Having Two Legs

The Regeneration: A Blog

2011-03-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

In various ways and various times past, I have spoken to you on this blog under the shadow forms of blogger and in the hues of orange and white. But in these last days, I will speak to you in a new form at www.tobyjsumpter.com.

Hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Toby

Loving Children

2011-03-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

"If we loved children, we would have a few. If we had them, we would want them as children, and would love the wonder with which they behold the world, and would hope that some of it might open our own eyes a little. We would love their games, and would want to play them once in a while, stirring in ourselves those memories of play that no one regrets, and that are almost the only things an old man can look back on with complete satisfaction. We would want our children tagging along after us, or if not, then only because we would understand that they had better things to do."

Anthony Esolen, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, xii.

The Gospel of Lent

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of legitimate concerns with a season like Lent. Some people can only smell oppressive Roman Catholicism, works righteousness, legalistic burdens, scoring brownie points with God, competing for holiness, superficial-hypocritical spirituality, pharisaism, washing the outside of the cup, white-washed tombs, making a show of piety, and why would forgiven saints want to wallow in their sins for forty days anyway?

And in so far as people take up a Lenten observance with any of that in mind or in their hearts, I say to hell with Lent. God hates all of that.

But consider me an optimistic hold out for the benefits of reclaiming a joyful, faithful Lent.

Lent comes from the old English which means "lengthening," and it originally referred to the fact that the days were getting longer. It means Springtime. And I can't think of a better way of getting geared up for Easter.

In other words, Lent is the season that celebrates Postmillenialism. Postmillenialism is the name for the view of eschatology that says the story of this world is the story of God remaking this world into the garden-city it was always meant to be. Rather than planet earth bursting into flames and the rapture occurring just in time to medivac the last few faithful survivors into another dimension, the Bible teaches that the death and resurrection of Jesus was the down payment for the glorification of this world, this planet, this universe. The Spirit was poured out at Pentecost in order to re-create this broken paradise, and postmillenialism is one theological name to describe the basic gospel proclamation that Jesus wins and everyone might as well come along cheerfully. Whether it takes another few hundred years or thirty-thousand more years, the history of this planet will be the story of salvation, the victory of grace, and the vast majority of humanity will be saved. Hell will be a small, dark speck populated with a tiny band of gollums making love to their darkness.

In other words, the story of history is an enormous Springtime. It is the story of Lent, the story of days getting longer, the world getting lighter.

The darkest night in the history of the world was the night before Jesus was born, the night before the Light was born into this world. That night was the winter solstice of all human history. In Adam the world could only grow darker, but when the Light of the World burst into the world, it began to get lighter. And the last two thousand years are the story of this world getting lighter, the days getting longer, the nights getting shorter.

Lent means it's getting lighter. The Sun is risen, and the Light of the World is growing.

And this means that Lent is always a call to walk in the light as He is in the light. It is a call to cast away all the works of darkness, to cast away the shadows and to come into the light. Lent is a call to join the mission of this Kingdom of Light, the mission of being light and bringing light to this dark world. Lent celebrates God's victory over darkness and rejoices in the shadows fleeing away.

So far as people try to cover up their guilt with false pietistic fasting, they are only hiding in the shadows. In so far as people try to make a show of their piety through pharisaical fasting from Facebook and coffee, God is not impressed.

But in so far as Lent is a wonderful annual reminder that the Sun is up, and it is getting lighter, Lent is a call to come into the light, a call to hope, a call to struggle against sin, the flesh, and the devil. And in so far as faithful believers take up their crosses and cry out to God with tears and fasting and prayer, God will see in heaven and answer the cries of the weak and the broken. In so far as Lent is a cry of defiant hope, a battle cry that insists against all odds, against what seems impossible, against the patterns and habits and powers of this dark world, in so far as Lent insists that it is getting lighter, and that nothing can stop the Light, in so far as that is what we celebrate and renew year after year, that is good news. That is the wonderful gospel of Lent.

Lent means it is getting lighter. Lent means that the Sun is risen, and it will continue to rise until it bursts out at the last great Easter, when the saints rise up in glory like the Son.

How God Responds to our Sin

2011-03-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

We have considered this morning how the good news of Jesus is the declaration that God is light, and that this Light has begun to shine in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and continues to shine in our life in the church for the world. And this light is getting brighter. This table is central to our declaration of this light and life. At this table, we hear the words of Life as we speak them to one another, we see this Word of Life in one another as we partake together, our hands handle this Life as we pass bread and wine to one another. This meal is a central way that God continues to manifest this Life in this world, and as we partake together, we are that fellowship, that joy, that Light for the world. But there countless churches that celebrate this sacrament who effectively cover the light by the inconsistency in their lives. And this is not the inconsistency of sin, this is the refusal to believe the gospel about that sin. One way to run a litmus test on this is to ask how you respond to sin. What do you do when the three year old throws a fit? What do you do when your wife makes a biting comment? What do you do when your husband is late coming home from work and the kids have run you ragged? What do you do when your coworker insults you in front of everyone? How do you respond when you are passed over for a promotion? Or you don’t get the bid? How do you respond to sin, to friction, to correction, to hardship? How do you respond? Walking in the light means refusing to freak out, refusing to be frazzled, refusing to be shaken, refusing to think that the world is crashing down. Walking in the light means remembering that Jesus is King, you are His beloved son or daughter, and there is absolutely nothing that can change that. But in that context, we can offer the other cheek, we can forgive again, we can let love cover it, we are free not to respond with evil. God knows our weakness and failures, and He is not worried. He invites us to dinner. We sin against Him, and He says, I love you. My life for yours. Go and do likewise.

Second Sunday in Lent: Repentance for Life 1 Jn. 1-2:2

2011-03-21T06:37:00.001-07:00

Introduction
John begins his first epistle insisting that life has entered the world, and that life means fellowship and joy and light (1 Jn. 1:1-5). Confessing sin is the life breath of Christian life. When you begin to live the Christian life, you repent and believe, and the only way to keep breathing is to repent and believe. And if you stop breathing, there is only darkness and death and separation.

Repentance unto Life
Repentance is preaching the gospel to yourself every day in every situation: the good news that Jesus is the Christ, our King who has come to set us free from sin, death, and Satan. And in the death and resurrection of Jesus, those powers were thrown down, we were forgiven, cleansed, and set free. We have been adopted as beloved sons and daughters, and therefore are united to Christ by His Spirit and share in His glory and righteousness and power. Repentance means turning away, turning around. Repentance means that if you were going left, you go right. If you were going upstairs, you go downstairs. If you were lying, you tell the truth (Eph. 4:25). If you were stealing, you cease, get a job, and save to have extra to give to those in need (Eph. 4:28). If there were corrupt and bitter words coming out of your mouth, you begin to speak words of kindness and edification and forgiveness (Eph. 4:29-32). Repentance means hating your sin from the bottom of your heart. If you are constantly apologizing for the same things with no measurable improvement, you are not repenting, you are just feeling sorry for yourself in front of other people. Godly sorrow is desperate for freedom and leads to salvation and joy (2 Cor. 7:9-11). People who are forgiven are set free. To go from darkness to light is to go from dead to alive. This is miraculous and it fills people with joy (1 Jn. 1:4). And if you’re going through the actions of repenting and asking forgiveness, and that is not resulting in fullness of joy, then you are not repenting. You are lying to yourself and others. And people who know the power of forgiveness are quick to extend that love and forgiveness to others (1 Jn. 2:2).

Lenten Joy
This is why a season like Lent should be both a profoundly joyful season and naturally evangelistic. If you are fasting in order to cover up your guilt, you are lying to God, and God hates your fasting. If your soul is hallow, and you are not walking in the joy of the Holy Spirit and you think giving up Facebook or Coke is going to help you, you are liar. Propitiation is a big word that means covering; it was the place where the blood was sprinkled once a year in the Most Holy Place. When we confess our sins, the promise of God is that our sins are forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus (1 Jn. 1:7-9). And it is God’s faithfulness and justice that does this cleansing, and this necessarily results in profound freedom and fearlessness and relief. Worrying about whether you will fall again or whether this will really work is another sign that you don’t really want out. Forgiveness makes you say crazy things like the Apostle John: “these things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (1 Jn. 2:1). Forgiveness and repentance is a turning away from darkness and guilt and confusion toward light and fellowship and joy. Your days should be growing lighter, your fellowship should be growing tighter, and your joy should be filling up not draining out. If that is not happening, then you are walking in darkness and that is because you are not really confessing your sins, including the sin of not believing the promise of forgiveness. Confessing sin is how we wage war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. When people cease to confess their sins, they are refusing to fight. Being nice to sin is to already admit defeat.

The Fellowship of Repentance
The end of confession is fellowship. But fellowship doesn’t make all differences evaporate. Some differences can be worked out rather quickly (days or weeks), others can take longer (years, resurrection), and still others are not necessarily bad. In fact the body of Christ is full of glorious differences. But without fellowship, differences will collide and clash. But when our differences are woven together in love, they create a harmony instead of a dissonance.

Our great temptation in a sermon like this is to hope that someone else is listening carefully. But Jesus calls that hypocrisy. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye (Mt. 7:3-5). The principle is that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. But the flesh loves to blame shift and try to insist that the other guy walk in the light first. Confessing our own sins first, removing the log from our own eye first means taking responsibility, bearing the shame, claiming the fault. This shouldn’t be a fake show of piety, but Christ-like love and compassion, gladly suffering for the sake of others.

Taking responsibility for our own sins and weakness teaches us humility and compassion for the weaknesses and sins of others. When you know how unlovely your own heart is, you can love the unlovely around you, even those closest to you in all of their weakness and shame. This is what the body of Christ is supposed to do more broadly anyway (1 Cor. 12:23). This means helping one another obey, supporting one another where we are weak. Individualism teaches us to hold back and let our brothers crash and burn, but love teaches us to reach out and gently bring our brothers in for a safe landing. Because we have an Advocate, we can be advocates (1 Jn. 2:1); He is the propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2).

Why We Believe in the Miraculous

2011-03-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

This morning’s sermon is on confession of sin and the true freedom and joy of forgiveness. One way to frame what we believe as Christians about the cross and sin and forgiveness is that Christians are and must be firm believers in miracles. Sometimes Reformed types have thrown around the word “cessation” to describe how certain miracles may have been peculiar to the first century Apostles. While all orthodox Christians believe that the New Testament canon was a unique first century event (there are no new Scriptures being written), the word “cessation” certainly carries with it a ton of extra freight that does not do justice to the New Testament apostles themselves or with the testimony of the vast majority of the history of the Church. But even more importantly than that is the central proclamation and insistence of the New Testament that in the life of the Church, through the powerful working of the Spirit in the lives of men and women and children, through the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, and the love and fellowship and gifts of the Spirit in the saints, God changes lives. God turns bitter wives into thankful, joyful wives. God turns disobedient and rebellious children into obedient and respectful children. God turns angry and unfaithful husbands into loving, faithful husbands. God raises up the lowly, God gives grace to the failures, God raises the dead. And we gather here every Lord’s Day to testify that this is true. Jesus died so that this might be true, and He was raised to accomplish it. So here at the beginning of our gathering, put away your unbelief. Put away your doubts, your fear, whatever impossibility you are nurturing in your heart. The original impossibility was creation itself, but light burst out of the darkness. So put to death your unbelief.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn. 1:5)

Live Web Cast of the Logos Benefit Concert

2011-03-11T10:03:00.001-08:00

Tonight is the big Logos School Benefit Concert. If you aren't in town, the event will be web cast live this evening on the Logos 30th Birthday Benefit Concert Website.

A Few Thoughts on the Church Calendar

2011-03-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Reformation is exciting. Recovering the treasures of our fathers and grandfathers in the faith is encouraging and heartening. And one of those great treasures is the Church Year.

Many believers in many different denominations and traditions are recovering the Church Year. While there remains a good deal of caution among Protestants regarding the lingering connotations of abuses from medieval Roman Catholicism with the Church Calendar, Presbyterians are celebrating Advent. Baptists are describing the richness of Lent. Christmas and Easter, the two "High Holy Days" of American Christianity are receiving even more thoughtful and robust celebration.

And while I would want to be counted among those who share some concerns, I am also supportive of the overall project. On the fourth day of creation, God created the sun, moon, and stars to rule time, keeping track of days, months, seasons, and years. In the New Covenant, we are not under those rulers any more. This is because we have been seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In Christ and by the working of His Holy Spirit, the promise that was made to Abraham that his descendants would by like the "stars of the heavens" has been fulfilled. In other words, we are no longer under the sun, moon, and stars because we have been enthroned with Jesus in the new heavens of the Church. We have been made kings and priests to our God. In Christ, we are the new rulers of time.

And keeping time is inevitable. There will be rhythms, there will be names, there will be holy days. The only question is what will they be? Will our "high holy days" be 4th of July, Super Bowl Sunday, and Memorial Day? Or will our lives be tuned by the life of Christ and the work of the Spirit in history?

Christians are free to celebrate any of these civil or cultural holidays, but our freedom is most fully realized in grateful worship and praise. The church calendar, understood rightly, is just a way of organizing our worship, a liturgy for time. Just as it is permissible, even necessary for pastors or worship leaders to decide which hymns to sing at which point in the service, when to confess sins, when to remind people of their forgiveness, etc., so too the church calendar is a way of organizing our prayers and songs and praise.

While I might throw out any number of provisos, let me just mention one here: If you are new to the church calendar and you think it's a good idea, your temptation is to jump into the deep end with your clothes on without taking swimming lessons. Or to change the metaphor, there tends to be a "cage stage" for most new ideas. The new idea is your brand new hammer and everything looks like a nail. So the encouragement is to wade in from the shallow end. So for example, if you just realized that we just began Lent, good for you. But don't freak out and swear off the next three days of meals in an effort to "get caught up" or make your kids give up cookies and candy for the next six weeks so they can suffer with you. That only teaches your kids that you are erratic and headstrong, and it will probably frustrate and confuse them more than anything. Maybe just start with reading through an entire gospel with your family over the next six weeks. Find some hymns and psalms that focus on the coming of the Messiah and His sufferings and death on the cross. Read a biography of a saint, a martyr, or a missionary, and think, pray, and discuss what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

We've encouraged our folks to consider various avenues of ministry or evangelism. Spend some time befriending some folks at a local nursing home, invite your neighbors over for dinner, look for an opportunity to share the gospel with an unbeliever. Start small, start genuine. Don't stress about the details. And as you use these days and weeks and months and years to celebrate the forgiveness and freedom you have in Christ, your traditions will grow up like glorious memorials. And that's really what we want: we want the life of Christ plastered all of our lives.

And here are some resources for thinking through the church calendar as well as Lent in particular:

Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church Joint Statement on Holy Days

Is the Church Year Biblical? By Jeff Meyers

The Season of Lent Guide by Elliot Grudem & Bruce Benedict

Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan

Lenten Meditations by Randy Booth

Several of these and more are available here at Cardiphonia.

Ninth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 19: A Mountain on Fire with Love

2011-03-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

Introduction
The arrival at Mt. Sinai is the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promises. Given the challenges that Israel has faced, it is also a sign of God’s great grace and favor.

The Wedding
This scene portrays this covenant renewal scene as a wedding: Moses is the “minister” going between Yahweh and Israel, His bride (19:3, 8, 20). This covenant renewal is the renewal of the covenant made previously with Abraham (Gen. 15). The basis for the covenant relationship is the fact that Yahweh has destroyed Egypt and kept His promises (19:3-4). He has brought Israel to Himself on eagles’ wings (19:4, cf. Dt. 32:11). Though foreign armies will later be described as eagles (e.g. Dt. 28:49, Jer. 4:13, Ez. 17:3ff, Hos. 8:1), in this instance it refers to Yahweh’s host, His glory cloud army of men and angels (13:18-22, cf. Ez. 1:3-14). This Exodus-Salvation is the basis for the “Therefore if…” (19:5). This is the way real love works and is displayed in a wedding. No bride or groom suspects the other of legalism for taking vows. Nor does anyone think anyone is earning anything when they take or keep their vows. That’s just what love looks like.

Precious Treasure and Kingdom of Priests
If Israel obeys Yahweh and guards the covenant, Israel will be His “precious treasure” (19:5), and this is repeated when the covenant is renewed (Dt. 7:6, 14:2, 26:18, cf. Ps. 135:4, Mal. 3:17). This call to “guard” the covenant reminds us of Yahweh’s call for Adam to “guard” the garden. The covenant is not something earned; the covenant is the gift of God’s love, the gift of a holy fellowship, a marriage bed (Dt. 32:11). David and Solomon both refer to their “precious treasures of kings” (1 Chr. 29:3, Eccl. 2:8). Israel is Yahweh’s treasure, His royal plunder, His inheritance. In the Septuagint, this word is translated as “elect,” and the NT writers pick up this language: Christians are God’s elect, His chosen ones, “holy and beloved” of God (Col. 3:12). Our English translations get closest to this where Paul says that Christ gave Himself for us to “redeem” us and to “purify” us for Himself, His own “special people” (Tit. 2:14), and Peter does this as well (1 Pet. 1:2, 2:4, 2:6, 2:9). In the immediate context of the Old Testament, Melchizedek and Jethro form the most concrete examples of priests: both are foreigners who bring the blessing of God and share bread with God’s people. And a kingdom of priests is to be a “holy nation” (19:6, cf. 19:10, 14, 22), and this means to be in a safe place, in a secure relationship to their God, one another, and the nations around them: plenty of bread and blessing for all.

The Mountain
The scene itself seems so surreal and strange: a mountain covered in a thick cloud of smoke and fire (19:18), thunder and lightening (19:16), the threat of death to those who cross the boundaries (19:12-13), the long winding of a horn (19:13, 16, 19). It feels intense, overwhelming, even confusing (19:20-25). But this seems to be the point: Israel is not dealing with a distant deity in the far reaches of the universe; Yahweh is God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, and therefore Lord of Israel. It is His great compassion and love and mercy that redeemed and saved His people, but it is a fierce mercy, a terrifying love, a deep, black darkness of compassion. This is not to imply that God is fickle or schizophrenic. It means that God is high and lifted up. But God is also putting Himself on the line, bestowing all that He is, and calling Israel into His love, into His glory, into His fellowship. And the only reasonable response is fear and love and glad obedience. To obey is to walk in that glory, in that love.

Conclusion
In the New Covenant all of this is heightened: But this time the fire of God has fallen not on a mountain that can be touched but on God’s people at Pentecost (Acts 2). We have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and the warnings are just as fierce: see that you do not refuse Him who speaks for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:18-29). But this is not a menacing threat from a distance. This isn’t a command to keep a bunch of impersonal rules. This is because our Kinsman-Redeemer has come for us and delivered us from Egypt and every Pharaoh; Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant has brought us to Himself on eagles’ wings: He has “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…” (Rev. 1:5-6). Which is proof once again that God keeps His promises (e.g. Is. 40).

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD's hand Double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken…

O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young…

To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

This coming week we begin Lent. During Lent we don’t pretend to be lost and unsaved or despair of our salvation. Lent is an annual reminder of what is always true of the Christian life. It is an annual reminder that we must press on. Because of the wonderful gift of Christmas and because of the first Easter in Christ, we must press on toward our own Easter. Because we have been born again by the Spirit in our own Christmas-covenant, our own Exodus-salvation, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. We must not doubt in the dark what was true in the light. Remember who you are, remember the glory of the Lord, remember God’s love and grace. Remember God’s promises. Because God has not forgotten.

NSA Exhortation: The Humility of God: Phil. 2:1-13

2011-03-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

Introduction
We have met our God most directly, most clearly in Jesus Christ. Who is God? Who is the Triune God? Who is our God? Our God is the One who was born of Mary, anointed with Spirit, crucified on a Roman cross, and resurrected on the third day. Our God is the God who does not consider it robbery to be God, but freely gives that status away (Phil. 2:6). Calvin and other Reformers sometimes referred to this as God “accommodating” Himself to us, lisping for our frail human souls, but John says that the Word which was from the beginning was the true and glorious revelation of God, that which was seen and heard and touched (1 Jn. 1:1-3). But this means that we serve a radically humble God. But what does it mean that God is humble?

Humility & Unity
Paul’s central exhortation is to let the same mind which was in Christ be in us (Phil. 2:5). What is that mind? It is the mind that gladly gives up what is rightfully yours. The text is wonderfully chiastic:

A. Form of God (2:6)
B. Likeness of man (2:7)
C. Humbled himself; obedient to death (2:8a)
D. Death on a cross (2:8b)
C’. God exalted Him; God gave Him a name (2:9)
B’. Every knee will bow (2:10)
A’. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (2:11)

Humility is Confident and Brave
Notice two things: First, Jesus did not give up His deity. He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. It was not lie for Jesus to claim to be God. It was not grand theft for Him to claim that title. But notice secondly, that it is because it is His that He can make Himself of no reputation. In other words, it is the certainty that Jesus has that He is God that allows Him to freely take on the likeness of man. It is God security in Himself as Lord that allows Him to take on the form of a servant. Or from the other way around, it is great insecurity that refuses to risk reputation. It is uncertainty that refuses to serve. The humility of God rightly reckons what is true, what it would not be robbery to consider as true, and in that security and certainty gladly takes risks for the sake of others. In other words, humility is confident and brave.

Humility is Obedient
Notice that central to humility is obedience (Phil 2:8). Humility is not wishy-washy. Humility is not apathetic. Jesus humbled Himself and obeyed. Humility reckons what is true, and then gladly accepts orders. Jesus was so certain of who He was and what was to come that He could obey even to the point of death and even to the point of a cursed death on a cross. Humility is confident, and humility is obedient. This means that humility doesn’t give in to easier routes; humility isn’t a push over. When Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem, that was humility not a stubborn streak.

Humility loves Glory
Hebrews say that Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame of it for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). That joy was the glory of sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. That was the joy of being exalted and given the name above every name. But this isn’t merely a means to an end. The humility of God on display in the incarnation was not a onetime exception to the rule. The humility of God revealed in Jesus was a display of God’s eternal humility: God’s eternal confidence, God’s eternal obedience and sacrificial love, God’s eternal glory. In other words, even though the incarnation and death and resurrection were a onetime historical accomplishment, those events reveal the kind of God we serve, the God who humbles Himself for the sake of others. God “esteems others better than Himself” (Phil. 2:3). In other words, God’s glory is His humility. It’s the glory of God to be a God who gives up reputation, who serves, etc. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is a lamb that was slain on the throne.

