Monday, October 6, 2008

New blog

Hey there fellow bloggers and bloggettes. I'm writing to inform you that I've created a new blog by the name of LibraryHumor. This blog will be mainly devoted to funny books I find around the library. I know that sounds like a dumb idea at first, but if you had any idea some of the stuff I've seen on these shelves you'd understand. I'll add it to the blogroll of the left. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Latest Piper Sermon Jams

Well folks, I was going to type this out, but it's late, I'm tired, and I couldn't keep up with Piper. So I'm just going to post a link to where you can listen to this. Its only about 4 minutes long and well worth your time. http://relevantrevolution.com/mp3/solid.mp3

Monday, September 29, 2008

Being Yourself as You're Used of God in the Body

Yesterday my wife and I worshiped in Greenville, SC with the body at New Covenant Christian Fellowship. I was encouraged, challenged, and exhorted by the brothers there, mostly through individual conversation after church over lunch and coffee. Conversing with three brothers in particular was greatly encouraging and the Lord revealed to me an important truth as I sat this morning, thinking over our discussions the day before. Each one of these three brothers has a very different personality and a very different style of relating to others. On the other hand, each of them can be accurately characterized as continually having the gospel on their lips. Their speech runs sweet with love for Jesus and their lives reflect that love in the form of humble obedience to His lordship. The first brother is a sober-minded, analytical, slightly introspective type. The second brother is an evangelistic, "let me tell you what He has done for my soul," Barnabas-the-encourager type. The third brother is a visionary, go for the gusto with the gospel, "tell me what you think about this new idea" type. Enumerating their characteristics in this way was a phenomenal help to me this morning, as I realized that each one of these men is simply being himself as he submits himself to the lordship of Christ through a life of humble obedience and diligent love for Jesus and His word. This helped me realize that I cannot be like all three of these brothers. I probably cannot be like even one of them. The only thing that I can do is be who I am. At the same time, I can be like these brothers in devoting myself to my Lord and yielding my life, my personality, and my talents to His purposes. I also realized that we all have the same Holy Spirit empowering us, so rather than wishing I had more time to fellowship with them and glean from their love for Jesus and His word, I can go straight to the foot of Jesus like Mary did and straight to His word and seek to be the things I see in them.

I apologize for the scatter-brainedness of this post. I do hope that you see the same thing I saw and cease striving to be like others, whether it be men of God around you, or men of God in history, and instead, seek to be who God has made you to be as you submit yourself to His lordship in every area of your life.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Driscoll Loves Piper

This post is absolutely great. The part about Piper's fashion sense is priceless. I think I want to sell my TV more now than ever. And disconnect the internet. Too bad I need it for school.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Quote of the Day

"When you see that you are dependent, not self-determined, then--and then alone--can you appreciate Who God is and who you are. God is the Creator of all things Who made you for His pleasure; He does not exist to please you. He is not some cosmic vending machine that will give you whatever you want when you insert the proper prayer coins. You were made to glorify Him either as a vessel of mercy or as a vessel of wrath. It is not incumbent upon God to glorify you. That He has chosen to save you, Christian, should not merely please you; it should astonish you."
- Jay Adams, The Grand Demonstration, p. 49-50.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

A Thinking President

I'm pleased to say that we have a thinking president at SEBTS. Yesterday in the "Q&A with Dr. Akin" chapel, Dr. Akin received questions from students and provided some thoughtful, scriptural insight. I must say, I was thoroughly pleased with Dr. Akin's response to the Arminian question. Anyone who was there will know to which I refer. Dr. Akin spoke clearly to the issue, and even went further than I expected him to go. Toward the end of his answer Dr. Akin said "Pelagianism is heresy, Arminianism is error." I take this to be roughly the same as Spurgeon saying "And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer?" Both Akin and Spurgeon recognize that Arminianism is clearly aberrant, but that it not a soul damning error. To prove the difference in types of "heresy", Spurgeon later goes on to comment "But far be it from me even to imagine that Zion contains none but Calvinistic Christians within her walls, or that there are none saved who do not hold our views....and if there were wanted two apostles to be added to the number of the twelve, I do not believe that there could be found two men more fit to be so added than George Whitefield and John Wesley." My hat definitely goes off to Dr. Akin for speaking so clearly to this theologically charged issue. I wonder what he would have to say about Molinism? Perhaps next Q&A time...

