A thought on God's sovereignty

If you identify anything or anyone in the universe whose determinitive power and free will trumps the determinitive power and free will of God then worship that because it is God.

U.S. taking on unsustainable debt

From Bloomberg:

President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”

Read the entire story HERE.

What the...?

I thought...?

Nevermind.

Friends, this is immoral. We are taking on debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay. We are to blame. We sat by and watched it happen.

Tim Chester's Latest Book

Tim Chester's newest book "The Ordinary Hero" has been released in the UK and will be released in the U.S. soon.

Here's the outline:

Part One: The pardon of the cross – humble confidence
1. How do you know God loves you?
2. Will God’s love stand up in court?

3. Humility

4. Confidence

Part Two: The practice of the cross – sacrificial service
5. The way of Jesus = the way of the cross

6. Everyday martyrdom

7. The value of Jesus

8. The way of the cross = the way of joy

Part Three: The pattern of the cross and resurrection – suffering followed by glory
9. No glory without the cross

10. Bondage followed by liberation

11. Hiddenness followed by revelation

12. Suffering followed by glory

Part Four: The power of the resurrection – power to be weak
13. Resurrection power, freedom and life

14. Power to be weak

15. Freedom to serve, life to die

16. The Spirit of resurrection

Part Five: The promise of the resurrection – adventurous hope
17. A renewed world of life

18. A world of justice, joy and love

19. A world worth living for and a world worth dying for

20. The adventure of hope
Conclusion – My hero of the cross and resurrection

When Church Signs Go Wrong

What is Song of Songs about?

Over at Reformed Forum Iain Campbell discusses the meaning of Song of Songs. In recent days there has been a number of heated interchanges around the web over some of the ways Song of Songs is preached. Dr. Campbell offers sound insight into the meaning of this oft times misunderstood book.

Listen HERE.

Basics Conference (4)

Check out audio from this year's Basics Conference HERE.

The Church in Recessionary Times

Why I don't preach Mother's Day messages

So, I found out that some are wondering why I did not preach a "Mother's Day sermon" last Sunday.

I'll be brief.

I do not preach Mother's Day messages...

1. for the same reason I do not preach Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Groundhog's Day, Guy Fawkes Day, or Chinese New Year's Day messages.

2. because there is no biblical prescription for Mother's Day.

3. because I am trying to build a pulpit ministry that is characterized by consistent biblical exposition not topical points of interest.

4. because I am obliged to honor God and His Word above all things in the corporate gatherings of His people.

5. because I don't want greeting card companies to dictate sermon content to Christ's church.

6. because I am inclined away from "bandwagonism" and sentimentality.

Al Mohler has posted some great thoughts on Mother's Day:

Christians must resist the reduction of motherhood to sentimentality, and particularly that sentimentalism that undermines what mothers are truly to represent -- nurture, fortitude, courage, dedication, faithfulness, discipline, and trust in God.

Mother's Day is a bad idea because it subverts the reality of faithful mothering and robs faithful mothers of their true glory. Mothers deserving of honor are handed cards and taken to lunch, when songs of praise should instead be offered to the glory of God. Undeserving mothers, who abdicate their true responsibility, are honored just because they are mothers. Children, young and old, who ignore and dishonor their mothers by word and by life throughout the year, assuage their guilt by making a big deal of Mother's Day.

Read the entire post HERE.

Is Capitalism Good?

Unless you have had your head in the sand you have no doubt taken note of the debate over capitalism going on in the U.S. Howard Dean, former head of the DNC recently said in a televised interview that "we have had enough of capitalism in the last eight years." Of course, the federal government grew exponentially larger under President Bush than it did under his Democratic predecessor. The United States is by no means an example of pristine capitalism. There seems to be on the horizon some developing issues that may diminish capitalism in the U.S. to an even greater degree.

So, the goodness or badness of capitalism is a timely question for us.

Justin Taylor has posted on a newly released book which advances the notion that capitalism is a positive good.

For some time now I've been looking forward to the publication of Jay Richards's book, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem, which has just been published by HarperOne.