And notice how Christ’s humility is related to the goal of unity and mission. It is that confident, obedient humility that is glorious and is glorified.

Applications
Humility in this community:
1. Differences of background, personality, gifts, etc. : Humility is confident, secure, obedient, sacrificial, and revels in the glory. Roommates, Exams, Grades, Finances, Beauty, Intelligence, etc.

2. Differences in the churches, teaching style, emphases: Humility is confident, secure, obedient, sacrificial, and revels in the glory.

Humility at home:
1. Some of you will be going home: Humility is confident, secure, obedient, sacrificial, and revels in the glory at home, with your parents, with old friends, at your home church, in the challenges.

Humility on Spring Break:
1. Humility is confident and secure. You know who you are in Christ, and what He has called you to.
2. Humility is obedient and sacrificial. It is the height of arrogance to disobey the King.
3. Humility sees the glory in the cross.

Proverbs 30:21-23

2011-03-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Agur’s proverbs continue here in sets of four. He comes as a climax to the book of Proverbs which frequently lays out wisdom in the black and white, sin and righteousness, wisdom and folly. Agus says he’s a fool and stupid, he second guesses himself. He agrees with the rest of Proverbs but encourages us to allow for exceptions.

30:21: For three things the earth is perturbed, yes, for four it cannot bear up

The word for “perturbed” may mean quarrel or trouble (Gen. 45:24, Job 3:26); it may also refer to trembling and fear (Ex. 15:14, Dt. 2:25). This same trembling is promised to Israel if they break covenant with the Lord (Dt. 28:65). This is the panic of a war camp under a surprise attack (1 Sam. 14:15, 28:15). It can also refer to an earth quake (2 Sam. 22:8, Job 9:6, Ps. 18:8, 77:18). The command to “be angry and do not sin” is the command to be “perturbed” but do not sin (Ps. 4:5). The word is only used one other time in Proverbs to refer to the “ragings” of a fool (Pr. 29:9).

The earth is not able to “bear up” because of this trouble, quaking, raging. The word for “bear up” is related to a very common word that means “lift up.” This form can mean “acceptable, bearable, or swelling.” Given the fact that the image here is of the “earth,” the translation “bear up” seems right. The image is of the earth on the verge of collapse. Given that these four things are people, the point is that these kinds of “ragings” have enormous consequences are not minor or little. These are acts of folly that can cause great trouble in the world.

30:22: For a servant when he reigns, a fool when he is filled with food.

Here the servant is probably a member of the king’s cabinet, another subordinate official who has usurped the crown (Gen. 24:2, 1 Sam. 27:12). If the king is supposed to be a rock, a steady leader for the stability of his people, a revolt causes great tumult in the earth. The seizing of glory and power is rarely a good sign, and rarely are those who do so prepared for the task. Frequently, rebels who oust tyrants merely establish more tyranny or worse. People who are not ready to rule, who are suddenly given great power and authority frequently abuse it.

A fool filled with bread is parallel to the first “trouble” in the sense that there is a situation that does not seem natural, does not seem just, or safe. Just as it is frequently unwise to allow hot headed captains to become the next king, a fool with a full belly is like a drunk with a full tank of gas. Instead of nourishing wisdom, instead of being a blessing (Pr. 3:10, 12:11, 14, 20:13), fullness here is a curse. Recall that previously Agur has referred to the curse of “fullness” (30:9, 15-16).
30:23: A hateful woman when she is married, and a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

The theme of usurpation and events that are unsafe continues here with a “hated woman” when she becomes a “lady.” The masculine form for the word for “married” means “husband” or “lord” and can refer both to marriage and to rule or authority. And it seems likely that both are in view here. A hated woman is an unloved woman, and love exactly what she wants and needs. This is the opposite of a “virtuous woman” who is a crown to her husband (Pr. 12:4).

A maidservant succeeds her mistress by becoming one of the king’s concubines. This is the scene in Gen. 16 where it seemed like a good idea initially for Abram to conceive a child through Hagar, but Sarai knows that this is a mistake after Hagar has his child (Gen. 16:4). Whether intentionally or not, the crossing of loyalty and trust and intentions is too complicated to avoid even the appearance of usurpation. A more devious maidservant may seduce a husband in hopes of displacing the wife. And if that wife is the queen, the maidservant is not only grasping for security but also power (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:19, 2 Kgs. 10:13).

In all four of these instances there is a breach, some break with the usual process, order, etc. And they seem chiastically arranged:

A. A servant who reigns
B. A fool filled with bread
B’. A hated woman married
A’. A maid who becomes queen

In the first and last, power and authority are taken up by those without power and authority, and in the middle two, physical and emotional satisfaction is provided. The first and last perhaps represent psychological desire whereas the middle ones represent physical desires.

The earth is shaken when these things occur, and it seems safe to say that is usually a bad thing. However, it is striking how the gospel accomplishes all of these things. In the gospel, God has become a servant so that He might become Lord over all, and in Him all of His servants reign. In the gospel, fools are filled with bread. The church was a hated and scorned woman who has been loved by a faithful husband, and the maidservant has become a queen. And it is this gospel that has “turned the whole world upside down” (Acts 17:6). While these reversals can be terrifying and create great upheaval, by the working of the Spirit they can be for the blessing of the world.

In the context of Proverbs, Agur’s wisdom is perhaps a warning, a cautionary tale (e.g. watch out for servants, fools, hated women, and ambitious maid servants), but it may also be the wisdom of the gospel that recognizes how God works: “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has given help to His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, Abraham and to his seed forever” (Lk. 1:52-55). Or Paul puts it this way: “If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3:18-19). And this seems to be what Jesus is calling His disciples to in the gospel: “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:26).

In other words, grasping for power and authority and satisfaction is always dangerous and tumultuous, whether by kings or slaves, but God loves to show His glory and wisdom and power in the weak and foolish and unlikely.

I don't believe the sky

2011-03-02T10:00:00.001-08:00

I don’t even believe the sky tonight. Like I haven’t seen those fake blues and whites swirled and streaked on some impressionist’s canvass before. It’s a little too obvious. The colors are childish. The blues are too happy and sparkly, and the white is bright, and the grays and blacks came straight out of a carton of Crayola crayons. In fact the whole thing looks colored for a Hallmark card. These clouds are stock clouds from a children’s coloring book, puffy in the middle, complete with silver linings, stretching out in completely predictable patterns.

If you ask me, it actually looks like someone scraped the ceiling of the sky. The whole world tried to drive into a parking garage and the sign clearly said Clearance 8’ and whoever was at the wheel just kept on driving and peeled parts of the roof off and now there are stars peeking through the brand new skylights. Where there is still a bit of roof left, it crumpled, leaving uneven strips of cloud metal running warped toward the horizon. Obviously these clouds really were lined with some sort of silver, and now pieces of that are poking through like a set of old, bald tires.

But it’s getting dark now, and the light is falling. And I can’t really remember what I saw. Just fading images of a blue field plowed up with tiny, shining seeds here and there as though a careless farmer had a hole in his pocket. Or maybe it was a blue beach dotted with sand crystals while foaming tides like searching hands try to pull the earth into the deep. But I can’t remember now, and it was all so fabricated and unbelievable and childish.

Which is why I will be just as surprised and incredulous tomorrow night and every night.

Parenting according to Jethro

2011-02-28T08:15:00.001-08:00

Parents, your job in the first instance is to be judges who set free, who deliver, who point out the wonders of God, and call your children to freedom. Discipline is not a jail sentence; discipline is not prison time. Discipline is a jail break. Discipline is an Exodus. Sin is the jail. Rebellion is the prison. And all godly discipline results in freedom. But this freedom is a freedom that rules. God breaks Israel out of jail and immediately tells them to start judging one another. They must set one another free. This will involve pointing out sin and there will be consequences for sin, but the idea is to give that authority and responsibility away. And we want to do the same thing with our children. Parenting is not an 18 year long game of ‘wack ‘em’ at Chuck E. Cheese. Parenting is doing what Jethro told Moses to do: teach your children the statues, the laws, and show them the way to Canaan, so that they can join you, so that they can stand with you, so that they may sit with you in the gates. And this is the pattern for discipleship for everyone in the church. This is the training program of grace. You are free to rule. And godly rule always sets people free.

Eighth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 18

2011-02-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Epiphany means manifestation. When God was born as a man, God was revealed to the world. The same Spirit who bore Jesus into the world and empowered His ministry, was poured out in the Church to continue that same revelation. Last week, we saw that God is revealed in our support for one another. The victory is given to Israel when Moses' arms are supported, holding up the serpent-rod in his hands. God continues to train Israel to be His son in this chapter, and here, this training continues in the organization of Israel through the gift of teachers, rulers, and judges. As Israel is organized by judges and wisdom, they reveal their Father.

Jethro
Moses’ father-in-law is the priest of Midian (18:1). In many ways, Jethro reminds us of Melchizedek (Gen. 14): Moses greets his father in-law with great respect (18:7ff), they share bread together (18:12), and both priests give blessings to God’s people (18:10). While many commentators puzzle over whether Jethro worshipped the God of Israel, it seems very plain that he did. First, the parallel with Melchizedek is striking. Second, Moses married his daughter. Thirdly, the Midianites were distant relatives, descended from Abraham from his second wife Keturah (Gen. 25:2). Fourth, if in the off chance, Jethro really was not yet a worshipper of the true God, after this story, he surely is (18:10-11).

We know that Moses had brought his family back to Egypt with him prior to the Exodus (4:20), but apparently he had sent them back to his father in-law at some point during the Exodus because they return to him now (18:2-5). Notice how Jethro is a striking contrast to Amalek (also a distant relative of Israel, a descendent of Esau) (cf. 15:14ff). Jethro offers offerings and sacrifices to God, and Aaron and the elders of Israel eat bread together before God and worship before (at the mountain) just as God had promised (18:12, 3:12).

Moses and the Judges
The next day Moses went about his daily task of sitting before Israel morning till evening to hear the disputes between the people (18:13-16). Notice that this overturns the reluctance of Israel to have Moses as their judge early on (2:14). We imagine petty lawsuits were not unusual for a people with such complaining as we have seen. Jethro says that this is not good, and it is too heavy for both Moses and the people (18:17-18). Instead of sitting before the people all day, Jethro says that Moses ought to stand before God for the people (18:19). Besides judging, Jethro says the new judges will need teaching so that they can teach the people (18:20). The designation of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens fits with the fact that Israel is an army (e.g. Num. 31:14ff, Dt. 20:9, 2 Sam. 18:1). There were already “elders” in Israel (18:12, cf. 3:16, 12:21, and 17:5-6), and later the “elders” and “judges” will be spoken of as coexisting (e.g. Dt. 21:2, Josh. 8:33, 23:2). Likewise, seventy of the elders will be appointed who will be given some of the Spirit that is upon Moses, and Moses will pray that God would make all of Israel prophets (Num. 11:16-30). Here, Moses appoints “rulers” who will “judge” (18:25-26). This is likely the office of “judge” found in the book of Judges (cf. Ruth 1:1). This judging continues the Exodus, extending the great deliverance of Yahweh (Ex. 6:6, 7:4, 12:12). God delivers His people to become deliverers. In the multitude of counselors there is safety (Pr. 11:14, 24:6).

Body Life
In the New Covenant there three important parallels with what we find in Exodus 18. First, wisdom and leadership are always disciplines of imitation. Jethro teaches Moses to do what he does, so that Moses can teach other judges to do what he does. Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate him just as he imitates Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Jesus is our Moses, who stands before the Father, ever interceding out behalf. Jesus is our High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. He is our hope, our guarantee, and He ever lives for us.

But Paul says that Christ has given gifts of leadership to the Church so that the saints may be equipped for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). When the Spirit of Christ was poured out at Pentecost on all flesh, Moses’ prayer that all of Israel would prophesy began to be fulfilled. And this means that God doesn’t just delegate authority. It’s not like Jesus actually gets tired of hearing from us; it isn’t too heavy for Him. But salvation is God’s sharing of His life and wisdom and authority with us. By the working of the Spirit, God is growing up a nation of prophets and judges in the Church. And the pattern is the same: just as Moses was teach Israel how to teach and judge, so the leaders of the church are to train the saints for the work of ministry: judging and teaching. And this is the pattern in the Church: Pastors, elders, deacons are called to give what they have been given away.

It’s worth remember that Jethro was a gentile who advised Moses, and it is the Spirit who knits the nations together and equips the body with gifts (1 Cor. 12). In addition to our sin and rebellion, we tend to despise people different from ourselves. Moses had all kinds of reasons for being prickly toward Jethro or doubting Jethro’s plan, and there are numerous ways it could have backfired. But leadership comes through serving. If you want to be great, you must become a slave. Moses gave authority away, and he actually gained more. If you want to find your life, you must lose it for the sake of Jesus. The Spirit teaches us to have hope, and to see the potential in people who seem like serious projects.

The Fifth Commandment
We practice this pattern in the family. We should not miss the fact that this organization of Israel comes from Moses’ father in-law. The honor of father and mother is a central type of honor and authority and organization in the world, which is why it has such enormous implications (Eph. 6:1-3). But the responsibility goes both ways, and fathers must not provoke their children but rather bring them up in the nurture of the Lord (Eph. 6:4) which means being judges who teach the way of freedom.

Fathers and Judges

2011-02-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

In a very helpful conversation with CJ Bowen and Joshua Appel, they pointed out how Jethro acts as a father and a judge in Exodus 18, and this is a type of Yahweh.

Yahweh is the Father and Deliverer-Judge of Israel; He has brought Israel out of slavery and bondage to a false father-judge (Pharaoh). That false father set taskmasters over them and worked them with rigor, but their True Father frees them and exalts them, giving them responsibility and authority. This continues through the counsel of Jethro who comes as a father (literally, a father-in-law), and he sees the state of Moses judging the people and judges this "not good."

Jethro urges Moses to give authority to the people, setting up rulers who judge the people. And this involves Moses replicating himself. Though it is only Moses who is initially judging and teaching (18:16), after Moses has selected the rulers/judges, they are trained/taught (18:20) so that they can teach and judge the people (18:26).

This intent is even more explicit in the parallel passage that occurs some time later in Israel's history in Numbers 11. There it is explicitly the Spirit that is upon Moses that God takes and puts on the seventy men of the elders of Israel (Num. 11:16-17). As a result of the Spirit coming upon the seventy men of the elders, they prophesy, and though some where concerned about the charismatic outbreak, Moses prays that all of the Lord's people would be prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them (Num. 11:29).

Some commentators puzzle over why God speaks through Jethro when up to this point He has usually just spoken directly to Moses. But the fact that God is speaking through Jethro exemplifies the whole point Jethro is making. Yahweh has blessed and equipped Moses, but the point is to share that blessing with others. God will bring the people to their place in peace as they are led and shepherded and taught by many faithful rulers. The goal is to make all of God's people "priests and kings," judging and teaching in righteousness.

Bread before Fire

2011-02-25T09:43:00.001-08:00

Peter Enns points out that Jethro eats bread with Moses just before Yahweh speaks with Moses in the burning bush at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 2:20, ch. 3), and later, Jethro shows up to eat bread with Moses and the elders just before Yahweh speaks with Moses and Israel at Mt. Sinai (18:12). And whereas only a bush was on fire the first time, the second time the whole mountain is in flames (Ex. 19:18).

Seems to me that this is a preview of the New Covenant Meal. First comes the bread, then comes the fire-wine. First comes the Bread of Life, then comes the Fire of the Spirit.

Not Good to be Alone

2011-02-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

In the beginning, God saw that it was "not good" for man to be alone, and He created woman to be man's helper.

After the birth/re-creation of Israel out of Egypt, Jethro saw that it was "not good" for Moses to judge Israel all alone, and he counseled him to create a number of helpers.

Kingdom of Priests

2011-02-25T09:03:00.001-08:00

In Exodus 19:6, Yahweh says that He is making Israel a "kingdom of priests." In the context of Scripture to this point in the story, we only have three examples of "priests": Melchizedek priest of Salem, Potiphera priest of On in Egypt, and Jethro priest of Midian.

This creates a striking picture of "priests." So far priests are all gentiles, outsiders, God-fearers from a distance. And all three are instrumental in providing rest for the people of God. Melchizedek provides a feast of bread and wine and blesses Abraham after his battle with the five kings. Potiphera gives his daughter in marriage to Joseph, and the priests of Egypt are at least in the background of Joseph's care for his family and the rest of the nation of Egypt (cf. Gen. 46-47). Finally, Jethro (like Potiphera) gives his daughter in marriage to God's appointed deliverer, Moses (like Joseph), and it is Jethro who shows up after the battles with Pharaoh and Amalek to eat bread with Moses and the elders of Israel (like Melchizedek). And Jethro gives Moses counsel for organizing the people so that they might "go to their place in rest" (Ex. 18:23).

If we consider Joseph a sort of extension of the ministry of the priests of Egypt, all three are significant for the bread they share with the people of God, for the rest they give during hard times.

When Yahweh says that He is making Israel a kingdom of priests, He means that He is making Israel a nation of Jethros, a kingdom of Melchizedeks, a family of Josephs who have bread and sabbath for the world.

[Insert typological significance for Christ as priest according to order of Melchizedek.]

Sodom=Egypt=Jerusalem

2011-02-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

Revelation 11:8 aligns Sodom and Egypt "where also our Lord was crucified" which is of course Jerusalem.

Sodom is a type of Egypt which is a type of unbelieving Jerusalem.

In Sodom, God's people were vexed and mistreated, and the messengers of God were persecuted. And ultimately, Sodom was destroyed.

In Egypt, God's people were enslaved and mistreated, and the messengers of God were rejected. And ultimately, Egypt was destroyed.

In Jerusalem, God's people were oppressed and enslaved, and the messengers of God were rejected and killed. And ultimately, Jerusalem was destroyed.

The Church and War

2011-02-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

"If the church as a matter of habit tolerates the use of force and planning for warfare on the part of the state, then she will not even know when the exceptional time has come when it would be justified for her to say a Christian 'yes.'"

John Howard Yoder, summarizing Karl Barth's views, Karl Barth and the Problem of War, 39.

Atonement Theories

2011-02-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

"Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed to Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." (Heb. 2:14-17)

Seems like this is a key atonement passage. Here, we have shades of substitution, Christus Victor, and the exemplary theories of the atonement.

New Music

2011-02-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

So tell me...

If I were to download one new song today... what should it be?

What if I downloaded two?

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 17:8-16

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Amalek is another Pharaoh. When the nations around Egypt heard that Yahweh had thrown down Pharaoh, they trembled and were afraid (e.g. Ex. 15:14). But like Pharaoh who hardened his heart at the sight of Yahweh’s might, Amalek is undeterred. And like Pharaoh, he goes after the weakest members of the congregation when they are at their weakest at Rephidim (17:1, 8, Dt. 25:18).

The Text: Amalek was one of the descendents of Esau (Gen. 36:12), and down through the centuries the Amalekites are cruel and vicious enemies of Israel (e.g. Dt. 25:18, Jdg. 6:3, 1 Sam. 30:3, 2 Sam. 1:10-13, Est. 3:1, 9:24). The rod of Moses is once more highlighted: the same rod that was turned into a serpent, struck the Nile, parted the Red Sea, and has just struck the rock (17:5-6) is now lifted up for battle with the Amalekites (17:9-11). Several new characters are introduced into the story by name that we only know from later in the story: Hur and Joshua (17:10). While the congregation has repeatedly been called the “armies” of God before (Ex. 6:26, 7:4, 12:17, 41, 51), this is the first battle in the traditional sense of the word, except the narrative puts much of the focus on Moses on the hill with his hands and rod (17:11-12). After Amalek has been defeated, the Lord instructs Moses to write this story in the book as a memorial (17:14), and then Moses builds an altar which seems to be a sort of visual/active memorial, describing the whole scene as “Yahweh is My Banner” (17:15). The same word for “banner” is used to describe the ensign/pole that held the bronze serpent aloft for Israel’s healing (Num. 21:8-9). Recalling the staff in Moses’ hand as the one turned into a serpent, it is striking that this sign – Moses holding that staff aloft – is described as Yahweh is My Banner. Ultimately, Isaiah says that this is what will arise from the root of Jesse (Is. 11:10-12). And when the Lord restores Israel, she will become a banner, an ensign for the peoples (Is. 49:22, 62:10).

God Remembers; God Fights
The fact that this conflict with Amalek continues from “generation to generation” during the time of the judges (Jdg. 6-7), the reign of Saul (1 Sam. 15) and David (1 Sam. 30, 2 Sam. 1), and even down to Esther (Est. 3:1ff) is a reminder of the covenant promises of God. God keeps His covenant and defends His people (Ex. 17:15-16). Jesus is the captain of the armies of God, and He came not to bring peace but a sword (Mt. 10:34, Rev. 1:16, Rev. 19:15, cf. Lk. 22:36). Therefore, when Christ our God leads us into battle, we must not grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9, 2 Thess. 2:13). He does not lead us into battles we cannot win (1 Cor. 10:13, Js. 1:13).

Yahweh Our Banner
What is particularly striking about the battle scene described as “Yahweh is My Banner” is that the “Banner” is an old man whose arms grow weary. It is only after he is seated and his arms are supported by Hur and Aaron that the outcome of the battle is certain (17:12). This previews the next chapter where Moses appoints a number of men to assist him (Ex. 18). Just as Jethro will say that the load of judging is too heavy for Moses alone (18:18), so here, holding the serpent-rod aloft is too heavy for Moses alone. It is an altar of worship that stands as a memorial of this fact, just as our worship is a weekly reminder that we cannot stand alone either. It is only as we support one another that we become an ensign to the people, the Banner of God for the world, and every Pharaoh is defeated.

Sixth Sunday in Epiphany: Ex. 17:1-7: God With Us

2011-02-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

Introduction
The wilderness is a training program for Israel, teaching them to grow up into maturity as a son. This means lots of testing (15:25, 16:4, Dt. 8:2). Although Israel is born out of Egypt, it is ultimately not until Israel is born again as a new generation that they are ready to enter the land.

