Are Those ALL Yours!?!!?

If I have been asked that question once I have been asked a thousand times this week alone! My family has been blessed to include my wife, myself (blessing? just bear with me on this), and nine (count them 9) children: hannah, Spencer, Geneva, Isaac, Emily, Katherine, Corban, Benjamin, and Jake. I took 8 of them with me last weekend to Walmart and was shocked (and a little disgusted) by the appalling stares and the disdain people showed for these little olive branches and polished cornerstones.

What is so yucky about these children? Well I admit sometimes the odors and the sounds are repulsive (and that's not counting the children), but my oh my...each of them is so wonderful!

Think about this: 12 years ago when we got pregnant with Hannah we had no idea how many children God had planned for Amy (my wife) to have. All we knew was that He was in control and we could rest on His perfect plan. Had we decided to control the births on our own we would probably only have 3-4 children right now. The question is: where would the other children be? We can look back and see how God worked out His perfect plan and it included 9 children! If we had interfered which ones would not be here and where would they be?

I wonder if I could label this as some kind of hypothetical abortion? Where we sit today we know that God had 9 children for us (so far). So if we had done something to any of them we would have committed some form of abortion...hypothetically.

If you believe that it is okay to do this...well...you deal with your conscience and maybe then you could come over and visit my children and pick which ones we shouldn't have. You see the choice is so much harder when the reality of life is sitting right in front of your face.

James 4:13-17 says: Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Let's look to The Controller of Birth and pray for His will to be done!

Mark Dever...Friend or Foe?

I know the title sounds kind of ominous. I don't even know Dr. Dever, I have only met him three of four times. I have read all of his books and am a regular visitor to 9Marks' website.

I am almost finished with the new book that he co-wrote with Paul Alexander: The Deliberate Church and I must say that sometimes I wish he would just keep his mouth shut (or his pen in his pocket). He is no friend to easy, pragmatic, ministry. It is impossible to maintain status quo and apply the principles that he presents. The book is meant to help all of us who read The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and and said...'well sure but how do we get there from here?'

The simplicity of the premise: building your ministry on the Gospel is refreshing. Mark and Paul apply this principle in a concise, thoroughly biblical, manner.

Pick this book up and read it then give it to others in your church.

Maybe my problem is that I just wish I would have written it!
In Christ, my Rock

Ruth Evangeline Morse

This is by far the cutest little baby girl in the whole entire world, bar none. What an amazing feeling seeing your little girl for the first time, and thinking, "I don't want her to ever grow up." And she isn't even born yet!!! My wife, Sara, and I are so excited about this little girl! I can't wait to finally meet her! When we were at the doctor's office watching the video, i just could not find the words to describe how I felt. Well, I guess I'll probably think of quite a bit to say soon enough, but for now I'll just say:

THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!!!

A Truly Reformed Testimony of Salvation!

I am reading Iain Murray's biography: D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones; The First Forty Years 1899-1939. It is a wonderful book. I appreciate Murray's style. He includes so many quotes from and about Lloyd-Jones that help us see him with our own eyes. So far there have been 2 quotes that stood out to me. The first was Lloyd-Jones' testimony of God's work in his salvation:

I am a Christian solely and entirely because of the grace of God and not because of anything that I have thought or said or done. He brought me to know that I was dead, "dead in trespasses and sins", a slave to the world, and the flesh, and the devil, that in me "dwelleth no good thing", and that I was under the wrath of God and heading for eternal punishment. He brought me to see that the real cause of all my troubles and ills, and that of all men, was an evil and fallen nature which hated God and loved sin. My trouble was not only that I did things that were wrong, but that I myself was wrong at the very center of my being.

What a wonderfully humble admission of the Work of Christ in someone's life! I can connect with his trouble because although I did things wrong...I did them because I, myself, was wrong! Powerful.