Dr. Richards (M.Div.; Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Th.M.; Calvin Theological Seminary; Ph.D. in philosophy and theology, Princeton Theological Seminary) is a clear writer and a sharp thinker. (His expertise is wide-ranging; a previous book, published by IVP, was a philosophical defense of classical theism; another one was a co-authored defense of intelligent design.)Here are a couple of blurbs for this new book:

"In Money, Greed, and God, Jay Richards has written the definitive case for capitalism, a crisply written and incisive discourse on wealth and poverty, money and morality for the 21st Century."
--George Gilder, co-founder of the Discovery Institute and author of Wealth and
Poverty

"Jay Richards understands the objections to capitalism, and here explains why they do not convince him. The empirical findings revealed in Money, Greed, and God run against those objections."
--Michael Novak, Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, author of The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism

The outline of Dr. Richard's book is based on a series of popular myths:

1. Can't We Build a Just Society? Myth no. 1: The Nirvana Myth (contrasting capitalism with an unrealizable ideal rather than with its live alternatives)

2. What Would Jesus Do? Myth no. 2: The Piety Myth (focusing on our good intentions rather than the unintended consequences of our actions)

3. Doesn't Capitalism Foster Unfair Competition? Myth no. 3: The Zero-sum Game Myth (believing that trade requires a winner and a loser)

4. If I Become Rich, Won't Someone Else Become Poor? Myth no. 3: The Materialist Myth (believing that intellect cannot create new wealth)

5. Isn't Capitalism Based on Greed? Myth no. 4: The Greed Myth (believing that the essence of capitalism is greed)

6. Hasn't Christianity Always Opposed Capitalism? Myth no. 5: The Usury Myth (believing that charging interest on money is always exploitive)

7. Doesn't Capitalism Always Lead to an Ugly Consumerist Culture? Myth no. 7: The Artsy Myth (confusing aesthetic judgments with economic arguments)

8. Are We Going to Use Up All the Resources? Myth no. 8: The Freeze Frame Myth (believing that things always stay the same—for example, assuming population trends will continue indefinitely or treating “rich” and “poor” as static categories)

Conclusion: Working All Things Together for Good

Appendix: Is the "Spontaneous Order" of the Market Evidence of a Universe without Purpose?

Taylor also links to an audio lecture by Dr. Richards (Don’t Just Care – Think: Myths Christians Believe About Wealth and Poverty.) and the following video:

Basics Conference (3)

Click HERE for the John Piper's first two addresses. His address from this morning will be posted later. The first address was a session dealing with the idea that ministers are to labor for the joy of God's people. His second session was from last evening and was a call to preach the doctrine of justification. This morning he gave a terrific message on the doctrine of the new birth.

Inclusive language, Kenny G., and the destruction of worship

I love to read Carl Trueman.

I had to link to his latest post at Reformation 21:

A few years ago I was attending a conference on behalf of the Seminary arranged by an organization which includes in its membership institutions from a wide variety of theological and religious perspectives. As the conference stretched over a weekend, there was a worship service arranged for the Sunday morning. I had wondered whether to attend, not knowing how such a theologically diverse group might come together in such a setting; but I finally decided to do the polite thing and show up; and, I was not disappointed. Indeed, I have been retelling the story at dinner parties ever since.

The service kicked off OK, with a short call to worship. So far so good. Then we sang a hymn. Now, I have a preference for psalms, but the hymn was fine, as far as I remember. It was then that the real fun began. The first Bible reading was from the book of Isaiah. The gentleman apologized at the outset saying that he had been unable to obtain an inclusive language translation of the Bible; but indicated that he would make the necessary changes himself as he read the passage. I confess that, personally, I was quite relieved about that since, for one horrible second, I had imagined I was about to witness the terrifying and distressing marginalization and oppression of over half the people present. But with the necessary substitutions, I was confident that the women around me would feel suitably enfranchised and affirmed.

That's when it all started to go wrong.

Read the entire post HERE.

Basics Conference (2)

The opening day of Basics has been terrific. One of the things I love about this conference is that it is not overwhelmingly large. It usually runs about 600 pastors. I don't have to navigate a downtown maze or pay for parking. It's not held in a large convention center but in a church. It is truly a time to refresh. This year is a bit different because there are 1,500 pastors present. That's what happens when John Piper is one of the speakers.

Piper's first session was excellent. More on that later.

The keynote speaker is a man named John Lennox. I have never heard of Lennox before. He is a brillant appologist. He teaches mathematics at the University of Oxford and is a Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green College. He lectures around the world. He is particularly interested in the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology. His opening address was warm and pastoral. Although a respected intellectual Dr. Lennox communicates humbly and passionately. He has held public debates with Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The DVD's of those debates (4 in all) are available for purchase.

Check out these resources from John Lennox:
God's Undertaker
Christianity: Opium or Truth?
Debates with Hitchens & Dawkins

Basics Conference

This week I am attending for the seventh year the Basics Conference at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, OH. Chagrin Falls is a beautiful town east of Cleveland.

Click HERE for an excellent reading list.