The Text: This is the third in a series of complaints from the Israelites since they have left Egypt behind (15:24, 16:2-3, 17:2-3). We have gone from bitter water to no food to no water. In addition to the Exodus itself, the generous grace of God has responded in both previous cases with overwhelming provision: sweet waters, an oasis, magic bread, and a steady supply of meat for dinner. This episode sticks in the memory of Yahweh and Israel and becomes something of a short hand for the Israelite sojourn in the wilderness (e.g. Ps. 81:7, 95:8, 106:32). Part of this significance is that they return to this place later, and the people respond the same way again, and this time even Moses falls into sin (Num. 20:1-13).

The Lord has been leading this expedition from the beginning (13:17-18), and continues to do so here (17:1). They haven’t accidentally stumbled into the wilderness. One of the running patterns is the Israelites’ complaining directed at Moses (15:24) or Moses and Aaron (16:2), and here they are “contending” with Moses and complaining against him (17:2-3). This contention can refer to a physical fight or struggle (21:18) or a lawsuit (23:3). It should be recognized that this complaining and strife is as much between the Israelites as it is between God and the Israelites. The people once again object to the whole Exodus project (17:3), and apparently the complaints were verging on physical harm to Moses (17:4). The instructions of God highlight the rod which struck the waters, again explicitly insisting that the same God is still performing the same Exodus (17:5). This miracle occurs at Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, also known as Sinai (17:6, cf. 3:1, Dt. 5:2). It is the place of God’s holiness where living water flows. The place is named for the contention and testing of Israel because their actions and words denied God’s presence with them (17:7).

God With Us
The gospel of God with us in Jesus is the good news of renewed community and loving provision. God’s forty year training program was meant to teach Israel that man does not live by bread alone (Dt. 8:3), and this is because God is with us.

The Lord Tests His Sons
We are not our own fathers. This means that we are neither smart enough nor qualified to design our own curriculum. We have one Teacher, one Father, one Lord. He chastens those He loves (Heb. 12:3-11).

You Must be Born Again
Israel was born again in the wilderness, and Jesus says that unless we are born again, we will not see the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3). This is not merely an instantaneous, internal change; this is a total reformation of body and soul, habits and beliefs which usually occurs in fits and starts over a lifetime. Or you might say that we have been born again to a life of being born again. And this is because our faith is in the Son who was born again from the dead.

Pharisees as Pharaohs

2011-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

When the Pharisees and the Jews ask for a sign from Jesus, they are acting like Pharaoh.

"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Show a miracle for yourselves,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.'" (Ex. 7:9)

1 Million Martyrs in the Last 10 Years

2011-02-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Over at First Things, George Weigel reports on the latest findings of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.

Some of the statistics are provocative, particularly those related to the number of martyrs:

"The provocation in the 2011 report involves martyrdom. For purposes of research, the report defines “martyrs” as “believers in Christ who have lost their lives, prematurely, in situations of witness, as a result of human hostility.” The report estimates that there were, on average, 270 new Christian martyrs every 24 hours over the past decade, such that “the number of martyrs [in the period 2000-2010] was approximately 1 million.” Compare this to an estimated 34,000 Christian martyrs in 1900."

This is stunning and seems unbelievable, and one wonders how well we (western Christians) really are mourning with those who mourn. Are we really bearing the burdens of our brothers and sisters suffering for the sake of the gospel? How can we stand with them?

Meanwhile, we continue to splinter: Weigel writes, "As for the quest for Christian unity: There were 1,600 Christian denominations in 1900; there were 18,800 in 1970; and there are 42,000 today."

But as God frequently does, for all the dividing there is growth. The report suggests an overall, worldwide growth in Christianity, but the growth of Christianity in Africa is the most astonishing:

"Africa has been the most stunning area of Christian growth over the past century. There were 8.7 million African Christians in 1900 (primarily in Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa); there are 475 million African Christians today and their numbers are projected to reach 670 million by 2025."

You can read the whole article here.

Holiness is a Community

2011-02-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 15:22-16:36

Introduction
Before all worlds, God was a community. God was a family. God was a society. God was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And while our God was completely satisfied in His own fellowship, in His own communion, in His own society, He created this world. And while this was completely unnecessary in one sense: He did not need this universe, He did not need creation. Nevertheless, it was not merely arbitrary either, it was not thoughtless or meaningless. God created because He wanted to, because of Who He is, because of how He is. In other words, God created because He is a community, because He is a family, a society.

Many societies fear change. Sometimes friends feel threatened when new friends join the fellowship. Communities seem fragile, and change is sometimes seems like the great enemy. We fear new things, new people, new obstacles, and we naturally tend to cling to what is familiar, what we’re used to, the old ways. When things get dangerous, uncertain, unpredictable, we long to go back, back home, back to familiar faces, back to the way things used to be, back to the good old days. It seems safer, more reasonable, less dangerous.

But the sheer fact of creation flies in the face of this sentiment. Or it at least questions whether safer, reasonable, and less dangerous is to be preferred. If the old ways really were better, then it would have been better for God not to create. But God sets the standard of what is preferable. His goals and mission and preferences are the best goals, mission, and preferences. And for all the perfection of His existence before creation, for all of its security and glory and perfection, He still chose to do something else, to do something new, to create the universe. But rather than see God’s perfection and security and freedom as at odds with His decision to create, we ought to see God’s perfection and security and glory and freedom as the reason why He created. And the categories of safety and security really are helpful ways to think about this: God was so eternally satisfied and glorified, so secure, so safe, so at peace with His own being, His community, His fellowship, that creation could only be more glory, more delight, more perfection. In other words, it was God’s community, His fellowship, the unity of the persons of the Trinity which, at least in part, drove His desire to create, to do something new. It is the community of God’s being that aims and drives for a future.

Creation itself bears some of this pattern out: The days of creation witness a God who creates new things day after day and relentlessly breaks His creations apart, rearranges, and reunites. We noted last week, that God created a world that seems dangerous and wild, but while man is in fellowship with the Creator God, man is safe and secure and may enter the Sabbath rest of God on the seventh day. God’s declaring the seventh day holy and resting from His work is an embodiment of God’s declaration that all of creation is very good. For God to rest and enjoy His work is for God to delight in all the newness, all the change, all the future that God has brought into being. For God to invite Adam and Eve into that rest is for Him to share that delight, that safety, that security, that holiness with them. For however long that perfection lasted, that fellowship of God and man and creation was a sanctuary, a safe and holy place. In that holiness, in that sanctuary, that community, Adam and Eve were like children in a nursery. All their food was provided, they were safe and secure.

The Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea are something like the birth of the nation of Israel. Israel is an infant in the wilderness, and like all babies, Israel cries because he is hungry and thirsty. And as God frequently does, He provides nourishment for infants magically.

The Text: We are looking at two episodes shortly after the crossing of the Red Sea. First, Israel comes to the bitter waters of Marah and the subsequent provision of an oasis in Elim (15:22-27), and second, Israel comes to the barren Wilderness of Sin and the subsequent provision of Manna (16:1-21). Finally, God continues to teach Israel about what it means to be a holy Sabbath people (16:22-36). A number of elements in these stories point back to the Exodus explicitly and implicitly. The explicit references refer to Yahweh’s deliverance from Egypt and the wonders He did in Egypt (15:26, 16:12, 16:32). The miracle at the water reminds us of the first and last ‘wonders’ performed by Moses in Egypt, and the “tree” reminds us of Moses’ rod (15:23-27). The time stamp reminds us that this is exactly one month since the Passover (16:1, cf. 12:1-6), and the instructions for collecting the Manna remind us of some of the instructions for the Passover: every man is to gather according to each one’s need, according to the number of persons (16:16, cf. 12:4) and they are not to leave any leftovers for morning (16:19, cf. 12:10). The complaining of Israel explicitly references life in Egypt (16:3), and Yahweh’s provision is therefore a direct answer to that complaint: they had “meat” and “bread” in Egypt and now Yahweh provides “meat” and “bread” in the wilderness (16:12). Like little kids, at least some of the Israelites do the very things that Yahweh says not to do, saving some of the food for the next morning (16:20), going out to gather manna on the Sabbath (16:27). These commands, these laws (16:4, 28) require Israel to live in freedom. Slaves must horde and worry about whether there will be another meal, but Israel must learn to live like kings. This means gathering only what they need each day, this means trusting God to provide for all their needs, and this means spending a full day resting in His provision every week. Holy people have access to the holy God, and this means living in safety, security, and peace. But perhaps the Passover/Exodus allusions imply that this holiness means learning to be open to God’s future (Dt. 8:1-5).

Ruling Well & Gratitude: The cancer of sin is a bestial tendency, leaving only a remnant of humanity at the mercy of instincts and passions. But freedom means reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:8-14). Complaining is one such sin and a lack of faith. Complaining is always sin against the grace of God, and complaining is ingratitude. And ingratitude is blind and believes lies (16:3).

Living Sabbath: This means living like children. We need to ditch childish fear and embrace childish faith in the Father (Mt. 6:25-34). Historically, the Christian Church has delighted in the Lord’s Day as a weekly Sabbath day, a day to rest and celebrate the Lord’s provision for His people, but if our entire lives are not marked by that kind of faith and joy and carelessness, we’re just pretending. Holiness is a community (Ex. 16:16). This holiness includes a code of conduct, but more fundamentally, it is loyalty to a people, a family, a society: Jesus is God with us. It is in the safety and security of that community that we are freed to pursue the future, open to whatever God does next, but also fearless and bold to pray for and enact the future. This means that our membership vows and baptisms mean far more than we like each other and ‘everybody loves Jesus.’ Our loyalty to Christ and to one another has implications for education, employment, health insurance, food, housing, everything. This cannot become a separatist colony since if this truly is the community of the Trinity, then it is ever open to the future and ever open to the world.

Parents and Elders

2011-02-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

"... since what we teach in catechism is the Scriptures and the confessions, that should properly be considered the official teaching ministry of the church of Jesus Christ. Parents entrusted with the spiritual education of their children fulfill their responsibility under the care and guidance of the church's elders.

. . .

'Two parties,' said Matthew Henry, 'parents in their families and... ministers in more public assembles, are necessary, and do mutually assist each other, and neither will excuse the want of the other.'

We have to take care that the elders do not usurp the role of parents. In God's covenantal structuring of the church he has never set elders or catechism teachers between parents and children or in place of parents. Elders, therefore, may not shove parents aside, nor may parents vacate their position in favor of elders. Instead, by administering a good catechism program, the elders fulfill their role by insisting and ensuring that the parents of the church obey God's command to instruct their children in his ways (Dt. 6:6-9, Eph. 6:4)."

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscoving Catechism, 91, 101.

Justification as Openness to God's Future

2011-02-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

More from Jenson still on the theme of God's future:

"... it is in the situation attributed to the patriarchs that faith, 'the assurance of things hoped for ... and not seen,' emerges the decisive relation to God. Genesis' story of Abraham is the story of a man living by promises. He is called to go he knows not where, to become an unspecified blessing to unidentified future nations. In response to this dubious prospect, 'he believed the Lord,' and the Lord certified such drastic future-openness as 'righteousness,' that is, as the right relationship to himself and the human community. At the climax of Abraham's story, the Lord proposes to take from him even the historical possibility of the promise's fulfillment, so that he may live by faith and nothing else."

-Robert Jenson, Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 68.

The Dangerous God of the Future

2011-02-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

"The biblical God is not eternally himself in that he persistently instantiates a beginning in which he already is all that he ever will be; he is eternally himself in that he unrestrictedly anticipates an end in which he will be all he ever could be.

. . .

Thus the revelatory content of the Exodus was not mere escape from the Egyptian past but the future that the escape opened: 'You have seen ... how I ... brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be ...' And this was a true, that is, risky, future: in Israel's memory, Exodus was inseparable from forty years' wandering in the desert, in which the Lord figures as the dangerous leader of a journey whose final end was geographically chancy and temporally unknown, and whose possibility depended every morning on the Lord's new mercy.

. . .

Gods who identity lies in the persistence of a beginning are cultivated because in them we are secure against the threatening future. The gods of the nations are guarantors of continuity and return, against the daily threat to fragile established order; indeed, they are Continuity and Return. The Lord's meaning for Israel is the opposite: the archetypically established order of Egypt was the very damnation from which the Lord released her into being, and what she thereby entered was the insecurity of the desert. Her God is not salvific because he defends against the future but because he poses it."

-Robert Jenson, Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 66-67.

First the victory, then comes the Fight

2011-02-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

In Revelation 15, John hears and sees the new Israel standing on the sea of glass with harps singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty!” Notice that the new Israel is standing on the sea of glass. In the Old Covenant, God parted the sea so that Israel might walk on dry land, but in the New Covenant, our Greater Moses, the Lord Jesus walked on the sea as though it was dry land. And in Christ, the new Israel learns to walk on the sea as though it were covered in a sheet of glass. This new Israel is walking across the sea, over the tops of sea monsters, and the wind and waves cannot harm them. No storm can shake them because their eyes are fixed on Jesus.

But the story seems a little backwards in Revelation: this new Israel stands on the sea and sings the song of Moses and the Lamb, and after that, John sees seven angels going out with seven bowls full of seven plagues to pour out the wrath of God upon the earth. In other words, in this new exodus story in Revelation, the song of Moses comes first and then the plagues. First is the victory and then comes the fight.

But this is exactly right because the greatest and most marvelous work has already been done. There is nothing greater, no creative act more marvelous than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the cross of Jesus, every pharaoh was disarmed and all their chariots were thrown into the sea. In the cross of Christ, sinners were forgiven. In the cross of Christ, Jesus was exalted and proven to be the rightful king and heir of the world. In the cross of Christ, all the rival gods were triumphed over. In the cross of Jesus, a new and living way was opened for the world, a way back into the presence of God, a way to restore peace and justice, a way to put this world back together. In the cross of Jesus, God was revealed as a warrior, a man of war. And therefore, on this side of Easter, we celebrate the victory first and then comes the fight. We stand on the sea and sing our song of victory and then comes the battle.

And this has at least two implications for our celebration of baptism. First, this is one way to explain why we baptize babies. The objection that is frequently offered, that they are too young, that we do not know if they believe, that they may not be among the elect, -- these are all objections that would have made better sense in the Old Covenant in some ways, back when the victory was still shadowy and faint and ahead of us. But now the victory has been won. First is the victory then comes the fight. So first we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus for our children and mark them with His name and in His blood, and then we teach them to join the battle.

Finally, if Paul can point back to the crossing of the Red Sea as a baptism of the old Israel, as He does in 1 Corinthians 10, then it doesn’t seem odd to imagine this new Israel in Revelation standing on the sea as another picture of baptism. In the first instance, Yahweh displayed His rule over creation, bending the sea in two for His beloved saints to pass through, but in the new Covenant He invites us to share in that rule, in that dominion over creation. And so while we sprinkle a few drops of water on the forehead of a baby, we ought to see the power of God protecting and equipping another daughter of Eve to rule this world in wisdom. All the strength of Pharaoh, all the terrors of sin, all the might of Satan – it has all been disarmed and thrown down and rendered powerless and harmless. All the ragings of the sea are but a few drops of water on a baby’s forehead because Yahweh is a man of war. And Jesus is His name.

CJ and Lisa, teach your daughter these things. Teach her that the victory comes first and then comes the battle. Teach her that she was united to that victory in her baptism, and teach her to rule over the lusts and passions that war in her flesh and to subdue all of her fears and worries. Remind her that she is called to walk on top of the sea with her eyes fixed on Jesus.

The Five Best Toys of All Time

2011-02-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

Over at wired.com, Jonathan Liu has a list of the five best toys of all time.

Parenting isn't a Spectator Sport

2011-02-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

"It is true that we cannot make believers of our children and it's good to be reminded that we are but men and that the blessing of God and the power of the Holy Spirit alone change hearts and lives. That should keep us humble and prayerful. However, if we know the apostle Paul, we will be convinced that he spared no amount of laboring and striving, preaching and teaching, pleading and argument if by any means he might save some.

An analogy from farming will clarify the point. When we walk in the field we confess that the Spirit alone gives life to our corn crop. But the Holy Spirit has been pleased to bind himself to means. We do not get 180 bushels of corn to the acre by pulling out a lawn chair. Instead we pray and plow, disc, fertilize, plant, irrigate, spray, and cultivate. Ora et labora, pray and work."

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 72.

Precocious Tribes of Pharisees

2011-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

"In all of Bible teaching we must remember that we are catechizing in the Word, in the Truth. This must always be very personal, for we are not aiming to produce a tribe of precocious Pharisees who can list biblical facts and lay out the five points of Calvinism but never know their Savior. Rather, in the Word and Truth they meet and come to know the persons of their God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 57.

Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 5: The Nether Regions of Francis Turretin

2011-02-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

Driscoll recounts at various points certain lessons he learned for preaching that I found helpful.

He says that early on in the history of Mars Hill he gave theology lectures as sermons. While he was very interested in theology, he came to realize that his sermons needed to touch down on the ground right were the people were living. He realized that his sermons needed to speak into the world of sin and darkness of the people in Seattle. Around this time, he also started preaching through books of the Bible. He found this to be a helpful way to get off his theological hobby horses, explain what a text meant in general and then apply it specifically to his people.

Driscoll also says that somewhere along the line he stopped caring how long his sermons were. He would sometimes preach for over an hour, and he still does and does so unapologetically since for many people this is the only Bible they get in a given week. People routinely have the time and patience for an hour or longer in other venues. People who complain about long sermons are either complaining because the preacher is bad or because they don't think the Word of God is as important as football or movies or concerts or stand up comedians.

And speaking of comedians, Driscoll noticed that there are very few men in the world today who can hold the attention of large audiences apart from certain musical artists and comedians. So, even while Driscoll quit worrying about how long he was going, he also started taking homiletics courses from the likes of Chris Rock. And along the way, he started preaching straight through books of the Bible.

A couple of things that really resonated with what Driscoll relates here: First, I think it's a pretty sorry state for the church to be in when people complain if the pastor preaches for much longer than a half an hour. If God invites us to His house for dinner once a week and has a word for us, I daresay we ought to listen even if its running over into lunch time.

But there are several angles to this discussion:

First, there are some in the Reformed tradition who believe that Christians are large brains with arms and legs attached for some reason. Sanctification is largely the uploading of theological data on Sunday mornings in a lengthy theological discourse that might as well be delivered as a series of ones and zeros. The worship service in these churches is a hymn sandwhich with a big, whopping piece of theological minutiea in the middle. Favorite forms of this sermonic bloat are readings from the nether regions of Francis Turretin (Lord bless him) and diagrams of the glories of supralapsarianism. These services are marked with furrowed brows, solemn tones, morbid introspection, and an occasional Holy Ghost grunt between the "we affirm the latters..." and "we deny the formers..."

Obviously if preachers are begging for twenty more minutes of slogging through five syllable words while beating the drums of damnation and hellfire, then I'd much rather the twenty minute version. Make it five minutes for that matter and be done with it.

But related to all of this is the fact that the sermon is not the only way that God ministers His grace to His people. Hymns and Psalms, Scripture readings, prayers, creeds, fellowship, and the sacraments are also significant parts of worship that God promises to bless and fill with His presence and Spirit. People were made with bodies and passions and minds and senses, and God intends to remake this fallen and broken humanity in its entirety. This means that singing and hearing music is part of the ministry of the Spirit. Eating bread and drinking wine in faith is part of the ministry of the Spirit. Hearing the Scriptures read is God's Word to His people as empowered by the Spirit.

Sermons don't need to be long as though that's the only way God speaks to His people. That's sort of like a husband insisting that his wife kiss him for twenty minutes every time. That may make for a great marriage or it might make for lots of babies, but it's not necessary because that's not the only way a husband and wife express love for one another. Talking, meals together, taking walks while holding hands, gifts, poems, and countless words and expressions display loyalty, love, and care. And God does the same thing with His people.

At the same time, a husband and wife that still like long, passionate kissing are probably still in love after all those dirty diapers and frenzied moments of childer-chaos. It's probably a sign of a healthy marriage. And my point is that a congregation that is hungry for God's Word, hungry for the Word read and explained and applied, hungry to grow in Christ, and doesn't mind the preacher going on for another fifteen or twenty minutes is probably a healthy congregation.

But secondly, there are some who are concerned that church services just not go too long. An hour long service is long enough, and an hour and a half, is extreme. And two hours is just downright unreasonable.

But I just don't get this. We'll go to the movies and watch a freaking long piece of garbage and pay twenty bucks for them to let us in. And we call that having a good time. Or we'll go to a concert and pay fifty or eighty or a hundred bucks to get into a stadium filled with screaming teenage girls for two hours. Or we'll watch a game on television for several hours and call that relaxing and fun, but if the people of God are invited to get together, to sing, to fellowship, to hear God's word to them, everybody's all of sudden watching their clocks? Do you really have something better to do? Do you really have something more important than God? Then maybe you should just leave. Maybe you shouldn't bother with the whole church thing.

Again, I appeal to the marriage analogy: what healthy marriage has a husband or wife a few minutes into making love glancing at the clock and hoping it will all be over in a few minutes? Love isn't like that. But worship is a love song between Jesus and His bride. There ought to be other occasions like Sunday School and Bible studies for in depth study of the Word, but the Word preached comes at the people of God in a unique and powerful way. And the people of God should be hungry for that kind of food. And pastors should work hard to prepare a filling feast. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He feeds His sheep in many other ways, but in so far as preachers are called to preach, they shouldn't shy away from the task.

Of course some worry about the kids. Adults can sit through a two hour service, but what about the kids? And some answer this objection by carting the little people off to special rooms where they can worship God in their own little way. But somehow that just seems wrong. When I eat dinner with my family at home, I don't send the two year old to her bedroom to eat her dinner so my wife and I can have some peace and quiet. And somehow I suspect that Jesus wouldn't do that either. In fact he probably hates the fact that so many churches do that to the little children of the kingdom.

But does that mean that sermons just need to be short and sweet and keep the services moving along so we can get in and out like a television sitcom? And what about the crying babies?