The second quote concerned Lloyd-Jones' explanation for turning from medicine to the ministry. When asked why he was doing this he felt like saying:

"If you knew more about the work of a doctor you would understand. We but spend most of our time rendering people fit to go back to sin!" I saw men on their sick beds, I spoke to them of their immortal souls, they promised grand things. Then they got better and back they went to their old sin! I saw I was helping these men to sin and I decided that I would have no more of it. I want to heal souls. If a man has a deseased body and his soul is all right, he is all right to the end; but a man with a healthy body and a deseased soul is all right for sixty years or so and then he has to face an eternity of hell. Ah, yes! we have sometimes to give up those things which are good for that which is the best of all - the joy of salvation and newness of life."

I pray that I can begin to see things this way more and more. Oh that I would look at the soul and not be distracted by the sinner.

Lord help my heart to see people the way you do and to respond in your grace and power!

Just Like a Dog...Click Here to see what I mean.

Sometimes dogs just amaze me by what they eat. It's not enough to eat all the food you leave lying around, they have start eating the utensils as well. This dog ate a thirteen inch serrated knife, and lived. Click on the blog title to find out more.

www.NarniaWeb.com

I'm so excited about this movie coming out in December! After growing up with Tolkien and Lewis I can't wait to see this one n the big screen. I just hope that people won't think they can just watch the movie without reading the book. That would simply be a tragedy. I would urge, and do urge, everyone to read the books before they watch the movies because that way your imagination can work on it's own and not depend on the director and actors to provide the pictures. But I can't wait until December! This is the best thing since...uh...The Lord of the Rings!

but what about Liam Neeson as Aslan? hhmmm...not sure about that.

The Modern Devotional and The Puritan, Part 1

First, as we look at Puritans and modern devotional literature, let us look at Scripture. In our modern day devotionals, scripture is not absent. No, it is often there, usually as one lone verse on a page attempting to make a statement. Scripture can also be used as the starting point of the daily devotional. A scripture is quoted, and then a moral is found in the scripture, and that moral is made into a focus for the reader to try and do that day. For example, in "GodÂ’s Little Devotional Book for Students" , the devotional is begun by quoting a verse, and that verse is followed by an inspirational story of overcoming adversity. Sometimes, the verse introduces a bible story, about a character who did the right thing. The point is that there is no explanation of the verse. The context, meaning, and application of the verse are ignored. This is often the case but not always.

Another example is the immensely popular The Prayer of Jabez, in which there can be found the "“key to a life of extraordinary favor with God." Here, one verse found in 1 Chronicles is turned into a type of mantra to be repeated that will give you abundant glories in this life. Besides the fact that no one in all of church history ever caught onto this neat little trick, and that most definitely includes the Puritans, it rips this verse out of the context of scripture, which nowhere says the ChristianÂ’s life on earth will be easy (Look at Job, or I Peter 4:12). Jabez was blessed because of his relationship of prayer with God, not because of any material benefits. These are just a couple of examples of the most popular ways of using scripture in these modern day devotionals. However, it seems that these methods are used more for inspiring, or making one feel good than actually teaching one true and biblical living.

I think there can be some good in these books if they are used as supplements but not if they are the sole devotional tool we have. i think their major downfall is the fact that they try and break our devotional life down so far that it becomes shallow. We compartmentalize devotional life like we do everything else, and we end up scheduling God in for fifteen minutes in the morning before breakfast or something. We only have fifteen minutes to read the word and pray, and in fifteen quick minutes we really can't do more than read a quick story and find a moral for the day.

So where are the Puritans when it comes to Scripture? How do they view the importance of Scripture in devotional life? The Puritans' doctrine was derived solely from Scripture, and all their teachings were based upon it. It was not something simply to encourage their souls, rather it was the only means by which their souls could have knowledge of God, and they treated it thus. J.I. Packer says this of the Puritan'’s attitude toward the Bible: "his deepest conviction was that reverence for God means reverence for Scripture, and serving God means obeying Scripture. To his mind, therefore, no greater insult could be offered to the Creator than to neglect His written word."” Do you think the Puritans might have been insulted by some of our modern devotional literature today?

For example, the treatises written by Puritans are built upon Scripture. Every assertion made by a Puritan was backed by Scripture, and founded in it. Oftentimes, a puritan would preach several sermons on one scripture, finding so much of value in it. Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, is one such set of sermons all written on Matthew 12:20. There is also Thomas Shepherd'’s "“Parable of the Ten Virgins"” written on Matthew 25.

