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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.