Considering Spurgeon

“If we do not make the Lord Jesus glorious; if we do not lift Him high in the esteem of men…we shall not have the Holy Spirit with us. Vain will be rhetoric, music, architecture, energy and social status: if our design be not to magnify the Lord Jesus, we shall work alone and in vain.”
- C.H. Spurgeon

There are few men that I look to with the same interest and respect as I do Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was a pastor, preacher, writer, evangelist, teacher, mentor, philanthropist, innovator, thinker, husband, and father. He was and is, in my mind, without peer. I am hopeless to sum up Charles Spurgeon’s life in this limited space. However, I will attempt and feebly so, to highlight a few things that make him a hero to me and a worthy subject for the contemporary church’s consideration.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born into a Christian family in Essex on June 19, 1834. In spite of godly surroundings and the fervent prayers of his mother Charles was not converted to Christ until the age of 16. The knowledge of his own sinfulness weighed heavy upon his young soul. Later, he would write, “I reckoned that the most defiled creature…was a better thing than myself, for I had sinned against Almighty God.” This proper understanding of sin would make Spurgeon an effective preacher of the free grace of God. From his late teens until he was 19 years old (1851-1854) Charles pastored a Baptist church in a small village called Waterbeach. The church grew from 40 to 100 during that time and Spurgeon became convinced that he would spend the rest of his life serving Christ and His church as a preacher of the Gospel.

While still only 19, Spurgeon accepted a call to pastor the historic but dying Park Street Chapel, Baptist congregation in London. The worship center was built to seat 1,200 but saw fewer than 300 in attendance. Within weeks the once almost empty church was overflowing with people eager to hear this young man who preached so fervently. The building was retro-fitted to hold 1,500 but in less than a year that was too small. The decision was made to build a new chapel that would seat 5,000 and have standing room for an additional 1,000. It would be called The Metropolitan Tabernacle. In the days before mega-churches the Metropolitan Tabernacle was a strange sight. “The lad from Cambridge” found himself pastor of the largest church in the world. During Spurgeon’s ministry there, 14,691 people were added to the role, almost 11,000 of which were by conversion and baptism. Thousands of copies of his sermons were mailed out all over the world each week. What an enormous burden for a young pastor to bear. What a temptation toward self-aggrandizement. But Spurgeon maintained a healthy distrust of numeric success. He saw it very much as the exception rather than the rule. In 1887 he wrote, “Long ago I ceased to count heads, truth is usually in the minority in this evil world.”

Spurgeon seemed always to be the target of vicious criticism. This certainly was owing, at least in part, to his prominent voice. After all, Spurgeon was pastor of the largest church in the world and was not shy to offer his opinion. This is not because he enjoyed controversy or was belligerent in any way. Indeed, he loved tranquility and desired to live in unity with his brothers and sisters in Christ. However, Spurgeon’s love for truth and passion for doctrinal precision outweighed all other passions. In the 1860’s he wrote, “Friends chide us and foes abhor us when we are very jealous for the Lord God of Israel, but what do these things matter if the Master approves?...[Be] not dismayed for flesh and blood while you are for the Lord, and for His truth and cause. And howbeit we see truth put to the worse for the time, yet Christ will be a friend to truth, and will act for those who dare hazard all that they have for Him and for His glory.”

Spurgeon’s commitment to the truth was bred within him early on. His father and grand-father were both Congregationalist preachers. When he was only a child, Spurgeon discovered a substantial collection of Puritan writings in the home of his grandfather. The wedding of spiritual fervor and doctrinal clarity championed by the Puritans would mark Spurgeon for the rest of his life. It would fire his preaching and serve as a bulwark through times of sickness, defeat, and controversy. During his life, Spurgeon was often criticized by Arminians and newspaper editorialists because of his high doctrine of God’s sovereignty. On the other hand, he was criticized by “hyper-Calvinists” for his passion for evangelism. Finally, he was criticized and officially censured by the Baptist Union for his stand in what became known as “The Down-Grade Controversy.”

The controversy was sparked by two articles that ran in The Metropolitan Tabernacle’s newsletter, The Sword and the Trowel, called “The Down-Grade”. Spurgeon whole-heartedly endorsed the articles which warned of the downward slide of England’s churches and placed the blame at the feet of preachers and churches that no longer held firmly to the truth. Pastors, who though orthodox themselves, were no longer contending for the truth and in many cases even shared their pulpits with men who outright denied fundamental tenets of biblical Christianity. As evidence of these errors mounted Spurgeon became more outspoken. To those who thought him too stringent Spurgeon wrote, “A little plain speaking would do a world of good right now. These gentlemen desire to be let alone. They want no noise raised…It is time that somebody should spring his rattle, and call attention to the way in which God is being robbed of His glory, and man of his hope.” He went on to call Christians to consider breaking fellowship with those who profess faith in Christ but deny Gospel essentials. “Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good-natured brother, who has so many fine points about him…Under colour of begging friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing the Master.”

