-04T23:18:00.007-04:00

Recently I read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes mystery novel A Study in Scarlet. I was actually shocked to learn that some of my conceptions of Holmes had been based on false notions and wishful thinking. Surely Holmes was intellectually superior in all areas. Surely he was above flattery. I soon learned that he was not above flattery, and indeed he was not the master of every subject. Within the first 12 pages Watson has made a list entitled “Sherlock Holmes—his limits”:

1 Knowledge of Literature: Nil.

2 Knowledge of Philosophy: Nil.

3 Knowledge of Astronomy: Nil.

4 Knowledge of Politics: Feeble.

5 Knowledge of Botany: Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons…

6 Knowledge of Geology: Practical but limited…

7 Knowledge of Chemistry: Profound.

8 Knowledge of Anatomy: Accurate, but unsystematic.

9 Knowledge of Sensational Literature: Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.

10 Plays the violin well.

11 Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.

12 Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

This whole exercise in finding Holmes’ limits began when Watson began discussing the Copernican Theory—stating that the earth traveled around the sun. He was astonished that Holmes did not know even this simple fact.

“You appear to be astonished,” he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. “Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it.”

“To forget it!”

“You see,” he explained, “I consider that a man’s brain originally is like an empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to thinks that the little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing of the useful ones.”

Wow! Such singularity of vision and focus! This is one of the reasons Sherlock Holmes will always be considered the quintessential detective. But, as I read this, I could not help but think how theological this statement was—how well it might speak to Christians today.

Since I was a kid I have noticed a trend among Christians (including myself) to rationalize that anything that wasn’t “sinful” was permissible and maybe even to be encouraged in the name of being culturally relevant. TV shows, movies, books, etc. become good or bad based on how “sinful” they were and all other considerations fly out the window. “You don’t want to become so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good” some people say and even more people think. Thus begins the slippery slope of enculturation and mediocre Christianity.

If we take Sherlock Holmes’ advice, however, we come to a whole new level in our Christian thinking—one I think that works quite well with Philippians 4:8.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” This is a different level of thinking. The criterion isn’t how bad something is or what can I get by with, but rather “How good is it?...Is this the best?”

Our goal in the Christian life is to be like Christ Jesus. We have a limited amount of time and brain cells. The tools we need to be stocking in our “brain-attic” are tools that will help us along the path to Christ-likeness. To be sure we should have a large assortment, but rather than thinking in terms of what we can get by with in pleasing ourselves, we should start asking ourselves how what we are feeding our brains can be used for the Kingdom. 2 Corinthians 10:5 puts it this way: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We take every thought captive? This is very purposeful thinking, but it is in this way that Christian thinking takes place. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

If we want to follow Jesus—we can’t think like the world (1 John 2:15-17). In order to not think like the world, we have to have a renewed mind, and in order to have a renewed mind we have to be careful what we think about or passively allow into our brains. As the old adage goes, “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

If this is the case, it is not good enough to just stay away from bad things. Time is of the essence and we must be about our Father’s business. As Ernest Dimnet says in his book The Art of Thinking, “Do not read good books—life is too short for that—only read the best.” This simple rule could be applied to all areas of our lives. We cannot afford to clutter our lives and our brains with meaningless or haphazard facts, thoughts or events. We need to be able to access the tools we need for the journey without having to sift through the junk. For the Christian life this means a very conscious effort to apply Philippians 4:8 as a filter through which everything must pass.

Thus ends my little foray into literature and the Bible. Sherlock Holmes may not have been a theologian in the true sense of the word, but I believe that he does shed some light into a dusty corner of the Christian life. And that is anything but elementary.

Nick

Interview with Patrick McCalla of Streetlight PHX

2010-05-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

Since I'm doing a few posts on the evils of the child sex trafficking that's going on around the world and even in our own back yard, I thought it would be helpful to talk to someone who is fighting this evil on the front lines. After contacting a friend at Food for the Hungry, I was introduced to Patrick McCalla. Patrick is President and Co-founder of Streetlight PHX, which is located in Phoenix, AZ. He formally served as City Initiatives Director with Food for the Hungry ("FH"). While at FH, he was apart of an initiative that eventually launched Streetlight PHX and Branded PHX. He left FH in March of this year to become President at Streetlight PHX.

So without further ado, let's get to the interview:

Question: You're currently serving as President of Streetlight PHX, how did you first come in contact with the problem of child sex trafficking?

PM - I was facilitating a meeting in June of 2007 asking the question of local leaders, “Is now the time to come together to meet physical and spiritual needs?” During the meeting we discussed issues of injustice and the issue of child sex slavery was introduced. The fact that “13” is the average age of entry into child prostitution continues to haunt me to this day. I had known that this happened in Cambodia or India, but had no idea that tonight, down the road from where I live and work, 100’s of girls will live as sex slaves.

Question: What is Streetlight's Mission?

PM - Streetlight seeks to prevent the sexual exploitation of children, provide safe housing, and promote the healing for victims of child sex slavery

Question: Streetlight has a unique three-pronged approach to fighting this problem, could you explain how Streetlight, churches & local/state government are working together to fight child sex trafficking?

PM - Our three pronged strategy of Awareness, Prevention, and Aftercare was developed from a multi-sector collaboration. This coalition was developed from our vision that Phoenix become an example to other cities in our nation and around the world of the enormous potential when different sectors of society come together to meet physical and spiritual needs. To date our collaboration consists of the Phoenix Vice Unit, City and District Attorney’s office, ICE, FBI, CPS, several strategic non-profits, 30+ churches, and thousands of passionate individuals.

Question: Could you give some suggestions for things people could do to get active and help eradicate this horrible practice?

PM - Be an advocate – a voice. In the past slavery was abolished because a group of people refused to be silent and tirelessly fought to eradicate it. Today, we need a movement of modern day abolitionists who say NIMBY – not in my back yard. There are many groups such as branded and not for sale (www.brandedphx.com or www.notforsalecampaign.org ) who have some tangible ideas for becoming an advocate and using their voice to end this injustice. They can also support organizations like Streetlight who seek to develop an innovative and unique safe house providing holistic needs for rescued victims. However, one thing I consistently speak to is to “dream”…use your gifts, your talents, your imagination to develop ideas and ways to eradicate child sex slavery.

Question: If people are interested in learning more about this problem, could you point us to some good resources?

PM - www.brandedphx.com , www.streetlightphx.org , www.notforsalecampaign.org

Question: How can we pray for you and Streetlight?

PM - Pray for wisdom as we develop our holistic, restorative program. Pray for the victims – that they would come to recognize they are daughters of the king, loved by God, and that their Creator has a wonderful plan for their lives. Pray for protection for those fighting this injustice.

Patrick, thank you so much for take a few moments to help us see some of the work being done in Phoenix and provide us with some ways we can help engage in the fight to end child sex trafficking.

~sdg

Human Trafficking - 10 Quick Facts

2010-05-03T21:02:00.000-04:00

My friend Don abhors human trafficking. He told me so in an email. But instead of just feeling morally outraged about it, he wants to do something about it. And he's recruited me and this blog to help a little bit. This month, myself and several other bloggers we know will be posting articles to raise awareness about the problem human trafficking, specifically the use of children as sex slaves and prostitutes.

To be honest, I had heard that the use of children as prostitutes was a problem in world at large (specifically in southeast Asia), but I had no idea that even in my own country, the children are targeted and enslaved into a life of prostitution. It is an abhorrence that any child, from any country, be forced to perform sexual acts for the gain of another.

I began doing a little research today and contacting some people I know who could help point me to some resources. I have some connections at Food for the Hungry, Inc. (which is an Christian international relief organization). They have been involved on the local level in ending the slave trade in the city of Phoenix. As a quick side, I can't believe I just typed that. There is a slave trade in Phoenix, AZ. Makes my stomach turn. My friend was kind enough to provide me with some resources regarding their efforts and also pointed me to another ministry (Streetlight PHX) that was recently started that will also be addressing the child prostitution.

So I thought I'd start this series off with 10 Quick Facts about child sex slavery. Got these from here.

Slavery has been outlawed everywhere, but it is still widely practiced.
Human trafficking is now considered the 2nd largest and fastest growing illegal trafficking activity in the world.
The UN estimates that the total value of the human trafficking market exceeds $32 billion per year.
Anxiety, insomnia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common psychological manifestations of the victims of sex slavery.
Child prostitutes serve between 100-1500 clients, per year, per child. (At the high end, that's 4+ a day that the child is forcibly raped!!)
One million children are working in the sex slave trade. Between 100,000 and 300,000 children in America are at risk for the child sex slave trade.
Among those millions, most are teenage girls, some as young as 5 years old.
The United States is one of the fastest growing locations for child prostitution.
As many as 2.8 million children live on the streets, with many of them lured into child prostitution within 48 hours of them leaving home.
The average age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 13 years old.

Let's be praying about how the church can rise to the challenge of this horrible evil.

For now, check out these other posts about human trafficking:

Fallen and Flawed

The Strausburg Inn

Stay tuned!

~sdg

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T09:29:00.000-04:00

Hello friends,

I just wanted to put up a short post and wish you all a blessed Easter sunday. I pray that on this day of celebrating the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead that your hearts are filled with a renewed sense that King Jesus is alive and on His throne. May we all live as if the Kingdom that was initiated on this day has come in all it's glory. May our going and coming be always under the authoritative call of the risen Jesus. I pray God's blessing on you and your family this day.

~sdg

A Kingdom Unmatched & Undaunted

2010-02-26T14:33:00.001-05:00

“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” - John 18:36

"Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force." - Rush Limbaugh

I did something really dangerous right there. I just quoted a polarizing figure. However, I think the substance of what Limbaugh is saying is true. Let me throw a few statistics at you and see if I can convince you. According to the Democray Index, almost 35% of the world's population lives under authoritarian regimes. Over 50% of the world's population lives under hybrid regimes or flawed democracies. This leaves only 15% of the world that lives under fully democratic governments (these statistics were all as of 2008). A vast majority of the world lives under the tip of a sword for some aspect of their lives. The powerful have imposed their will on the weak. Violence and oppression rules our world far more than we want to admit. Ours is a world ruled by the aggressive use of force.

It was true in Jesus' day as well. He grew up under an authoritarian regime. Rome was a cruel master. The Empire grew through swift and decisive military campaigns. Rebellions were crushed with ferocious attacks. After putting down the slave revolt led by Spartacus, Crassus crucified 6,000 men along the Appian Way. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Rome would crucify criminals along the walls of Jerusalem. Rome would force it's way of life on the conquered. I am quite sure that Joseph, Jesus' adopted father, told the story of their narrow escape from Bethlehem. King Herod had been tipped of to the birth of Jesus and he would not tolerate a threat to his throne. So he ordered the slaughter of all 2 year old boys and younger. Jesus lived under the rule of oppressors who imposed their will on the people under them.

This is the history of the world; kingdoms advancing at the tip of sword. However, there is one exception. There is one Kingdom that has spread without the means of force and oppression. The Kingdom of Heaven and King Jesus sits on it's throne. When Jesus stood before Pilate and stated that his Kingdom was not of this world, I think Jesus was making some very important truth claims. I think the first thing that should be noted is that the Kingdom of Heaven cannot spread at the tip of sword. In fact, to seek to do so, is at the antithesis of what it means to be a follower of Jesus and citizen of His Kingdom. At the heart of the Christian Gospel is the truth that I am a dreadful sinner and that I can do nothing on my own to rectify this situation. But Jesus came to rectify it for us. He took our place. He bore our sin. He removed our guilt. Jesus accomplished on the cross what we could never do ourselves; bring us to God. We respond by admitting our guilt and calling out to the Lord that we might be saved. This is called the new birth. To be born again is to be born into the Kingdom. This miracle of new birth cannot be manufactured. The Christian life cannot be enforced with the butt of a rifle or the tip of the sword. Because the Christian life is about a heart change that no amount of torture could ever create in a man. We cannot water-board people into finding satisfaction in Jesus alone.

Another thing to note about the Kingdom is that violence and oppression cannot stop it. If knowing the Kingdom cannot advance at the tip the sword is important, knowing that the Kingdom cannot be stopped by the tip of sword is equally, if not more important. As I've already discussed, this world is filled with violence and oppression and if we are going to be real Christians, ones with backbones, we need to hold onto this truth with all we've got. There is a day coming when persecution will come to North America. A majority of our brothers and sisters face it daily. We will join them in that suffering one day. Jesus told his disciples to pick up their crosses and follow him. The New Testament is dripping with language that depicts and describes the suffering of Christians and how they should endure it. Christian history is full of stories of men and women refusing to renounce Christ in the face of death. How is this possible? How can this Kingdom advance even as it's citizens are slaughtered? Again, we must return to the Gospel. We must look at Jesus. What do we see? Do we see a man cursed by God or man vindicated by God? Jesus suffered and died, yes. But he rose again. And he rose in glory. The message of the cross is that in God's Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, suffering leads to subsequent glories. This is possible because death has been defeated. Death has been defanged. It no longer has ultimate power over us. So when the kingdoms of this world threaten to the citizens of Jesus' Kingdom with death and suffering, they can choose Jesus and die, because death cannot hold them. We no longer fear death. We have been given a spirit of power. And when the watching world sees us suffer and die, the Lord does a miracle. He grants new birth to many. Violence cannot crush this Kingdom. In fact, it only helps it grow. The tree of the Kingdom is watered by the blood of the King and the Martyrs. It is the plan of God.

This is the Kingdom of Heaven. It is unmatched among the kingdoms of the world and it is undaunted as it marches through the world. It is both here and still coming. May we live as if the Kingdom was fully initiated already. Come Lord Jesus, initiate the fulfillment of your Kingdom!

~sdg

Your Wife Doesn't Need a Tool, She Needs You

2010-02-17T08:26:00.000-05:00

As a kid, my favorite toys were Legos. Half the fun was building these toys with my dad before I got to play with them. I had a gas station with two-level parking garage, a police station, a police boat that actually floated, medieval knights and castles; I had it all. I really think Legos are some of the best toys out there for boys. They teach boys the joy that comes from building something and they also are great for the imagination, because there is room for creativity. There are Legos of every type. Even Star Wars Legos (which I have to admit, if my wife would let me, I would buy now)!

Now that I'm all grown up (at least I act like it most days), I still love building things. I built my computer from scratch in college (with a little help). Since becoming a homeowner, I've installed light switches, ceiling fans, ceiling lights, door handles, etc. My favorite furniture store is IKEA. Want to know why? You have to put everything together (plus it's cheap)! I get a thrill out of fixing and building things.

I also love tools. Tools help me fix and build things. New tools are really cool. Because new tools open up the door to fixing and building new things. One of the reasons I really love my father-in-law is that ever since I married his daughter, he's been buying me tools for christmas and birthdays. I'm a lucky dude.

However, I've noticed this tendency in me to try and use this "build it/fix it" mentality on every aspect of my life. I am quite sure most men do this. And when you're dealing with your wife, this will exacerbate more problems than it fixes. Why does this happen? Well men, I'm about to tell you something earth-shattering. Your wife doesn't even remotely think like you. I know, it's very shocking. Feel free to take a moment and collect yourself. I'll wait.........................

When your wife comes to you with a problem, she does not want you to fix it. Granted, there may be an issue that she has with you (like not taking out the garbage...she wants you to fix that), but when she shares something about her, something from her heart, she shares for a totally different reason and from a totally different perspective. When I tell my guys about something, it's because I want information to be exchanged so that I can solve a problem. I don't email my guys just to talk. Women are not like this. They share, not to exchange information, but to develop intimacy. Understanding this and applying this knowledge will save you from making a huge category error. To approach your wife from a "build it/fix it" mentality when she's approaching from an intimacy mentality will cause bad communication and ultimately hurt feelings. The danger is that your wife will withdraw from you completely because you do not respond as she needs you to. You're always trying to fix her, rather than love her. You'll look for tools to help you do it. Books, videos, sermons...the search will continue and even if you find something that might be helpful, your wife will not receive it that way. And that's your fault. Instead of encouraged, she'll feel beat down. She opened up to for the sake of intimacy and instead gets a cold, soul-killing fix for her "problem". I place the responsibility for this at men's feet because God will place it there. Men have the unique, God-given roll of head of his family. But with that roll comes a great deal of responsibility. It's scary sometimes. Thankfully, we have the grace of God to get us through.

Today is Ash Wednesday. It's the beginning of Lent. Instead of using Lent to quit smoking or drinking soda or whatever else humanistic thing people give up during Lent, let's really refocus on what our marriages are all about. Let's become the greatest students of our wives. Let's love them as they need to be loved. Let's lay down our lives in sacrifice for their good. I can't think of a better way to prepare our own hearts for Easter; the day we celebrate Jesus sacrificing His life for our good. In short, lets refocus on living the Gospel in our homes this Lent. Will you join me in that effort?