I would suggest at least three things here: First, if the pastors and elders are committed to having children in worship then that means that they must speak to them during the course of the service and invite their full participation in the service. This means that they should learn to shout their "Amens" and sing their parts of the liturgy. We should look for ways to include them in the choirs and helping in various capacities that are suited to their abilities. They should know that they have a full place at the table of Jesus, and they are quite welcome to partake of His meal. And parents need reminding and teaching on this. Secondly, It also means that we should be full of grace for their immaturity. If they fall asleep, that's OK. If they need snacks, that's OK. If they need to draw pictures, that's just grand. We obviously want to be teaching them to follow along as much as they are able, but we also remember their frames. We also bear with their squirms and giggles and squawks. And parents need to be reminded that their children do not have to leave all their childishness at the door when they come to meet with Jesus. Jesus doesn't despise them for being little. Jesus loves them, and He is glad they are there with us. And when the kids need instructing and discipline in the middle of the service, we should carry it out gladly and cheerfully, not with an embarrassed fury at the four year old for pulling his sister's hair. Of course they need teaching and correcting: they're kids. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, and it's certainly not a good reason to try to make church as short as possible. Lastly, pastors should work at preaching well. This means being conversational, straight forwardly explaining the Bible, and without being showy or sentimental, telling stories and jokes that make the points the text makes. The best preaching is always able to explain what a particular text means within the immediate context, show the congregation how it fits within the broader redemptive-historical context -- pointing to Jesus, and finally what it means for people who live in 2011 in America (or wherever).

Of course there's no magic or holy minimum or maximum with regard to time, and I'm not saying pastors should lay burdens on their people that are too heavy to bear. I'll I'm saying is that we should be growing hungry congregations, saints who are hungry for the word of God and pastors should be eager to serve up a gospel feast from the Word.

You can find the previous posts in this series here, here, here, and here.

Bible First

2011-02-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

"We teach first the Bible and then the confessions, the Bible because it is God speaking to his people, and the confessions because they are the church speaking to God, answering his Word."

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 56.

Sound Down

2011-01-31T13:35:00.000-08:00

"The word 'catechism' derives from the Greek word katecheo which is found in several places in Scripture. The most familiar is Luke 1:4, where Luke explains why he wrote his Gospel: 'that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed [catechichized].' Like many Greek words katecheo is put together from two words, in this case kata, meaning 'down toward,' and echeo, meaning 'to sound.' Katecheo is 'sound down.'"

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 12-13.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 15:1-21 The Song at the Sea

2011-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

Introduction
In the beginning God created a sanctuary; He created the universe and blessed it. And on the seventh day, He rested from His work named it holy. His work was completed, His work was to be enjoyed, and His work was to be shared.

The Text:
We can divide the song into three parts: First, celebrating the immediate deliverance (15:1-10), second, celebrating Yahweh’s superiority and the people’s identification with Him (15:11-13), and finally, the broader impact of this victory in the world (15:14-18). This song should be seen as the continuation of the Exodus. Yahweh has come to make Himself known, and in doing so, make Himself present in and with His people for the world. Holiness is completion and communion, and God comes to bring His holiness to Israel (Ex. 3:5, 12:16, 13:2, cf. Lev. 20:7-8). This is referenced later as the reason why Israel must be holy: Yahweh brought them out of Egypt (e.g. Lev. 11:44-45). The Exodus is a display of Yahweh’s holiness. His holiness is His free determination to bring creation to fulfillment and to share its glory. This is why Israel rejoices in Yahweh’s glorious “holiness” in the Exodus, having done “wonders” – great and marvelous works (15:11, cf. 3:20, Gen. 18:14). This song stands as part of that display and accomplishment of Yahweh’s holiness, and this fits with the creation sequence in the text (Ex. 14:19-14:31). This song is the “Sabbath” of a new creation, the remaking of Israel as a new Adam to be enthroned with God in his “holy habitation” (15:13). Miriam and the other women are a new Eve, like Deborah, Hannah, and Mary, and types of the bride of Christ. But even this mini-Sabbath looks forward to a firm dwelling, a “holy place” which is established forever (15:17-18). The entire song celebrates Yahweh’s military victory over His enemies: He is a man of war (15:3), and His right hand has done mighty things (15:6). But His Wind-Spirit, the battle-storm of His presence wields violence with a surgeon’s creative wisdom. Yahweh’s mighty arm will continue this conquest by making the surrounding nations silent like a “stone” like the Egyptians (15:16, 15:5). But one of the central ways that God’s arm will continue this battle is through this song. The song extends the Exodus by repeating the story, repeating the gospel of Yahweh’s victory so that their enemies will hear and be afraid (e.g. Josh. 2:9-14).

Dead People Don’t Sing
The Song at the Sea is a striking reminder that praise and worship and song is what always bursts out of people who have been rescued and remade. When a body is resuscitated, it suddenly starts breathing, and when people are brought back to life, they suddenly start singing. It is far too easy to make fun of the enthusiasm of some of our charismatic brothers, but frequently this is merely a cover for our own lack of faith (14:31). Has God saved you? Has God triumphed over your enemies? Then how can you not sing? This is why our worship is so full of song, this is why our choir plays an important role in leading us in song, and this is why our homes should be full of singing and music and praise. When people know that the Lord is a man of war, nothing can keep them from singing. This means singing loud, this means singing with joy, and this means that choir directors should never have to go recruiting. Love always bursts out in song and dance and praise, and it begins here and spills out into the world. This is the Song of the Lamb, our war song, and with it we bring the justice of God to the world (Rev. 15).

Top 20 Christian College Professors

2011-01-31T08:53:00.000-08:00

College Crunch ranks the top 20 Christian college professors. Not sure what all the criteria were for this. But still interesting to see who is considered particularly influential and important in the academic world.

Ben Carson, Robert P. George, Alister McGrath, Al Mohler, Alvin Plantinga, Marilynne Robinson, and N.T. Wright make the list.

You can find the entire post here.

Legalists & Antinomians

2011-01-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

Douglas Wilson adds this bit to a recent flurry of blog posts and articles:

"For many among the contemporary Reformed, a legalist is someone who loves Jesus more than they do, and an antinomian is one who appears to enjoy loving Jesus like that. And if this ever happens on a large scale, it will be a great revival and reformation, recognized as such by the museum curators of the future."

There a couple of layers of cheerful irony there as you can see for yourself if you read the rest of the post here.

The Grace of the Law

2011-01-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

"By reclaiming Luther's grand discovery of justification by faith, Christians again embrace the law with David, Paul, and James. The law leads to Christ, plainly outlines the extent of Christ's payment, defines his righteousness, protects believers from sinning against God's love, and enables them to give concrete expression to their love for God by deeds of obedience."

Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 6.

The Good Old Days are Now

2011-01-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

"... if we must go through what seems the worst of times, we are held in the best of all hands, inseparable from the best of all loves (Rom. 8:38-39)"

Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 2.

Time, Space, and Holiness

2011-01-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

All the days of creation are concerned with the creation of matter in various states: light, land, plants, animals, etc. And the days "stack" up on top of each other. The first day is the creation of light and darkness: Day and Night. And that is necessarily the beginning of the "evening and morning" cycle. But every day after the first day stacks up on top of the first day, experiencing an "evening and morning." The rest of creation does the same. While it is not explicitly mentioned in every detail, later days assume the presence of the former days.

Waters are gathered together in one place on day 3 from the ones that were separated to form the firmament on day 2. Stars and lights are set in the firmament on day 4, and birds fly across the face of the firmament on day 5. The earth that God formed on day 3 is used for the forming of the animals and man on day 6 and so on. The days stack up.

This has implications for our understanding of time. The past penetrates into the present and the future. Time stacks up.

But what the first six days indicate is that time is a kind of space. There is "room" in a day for a certain amount of work, a certain amount of *stuff*, but God builds, plants, forms, separates, and names within the "space" of a creation day.

But then God does something radically different on the seventh day. On the seventh day God stops working, He stops creating, and He sanctifies, makes holy the seventh day because He rested from all of His work which He had created.

In one space of time, God planted a garden. In another space of time, God formed the oceans. In another space of time, God painted the birds and invented fish.

But when God stops working, the "space" is filled not with "nothing" since the nothingness has been displaced by creation. Rather, the "space" of the seventh day continues to be filled by "all His work which God had created and made."

To sanctify that, to bless the seventh day is to pronounce a benediction on the whole week, all of the work, all of creation. In other words, for God to call the seventh day "holy" is for God to name the creation a holy place. The seventh day is a sanctuary, a space in time which extends in all directions spatially, claiming all of creation as holy space.

But this naming also extends backwards in time. In God's blessing of the seventh day, the previous days are blessed and pronounced holy. This is true by virtue of those artifacts which persist in time -- all the *stuff* that God made is still there when He blesses everything on the seventh day. But there also seems to be a sense in which sanctification, calling something/someone "holy" penetrates into the past. Events stack up on top of one another, but they are and remain permeable to holiness.

In the beginning, God created a sanctuary, a holy place: the universe.

Dealing with Porn and Lust Part 4

2011-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

Once while Jesus was up on the mountain with three of his disciples, being transfigured, the other disciples were down below having a hell of a time trying to deal with a stubborn demon.

When Jesus comes back down the mountain, the desparate father of the afflicted boy asks Jesus if He can help.

There are two things that are striking about this story. First, Jesus says that the root problem is unbelief and essentially rebukes everyone: the father, the disciples, etc. He calls them a "faithless generation." And this is pretty clearly an allusion to the generation that came out of Egypt, the faithless generation that died in the desert for their lack of faith.

But the parallels go further. Jesus was up on the mountain in glory, just like Moses was up on Sinai seeing the glory of God and receiving the law. Meanwhile, down below the faithless generation was doing its thing. In Exodus, Israel (God's son, Ex. 4:22), was making a golden calf and having a middle eastern orgy rave, complete with all the latest musical acts straight out of Egypt. In the gospels, the disciples are at the bottom of the mountain fighting a demon in another son and losing. While the externals are somewhat different, in both cases God's people are losing to sin and the flesh. And in both cases, sin and demons are trying to kill a son. And while we might think Jesus was being a little harsh -- it was a demon afterall -- Jesus still locates the source of the problem in a lack of faith.

Secondly, later, when the disciples ask Jesus privately why they could not cast out the demon, Jesus frankly tells them that this was a tough demon, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting" (Mk. 9:29).

Now, we can clarify several details quickly before turning to the struggle with porn and lust. First, not every sin is necessarily caused or inflicted by a particular demon. Sin is a force, a gravitational pull, a cancer that resides in our own human flesh in Adam, and therefore something that the Bible holds individual people responsible for. At the same time, sin is also frequently pictured as part of Satan's prowling and devouring. And when sin afflicts people, they are both victims and victimizers. They afflict themselves and they are afflicted. There are inner and outer forces at work. And we are called to struggle against them all.

Second, we should remember that Jesus specifically commissioned the twelve to go around casting out demons (Mk. 3:15). This is not necessarily a gift or power or ministry that God has given to every believer. Every believer has the Holy Spirit and is therefore safe and protected from the attacks of sin and the evil one -- no temptation has overtaken us which we are not able to resist. God does not send His faithful children into battles that they cannot win. But the fact that the disciples who were commissioned to cast out demons could not cast out this demon draws the parallel closer to common believers and their struggles. While Jesus and a chosen few are up in glory, we struggle here at the bottom of the mountain with sin, the flesh, and the devil. And Jesus' says that these kind only come out with much prayer and fasting.

There is of course a mechanistic, superstitious way of hearing Jesus. And some nut jobs will start saying certain prayers and crossing themselves and rubbing a lucky icon while trying to free themselves of the demons of sin. Others will read books and blog articles and try support groups and accountability partners with just as much superstition as the others.

But this is the point: Frequently, these sins of porn and lust seem like they cannot be beaten, they cannot be overcome. These are frequently sins that create habits and addictions that latch on to souls with vehemence. And it is easy to grow weary in the struggle against sin, particularly when it does not appear that we are winning. But if Jesus were to appear before a crowd of people struggling with sexual sin, He would probably call them to faith: "O faithless generation..." Jesus calls us to faith. He calls us to confess our unbelief, and to come to Him, to trust Him, to believe Him. And this means throwing ourselves into the battle. This doesn't mean putting yourself in foolish situations. If you've cancelled your internet, I'm not suggesting you turn it back on. The point here is to resist all temptation with all of your might, trusting that God is able and willing to deliver you.

And so the question becomes: Do you really want to be delivered? Do you really hate that sin? Do you really want to be free? Then pray. Pray like your life depends upon it. Pray like you are desperate. Cry out to God. Beg Him, plead with Him, call upon Him.

Sometimes people do everything except pray. But this is like making all your health care decisions based on what you read on the internet. You need to go to the doctor. You need to talk to the One who can make you well.

Others say they have prayed, but what they mean is that they have offered up two sentence requests having already decided to sin or having already decided that it won't work. And of course it won't. Because you don't really want it. You don't really believe.

But if you are in a battle in which if the air support does not come soon you will be dead, you will get on that radio and yell, beg, and plead for cover. You will not take no for an answer. You will not stop crying out until you have been answered. And this may sound charismatic, this may sound mystical, but every Christian needs to learn to pray until they have been heard. This doesn't require a supernatural sign; this doesn't necessitate a highly charged emotional outpouring -- though it may include those elements. But there is praying and then there is praying. And every believer knows their Savior, and every believer knows when they are in His presence.

Fasting is something that many Christians have neglected, but Jesus says that it should be part of our prayers for deliverance and freedom. It is a weapon in our arsenal, and it should be taken up in the fight against sin.

No matter how deep your sin, no matter how addicted you think you are, no matter how enslaved you feel, begin by believing that Jesus can deliver you, and then pray for deliverance. Fast and pray. Fast and pray like you'll die if you're not heard. Because it's true.

Some of these demons can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

You can find the previous posts in this series here, here, and here.

More on Bonhoeffer

2011-01-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

Jordan Ballor adds to the Bonhoeffer discussion over on the Touchstone blog this morning.

He writes:

"In response, I'll point out that part of the academic critique is simply what academics are wont to do when looking at a popular book. There isn't enough nuance here, this detail is wrong there, and so on. As I've said elsewhere, Metaxas' biography is not a substitute for a scholarly biography like Eberhard Bethge's. Still, it does show some surprising sensitivity for a popular biography. Metaxas rightly notes that Bonhoeffer was seeking to articulate a Protestant form of natural law in his Ethics, an aspect of Bonhoeffer's work that has largely escaped the notice of academics. Perhaps you don't get a modern political left/right dichotomy in scholarship all that often, but in Bonhoeffer's case you do get a Barthian/liberal theology divide."

You can read the rest here.

Counterfeit Bonhoeffer?

2011-01-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Some interesting stuff on recent scholarship on Bonhoeffer from Tim Challies.

He writes: "I’ve made no secret of the fact that I enjoyed reading Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Actually, it’s one of my all-time favorite biographies; it’s readable, engaging and it deals with a fascinating part of history. But lately I’ve come across a few articles by experts in Bonhoeffer who say that it’s just plain wrong—it’s a portrayal of the man that is geared toward evangelicals and, in seeking to make the reader happy, it succumbs to all sorts of errors.

Richard Weikart of California State University says that Metaxas “serves up a Bonhoeffer suited to the evangelical taste” and notes with disbelief that in “an interview with Christianity Today Metaxas even made the astonishing statement that Bonhoeffer was as orthodox theologically as the apostle Paul.”

As orthodox as Paul? Metaxas does not seem to know that in his Christology lectures in 1933 Bonhoeffer claimed, “The biblical witness is uncertain with regard to the virgin birth.” Bonhoeffer also rejected the notion of the verbal inspiration of scripture, and in a footnote to Cost of Discipleship he warned against viewing statements about Christ’s resurrection as ontological statements (i.e., statements about something that happened in real space and time). Bonhoeffer also rejected the entire enterprise of apologetics, which he thought was misguided.

You can read the rest of the post here.

Proverbs 30:15-17

2011-01-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

Introduction
We continue the proverbs of Agur who enjoys organizing his points around short, repetitive numerical outlines. In the immediately preceding context, he has prayed for neither riches or poverty (30:7-9) and then proceeded to explore cultures and societies of pride and greed (30:11-15).

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say, ‘enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water – the fire never says, ‘enough!’” (30:15b-16)

This verse on the surface seems to shift topics slightly while continuing the theme of greed. But while the previous section was focused on human greed, this verse turns to “naturally occurring” greed. The hinge for that transition is the leech who has two daughters (30:15). That image combines human/natural imagery intentionally and nicely summarizes the previous section while giving an easy introduction to the four things that never have enough.

The four things that never have enough are grouped into two pairs:
The grave
The barren womb

The earth
The fire

The first two are more directly part of human life, and the second two are more general to the created order. In the first two, we note that the grave is constantly hungry to take life, and the barren womb is constantly hungry to create life. Dry ground always needs more water to sustain life, and fire is always looking for more ground to devour. Waltke points out that the four are listed in a rather chiastic order with the first and fourth in the list concerned with taking or destroying life while the second and fourth on the list are concerned with giving and creating life.
The four also answer to the initial thesis which points to those things which are never satisfied, which never say ‘enough.’ The list grows to develop this: Sheol, restrained womb, earth not satisfied, fire doesn’t say ‘enough’. And in this sense, they are all in agreement that they stand as constant reminders of the gravity of death and destruction.

“The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it.” (30:17)

This recaps a previous theme, and suggests that Agur has not left his initial subject. Here we return to the primal sin of dishonoring parents (30:11), as well as locating that sin in the “eyes” (30:12-13), and devouring things (30:14).
We noted previously that people who dishonor their parents reject their provision. They are already unsatisfied with the womb that bore them, and they are not thankful for their instruction. This unthankfulness is always the beginning of idolatry, because parents are the first gifts of God and because parents are ordinarily the first presentation of God’s grace. To reject parents is to reject God and to insist upon finding another god. This is a futile mission because all other gods are tyrants and blood suckers, and this blind arrogance always oppresses the weak, sucking life from society and creation like a parasite.

But the implication of this whole section seems to be that these four “naturally occurring” insatiables are pictures of proud and greedy people. Pride and greed and idolatry create a world of pain and death and are never satisfied. People who dishonor their parents and have evil eyes devour the lives of the poor and the needy: these people have embrace a hell and a curse and therefore they only deal out hell and cursing.

But this also has to do with a big picture view of the world. Is the world governed by a loving Father who provides for all the needs of His people or is the world some sort of chaotic, survival of the fittest competition? If there is no loving, providential God, then the latter conclusion is the only logical option. If the world isn’t God’s gift, then it must grabbed and raped.

In so far as people become these life sucking forces in the world they are surrendered to that sort of culture, that sort of life. When people become living graves, they will have become friends with vultures and worms. It’s no accident that these are carrion birds; they gather wherever there are corpses. The implication of course is that children who mock their parents end up dead. People who devour the poor end up being devoured themselves.

Here the created order is teaming up with God’s justice. Ravens fed Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kgs. 17:4-6). A dove and a raven served Noah following the flood, and Jesus says that God provides for the ravens (Lk. 12:24). But this points to how we view God and the world that He created. The created order groans under the weight of our sin and curse, but it is fundamentally on God’s side. It serves Him and His purposes, and this means that even Hades and barren wombs and deserts and fire are under His perfect control and can and will be used for His good purposes.

Consider Sheol which gave back our Lord Jesus from the grave, the barren womb which has become fruitful in the virgin birth, the deserts that have become fruitful gardens, and the fire that has been tamed by the Spirit.

In Christ, all of these things have said, 'it is enough.'

Anathema in Romans

2011-01-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago I was musing on the word "anathema" in the Septuagint here and here.

In the second post in particular, I was considering the possible connections between the story of Achan/Jericho and Paul's situation dealing with the Judiazers in Galatians.

As I've been working on Romans 8-9 a bit recently, it occurs to me that the context is very similar to Galatians 1 where Paul uses the word "anathema" to describe preachers of the false Judaizing gospel. Only the direction of the anathema is reversed. Instead of pointing the curse at the Judaizing false preachers as in Galatians, Paul turns the gun on himself and says that he would be willing to be anathema for the sake of his brothers according to the flesh (Rom. 9:3).

Only given the immediate context, it seems better to take Paul as not offering to be damned for the sake of the Jews, rather this desire to be anathema from Christ for the Jews is an illustration of the love of God revealed in Christ in 8:31-39. The certainty of Paul's persuasion that nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus is that Paul would be glad to be killed/die/be utterly destroyed so that they might live. The point is that this is exactly what Jesus did for us: God gave up His own Son to the pain and agony of the cross, but because of the resurrection, this makes our suffering and hardship an opportunity to imitate the love of God in Christ. We may be accounted as "sheep for the slaughter," but in the Lamb of God who was slain, we are "more than conquerors," completely victorious through Him who loved us.

Paul's desire to be "cursed" is a desire to die for them, love them, sacrifice and be sacrificed for them not in a fatalistic, Hellenistic, mock-heroism but rather in the certain hope of the resurrection and the invincible love of God in Jesus.

If God's love is invincible, then we can lay our lives down for one another, for the lost, for our enemies. If we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus, then we too can become curses like our Savior who bore our curse on the cross for us. In Him, we are freed to give our lives away fearlessly and gladly.

Understanding the fierce love of God drives us to mission.