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Great Quote

"The successful perseverance of a Christian is the consequence of a steady preoccupation with Jesus Christ."

- Arturo Azurdia

Salvation is of the Lord

"I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it on the special and particular redemption of his elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.

If ever it should come to pass,
That sheep of Christ might fall away,
My fickle, feeble soul, alas!
Would fall a thousand times a day.
"

-C. H. Spurgeon

Friday, September 5, 2008

Election

Per the advice of the kind folks over at Strange Baptist Fire, I listened to an excellent sermon today on purpose driven predestination, which was preached at Southern's chapel this past Thursday by Dr. Russell Moore. So I pass on this lovely information to you in hopes that you too will listen to this sermon and be both encouraged and challenged in your understanding of the doctrine of election. You can find the SBF post here, or you can go directly to Southern's website to download the sermon here.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Unity in the Body

The topic of unity has come up quite a few times in the past couple of days and as such, I've been mulling it over in my head and heart. At small groups on Wednesday night we prayed for the unity of the church, both local and universal. People lamented the lack of unity among the body of Christ and prayed that the Lord would cause people to see the need for unity and work toward it. After Wednesday I read an article which contained unity as a major sub-theme and had a spontaneous conversation with a great brother about the need for unity in the body. So, it would appear that the Lord is putting the topic in my path in order that I might think on it. And here I am, thinking on it.

A primary verse came immediately to mind when considering this topic, Eph 4:3, "being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Its quite obvious from this verse and others like it that unity is a serious matter that we shouldn't take lightly. The real issue is, I think, how do we bring about unity in the body, locally and universally? This is a difficult question, especially in times of vast diversity. How do we go about pursuing unity with those whose traditions and beliefs are different than ours? Where do we draw the line in order to prevent sacrificing truth for false unity? And, finally, how do we maintain unity in the bond of peace, not just begrudgingly? Unfortunately I don't have the answers to all these questions I've just posed. But I do think they're answerable and I intend to be thinking through them in the future more than I have in the past.

I'll begin here by rehashing that conversation I mentioned earlier. This will be especially relevant for seminarians and other folks who are involved in the thought-wars of academia. A lot of time and energy seems to be devoted to defending and refuting beliefs, in classrooms, in churches, in peer-groups. So how can we defend that which needs to be defended, refute that which needs to be refuted, and all the while preserve unity in the bond of peace? By doing so in a spirit of charity. Two men come to my mind when I think of excellent examples of this, D. A. Carson and John Piper. If you really want to hear and see two men who can walk through the fire of conflict and come out not smelling like smoke, listen to and read the work of Carson and Piper. I include Carson because of his ability to always have something good to say of any position or any person which is about to critique. I've heard him on many occasions speak against false-teachings or false-teachers and begin by say "Now, so-and-so has really offered some great insight into these particular areas and I am indebted to him for his work on this particular subject. However here on the matter of ______ I think he's grossly mistaken." I've heard Carson have good things to say about everyone from E. P. Sanders to John Dominic Crossin. But he doesn't back down from point out where they're wrong and even where they're dangerous. We need this attitude to penetrate our own practices of "defending the faith." As my good brother pointed out, if all we do is rail someone from start to finish, those hear us will simply write that individual and all his disciples off (I use the term disciple very loosely); and, in doing so, become further isolated from a part of the body. If instead we took Carson's approach, we might get our hearers to think critically about what they listen to and read, eating the meat and spitting out the bones.