As people begin turning more and more to the Bible to find answers, the study done by former generations can be incredibly helpful, and the Puritans are one such group. This is due mainly to their emphasis on Scripture and their emphasis on applying Scripture to us personally in our daily life. Whereas many of the modern literature has a topic they want to put forward as the devotion for the day and they find Scriptures to support it, the Puritans take Scripture and try and explain it, and find the topic from the Scripture. This greatly adds to the power and depth of the Puritans.

Besides having much more emphasis on Scripture in their teaching, it was also an essential part of the Puritans' devotional life. It was, in fact, the core of their devotional life. I’ll finish this section on Scripture with a quote from a Puritan prayer, “O God of Truth, I thank thee for the Holy Scriptures, their precepts, promises, directions, light. In them I may learn more of Christ, be enabled to retain his truth and have grace to follow it.” And again: “keep me feeding in the pastures of thy strengthening word, searching Scripture to find thee there.”

The Modern Devotional and The Puritan, Introduction

A couple of semesters ago, I took a class on English Puritans and it was an experience that has deeply impacted my life. You might call it a point of awareness, where now I can no longer look at the Christian walk in the same way as I did before. English Puritans were men such as John Owen, Richard Baxter, Thomas Watson, and John Bunyan. The Puritans had an incredibly rich theology that can easily be applied to one's own personal life. Even their theological treatises have a deeply spiritual, or in our terms, devotional, aspect to them. They were not perfect. They all shared the same fault as we do, and that is sinfulness. I don't agree with everything they wrote, but on the whole there is alot of very powerful teaching and theology that should be revived in our own day. In the class I considered the question of how the mainstream devotionals of today would stack up to the Puritans devotional value.

So, I will briefly summarize my view on that in three blogs. I focus on what I think are three key aspects of a good devotional life, and good devotional teaching. First, I view that the Bible and the Scriptural support is vital to devotional life because, quite simply, it IS the revelation we have today from God. Secondly, I view that man's own position in the redemptive plan is important in our devotional life. What part do we have in our Christian walk? Thirdly, I end my examination with the Gospel, the central teaching of our Christian walk. How central is that in the devotional literature? So in my first blog after this, I will look briefly at the position of Scripture in modern devotionals and compare that to the Puritans.

One last thing, though, before I start. The devotional literature I will be examining are those incredibly popular little books that can be found just about anywhere, and most people have recieved at least one or two in their life, at church, for graduations or some thing. There are literally hundreds of them to be found, with titles like Grace for the Moment, Friends are Friends Forever, Streams in the Desert, and God’s Little Devotional Book for Couples or parents, students, grandparents, etc. These books are often organized into daily readings that are made up of a little story, or in some cases a bible verse, although stories are more frequent, and some moral or ethical practice to focus on for the day.

The question might be asked, do people actually read those things? The answer, at least from my experience is, yes. Growing up in church, I knew people who loved these books. The Prayer of Jabez, written by Bruce Wilkinson has recently been incredibly popular, and can be found in any Christian bookstore. Also, I used to work at a hotel, and saw many traveling churchgoers with their little devotionals in their luggage. The question is, are these books as beneficial as they are popular? I think the Puritans would have quite a bit to say on this subject.

Also, one think to think about at the end of this blog. There is one huge glaring difference right off the bat between these two types of literature. It is namely this: The Puritans and their literature are arguably all written devotionally or they have devotional aspects to them. In contrast, the modern devotionals are a separate category in Christian Literature. In the bookstores, we can go to the devotional section. We have put devotional life into a separate category in our lives today. So immediately we see that in today’s world we have compartmentalized devotions whereas the Puritans felt their entire lives and everything they did was in devotion to God. That’s something to think about.

Sinners in the Hands of a Good God

I am reading the best book right now:

Sinners in the Hands of a Good God; Reconciling Divine Judgement and Mercy by David Clotfelter (Moody Publishers; Chicago: 2004).

For the next week or so I am going to be posting highlights from my reading.