This Is Who You Are

2011-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

We share this meal every week because Jesus told us to. But Jesus told us to share this meal because it was meant to define us and redefine us. This meal is who we are on many levels. We are disciples of Jesus, we are witnesses of His resurrection. This is the feast of the new covenant, the Kingdom of God, the new world order in King Jesus. This meal insists upon forgiveness in the blood of the new covenant. It proclaims the gospel, the death of Christ until He comes. This meal looks forward, it anticipates a bigger banquet at the coming of the King. This meal means that your Father in heaven feeds you and cares for you, and you must not worry or fear. This meal means that you are part of a new family, brothers and sisters and mother. This meal is a love feast, a marriage feast an expression of God’s love for His people in the gift of His son, His love in the gift of the Spirit poured out upon the Church, the bride of Christ. This meal means that God loves sinners, and failures, and outcasts because you have been welcomed to His table. This is the table that the Lord your Shepherd prepares in the presence of your enemies. And we could go on and on, but the point is that this is who you are. You are God’s people, you are a forgiven people, you are a loved people, you are a reconciled people, you are a people cared for and provided for, you are an evangelistic people, people with a mission, a calling, witnesses of the resurrection, friends of God, full citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and so on. And therefore, you must put down all of the other identifications that haunt you. You must reject all of the sins and powers that claim authority over you. You are not a failure of a husband, you are a beloved son of God. You are not a bitter, nagging wife, you are a forgiven child of God. You are not a disobedient son or daughter. You are not a liar. You are not a cheater. You are not thief. You are not an alcoholic. You are not a porn addict. You are not a homosexual. You are not an adulterer. You are not a whore. You are none of those things. You are not damaged goods. You are not broken merchandise. Maybe you used to be, but not anymore. Now you are forgiven saints. You are washed and clean and there is no one who can bring a charge against you. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. But you may be thinking, but I still struggle with some of these sins. They still haunt me and trouble me. Yes, but the question is, whose word do you believe? Whose power do you trust? God says you are justified. You are innocent. You are forgiven. This meal is who you are. So come, eat, drink, and rejoice, and then go and sin no more.

Second Sunday in Epiphany: Rom. 8:35-9:5

2011-01-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Introduction
The love of God in Christ compels us to love Him and to love His people, making His life present in this world. But this love is also the power of God in us and through us to bring reconciliation to the world. Epiphany is all about the revelation of this justice of God in the love of Christ (Rom. 1:17).

The Text:
The gospel of God revealed in Jesus means that God is for us and no opposition can trump His love (8:31-34). But this doesn’t mean that His people face no challenges or injustice. In fact, Paul recognizes that following Jesus is likely to get you condemned, with charges brought against you, but these cannot separate us from His love because Jesus is risen (8:34-35). Paul points to Psalm 44 where the psalmist remembers how God both delivered and saved His people (Ps. 44:1-8) and then also cast off His people and scattered them among enemy nations (Ps. 44:9-16). But the psalmist insists that he and his people have not forgotten God or broken covenant, though all these things have come upon them (Ps. 44:17-19). And here Paul quotes the psalmist saying that they are like “sheep for the slaughter” (Ps. 44:22) and therefore they cry out for redemption and deliverance (Ps. 44:23-26). But Paul puts this Jewish psalm in the mouth of Christians in Rome now facing the persecution of enemy Jews, and he insists that Christians are completely victorious because of Jesus (Rom. 8:37). This is because Paul is persuaded that they cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ; it is more powerful than any threat or enemy (Rom. 8:38-39). But it is this confidence that drives Paul to go on the offensive, to see his enemies as an opportunity to display the power and justice of God. Paul has such great sorrow and continual grief for his enemies that he could even wish to be “cursed” for them (Rom. 9:3). Paul longs to imitate and see the power of the love of God which was manifested when He did not spare His own Son (Rom. 8:32). In Christ, all “sheep for the slaughter” are united to the Lamb who was slain, and their love and sacrifice for the lost become God’s means of triumph over evil. What the Old Covenant was meant to teach has arrived in power in Jesus and His Spirit: love turns enemies into friends (Rom. 5:6-11).

Parish Life
Jesus said: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). Our love and care for one another is to be consciously evangelistic and not clickish. The world delights in clicks as false forms of security, but the only safe place is in the love of God. We are still working to hit our stride with parish life, but the point is to organize centers of fellowship, Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and mercy.

Prayer for the Lost
Nothing reveals our hearts more honestly than our prayer. If the Holy Spirit were to bear witness in your conscience, what causes you great sorrow and continual grief in your heart (cf. Rom. 9:1-2)? There may be many things in a fallen world, but somewhere up near the top ought to be the enemies of the gospel and the hellish lives that unbelief always brings with it. Because this is crucial to any attempts at reconciliation and evangelism, the elders are working on scheduling regular days of fasting and prayer particularly for those who have left the faith, as well as more broadly for those who walk as enemies of the light (cf. Phil. 3:18).

Thirsty for God

2011-01-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

Why are we here? Why have you come? Why did you hurry to get dressed and eat breakfast and bustle the kids into the car? You are here because Your God has called you here. You are here because the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit is Your God, and you have no other God, and He has promised to meet you here today. You are gathered here at the first light, early on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, the beginning of the new world on the day our Lord rose from the dead. But you are here because you are thirsty. Your soul is thirsty. We are here because our flesh longs for God in a dry and thirst land. And we have come to His sanctuary to see His power and glory. This means that we come eagerly, expectantly. We gather hungry looking for food, desperate looking for love, weary looking for rest. We serve the God of many blessings, countless blessings, and we have enjoyed those blessings this week: family, friendship, food, laughter, shelter, work, sleep and much more. And while we must not forget these gifts, we must not allow any of them to be substituted for the Giver. These are true gifts, good gifts, abundant gifts, and we can and should revel in them all. But if we understand them as gifts they must drive us to the Giver. If He gives such grace, our souls should long for Him.

“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” (Ps. 63:1-2)

Look, Dad, Jesus is God!

2011-01-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

Regularly, my children remind me that Jesus is God.

I ask them, "Who came to die to take away our sins?" And one of them will say, "God." And frequently, I find myself clarifying their answer, giving it an emendation with something like, "right, Jesus." But very quickly I usually get the counter clarification that "Jesus is God, Dad." And they're really very insistent about this. Some of this goes back to one of the first theological conversations I had with my son when I think he was about two years old. We had a brief Arian controversy break out at the dinner table regarding the divinity of Christ, but in the end, orthodoxy won out and my son embraced the Nicene formula.

But it's still striking. Yes, Jesus is God, but my instinct is to clarify that Jesus is a particular way that God has revealed Himself, that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. I tend to want to nuance their answers a bit. But they insist: Jesus is God, Dad.

And I'm beginning to think that sometimes my son intentionally answers my questions this way. I think sometimes he deliberately answers my question which obviously begs for the response "Jesus" with the answer "God." e.g. Whose birthday is on Christmas, son? "God's." I haven't called him on it yet, but I'm deeply suspicious. Not that this causes me any deep trouble or concern, mind you. But this is the sort of pondering that us fathers get to do. What does it all mean?

I think some of it is a fascination with the idea of the Trinity. It's a reoccurring question especially when I read/say things about Jesus loving God or praying to God or obeying God. The kids apparently have little radars that go off to catch this oddity: "But Jesus is God!" they exclaim and laugh. This is absurd their laughing eyes seem to say. And we review the Trinity, we talk through the story of Christ's baptism, the transfiguration, the crucifixion, Pentecost, etc. And it's all good. They all agree that it must all be true, but they never really stop smiling about how funny it is. It never seems to get old, and we cover the same material again and again, and it's still funny. And they shake their heads at me smiling and laughing like it's one of the best jokes they've ever heard.

But I wonder if some of it is also just pure and simple excitement and wonder in the fact of Christmas, the surprise of the Incarnation. It's so easy to say that Jesus is God in a perfunctory way as if that's normal, as if that's just to be expected. Of course he's God, I almost feel myself saying sometimes as my daughter flashes her wide, brown eyes at me, reminding me. Don't forget the surprise, Dad.

And that's just it, God as man continues to be a present, a surprise, all wrapped and waiting to be opened. And we do open it, and Jesus reveals the fullness of God to us. But almost as quickly as we unwrap the Gift, there He is in the gospels teaching and healing and dying and rising again, all wrapped up, ready to be opened again. And again, and again, and again.

And then it doesn't seem quite so ridiculous for my children to remind me over and over and over. I think children frequently understand gifts a lot better than grown ups. They can spot a present all the way across the room. And every time I ask about Him, they want to rip off the paper and be surprised again. It's God! Look, Dad, Jesus is God!

Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 4

2011-01-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

Driscoll notes that it is easy for leaders to be distracted by their own well meaning people. People call in the middle of the night with crises. People come into the office sobbing with stories of sin and struggle. People have interpersonal tangles that they would like you to dedicate several hours a week to. People want to be "good friends" with the pastor and spend time together regularly.

And the point isn't to be heartless or unfeeling or unavailable. Pastors are shepherds, and they must shepherd the sheep. And sheep wander off. Sheep get into trouble. Sheep need lots of care and love and time.

But every pastor must quickly learn that they cannot do everything. And if pastors cannot do everything for everyone in the church, then of necessity, they must quickly learn to prioritize. And just to be clear, this means saying "no" to some things, some people, some real needs, some hard cases. Sometimes it means not answering the phone, not responding to emails, requests, whatever.

Of course, pastors must remain dedicated to loving their people, must remain "given to hospitality," and must not be rude or unkind. But pastors cannot do everything, and pastors who try to do everything will fail and they will burn out and in the end will actually do their congregations more harm than good.

This principle is always true, even in small churches, but this principle gets more and more obvious and important the larger the church grows. A pastor can know his flock fairly well when it is fairly small. He can fairly routinely make his way around through the congregation, checking in with them, giving counsel, and spending time with them. I remember in the first church I pastored, a mission work, there were maybe 28 people in worship if everyone came. Even in a tiny mission work like that, pastors must not delusionally think that they can do everything, but they can get to know their people and visit with them regularly. But I also remember the last time we had the whole church over to our apartment. Thankfully the weather was nice, and the fifty plus people could spill out into the yard. My wife and I realized we wouldn't be able to do that anymore. And while our hospitality remained regular, the schedule got longer and longer. While we might have been able to cycle through everyone in a month or two when we first arrived, by the time we were preparing to leave, it would have taken three or four months to make it through everyone.

When we arrived back in Moscow at Trinity to serve as one of the pastors here, I believe the congregation was a little over two hundred at the time. I remember Jenny asking at one point (with some trepidation), "How are we going to be able to have everyone over?" She didn't mean all at once, just how could we schedule or plan to visit with everyone in the church? And I told her that we wouldn't because we couldn't. Over the course of the two and a half years since we've been at Trinity, the congregation has continued to grow, and with over three hundred people regularly in worship, it's just not possible to know everyone really well.

Driscoll recounts similar realizations as Mars Hill grew. He relates how at one point they even had close friends drop by one night to tell them that they were leaving the church. And the reason they were leaving was because the Driscolls hadn't been spending much time with them any more. Whatever questions we may have for them, the point is that particularly as congregations grow, pastors can't be best friends with everyone in the church. Just as a side note: Where God provides close friends for pastors and their wives and families within larger congregations, this is itself a particularly significant ministry to pastors and their families. And sometimes these relationships are crucial means of grace at specific times but can also providentially shift and change over time. This must be received with thankful hearts, commended, and people need to guard against any feelings of offense or bitterness or rivalry.

Furthermore and even more importantly, pastors can't do all the work of ministry in the church because that is not how a healthy church will grow. But the point that Driscoll makes that is a really helpful reminder is that this is the way it's supposed to be anyway. Pastors can't and shouldn't do all the ministry because they aren't the only ministers.

In fact, Driscoll points to Ephesians 4 where Paul says that Jesus gave His Spirit to the Church in the form of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers to equip the saints to do the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). In other words, the ministry of pastors and teachers is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. And I'll just say it one more time to be clear: The saints are to be actively involved in the work of ministry. Of course pastors and teachers are saints too, and they have an important ministry also. But their ministry is to equip the rest of the saints to do ministry. Why? So that the body of Christ might be edified, built up. Literally, the word means to build a house. The way churches get built is by pastors equipping the saints to do the work of ministry. And Paul continues by explaining that this is how the body of Christ will grow up and grow together. If churches want to grow up and grow together, then the saints must be equipped.

Pastors must train and equip by doing and setting an example, but this means that faithful pastors must be training other men to be elders, deacons, and laymen who will then go out and do counseling and evangelism and mercy ministry in the church and outside the church (and likewise the women).

Driscoll fairly candidly admits that at various points in his ministry he was trying to do too much, and it had ramifications for his own health and family life. This is a good warning.

But overwhelmingly, I found this reminder to be freeing and liberating. When Jethro confronted Moses about this same problem, Jethro was a wise elder/father in-law and could see the burn out coming a mile away. Jethro's advice was good news. It was gospel wisdom. And the Jethro principle still stands as basic, essential wisdom for the body of Christ.

Now I'm a big fan of Richard Baxter style pastoral ministry, and I do think that Driscoll's advice should be balanced with Baxter's pastoral heart. It would seem a little strange to me for a pastor to never engage in counseling or pastoral care, though I know in some churches there are pastors who only preach and other pastors who only counsel. I would think that some interaction with the needs and challenges of the congregation remains important and strategic, but the principle of delegation and sharing the load and equipping the saints to do ministry stands. And this is exactly what the apostles did in Acts 6. Whether or not those seven men are "deacons" in the technical sense, they are certainly deacons in as much as they are alleviating the load of the apostles.

Someone might have objected that the apostles were heartless for neglecting the needs of the widows. Wasn't it the apostle James who insisted that pure and undefiled religion was the care of orphans and widows? And there may be some hyper-Baxters who would have a hard time letting go of the ministry to widows: what if it falls apart? What if they don't get cared for? But the apostles (James included) said it would not be right for them to worry about that ministry. They were called to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:2-4). That's a wonderful apostolic example set for many pastors.

Train other saints to do the work of ministry. Train other saints to counsel, to do mercy ministry, to help with pastoral care, to do administrative work, to organize events, whatever. And of course gifts and interests will vary from pastor to pastor and that will color this principle in different ways, but the pastor's job boiled down is to pray and preach.

The last thought on this is that pastors have to remember their own families as the first members of their congregation. The pastoral care must begin there. Pastors who have Richard Baxter as their hero must begin being Richard Baxter in their own homes, dating their wives, loving their children, and not neglecting their physical and spiritual wellbeing. The pastor's home is his first parish. Pastors can't do everything, but it shouldn't even be a question about which members of your congregation you should spend time with first. Love your wife so that she is not a de facto widow; love your children so that they are not de facto orphans. This is pure and undefiled religion.

Anyway, good stuff from Driscoll: Leaders, don't be distracted. You can't do everything. So equip the saints. Pray and preach and love your people. And trust Jesus to build His Church.

Dealing with Porn and Lust Part 3

2011-01-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

So we have established that the Biblical pattern of repentance is putting off the old man and putting on the new man. And frequently it is the new man that drives out the old man. It is the active pursuit of faithfulness and service and ministry that actually shakes off the demons of sin. Obviously hypocrisy must never be indulged. Do not stand up and condemn sins that you have domesticated in your own life. Dealing with sin is not the same thing as making friends with it and taming it. Dealing with sin means killing it, running from it, crying out to God for deliverance from it. But when you're running toward Christ and your sin is chasing you, that is not hypocrisy, that is faithfulness, and God promises to bless your flight.

The sins of lust and porn are at least in part grounded in fundamental laziness. This is because there is a gift of God called sex, and that gift is to be received and enjoyed and celebrated in the context of marriage. And lusting after pornstars is trying to get these gifts on the black market. These sins are fundamentally lazy because it takes real, honest, hard work to love a flesh and blood woman, and it takes even more work to keep her. It's easier to look at pictures and pretend. It's easier to serve yourself than to serve another person. And laziness is best friends with lack-of-self-control. When you are lazy, you are not in control of your life, your life is being ruled by the moment, by the television, by your computer. You are at the mercy of whatever comes next, whatever pops up next, whatever comes on next. But the fruit of the Spirit is love and this love exhibits self-control. This love has discipline, direction, mission. This is because this Love is the person of the Holy Spirit driving us to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called.

So here's the point: When a guy is struggling with having self-control on his computer, I ask him, "Where else are you struggling with self-control? Where else are you being lazy with your time and decisions? How much do you drink? How much do you smoke? What are your eating habits? Study habits? Consumption habits in general?"

You cannot refuse to exercise and then wonder why you are not strong. You can't be lazy all day long in other areas and then expect to be a disciplined, hard worker when it comes to women and sex. And this means that one of the ways that you should attack the sin of lust is through hard work and discipline. Set limits: time limits, drink limits, food limits, whatever, and you don't have to get all legalistic about it. Of course there are Biblical standards which must be observed, but practice makes perfect. When people practice saying "no" when they don't have to, this exercises self-control muscles which will most certainly be needed later in other contexts. But if all you ever say is "yes" and "more" why do you think you will suddenly have an outbreak of self control when it really matters?

Laziness in one area of life is rarely isolated. Cultivate discipline. Get up at reasonable hours, go to bed at reasonable hours, work hard at your job, pay your bills on time, don't over eat/drink/smoke/whatever, read your Bible, spend time in prayer consistently. Make a schedule and stick to it. And as you do this, do not do this as though this is a magic formula for porn deliverance. It isn't. Do this in faith, do this before the Lord, and do it prayerfully.

"O God, I'm scheduling this week carefully because I want to learn self-control and discipline so that I can be a real man and learn to love a real woman. Help me keep my word and do this for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen."

And if you're already married, then you already know the name of that real woman, and you can insert her name in the prayer and get busy loving her.

Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

First Sunday of Epiphany: 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3, Eph. 4:1-16

2011-01-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Introduction
The Feast of Epiphany is the culmination of Christmas. Epiphany celebrates what it means for God to be present, to reveal Himself, to be manifested to the world. Last week, we considered John’s exhortations to receive the love of God and to walk in that love. We continue a similar theme this morning, thinking about the Church as the Body of Christ, the continuing manifestation of God’s Incarnation in the world.

The Texts:
Eph. 4 and 1 Cor. 12-13 have a number of obvious similarities. Both are concerned about the body of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit, and the primacy of love. Beginning with 1 Cor. 12-13, we should notice that love is the way gifts get sorted out. Not everyone does the same thing (12:29-30), and people can try to do things that aren’t their gig (13:1). And the difference is love (13:2-3). And this love is the love of God filling up God’s people and overflowing to everyone around them. The name of this love is the Holy Spirit (12:6-13). Paul has the same love in mind in Eph. 4:1-2, but Christ manifests His gifts differently in everyone (4:7, 11). But this gift manifests itself in love (4:15-16). Finally, notice how the gifts cascade out in love from apostles to teachers (4:11) for the equipping of the saints for the building of the church (4:12). Pastors don’t build churches; saints build churches. Pastors and elders equip saints to do the work of ministry. To be a Christian is to join the work of ministry. And Paul says that this is necessary for the unity of the Church and the maturity of the Church (4:13-14). In order for the Church to grow up into unity and maturity, the saints must be equipped and the saints must do the ministry. This is why ministry is one of the ways we fight sin and squabbles (Eph. 4:25-32).
Type rest of the post here
Jesus, Gifts, Interests, and Needs
How do you know what you’re supposed to be doing? Should you keep doing what you’re doing now? Should you go back to school? Should you sell the house and move across the country? Across the world? Should you have more kids? Should you give thanks for the ones you have and then look for ways to serve other families? Should you spend more time with your own family? Should you spend more time with your neighbors? Should you invest more energy in your hobbies? Work longer hours to have more to give to missions? And we could extend these questions generally to our congregation: What should Trinity be growing up into? Should we spend more energy and resources on ministry to the poor? Should we spend more energy and resources on missions? Should we spend more energy and resources on Christian education? The Biblical principle is not to worry about these questions but rather to “Seek first the Kingdom…” (Mt. 6:33) and “Delight yourself in the Lord…” (Ps. 37:4). Therefore, we begin with Jesus and His Kingdom and then we prayerfully consider and seek counsel regarding our gifts and interests and the needs around us. The love of God and neighbor orients and directs our gifts.

For the Ministry, For the Kingdom
Regardless, we are a congregation overwhelmed by the love of the Triune God in Christ, and we are therefore committed to returning this love to our King and overflowing to the Palouse. And since the love of Christ is no small thing, we need to be thinking big and long term about how we want to see the love of Jesus transform this community. This means we want to come here and offer all that we are to the Lord (that’s what the offertory means), and then be commissioned to use our gifts for Jesus.

Dealing with Porn and Lust Part 2

2011-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

I believe in shotgun style repentance, which is to say most people do best to use a scatter shot approach to dealing with sin. And frequently God delivers us from sin through a number of different means all working together, pushing and pulling us into sanctification. And for those who have experienced this grace, we look back and it's never easy to explain how or why we repented of any of our sins. There may be points where specific decisions were made and promises kept, but the cumulative effect of grace is always thankful hearts, overflowing with gratitude, recognizing the miraculous nature of deliverance.

One side of dealing with the sin of lust is amputation -- extreme violence to the limbs and organs facilitating sin. And so on the one hand, sin should be dealt with head on, no holds barred: confession, restitution, moving away, quitting your job, getting rid of your computer, cancelling the internet, cable, phone, etc., whatever it takes.

But repentance is always at least two acts in one: putting off and putting on. And I'll be covering this in more detail in a future post, but the point I want to make here is that both must be done. We must always put off sin and put on Christ. The principle here is found in Ephesians 4:17-32. Paul says to put off the old man and put on the new man. In fact, as Paul gives examples of what he means, it becomes clear that putting on the new man, putting on Christ is one of the central ways we put off sin and put off the old man. In other words, when you grab hold of Jesus, whatever was in your hand before comes loose. You can't hold that sin and hold Christ at the same time. You can't speak the truth and lie at the same time. You can't steal and give to those in need at the same time. You can't be bitter and angry and forgiving and kind all at the same time. Jesus and sin just don't mix.

But this means that one of the things sinners must learn to do is pay no attention to their sin. One of the Devil's strategies is to distract God's people with their ugly hearts. But we must not let our sins distract us. And particularly repulsive sins like porn are not only disgusting but also humiliating. No man delights in the thought of confessing the lust in his heart; because we are descended from Adam, because we have rejected the grace of God, because we have loved the darkness, there is a lot of darkness in our hearts.

But deliverance from sin does not come from looking at our sin; it comes from looking to Christ. Deliverance from our disgusting infatuation with darkness doesn't come from squinting at the darkness. In the darkness, you can't see anything. In the darkness, everything is black, everything is dark. You can only see if you look to the light. And it's the same deal with every sin, but perhaps more pointedly when the sin seems particularly embarrassing.

Masturbating while watching porn is gross and vile and guys who struggle with patterns of this feel guilty, ashamed, humiliated, and disgusting. And the Devil wants you to wallow in that shame. But Jesus wants you to get out of it. He bled and died for our all our disgusting sin, and it's only pride and unbelief that refuses to look to Him.