I choose John Piper as my second example of a model to follow when confronting controversy because of his amazing ability to be charitable to individuals but at the same time violently opposed to false teaching. Two instances come to mind here. First, Piper's dealing with N. T. Wright and the new perspectives on Paul in his newer book The Future of Justification. Piper explains in the introduction that he chose to speak out against Wright and not someone else, like James Dunn, because of Wright's widespread influence and popularity. The entire book is very charitably written and Piper is always as gracious as possible toward Wright, but that's not the main point. The main point is that Piper went to great lengths to make sure he was accurately representing Wright's position. He even sent Wright a first draft of his manuscript so that he would have a chance to respond and so that Piper could incorporate his response into the final product. That's pretty bold. In a later interview, Wright said that he and Piper were both old enough to know that the debate wasn't personal, as with their added years they'd both lost the testosterone aspect of theological discourse. I found that to be very interesting, as I know how charged I can get over a doctrine, especially one I consider to be a false doctrine. Second, Piper doesn't play around when something dangerously aberrant is being promulgated. Consider this video on youtube, in which Piper condemns the prosperity Gospel. Even using the word "hatred" concerning his stance against it. So, Piper knows how to debate like a gentleman and how to dig in his heels. I think we can learn much from his example.

I know this hasn't been a very thorough treatment of the matter of unity. I've only briefly touched on a couple of examples I've seen as ideals for confronting conflict, but I hope that these examples will be helpful and will cause you to think about your own interaction with those you disagree with.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Mutual Encouragement and "One-anothering"

In Romans 1:11-2, Paul says, "For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."

These two verses really struck me in my studies today and yesterday. Just think, the Apostle Paul is about to pen the greatest letter ever written, the greatest expression of Christian Theology in the New Testament, and here in the introduction he says that he looks forward to coming to the Romans so that he can be encouraged by their faith! That is truly amazing to me. Paul shows us here an incredible amount of humility. He could've been prideful and thought, "What can I possibly learn from these Romans?" or something of the sort. But that's not the way Paul learned Christianity from his Master. Instead, Paul longed for an opportunity to come to them in order that both he and they could be encouraged by the other's faith. Is this something you practice in your local church, in your small group, in your group of friends? Is this something I practice? Dr. Black, one of my professors at SEBTS really made me aware of the New Testament concept of every member ministry and the "one-anothering" that is seen throughout the pages of the NT. Its almost like reformed soteriology, once you see it, you see it everywhere. I can't read my Bible anymore without seeing the one-anothers and the ways in which the body of Christ functioned as a family in the NT. We've drifted so far from this pattern in our modern congregations, but there are a lot of folks out there who are desperately seeking to reverse the wrongs and restore to American Christianity a more biblical model. I can only hope that the Lord will see fit to use me in this reformation of sorts.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"Whole" Salvation or "Soul" Salvation?

As I mentioned previously, I've been working my way through N. T. Wright's newest book: Surprised By Hope. In the final third of this book he is discussing the implications of life after life after death for the local church and the lives of believers; how do we live out the consequences of the resurrection here and now? The first way in which Wright suggests that we ought to change our thinking and practices is in the area of salvation. He states that believers need to seriously rethink what salvation means in light of the fact that heaven is not our "final resting place" or our ultimate goal, as many Christians mistakenly believe. He makes some good points and raises some good questions. One that has particularly got me thinking is his question of whole salvation versus soul salvation. Whole salvation, he contends, is the salvation of the entire person, soul, mind, body, life, etc. Soul salvation is simply being saved from sin and to heaven, or something along those lines.

I applaud Wright for calling people to realize that you can't just get someone "saved" and then leave them in the exact condition in which you found them. The church I am a member of here in Raleigh, Treasuring Christ Church, emphasizes this point frequently. People need to hear the gospel, but they may also need help financially to get them out of a life of bondage to poverty, or counsel to help them get on track to get free from debt, or an education to free them from the slavery of illiteracy and ignorance, and the list could go on and on. So, I definitely understand what Wright means when he says we need to recapture a theology of whole salvation. However, I had a problem with his exegesis to get to this point. His main text was Mark 5 and the parallel passage in Matthew 9, which tell the story of the healing the woman with the issue of blood. My great trouble with Wright's exegesis was his translation, and subsequent interpretation, of Mark 5:34 and Matt 9:22. In Greek, both of these passages use the word sozo, which is commonly translated "to save." However, no major English version translates Mark 5:34 or Matt 9:22 as "saved." They all opt for another meaning of sozo; "healed," or "made well." Herein lies my main disagreement with Wright. It seems as if from his translation and exegesis of these passages that he believes this woman experienced whole salvation that day, obviously Jesus had no problem saying that she was "saved," and this ought to be our model for understanding salvation. I just don't see that in these passages. I do not believe that Jesus was making a pronouncement on this woman's spiritual condition, but rather her fleshly one: she was saved from her illness. After all, the text of Mark does go on to say "Go in peace and be healed (hugies) of your affliction." This leads me to my next problem with Wright's exegesis. By using these passages, which are devoid of any mention of the spiritual or forgiveness of sin or anything of that nature, Wright seems to forget these elements in his whole salvation paradigm. In short, he emphasizes the physical to the detriment of the spiritual.