~sdg

How a Mop Bucket Can Reveal a Call to Ministry

2010-02-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

My pastor preached this sermon last weekend and I was immensely helped. I figure it might help some of you folks as well. So if you've got an hour to spare, I would highly recommend listening.

Click here to listen.

~sdg

Fueled by the Gospel

2010-02-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

I was reading Tullian Tchividjian's blog this morning and he just briefly mentioned that our lives must be fueled by the gospel. That sure was something I needed today. It's not a new thought. I know that. I'm sure you know that too, but I needed that reminder. I think I'm beginning to understand how much I really want to prove myself worthy. I want to show that I'm capable of living this life that God has called me to live. And day in and out, I mess up in some way. I fall short. Yet, I live in this fog of self-righteousness that keeps me blind to it. I'm beginning to believe that the times I mess up are the times that I'm most sure of my self-righteousness. It's like God is lifting the veil to let me see myself as I truly am and telling me to wake up and live out of the Gospel. Live out the fact that I am indeed a dreadful sinner, deserving of God's wrath. But in grace, Jesus was sent by the Father to bear that wrath and bring about reconciliation. I need to look upon Jesus every single day and cry out for the grace of that day. Like the manna that fell from heaven that was only good for that day, so is the grace that comes from God. I need to be at the feet of His throne each morning, begging for grace for the moment. Some days, I probably need to go back two or three times. And the point can't be just the grace. It's the relationship that the grace flows through. If I find myself lacking in grace to get through my day without getting impatient, or self-control, it's because the connection to the Giver of that grace is not what it should be. Which again, brings me back to the Gospel. When I had no connection to the Giver of grace, He made a connection. He bestows it upon me and beckons me to return to Him.

What a Great and Glorious God we serve! To Him be all glory and power and honor! For Jesus, the Christ, has come. He has absorbed the wrath of God. He has become the channel of grace. Fear of death and destruction are gone. Only freedom and sonship and inheritance remain. Today is a great day.

I hope you were encouraged. His mercies are new every morning. Let me end with words of the great hymn writer John Newton: "...I remember two things; I am a great sinner and Christ is a great saviour." Amen and Amen.

~sdg

Reflections on Called to Ministry, Part I

2010-02-08T22:21:00.000-05:00

A Quick Summary

Clowney's book is broken down into two main sections. Section one deals with God's general call to all Christians. Section two deals with the more specific calling of God to the pastoral ministry. Each main section has two subsections within it. The first subsection deals with the Christian's name. The second with the call to service. The first subsection of part two deals with the distinctiveness of the call to pastoral ministry and the second subsection deals with the clarity of that call.

It is a relatively short book, but one that is densely packed. I've actually been surprised at the pace by which I've been reading. I'm generally a fast reader, but this book has made me slow down a bit. I've been thankful for that. I do not want to glaze over anything just in the name of finishing the book. The process along the way is just as important as finishing it (thus the series of posts I'm doing on it).

Reflections on Part I, Subsection 1 - Called by Name

Clowney reminds us that if you are a Christian, you bear the very Name of God. When I was baptized, it was done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Clowney rightly asserts that before any man can pursue a call into the ministry, he must first pursue the mantle of God's name. This is no trivial matter. Bearing the Name of God on ourselves is the mark that separates us from those who will be destroyed. But it is never enough to merely bear the Name of God. If we bear His Name, we must also become like Him. Peter admonished the recipients of his first letter to be holy like God is holy (I Peter 1:15). Clowney goes on to point out that the call to follow God showed up even in the names of Biblical characters. For example, Elijah's name means "My God is Jah". To then live in disobedience to God was to live in defiance of their own name. It was to dishonor the Name of God. Ultimately, we bear the name of God when we bear the name of His Son. To call oneself a "Christian" to take on the name of Jesus, the Christ. Our identity is then wrapped up in this Name.

While God calls us by His Name, He also grants us a new name. Simon became Peter. God calls us by a new name, a name He has given us. Even though we are called by the corporate name of Christian, we still are called by our individual name. Clowney points to the long genealogies as proof of a God who calls people by their name. I really liked thinking about that. It's like each name listed is a promise to me and everyone else who reads them that God is a God who calls individuals. God does not just love this generic corporate entity known as the church. He loves the individuals that make up that entity. That is a really cool truth to stew over. I cannot help but feel strengthened by that unique call and unique love. However, we must retain the balance that while we are loved and called as individuals, that love and call is never separated from the community of the church. I loved this quote by Clowney. I hope it strengthens you as it has strengthened me: "...the name God gives to you brings not only his blessing but the communion of his personal love." I have a name, given to me by God, that is the mark of my belonging to Him.

The reason this name, this identity is so important is that without it, we doomed for a life of alienation. Clowney explains that "the tragedy of alienation is not that so many people do not know me; it is that no one knows me, for I do not know myself. The terror in modern thought does not spring from the addition of millions in mass population. It springs from the subtraction of One - the Lord my God." Identity can only be given by the Lord. Without it, we are unknown, for we cannot truly know ourselves nor those others around us. The ability to be known and to know is wrapped up in Christ. For without his Name, we are nameless and unknown. Remember the chilling words of Jesus to those thought they were righteous, "away from me, for I never knew you" (my emphasis).

However, God's call is not simply to status. His call is two-fold. God's call is also to service. And we will explore what it is to be called to service in the next post.

~sdg

Thoughts on Images and the Mind

2010-02-08T13:41:00.004-05:00

Last night I picked up a book from my shelf called The Art of Thinking. The author had one idea that I couldn't seem to let go of until I wrote about it: "All we can say is: 1. That most of our mental operations are inseparable from images, or are produced by images...2. That those images closely correspond to wishes or repulsions, to things we want or do not want, so that this wanting or not wanting seems to be the ultimate motive power in our psychology, probably in connection with elementary conditions in our being. 3. That inevitably, people will reveal in their thoughts and speeches, in their outlook on life and in their lives themselves, the quality of the images filling their minds. Investigation and estimation of these images, together with investigation and estimation of our likes and dislikes, will tell us what we are worth morally more accurately than even our actions, for they are the roots of action" (19).

This in turn brings to mind the famous proverb by Ralph Waldo Emmerson: "Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." So, it hit me that we should guard our minds against these images and be very careful what we allow to enter our minds. I realize this is not a new thought, but it struck me in a fresh way. Our thoughts are made up of images, so if we want to change our thoughts or our actions we have to tackle it at the level of the images. Maybe this I why God placed a ban on idols and graven images in Israel. In the classic book 1984 Orwell writes about the idea that if a society eliminates words from the vocabulary it also eliminates the ideas associated with those words. If you don't have words to convey a concept, it's difficult to have a clear thought, let alone pass it along. So what if these mental images work in the same way? If we begin to erradicate our minds of sinful images--images that fuel covetousness, lust, pride, etc.--we begin getting rid of the building blocks of sinful thougts and actions. Every Man's Battle proposes this when they write about "starving the eyes." But it's not enough to get rid of these images (if we even can) without overwriting them with other ones.

This is where Romans 12:1-2 helps. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 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." Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." If I am honest with myself, the times when I struggle with temptation are tied to mental or visual images. I allow myself to entertain idols believing that I will be able to stand strong against them later. But if these were not in my mind in the first place, they could hold no power over me. This is not solely about lust. It can just as easily be angry thoughts or plain silly talk (I am guilty of both of these) or pride. If we want Christ Jesus to control our minds, it's time we start allowing Him to overwrite some of the corrupted files in our minds.

--Nick

Called to the Ministry

2010-02-02T08:47:00.000-05:00

As part of my journey towards seeking out God's call on my life, my pastor has asked me to read a book. He said it's the best book on the call to the ministry. So I thought I'd blog my reflections as I began reading the book. It's pretty short, so this will be a short series, but I figured it'd be something of interest. The book I'll be reading is titled Called to the Ministry, by Edmond Clowney. Once I get done with a section, I'll post a brief synopsis and then give my reflection on the book.

Busy season is in full swing for me, so I wanted to let you know what was going on and then apologize for the lack of posts. I've got a lot of good stuff I want to share, just need to find the time to post it.

If I could ask for your prayers as I read this book and seek the Lord's will, it would be greatly appreciated. Your input is always welcome and helpful.

~sdg

Sovereign Salvation from the Flames of Culture's Contempt

2010-01-10T18:38:00.001-05:00

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. - Daniel 3:17-18

The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ("SM&A") is another one of those stories unnecessarily relegated to the children's department. Like Noah's Ark, this is really not a story for children. We've stripped the story down; demoting it from powerfully applicable to fairy tale on par with Snow White. Why do I think that this story is still applicable to us today? Because SM&A, in the face of death, refused to bow down to the idols of their fallen culture.

We live in fallen Babylon. The culture's idols are all around us and every day we are faced with the same set of options as SM&A. In fact, we're a lot like SM&A. We need to remember that these young men were not native Babylonians. They were exiles from the land of Israel. They were forcibly removed from their land and made to live amongst a people that they did not know or understand. We are, likewise, exiles from our home. Peter calls us elect exiles (I Peter 1:1). Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). We live amongst a people that seeks to assimilate us into their culture, just like SM&A's Babylonian captors. SM&A's devotion to God in the face of cultural expectations can help us.

You know the story well. King Nebuchadnezzar erects a golden image and at the sound of music, all the peoples of the kingdom are to bow down and worship the golden image. SM&A refuse to bow down to the image. They will not forsake their God and worship another. They will not submit their wills to any other authority, other than God Himself. This defiance is reported to the King. He confronts SM&A and asks them if they will change their mind and bow down and worship the golden image. The verses above are their answer. No, they will not bend a knee to this statue. The king is enraged. His anger burning so hot, he orders the fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. These three young men are tossed into the furnace only to walk out moments later unscathed. The Lord had visited them in the furnace and kept them safe. They experienced a sovereign salvation from the flames of their culture's contempt.

I believe this story should galvanize our resolve to live likewise. It should put rods of steel in our backbone so that we do not shrink away in the face of cultural opposition. We may not face the flames of a fiery furnace, but we face many similar test of faith daily. If we would look to Jesus and say to our culture "we will not bow a knee," we would know the comfort and aid of our savior in the way that SM&A knew it. Too often, we do not feel the heat of our culture because we capitulate in the moment. We do not have the confidence that the Lord Jesus has our back and will rescue us from the fiery flames of our culture. We bow down to idols because lack belief. We see Jesus like the 5,000 did. There is little or no adulation or joy in His presence. He is merely our Lord because He can provide bread. He is not the holy King who sits on heaven's throne; due all our praise and worship. So instead of experiencing the rescue of the King admist the flames of a culture's rage, we go home, having become apart of the culture. At best we experience guilt and at worst, we experience nothing at all.

Instead, let us be like SM&A. Let us love God passionately and for who He is and experience what it is like to be rescued from the flames of our cultures contempt.

~sdg

"No Crying He Makes" and other myths of Christmas

2009-12-23T09:08:00.005-05:00

One of my father's favorite holiday pastimes is demythologizing Christmas songs. His sermons are regularly sprinkled with anecdotes about the "little drummer boy" not existing and "the three wise men" not being present on the night of Jesus' birth. One year he even picked on the fact that the Bible does not say whether Mary rode on a donkey, a camel, or a cart...or maybe had to walk on her way to Bethlehem. Consequently, I now have this hobby as well, much to my wife's chagrin (sorry honey), who feels like I'm always trying to rain on everyone's parade. As we listen to Christmas songs, I like to think through the lyrics and see if they gel with reality. What can I say? Many of them are full of myths about Christ's birth.

For instance, our songs and paintings would have us believe that the baby Jesus never cried. He was the most inhuman baby you ever saw with a hallo around his head and group of people standing around at a fair distance gazing on the new born Son of God. This is the baby of a religion--not history. Notice the Gnostic tendencies that have crept in to this picture. Is crying a sin? I don't think so. Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, so why would he not cry as a baby? One of the important reasons for the birth narratives is to show us that Jesus was human. He can identify with the lowest of the low.

This Christmas I would encourage you to reread Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 with fresh eyes. What does the text say? What does it not say? What is emphasized in each?

In my next post, I am going to attempt an exercise in Narrative history--blending historical background, culture, and the facts of Scripture to paint a picture of the nativity. Will it be accurate? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it will be more 1st century than the Renaissance paintings.

Will there be a "star with tail as big as a kite"? Will there be oxen and lambs keeping time? Tune in tomorrow and see.

On Avoiding Religious Traps

2009-12-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

I'm guest posting over at You See Dry Bones today. Go check out my post about avoiding religious traps!

~sdg

Why the X?

2009-12-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

So, funny story. As a small child, I boldly stated that only Satanists replaced "Christ" with an "X" in Christmas. Apparently, I had it all wrong. R.C. Sproul clears it up here.

Hope you're having a good Christmas week.

I know I promised you something really cool. I'm a slacker. I've had a few projects come up that are very time sensitive, so that sermon recap will be delayed a bit longer. I promise to get you some new content soon. Thanks for reading the blog. It means a lot that you'd take time out of your day to read the thoughts of Nick and I.

~sdg

(Hat Tip: Justin Taylor)

Learning to Advent

2009-12-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you grew up not really hearing much about advent. I think I can remember one Christmas where my family had an advent wreath. The Resurgence has had a Advent series on their blog that I found helpful and instructional. If you'd like to check it out, click here.

I'm working on an Advent themed post for tonight. I'll basically be summarizing my sermon notes from church yesterday. My pastor, David Prince, preached a great sermon and I really want to share what I took away from it with you all. Once the audio gets posted to the church website, I'll be sure to share the link with you as well. It's definitely worth your time, especially at this time of year.

I hope your weekend was restful and worshipful.

~sdg

Creeds and Deeds...and In That Order

2009-12-05T09:54:00.006-05:00

The White Horse Inn interviews author Michael Wittmer on his book Don't Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus is Not Enough. Wittmer touches on many of the important topics that Justin and I have been wrestling with in many of our posts. I particularly like their discussions of "creeds and deeds" and what is the main reason why conservatives and liberals disagree. It is quality listening if you have a half hour. Listen Here.

Tip (Koinonia)

Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden

2009-12-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

I've been intrigued by the explosion of the popularity surrounding the Twilight books. While I have no intention of purchasing and reading such books, I just stumbled across this article (thanks to Dr. Moore). It breaks down Mrs. Meyer's Mormon faith and how she has weaved into the story between Bella and Edward (the two main characters in the book).

It's a fascinating read, however, it contains spoilers. So if you're planning on reading the books and don't want to know what happens, come back and read the article when you're done. Otherwise, click here.

~sdg

The Word Became Flesh

2009-11-29T11:11:00.005-05:00

Today is Advent Sunday, and while the world may kick off their Christmas celebrations with Black Friday (how fitting in a consumer driven society), the Church has the grand opportunity to use this season to reflect upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. This is our time to ponder and stand in awe of the ultimate mystery that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory" (Jn 1:14). We often do a good job of understanding that Christ was born of a virgin and was born into poverty. We contemplate the events surrounding His birth as so much history. Then we skip to the Atonement. He came to die. The end. It is true that one of the reasons Christ came was to die to redeem us, but maybe we shouldn't rush to the end of the story during this time of year. We have Lent, Good Friday and Easter to contemplate those aspects from a Church calendar standpoint. But this time of year is the season to wrap our minds around "God with us." God one of us. The Incarnation is mind blowing. Trying to understand the intricacies of the Theandric Union can either fry our brains or fill us with wonder at the greatness of Almighty God.

Luther wrote: "It is not for the angels to be proud of Christ's incarnation, for Christ did not assume and angelic but a human nature. Therefore it would not be a surprise if the angels looked at us with envy in their eyes because we human beings, creatures far inferior to them and sinners besides, are placed above them into an honor so high and great. They worship Christ, who has become our Brother, our flesh and blood" (Serm. on Col. 1:18-20 quoted in Thomas Oden, The Word of Life).

We have a God who can identify with us! He knows, in an experiencial way, our struggles and weakness. This is one of the messages of the Advent season. What might it mean that God became flesh? Not just in a systematic theological sort of way but in a personal way. Do we need to sit back and think about that one for a while? That's what this season is all about.

Highly Recommend: New Gospel v. Old Gospel

2009-11-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

Kevin DeYoung has another solid post up on his website. It's a careful dissection of the the trendy New Gospel that is peddled by the likes of Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell and their ilk. It's the source of much angst for Nick and I as we were forced to look for churches more inline with the biblical gospel (Old Gospel).

Check out the post here.