So what am I saying? I'm saying that in addition to cutting of your hand and plucking out your eye, you need to love Christ, love His people, and get busy living like a Christian. Now if you're in leadership in a church, depending on the severity of the problem you may need to step down or take a sabbatical, but that doesn't stop you from living like a follower of Jesus. There may be real and lasting consequences to sin, but that doesn't stop anyone from loving Jesus, loving His people, and loving the lost and the lonely. Part of the slavery of sin is making sinners feel dirty and defiled such that they pull back, they stop fellowshipping with believers, they stop volunteering to serve, they refuse to share their faith with unbelievers. But that's like refusing medicine because you're sick.

You think you're unworthy; you're a hypocrite; you're a liar. But that's only true if you don't hate your sin, if you're not fighting your sin. Well, you say, I wasn't fighting sin last night when that page popped up on my computer. Yeah, well what are you doing right now? What are you going to do today? Instead of surfing around aimlessly on the web at 2 in the morning, why don't you start going to bed at a reasonable hour and planning to fellowship with some godly friends? Why don't you find a homeless shelter to volunteer at? Why don't you go to a Bible study? Spend time in prayer, memorize Scripture, invite your neighbors over for dinner, go do something constructive, something pleasing to God.

The point is that we always need to repent of sin, but repentance means putting off sin and frequently you cannot put off sin unless you are busy putting on Christ. You cannot let go of sin, unless you are grabbing hold of Jesus.

So don't let your lust distract you. Jesus died to put that sin to death. Amputate the sin and look to Christ. Get rid of your laptop and start going to a Bible study. Drop your cable and start volunteering at the local crisis pregnancy center. Cancel the data plan on your phone and call up one of the deacons and see if you can help with anything.

And don't say you're such a lousy stinking sinner. Of course you are, that's why you need Jesus. And when you recognize the depth of your need, when you see how badly you need the grace of Jesus, what better time to try to convince your unbelieving neighbors of their need for a Savior? That's not hypocrisy; that's honest, heartfelt love for the gospel.

Part 1 can be found here.

Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 3

2011-01-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

I really appreciated Driscoll's take on spiritual gifts, particularly those that seem a bit more unusual or more miraculous than others. Driscoll notes that in the early days of the church, there were at least a few occasions where he believes demons were attacking the church plant. He recounts a few close calls in church where he had to do some fast thinking and preaching on his feet to deal with people apparently sent from the enemy or possessed by one of his spirits. Likewise, Driscoll talks about a number of strangely vivid dreams that were apparently prophetic in nature, and on at least one occasion the Spirit leading him to a woman whom he had never met before who was being abused by her boyfriend.

There were several things impressive and refreshing about Driscoll's take on this stuff. First, he isn't sensational at all. He comes off as the first skeptic, and because he's skeptical of his own take on this kind of stuff, he readily gets advice, feedback and accountability from his fellow elders, pastors, and wife. Secondly, he says he grew up in the Roman Catholic church and was converted in college, and has never really been a "pentecostal" sort. He wasn't out looking for something weird or supernatural, but in the last analysis concludes that these gifts are given by God to various people at various times in His Church and they should be received and used. So obviously, as he notes, he isn't a "cessationist" although he is clear that he believes that the Bible is the final authority on everything, the canon is closed, and that these gifts should be exercised within and under the accountability of godly elders and friends.

When I was ordained and when I was interviewed for pastoral ministry at Trinity, I registered my stance on "cessationism" as strongly qualified. While I recognized that certain manifestations of miraculous gifts were unique to the first generation of apostles (writing the New Testament, for example, and perhaps some of the healing and prophetic gifts to confirm their authority to do so), I nevertheless was and continue to be uncomfortable insisting that all miraculous gifts have ceased from the Church. Church history is just too plum full of odd stories and miraculous interventions. Just read a missionary biography for instance. Lastly, this isn't a central theme of the book by any stretch, but just as it assumes a subtle but authentic role in Driscoll's story, it apparently remains a subtle but significant part of life at Mars Hill. And there's something about that subtlety that seems, again, refreshing and biblical. The error of the "pentecostals" is to make these sign gifts the center of Christian life and experience, but the error of cessationists is to reject them entirely and pretend they don't exist. We need a biblical balance between these two extremes.

People have and do abuse and misuse the gifts of the Spirit, and others lie and oppress and divide the body through gimmicks and shows. But this doesn't mean that God isn't free to do what He wants. He isn't bound by our tidy little theological boxes. But the standard is always love, and this means that love sees the dangers and potential challenges of strange and miraculous interventions and love sees how and when to receive the gifts of God for the blessing of His Church. And because the love of Christ is always manifested in love for His Bride, authentic spiritual gifts will always delight in real accountability and submission to pastors and elders and the communion of the saints. People who view miraculous gifts as a license to disregard godly elders have already proven their gifts to be a sham.

You can read parts 1 and 2 here and here.

Dealing with Porn and Lust Part 1

2011-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

As others have noted, we live in a pornified culture. We live in a world that is obsessed with sex, or more accurately, we live in a world that is obsessed with trying to find absolute fulfillment and meaning in orgasms. We are like children gorging ourselves on candy and desserts, and we wonder why we feel so awful and why we never really feel satisfied, why we can never get enough. But our appetites ought to drive us to Christ, for all the joys and pleasures of created hunger and passion, all of it ultimately points us to the God Who alone can satisfy our hunger and thirst.

But there is real slavery in the sin of lust, and many men (and women) find themselves trapped in patterns of lust, guilt, and porn. I'm frequently asked about how guys should deal with this. Sometimes guys come and ask for advice and accountability for themselves, and sometimes I get questions from friends of guys who really need help, who really struggle to be pure.

So what does the Bible say about dealing with slavery to porn/lust? The following is the first of several posts on this topic.

First, Jesus says that if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out (Mt. 5:30). And of course it should not be missed that Jesus says this right after talking about men committing adultery with women in their hearts. Jesus is not so naive as to miss the fact that eyes and hands are frequently involved in the sin of lust.

When Jesus repeats this principle in a slightly different context, He says that it is better for you to enter life maimed than to be cast into hell with both of your eyes and hands (Mt. 18:8-9).

But people are too quick to dismiss these words as exaggerations and hyperbole. Surely Jesus is not actually encouraging self mutilation, is He? Well, perhaps not, but He doesn't mean if your hand causes you to sin, you should try to find an accountability partner. If Jesus urges dismemberment, we ought to be thinking of things that are extreme and painful.

In other words, Jesus is urging His followers to wage war on the lusts of the flesh. Don't show any pity. Cut them off. Don't be nice to your sin. Don't let your eye pity that little demon. But too many guys just feel guilty and wallow around in their inability, feeling bad for themselves, and wishing they could change and then proceed to do nothing or next to nothing about it.

Where do you live? Who do you live with? Where is your computer? What are the usual patterns to your sin? Now get out your sword and start hacking. Do you need to move? Do you need to find new roommates? Do you need to sleep with your bedroom door open and the light on? Should you get rid of the internet, drop your laptop computer out of the window, or get all your bank statements sent to your mom?

The point is if Jesus says you should do something extreme, then don't go do something reasonable and tame. You can't go parlay a peace treaty with the devil. If you aren't planning extreme violence against your sin then you have already failed. The first step in battling sin is learning to hate it. And if you aren't ready to slay the dragon, then you aren't really fighting even if you're all dressed up for battle.

So talk to your pastor, talk to your wife, talk to trusted friends who have the guts to really call you on the mat, who would not think twice to turn you in to the police or the elders. Then start cutting off all the hands and eyes that are enabling this sin. Cancel your cable, turn off the electricity in your home for a month, take cold showers, move across the country, turn yourself into the police, get a new job, get rid of your cell phone, whatever it takes.

And if you think moving across the country, getting a new job, or getting rid of your computer just seems a little too extreme, then you are already disobeying the Lord Jesus. It would be better to enter life without a house, without a phone, without a job, without a computer than to be cast into hell with all those millstones dragging you down.

It should be remembered that Jesus does not ask us to do things that are impossible. He doesn't invite us to follow Him and then require what we cannot do. Jesus calls us to follow Him, and that call is the grace we need to obey. His invitation is His assurance that we can obey. You cannot obey on your own. You cannot muster this purity on your own. But when God speaks, creation bursts into existence; when Jesus speaks, new creations explode into being. And when God calls us to repent of our sins, He does so as the God of grace, the God of Resurrection, the God of the Exodus, the God whose Word is enough. If Jesus tells you to get out of the boat and walk on water then you can and you should but don't look at the wind and the waves. Keep your eyes fixed on Him.

You can read the other parts in this series here and here.

Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 2

2011-01-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

In the early days, Driscoll recounts how some of their biggest challenges seemed to surround finding a good music leader. He recounts various musicians, drummers, and guitarists who filled the positions at various points in the history of Mars Hill. While I grew up in a fairly contemporary Christian worship music scene (true confessions: I played bass guitar for our church's worship team for a few years), I have over the years become more and more convinced that most of what is offered under that name is less than helpful, even though I am always open to finding good, new worship music (and I think the church should be committed to producing quality, new worship music/songs).

I have some familiarity with the worship music scene at Mars Hill -- I've listened to a few of the recordings posted on the Resurgence website -- (so I wasn't really surprised), but my initial reaction was honestly still that these "struggles" seemed trivial, sort of part of the immaturity of the early days of the church plant. Sort of like a young high school punk complaining that his garage band hasn't gotten any gigs. I'm tempted to tell the kid to grow up and get a job. Get married, have some kids, and join the *real* world. I admit that I was *tempted* to feel the same away about the Mars Hill music leader struggles. Grow up and find a hymnal, I sort of wanted to say. But on second thought, it's just a fact that music and worship is really important to God, and even though I would quibble with the electric guitars and garage band style of worship music, it dawned on me that this concern and trial was actually in some ways a really good sign that the church was on the right track.

Worship is central; God loves music. God loves when His people sing to Him with joy and love in their hearts. This doesn't dismiss the quality and culture issues, but the fact of the matter is that there are many believers who worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth with guitars and drums who will entire the Kingdom before the proud antics of Christians with high brow organs and violins. And furthermore, in so far as these struggles were borne out of a heartfelt love for Jesus and a desire to worship Him, Jesus was pleased with their baby steps and believers who walk in the obsessed love of Christ grow up into maturity. And this goes for all of us, whether we're plinking out old hymns on a piano or making a glorious ruckus on a Fender.

You can read the first part of this review here.

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets

2011-01-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

In the old theonomy discussions, Mt. 5:17 always played a prominent role. In what sense does Jesus "fulfill" the law and the prophets? But the word "fulfill" is something of a key term in Matthew's gospel. The Greek word PLAYRAO is used 16 times in Matthew’s gospel, and in 13 of those occurrences, Matthew uses the word to describe how Jesus’ own actions or words “fulfill” what was spoken in the Law and Prophets and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures: E.g. “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet…” (Mt. 1:22, cf. 2:15, 2:17, 2:23, 5:17, 26:54, etc.).

Given the fact that Jesus is explicitly and implicitly reenacting the story of Israel, it does not seem likely that Matthew used this word 13 times accidentally. 12 is the number of the tribes of Israel, and 13 suggests that Jesus is the fulfillment of the old Israel plus one. He is Israel and yet something far greater.

But if one wanted to understand what Jesus meant by not coming to destroy the law and the prophets but rather has come to "fulfill" the law and the prophets, it seems like the first step would be to do a thorough exegetical study of all those other uses. When Matthew says Joseph and Mary's flight to Egypt is a "fulfillment" of Hosea's prophecy, "Out of Egypt, I have called my son...," we ought to look at that "fulfillment" if we want to understand how Jesus came to "fulfill" the law and the prophets and not destroy them.

Second Sunday in Christmas: 1 Jn. 4:1-21

2011-01-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Christmas is all about the love of God for His people, for the world, and if we understand this, our response must be love for God and for His people and for the world.

The Text:
John says that false prophets have gone out into the world, filled with the spirit of antichrist, who deny that Christ has come in the flesh (1 Jn. 4:1-3). But He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (4:4). And we can tell who people belong to by the voices they listen to (4:5-6). John exhorts the Church to love one another because this is the mark of the life of God: God is love (4:7-8). Christmas and Easter are the great manifestations of the love of God (4:9-10), and when people get that, they love one another (4:11). This is because even though no one has ever seen God, God lives on earth in people who have been engulfed in the love of the Father and Son through the Spirit (4:12-14). We may not have seen God, but we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son (4:12, 14-15). And this is why as we love Him and one another, God lives in us, so that “as He is, so are we in this world” (4:16-17). The opposite of love is fear, and fear is obsessed with punishment (4:18, cf. Mt. 25:46). We do not love Him out of fear but because He loves us (4:19), and our love of God is proven by our love for the people right in front of us (4:20-21). The proof of Christmas is in our love for God in Christ as He is present in those around us. This is why John is so worked up about the spirit of antichrist who denies Christ came in the flesh. In the incarnation we have seen God by the power of the Spirit, but John knows that this incarnating Spirit did not finish when Jesus ascended into heaven. Rather, that same incarnating, Christmas Spirit was poured out on all flesh at Pentecost. While Jesus is in heaven in His flesh, the Spirit is making Him present here in this world in and through the flesh of the saints.

Discipleship Love
Being a Christian means being a disciple; it means we have left everything for Jesus our Master. But our temptation in the Reformed tradition is to overemphasize the intellectual side of love, to the detriment of the rest of human experience. But the greatest commandment is to love God with all that we are, not just our minds (Dt. 6:5, Mt. 22:37), and Jesus insists that loving Him is central to following Him (Jn. 21:15-19). Paul connects knowledge, love, and the presence of God as well (Eph. 3:17-19). And notice all the plurals.

Obsessive Love
Paul picks up this theme in 2 Corinthians 5 as well where he is simultaneously defending his own credentials and assuring the Corinthians of the truth of the gospel. And the thing that connects these two is the Spirit of God who is their guarantee (cf. 1 Jn. 4:12-13). And this Spirit is the love of Christ compelling them and making them seem crazy (2 Cor. 5:13-14). This same Spirit pours out many different gifts, but it is the same obsessive love of the Trinity at work in all (1 Cor. 12-13). Therefore, Christmas means knowing the love of God in Christ and loving one another (1 Jn. 4:9-11).

The Perpetual Virginity of the Church

2010-12-31T09:17:00.000-08:00

Matthew says that the birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of Matthew’s prophecy of the virgin giving birth to a son whose name will be Immanuel. In the context of Isaiah, the birth of Immanuel is given as a sign to King Ahaz that the military plots against Judah will not stand. If Ahaz fears that the two kings are going to conquer Jerusalem and depose him, he must be assured by God’s word that the city will continue to stand in stability because a son will be born to a young woman in safety. But when Matthew quotes this passage at the birth of Jesus, only verses later we learn that there is a king plotting against this son. Herod wants to track this Child King down and destroy Him, and before it’s all over, a great slaughter of sons has occurred in Bethlehem. Bethlehem has become an Egypt and Herod is Pharaoh killing the male children perceived as a threat to his kingdom. And ironically, Joseph is hiding with his wife and newborn son in Egypt.

While God’s word to Ahaz was ‘stand still, be quiet, and do nothing,’ God’s word to Joseph is to get his family out of Judah and to run. So then, how is the virgin birth comforting? How is the birth of Immanuel a sign of safety if the holy family is immediately on the run? But let me connect these questions to baptism as well. If the Church is the virgin bride of Christ, the pure and chaste bride betrothed to Jesus, her husband, then there is some sense in which every conversion, every baptism is a virgin birth. Of course none are quite so spectacular as God born in human flesh, but something very similar is always happening. When a man, woman, or child is born again into the family of Jesus, it is the pure and undefiled virgin Church giving birth by the power of the Holy Spirit, and what is born is not born of blood or flesh or the will of man but the new life that is conceived here in the womb of the Church is of the Holy Spirit. No conversion makes human sense. No rebirth into the life of the Trinity is humanly possible. In this sense, as Protestants, we would deny the perpetual virginity of Mary, but we might be willing to speak of the perpetual virginity of the Church or at least the temporary, perpetual virginity of the Church: the chastity and purity of the Church as she awaits the consummation, the final Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when we finally are fully and completely united to the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the mean time, every new birth in the Church is the sign of Immanuel, the sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power to make God with Us, to be God with Us.

But this means that every baptism is the sign of Ahaz. Every baptism is the sign of Immanuel. Every baptism echoes the birth of God in the manger. Every baptism is a miniature Christmas. But how are we to be comforted with this sign in the face of threats? How are we to be comforted with this sign when the first virgin birth was followed by a slaughter of babies and a family on the run? Let me only suggest one possible answer: We might notice that after Joseph’s family is scattered, the disciples are scatted when Jesus is arrested in the garden and later crucified, then later, after Stephen’s stoning, the disciples are scattered again. But each time, the scattered ones have grown in numbers and responsibility. A remnant is always preserved, a seed is always saved. Whenever the word is scattered it brings forth a harvest. Our comfort and trust is always in the word of God, our safety is in His provision, but it is His wisdom to establish His kingdom through weakness and death. For unless a seed goes into the ground and dies, it will bear no fruit, and here is the seed of the Spirit, the miraculous conception of the life of God in human flesh.

So the charge for you, Jayson and Hannah, is to place your hope and trust in the Word of God, the Word of God made flesh, the Word of God in a manger in Bethlehem. The Word of God is the seed of the Spirit sown in our hearts for the life of the world. Teach your son to love this Word, teach your son to eat this Word, to be comforted by this Word, but ultimately teach him to die like this Word. Teach him to become seed that goes down into the ground and dies so that by the power of the Spirit his life might be scattered abroad and bring forth a great harvest of 30, 60, and 100 fold.

Who Carry the Terms of Surrender

2010-12-31T08:21:00.000-08:00

Really like Jamie Soles' paraphrase of the Beatitudes found on his album Weight of Glory:

Blessed
(Matthew 5:2-11)

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Those who recognize their poverty
Those who know that they have nothing to bring
The kingdom of heaven is theirs
Blessed are the ones that mourn
Those who grieve for their iniquity
Those who demonstrate repentance and faith
Their comforter is the Lord

Blessed are the humble
Who believe their God in everything
Who obey His Word unquestioning
For they shall inherit the earth
Blessed are the hungry
And the thirsty after righteousness
Who are satisfied with nothing less
Their hunger and thirst shall be filled

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
And blessed are the ones who make peace
Who carry the terms of surrender
They publish the gospel of peace and are called sons of God

Blessed are the ones that suffer
Evil deeds and scorn in Jesus' name
The poor in spirit are one and the same
The kingdom of heaven is yours
Blessed are the persecuted
Oh rejoice and be exceeding glad
For such treatment all the prophets had
And great is your waiting reward

My Song is Love Unknown

2010-12-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

I posted this a while back. It was my homily from our Good Friday service last year, but it seems fitting for Christmas as well.

The text is also available here at the Credenda site.

Cycle of Generations

2010-12-22T17:30:00.000-08:00

In his new book The Four, Peter Leithart notes that the gospel of Matthew begins with a number of similarities to Genesis. Matthew begins with a "book of generations" which is one of the organizing principles of the book of Genesis (cf. 2:4, 5:1, etc.). He also notes some resemblances between Matthew's gospel and the epistle of James.

One similarity, which he doesn't explicitly mention (but which I suspect he's alluding to), is the fact that the word "generations" is used only five times in the NT, twice in Matthew and twice in James (once in Luke).

Both of the uses in James need some elucidating, but just on the surface, Js. 3:6 is one of the instances and James is warning particularly about the dangers of the tongue (see my earlier post). James says that the tongue is set among our members so that it can defile the whole body and set "on fire the whole course of nature." Literally, James says that it can set on fire the "cycle of generations." With the emphasis at the beginning of the chapter on "teachers," it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to see James addressing specifically generational challenges. He seems to be warning teachers in particular about the use of their tongues and the kind of impact it has on their students, children, congregations, etc. Their words have the potential to send their hearers to hell. Jesus has similar warnings for people who cause little ones to stumble.

An Evangelist

2010-12-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

"An evangelist is a man who, by speaking of Jesus, changes his own mind; by being in process, he leads others into the same process."

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Fruit of the Lips, 22-23.

Reformission Rev. Review Pt. 1: Prayer and Calling

2010-12-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

Another book review for you. I just recently read Mark Driscoll's Confessions of a Reformission Rev. And it was really good. There are some obvious areas in theology and church life that we differ on, but Driscoll's passion to love and obey Jesus through planting and leading a church is a fun and encouraging story to read. This particular book is just that, a sort of autobiography of his life planting Mars Hill in Seattle. Driscoll is an engaging writer, story teller, and thoughtful theologian.

Over the next few days, I'll post some of what I found to be the highlights of the book:

Part 1

At some point in the early days of church planting, Driscoll realized that he needed to submit to the will of Jesus for Mars Hill. And this meant that he (Driscoll) needed to find out what Jesus wanted Mars Hill to be, to do, etc. Driscoll recounts how he began spending extended periods of time in prayer and bible study on the one hand and then lots of time hanging out in coffee shops and various public places in Seattle, trying to get to know the people, and their needs and interests. Through this process, Driscoll became convinced that Mars Hill needed to grow up from a graduated high school youth group meeting into a full-fledged church that would make a significant impact on the city of Seattle. I really appreciated Driscoll's realization that he needed to spend a lot of time studying the Bible and praying. He notes somewhere in there, that this is still a regular part of his schedule, and this is something that pastors have to come to peace with. An important part of the pastoral call is *praying*. Hours should be spent each week *praying*. And this is different than preparing for a Bible studies, sermon preparation, reading theological journals, or blogging. Praying is talking to Jesus about what He wants from you, from your people, and what He wants for your city. If Jesus is Lord of His Church, and King of every one of our cities, then we need to speak to Him and hear from Him. While Driscoll has been called to minister to many different sectors of Seattle society, he began with and continues to focus on young men and the college/young singles crowd (though the church has grown up to include families of all ages). When pastors pray for direction from the Spirit of Christ, they should not expect to know already where they will be sent. Some need to be sent to the trailer parks, some need to be sent to India, some need to be sent to the homeless shelter, and some need to be sent to the coffee shops. But it's awfully easy to think that Jesus wants all the hip, young seminary graduates hanging out at Starbucks and listening to Sufjan Stevens. But we need to listen to our Heavenly General very carefully, and this means spending lots of time in prayer every week.