I believe that he is on to something in his whole salvation theology. However, it seems to me that he has largely forgotten the spiritual aspect of salvation. If that is left out, there is little value in the rest of the equation. We must never put the salvation of souls in the back seat to social justice or meeting physical needs. This was the mistake of 20th century liberalism and it may very well make a reappearance in our time as well. We cannot rely on any organization, be it the government, civic clubs, or even the church, if all they are seeking to do is treat felt needs in order to somehow "save" individuals. Rather than embracing this distorted view of whole salvation, we need to embrace a real whole salvation; one that addresses the spiritual and the physical. We also must realize that just because we make efforts towards social justice and meeting the physical needs of new believers does not mean that God's purpose for all people is a comfortable, pain free existence. God may keep an individual right where he is, in poverty, or in physical illness in order to bring Himself most glory. And hold on, 'cause here comes a doozy, God may even call the wealthy and affluent to sell all they have, give it to the poor, and follow Him to the darkest corner of the globe! Thus, the question isn't "whole" salvation or "soul" salvation, that is too obvious. The real question is what does whole salvation really entail and how can we be a part of God's purposes to save sinners.

Please let me know what you think about this, I'm definitely looking for feedback as I continue to wrestle through these issues, especially how we can see the needs of people met in the context of the local church.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Fast Food and the Gospel

Last night I tagged along with my friend Corey to the men's TCC men's Bible study downtown. The usual guy was out of town so I volunteered to go. It was a great time of fellowship and study, even though there was just one guy and we were in the McDonald's on Wilmington Street! Anthony, our sole attendee, Corey, and myself studied the first chapter of Ephesians. We sought to understand the main theme of the chapter and to identify the three things Paul lists in verses 18 and 19: what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. We had a great time and I can honestly say that I got just as much out of it as Anthony did. I must thank Corey for his thoughtful direction that he gave to our study. He asked some great questions like, "Since we see here that Jesus is the one in whom all things are united, how can we love those people who don't believe in Jesus, or who believe in other religions?" At the end of our time I found myself praising God for His grace in calling me to Himself, I'm no better than anyone else and certainly no more deserving of His salvation. But thanks be to God that He saw fit to choose me for Himself! What a great love our Father has for us, His adopted children.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Romans

I've started studying the book of Romans this past week. I imagine it will take me a few years to plug my way through it. I used to be much better about personal study time in the Word. When I was in college I spent about 2 years working through the book of Hebrews word by word. That was extremely profitable and I hope to reclaim that kind of devotion through my current study of the book of Romans. I feel a lot like the people the writer of Hebrews addressed in chapter 6, those who ought to be teachers but were still in need of going over the basics again. I feel like I'm always going over the basics again and again. Not that its bad to constantly refresh the basics in your mind, but sometimes I feel like that's all I have the mind to do. I often wonder at the ability of other people to retain information and at my ability to forget it! But I know that the mind is something that can be trained with use. I also recognize the fact that I have been quite lazy with my mind for a good while and that I will not see a recapturing of it without considerable devotion to studies. Entertainment is just so much easier than the hard work of study. It's quite a shame to because entertainment is really so pointless. Its pleasure is fleeting and its rewards cheap. Hard work and study are different, very different. The pleasure of study is lasting and its rewards can be eternal.

That's why I've endeavored to go at it full speed ahead this coming semester. I'll be taking 12 hours, 4 classes: Greek 3, Theology 3, Methods and Issues in Biblical Interpretation, and Philosophy. I hope that they will be challenging, but manageable as well. I don't want my wife to forget what I look like and I don't want to get burned out. However, North Greenville really taught me to work hard and take the hard classes, so that's what I'm going to do. I hope that if I am able to go on to do PhD work that it will be both thoroughly challenging and rewarding. I'm tired of people laughing about how dumb they are and how poorly they did on their exams/paper/whathaveyou. I want to be in classes where people are motivated to do their best and where the institution doesn't pat them on the back with extra-credit when they fail to give something their all. Hopefully, if I keep my nose to the grindstone, the Lord will bless me with a sharp mind that is like a sponge instead of a sieve.