Concerning the power of the true Gospel and the weightlessness of the modern evangelistic method Clotfelter writes:

His hatred of sin does not pierce us. His wrath does not terrify us. His sovereignty does not humble us. And so, instead of presenting His truth in all of its shocking angularity, we massage the gospel to smooth its way in our world. Instead of giving people strong doctrine, powerfully presented and closely applied, we give them tips for successful living. Instead of confronting them with the hard fact that they are headed for perdition, we flatter them that they are very fine people who lack only faith to make their lives full. And yet, in spite of this failure to understand and proclaim the gospel, we continue to hope that somehow, by means of some new insight or book or technique, we will "release" God's power for revival...Revival is not something we create or even something we "pray down"; it is a sovereign work of God, given in His timing and for His purposes and glory.
(Now get a load of this next statement. It is one of the best I have read in quite a while!)

We are more likely to produce rain by dancing than to produce revival by the use of our methods and techniques.

If we really desire revival, we must turn to God.
(He then goes on to make a statement that I use time and time again during our Wednesday prayer meetings)

And that means both that we must pray to Him earnestly and humbly, recognizing that there is no power in our prayers but only in the God to whom we pray, and that we must be certain that it is the gospel we believe and the gospel we preach.

What do you think? I think I wish I had written this down. Some of these, and so much else in this book, are things that I have said or at least thought but hadn't ever committed them to writing in such a clear and forthright manner.

Get this book and read it!
In Christ, my Rock!

OneTrueGodBlog.com

Hey, you gotta check out this blog, it looks very interesting. It is moderated by Hugh Hewitt and has several different bloggers, including Dr. Mohler and John Mark Reynolds. Hugh Hewitt introduces a topic and all the bloggers discuss it. I think it could be very informative to read. Decide for yourself though.

Isn't the Barrel Beginning to Run Dry?

Arthur Pink has done it again. In the beginning of Pink's ministry he spoke to great crowds, day after day, preaching the Word of God for an hour and a half at a time. His ministry was evidenced by conversions and an awesome hunger for God's Word among the listeners. Here is a quote from that time period which really defines Pink's understanding of the sufficiency of God's Word and the need to depend on it alone for our power and message:

"Someone has said to me this afternoon, 'Well, if pastor Harrison wants you to come back here for another month, what are you going to do? You have preached to them fifty times already; isn't the barrel beginning to run dry?' Ah, my friends, listen, the preacher who relies on anecdotes and clippings from the newspaper, his barrel will soon run dry; of course it will; but the man who preaches the Word of God has an inexhaustible supply to draw from. My dear friends, the trouble is, I hardly know what to bring in and what to leave out. I would like to speak to you by the Lord's helpevery night, for ten years, and then perhaps we would all of us know something of the Word - not much then, but a little."

Isn't that rich? Oh that we would have this passion and respect for what the Word is: Living and Powerful (Hebrews 4:12), Eternal (Isaiah 40:8), and True (Titus 1:2)! Oh that we would open our sermons with a lengthy passage and follow it's flow rather than trying to wake people up and 'get them involved' with a funny joke or brief anecdote! God help us to Preach His Word faithfully and powerfully!

For His glory...throw His Word today upon the soil of your friends, family, and other's hearts!

Arthur Pink's Perception

I had to leave the post early yesterday. I cannot help but comment on how well Pink described much of what passes for 'good' preaching today. How many times do we hear about someone who is just the best preacher ever? When we ask what they preached about we hear something like "I am not sure what the sermon was about but boy he told some funny stories or he really slammed so and so!"

Is that preaching?

Am I to be preparing a series of hilarious one-liners instead of an exegetical presentation of the Gospel of Christ? Which is more important (I did not say appealing)? Fundamentals or fairy tales? Content or comedy? Doctrine or diatribes?

Why is it that Paul says that the faith we are trying to communicate to our congregations comes by hearing the words of Christ? It is because it is the Word of God that has Power (Hebrews 4:12)! It is the Gospel of God that saves (Romans 1:16).

Why can't we simply let the Word that will never fade away (Isaiah 40:8) do It's work and simply be content to throw it where ever and whenever we can (Mark 4:26)?