If you'd like a good example of the New Gospel, see this Shane Claiborne piece in Esquire.

Enjoy and think. I guarantee there's a church peddling this New Gospel near you. There's a giant one real close to me. Discernment is desperately needed!

~sdg

(Hat tip: Justin Taylor)

I Thank My God

2009-11-25T14:21:00.006-05:00

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. " (Philippians 1:3-6)

At this time of year we stop to give God thanks for all the blessings He has given to us. At least that's the idea. We celebrate having our needs met by indulging in gluttony. Hummm. Anyway here is an idea for a new Thanksgiving ritual: follow Paul's example and thank God for all the brothers and sisters He has placed in your life. Maybe send them an email to let them know that you are praying for them and greatful for the blessing that they have been to you.

Instead of Thanksgiving being a blip on the radar--a speed bump on the way to Christmas--let us rediscover it as a time of prayer and worship for all that God has done throughout the year. We have so much to be thankful for.

Thanks for interacting with us here at 4sixteen...we thank God for you too.

A Groaning Creation

2009-11-21T12:02:00.001-05:00

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation t has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. - Romans 8:19-25

There is something wrong with this world.

Death reigns in this world, even amongst the creation. This has hit home personally. This morning, my dog that my family has had for the past 8 years passed away. Her name was Allie Grace. This past week, she began to grow weak. She had great difficulty walking and was hardly eating. A trip to the Vet revealed cancer. Five tumors, one on each major organ. Death was immanent. As I digested the news, I couldn't help to think how this wasn't right. This suffering was unjust! Why is my dog developing cancer? For what crime is she suffering? The reality is she suffers under the weight of sin, but not a sin of her own.

While the imputation of Adam's sin on his posterity is disputed among theologians, what cannot be disputed is the curse that God has placed on creation because of the sin of Adam. When Adam choose to disregard God in the garden and go his own way, he set off a chain of events that destroyed the delicate shalom that God had created. Sin and death entered the pristine creation, but it did not effect humanity alone. All of creation was subjected to futility. There is something to be learned from this horror story. When we sin, we do not do so in a vacuum. The effects reach farther than we ever thought they could. It is a serious thing to disregard the commands of God. We injure not only ourselves, but those whom we may not even meet.

But thanks be to God, who has not left us without hope. Even though Allie Grace is gone, there is still hope. I don't know if God will raise animals from the dead. But I do know that one day, in the words of Tolkien, "he will make all the sad things untrue." I'm not sure how that'll work. However, I know that God is good. I know that God took notice today when Allie Grace breathed her last. I know that God is close to those who mourn, even if it's for a beloved animal companion. Please pray for me and family. Pray we remember our true hope and let us be comforted in the knowledge of His love for us.

~sdg

UPDATED: Goer, Sender or Disobedient?

2009-11-20T15:01:00.001-05:00

According to John Piper, there are only three options for involvement in missions. "You can be a goer, a sender or disobedient." So what are you? I'm a sender (as of right now). Are you a sender? Are you currently living in disobedience? I have an opportunity for you.

I have two very close friends that are leaving for the mission fields of Thailand in January. The Lord has blessed their fund-raising efforts so far and they are currently at 96% funded. The reason for this post is that they need a little help getting over the top. They are currently looking for four partners willing to commit to $25/month for the next five years. So, if you feel a burden to help missionaries go and spread the Gospel, please prayerfully consider supporting them.

Their information can be found here.

I really hope that you consider partnering with them. They are dear friends and you will be blessed by partnering with them. Their blog is located here.

Even if you are committed elsewhere, would you at least pray for them and for Thailand. A very difficult mission lays before my friends and they will need the Holy Spirit to be upon them in order to be faithful to the task He has laid before them.

~sdg

UPDATE:

Just wanted to let you all know that my missionary friends are now 100% funded for the next 5 years! They have their plane tickets to Bangkok in hand! If you supported them, thank you so much! I pray God's richest blessing upon you.

~sdg

The Simple Truth For Simple Minds

2009-11-18T12:14:00.003-05:00

Apology--

I haven't posted in ages. Truth be told this semester has kept me so busy that I haven't adequately chewed or digested many of the things I've been learning, causing me to avoid writing. Publishing (even on a blog) is a big deal for me since the words are out there once they're written, and the last thing I want to put out there is another half baked idea. That being said...

Article--

"...the only simplicity to be trusted is the simplicity to be found on the far side of complexity." Alfred North Whitehead

I am actually indebted to my professor, Dr. Stephen Seamands, for drawing this quote and the implications to my attention. It was a good dose of validation when I heard it, and I immediately knew that much of the frustrations I have had with the modern church/Christian music thought process is because of this concept.

Let it be noted that I don't endorse Whitehead's Process Theology. I just think he's right in saying this. But what are we talking about exactly? Let me answer you with another quote:

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."--Albert Einstein

So here are my questions: How simple is the Gospel? How simple is our faith? How simple are our sermons? How simple minded are our people?

I ask these questions because I have seen a strong push to oversimplify the Gospel. We have books like the Bible for Dummies and sermons that seem to have been plagarized directly from them. We have worship music and popular Christian songs that reflect Aaron Neville's song "I don't know much, but I know I love You. And that may be all I need to know."

There is a big difference between a child playing a simple tune on a piano and a professional playing the same song. That difference is that the child can only play the simple song, but the professional has the skills to play it with full control and mastery.

I understand that people have to start simply and work up to the complex...but when we set the bar at "Chop Sticks" instead of Rachmaninoff we short change believer's who then can't "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1Pet 3:15).

I think the writer of Hebrews would be frustrated with the depth of the Western Christian and their lack of knowledge. I think he would say, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Heb. 5:11-14)

I believe that the Gospel is beautifully complex in it's simplicity. Christ died for sinners...but what are the implications of that statement? We need to present the Gospel simply, but not simpler.

Building a Love for All People

2009-11-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 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. 17 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 3:12-17

This past week, I was convicted of something. Something I think that is all too prevalent within the Christian community. I was convicted of my lack of compassion for those different than me. I visited a website that shows pictures of interesting looking people in public places. Those pictures then have a caption that usually mocks their hair, clothing or body figure. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasted an hour of my life laughing at all those people. After finishing seeing all the newly updated material, I felt convicted. I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me "How can you minister to and share the gospel with people whom you have ridiculed and belittled?" Like a Louisville Slugger to the gut. While I didn't write any of the captions or take any of the pictures, I participated in the mockery. Sadly, I've not only done this online, but in public. It never fails that I'll see some one who doesn't fit the cultural norm when I'm at the grocery or the mall. I have this tendency to judge, to mock them. I've never done it openly to their face. That's not culturally acceptable. But Jesus sees no difference. The act in the heart is as if you had acted it out.

So how do we get beyond this need to feel superior? A dose of reality is always helpful. I need gospel reality, the truth that before a holy and perfect God, I am a misfit. I am no better than anyone. Apart from Christ, he who dies with the most toys, still dies. Cultural distinctions are false distinctions. The Gospel destroys those distinctions. When I look at people through the lenses of my culture rather than the lenses of the Gospel, I am attempting to build back up walls in my heart that the Gospel has broken down. Why do I (and everyone else) do this? Because our flesh, this world and the Devil have imposed great pressure on us to conform. Since these three forces combine to daily assault the changes which God is bring forth, we need to fight back with the Gospel every day. The days that I'm not preaching the Gospel to myself are the days that I'm more likely to give in to the pressures of my flesh, this world and the Devil. They are the days that I'm to be filled with less compassion.

I think this is what Paul is getting in Colossians. Since we have the Gospel. Since we are God's chosen one's, live like it!!! The chosen of God are compassionate and king because God is compassionate and kind. While Paul is admonishing the Colossians to do so within their own community, I don't think he intended for them to stop there. Paul wanted the Colossians to live in that manner towards all people, believer or not. Who knows, perhaps God has ordained that through your kindness, a cultural and spiritual outcast professes faith in Jesus and is saved. I need that reminder daily. Please pray for me. If I'm going to be a pastor, I need the Spirit to help me keep the Gospel central. I'll pray for you too.

~sdg

Reaching the Next Generation

2009-10-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

There is a great series of posts I want to point you all to. Kevin DeYoung is blogging about reaching the next generation. It's worth your time.

Check it out here

~sdg

On the Backs of the Poor: Corrupt Systems and the Victory of Jesus

2009-10-11T14:39:00.000-04:00

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” 1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” 5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” - Luke 20:45 - 21:6

Human beings have this innate ability to survive. History is filled with stories of people who survived and did so under circumstances so bizarre and difficult that cause us to question to veracity of those stories. Yet, there's something about us that enables us to overcome. Hope is that something. When facing daunting odds of survival, the belief that you can survive, hope, can carry you through. While many do not understand hope or why we even have it (the evolutionary worldview cannot explain this phenomenon sufficiently), it is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It's so powerful that if you can control in whom or what a person places their hope, you can control the person. As Christians, we understand where our hope comes from. But the fact that the world does not understand true hope does not negate it from usurping hope for its own purposes.

I was listening to a sermon by Matt Chandler, pastor at the Village Church, he pointed something out that I had never noticed before regarding the above text. Too often the text cited above is used to teach about giving your all to God. After all, we have a widow and she gives everything she has to God. However, Matt pointed out that the context does not allow for that interpretation of the text. While Jesus points out that the widow gave all she had, he does not commend her on her gift. He just makes a statement. Normally, Jesus would commend the person whom he sees behaving in ways we ought to mimic. However the context, which I have provided above, shows us something deeper, a subtle rage against a corrupt system.

Notice first Jesus' warning about the scribes. He has strong words about them. The context for this warning are the three tests they put Jesus through. First, they question his authority. Second, they try and trap him with a question of taxes and finally, they try to get him on the issue of the resurrection. Jesus passes all three tests with flying colors. The chief priests and scribes dare not ask him anymore questions. Jesus then issues the warning. Notice at the end of the warning, Jesus accuses them of "devouring widows' houses." I found that to be an odd charge. In my reading of Luke up to that point, this was a unique condemnation of the scribes. However, the very next verse says that Jesus looks up and notices a poor widow (bells should be going off in your head right now) putting her offering in the temple treasury. Jesus then makes the now famous statement about giving out her poverty. But Jesus doesn't stop there. He overhears some people in awe over the temple's beauty and it's "offerings". Luke uses the same word to describe what the rich people and the poor widow put their gifts into; the "offering box". Again, more flashing lights and bells should be going off. Jesus turns to those people in awe of the "offerings" of the temple and predicts that the temple will be destroyed one day. Not one stone will be left upon another. One day, there will be no more beautiful stones. There will be no more offerings given.

Do see what Jesus has done? He has leveled a charge against the scribes and then proved his charge true by pointing out this poor widow give away all she has to a corrupt system that will be destroyed in 40 years time. The scribes have tricked this woman into placing her hope in a human system that will not endure. This is why they "devour widows' houses." They have hijacked hope and used it to perpetuate their system and Jesus condemns these men with a "greater condemnation." There is no shame to trick the rich into giving to corrupt systems. They give out of their abundance. What they lose doesn't make them destitute. Trick the poor and there is great condemnation. Because what little they have is stolen from them by charlatans who care nothing for them, only to solidify their power.

Although the temple was destroyed and the corrupt system that supported it, this world is not free from the oppression of the poor through means of hijacking their hope. Especially in America, the oppression of the poor through stolen hope is rampant and remains as repugnant, if not more so, than in Jesus' day. I'm about to name some names. In doing so, I'm naming people who I believe represent a system. It doesn't mean I think they are the worst offenders or the only offenders. They are simply representative of the corrupt system I believe Jesus condemns.

With that said, I believe the election of Barrack Obama exposed the severe corruption of the entire political system. His campaign slogan of "Hope and Change" are endemic of the political system. The other party is evil. Put your hope in me and I'll bring you a better life. Obama was just explicit about it. The poor, especially in the black community, turned out in droves to put Obama in the White House. While his presidency is still in it's infancy, things have only seemed to get worse. I will boldly predict that Barrack Obama will fail to deliver on the hopes of many of his followers. And really, it's not a bold prediction. He is only a man. He will fail. When Jesus returns, the political systems of this world will be destroyed! Jesus, who is King already, will assert His kingship one day and in that day, those who hoped in politics will be destroyed. And those who conned others to trust in that will receive the same treatment as the scribes of Jesus' day.

The political system is not the only modern system built on the backs of the poor. Many religious leaders have attempted to resurrect the system that was destroyed long ago with the Temple in 70 A.D. Men like Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar spew cruel teachings aimed at the poor and outcast. They ask for "faith offerings" or "seed donations" to prove their faith and thus be rewarded by God. The sick and poor flock to these men because they teach about getting wealthy. In the end, their hope is not in God. God is only the means by which they achieve their true hope, mammon. These men who trick the poor into giving to their "ministries" are no different than those scribes. They say, "give to me and God will bless you!" They lie and the poor are left more destitute than they started. They fly on expensive jets and live lavish lifestyles at the expense of the poor and sick. These men may be worse offenders than the proponents of the corrupt political system. I'll leave that to Jesus to judge.

When you turn on the TV, Madison Avenue would have you put your hope in whatever trinket they've been hired to sell. Hollywood would have you put your hope in a good body and designer labels. Bud Selig, Roger Goddell and David Stern would have you put your hope in your local pro sports team. The list goes on. Corrupt systems built on the backs of poor, powerless and sick people. Not one system that cares about the people, but the power that hope gives them.

I'll echo Jesus and say: Beware the scribes of our day. They will devour your house. They desire only your hope and the power it gives them. Instead, hope in God! Get to know the Living Hope, Jesus Christ. He is risen from the dead. Do not hope in the corrupt systems of our world. They will all one day be destroyed. Only Jesus can deliver on your hope. All other men and systems will fail.

~sdg

The Importance of Doctrine in Missions

2009-09-29T07:59:00.001-04:00

Yesterday at church, we had the privilege to have Dr. David Sills preach. He is a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He was preaching on missions and the task that stands before the church in reaching the people who have never heard the name of Jesus.

One story he told stuck me. He said that before missionaries were kicked out of China, there were probably 50,000 Christians in China. In the recent years, missionaries have been able to get back into China to see what happened with the 50,000 that were left. It was discovered that there were millions of Christians. However, there was a problem. A majority of these "Christians" had doctrines and practices so bizarre as to be unrecognizable as Biblical Christianity. Dr. Sills stated that the problem was the lack of leaders trained in training others. When the crackdown against Christians occurred in China, all the indigenous leaders were either imprisoned or killed. This left the untrained Christians to themselves and what occurred was a doctrinal drift. It's to the point where the International Missions Board will only work with 7 of the house-church networks that exists because the rest are all so disfigured in their doctrine that it's not even Christianity.

Dr. Sills plea was for each person to be involved in international missions. He said that if you've been in Sunday School all your life, you have more training than most pastors in foreign lands. Dr. Sills quoted C.H. Spurgeon who said "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter." One of my favorite preachers, John Piper, has said "You are either a radical goer, a radical sender or disobedient." The point being not that we should all sell the house and move to Africa, but that we should be involved in missions, whether it's going or paying for someone else to go.

What really struck me about Dr. Sills message is the importance of doctrine within the missional context. Not only do we need high views of doctrine within our own cultural context, but when we go into other cultures, we need to teach the people we engage the doctrine as well. Jesus commands discipleship, not decisions. Dr. Sills said we should never "dilute the quality for the sake of quantity." Meaning, we don't dumb-down the gospel so that it's more tolerable to culture we are intending to engage. We cannot achieve God's tasks in ways He does not mandate. Doctrine is important! Especially in the missional context.

If you'd like to hear Dr. Sills' sermon you can listen here.

~sdg

The Mission of the Serious Church

2009-09-28T09:33:00.002-04:00

In an earlier post, I shared some of the serious short-comings of the Silly Church that I have come across. I ended that post by asking a few questions. This post will hopefully answer the first question: What is the mission of the Church?

You'll notice I titled this post "The Mission of the Serious Church." I want to make the distinction between the entertainment-driven Silly Church and gospel-driven Serious Church clear. I want to be clear that I believe there are right ways to do church and wrong ways to do church. I believe the Silly Church to be a wrong way to approach church. However golden it's ambitions and intentions may be, it's results have proved lack-luster. The Silly Church produces Silly Disciples and Silly Disciples will become apostates in the face of true suffering.

So what is the mission of the Serious Church? Perhaps we should consult the authority who started the Church, Jesus the Son of God. After the resurrection, Jesus deputizes his disciples. He tell them to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). In John 21:15-17, we get another command from Jesus. Three times, he tells Peter to "feed my sheep." Then in Acts 1:6-8, Jesus tells the disciples that they will be "witnesses...to the ends of the earth." There are many verses that talk in this same way. It appears that missions or evangelism or outreach or whatever you want to call it, is the ultimate mission of the church.