Half Finished Books

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I'm about half way into 3 to 5 different books, I think. I have a reading bug. I'll get so far into one book, and then another one will cross my path and I'll think, "Man, that looks really interesting, I should see what they're talking about." Then I end up spending more time reading the other and the cycle just continues.

Right now I'm reading an array of material. I'm stuck half way through The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burruoughs, The Reason for God by Tim Keller, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham, and Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright.

The Reason for God is a good book, Keller brings up some difficult issues and questions often raised by unbelievers and then systematically shows how they do not either defeat Christianity or give the unbeliever a leg to stand on. It's an interesting read, and I look forward to getting back to it and finishing it out, perhaps in the coming days.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses is a bit more academic. In it, Bauckham is arguing that the Gospel writers were either eyewitnesses or associates of eyewitnesses. He is deconstructing much of the premises of the Historical Jesus movement as well as much of liberal theology in general. By examining the internal evidence of the Gospels, Bauckham is able to demonstrate that the Gospels were not based on oral traditions, passed down over hundreds of years, but actually written shortly after the events they described based on eyewitness testimony, thus adding a great deal of credibility to what they contain. It's an interesting read, but can be a bit deep at times. That one might have to wait until Christmas time before I can revisit it.

Surprised by Hope is N. T. Wright's most recent book and deals primarily with the topic of life after death, mainly life after life after death: the resurrection. This book is extremely interesting, even though at times I'm not entirely on board with Wright on certain points of his exegesis. He will definitely make you think through the book about much of modern Christianity's doctrine concerning life after death and heaven. Apparently I was fortunate enough to have been a part of a congregation in South Carolina that already greatly emphasized the New Heavens and New Earth, so that a lot of the stuff that Wright is talking about is already old hat for me. But, I can see how much of this book would be revolutionary for some believers who look forward to resting on a cloud for eternity. The book is divided into three main sections: 1. Establishing the foundation for the conversation; 2. Looking forward to understand God's future plan; and, 3. Examining how we are to live today in light of these things. I'm just at the threshold of the third section and am very interested to find out what Wright believes are the implications of the resurrection on our present life. It seems as if his primary focus is going to be in the areas of politics, social justice, and the environment. I'll post more when I find out how he concludes, assuming I don't get sidetracked again for another few months!!!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I wish...

I wish I had more interesting things to write about on here.

I wish I had more time to read for pleasure.

I wish I had enough money to go to the Desiring God 2008 National Conference.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

How Committed am I to the Bible?

I've been thinking a lot lately about how committed am I to the truth of the gospel and other biblical doctrines which I am firmly convinced of. A good bit of this introspection is the result of a semester with Dr. Black in New Testament 2. In that class we were constantly pushed to go back to the New Testament and discern what it had to say about sundry matters. I've also been thinking a lot about the priority of the local church in body-life. The seminary, and so many other para-church organizations, has come in and completely taken over much of what biblical local churches are responsible for. I'm growing to believe that the most commonly held paradigm for training and hiring elders is almost totally unbiblical. As I sit through classes at SEBTS and listen in on conversations around campus, it's truly amazing to me that some people think they're on the road to biblical eldership. They might not use the term "elder" or even hold to an ecclesiology that allows for elders, but it makes no difference: it's the only paradigm the NT knows.

In the past few days I've been reading John Hammett's new book, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology, and I suppose that has a bit to do with getting the ol' wheels in my head a turnin'. In this book Hammett is seeking to define what a church is, who a church is, how a church is governed, what the church does, and where the church is going. I'm a little bit over half way through the book. The first two sections are good, it's hard to be a conservative baptist and not have a good definition of what and who a church is. Regenerate church membership is one of his strongest arguments in this section, however, as he continues to flesh out the implications of regenerate church membership in his section on how a church is governed, things start to unravel. His arguments for congregationalism are almost entirely pragmatic. He even admits in several places that congregationalism is a pragmatic conclusion. At one point he goes so far as to say the following, I was shocked:

"In the end, they [the congregation] are the ones who must give financially to support the ministry he [the pastor] envisions; they must act if the church is to love and reach and disciple people as he desires. They are far likelier to give and act on plans they have had a part in developing. And, if the members are maturing spiritually, why would a church or its pastors want to cut themselves off from the wisdom they may contribute?" (p.211)

I've digressed into the subject matter of the book instead of going where I had intended with this post, so if you don't mind, I'm going to get back on track and not comment on that quote. I don't think I can handle it right now...