Arthur Pink has compared modern "so-called Christian work today" with "little children when they first witness father or mother doing some gardening. The ground is prepared and then the seed is sown, and everyday the child goes into the garden and he looks around to see if the seed is beginning to sprout, and if it doesn't show any signs and he want to make sure that the seed isbeginning to sprout, he just scratches around amongst the soil. He wants to see something. My friends, that is what a lot of us are doing in connection with so-called Christian work today! O we have so little confidence in the power and in the sufficiency of the divine 'seed' to bring about the harvest that God has ordained it shall do!"

Isn't that familiar to us? Aren't we so involved in bringing about the results of our preaching and our ministries that we miss the working of the Spirit. We try to 'do' so much ourselves that we miss what God does through His Word!

We need to go slow (following Him)... we need to know (His Word)... we need to throw (the seed)... and watch Him grow (His fruit)!

In Christ, my Rock

Arthur Pink's Questions need to be answered Today!

I am reading Iain Murray's biography: The Life of Arthur W Pink (Banner of Truth Trust; 2nd edition 2004) for the second time. I will be posting a short review of the book when I finish it but just had to comment on what Pink says concerning 'the low horizons of thought in the churches of evangelical profession' and how they were 'directly tracable to low views of God himself.'
Pink writes in 1926 (and it sounds just as true today as it did then):

"Today it is true almost everywhere that we are far more concerned about the results of the gospel that we are about the purity of it! We are more concerned in the blessing of man than we are about the glory of Christ! Is not that true? Is it not true that the first great question asked everywhere today is, What are the 'results'? What is the fruitage? How many people have been saved in your church the last year? I am not saying that the question has no importance, but I do say that, if that is the first question that is asked, it only shows what a low level we are living on! The first question we ought to ask is, How scripturally is the gospel being preached in your church? Is the preacher magnifying Christ? Is the preacher emphasizing the absolute sufficiency of his finished work? Does the preacher make it plain that God does not ask the sinner to do anything, that Christ has done it all for him? Ah, my friends, when the preachers today are tested by that, there are mighty few of them that will survive the test. How many there are today who tell the poor sinner that he has got to give his heart to God! Well, you say, isn't that right? Isn't that true? Must not the sinner give his heart to the Lord if he is going to be saved? Oh, the tragedy that such a question has to be asked! We talk about progress and advancing; why, we need indoctrinating in the ABC of Christianity, and the ABC of Christianity is the gospel! No, my friends, no sinner was ever saved by giving his heart to God. We are not saved by our giving, we are saved by God's giving...”

What a profound statement. I can't wait to follow it up with the next statements tomorrow, the Lord willing!

In Christ!

Is Inclusivism Biblical?

There is a view today in the Church that has become very popular labeled Inclusivism. As the name suggests, the driving idea behind this idea is that Christianity, and particularly salvation, includes other people from other religions. Ronald Nash, in his book, "Is Jesus the Only Savior?," explains Inclusivism this way:

Inclusivists see their position as a middle ground between exclusivism and pluralism that preserves
the most important insights of the other two views. Inclusivists agree with pluralists that God's salvation
is not restricted to the relatively few people who hear the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ. Inclusivists
agree with exclusivists that God's universally accessible salvation is nonetheless grounded on the person
of Jesus Christ and his redmptive work. (pg. 103)

So how does this work out? Well, Inclusivists depend on the "sincerity" and "commitment" one has to Faith (not to what we have faith in) as a test of whether they are to be "included." Often the idea is that if one has sincere faith and deep commitment to their god, perhaps because he/she believes it is right, or because the person never heard the Biblical Gospel, then that person is actually worshipping God by another name. Many believe that sincere Muslims, Hindus, and Jews who have deep faith in their gods will not be punished because they sincerely believed they were worshipping the true God. A famous example can be found in The Chronicles of Narnia.
At the end of "The Last Battle," as Aslan has created the new heavens and the new earth, there comes one who served Tash, the false god. Emeth, the soldier of Tash, came before Aslan, and he had "served Tash all of his days and not him [Aslan]" But Aslan bends down and this dialogue takes place;

"Son, thou art welcome. But I (Emeth) said, Alas Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash. He (Aslan) answered, Child ALL THE SERVICE THOU HAST DONE TO TASH, I ACCOUNT AS SERVICE DONE TO ME. then...I...questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? "

The answer that Aslan gives basically states that any true and faithful service given unto false gods cannot be accepted by them, and is only for the true God. So, despite what we think, when we do good, no matter what name we do it in, we do it for God, and evil is done for Satan, and false gods. This is an emotionally charged topic, because we obviously don't want people to go to Hell, and we want a nice and easy way to account for people who are sincerely thinking they have the right answer, but does this position reflect the Bible?