However, I have a question. What lies underneath this call to missionary work? I think the answer to the question is Worship. We do missions because the worship of Jesus is not universal. Jesus sends us out as witnesses to those who have not heard of Jesus. So I think the mission of the Serious Church is two-fold. It first seeks to worship God as God and then spread that worship of God locally, regionally and inter-nationally. However, I believe that worship is ultimate and that missions is birthed from worship. Once Jesus returns, worship will go on for eternity and missions will cease. In the mean time, a church that does not worship God as God will not feel the necessity of spreading that worship beyond it's own people. If we are to be a Serious Church, Worship will be full, awe-inspiring and weighty. It will be filled with passion. It will be a heart-level response to the wonder of God. The funny thing about proper responses to God in worship is that they will always fuel a missional mindset. In the middle of being laid bare by the sheer beauty of God, a man will be forced to think about neighbors and family who are not experiencing the love of God (not to say that all God is the "feeling"). It is a wonderful characteristic that God has placed in the heart of man and that is to share what we enjoy (including God) with those who do have it. If we find ourselves struggling with telling our friends about Jesus (but not about our favorite restaurant), then our problem is a worship problem, not an evangelism problem. If we really grasped the level of our depravity and the greatness of God and the fact that He has adopted us into His family, we would have not struggle to tell those for whom we care so deeply about this great God we serve.

This leads me to ask another question: What is the worship of God to be like?

I'll save that for another post.

~sdg

Leaving the 99

2009-09-14T13:25:00.007-04:00

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. --Matthew 18:12-14

I always thought Jesus' story of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to find the one stray a little odd. I used to wonder why on earth He would be so careless with the majority, putting them at risk, in order to save one. This seems to be the message in many "outreach" or "seeker-sensitive" churches: "You believer's are safely within the fold, so we can't waste time on you. We have to go after the lost." It even sounds biblical if you have no knowledge of shepherding. But shepherding in the biblical times (and even now) is a situation that involves several people. There is the Chief Shepherd and under shepherds. In this situation, one shepherd leaving the flock behind to search for a stray is no big deal since the ninety-nine are still being cared for.

When Jesus tells this parable, He very well may have had Ezekiel 34 in mind (cf. Luke 19:9-10). Certainly this passage was well known to His listeners and they would never imagine endangering the flock to save one sheep. We in the Western church would do well to think about this. Evangelism is necessary--but so is discipleship. Many churches have watered down the message to make it palatable to "seekers", leaving the flock watered down skim milk.

Recently I reviewed Richard Stearns' The Hole In Our Gospel (see below). While a word limit mandated brevity at the time, I must now say that the book worked so well BECAUSE it came from a biblical basis. While Stearns challanged his reader's to become more concerned for the needs of the poor, he approached it with the understanding that faith and works went hand in hand. He didn't preach a mere social gospel. People cannot share what they do not have, so the flock cannot preach the Gospel through acts of mercy and justice in the community if they themselves are not being fed. Imagine a family in which the parents told the children that they were not going to go grocery shopping, pay the bills, or look after the needs of the family anymore, rather the new modus operandi was going to be looking after the needs of other families. Those parents would be locked up for neglect. As Jesus said, "You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former." (Matt. 23:23).

We must speak up and call our churches back to remember Jesus' call to make disciples--not drones. The shepherds must not abandon the flock in order to seek strays, but rather they must protect the 99 AND seek the lost. If they don't there won't be a flock to bring the strays back to.

Tweet with Us!!

2009-09-10T11:15:00.003-04:00

Hey friends,

On the left I've added mine and Nick's twitter feeds. There's a link to follow us as well. This will be the fastest way to find out about new content on 4sixteen as well as see what goes on these little brains of ours :)

Hope you all are have a great week!

~sdg

Book Review of Max Lucado's Fearless

2009-09-08T20:00:00.002-04:00

I was asked to review Max Lucado's latest book which was released today. In this book Lucado addresses many of the fears that plague our society, especially via the media. Each chapter covers a different type of fear and then shows the Bible's answer to that fear, particularly with stories from the life of Christ. His key to being fearless can be summed up in his sentence: "When Christ is great, our fears are not" (169).

I normally don't read Max Lucado's books, but I was suprised to find how biblically grounded this book is. The stories he uses to illustrate his points come to life. In true Lucado style of short simple sentences, this book feels like a sermon series--after all, he is a preacher. If you enjoy Lucado's books, you should really read this book. The message is timely. Arm chair theologians (or academic ones for that matter) will find this book to be less meaty than books that I would normally recommend, but if you are looking for something light and thoughtful or for a place to begin in your Christian walk, Fearless has a message that needs to be heard.

The Silly Church

2009-09-06T12:25:00.077-04:00

This post has been brewing for eight months now. I think it's high time it saw the light of day. Some churches have become silly. The skits, the games, the cheeky videos...it is mere entertainment. It is weightless. I saw a quote on twitter the other day by Douglas Wilson that I thought was appropriate for this post. He said "You are to come into His presence with confidence, but you are NOT to breeze into His presence with contemporary casualness." This is exactly what I experience at my former church this year. Contemporary casualness, all in the name of "seeker sensitivity."

As I've pondered the why of this phenomenon that exists in the churches I've had experience with, I can't help but come to the conclusion that they have a confusion of mission. If you were to ask the church leaders where the primary place for evangelism was to take place, they would tell you outside the walls of the church building. However, in practice, they're liars. If that was true of their churches, the services would look much different. They wouldn't be light and breezy, full of imbecilic nonsense, but filled with weight and awe. They do their people a grave disservice by being "seeker sensitive." Dietrich Bonhoeffer had an astute observation that I find helpful. He said "The difference between the disciples' seeking and the Gentiles' quest for God is that the disciples know what they are looking for. We can only seek God when we know him already. How can you look for something or find it if you do not know what you are looking for? The disciples seek a God whom they have found in the promise they have received from Jesus." So if the Gentile (aka - unbelieving) seeker doesn't know God if he smacked him in the face, why do churches build their whole ministry on them? The seeker doesn't know anything, so how can church leaders even be sure they're pointing the seeker to God in the first place? They steal from the disciples to give to the seeker, a seeker who doesn't even understand what he's been given. They cast their pearls before swine and do it with gusto. It makes me sick.

Another thing is that these churches are boring. What do I mean by boring? I guess a better word would be predictable. For the mature believer, when you step foot inside one of these places you'll get bored quickly with how predictable the services have become. The videos, the skits, the music, the teaching. It is all the same. Nothing changes. Sure, the theme changes or the series changes, but the content is always the same. Hardly anything is original. I could get everything some of these churches provide on my own. I have almost all the Passion music. I can get teaching via the internet (quick side note: Some churches are even doing online church, which is a contradiction in terms if I ever heard one). I can go to Tangle (formerly Godtube) and find funny and inspirational videos. These churches have almost ceased to be a church and instead are just a hub for the latest cool things modern christian marketing has to offer. THIS IS WHAT MATURE BELIEVERS FIND BORING! These leaders have been fooled into thinking (via their "seeker sensitive" mindset) that we should reach as many people as possible at all costs. That we should make it comfortable and not too threatening because the outside world thinks we are all psycho-pathic zealots that want to eat their babies (recent research by Ed Stetzer at LifeWay shows that this belief is not based in reality...not the eating babies part, but just the general belief that the unbelieving world hates us. Click here for a review of the book that contains the research). Thus the endless drivel that parades the stages each Sunday in an attempt to not be threatening or uncomfortable. But in their attempt at comfort, they only sink the true disciples deeper into boredom. They try to do it better than Hollywood and fail miserably. That's why I left. I was bored. And I was tired. Tired of feeling like there was something deeply wrong when hardly anyone else seemed to care.

So, I have three questions I'd like to explore in a future post. They are: What is the mission of the church? What is the worship of God to be like? Can we worship God however we want?

~sdg

Is Doctrine Important?: The Meaning of 4sixteen

2009-09-02T13:22:00.009-04:00

Recently Justin and I have been chatting about a great concern we have for the church (at least in the church movement we have been affiliated with). It seems we may have a neo-social gospel on our hands. Lately, we have seen a push for acts of service and social justice (that's good), but at the expense of doctrine and teaching. It seems that some people have the impression (perhaps via John Lennon) that "all you need is love."

In a recent church that shall remain nameless, the main Scripture that was used as a proof text in a sermon was "...faith, working in love." (Gal. 5:6) Not even the full sentence. Just four words ripped out of context. This was used to launch a campaign to impact the city with acts of kindness. Since then, we have been hearing all kinds of talk about "getting out into the community and helping and serving"...but at the expense of worship and study times. In this large church there are many new believers and "seekers" who are now being shoved out the door to reach the community--but for what?

Dr. Ken Collins of Asbury Theological Seminary says that understanding doctrine is important because it is what separates us from Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses. Without doctrine how do we know what we believe? Some people seem to think that Christian teaching and doctrine are "old couches" in the church--the family likes them but everyone else thinks they're old and out of date. If we throw teaching doctrine out of the church, we are only creating space for moral relativism that fallen world wants to impose on us. Doctrine may sound like a crusty term, the linguistic equivalent to grandma's old couch, but "doctrine" simply means: 1. A principle or body of principles presented for acceptance or belief, as by a religious, political, scientific, or philosophic group; dogma. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/doctrine. In other words, it is simply what the Church believes and the principle concepts of the faith.

Justin and I take this seriously. We believe the words of 1 Timothy 4:16 are as pertainent today as they were for dear Tim. We need to watch our life AND doctrine closely. We can't bifricate the two. The church is failing its people if it is not educating them. We can't rely on clever marketing tricks and flashy media clips to lead our people to brainlessly follow Christ (or is it Christ that we're trying to get people to follow?). We have to take the Great Commission seriously. Jesus didn't say: "I want you to go out and be really nice to people and don't worry about teaching them anything because all that matters is loving others." NO. He said to make "disciples of all nations" 1.) baptizing them and 2.) teaching them to obey everything He's commanded.

It is my thought (and I think I speak for Justin as well) that if we do not strengthen our churches with discipleship, they will collapse when persecution hits (cf. Matt. 7:24-29). People will scatter like the disciples in the garden. In his wonderful book Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald illustrates this point well. In his opening chapter he talks about towns in Florida which start caving in out of the blue. The reason is that the underground streams dry up and leave caves under the soil. The message is that our interior life is what sustains our outer life. If the church begins to skimp on its interior life, all of our "good deeds" will collapse when we run dry.

May your interior life be rich. May it be founded on the Rock.

--Nick

Picture is of the Council of Nicea

Christus Victor or Buddy Christ?

2009-08-27T08:21:00.011-04:00

While reading Robert Webber's book Ancient-Future Faith, I was struck by a topic that he raised, something I feel that we in the Church really need to hear on a regular basis. Christus Victor. Christ the Victor. According to Webber, this understanding of the work of Christ dominated the writings of early Fathers for the first thousand years or so. Jesus did not merely come to bring me my own prepackaged and personalized single serving salvation, he came to redeem the cosmos. This high Christology is what we find in Colossians 1:15-23.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by
him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were
created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and
the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the
supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the
cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your
minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's
physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish
and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm,
not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you
heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which
I, Paul, have become a servant.

While I realize that there are several Atonement Theories out there (Ransom/Christus Victor, Satisfaction, and Subjective/moral influence theories seem to be the main three), I am not trying to get hung up on one over the other at this point since I am still trying to understand this and study it myself. I do, however, believe that we could definitely do well to understand the universal implications of Christ's victory in His death, burial and resurrection. Here in the ego-centric US of A we have a tendency to think only in personal terms. It is easy for us to loose the epic view of Jesus Christ's work. This world does not belong to satan. After His resurrection Jesus told his disciples:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

Notice the inclusive scope--ALL authority in Heaven and on EARTH. This is the launch point for the commission.

Where is the fire in our souls when we hear the resurrection story on Easter or any other time? We are often guilty of turning Jesus into our buddy. We take the call to a close relationship with God as a license to make him safe and cool and ok with our sin. This weak, anemic Jesus is left ineffectual to conquer and heal the evil of this world. Jesus calls us friend, but this does not demote Him from His being "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation..."

I just wonder what would happen to our understanding of the Kingdom and our daily walks if we heard more sermons about Christ's work instead of self-help or self-affirmation. Listen to these concluding words from an Easter sermon by Melito of Sardis (A.D. 195):

But He rose from the dead and mounted up to the heights of heaven.
When the Lord had clothed Himself with humanity, and had suffered for the
sake of the sufferer, and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, and had
been judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the one
who was buried, He rose up from the dead, and cried with a loud voice:
Who is he that contends with me? Let him stand in opposition to me. I set
the condemned man free; I gave the dead man life; I raised up the one who had
been entombed. Who is my opponent? I, He says, am the Christ. I am the one who
destroyed death, and triumphed over the enemy, and trampled Hades underfoot, and
bound the strong one, and carried off man to the heights of heaven. I, He says,
am the Christ.

Christ has triumphed. Death is dead. Christ has conquered sin and all the powers of darkness in the spiritual realms. Christ is the Victor! And He is the Head of His Church.

"This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, [Nick], have become a servant."

Think Before You Leap

2009-08-26T09:15:00.010-04:00

This summer I have read a lot. I looked at my expanding book shelves and decided that I had to try to narrow the margin of books unread with books read. I didn't quite make my goal, but I did keep my mind active between semesters and grew spiritually as well. Some of the high lights from my list that I would recommend are: With Christ in the School of Obedience by Andrew Murray, The Abolition of Man and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr., A Praying Life by Paul Miller, The Hole in Our Gospel by Robert Stearns, Ancient-Future Faith by Robert Webber, and (I'm still finishing this one) The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The problem with cruising my way through these books is that it left me little time to reflect on some of them. I didn't even blog about many of them. But this raises an important point for me and one that is tied to the theme of this site, namely "Watch your life and doctrine closely."

My professor Dr. David Bauer told a story about his seminary days. He had a colleague in his Ph.D program who admitted in a colloquium that he was persuaded by the last thing he happened to read. Dr. Bauer appreciated the man's honesty.

It's easy to read or listen to a sermon uncritically, especially when they lay out a fairly detailed argument. But then someone else comes along with another argument and we become unconvinced. We can become so wishy-washy in our doctrine without really realizing it. I've seen this from "pew" numerous times. The preacher just read some one's book and thought it was great and revolutionary and he's designing a new 4 week series on it. Then, two years later, another book comes out (say on the mission of the church) and he gets all revved up about that one and another 4 week series is produced, merely regurgitating what I could read for myself. We allow others to dictate how we interpret the Scriptures without thinking about it critically first.

In all of this, please understand, I am of the school of Anselm-- fides quaerens intellectum "Faith seeking understanding." I do not think that we should be skeptical of the Scriptures until we understand them. But I do think that on matters which are not made explicitly clear in the Bible or expressed doctrine of the Creeds of the Church, we should do our own work to make sure that we are not merely or blindly following someone else's interpretation. We have to listen to the words of Paul to Timothy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." (2Timothy 2:15).

In Christ,

Nick

I am the Lockerbie Bomber and so are you

2009-08-25T10:43:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday, December 21, 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb as it flew over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 243 passengers, as well as 16 crew members were killed. In addition, 11 people on the ground were killed by the falling debris. In all, 270 people lost their lives in that barbarous act of terrorism. In 2001, a single man was convicted of being involved in the bombing; Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a Libyan national.

Five days ago (20 August 2009), Scotland's Justice Secretary agreed to transfer Al Megrahi into Libyan custody. The stated reason for the transfer was that Al Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer and would probably die within the next three months. For "humanitarian reasons" Al Megrahi was transfered home to live out his final days.

The response from the families of the victims of flight 103 and governments from around the world has been anger. How could Scotland let this terrorist who killed 270 people go home to a hero's welcome in Libya? Who cares that he has cancer, he deserves to die in prison for his crimes. These were some of my thoughts. I'm sure you had similar ideas cross your mind as you heard the news of Al Megrahi's release. Why grant the request of this terrorist? It violates every sense of justice we know. The guilty are to be punished. Here, we have a case of the idea of justice we hold so dearly being thrown asunder, and we do not like it.