So, like I was saying, I've been thinking a lot about my commitment to the Bible and it's principles. As you may be able to tell already, I'm specifically concerning with church polity and my role in the local church. Here are some things that I'm struggling with:

1. What is the role of para-church organizations in the life of the local church?
2. What is my personal conviction concerning my responsibility to act on what I believe to be biblical?
3. Where should I be focusing my energies at this point in my life?
4. Is pursuing a career in a Bible-college or seminary setting right for me?
5. Where are my priorities? Am I more concerned with earning a degree and getting a job or with 1 Tim. 3:1-13?

For as much as I dislike Hammett's pragmatism, I see so much of it in myself. I'm afraid that I may be paralyzed by the thought of having to start from scratch to get into a career of any other sort than the one that I'm currently pursuing.

When I was at NGU, loving the Bible and theology and the things of God seemed to me to be a clear pointer to further studies in order to one day be able to teach those things to others. Now I believe that loving the Bible, God, theology, etc. is something that every Christian ought to aspire to, not just the seminarians. Like a good friend of mine pointed out the other day, the qualifications in 1 Tim 3 are not reserved for elders and deacons, they are necessary for all believers. It's not the elders who are barred from drunkenness and immorality, it's every Christian: thus, every Christian male should either be aspiring to be an elder or a deacon. I don't know if I'm ready to say every, but I think probably most, and if they're not aspiring to the office, they should at least be serving in those ways unofficially.

I apologize for the sporadic nature of this post, all this is compounding in my mind and heart, and has spilled over here. I simply desire to be true to the Bible and it's teachings. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Heatstroke and the Grace of God

Two somewhat interrelated topics are on my mind this evening. The first is the amenities we enjoy in this era. Today, for a few hours, the AC in our house was broken. At one point the temperature reached 94 degrees inside. It was truly miserable. However, due to the Lord's grace, a repair man was able to come only 3 hours after I called and it was fixed within 30 minutes of his arrival! So I am truly thankful to the Lord for His grace in causing this repair to happen speedily.

The second is God's sovereign grace in my salvation. Today, as I lay on the bed, under the fan, listening to an Indelible Grace album, I thought about how some people I know would never fathom listening to music like that which I was presently enjoying. I began to think of how the lyrics would seem so foreign and how some might even mock them. I then thought about some people and some friends from days past who are not believers and who do not love Jesus or the things of God. At that moment I was simply rocked by the Lord's favor toward me in His gracious electing and subsequent saving work in my life. It is only because of grace that I am at all concerned with God and His Word. I was truly amazed by the fact that for some reason the Lord saw fit to save me. It is only because of His free, unconstrained good-pleasure that I read the Bible or care about holiness. It is only because of His marvelous grace that I do not pursue sin with a reckless abandonment. Like my brother Blake said this evening, I don't want to ever get to a place where I forget the true gospel and the grace of God in my life. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how that could ever happen, knowing what I've experienced in my relationship with the Father. However, then I remember folks who have fallen away, a college professor I had, a man and woman from a church I was a part of, pastors, etc. etc. and I realize that I am, in and of myself no different than they. I possess in me all the wretchedness that drove them to turn their backs on the faith and pursue sin instead. I just hope and trust that I am a part of those mentioned in Hebrews 6:9 and not those mentioned in the previous portion of the same chapter.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Word of God

The past few weeks have been very beneficial for my soul. I highly recommend that you download and listen to the messages from the New Attitude 2008 conference. I didn't attend the conference, but I have listened to the messages and they are fantastic. The topic this year was the Word of God and as such all the messages are geared toward making much of God's word. These messages really encouraged me to get off my (spiritually) lazy butt and read diligently. I have a summer reading goal of 3 books, which are listed below. However, I've not gotten very far in the second book; I've been too busy reading the Bible.