God is a Dragon

2010-12-20T14:56:00.001-08:00

My closing charge to the congregation yesterday at Trinity keyed off of the image Peter Leithart used in his sermon of Isaiah as a "fire-breather" (Is. 6). Having touched his lips with a coal from the altar, Isaiah became like one of the seraphim, one of the fire breathers of God who is commissioned to bring the fire of God's judgment on Jerusalem, so that they might be consumed and refined. And this imagery certainly seems to be taken up at Pentecost, coals of fire for every believer, and suddenly everyone is speaking in tongues, declaring the mighty works of God.

But as I was meditating on the "fire-breather" imagery it struck me that James picks up this picture as well only as a warning (Js. 3:5-6). The tongue is able to kindle great fires with only a few little sparks. This means that as image bearers and renewed image bearers, there is some sense in which our mouths are always on fire, we always breathe fire. This goes back to the idea that words are always magical and powerful.

The only question is: Whose fire are we breathing? Whose magic are we speaking? The Devil is a dragon who breathes the fire of division and deception and bitterness, but God is a Dragon who breathes the life-giving fire of the Spirit. Our prayer must be to be filled with that fire, that Spirit of life.

My charge (which was much more succinct than this post!) reminded the congregation that with Christmastime upon us, we will be spending a good bit of time with our families and friends, and there will be many words in the air, we will have much to say to one another. And the charge was to speak the fire of the Spirit, specifically I reminded them of the words of Peter, the original fire-breather at Pentecost:

"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Pet. 3:8-9)

May our words for our children, our wives and husbands, the neighbors, the grocery clerks, the TSA officials, our cranky and absurd relatives, may our words be seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6) and be filled with the fire of love (Song 8:6).

Now That Your Mouth Is On Fire...

2010-12-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

Every Lord’s Day we confess that as we gather together in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this Triune God ushers us into His presence. We confess that we are gathered at this very moment in the Most Holy presence of the King of the Universe, and as Pastor Leithart has reminded us, that is why having entered this presence we sing “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts…” We join the choirs of angels, the seraphim shouting praises in this new temple of the Church, and our prayers arise like smoke and incense before the throne. And the King thunders His Word through the Scriptures and by the mighty working of His Spirit. Our worship participates in and enters into the heavenly worship that is always occurring. In this sense, our worship is always an Advent of the Lord, a coming of the King. When we gather together in His name, He comes as the great and high King, as the storm of His presence to commune with us. And just as Isaiah was cleansed and commissioned by the coal from the altar so too we are cleansed and commissioned by the burning life of God from this altar. Only now, our altar is the cross of Jesus, and He gives us His Spirit-filled life through these gifts of bread and wine as we share them together in faith. The Spirit-fire of God inhabits this meal, and as we eat this bread and drink this wine, our lips are cleansed and we are commissioned to be His servants in the world. And this means at least two things: first, this meal means that you are forgiven, you are cleansed, you are purged. Your sins are covered through the blood of the Lamb. But God is never satisfied with merely forgiving. As soon as He cleanses, He sends. As soon as He forgives, He commissions. And so as you take up these coals upon your lips believe the word of God: you are forgiven. And then search your hearts, who have you been called to speak to? Who must you take the word of God to? Your wife? Your children? Your neighbors? Your coworkers? To strangers in another land? At Pentecost the altar in heaven tipped over, and the Spirit-fire poured down on the Church, coals for every believer. And this means as you take this bread and wine upon your lips, the Lord is asking once again, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ As you eat and drink, the response of faith is always, ‘Here am I. Send me.’

The Jesus Fund

2010-12-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)
This next week we will celebrate Christmas, and while Mammon would always compete for your affection and service, he rears his ugly head at this time of year with particular enthusiasm. Jesus goes on to explain that serving God means a lack of worry. Those who love God and despise Mammon do not worry about what they will eat, what they will wear, what they will drink. Those who place their hope and trust in God do not worry. But Mammon drives his slaves with the whip of worry and fear. And this worry manifests itself in countless nagging questions: Have we spent too much? Have we been generous enough? Have we saved enough? Isn’t that too expensive? How will we ever afford that? How can we spend this much when others do not have any at all? But these fears and worries are satanic. Jesus said, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” Instead, Jesus says, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Seeking first the kingdom means loving God with all that you are: mind, body, soul, strength. It means that all that we have belongs to Jesus. Every cent in our bank accounts, all of our assets, all of our abilities, all of our talents, they all belong to King Jesus, and we lay them all at His feet. And then, because we love Jesus and hate Mammon, we open our hands and we give. We give generously and extravagantly. We give gifts and presents as though we have an endless supply; because we do. Because our King owns everything; He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He doesn’t need a single cent from us, but He loves it when we live like He is the Extravagant Father that He is. So it’s almost Christmas time, and we should want our homes overflowing with presents, and our neighbors should know that we have enormous bank accounts by the generous gifts we give them. It’s not our money, of course, we should explain to their astonished faces, Jesus has a fund that has no end, no limits. Of course, don’t spend money like a slave; don’t spend and grasp like the Gentiles who charge up their credit cards as though we are storing up treasure under the tree. No, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. But when your treasure is in heaven, it is in a bank account that will never run out. So give to the poor, give to missions, give to your children, give to your wife. Give because you love Jesus. Give because everything belongs to Him. Give because God gave His Son, and in Him we have an inheritance that cannot fade away.

Driscoll on Men and Marriage

2010-12-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

This sermon is listed on the Resurgence website as the single most watched sermon by Mark Driscoll. It really is quite good. It's a sermon directed at men, and I think most men would do well to check it out. The sermon actually begins at about 6.5 minutes into the video.

Defying Mammon

2010-12-17T11:38:00.001-08:00

Here are some overlapping and complementary thoughts to my previous post on Francis Chan and Crazy Love, just in time for Christmas:

This is the opening to a recent article in Credenda:

"Idols are not kind. Idols are cruel and satanic. The root meaning of the word "satan" is accuser. Satan, the Devil, was the chief accuser of God's people (Job 1, Rev. 12:10), but every idol, every demon is some offspring of the Devil, accusers and manipulators all. Idols manipulate through guilt; they accuse their slaves and then gleefully watch them twist and cower in the wind.

Mammon is one such idol. Mammon brow beats his victims with accusations. And Mammon rears his ugly head at holidays and feasts and all occasions for buying and gift giving. Of course the frontal assault is the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Don't you wish your breasts looked like this? Don't you wish your car looked like this? Don't you wish you were as cool as that guy on his iPhone? Shouldn't you have a Roth IRA with thousands of dollars in diversified mutual funds? And people envy and lust and charge up their credit cards vainly pursuing happiness with green paper and plastic and megabytes, ripping off their wives and children and grandchildren and the poor. And Jesus roundly condemns such slavery. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Don't build bigger barns. Damn the American Dream. Tonight your life may be required of you. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And where your treasure is, your heart will be also."

Read the rest here.

Classical Education Meets Classic Rock

2010-12-14T13:52:00.001-08:00

"Logos School turns 30 this year, and we have events planned throughout, culminating with this amazing concert gala in the spring. The Logos 30th Birthday Benefit Concert will be a dazzling evening of classic rock and blues featuring Douglas Wilson's Jenny Geddes Band with many other special guests.

This fundraising event will be web cast LIVE for supporters and alumni around the country to enjoy!

Although Logos is the oldest classical and Christian school, it is not immune to the current financial downturn. We pray this event will help insure continued growth and stability - all to the glory of God."

See a video and read more about it here.

The Wisdom of Love

2010-12-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

Jesus our King is both an exalted, mighty Judge and the Lamb that was slain. And it is this Christ in both of these realities that loves His people. This is a wedding feast, a love feast in which this Christ as both sacrificial victim and righteous judge offers Himself to His people. This is your husband, your God, your King. And this means that both of these realities are offered in the love of Christ. As we grow in the love of Christ, we ought to grow up into both slaves who die and kings who reign. We have been made priests and kings to God our Father. And we really must hold both of these together. The temptation is always to veer in one direction or the other. In our flesh everyone wants authority and power and judgment, but without the cross, we quickly turn authority into oppression and tyranny. When God gave Israel the wine of His love, they repeatedly abused it. Rather than receiving His love and loving Him in return, they got drunk and worshiped other gods and made themselves into gods who oppressed the poor and the needy. The other temptation is to see the human tendency to mess this up, and veer off into defeatists. We are poor, homely slaves who screw everything up, and we wallow around in our weakness and inability. But Jesus didn’t become a servant so that He could lose. He humbled Himself so that He might be exalted. He died so that He might be raised. He became a slave so that He might become the King. And so the point is that if we would judge rightly, if we would execute justice for the orphan and the widow. If we would discipline our children in righteousness and love our spouses rightly, we must hold these two realities together. But how can we do that? The answer is love. And that can sound trite and shallow and canned. Everybody says all you need is love. But God says that the single greatest thing that we can do is love Him with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves. Faith and hope are really important but the greatest of these is love. Not touchy-feely fuzzies, whatever-makes-me-feel-good love, but death and resurrection love. The love for our Savior crucified for our sins. The love that dies for the ungodly, the weak, the poor, the undeserving. Love that becomes a servant of all for the glory of the Lord of all. Love as fierce as death. In that love, which we celebrate here, Christ is manifested as both servant and king, slave and lord, and when we embrace that love, when we respond to that love, that love teaches us wisdom, and we grow up into priests and kings. But that’s the key, putting down all your excuses, all your distractions, all your theological categories, all your virtues, all your sins, everything, and crying out with the psalmist: "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." And so here you are, and your Lord gives Himself to you. He loves you, and welcomes you now.

We Are Not Good

2010-12-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

One of the most important things that we confess every week is that we are not good. We are not even a little bit good. We love to compare ourselves to other people; we love to excuse our evil by pointing at other people who we think are worse than ourselves. Well, I’m not as bad as him; I’m not as bad as her. But we are not good. We are backbiters and liars; we are full of jealousies and hatreds. We are quick to take offense; we are slow to forgive. And despite all of this, God is the faithful Lover who prepares this world for us every day. He draws the sun into the sky; He spins the earth in its orbit. He winds up our bodies while we sleep. He puts food in our refrigerators and piles it on our tables. He blows air into our lungs and walks beside us, holding us up, defending us from harm and evil. He runs before us in this world, preparing good things. He sends us warmth and comfort; He sends us friends and gifts. He sent us His Son. He smiles at us day after day, and He speaks to us in His Word, writing us letters, assuring us that He loves us and that we are His and that we are forgiven. And He does this day after day like a faithful Husband, like a faithful Lover. And so often, we hardly even notice. We are so easily distracted. God piles up gifts all around us, and we whine because some of them are not as big as we wanted. We have bad attitudes when there are only 4000 presents, and we think we’re getting ripped off when something doesn’t go our way.

Why do we do this? Why do we snap our children? Why do we get impatient with our spouses? Why do tell lies to our friends? Why do we look the other way when someone is in need? Because we are not good. We are not good. We are evil. We are perverse. We love sin. We love injustice. We are covered in filth. “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags…” (Is. 54:6) And it is only from this position of complete desperation, only from the position of absolute need that we have any hope. It is only when you have come to the very end of yourself. When you see and you are utterly convinced that there is nothing good in you, when you have no hope, when you have no alternative, when you have nowhere else to turn. When you are powerless, when you are disgusted with your sin, when you absolutely hate yourself, it is only then that there is hope. But because we are evil, we do not want to admit that we are evil. And this is one of the most dangerous and challenging aspects of growing up and being in the Church. It’s so perilously easy to believe that being in the Church means that you are good or that you are at least trying to be good. But it is only when we admit completely and whole heartedly that we are not good, it is only when we call out to Jesus in desperation that we can have hope because He only came for people who are not good.

“But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Mt. 9:13)

Advent Traditions

2010-12-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is a repost from a couple of years ago. While we've been playing catch up this year, since we were out of town for the first Sunday in Advent, we have finally caught up as of this afternoon.

---------------

It's been our tradition for a number of years now to celebrate Advent by decorating our tree in stages, a little at a time. We do other fun stuff with the kids throughout the week, but each Sunday in Advent is marked by new decorations on the tree.

We get our Christmas tree on the first Sunday of Advent and begin by decorating the tree with all sorts of fruit. We have apples, grapes, strings of cranberries (or berry-looking beads), and the like. We often have a fruit-themed dinner and/or breakfast for the first Sunday in Advent as well. All of this reminds us of the Garden of Eden, the sin of Adam and Eve, and the fruit of the Tree of Life that has been restored to us in Jesus.

On the Second Sunday of Advent we add salt dough ornaments to the tree along with a variety of different star ornaments. The salt dough and stars remind us of exile, being in a foreign land, and the promise of God to bring the gentiles into Israel. It was of course a star that brought the wisemen from the East to worship Jesus, and that itself is a great reversal of the exile. Instead of Israel being led by foreign kings into the east away from the presence of God (Like Adam and Eve and later the whole nation of Israel), at the birth of Christ we have foreign kings coming west into the presence of God to submit themselves to the King of Israel. Since we're remembering exile during this week, we turn off music for this week (Ps. 137:1-4).

On the Third Sunday of Advent we put up lights. Lots of lights. Actually, we've recently decided to put the lights on the tree on the First Sunday of Advent, but we only turn them on on Sunday. Starting on the Third Sunday of Advent, we put more lights, and keep the lights turned on all day, every day. Jesus is the light of the world who comes to shine in our darkness, so we have a party with the lights, inside and outside.

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent we break out all the gifts, the bows, the ribbons, the stockings, and any of the other snow men or santas or whathaveyous that haven't made it onto the tree or shelves yet. God has given himself to us in the incarnation, and so it seems fitting to make a big deal about presents and gift giving and bows and ribbons and wrapping paper and stockings.

Part of the point of this sort of tradition is to make Advent fun, but also to add more elements of expection to our celebration. Advent is about remembering that God has come to the aid of His people in the past, remembering that God is faithful to remember his promises and come and save His own. Cheifly this means remembering that our God has come for us in Jesus. And that means that this same God will be faithful to remember us and come for us in our day. He promises to meet us as we gather for worship. He promises to hear our prayers and come to our aid in our distress. And He promises to come at the end of the world and raise us up from the dead and renew all things. But here in the middle of the story, it is important to learn the virtue of joyful expectation, hopeful patience. And our Advent tradition is just one way to practice that.

Chan and Crazy Love

2010-12-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Just finished Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, and I really thought it was overwhelmingly another great call to faithful discipleship. However, like Radical by David Platt, I thought it also raised a number of questions.

I agree with these men that it is far too easy for the "American Dream" to become equated with discipleship. Chan asks what would be substantively different about our lifestyles if we suddenly stopped believing. And for so many, very little would change. Agreed. And I think Chan walks a really careful line of insisting on the grace and love of God while challenging Christians to really examine their commitments. He's startling and disconcerting in good ways. Everyone recognizes that discipleship must include sacrifices in time and energy, relationships and evangelism, mercy and prayer, and one of the big issues is money. But Chan is good about seeking to ground that sacrifice in grateful, overflowing love.

Here are several questions for these guys and others raising similar concerns:

1. First, to their credit, these brothers are being careful about not laying out many specific guidelines or rules. Searching the Scriptures, searching our hearts, praying eagerly for direction and opportunities, seeking counsel, and then looking for ways to bless -- all of these things will combine together in God's providence to lead God's people in faithfulness. But this means that it will necessarily look different for different people. It's easy to point to Zacchaeus who gave away half of his income and restored all that he had stolen, or to point to the rich young ruler who is asked to sell everything and follow Jesus. But is there room in these visions of radical sacrifice and radical discipleship for radical obedience that includes large houses, several cars, large tracks of property, and big savings accounts (for some)? We know that there were some in the early church who provided for Christ and the apostles and the early church out of their abundance. They shared money, food, and houses with the needs of the saints. And this means that they didn't give it all away at once. Every disciple must lose their life if they ever want to find them, but not every disciple is called to lose their life in the same way. Everyone must give away everything ultimately, the only questions are when, how, and to whom.

2. Another way to ask the previous question but in a different direction: How does the Dominion Mandate given to Adam and Eve and the gospel's intention to renew all of life and creation fit into "radical discipleship"? While evangelism is obviously central to the Great Commission, so is "discipling" the nations. And presumably, this includes teaching new believers the entire Bible, which includes instructions to pursue artistic endeavors, musical vocations, scientific and medical investigations, etc. In other words, radical discipleship for some will/ought to include going to college and studying hard and spending lots of money to become an excellent doctor and for someone else it might mean becoming a cellist, and for someone else it might mean foregoing college and going on the mission field. The point, similar to the previous one, is that the love of Christ drives the body of Christ into a wonderful diversity of callings and vocations that can and must be used for the building up of the Kingdom. Some people should not send all their money to starving children in the third world; some people should take up their cross and study horticulture at the local university. And other people should send large portions of their income to missionaries or go on the mission field themselves. Crazy love is as broad and diverse as Christ's Kingdom and God's world.

3. What about those who wrongly object to extravagance in the name of mercy? Judas objected to pouring a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus' feet because it might have been given to the poor. In other words, Paul says that there may be some who give their bodies to be burned or give all their belongings away in order to feed the poor, but without love God is not pleased with their actions. Here is where Chan is exactly right in insisting on love, but I do wonder about some who will read his book and start downsizing because they are insecure instead of out of love. And this can result in false assurance. What they really need to do is get right with the Lord, but now they're living off half their incomes and telling themselves that they are obeying.

4. This is an extension of the previous question, but what about the Ananiases of the world? Peter says that for some people who are getting caught up in a radical discipleship movement, it would be better for them not to sell off a bunch of their stocks and bonds and put it in the offering on Sunday. It would have been better for Ananias and Sapphira not to sell that field. It would have been better for them to have studied their hearts and motives and looked to Christ and His word and His Spirit for direction in all honesty. Or in a similar vein: the generous widow who gave her last mite in the temple treasury appears to have been a great saint full of love for God, but Jesus had just finished talking about the way the scribes were devouring widows' houses. When Jesus sees this widow's house devoured, He leaves the temple and orders its demolition. God may be pleased with some peoples' sacrifice, and at the same time He may be very displeased with the fellow who convinced them to give it all away.

5. This is all another way saying that "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" applies to the people turning mercy into sacrifice as much as it applies to people who think God actually prefers sacrifice. Mercy is grace, lovingkindness, joyful love. These are the people who think they need to give more to missions because they think God will be more pleased with them if they have less to spend on themselves. These are the people who volunteer to lead various ministries because they think God will be pleased with their sacrifice of time and energy. We even use the phrase "labor of love" sometimes to describe people who do jobs that they would really rather not do. Of course sometimes we have a duty that we must perform (obedience), and we need to pray for the grace to do it well, do it cheerfully. But if you're heading up the Sunday School program because it's just the right thing to do (*snarl*), and if you don't do it no one else will (*growl*), then you need to tender your cheerful resignation at the earliest opportunity.

6. Do these brothers adequately account for the faithful and radical sacrifice that occurs daily in godly, Christian families? I described this to a friend recently as something of an individualistic streak in some of these conversations which (ironically) are concerned with unity and love in the body of Christ. For example, I was watching a video clip the other day of an interview with Shane Claiborne who was describing his life in the inner city living in a communal house with all sorts of different people from different backgrounds with different priorities, and he was describing the blessing of sanctification that occurs in that context. But then it dawned on me that I experience something very similar to what he's talking about every day. There are four (soon to be five!) other people living in my house with me, and they are all very different from me. Another way of getting at this is pointing out that a faithful, sacrificial disciple of Christ may be giving a good bit of his income away by providing a Christian education for his kids, not to mention food and clothing and a warm house.

Now I fully grant that some Christians hide behind these clarifying statements. Some Christians refuse to take up their crosses to follow Jesus, and they make excuses about their comfort, about what is reasonable, and how they could never do something like that. And Jesus says that such cowardice will be judged. Jesus didn't call us to comfort; He called us to resurrection life. He didn't call us to a comfortable middle class lifestyle; He called us to give up our lives for the sake of the gospel.

But the point here is simply that some people run away from their duties to their families in the name of discipleship and missions. But when the Spirit is at work, when the George Muellers and Jim Elliots and Dietrich Bonhoeffers of the world lay their lives down, it's still crazy and insane, but it's full of crazy love.

The Sacramental Efficacy of Oral Sex

2010-12-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

When it comes to dating/courting relationships, men and women ought to be high church sacramentalists. By this I mean, they must not believe the lie of the "mere memorialists" who claim that the meaning of the sacrament is only supplied by those who faithfully "remember" the death and resurrection of Christ for their sins. On this view, if a little kid thinks its only a snack in the middle of church, for them, it is only a snack in the middle of church. The efficacy of the sacrament is wholly dependent upon the active, conscious application of the sacrament by the person eating the bread and drinking the wine. And it's pretty much the same with the water of baptism. On this view, you need to clench your fists, hold your breath, and close your eyes tight and *really* believe while you get dunked in the tub or else you just got all wet in front of a bunch of people in church.

But our culture has imbibed this understanding of sacraments and applied it dutifully to all gestures and rituals. The world has taken notes from our play book and has faithfully applied our unbelief to symbols and sacraments in every area of life. And this shows up particularly strong in the physical, sexual realm. Holding hands, kissing, embracing, oral sex, intercourse, and everything in between is gesture and ritual and symbol and sacrament in human relations. And what the world wants you to believe is that it only means what you want it to mean. It only means what you think it means. It can be for you whatever you want it to be. If it only means "having a good time" or "a little fling" or "a committed, non-marital relationship" then that's all well and good.

And because we have this subjective, mere memorialist position on sex, it doesn't matter if you're having sex with your wife, "a committed partner," or your neighbor's Dachshund. It means whatever you want it to mean. It means whatever seems right to you.