One of my favorite authors/preachers is John Piper. His teachings connected with my soul at a time when I was headed for spiritual disaster. One of the analogies he often uses to describe our transfer from enemy of God to child of God is a courtroom. He asks how we would respond if a judge summarily let a convicted rapist and murderer walk free during sentencing. And not only that, but the judge, who is wealthy, takes the convicted man into his home and treats him like a son. Of course, we would feel outrage at this injustice done to the families of the victims. The judge would probably be impeached or defeated in re-election. Piper then says that this is what God has done for us in Jesus. We are the rapists and murderers who are guilty before the court of God. Yet, God sees fit to pardon us and let us walk freely into His family.

What is interesting are the implications of this radical rescue that God has initiated in Jesus. we are to love our enemies because God loves his enemies. Even when we look at Jesus' ministry, we see him bestowing grace when it was not merited (which is the definition of grace. It ceases to be grace when it is merited). Take Luke 9:38-41 for example. Here we have a man who has no faith (we know this because Jesus rebukes him for his faithlessness). Yet, Jesus grants his request. First, Jesus rebukes him and then Jesus bestows grace on him. Does that seem as foreign to you as it does me? Didn't Joel Osteen say we don't have because we don't have enough faith? Here is this guy with no faith and he still gets the blessing. Kinda blows prosperity gospel out of the water, but alas, I'm on a tangent. I am quite sure that Jesus healed many during his ministry who had no faith. His compassion for his enemies drove him to bless those who would eventually curse him. Jesus lived the life (and continues to live it) that we are called to live, if we are to be his disciples. Love your enemies. Bless and curse not. Pray for those who hate you. This is the road of a disciple and it is a costly road. But at the end are treasures untold. At the end is Jesus and he is enough.

So how does God get to be still called a God of Justice when he violates that justice that seems to be ingrained in us so deeply. In reading Tim Keller's "Reason for God", I have learned much. The only way the christian can love his enemies rather than punish them is that God promises to judge the guilty one day. God has taken the sin of the believers and laid them on Jesus. Jesus bore our sin and therefore, our guilt was punished. Justice has not been violated. In the case of unbelievers, a day is coming, either at their death or the coming of Jesus when their acts will be judged and they will suffer the punishment due them. The wrath of God is, ironically, the mechanism by which christians love their enemies. If there was no promised wrath, no promised settling of accounts, then we would have no option, but to take matters into our own hands and punish the wicked. But God has promised to destroy evil once and for all one day. Since God has promised this day is coming, we christians can actively love those who hate us. Perhaps the kindness of God, expressed through his people, will be the tool to bring many into the Kingdom of Jesus.

I do not know if Scotland's Justice Secretary is a christian. I hope he is, because that would add another layer of symbolism to this story. In any case, it is a scandolous example of the scandal of the cross; an offense to many, a stumbling block to more, but to the elect, it is the power of God. I don't need analogies anymore to understand what God in Jesus had done for me. I am the Lockerbie Bomber and so are you.

~sdg

See first 13 Minutes of "Collision"

2009-08-25T10:08:00.003-04:00

The documentary that follows Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson as they debate whether Christianity is Good for the World is almost ready to be released. To see the first thirteen minutes click here. It'll be the first video on the top of the page.

It's got me hooked and I think I want to order it.

~sdg

Thoughts About Thinking About God

2009-08-11T12:46:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip when I'm thinking about God or high theology. It can be very frustrating to think clearly in a logical fashion. In a recent philosophy class, Dr. Joseph Okello said, "The funny thing about God is: if you try to think about Him you'll lose your mind, but if you try to forget about Him you'll lose your soul."

Thinking about God in abstract terms, especially reflecting on paradoxes, can be very draining. Goodness knows I try, but philosophy does not come easy for me. History is a lot easier for me to comprehend--it is more like a story.

That's why I find it interesting that most of the Bible is story. In talking about God, Jesus uses lots of illustrations from life to help us comprehend Him (God is a shepherd, God is a land owner, God is a Loving Father, etc). God is a person not a mere philosophy. The only way to rightly understand God is relationally. Merely knowing about God cerebrally is not enough. I am not saying that we do not need to study or think about God's attitributes which are abstract. What I am saying is "Thank God that I do not have to rely on my pitiful intellect inorder to be a good Christ-follower! I can have a knowledge of God that can only be learned through relationship."

So let us seek to understand God, knowing that we will never be fully capable of grasping Him, but unwilling to give up trying. He is the only thing worth knowing. He came and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is the ultimate picture of the Father.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

I'll Make A Deal With You

2009-08-05T08:09:00.003-04:00

Ok. It's confession time. I have writers block on a certain topic--and that topic is part 4 of my metaphysical musings series. I know what to write, but I can't seem to do it. Furthermore I have no proof that anyone has even read parts 1-3. So why torture myself to finish it? The need to finish it has kept me from writing things that people are interested in reading. So I'll make a deal with you...if you ever happen to read the first 3 posts and want to finish the series send me a message and I'll write a special post in your honor. Now that that is out of the way maybe we can discuss something we're all interested in. Recently, I've been reading the Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Ancient-Future Faith by Robert Webber. I have many thoughts. I'll share them soon.

Review of Robert Stearns’ The Hole In Our Gospel

2009-07-25T15:22:00.005-04:00

Recently, I have become dissatisfied with the trends of the American church. Upon reading Stearns’ book, I realized that there was a facet to the Church poverty I had missed: Giving. Stearns begins his book with Jesus’ mission statement, concluding that the Church should reflect the same. But instead, he concludes that the Church has shaded off into a partial gospel—a gospel with a hole in it. Rather than simply giving a socio-ecclesiastical treatise on how we got here, Stearns has written vulnerably, sharing his own journey and continuing struggle to care for the poor. Part biography, part theological teaching, part research and statistics, 100% convicting.
When I started this book, I was prepared for a manifesto on the social gospel, but Stearns quickly put me at ease. He demonstrates incredible balance; his desire to meet the physical, mental and spiritual needs of the poor are rooted in sound exegesis of the Scriptures. The stories his shares struck a chord with me. His examples of the world-wide need and the Church’s lack of regard horrified me. But more than this, Stearns awaked my heart to live a whole-gospel life, making an impact for Christ in the world. I highly recommend it.

The Whole-Hearted Seeker

2009-07-10T09:56:00.008-04:00

"Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart" - Psalm 119:2

We are instructed to seek God with out whole heart. Yet, this is more difficult than it sounds. For the whole heart requires nothing held back from God. We cannot hold back areas of our life and still saw we have sought the Lord with our whole heart. The Lord desires that we seek him with the wholeness of our being. To often, we come with partial hearts to offer our partial selves and we wonder why God has found our offering lacking. He requires we give it all or none at all. He will not accept lukewarm offerings. They are vile to Him. They make a mockery of His lordship, His Godness, His Glory. To be sure, God doesn't require that the whole of our being be perfect and pure. He just requires we bring it to Him! The whole of our hearts is often marred and ugly. God is not surprised by the depravity He finds there. Yet, He cannot heal that which we hold back. Holding onto pet sins, areas of our life that enjoy holding back, disqualifies us from friendship with God. It tells God whom you believe is really in control. The whole of our being should be able to delight in the presence of God. That cannot happen when the dark corners of our heart are not exposed to the Light. However, do not think that God will passively wait for you to offer you whole heart. He is relentless in His pursuit of the whole hearts of His people. Jonah experienced this relentless pursuit of God. In His great mercy, God came after the partial-hearted Jonah in a fearful, yet awesome way. A great storm, a great fish and a little worm. All were used by God to expose Jonah's partial-hearted efforts.

Do you wonder at the storms in your own life? Do you blame God for upsetting your otherwise tranquil existence? Could it rather be that a God who desires to show you great mercy and love is pursuing the complete heart within your soul? Do you not see that God will stop at nothing to capture what is rightly His? Relinquish your heart to His control and you will find blessings beyond your imagination! Take heed to the psalmist's plea...seek Him with the whole of your existence!!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

~sdg

(Photo courtesy of: Gabriela Camerotti)

Book Review: The Hole in our Gospel

2009-07-07T20:35:00.000-04:00

For those interested, I just reviewed the book "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns at my personal blog. I think Nick will be reviewing it for this blog, but I thought I'd post a link to mine so you can compare notes. I'm sure Nick will pick up on a few things I missed.

Click here

~sdg

Metaphysical Musings: Is God Eternal or Everlasting Pt. 3

2009-06-02T08:53:00.003-04:00

Now I will turn to some reasons for understanding God as Eternal (timeless--outside of time). First, Theists believe that "God created the heaven and the earth." We believe that all created things have their origin in God, so the question is whether time is something that is created or whether it is a presupposition of God Himself. Put another way, did God create time at some point or does the fact that God exists require time?

Lets tackle the traditional view of time. According to Sir Isaac Newton Time and Space are two separate things. Time is the same everywhere in the universe. If you were to set an atomic clock in Greenwich, England and fly another to, say, the edge of a Black Hole on the skirts of universe, according to Newton, the Time would be the same. Time is universal. This is how many of us think of time, but Einstein theories of general and special relativity have demonstrated that this is not the case. Time is so much stranger.

Since this is not a science blog, I will keep this brief and simple. Einstein's theories have shown that time is relative to speed. The faster something moves, approaching the speed of light, the slower time gets for that thing (time dialation). Scientists have tested atomic clocks and found that this is true. (See Link) Einstein says that if a person were to get on a rocket and travel through space at near the speed of light for 30 earth years and return. We would have lived through 30 years of events, but to the space traveller it would only be a few seconds or minutes.

Einstein’s theory of general relativity demonstrates that space is relative just as time is. My professor, Dr. Wood, puts this quite succinctly when he writes, “Einstein showed that matter (=condensed energy) curves space-time. Without the density of matter, there would be no curved space, and without this curvature of space there would be no gravity.” In other words, the heavier an object’s mass the more it will warp the space around it, much like a bowling ball on a rubber sheet. But this gravitational warp not only effects the space around the object, such as a star, it also warps time. So, Einstein’s theory of special and general relativity not only demonstrates that time and space are relative to one’s relationship to them, but also that they are not separate entities as Newton thought them to be—they are one: space-time.

Since this is the case, it goes without saying that if we are to consider God as the creator of all material things, then we must understand that God also created time. Time was created simultaneously with space when God created the heavens and the earth. In creating time, God transcends it and cannot be bound by it. So, Einstein’s theories offer one reason to reject the idea that God is merely Everlasting rather than Eternal.

The Scripture also seems to declare that God is Eternal, according to Boethius’ definition. The most explicit occurrences come from the Pauline corpus. 1 Corinthians 2:7 states, “No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” 2 Timothy 1:9b says, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” In Titus 1:2, Paul again writes, “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” Perhaps the most subtle, yet most powerful, is God’s statement to Moses in Exodus 3:14 “I AM.” This is a statement of being, revealing that God’s true nature is ever-present existence. He does not change, as James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The fact that Revelation 4:8 refers to God as He “was and is and is to come” does not imply that God is somehow effected by time or bound by it, rather it demonstrates a declaration of God’s Being to people trapped within the timeline of the finite.

A clear understanding of Einstein’s physics and the fact that space-time is one entity reveals that, if God created the world ex nihlo (out of nothing), God is transcendent of time. If this is the case then, to quote Boethius, “Such a being must necessarily always be its whole self, unchangingly present to itself, and the infinity of changing time must be as one present before him.” Several passages in the Scripture seem to verify this, and, though some have tried to make God’s redemptive acts contingent on His being temporal, the correlation of canonical teaching indicates that God is transcendent over His creation and, therefore, is Eternal.

I promised you some implications of God's Eternal nature, but we will look at those in Pt. 4.

--Nick

Metaphysical Musings: Is God Eternal or Everlasting Pt. 2

2009-05-28T08:45:00.005-04:00

First I would like to begin with the case for God being "everlasting." A man by the name of Nicholas Wolterstorff has claimed that God is Everlasting (existing in and essentially bound by time), since He is described by biblical writers as planning certain future events and people are portrayed as "changing God's mind" (see Gen. 18:16-33). He also claims that this is evident since God is repeatedly shown in the Scriptures to act in history. He writes,

“For God is described as a being who acts—in creation, in providence, and for
the renewal of mankind. He is an agent, not an impassive factor in reality. And
from the manner in which his acts are describe, it seems obvious that many of
them have beginnings and endings, that accordingly they stand in succession
relations to each other, and that these successive acts are of such a sort that
their presence and absence on God’s time-strand constitutes changes thereon.
Thus it seems obvious that God is fundamentally noneternal.”

So essentially, Wolterstorff is saying that the fact that God interacts in human history, doing certain things which have a beginning and end, God has a history with a time-line and if He has a time-line then He has a past, present, and future. This means that Time has always existed. God can think back to that time when He did X. He can think forward (?) and plan events that He will do.

But here in lies the problem. If God is "time bound" then this has consequenses for omnisciences. If God is not in the future because He is headed there Himself, then there may be something that He doesn't know about--perhaps there is Someone greater than Him who will take charge. This is absurd. But this is the what this claim plays out to.

Wolterstorff's understanding of "eternal" relegates God to an Aristotelian framework of the “Unmoved Mover” in which God is so separate from His creation that He is detached from it and even oblivious to it. But understanding God as Eternal does not require God to be incapable of entering time. In his book God and History, Dr. Wood writes, "Fichte and Hegel argued that if the infinite is defined as the opposite of the finite it is a relation of one thing to another thing and thus is finite itself." God can have no fences around Himself or He is finite. Wolterstorff’s view is that the finite could somehow trap the infinite if they were to meet (he actually uses the term “infected”), but this is to clearly misunderstand the terms. It is like a drop of water trapping the vast sea into which it falls. This is clearly impossible.

Wolterstorff has raised the objection that God is described by biblical writers as planning certain future events. He believes that this locates God within time since God has the possibility of change, making God everlasting. But this is simply to misunderstand the nature of the text. The Bible has many examples of anthropomorphic language which portrays God in human terms: Gen. 3:8 says that God walks, Isa. 62:8 says that God has arms, Ps. 31:2 states that God has ears, and the list goes on. We know that God does not literally have these features since this goes against God’s known attributes: His transcendence, omniscience, omnipresence and the like. When the biblical writers say that God can change His mind (i.e. Genesis 18:16-33), they are likewise using figurative language as understood from a human perspective.

Next time, I will plead my case for God's Eternity and why Einstein's theories of Relativity help demonstrate this...and ultimately what this may imply.

Metaphysical Musings: Is God Eternal or Everlasting? Pt. 1

2009-05-26T14:35:00.000-04:00

Ok. A long time ago I promised this series of posts
Then my brain became full with discussions of Miracles and the Problem of Evil and the like.
But...I'm no liar, so here is the first post.

Here is an interesting question to ponder, as a theologian, as thinker. I believe it is important to understand why we believe what we believe about God. It might not effect your eternal (no pun intended) salvation, but it may effect the way you think about God. You may be confused as to the difference between "eternal" and "everlasting", but it's really all a matter of time. In this series of posts, I am going to focus on these concepts as viewed by Boethius, Aquinas, C.S. Lewis on the one hand and Nicholas Wolterstorff, Oscar Cullmann, Richard Swinburn, and Nelson Pike (among others).

So, let us begin with definitions:

Eternal--timeless (as defined by Boethius c.480-525 A.D.) :

"That which grasps and possesses simultaneously the entire fullness of an
undending life, a life which lacks nothing of the future and has lost nothing of
the fleeting past. Such a being must necessarily always be its whole self,
unchangingly present to itself, and the infinity of changing time must be as one
present before him." (In other words, God exists outside of time.)

Everlasting:

Existing within time and moving in temporal succession from the
beginning of time to the end. In this view, time is a presupposition of
God's mind.

Now I realize that I may have openned somewhat of a Pandora's Box here. There are a lot of difficult questions to ask and answer in this discussion. Justin and I have not even had a chance to discuss this issue, so I realize that I may be on my own here. But ultimately, we're out to simulate thinking--Biblical thinking, but also rational and reflective.

It is my belief that we should always know why we believe what we believe and be able to give an answer to anyone who may ask. So where ever you choose to fall in this debate, this investigation is here to stimulate thinking and discussion in hopes that you be be able to defend your side to anyone who may ask about the eternal/everlasting nature of God.

--Nick

New Design

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000-04:00

Hello friends,

Long time since last post. Sorry. I'll be posting some new content soon. I did want to post a new design I made last night. I hope you enjoy it. Dimensions should work as a wallpaper for your computer.

-sdg

Jericho: the Human Heart

2009-04-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

"Israel has sinned...therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies...I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you." Joshua 7:11-12

Before the people of Israel burned Jericho to the ground, the Lord gave instructions regarding what was to be destroyed and what was to be kept for the treasury of the Lord. They were clear instructions. Kill every living thing, except Rahab & her house, destroy everything in the city, except the gold & silver & bronze, those items are holy to the Lord. Those are clear and concise instructions. No room for misinterpretation.