As some of you may know, I work in the library at SEBTS. This allows me a bit of time to read during work (especially now that we're in summer sessions). Instead of bringing several books to browse and/or study while I'm at work, I've started only bringing my Bible. In the past couple of days I've read through Hebrews, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. On top of that I'm reading through Bible using M'Cheyne's schedule; right now I'm going through Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, and Revelation. I'm not writing any of this to boast in my holiness or ability or anything of the sort. On the contrary, just a few weeks ago I was struggling to get through the reading for M'Cheyne and had little desire to do so. I'm writing this to encourage you to overcome whatever it is that's causing you to neglect your daily Bible reading. Nothing really comes close to sitting down and reading through an epistle in one sitting. By reading these entire books in the past few days I've been immensely encouraged to love Jesus more and to love others more, especially my wife and my brothers and sisters in Christ.

One other thing that pertains to this subject of Bible reading. I was encouraged by Dave Black's blog, especially his post from Thursday, May 22, @ 6:32 am (unfortunately you can't link to specific posts, so you'll just have to do some scrolling), to begin marking in my Bible. This might sound strange to some of you, but I was a Bible page purist. I loved the look of the untainted page. My hand isn't steady enough to make a good underlining, and I abhor a thick black snake of ink running through the text. So, with PENCIL in hand, I've begun to carefully mark and make notes in my Bible. I know that some of you are probably thinking "wow, big deal." But, it is a big deal for me, and if there's anyone else out there who secretly, or openly, is too cautious to mar the pages of his beloved Bible, let me just say that there can be some benefits from doing so. Though a part of me still likes the look of the clean page. Hopefully the benefits of recalling and finding specific verses and/or thoughts will outweigh the OCD impulses I feel.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Internetolution

Dr. Mohler's latest post about the affects of the internet on libraries and information in general is a good read. I work in the library at SEBTS, so I can see what he's talking about going on first hand... It's truly amazing the way the internet has changed so many areas of our daily lives. Not only information, but communication for instance. Today I talked to two people in two very different parts of the world: Afghanistan and India. It boggles my mind how I can sit here and almost instantly communicate with these two people, so many thousands of miles away from me.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Definitions

Two things:

1. Why is it so hard to maintain my Greek?! I took 4 semesters in college and then completely lost almost everything I learned by not touching it for 2 years. I've just finished re-taking Greek at SEBTS and I'm already unmotivated to study. What will it take for me to get myself into action?

2. Is anyone else as annoyed as I am with the over abundant use of the term "ground zero" these days? Look it up and you'll see that it has nothing to do with what most people (especially the media) use it for.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sentiment at the Movies

Usually my wife and I are too frugal (or cheap if you wish) to see many new releases in the theater. We have netlfix and prefer to wait until they come out on DVD. Recently we've broken this habit for two new releases. However, I really wish we hadn't.

The two movies we deemed worthy of our hard earned money were Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones. I must say, I was sorely disappointed with both. Now I'm no movie critic and I certainly don't want to persuade anyone to think one way or another about these films, and for all I know, no one even reads this blog yet, so I guess it makes no difference; but, I have had several conversations about these films in recent days and thought this would be a good place to say some things I've been thinking.
1. I think that there should be a law passed that alerts the movie goer that they are about to see another alien movie before they purchase a ticket. Seriously. Indiana Jones is NOT supposed to be about aliens! Oh well.
2. Whoever owns the rights to C. S. Lewis' works needs to be drug out into the street and shot for allowing Hollywood to butcher his work. I was aghast at what the producer and/or writer did to Prince Caspian. Not only are there entire sub-plots in the movie that are not even suggested in the book, but the whole thing smacks of Americanisms that are simply not there in the book. I noticed this problem first in the movie version of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. In that movie the children behave like bratty, spoiled, self-centered Americans. In Prince Caspian the acting has improved (I suppose the age difference might have something to do with it), but the annoying 21st century influence is still there. In the book Peter tells Caspian that he hasn't come to take the kingdom but to give it to Caspian. Not so in the movie. Instead the writers thought it would be better for a power struggle to play out for a little while. Also, Lucy found Aslan more toward the beginning of the story, and there was no disobedient self-reliant raid on Miraz's castle. A central theme of the book that has been undermined in the movie is that of faith and trust in Aslan. The movie simply destroys the characterization so central in Lewis' work, and in doing so, the rich symbolism is almost lost.