Let's look at one discussion in the New Testament. In John 3, a man comes to Jesus in the night to question Him about His teachings. It is vital that we look at who this man was. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a "Ruler of the Jews." While that holds bad connotations to us because of the perspective we have looking back at History, we should recognize that these men were the religious leaders of their day. They took sincerity and commitment to an extreme. These were men who honestly thought they knew the truth, and as we can see from Nicodemus were sincere about their belief. So does Jesus repeat the words of Aslan here? Does he gloss over the shortcomings of Nicodemus' beliefs and praise his stolid faith, and commitment? You decide:
Truly, truly I say unto you, unless one is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
and later:
"Are you the teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things?...No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."
Here is an incredibly sincere man, committed to his belief and Jesus says that Nicodemus does not understand and it is only by Christ that one is saved.
Another powerful story in the Bible that refutes this idea is found in Acts 10. This is the story of Cornelius, who was "a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God." That sounds good. If we could let anybody be "included," it would have to be Cornelius. But, that is simply not the case. An angel of God has to come to Cornelius, and tell him to send for Peter so Peter can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him, so he can be saved. Peter comes and shares the story of Jesus with them and the Holy Spirit works in them to salvation. The point is that they had to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ to come to salvation.
It is not enough to believe in a god, and sincerely try and follow him. What we can glean from General Revelation about the creator is not enough for salvation. Moreover, if we try and say this, we neglect the fact that no matter how much we can learn from creation about God, we are still dead in our sins, and following the ways of the world. We are willfully and intentionally rebelling against God in our sin, though we recognize He is there, and that we are wrong for what we do. Romans 1 is clear on this, as well as Isaiah 59. We are separated from God, and there is nothing within our ability to save us, and Scripture clearly says that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Protecting God's Reputation?

Dr. Tony Campolo has given a prime example of the often-used explanation that God had nothing to do with the events of His creation. This apology for God’s inactivity, this presentation of the doctrine of God’s Impotence is unfortunate at best and unchristian at worst. In his article titled ‘Katrina: Not God’s Wrath – or His Will’ Campolo presents a god who is apparently just as devastated by the ‘natural disaster’ that all he can do is simply stand by and weep with those who have been caught in this tragic accident.

Rather than allowing God to speak for Himself from His Word, Campolo prefers to listen to Harold Kushner. He says:

Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who
contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the
Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent. Kushner points out that
omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible.
Instead, the Hebrew Bible contends that God is mighty. That means that God is a
greater force in the universe than all the other forces combined.

When he does refer to Scripture he so waters it down that we cannot even recognize which source of authority he has referred to:

In scripture we get the picture of a cosmic struggle going on between the forces
of darkness and the forces of light. The good news is that, in the end, God will
be victorious. That is why we can sing in the Hallelujah Chorus, "the kingdoms
of this world [will] become the Kingdom of our Lord."

How is it that this impotent god who cannot even control a storm be victorious? Don’t look for Campolo to give any reassurance. He doesn’t. Forget about God’s authority over what He has created. Don’t appeal to God’s ‘causing all things to work together…according to His purposes…’ (Romans 8:28). Campolo thinks that is a bad answer because:

I don’t doubt that God can bring good out of tragedies, but the Bible is clear
that God is not the author of evil! (James 1:15) Statements like that dishonor
God, and are responsible for driving more people away from Christianity than all
the arguments that atheistic philosophers could ever muster.