Spurgeon refused to tone down his rhetoric even though many of his brethren pleaded for him to do so. Certainly, he took no pleasure in his difficult duty. “It is no joy to us to bring accusations; it is no pleasure to our heart to seem to be in antagonism with so many.” During this time, Spurgeon’s health problems escalated. Kidney problems and gout caused him severe, debilitating pain. Through it all Spurgeon did not back down in sounding the alarm that the evangelical faith was under serious assault from within. He saw no reason why the Baptist Union should seek to accommodate those pastors who denied essential Christian doctrines such as the authority of Scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, and the doctrine of hell. “To be very plain, we are unable to call these things Christian Unions, they begin to look like Confederacies in Evil.” On January 13, 1888 Spurgeon met with leadership of the Baptist Union and urged them to adopt an evangelical statement of faith. They refused. In response, he submitted a letter withdrawing from the Union. In the end, the leadership of the Baptist Union, unwilling to stand clearly for truth, accepted his withdrawal and then censured Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Spurgeon hated division. But his conscience was captive to the Word of God and would not permit him to align with anyone who denied gospel essentials. “Nothing has ever more largely promoted the union of the true than the break with the false.” The Down-Grade Controversy broke Spurgeon’s heart and is thought by many to have hastened his death which came on January 31, 1892.

Spurgeon’s funeral was attended by thousands who came to mourn the passing of this contender for truth and winner of souls. The Reverend Archibald Brown spoke these words at the graveside:

“Champion of God thy battle, long and nobly fought, is over; they sword which clave to thy hand, has dropped at last; a palm branch take its place. No longer does the helmet press thy brow, oft weary with its surging thoughts of battle; a victor’s wreath from the great Commander’s hand has already proved thy full reward.

“Here for a little while shall rest thy precious dust. Then shall thy Well-Beloved come; and at His voice thou shalt spring from thy couch of earth, fashioned like unto His body, into glory. Then, spirit, soul, and body shall magnify thy Lord’s redemption. Until then beloved, sleep. We praise God for thee, and by the blood of everlasting covenant, hope and expect to praise God with thee. Amen.”

Books by and about C.H. Spurgeon:
Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore – a great place to begin
The Forgotten Spurgeon by Iain Murray – deals primarily with doctrinal distinctives
Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism by Iain Murray - ditto
Lectures To My Students by C.H. Spurgeon – a must for ministers
Morning & Evening by C.H. Spurgeon – wonderful daily devotions

"How Long?"

Bibliolatry

After last Sunday's sermon I was warned by a thoughtful parishoner to "not worship the Bible." While she was well intentioned, her question betrayed a misunderstanding about a proper reverence for Scripture.

In the following article Dr. S.M. Baugh asks, "Is Bibliolatry Possible?"

He writes:

Let us begin with God. Always. The God of the Book is a jealous God. He makes himself perfectly clear on this point. He is ardently offended when men or angels give worship due to him to anyone or to anything else. But, granted that we do not do obeisance to the folios, is God offended when we ascribe certain attributes of God himself to the ideas, truths, even to the very words of Holy Scripture? (Ideas and truths are best communicated through words, by the way. They are most elusive otherwise.)

For example, ideas like "infallibility" are ascribed to the Bible, because we believe that God himself is infallible. He cannot by his nature make a mistake. To do so would be to deny himself and to be God no more. Therefore, if the Bible does contain mistakes, either the infallible God did not inspire it, or he mistakenly (and cruelly) left us, more than six score thousand who know not their right hand from their left hand, to shift for ourselves in matters of truth. But God does nothing unfinished or unwell. As he puts it, "My word will not return to me void," "Behold, it was very good." So is it vulgar idol chasing to say that the Bible itself by good and necessary inference cannot contain error? Is God affronted by such ascriptions to the Book?

"The Scripture cannot be broken...Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God...It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law...for you have exalted your word over your name...I have treasured your word in my heart...Your testimonies are my delight, my counselors...Scripture locked up all under sin." These statements by Jesus and the biblical writers must suggest bibliolatry to some. So is bibliolatry truly possible?

Read the entire article HERE.