After burning Jericho to the ground, they then seek to do the same to Ai. Only this time, Israel is defeated. Joshua goes before the Lord and it is revealed to Him that their is sin in Israel. And until that sin is removed, Israel will not have God fighting for them. An investigation ensues and the guilty man is found out. He confesses his sin and then he and his entire household are taken outside the camp and killed. Even his livestock & possessions are destroyed along with him. With the sin purged from the camp, Israel goes on the defeat Ai and burn it to the ground.

This story is interesting to me in a few ways. The first aspect I find intriguing is that the entire community of Israel is stained and punished for the sins of a single man. Achan was the guilty man. Yet, when Joshua comes to the Lord to inquire as to why they were initially defeated at Ai and the Lord tells Joshua that the whole community has sinned. This is a troubling statement. Look at the implications of this. In the story of Israel, 36 men lost their lives in the initial battle. They died in vain. Because the sin of one man was attributed to the whole, people lost their lives. Wives lost husbands. Sons & daughters lost fathers. Fathers & mothers lost sons. Even more troubling is the implication for our own communities. It seems to me that God holds the entire community responsible for keeping its individual members on the straight and narrow. I have to think that others saw Achan take the items that he was not supposed to take. Surely his family knew. Yet nothing was done to stop him, and thus, the community as a whole is responsible. I believe the New Testament teaches that this principle is still relevant. The community is responsible for keeping watch over it's members. Paul commands us in Gal. 6:1 to restore those caught in sin. He goes on to say to bear each others burdens. In I Corinthians 5, Paul addresses a community that was boasting in how grace-filled they were that they weren't even dealing with the sin. Paul states that the whole community is affected by the one (v.6). Again, this principle is reaffirmed. The writer of Hebrews also echoes the idea of community intervention. Hebrews 3:12-13 makes it clear that we are to exhort one another every day, so that we don't fall into sin. Another example is Paul's use of the body as a metaphor for the church. We are all inter-connected and inter-dependent. If one aspect of the body goes bad, the whole body is affected. It's not a perfect metaphor, but the overall principle is conveyed. The community will always be affected adversely by sins committed by the individuals that make up that community. Therefore, it is the community's responsibility to deal with sin in the group swiftly and decisively (more on how I see this occurring shortly).

Another thing I find interesting in the story is God's command to destroy the devoted things. However, I want to look at this aspect from point of view of the gospel. I see Jericho as the human heart. There are great walls that surround it. When God shows up on the scene and ravishes our hearts, the walls come down. However, the battle for the human heart is far from over. Now all the things that God calls us to put to death, must be put to death. Lust, idolatry, slander, deceit, quarreling, divisiveness. The list goes on. There are also aspects of the heart that are good and should be devoted to the Lord. The whole of the Christian life is spent in devoting and destruction. However, we are not alone in this task. Jesus has come to defeat the power of sin and death. We do not fight on our strength, but on Jesus'. And we also should have a community of friends fighting alongside us; pointing to different aspects of our hearts that need to be killed. When we initially become a Christian, a lot about us is killed. We become changed people. However, we all, like Achan, have held out on God. Areas of our hearts that God has commanded to be put to death, we have hid and buried. Again, the community exists to help us discover those buried sins and destroy them. We don't destroy the person, like Achan was destroyed. Because of Jesus, we now live in the an era of grace. The opportunity to confess and throw yourself on the mercy of Jesus is here! So, instead we seek to kill the sin in the person, not the person. Jesus has made it possible for that person to be redeemed, to be changed!

If we find an Achan within our midst, the kind of heart surgery I am proposing (and the Bible commands) is messy. There is no anesthetic for this procedure. It will be painful beyond belief. Even the surgeons will wince at the sight of the reactions of the patient. But, great good will come from it. Either the patient will submit and be saved or they will remove themselves and linger in sin. While we hope and pray for healing and restoration, the reality is that some people don't want help; don't think they need it. It is heart breaking to observe.

My prayer as you read this is that you will examine your heart for the devoted things. Have you put to death all that God requires? Seek Jesus and godly friends. They are eager and willing to help you!

~sdg

photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianmorley/

Life Under a New Politeuomai

2009-04-10T20:07:00.001-04:00

This world is a dangerous place. Christians find themselves in this world and many conform without ever knowing it. Yet they do not belong here. There is a feeling deep within their souls that tells them things aren't right. They feel out of place; which they should. In Philippians 1:27, Paul reminds the Christian that their very living should look different, feel different, be different. It's not so clear in the english, but in the greek Paul uses this word: politeuomai. It means "to behave as a citizen." It is a powerful word picture for how Christian's lives are to contrast from the surrounding culture. The way a Christian does things should be very different from the way the culture does things. This goes for the big decisions in life, like who to marry, to the mundane, like where to shop for clothes. Every aspect of the Christian's life should be marked by this other-worldliness. Paul states later that the Christian's citizenship was in heaven. That means that the life, the movements, and actions should be as if they all took place in heaven, where God is in absolute control. When decision paradigms are based on the world and culture, conforming to the ways of the world will quickly follow. As a Christian, God's Word must be the basis for decisions, so that the Christian is conformed to God's Word and not the culture in which he lives.

Sadly, many Christians struggle to be freed from their previous mindset. Again and again, their lives are caught up in being conformed to the world. If that is your situation, do not despair!! Face your choices. Confess your sin. Jesus will forgive. After you confess and receive forgiveness, you should then seek accountability. The Christian cannot live as a citizen of heaven alone. You will continue to languish in the barren land of sin. Your choices will increasingly reflect the world, rather than a child of God. As painful as it might be at times, you must own up to your sin and let fellow believers shine the light of truth into your soul. It will often reveal the ugliest of sins, but it is for your ultimate good that you experience this light and momentary pain (compared to the heaviest and eternal pain of hell).

The Christian way is against the flow. The Christian way is like the salmon. Upstream, with danger all around. This is the Christian way. Our way. This is our politeuomai.

~sdg

photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7193459@N08

An excercise in brevity - inspired by www.twentytwowords.com

2009-04-02T11:40:00.000-04:00

Paul says "rejoice with those who rejoice." How do I rejoice with a fellow Christian who I feel is walking unwisely? Help!

Reasons to Remain Sexually Pure

2009-03-26T07:41:00.002-04:00

Recently, my guys have been discussing practical ways to remain sexually pure in our daily lives. One of the guys was reading a book called The Game Plan and this book suggested writing out a list of reasons why you should remain sexually pure. After writing out the list, you should then review periodically to keep it fresh on your mind. I thought this was a great idea and I began writing out a list. Something I did was that I tried to get my reasons from the Scriptures, rather than my own head. My reason for this was giving my list more weight when I came to authority. We humans are great rationalizing away previously held convictions for the sake of our depravity. In an attempt to stifle that rationalization, I thought it necessary to add Scripture to the list. Another reason is that I don't want to remain sexually pure for reasons other than what Scripture outlines. There may be many practical reasons to abstain for sexual immorality, but then I'm no better than the unbeliever. Wanting to remain disease free is an admirable reason to abstain from immorality, but it is not a spiritual reason. The most devoted atheist wants to remain disease free.

So here we go:

Sexual sin is first a sin against God - Galatians 5:17-19, Psalm 51:4
Sexual sin is idolatry - Romans 1:21-25
Sexual sin is dishonoring to your wife - Hebrews 13:4
If you dishonor your wife, God will ignore your prayers - I Peter 3:7
Sexual sin will derail your ministry - I Timothy 3:1-2 (one woman man)
The pleasure of sexual sin is fleeting - Hebrews 11:25
Sexual sin is also a sin against your own body - I Corinthians 6:18
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit - I Corinthians 6:19
Your body does not belong to you, but to Jesus - I Corinthians 6:13
Sexual sin is like drinking muddy, polluted water - Jeremiah 2:13
Sex with your wife is just better, and it honors her and God - I Corinthians 7:3, Hebrews 13:4, Song of Solomon 5:1
Persistent sexual sin will prove you unworthy of the Kingdom - I Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21
Because of Jesus, you are no longer sexually immoral - I Corinthians 6:11
To walk in sexual sin, yet claiming to walk in the Light makes you a liar - I John 1:6
Jesus demands that your desires die daily - Matthew 16:24-25

I hope that is list is of help to my fellow brothers who are fighting to remain pure each day. I have known the battle intimately and fight along side you. I pray for God's strength to be upon you and that you realize that you're never alone in this fight. Jesus has won the victory. You are no longer a slave to your lusts and passions. You are free!

Did I miss any Biblical reasons for remaining pure? Add them in the comments!

~sdg

Collision Movie

2009-03-24T15:16:00.001-04:00

Thanks to JT for the lead on this new flick, but you need to check out this movie. It's a documentary on the debates between Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson. The film looks riveting from the trailers on the site and I can't wait to see the whole thing. The music chosen for the trailers was great too...I hope to make films like this someday.

~sdg

Not to be out done....

2009-03-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

I too am working on a little piece. I'll be examining what Paul means by the "gospel". Our life group is studying Philippians and we felt it necessary to find out what Paul really means by the gospel (Phil. 1:7) so that we don't read our own understanding into a word that may not be there. Should show up here next week. I'll be working on it this weekend.

~sdg

Creative Slump?

2009-03-18T09:41:00.005-04:00

It's been kind of quiet around here lately. I know I haven't written anything in quite a while. The truth is I've been in a rut. I can't get my head into my studies like I want to and I have lost some of my creative drive. When I feel this way, I feel like my person is adrift. Out of sorts. I think part of the reason is overload. I have three classes this semester which all interest me greatly, but I have little to no time to properly digest the implications of what I'm learning. Maybe that's the answer, or maybe I'm just lazy. Whatever the case, it's time to snap out of it and get with the program because you, faithful reader, need more stimulating theological/doctrinal discussion. I am currently working on a series that I will release soon on the question of whether God is Eternal or Everlasting--yes there is a difference and yes it matters. So, keep an eye out for it sometime next week, and pray for me as I try to get out of my creative slump.

Nick

Picture provided by http://www.flickr.com/photos/elb_the_prof/2162808925/

Vintage Saints - Saint Patrick

2009-03-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

The Resurgence has a great article on St. Patrick. There are also some other resources for those who are interested in finding out more about St. Patrick and Celtic Christianity.

~sdg

Dabbling in Design

2009-03-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

Hey all, besides my love of reading and writing on all things pertaining to theology, I have an artsy side to me (the 4sixteen logo is my design as well). I've decided to start sharing some of my designs as I come up with them. The image to the left is designed as an iPhone wallpaper. It's dimensions are 320x480 with 180 ppi. If you like it, feel free to use it. Just click on the image and it'll pull up a full-sized version that you can download onto your computer.

~sdg

Free access to ESV Study Bible online

2009-03-03T19:41:00.000-05:00

The English Standard Version, which is published by Crossway, recently released it new Study Bible. With the purchase of the Study Bible, special access is given to the online version of the Study Bible. Well, during the month of March, anyone can sign up for a free trial of the online Study Bible. Just click here if you'd like to check it out.

~sdg

via DG

Reclaiming Fellowship

2009-02-24T22:03:00.009-05:00

As Nick and I have discussed church and how we should approach being the church, we have tended to focus on those in leadership. We both desire to be in ministry, so we tend to discuss aspects from that perspective. However, I just finished reading 18 Words, by J.I. Packer. One of the last words he defines is fellowship. As I read Packer's chapter on fellowship, I was struck by how much the common church goer does not understand fellowship and really how crucial it is for the church. Packer says that "the fact that we share social activities with other Christians does not of itself imply that we have fellowship with them." He goes on to say that this misunderstanding "fools us into thinking that we are thriving on fellowship when all the time our souls may be starving for lack of it." This grave misunderstanding of what actually constitutes fellowship could be the very foundation of many issues the church faces to day. My basis for saying this is the definition of biblical fellowship (which I will get to shortly).

The foundation of fellowship between Christians is their fellowship with God. How does one know if he has fellowship with God? Through receiving the person and work of Jesus. Matthew 10:40 quotes Jesus on this subject. "Whoever receives me, receives him who sent me." God has initiated fellowship with man through His son Jesus. The work Jesus did is sufficient to cover all men. That sufficiency is what opens the door to our fellowship with God. Only when one rightly understands how he has fellowship with God, can he understand and apply what it means to have fellowship with other Christians.

Fellowship between believers is different from fellowship between God and man. While God is the main actor, bringing about all that is sufficient for fellowship, men cannot relate to each other in that way. Between Christians, fellowship is two-fold. First, there is a sharing with fellow christians about what facets of God that He has revealed to the individual believers. The purpose of this sharing is to thus enrich the fellowship the other Christians have with God. Packer points out that I John 1:3 is a great example of an apostle writer expressing this sentiment. John wishes to impart wisdom about God to his fellow believers and deepen their fellowship with Him. Secondly, fellowship is an eagerness to learn about what God is teaching others, so that one might find encouragement or strength. Not only should we seek to teach, but to learn. Packer calls fellowship an "expression of both love and humility." It is love because we desire to see in our brothers and sisters a greater love and devotion for God, and it is humble, because no one has the christian life perfected. We are all fellow stragglers that are moving towards our Savior. Packer sums up his definition of fellowship by saying "it is a corporate seeking by christian people to know God better through sharing with each other what, individually, they have learned of Him already."

So what keeps Christians from experiencing true fellowship? Packer outlines four obstacles to biblical fellowship. The first obstacle to fellowship is elitism. This would make sense with the definition of fellowship. If someone believes they are better, or have arrived at some higher spiritual plane, they will not seek help from others and will react negatively when people attempt to share with them. The second obstacle is a lesser form of the first. Self-sufficiency will also block fellowship. We must understand that our spiritual health is dependent upon others. Left to ourselves, we can distort, suppress or hinder truth that confronts us in the Scriptures. We need others to surround us and help keep our sight clear and hearts pointed toward Christ Jesus. No word picture is more clear than that of the body. Paul uses this word picture in I Corinthians 12:12. "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." Paul is describing our inter-dependency. We may be an eye, but we need the ears and the feet and tongue and the hundreds of other parts in order to function properly. The third obstacle is formality. We can't be afraid to strip away all the masks and social standards that keep people at arms distance. Fellowship is at its core an intimate act. It bears the soul of all parties involved. Those who refuse to strip away the masks will never be able to have true fellowship. The final aspect is bitterness. Since fellowship involves taking sinners, who are in varying stages of dealing with their sin, and placing them in an intimate setting, members of the fellowship will sin against each other. If those sins are not dealt with within a biblical context, bitterness can take root and destroy fellowship. When sin has occurred, we cannot allow the bitterness to form. If it does, we will develop all the other obstacles to fellowship. We will begin to think we are better than the person who sinned against us. We will put up walls of formality to protect ourselves. We will be prone to think we don't need that person. I believe bitterness to be the root cause of the loss of most fellowship.

In closing, I pray that we all take a serious look at our "fellowship" and see if it is meeting the biblical standard. We must be vigilant and continue to monitor the health of our fellowship. The pull of our flesh requires realignment of our spiritual tires, every so often. Do not be afraid to have conversations that might be awkward. Those moments may lead to a greater and deeper fellowship.

~sdg

Cheap Grace, Cheap Love

2009-02-23T10:44:00.006-05:00

I've recently talked about the concept of "cheap grace" and the self-serving notion that God winks at sin: "No big deal. My grace is sufficent for you." (Please note: here I do not presume to speak for the real God, only the idol that many people have constructed to meet their own needs.) I think this is a very dangerous reaction against "works righteousness" theology, but this is not the only area where we have dropped the ball. I think another area of concern is the area of love. I think the one directly effects the other.

Let me explain. Many churches understand the first and greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27) Many have made great strides in outreach to unsaved people and caring for the helpless. This is right.

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the
darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in
him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and
walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the
darkness has blinded him." (1 John 2:9-11)

This is right. There have been too many hate crimes in the life of the church and I see no need to rehash them here. But it seems to me that we have seen a major swing into the camp of permissibility. There are many people in churches today who go unchallenged on the sin in their lives. This is especially true of "seeker friendly" churches. The thought process seems to go (as I have picked up over the years): "We need to love them into the kingdom." or "We don't want to scare them off. They're just a baby believer." I don't know how many young people I've known over the years in churches who see nothing wrong with drunkenness and pushing the sexual envelope. There are many, many more scenarios of less flagrant sin that goes unprotested. This is easy to do in our private and individualistic society. We tell ourselves that it's none of our business. Yes, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, but He did not consider them the Church until they left behind their old identity and accepted the new life that He offered. That's what baptizism is all about. Once people are baptized into the community of faith, they are held to a different standard:

1 Corinthians 5:6-13

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the
whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch
without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the
yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of
sincerity and truth.
9I have written you in my letter not to associate
with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who
are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would
have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate
with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an
idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even
eat.
12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?
Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the
wicked man from among you."