In one astonishing, for an evangelical, statement he even uses God’s grace as a mask for some form of universalism:

God revealed in Jesus did not come into the world "to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17) There can be no
arguments over the claim that, for a variety of reasons, our nation deserves
punishment. But when the Bible tells us about the grace of God, it is giving us
the good news that our loving God does not give us what we truly deserve.
Certainly, God would not create suffering for innocent people, who were--for the
most part--Katrina’s victims.

I wonder what Bible he is reading from!? In John 3:18 we read that those who don’t believe are already condemned! There are no innocents. Romans 3:10-18 clears that up for us. Apparently Campolo’s assurance rests on the theory that God is just as astonished as we are and so we ought to be grateful that such a being is in the same boat with us.
He says:

Instead of asking “Why?” we should be asking, “What does God want us to do now?”
The loving God calls all believers in the face of Katrina’s devastation to seek
ways to express love in concrete ways towards those who have lost friends and
family members; and to those who have lost homes along with most of their
earthly belongings.

In this instance he is right. Christians ought not be asking why. We already know. We know that God is not biting His fingernails and hoping that things turn out His way. The God of Christianity is not impotent. He is omnipotent; He is Almighty. He has unlimited authority and influence. Wayne Grudem writes that ‘He is able to do all of His holy will.’ This aspect of God relates to His position as Ruler of the Universe; He is the Sovereign. He is sovereign. God has the power to do anything that is logically meaningful and wise. He has the ability to control and the authority to rule over all. John Frame says that ‘The relationship between control and authority is one between might and right. Control means that God has the power to direct the whole course of nature and history as he pleases. Authority means that he has the right to do that.’ Scripture completely affirms God’s omnipotence (Genesis 18:14; Psalm 24:8; Jeremiah 32:17 & 27; Matthew 3:9; 19:26; Luke 1:37; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 3:20; Revelation 1:8).

We certainly ought to be trying to find as many ways as we can to be obedient and serve those victims we can and the best way to serve them is to help them to see that they do have an all-powerful God to turn to.

I wish he would have followed his own words and remained silent:

Personally, I contend that the best thing for us to do in the aftermath of
Katrina is to remain silent, and not try to explain this tragedy.

For a much better presentation of God’s sovereignty in times of catastrophe read John Piper’s response to September 11, 2001.

The Lord Reigns

The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!

Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O Lord, forevermore.

Psalm 93

We as Christians cannot answer exactly why God allows tragedies like Hurricane Katrina to happen, but we do know that He reigns sovereignly over creation in this fallen world. In Job we can see God proclaiming his power and sovereignty which is beyond out understanding. We know that God works all things for the good for those that are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). We know that because of sin in the world, the world itself is groaning. It is painfully evident from the actions of certain groups of people in the flooded area that we are in rebellion against, and separated from Him. Looting, raping, shooting, beating, and other atrocities that are being committed because there is an absence of law clearly show that truth is being suppressed by those that know better (Romans 18-32). God has a purpose behind all the things He does. We cannot say that these things are out of God's control, or that God does not care because we can see the Bible clearly denies both of these ideas. The God of Hurricane Katrina is mighty, and He is working through this tragedy for his great and perfect purposes. We should do whatever we can to help the victims of this tragedy, and pray for all that have been affected by it. We put our trust in a God who alone laid the foudation of the earth, determined it's measurements, sunk it's bases, and laid it's cornerstone (Job 38:1-7). We can witness to those without Christ of the need to come to a relationship with that sovereign God through the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Check out both Dr. Mohler's website, and Dr. Russ Moore's blog on this for some great insight on how to understand everything that has happened. Check them out through the links on this page.

Thugs with Guns

What will happen to those wicked young thugs taking advantage of men and especially women in New Orleans who say: "let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent; like death let us swallow them alive, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder…” The Bible says in Proverbs 1: “their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. (But) in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird…these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.” This is the case for everyone. Not just those gun-toting thugs. There is a Judge standing at the door. These foolish, evil gangsters do not realize, or even care, and neither do we, that God is watching us and He will judge according to His Law. How will He judge you? If you want to know how to escape His judgment, contact me, Steve Morse, at pastorsteve@throwtheword.com.