Mark of the Beast

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger gives a thoughtful, and I believe biblical answer to the end times speculators concerning the beast of Revelation. He writes:

If you are a futurist and believe that the beast of Revelation 13 is not connected to the Roman Empire of the first century and remains yet to be revealed at the end of the age (i.e., during the seven-year tribulation period, as dispensationalists teach), then you will not look at the mark of the beast through the lens of the New Testament and the historical situation when John was given his vision. Instead, you will understand this mysterious mark as something still hidden in the future. And given the breakneck pace of the advance being made in all forms of technology, it is only natural that futurists would see John’s reference to the mark of the beast as somehow connected to the technological advantage by which the beast and false prophet will enslave the inhabitants of the world and deceive them into worshiping the Antichrist.

As futurists see it, when John speaks of the mark of the beast, he’s essentially predicting that some future form of technology will be utilized by Antichrist to dominate and control the world’s population. According to Peter and Paul Lalonde, “The Bible says that the mark of the beast and its accompanying technology will be installed by the antichrist–not as an end in itself, but as a means of managing the new world order that is even now being created” (Peter LaLonde and Paul LaLonde, Racing Toward the Mark of the Beast, Harvest House Publishers, 1994, 148).

Read the entire article HERE. It is an excellent example of sound biblical hermeneutics.

Collision

COLLISION - 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peak from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

Gospel and Community

In recent years I have thought, read, prayed, preached, and talked a lot about the nature of the Gospel – its content and implications for life and ministry.

One connection that is particularly moving and challenging to me is that between the Gospel and community. My experience in church is that God-glorifying, soul-shaping community is very elusive. We simply do not see much of it. That is my experience at least. We know what it is to have friendly acquaintances. We know what it is to spend time with people we like. But does our experience within the body of Christ resemble that which is described in the church of Jerusalem in Acts two or that which seemed to exist in the church of Thessalonica? Are we connected to a community of Christ-followers who love God and His Word, pray and worship together regularly, eat together frequently, take care to watch over each other’s needs, and experience the fruit of conversion?

Titus 2:14 tells us that Jesus Christ gave himself for us “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Commenting on those words, Sinclair Ferguson writes that “Christ wants to create ‘a people’, not merely isolated individuals who believe in him.” The church is not a club or support group that Christians join. Rather, when God saves us by His grace He also adds us to the church, His people, the body of Christ.

In their book Total Church, Tim Chester and Steve Timmis write:

“By becoming a Christian, I belong to God and I belong to my brothers and sisters. It is not that I belong to God and then make a decision to join a local church. My being in Christ means being in Christ with those others who are in Christ. This is my identity. This is our identity. To fail to live out our corporate identity in Christ is analogous to the act of adultery: we can be Christians and do it, but it’s not what Christians should do. The loyalties of the new community supersede even the loyalties of biology (Matt. 10:34-37; Mk 3:31-35; Lk 11:27-28). If the church is the body of Christ then we should not live as disembodied Christians!”

We talk a good game about community but our priorities often betray us. The fact is, community is costly. People hurt us. We get disillusioned when our brothers and sisters disappoint us. It is even worse when a pastor disappoints us. But being in community always involves sacrifice. It involves a kind of death whereby we lay down our rights for the good of others. It means we serve without demanding to be served. It means we lovingly absorb many of the hits we take along the way. Timmis and Chester write, “In our experience, people are often enthusiastic about community until it impinges on their decision-making. For all their rhetoric, they still expect to make decisions by themselves for themselves. We assume we are masters of our own lives.”

What is more, community is an essential part of our proclamation of the Gospel. Community and mission go hand-in-hand. Again, from Total Church:

“God is a missionary God and God’s primary missionary method is His covenant people…God made us as persons-in-community to be the vehicle through which He would reveal His glory…Israel’s priests represented God to the people by expounding the Law, and represented the people to God through sacrifice and intercession, so the nation as a whole has a priestly role of making God known to the nations and bringing them to the means of atonement…

“The center is no longer geographic Jerusalem. Now it is the community itself
among whom Christ promises to be present to be present (Matt 28:20). The community moves out across the globe, all the time drawing people to its Lord through its common life…

“The church, then is not something additional or optional. It is at the very heart of God’s purposes. Jesus came to create a people who would model what it means to live under His rule. It would be a glorious outpost of the kingdom of God: an embassy of heaven. This is where the world can see what it means to be truly human.

“Our identity as human beings is found in community. Our identity as Christians is found in Christ’s new community. And our mission takes place through communities of light.”

Sunday's Sermon

Part 3 - "The God Who Speaks"

Listen or Download HERE.