If we continue to have a cheap view of Grace, we will have a cheap Love (which is really not love at all). Further on in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul details what love is. In verse 6 he says that love, " finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth" (HCSB). We need to realize that sometimes we have to hurt someone's feelings in order to bring them to repentence. If cheap grace produces cheap love, then the reverse is also true: our demonstration of cheap love will cause others to have a cheapened view of grace as well. Jesus loved people, but he also called the hypocrites (the religious people) out on their sin. We need to do the same. We cannot let Jesus' exhortation to take the plank out of our own eye before removing the speck in our brother's eye to keep us from action.

Midnight Confessions of a Tired Student

2009-02-21T23:55:00.007-05:00

It's midnight as I begin to write this. I've been trying to read for the past hour and a half and I think I have read 3 pages of Beale's commentary on Revelation. It is interesting, but lately every time I sit down to read or study I'm distracted, tired, fall asleep, get a head ache or something. My creativity has been lacking as well. You, lone reader, may have noticed this also. I'm trying to decide why I'm struggling with all these things. Maybe I'm restless because I'm looking to connect with God in a way that traditional study cannot provide. Maybe I'm close to achieving a breakthrough and the enemy is trying to keep me down. I often feel like I'm my own worst enemy. I think back to the great movers and shakers of the faith--great leaders and teachers. These men and women had a single focus. Many of them studied their Bibles or prayed for hours on end. I can barely concentrate on one thing for an hour. I want focus. I want to have quality time with God without being distracted...I want to go to bed. No. I'm going to finish this rant. I want answers. Why do I feel so empty, so bored with study? In the OT book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) the Teacher says, "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body" (12:12b).

It's now 12:25am. It took 25 minutes to write a paragraph. Some times writing flows and sometimes I stare at the blank page for half an hour wondering where to begin. Some times things come easy. Some times things are fun, but some times those same things take work...a lot of work. I guess that's life--including the Christian one. We just have to keep putting one foot in front of another. 12:37am! At this rate, I'll never be prolific...I think I just fell asleep, staring at the screen so I'll wrap this up: I am a student. Studying and writing is what I do. I am working so that one day I can do ministry full time and help other people learn to study also. So when you find yourself struggling to do the thing you do, it becomes a little difficult to know what to do. Studying and thinking take time and focus. Connecting with God takes focus...or at least openness, but in our ADD world of the glorification of multitasking it become difficult to learn to unwind and sit still. By the time I get still and focused, I fall asleep...like I am right now.

Picture provided by http://www.flickr.com/photos/22761683@N08/2480661120/

Salute to Heroes: Athanasius of Alexandria

2009-02-15T12:32:00.004-05:00

Often, in our hurry to get back to the roots of Christianity, we skip over 20 centuries of church history with little to no knowledge of what happened after Acts and until the Reformation. Last semester I got the chance to learn a little bit of something about those 20 centuries. One of my favorite people to study was a man by the name of Athanasius of Alexandria. He was so short and dark that his enemies called him "the black dwarf." He was the most feared opponent of Arianism in the 4th century and the champion of the Nicene creed. As a matter of fact, unable to get official admission to Constantine on this matter because of the political maneuvering of Eusebius of Nicomedia, Athanasius once jumped in front of Constantine's horse and grabbed the bridle, refusing to let go until he was granted audience with the emperor (Gonzalez 176). Talk about taking life by the reins! As Gonzalez also writes about him, "his monastic discipline, his roots among the people, his fiery spirit, and his profound and unshakable conviction made him invincible" (174). He withstood numerous trials and exiles, yet he always stood for the truth. Let us do the same, being unwilling to settle for comfort at the expense of the truth.

Gonzalez, Justo L., The Story of Christianity Vol. 1. HarperSanFrancisco, 1984.

Struggling With What To Say

2009-02-06T11:50:00.008-05:00

The last few times I've sat down to write something, I quit writing because I decided that I didn't have quite enough knowledge about the topic of interest--at least for my own gratification. But, as Justin reminded me, this is a place to share about the importance of life and doctrine and watching them closely, etc. The problem is that sometimes I have a lot to say and other times I am full of questions and just want to sit back and learn. It's an ebb and flow and I think that's only natural.

Lately J.C. and I have been struggling with issues in the church and community life. How do we handle certain issues? How can we make a difference? It's easy to see that things aren't as they should be, but it's more complicated to come up with solutions to those problems. What makes matters more difficult is that the way the West does and views church makes some elements of biblical community difficult to implement. I think that we need to see the importance of creating an alternative Christian culture that looks to the Bible and a very real understanding of the Resurrection and it's implications as the foundation for how we live all areas of our life. The bifurcation of sacred and secular has allowed Christians to feel good about their religious lives and live by the cultural norms and standards of the world with relatively low friction. I'm not talking just about "in your face" differences, such as extra-marital sex, debauchery, pornography, and language which heavily entangles the church in hypocrisy today. I'm talking about cultural norms like the way we operate businesses and schools--things based on world views laid down by Freud, Dewey, Darwin, and Kant. If the Church wants to operate biblically, it needs to ingrain itself in the truth of the Scriptures to a greater degree than ever before, seeking to understand how they translate to our present situation.

How do we revolutionize the lives of churches in the West, let alone the world? How do we light a spark that ignites into revival? Prayer and obedience.
Henry Varley, a good friend of D.L. Moody's, once told him, "It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him." Supposedly D.L. Moody replied, "Well, I will be that man." (http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biomoody6.html)

I want to be able to say the same...I guess I had something to say after all.

Picture provided by http://www.flickr.com/photos/amundn/

Pastor Mark on Nightline

2009-01-29T11:48:00.008-05:00

One of my favorite preachers, Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church, was interviewed on Nightline. I've embedded the video below. I would definitely encourage you to check out his Podcast on iTunes. He's currently working through I Peter. It's good stuff.

-sdg

What Do People See In Us?

2009-01-27T22:54:00.007-05:00

"The preacher, instead of looking out upon the world, looks
out upon public opinion, trying to find out what the public would like to hear.
Then he tries his best to duplicate that, and bring his finished product into a
marketplace in which others are trying to do the same. The public, turning to
our culture to find out about the world, discovers there is nothing but its own
reflection. The unexamined world, meanwhile, drifts blindly in the future."

--Dining With the Devil, by Os Guinness p.59 citing a quote from Context, 15 April 1991, p.4

This quote strikes me as true. It's a symptom of the attractional model church that peddles the "gospel" for it's own self-serving aims: growth, popularity, power. Churches have turned people into numbers. We want to get butts in the seats and keep them there...and if we have to take the sting out of the Gospel to do it--then so be it. We build gyms to make our facilities more appealing. We modernize the children's programs. We want to be accepted in the community. But where is the substance? Where is the awe of God? We cut our skim milk with water so as not to upset any stomachs.

2 Timothy 4:3 says:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number
of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Who is our audience: God or man?
We can't cater to the "needs" of people (some people) at the cost of the church's holiness or the gospel message of repentance from sin and discipleship.

The interesting thing is that we have tried to make the church so palatable to the world that we have lost our uniqueness. Though I disagree with many of the points in his book, Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?, James K. A. Smith states this well:

Worship, then, needs to be characterized by hospitality; it needs to be
inviting. But at the same time, it should be inviting seekers into the church
and its unique story and language. Worship should be an occasion of
cross-cultural hospitality. Consider and analogy: When I travel to France, I
hope to be made to feel welcome. However, I don't expect my French hosts
to become Americans in order to make me feel at home. I don't expect them to
start speaking English, ordering pizza, talking about the New York Yankees, and
so on. Indeed, if I wanted that, I would have just stayed at home! Instead, what
I'm hoping for is to be welcomed into their French culture; that's why I've come
to France in the first place. And I know that this will take some work on my
part. I'm expecting things to be different; indeed, I'm looking for just this
difference. So also, I think, with hospitable worship: seekers are looking for
something our culture can't provide. Many don't want a religious version of what
they can already get at the mall. And this is especially true of postmodern or
Gen X seekers: they are looking for elements of transcendence and challenge that
MTV could never give them. Rather that an MTVized version of the gospel, they
are searching for the mysterious practices of the ancient gospel" (78).

Here's a unique attractional model for us:

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
--John 12:32

It's easy for us to point fingers at our churches, ministers and elders (and they should be accountable for the syncretism we now face), but let us not forget that the Church is made up of people, people who are buying into this mode of being, as well. We have to be different. We can't be afraid to stand out. If we look like the world, talk like the world, think like the world and live like the world then what in the world is there for the world to see in us? The salt has lost it's saltiness. You might object, saying that we do not do these things, but our spending, listening and viewing habits stand as our accusers. Worship based on pyrotechnics and rock concert dynamics accuse us.

It's time for us to be different--be godly. It's time for us to have a sense of Awe in worship. A.W. Tozer nails this on the head in The Knowledge of the Holy.

"The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen
above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate
that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or
base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God" (1).

In a world full of talk--the world wants to see action. They want to see God in action. They want to see His people in action and acting as if they believe that He is truly there. What do people see in us? I think it's time we all ask ourselves this question.

Nick

Thoughts on Bishop Gene Robinson and the decline of Politics in America

2009-01-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

Recently, the life group to which Nick and I belong just completed a 12-lesson worldview study. The Truth Project (which is one of our recommended link...well, the only one, we'll add more later), takes students on a whirl-wind tour of the major components of a world-view and then teaches them how the Bible speaks on that topic. It's a fascinating study that I would strongly recommend for any believer (new or mature). During our study of the State, Dr. Del Tackett (who serves as your guide during the many "tours") defines politics using the definition originally written by Daniel Webster in the 1828 Edition of his dictionary. The definition is as follows: "The science of government; that part of ethics which consists in the regulation and government of a nation or state, for the preservation of its safety, peace and prosperity; comprehending the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals. Politics, as a science or an art, is a subject of vast extent and importance." Would you define politics that way today? Do you see politicians as those serving to protect the public good, to advance their morals? Do you think of politics as a part of ethics? If you watch the news ever, you're probably laughing right now (I'm chuckling as I write this). From the governor of Illinois attempting to sell a senate appointment, to the mayer of Detroit who is currently in jail on corruption convictions, to the current nominee for the Treasury department, who conveniently forgot to pay $34,000 in income taxes. Friends, the vast majority of politicians have fallen far from the tree that birthed this country. Why have we fallen so far? To what can we point as the culprit of our current decline? I believe that Aleksander Solzhenitsyn nails it on the head. He begins his Templeon Address this way:

More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.

Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some sixty million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.

What is more, the events of the Russian Revolution can only be understood now, at the end of the century, against the background of what has since occurred in the rest of the world. What emerges here is a process of universal significance. And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the entire twentieth century, here too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again: Men have forgotten God.

The failings of human consciousness, deprived of its divine dimension, have been a determining factor in all the major crimes of this century. The first of these was World War I, and much of our present predicament can be traced back to it. It was a war (the memory of which seems to be fading) when Europe, bursting with health and abundance, fell into a rage of self-mutilation which could not but sap its strength for a century or more, and perhaps forever. The only possible explanation for this war is a mental eclipse among the leaders of Europe due to their lost awareness of a Supreme Power above them. Only a godless embitterment could have moved ostensibly Christian states to employ poison gas, a weapon so obviously beyond the limits of humanity.

The same kind of defect, the flaw of a consciousness lacking all divine dimension, was manifested after World War II when the West yielded to the satanic temptation of the "nuclear umbrella." It was equivalent to saying: Let's cast off worries, let's free the younger generation from their duties and obligations, let's make no effort to defend ourselves, to say nothing of defending others-let's stop our ears to the groans emanating from the East, and let us live instead in the pursuit of happiness. If danger should threaten us, we shall be protected by the nuclear bomb; if not, then let the world burn in Hell for all we care. The pitifully helpless state to which the contemporary West has sunk is in large measure due to this fatal error: the belief that the defense of peace depends not on stout hearts and steadfast men, but solely on the nuclear bomb...

Today' s world has reached a stage which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: "This is the Apocalypse!"

Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.

The rest of the address is even more amazing. I heartily commend it to your reading (you can find it here ). While Solzhenitsyn is specifically addressing the demise of Russia under communist rule, I believe we in America can find a warning. Many in this country are still devoutly orthodox in their Christian beliefs. Perhaps it is this remnant that has staved of destruction. However, it is my belief that atheistic beliefs of Marx and Lenin which lead to the unheard of brutality and human suffering in Russia, has been growing within the borders of America for many years. There is abject hatred for God by some in America. The whole idea of separation of church and state has been completely turned on its head. Instead of keeping the state from establishing a state religion, religion has all but been removed from the state. God has been kicked from the Capitol.

Perhaps you are a bit incredulous at my assessment of our current situation. Perhaps you say to yourself, "Politicians pray all the time, they go to church all the time...I know this for a fact, I see it on CNN." There is no doubt that America still remains rigidly religious in certain circles. That religiosity reminds me very much of Paul in Athens. I commend Acts 17:22 and following for your consideration. The Athenians were very much religious. I'm sure their politicians made public speeches at the local temple. Perhaps they made large donations or sacrifices as a way of gaining favor with the people. I believe a majority of the politicians today are simply doing the things they need to do to get re-elected. If America expects it's President to be Christian, then by all means, the candidates will tout their "faith". They will make long speeches, or prayers or show up for Sunday services. The main goal in life is not to honor Christ. It is not about reclaiming and redeeming the practice of government. It merely about appearances and power and patronizing the public. Perhaps you say, "Justin, how can you know their hearts? You can't know their intentions." I'll agree with you to a point. But, I can judge their fruit. The selection of Bishop Gene Robinson to "pray" (and I use that term lightly) is a great example. Due to some rumors and spin that he was a closet muslim, President Obama has made countless, direct statements that he is in fact a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and has accepted him as Savior for the forgiveness of sins. So, as a Christian myself, I can now place expectations on his behavior and how he presents Christ to the world. When President Obama selects a bishop who is a practicing homosexual to pray during the inaugural celebration, President Obama implicitly supports that which the bishop stands for. Sadly, as John Piper points out (see earlier post for link), Obama now implicitly is telling the world that being a practicing homosexual is a good thing, a moral thing and that it is not sin. Here we have the President effectively nullifying the Scriptures to fit a supposed cultural norm. How is that christian at all? It is not. Why does he do it? I can say no better than the old men from Russia. He has forgotten God. He seeks to please all people and in the end he disappoints the most important being of all, Almighty God.

-sdg

Standing Strong in Tough Times: Are We Preparing?

2009-01-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

Lately I (Nick) have been reflecting on where Christianity stands in this country in the time line of freedom/persecution. Last semester I took Church History I, which covered from the early church to the Reformation. Many times there were periods of freedom followed by sudden periods of persecution. Here in the U.S. we take freedom of speech and religious liberties for granted. I can't help but feel that this is dangerous. When early Christians would get lulled by a 50 or 60 year period of religious freedom, many buckled when persecution struck.

Watching Jack Bauer getting tortured on 24 or hearing accounts of missionary persecution I always wonder how I would react. I begin complaining if I have eaten in 6 hours. In an affluent society we do not know how to deal well with hardship. Our present national crisis is evidence of our unwillingness to bite the bullit and live within our means--to say know to the flesh. As I have been reflecting on this, a passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:3-11 keeps running through my mind.

While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them
suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not
escape.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day
should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the
day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be
like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those
who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But
since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love
as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint
us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He
died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with
him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact
you are doing.

Let us be alert and self-controlled! This is what spiritual disciplines are for. I think it is time for us to rediscover the lost arts of prayer and fasting. We need to teach ourselves that God is the authority of our lives--not ourselves. How are we to get strong if we don't train? Who would we want defending us, if we were being attacked? The boyscouts or the Navy Seals and Delta Force? We are at war--a spiritual war. We need to train. Paul talks about this:

1 Corinthians 9:23-27

do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its
blessings.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone
who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown
that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man
beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have
preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

I feel a sense of urgency that we must grow strong or fail. If we are going be the light for following generations, as well as our own, then we have to start now and encourage each other in our discipline.

Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and
good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.

--Nick

UPDATED: How Obama Makes Christ a Minister of Condemnation

2009-01-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Two links I need to share with you:

John Piper's comments regarding Obama's choice of Bishop Gene Robinson (an openly, practicing gay bishop) to pray at inaugural celebrations.

The text of the bishop's prayer.

I will share some of my comments in a later post.