We Need Reform! Pt 2

Following, a couple of days later, my challenge for reform in our churches:

In order for Reform to occur in a church body the members need to:
2. Experience the change of Scripture. 'and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,' Scripture is powerful! It changes lives. Look at what Paul is saying that the Scriptures do, what they actually bring about.
The Word of the Lord:
Provides sustenance (1 Kings 17:16)
Made the heavens (Psalm 33:6).
Proves the truth (Proverbs 30:5).
Prospers the One who delights in it (Psalm 1:2-3).
Revives the soul and makes the simple wise, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, warns the Lord's servant, and gives great reward (Psalm 19:7-11).
Directed and prompted all of the Prophet's ministries.
Caused the ministry of the church to continue to increase and prevail mightily (Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20).
Brings faith (Romans 10:17).
Makes everything holy (1 Timothy 4:4-5).
Judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
Created the Universe(Hebrews 11:3).
Is the reason that you have been born again (1 Peter 1:23).
Formed the earth out of water and through water (2 Peter 3:5).
Is the reason that the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7).
Is the means by which the nations will be struck down, ruled by a rod of iron, and the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty will be tread (Revelation 19:15).
There is a difference when It works in us! We need to understand and experience the reality. We need to expect this reality. We need to work for this reality
3. Follow the teaching of Scripture. 'and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,' Scripture calls for us to conform to It's instruction.
We must be teachable. We must follow its teachings.
We must be submissive. We must obey its commands.
We must be humble. We must be willing to change.
We must be satisfied. We must give up those things that keep us from the purity of Christ.
Not only is it profitable to us, it is also profitable for us to use with others.
When we teach, It’s principles must be our instruction. It’s content must be our content.
When we reprove, It is our guide. It is our standard.
When we correct, It must be the Truth that we use.
When we train, It must be our righteousness. It must be our purity.
This Word is to be beginning and the end of our resources. It is sufficient for all of us.
4. Offer ourselves to the God of Scripture. 'that the man of God' The Scriptures are not for just any man. These Scriptures are the source of wisdom, knowledge, and grace for the man who belongs to God.
This is explicitly Christian. We must return to the clear doctrines of Scripture in our everyday lives.
Jesus must be Lord. The Trinity must be the object of our worship. Faith in Christ alone must be exercised. The incarnation must be recognized. The Crucifixion must be actualized. The Resurrection must be vocalized. The Ascension must be individualized. The Atonement must be realized. The Scriptures must be prized. We must, if we are to see reformation in our families, we must grow to know more, much more, about this God who saves us. We must be identified, clearly and consciously by our faith in and knowledge of this great God of All!

The tragedy in the South

In light of all that has happened down south with the hurricane, and my being absent from internet this past week I would recommend reading Dr. Al Mohler's commentary on everything that has gone on. He does a fantastic job of showing how Christians should view what has and is happening as well as what Christians should do about it. I would urge you to check it out.

Click on Dr. Mohler's link in our link field to reach his articles.

Picture of the Day

This is our friends dog:

This is our dog:

My dog can beat up your dog:


Fear this:

Back in the saddle.

Well, after a week of no computer and internet to speak of, I have returned to the web in full force. God has provided for my wife and I in great ways. Our computer, which was a laptop, broke last week. Thanks be to God though that he provided the money for us to get a new computer this past weekend. So now I have a computer and the means to get on the internet, and i feel better. It is funny (or maybe not so funny) how dependent we get on media, and technology. When Sara and I got married, we spent quite a bit of time every day watching TV, and we just couldn't seem to stop. We would come home and turn it on, and we would just stare at whatever was playing for the next couple of hours. One day we stopped, and it was amazing how much more we used our brains. We didn't stop entirely, but we stopped just turning the TV set on so we could "just see what's on right now." When we would do that, we would always end up getting sucked into whatever show was on, and our brains would stop functioning and we would stare at some family doing idiotic and completely unrealistic things for the next few hours.
Now if there is something on we want to watch, we turn it on only when that show is on. Or we watch movies.
One book I read that really changed the way I look at TV and media in general was "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neal Postman. I highly recommend it. It is short and very easy to read, but be careful, it could change the way you think.