These were just some of the things that bother me most about these two movies. Why do these things even matter? one might ask. Well, for me, I guess it's the sentimental attachment I had to the stories told by each. I grew up watching Indiana Jones and I remember how much fun those movies were. This new one doesn't convey the same sense of "believability," if you will. And I've read the entire Chronicles of Narnia a few times and they've become one of my favorite fiction works. It seems then that the primary issue is that of expectations. Someone who knows nothing of the old Indiana Jones movies or of Lewis' written Narnia series probably won't take much issue with these movies. But someone with enough experience to know what great things could be, but what is painfully not, is negatively affected by these films.

As I sit here typing out these thoughts, one thing moves to the front of my mind. This is a very good analogy of what is happening to today's Churches. Those who have actually felt true community with both the Head of the body, Christ, and with the body itself, the church, are becoming increasingly disappointed by the 21st century, American-dream, consumer-driven, man-exalting "churches" that do such a poor job at accurately portraying the true church as described in the written Word of God. From conversations I've had about these two dissimilar subjects, it seems to me that this younger generation, mine, is ready for a genuine attempt at accurately presenting the original Author's story and message.

Summer Reading

I finished my first summer reading book yesterday. I figured after a semester of molanist teaching in Theology 2 it would be good to read something a little more in line with what I believe the Bible teaches. Not only that, but I had heard of this book before and always wanted to read it. So, I decided to include Redemption: Accomplished and Applied by John Murray to my list of summer reading. It was a very good book, divided into 2 sections: 1. Redemption accomplished, 2. Redemption Applied. I flew through the first section and was greatly encouraged by it. The second section was also uplifting, though not quite as much of a page turner for me. One quote really sums up the content of the book:

"Christ discharged the debt of sin. He bore our sins and purged them. He did not make a token payment which God accepts in place of the whole. Our debts are not canceled; they are liquidated. Christ procured redemption and therefore he secured it. He met in himself and swallowed up the full toll of divine condemnation and judgment against sin. He wrought righteousness which is the proper ground of complete justification and the title to everlasting life. Grace thus reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He expiated guilt and "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." "Being made perfect he became the author (the cause) of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." In a word, Jesus met all the exigencies arising from our sin and he procured all the benefits that lead to, and are consummated in, the liberty of the glory of the children of God."

Having finished this first book I've moved on to my next installment of summer reading. I have always wanted to read the Puritans, but have never really gotten around to it, but what better time than now? I began reading Jeremiah Burroughs' The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment today. It is a very down to earth, practical guide to how believers can learn to be content in all things (Phil 4:11). I trust that I will benefit greatly from digesting the truths contained within its pages.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Great food and cheap books

Tonight Lisa and I went to the Hollander's for dinner. Much thanks to them for their hospitality. The food was excellent.

The post dinner trip to Mr. Otsby's was also excellent. There Blake acquired Owen's massive 7 volume commentary on Hebrews for a mere $35 as well as many other gems. I was able to snag about 15 books for under $40. Of one D. A. Carson laments, "That it is now out of print is a serious loss." I'm happy with my purchase and the envy for Blake's good fortune is slowly subsiding.



I think I will need some more shelf space soon...



Here are my summer reading books...



Finally, I thought I'd share with you this painting my friend Matt Tolbert did for me. I love it.




New to the blogosphere

This blog is named simply for a reason. I make no promises to keep it up. I make no promises to post anything particularly insightful. I do hope to use this as a way to organize some of my thoughts and hopefully share something of what the Lord is doing in my life with you, the reader.

Having said that, I am a Christian, a newly-wed, a student at SEBTS, and a member of Treasuring Christ Church in Raleigh, NC. I am captivated by the Word of God, and interested in Greek, New Covenant Theology, Ecclesiology, and a spattering of other things. I also enjoy fishing, the outdoors, good coffee, and automobiles.