UPDATE

Rick Warren was also asked to pray at the actual inauguration. Here is a link that posts the text of his prayer. On the whole, it's one I would be honored to pray. I've been one of those skeptical of Warren, but I must give him props on actually praying in the name of Jesus.

~sdg

Clarification For a Previous Post

2009-01-15T09:25:00.000-05:00

Last night one of my close friends brought to my attention that there is the possibility for me to be misunderstood in my post Just What Are Churches Afraid Of? The last thing Justin or I want is to be seen as the peanut gallery heckling the church from the sidelines. I don't want to be seen as a member of a team that sits around critiquing the coach and causing problems. My intentions in writing this literary gem were to ask some probing questions--not just for my church but for many churches around the country. Also, I raise my objections to the way churches are handling the bible because I have a heart for the Church. I want to see churches making a difference in our society. When we undermine our claim by our actions, we need to be called into account. Do I have all the answers? No. Do I think I'm better than the rest of the church leaders out there? Absolutely not. But that does not absolve me from my responsibility to call out inefficiencies in the ways we operate within the church. The problem is when we don't realize the presuppositions that underlay our actions. Topical sermons can be dangerous because they have a tendency to become market oriented ("How can we get people's attention? What do they want to hear?") instead of asking the Scripture what should be important for our lives. We come to the Bible like a magic eight ball. The Bible is not a collection of detatched promises or rules, it was meant to be read in context. I agree with the claims of my church (and many others as well); I am simply asking people to rethink the way we preach and teach. If churches are being driven by a market place mentality, then let God's people speak up and say that we want to be taught the Word of God in such a way that man's ideas do not cloud what the Spirit is trying to communicate. We have the right and the obligation to speak up in our church communities (if we do it from pure motives and a loving spirit).

I don't want all three readers I have out there to misunderstand my intentions. I am hashing out my understanding of the Scriptures. Please feel free to dialogue with me on these issues, for as Proverbs 27: 17 says: "As iron sharps iron, so one man sharpens another."

Blessings,

Nick

Theology of a Song?: Exegeting Disciple's song Whatever Reason

2009-01-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

Call me picky. Call me a nerd, but word choice matters in songs. As an B.A. in English, I can tell you that whole class periods were dedicated to why a poet or author chose certain words and what they meant. Songs are poems, and judging by the amount of songs my wife can sing all the lyrics to, the words aren't going anywhere once they're in our heads. Many Christians refuse to listen to secular music because of the content expressed in many of the songs, but do we carefully listen to the theology in Christian music and compare it to the Scriptures? To demonstrate, I would like to study the meaning (or a least accidental theology) of the song "Whatever the Reason" by Disciple. Since I don't have permission to reproduce these lyrics, you can find them here: http://www.air1.com/Music/SongLyrics.aspx

First we notice a prodigal son scenerio. Key phrases like "my love will never end" and "my beloved child" clue us into the fact that this song is from God's perspective--after all God plays the Father in Jesus' parable. Secondly, the song is about acceptance and forgiveness. That's good. People should not let their sinful lives keep them from coming to Christ Jesus. Paul was convinced that nothing could keep us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord. So far, the verses don't seem off base. But let's take a look at the chorus, specifically the phrases "I just don't care anymore" and "I just want you to come home." While it is true that God wants sinners to repent and come to him, no matter how filthy, God does not lower His standards to accept us. God is holy. He cannot stand sin. The lyrics imply that God used to care but no longer cares about your sin. Disciple may not intend this meaning, but, in this day of cheap grace, the song may convey the wrong ideas to a "not-yet-believer" or a baby christian.

Watching Our Life...Closely: The Importance of Change

2009-01-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2

Now this is an interesting verse, a verse with a promise. Paul tells us to do something and that IF we do it we will be able to do something else. My first observation is that the verse begins with an imperative: “Do not…but be…” Do not con—form. The prefix “con” means “with” so we might say “form with” or “form to.” An easy picture to see here is a mold whether it be for plastics or metals or Jello. The liquid substance that is poured into the mold forms to the likeness of the mold. Paul says “not…any longer.” Verse one tells us the reason—we are to be “holy and pleasing to God.” Why? “This is your spiritual act of worship.”
According to Donald S. Whitney, “The word worship comes from the Saxon word weorthscype, which later became worthship. To worship God is to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify His worthiness of praise, or better, to approach and address God as He is worthy.”1 When we offer our bodies as living sacrifices and are holy and pleasing to God, we are showing God (and the world) God’s worth to us. The reason our paper money is worth anything is because we ascribe worth to it. If everyone started throwing it in the garbage and not accepting it at stores, it would be worthless. Real worship is how we treat God and His commands. If I ignore them and continually do not do what He says, I am not worshipping Him regardless of how many “worship” songs I sing at church. That is why Paul writes us, urging us to be living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing.
To live as “holy and pleasing to God” means I cannot continue to model my life and let it be molded by a sinful world. It is sinful, evil and unable to have a relationship with God. This is why Christ came to show us how to live, and why He died to redeem us. 1 John 1:3-6 says it with brutal honesty:

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who
says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

To expound upon this, 1 John 2:15-17 clearly states:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes
not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but
the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

So, in Romans 12:2 when Paul instructs us “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,” he is telling us to no longer let the world and its desires and modes of operation shape us. Instead, we are to be “transformed.” The Greek word here is μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō) which literally breaks down to meta (with) and morphoo (change shape) and therefore means “to change into another form.”2 In other words, we need a new form, a new mold. How do we make this change in shape and what is to be our new mold?
The verse says that it is by “the renewing of your mind.” To break out of the world’s way of thinking and living, we have to continually RE-new our minds. I continually catch myself wrestling with desires that are contrary to my new nature, that is why the “renewal” is a continuous process. As Justin Camblin writes, “I think this is why Christians who only crack their Bible on Sundays at church are so spiritually retarded. They are shallow in their thinking and their doctrine because the "Jesus fix" doesn't last the whole week. We must be daily in the Word, feasting, thinking, learning, praying.”3

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its
practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in
the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:9-11

From this verse we learn that the renewal has to do with knowledge that is like God’s. Our new mold is Jesus Christ.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live
as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in
their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all
sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in
every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not
come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in
accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your
former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24

So “renewing” my mind is a matter of studying God’s Word and putting it into practice. God’s Word is the tool that He uses to shape us—transform us—into His likeness. It’s the ultimate surgery. It’s not just plastic surgery; it’s total surgery.

“For the word of God is living and active. Shaper than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The benefit for all this transformational surgery is this: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2b
How often do we say, “I wish I knew what God wanted me to do. I wish I knew what His will was” ? Romans 12:1-2 tells us how. We need to quit listening to the world (ie. tv, self-help books, magazines, non-Christian friends, radio, whatever does not line up with Scripture)4 and start being transformed into the image of Christ by renewing are minds. Only then can we live lives of worthship and know His will.

Notes

1. Whitney, Donald S., Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 81
2. Thayer’s Lexicon. http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3339
3. Justin Camblin. “Portion Control” January 21, 2008
4. See Psalm 1.

Built on Sand

2009-01-08T12:51:00.000-05:00

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." - Matthew 7:24-27

These words end what is probably the most famous sermon ever given. Jesus gave this sermon on a mountainside in Galilee. The crowds had begun to grow and grow as word spread about this new teacher who was roaming the countryside. He spoke, unlike any teacher many had heard before. He spoke with authority. He interpreted the Torah in new ways. Curiosity drove the crowds to hear him teach.

While the context of Jesus' words are about his sermon, the principle behind what he's teaching can be broadly applied. That principle is that the Words of God are the only firm foundation for living. All other foundations are faulty and will eventually bring ruin and destruction. In light of the current conversation Nick and I have been having over the past few weeks, I fear many of our churches within and without our movement have built their churches on the sands of cultural influence and entertainment, instead of the rock of the Words of Christ. The rains are falling and the winds are beating and great crashes can been seen and heard throughout the "Christian" landscape. The churches are selling Jesus, attempting to convince the communities in which they exist that their version of Jesus is better. They've adopted the business motto: the customer is always right. Sadly, people are viewed in terms of numbers and dollars. They are nothing more than consumers of religious products and services. As entrepreneurs of religious sentiment, the church has changed (as any good business would do) as the market has changed. Those changes may have garnered greater returns on a surface level, but upon close examination, we find disease and dysfunction within the body.

A great source of frustration for me within the church is large disconnect between confessional theology and practical theology. What I mean by that is, churches confess certain ideas and beliefs (confessional theology), yet their practices, teachings and living (practical theology) speak a different message, that is largely in antithesis of the confessed viewpoint. Nick pointed out in the earlier post, our church holds that "The Bible is our authority for life." However, not until very recently, have we seen this confession turn into practice. I am ever-grateful to God for this turn of events and I will continue in prayer for our leaders. However, I do believe that leaders should be held accountable to the standards of Scripture. If they will not hold themselves to that standard, those under their leadership should humbly and lovingly direct them towards that standard.

As I have been doing my daily readings in the Bible, I'm currently going through Acts. As I read I was struck by how wrong many "Acts 2" churches have got it. There was no grand marketing scheme by which the first church made itself known. Jesus simply told them to go to the upper room and wait for Holy Spirit. As they were praying and waiting, the Holy Spirit came with the sound of a rushing wind. This great sound was so curious, so intriguing, that thousands of people gathered at it's source. There, they found men speaking in multiple languages, all proclaiming the glory of God. Then Peter steps forward as some of the crowd becomes cynical. How do you think Peter addresses the crowd? He proclaims Christ crucified! He tells them that they are all responsible for His murder and that the anger of God burns hot against them. Their sins are great! He tells them how wicked they are, in denying the Holy One of God. What was their response? They were cut to the heart! The Holy Spirit granted them repentance and three thousand people became believers! The boldness doesn't end with the first sermon. In Acts 3, Peter and John are going into the temple and they heal a lame man. This miracle again stirs a crowd. Curiosity is growing and Peter begins to teach. He again tells them that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that He sits at the right hand of God. He tells them that they killed Jesus and they must repent of their sins and turn to Jesus. The same result takes place. Thousands believe on Jesus. In Acts 4, when Peter & John are arrested and testify before the chief priests, the sermon doesn't change. They call them to repent from their sins, chiefly, the murder of Jesus. The sermon never changes. It is always a call to repentance from sin.

Why is that most "Acts 2" churches refuse to teach the Scriptures, but instead worry more about being sensitive to seekers? I believe that it comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of salvation and of the gospel. They have the cart before the horse. Our job as ministers (for we are all ministers of the gospel) is simply present the gospel and then God grants the repentance. This is where most go astray. They think they have to convince people of something that in their unregenerate state, they cannot and will not choose. So the gospel is watered down in effort to placate the customers. The misunderstanding of the gospel is that we forget that people must have a consciousness of their own sin and from that consciousness reach out to Jesus for the propitiation and expiation of their sins. Too often, the gospel is nothing but social responsibility, or legalistic form of deism, where by you earn heaven by your good works.

We must return to the only formula by which true converts are made. We must return to the firm foundation of Scripture. The shifting sands of culture have caused much damage. If we are to avoid similar damage to our own congregations, we must be firmed based on the Word, always preaching the gospel, always preaching the repentance from sin. I hope and pray that this will spur you onto to a greater vigilance in your use of the Word.

-sdg

Just What Are Churches Afraid Of?

2009-01-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

Justin and I have been dialoguing lately about some of the areas of need that we see in the church. Though we do not claim to have a global knowledge, there are definitely some areas of need in the churches of which we have been a part. One of the most important (in our minds at least) is the need for a stronger emphasis on Scripture. A casual perusal of most Protestant church websites will show a strong emphasis on the Authority of Scripture. Our church has 6 core values. The first one is: The Bible is our authority for life. All orthodox congregations would give a hearty "Amen!" Alas, there is a problem. The problem is that, out of 168 hrs in a week, the church has only between 1-3 hours to directly preach and teach God's Word. That leaves 165+ hours for individuals to be innundated and bombarded by media that is in direct opposition to the Kingdom of God. As pastors and teachers, we teach our people how to study the Scriptures--we teach our people epistemology and hermeneutics by the way we present our classes and sermons. Too many sermons and Sunday School classes are entertainment based. Pastor spend half of their time (which is usually 15-20 minutes) making their topic palatable to their listeners. That only leaves10-15 minutes (if you're lucky) for the actually presentation/ expounding of the Scriptures. More times than not the sermon is topical. Our demonimation (though they consider themselves non-denominational) is particularly fond of topical sermon series, but a quick survey of surrounding churches has revealed to me that this is a popular if not predominate mode of teaching. The problem with topical sermons is that the Bible gets even less of an opportunity to speak for itself. A topic is presented, illustrations are made, an appeal is made as to why a person should be interested in this topic or how it relates to them, a verse (or sometimes a pharagraph) is presented as evidence, more illustrations and jokes are made, then another ripped-out-of-context-verse is tossed out to legitimize the pastor's views, and so on and so forth. In this situation, the Bible is not being presented as the center of authority. We have turned the Scripture into pithy bite-sized quotes. We give out a "verse of the day" over email or in a devotional and this has become the standard. This, quite frankly, is raping the text. A person can make the Scripture say almost anything if you chop it up small enough and string the parts together.

An old illustration tells about a man who came to the Bible for an answer about what he should do. He let the Bible fall open to a page and blindly put his finger on a verse. He read, "and Judas went and hanged himself." He didn't find that inspirational, so he repeated the exercise and came up with, "Go and do likewise." We all laugh at the stupidity of going to Scripture in this way, but the truth is that the same preachers who have used this joke in the past are guilty of the same with their sermons. We need more Scripture. We need to see what the Scripture really says--not make it say what we want it to say. And we need to trust that hungery people want something real to eat. It is understandable that some people need milk instead of solid food, but babies are supposed to grow up sometime. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4,

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in
Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.
Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is
jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like
mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos,"
are you not mere men?

The writer of Hebrews also addresses this in chapter 5:11-14:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow
to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need
someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You
need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is
not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the
mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil.

So,what are churches afraid of? Or, (for my grammarians out there)
of what are churches afraid? Running people off with an uncomfortable message?
I'm reminded of a time Jesus preached a sermon that wasn't so popular.

John 6:53-69

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For
my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me
and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because
of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna
and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." He said this while
teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples
said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples
were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if
you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the
flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are
life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from
the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on
to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has
enabled him."
From this time many of his disciples turned back
and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do
you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that
you are the Holy One of God."

We can't be afraid to preach Scripture instead of entertainment. The time is short. Let us pray that the Spirit convicts the Church of entertainment/self-help/cheap grace without holiness messages. In a dark world, the Light of Truth must shine.

--In Christ,

Nick

Doctrine

2008-08-24T22:27:00.000-04:00

What is doctrine? What is about this word that tends to send shivers down the spine of typical pew sitters? The greek word that gets translated as doctrine can also be rendered simply as “teaching”. Doctrine refers to the teachings of the Christian faith. Doctrine doesn’t have to be boring or inaccessible; it can be fun and applicable to our daily lives. Not only that, but it is important for every Christ-follower to understand who he or she is following and what it is that they actually believe.

While Jesus was with us, he made many demands of the world. Despite the mantra of many churches, God’s saving love is not unconditional. We have responsibilities. Whether or not we meet those responsibilities, these demands Jesus has made, will determine our eternal destination. Before His ascension into heaven, Jesus commissioned us to teach future disciples all that He commanded. He wants us to teach doctrine. Without it, Jesus could become anything to anyone. Jesus would no longer be grounded in objective reality, but instead in the shifting sands of cultural mindsets and agendas. Just look at the different forms of Jesus that pervade our world even with the doctrines of the Bible. Can you imagine the odd composites of Jesus that would exist without any truths about him?

Paul gives the advice to a young pastor to watch his doctrine closely. Timothy must always make sure that what he teaches is in line with objective truths of Scripture. However, Paul doesn’t stop there. Timothy is also instructed to watch his life as well. Why the addition of this warning? Because Paul knew that having air-tight theology was not enough. If doctrine does not lead to life change, check the doctrine. We all know the word for doctrine without life-change; it’s called religion. Jesus hates religion. Religion says, know all the right stuff and be saved. Jesus says, know the right Person and be saved. The doctrines of Jesus teach us about Him. When studying the teachings of Jesus, we come to study Jesus Himself. The pursuit of Jesus, the study of Jesus, will ultimately lead to life change. In our study of doctrine, we must never lose sight of who the doctrine points us to; Jesus.

Here, we hope you find resources that encourage your pursuit of Jesus. We hope to nurture the study of the teachings of Scripture. May your life be richly blessed and God ultimately glorified through this venture.

Nick and Justin