But this is nonsense because God made the world, and the world is infused with His glory, His meaning, and this means that everything has an objective, God ordained significance and power. In other words, all of life is sacramental in this broad sense, and this means that kissing and oral sex have meaning apart from what is going on in the participants' minds. Just as Baptism and the Lord's Supper have objective meaning and significance apart from what people may or may not be thinking while celebrating the sacraments. The same thing applies to the Word of God read and preached. God's Word is God's Word whether you are listening or not, whether you are paying attention or not.

And these sacraments are powerful means of grace, power lines of the Spirit that are meant to communicate life and health and strength and mercy when received in faith. But when they are trifled with, when they are belittled, ignored, or abused, they short circuit and explode (to extend the analogy), and for this reason many have ended up sick, maimed, and dead (1 Cor. 11:27-30).

In other words, God's guidelines for life, for sexual morality, for marital faithfulness are not just random rules. His guidelines are not arbitrary. The reason why God wants His people to guard their sexuality is because it is holy and potent. It is holy because God's people are holy and the Spirit dwells in them (1 Cor. 6:18-19). The marriage bed is honorable, and we are to honor it and protect it from being defiled because it has the power to give life or destroy it (Heb. 13:4).

Obviously, this is an argument against fooling around before marriage, but more importantly, the point is to explain why physical affection is so potent and powerful. People who swing through relationships, sleeping with multiple sex partners are going to have some major scarring. You can't go through life sucking on electrical outlets and expect to have a beautiful face. But even the more commonly accepted "Christian" practice of randomly and casually kissing various people in dating or courting relationships is asking for trouble, playing with fire. Why? Because gestures and rituals are sacramental; because kissing has a deep meaning of committed love. Now, of course kissing someone and then deciding they are not "the one" for you is way different than sleeping with them. I've touched live wires in my house on occasion, and that sharp vibration is a lot smaller than the electrical explosions that sometimes blow peoples' bodies apart. I'm not trying to equate kissing and sex. But kissing is sexual, and so is holding hands and embracing. And just to fend off the accusations, this isn't an argument against holding hands or kissing before marriage.

The point is that we should want our actions to match reality. We want our actions (and what they mean) to be consistent with what we mean. We want outlets that can handle the voltage. If she is a Christian sister who you might want to marry, there are signs and symbols for interest and care and low level affection. This might be brief hugs, sitting close to one another, perhaps holding hands. If you mean, I love you and I want you to be my wife, then there are physical signs and symbols for that reality. This might be kissing and embracing. And when you say "I do," and she is your wife, then there are signs and symbols for *that* reality. And in the context of Christian marriage, God expects His people to get naked and have a good time.

And I know couples who have courted for a few weeks and then got married, and I've known others that stretched it out over a year or two. But this requires some wisdom in pacing the momentum of the relationship. There's no biblically mandated time period for dating and marriage, but it is biblically mandated that we honor the marriage bed and that means honoring the highly charged sexuality of male/female relationships. If the marriage bed has an objective, sacramental meaning, then so do all the steps we take to get there. Foreplay is a liturgy that is going somewhere and it means that.

The God of No Shortages

2010-12-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

As we have meditated this morning on Isaiah’s prophecy, we have noted the sacrificial and priestly themes in the text. When God strips Zion bare, He removes her skin, washes her, sprinkles blood, and then lights her on fire with the glory of the Spirit. These are the actions of the priest in offering a sacrifice. God is promising to turn Israel into a living sacrifice, and as we have just noted, this is what happens at Pentecost. In Romans 12, Paul famously says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” And I want to point out two things: First, notice that Paul beseeches the Romans by the mercies of God. The word here for mercies is “oiktirmos” which means compassion, mercy, or pity, but the “oik” prefix is usually found on words that have to do with a house or a household. The word for house is “oikos.” Perhaps another way to translate this would be “provision” or “storehouse.” Paul exhorts the Romans to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice because of, or on the basis of God’s great provisions for them. He will go on to exhort them to love one another, to use their various gifts in the body, to show hospitality, to bless those who persecute them, and to feed their enemies when they are hungry. The basis for living sacrificially is the provision of God, the storehouse of God’s mercy. In God’s house, there are no shortages. But secondly, notice that Paul urges them to offer their bodies (plural) as a living sacrifice (singular). And it is evident that this is on purpose since Paul goes on to say that although there are many members in the one body, we being many are one body, and individually members of one another. And this begins to explain how it is not insane to live with sacrificial abandon. It is because we are part of a family, a house over which God rules, in which the Spirit works His gifts and mercies according to His wisdom. And the source of this grace and mercy, the one sacrifice in which all are made one, is this meal, our crucified King, our Savior, our Lord, our Husband. This meal means not only that your sins are forgiven, but that you are part of a family, a house, and the Lord of this house is the King of the world and all that we need is ours through Him. So as you offer the bread and wine to one another, consider the bread and the wine our salvation in Christ, but also consider how that salvation is mediated through the Church, through the body of Christ. Consider these gifts of bread and wine to prefigure the gifts that you are going to give one another at Christmas, the bills you might help one another pay when things are hard, the countless ways we must give to one another in this family, in this house, so that we can be the provisions of God to and for another, so that we might all together and with all the saints become that one living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God in Christ. And this means joyful generosity overflowing in love. So come to the feast.

Joyful and Sober

2010-12-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

Advent is a season full of joyful expectation, but it is also a season of sober preparation. And we really do need to work hard at holding these two things together. Our two greatest dangers are either going along with the cultural flow of shopping and parties and excitement, which when done rightly is basically jumping up and down on the joyful expectation side of things. And this can be wonderful and good. But our other danger is overreacting to imbalance in this area, and veering off into gloomy, cranky austerity, sneering and humbugging all the overindulgence and joyfoppery. But Advent is a season of joyful expectation and sober preparation. It should be joyful and sobering to consider the coming of our King.

In Matthew 22, Jesus tells the parable of the wedding feast in which a King invites his friends to the wedding of his son. Many of the intended guests spurn the invitation and kill the servants delivering the invitations, so they are destroyed and the invitation goes out to the highways and all are invited, good and bad alike until the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king comes to see the guests he found a man who did not have a wedding garment on, and the king had his servants bind the man and cast him out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This parable comes just shortly after the parable of the two sons, in which the first son said that he would not obey his father but later went and obeyed, while the second son said he would obey but then did not.

Jesus’ parables are warnings in two different directions. He warns against those who are disobedient and in high handed rebellion, those who refuse His commands, those who reject Him openly and explicitly, but Jesus is also warning against those who say they will obey, who say they will come to the wedding, but who then in fact do not obey, who do not prepare for the wedding. This is the second Sunday in Advent, but every Sunday is an Advent Sunday. Every Sunday the King comes to see the wedding guests. And ultimately every one of us will meet the King face to face.

And this is the point: Do not use Advent to merely get ready for Christmas. Use Advent as a time to prepare to meet your King. None of us knows the day or hour when we will meet Him. Our lives are frail and fragile, and our God holds the breath of every living creature in His wise hands. Whether Christ returns or we are taken from this life to be with Christ, we will appear before the King. The King will come, and every one of us will stand before Him and give an account for our lives. Are you clinging to Christ? Are all your hopes bound up in Him? Have you already died, and is your life hidden with God in Christ? Then by the grace of God, to live is Christ and to die is gain, and this is cause for joyful expectation.

Jude Carnahan

2010-12-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

“And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy – everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.” (Is. 3:3-5)

Pastor Leithart has already described how God is coming to strip away all the pseudo-priestly ornaments and costumes of idolatrous Israel, and the result is that they will be restored to holiness, washed clean, sprinkled with blood, and the Spirit will hover over them in the cloud and the fire. This is all priestly language: the sons of Aaron were set apart as holy to God, they were washed in water and blood was placed on their ears, thumbs, and big toes, and they were anointed with oil that made them glow like the fire of the Spirit. In other words, God is planning to judge Israel, and in the judgment He will restore them, He will remake them and re-establish them as a true priesthood.

And we see that this is exactly what happens at Pentecost. At Pentecost the Spirit is poured out on the apostles who have been washed in baptism and cleansed by faith in the blood of Christ, and then flames of fire appear over them. They become priests, anointed by the oil of the Spirit, living sacrifices for the world. And this is described in short hand by Peter when the crowds ask, ‘What shall we do?’ And Peter says, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). What Isaiah promised began to occur at Pentecost, and it continues to happen at every baptism.

It’s no accident that in the early church, baptisms were frequently performed with the person stripping completely naked before being sprinkled with water. Just as Isaiah foretold, God strips us bare and then invites us to be washed and cleansed and purged and then anoints us with His Spirit, and His Spirit is our covering. But this should also remind us of the Garden of Eden. When God strips us bare and calls us holy and cleanses us and covers us with the glory of His Spirit, this means that we are being ushered back into the Garden of Eden. We are laid bare before God, and we are unashamed because His Glory-Spirit is our covering. The righteousness of Christ is our clothing.

But we quickly over-spiritualize this frequently, and we forget Christ’s very concrete commands about trusting God to provide for all of our needs. Being a priest in the Old Covenant meant that you had no inheritance in the Promised Land. The tabernacle and the worship of God was the provision of the Levites, it was their inheritance. In the Garden of Eden, it was the same: to be under the covering of the Glory-Spirit is for God to be our Husband, the one who provides our food and clothing. To be anointed as priests in the New Covenant is to be married to God, who promises to cover us, to provide for all our needs, He promises to be our inheritance.

Today, Jude is being ordained into this priesthood. He is being stripped bare of all the accoutrements of the world, all the ways in which Mammon seeks to provide for us, like a sleazy man trying to woo us away from our husband. Today, Jude is joined to the Bride and married to Christ, and this means that God promises to cover Jude with His Glory-Spirit. God promises to provide for Jude and protect Him. But this provision and protection is not a bare minimum. God does not promise to get Jude by. He promises a rich inheritance, the inheritance of Eden, the inheritance of a thousand Promised Lands, all the riches of the world and more. But if this is true, then Jude and every baptized Christian is called to live generously and frivolously. Your Father in heaven owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He will never run out.

So Ben and Abra as you raise your son, teach him not to worry about what he will eat or wear. Teach him instead that he is a priest, an Adam in a garden full of food and the Spirit is His clothing, His covering. Teach him and model for him how to live like this is true: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, befriend the lonely, give yourselves away to one another and to those around you, and teach him to do the same because he has an inheritance that will never run out, grace that will never dry up.

My Brothers

2010-12-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is a short clip my brother Andy filmed and edited and submitted to a film fest, starring my youngest brother, Jeremy.

Cute Piggy Banks

2010-12-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Saving for retirement, saving up an inheritance for our grandchildren, saving up for the disaster that might hit is like little kids putting their nickels and dimes and pennies in a piggy bank. This is good practice; there is wisdom here (Pr. 13:22). But it's also kind of cute because we have a Father in heaven who provides us with all that we need (Mt. 6:25-34).

Glory and Provision

2010-12-04T10:13:00.001-08:00

One other thought on the Spirit as a glory and covering:

In both Genesis and in Isaiah, at least part of the point has to do with provision and protection. A husband provides for his bride, and this is exactly what Yahweh did in the Garden of Eden and what Yahweh promises to do for His people in Isaiah. He insists upon being the one who clothes them and feeds them. That is the sign that He is in fact their Husband. Feeding themselves and clothing themselves or allowing others to feed and clothe them are acts of infidelity and adultery.

And surely this is what Jesus has in mind when He urges His disciples not to worry about what they will eat or drink or what they will wear (Mt. 6:25). When Jesus says that we cannot serve two masters/lords, perhaps another fitting translation would be no one can serve two "husbands." No bride can have two husbands; you cannot be married to both God and mammon.

Therefore, Jesus say, if God is your husband/lord/master, then trust Him to provide for all of your needs. Be a faithful bride, and do not worry, do not fear. God has the entire world at His disposal; He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He still has all of the treasures of Eden at His fingertips. His provision and abundance is His glory to cover us with.

It is His glory to multiply our flour and oil, to multiply the loaves and the fish, to pay our bills, to provide for all our needs according to His riches in glory.

Bridal Glory

2010-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

I see that Peter Leithart has also commented on this "covering" language, and He noted that it can also refer to bridal chambers (cf. Ps. 19:6, Joel 2:16).

And this fits with the Edenic imagery. Eden was the original trysting place, where God was married to His people, where the bride was naked and unashamed, and where Yahweh covered His bride with His glory.

Covering for Shame or Glory

2010-12-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

In Isaiah 3:16-4:6, Yahweh says that He will strip the daughters of Zion bare, but then in their nakedness, He says that they will be beautiful fruit (4:2), holy (4:3), cleansed/purged (4:3), and glorious (4:4). And over all the glory will be a "covering," a "tabernacle," a place of refuge from the sun and the rain (4:5-6).

For Israel to be stripped bare is for Israel to be returned to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed and where they had free access to God. In that state, God's own glory and Spirit was the "covering" for Adam and Eve.

But after Adam and Eve sin they see their own nakedness and are ashamed. So they sew fig leaves together to cover their nakedness, but later God provides clothes for them. God wanted to be their covering; He wanted His glory to be their shelter. He gave them food and shelter in the garden, but they rebelled and sought to clothe themselves and feed themselves. They sought their own food and glory. This, Isaiah says, will still be the instinct of some even after Yahweh has stripped the daughters of Zion bare. They will plead with a man to give them his name but they will insist upon providing their own food and clothing (Is. 4:1).
Type your summary here
While it's not the same word for "covering" in Genesis, the word is used in a few contexts that are similar. David flees Jerusalem in shame, "covering" his head and crying (2 Sam. 15:30). Haman's head is "covered" in shame (Est. 6:12, 7:8). In Jeremiah people "cover" their heads in shame (14:3-4).

There will always be a covering, the question will always be which covering, whose glory will cover us? And in Isaiah, Yahweh says He will strip Jerusalem bare so that she might come back into the garden and be covered in the glory of the Spirit.

Proverbs 30:13-15

2010-12-04T09:09:00.001-08:00

Prov. 30:13 There is a generation -- oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.

This proverb links to the previous one with the word “eyes.” “These generation” cannot see themselves, and therefore they cannot see others around them either. They cannot see the fact that they are covered in their own excrement, and this is because they are proud and greedy.

Here, the pride is underlined. As we have noted many times, eyes are the organs of judgment, and when people only do what is right in their own eyes, they set themselves up as the standard and the judge and are sure to quickly fall into folly. The reason people cannot see their own sins is frequently not because of pure ignorance but because of vigorous systems of self-justification, lowering the bar and reformulating the standards to make ourselves fit. We frequently do this through comparisons: well, I’m not as bad as so and so. But the standard is always Christ. The law is the law of love.

Jesus warns against “evil eyes” and “bad eyes” (Mt. 6:22-23, Mk. 7:22, Lk. 11:34) which according to the law is refusing to be generous to the poor (Dt. 15:9) and the flip side of this is greed (Prov. 28:22). The parable of the laborers in the vineyard uses this expression in the same way (Mt. 20:15). But the difference between good eyes and bad eyes is the difference between wisdom and folly (Eccl. 2:14).

Eyes can be lifted up to the Lord in faithfulness (Ps. 121:1, 123:1, Is. 40:26, etc.). But lifted up eyes are also idolatrous and this is connected with injustice and oppression of the poor (Ez. 18:6, 12, 15, 23:27, 33:25). This contrast suggests some sense of dependence, hope, refuge sought in wherever the eyes are lifted toward. And anything other than God and His provision is clearly arrogant and proud.

But this also adds another dimension to the healing of blind eyes. To open eyes and restore sight is to restore the ability to see our own sin and poverty and the ability to see the needs around us. To open the eyes of the blind is to transform graspers into givers (Is. 42:7). When our eyes are lifted to the God of heaven, we see His provision and inheritance which is far more than we need and this makes us generous (Acts 28:16). But John says that greed and pride has a spiral effect: hating a brother is itself darkness and a blinding of the eyes (1 Jn. 2:11). And hatred is not merely active assault. Hatred is the lack of active love and mercy in actions and deeds and in truth (1 Jn. 2:16-18).

Prov. 30: 14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and whose fangs are like knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.

And just in case we did not catch what Agur meant by “lifted up eyes,” it becomes more explicit in this next proverb where the oppression of the poor is central.

This proverb hinges on the main verb “devour/eat” which makes the swords and butcher knives more graphic. This generation feasts on the poor and the needy, and this generation chews them with their teeth and fangs. The language of cutting and chopping with fangs and teeth is beastly and savage. Literally, they consume the needy from Adam which underlines the image of God in these human beings. This generation devours the poor like beasts, but they are like predators of human beings. They are like beasts hunting and devouring people. In other words, the poor are more human than the rich and powerful (cf. Dt. 32:24).

We noted in back in 30:12 the sacrificial/ceremonial connotations of this generation considering themselves “pure.” They are covered in shit, but they think they are ceremonially clean and appropriate for worship. They justify themselves and lift up their eyes in prayer and worship, and here they are ironically offering sacrifice as well.

Throughout the sacrificial system, worship of Yahweh with sacrifice included meals, eating before God, and even the fire of the offering “consumes” the pieces of the animal symbolizing God’s own “consumption” of His people. But here, this arrogant generation is feasting on the poor and the needy. They are dismembering the poor and the needy and eating them up.

This is why David prays that God would break the teeth of the wicked (Ps. 3:7, 58:6), and this is why God broke Israel’s teeth in the exile, making her harmless to the poor and needy that she was devouring (Lam. 3:16). Micah suggests that when people are chewing up the poor, they do not do it with diabolical laughter, but they are frequently talking about peace and listening to the preachers and prophets (Mic. 3:5).

These generation’s greed and selfishness is aptly summarized by the following verse:

Prov. 30:15: The leech has two daughters – Give and Give!

The leech is a bloodsucker that is never satisfied. This is what “this generation” is like, and it flows out of the “three things that are never satisfied, four that never say ‘enough!’” Waltke says that this is probably a reference to the “horse leech” which has two sucking organs, one to attach itself to its host and the other to suck blood with. The leech is a parasite; it lives off the life of others. And this is exactly the opposite of love. This is hatred of neighbors, living without care or concern for how our actions may affect others.

This underlines the greed of the “this generation” again. And it may be more helpful to think of “this generation” as a culture, a culture that trusts the provision of Yahweh, or a culture that demands to be its own god, its own provider. Think of Israel in the wilderness. The beastly empires that Daniel seas in his vision have “huge iron teeth” to devour everything in their way (Dan. 7:5, 7, 19, cf. Joel 1:6). Thus, "generation" is not merely people born in particular century or decade, but in this context "generation" is a way of life, a culture, an empire.

This kind of arrogant greed starts with dishonoring parents because parents are one of God’s first provisions of us. Long before we "woke up" in this world, God was generously providing for all of our needs through our parents, but rejection of parents’ provision and wisdom occurs because of pride and selfishness, and this necessarily results in the oppression of the poor and defenseless.

Having Two Legs

2010-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, one more:

“When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”—G. K. Chesterton

Chesterton makes something of the same point from a different angle in his short novel Manalive, and now you know where the name of this blog comes from.

Grace before Everything

2010-11-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton

HT: Justin Taylor @between2worlds

Could You be Satisfied?

2010-11-30T08:19:00.000-08:00

John Piper writes in God is the Gospel:

The critical question for our generation - and for every generation - is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

[citied by Francis Chan in Crazy Love, 100-101]

Advent Readings

2010-11-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

A friend and fellow CREC pastor, Randy Booth, has put together a collection of daily scripture readings and devotionals for the season of Advent and the 12 days of Christmas. He is posting those daily over on his blog, and you can sign up to have them sent to you directly through email.

You can find the readings here.

The Lord Fights for You

2010-11-30T08:11:00.001-08:00

“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Ex. 14:13-14)

This meal is a weekly reminder that God fights for you, but God not only fights for you. He wants you to let Him fight for you. Now of course God is sovereign and omnipotent, and He is not really bound by our stubborn resistance to His will. But there is a vast difference between the stiff necks of Israel in the wilderness and David, the Psalmist who learns to wait on the Lord. There is a difference between Peter lashing out wildly with a sword, cutting of the ear of the High Priest’s servant in complete panic and the simple, confident answers of our Lord while insults and lies are flying through the air like so many missiles. What is going on here? You are being fed with bread from heaven. You are being fed with heavenly food. God has prepared a table for you, in the midst of your enemies, in the wilderness, wherever. God has led you to this point. You are not here by accident. You are here because God has summonsed you here. And God calls you here as your King, and you are His armies, His hosts. This means that you are called to go out of here in a few minutes as God’s conquering army. This means evangelism, this means missions, this means carrying out your vocations with excellence and joy. This means loving your wife and doing everything you can to serve her. This means loving your husband and doing all that you can to serve him. This means loving your children, spending time with, playing with them, reading to them, wrestling with them. This means inviting your neighbors over for dinner. This means giving sacrificially of your time and resources. This means living like this world belongs to King Jesus. Because it does. That may all sound daunting. That may seem impossible. You may look up and only see enemies charging down at you, but the Word of the Lord is to stand still and hold your peace. This doesn’t mean stand still and be useless. This means relax and do your job. Quit panicking and acting like everything is going to fall apart any minute. You are at the table of the King of the Universe, and when He commissions His servants, He knows what He’s doing. He says hold your peace, trust Me. And in minute you’re going to taste His peace and swallow His peace, His shalom. And then you are called to walk in that peace. Because His peace is your shield, your high tower, your chariot, and He fights for you.

God is not a Scrooge

2010-11-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

As we consider the story of the Exodus and the highly ambiguous record of the Israelites in Egypt and even after coming out of Egypt, and God’s great acts of deliverance throughout the story, we can only conclude that we serve a God of overwhelming grace and mercy. We serve a God who loves to forgive, who loves to cleanse, who loves to heal, who loves to set free. If God is anything, He is the indulgent Grandfather, the dismissive Judge, the generous Fool. God is merciful and gracious and longsuffering and keeps mercy and forgives sins for thousands of generations; and He only remembers sins for 3 or 4 generations. He remembers mercy, He remembers forgiveness, He remembers grace, and God loves to forget about sin. He can only remember back a few minutes and everything else is love and grace and mercy. In 1 Jn. 1:9, the apostle famously reminds us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And I don’t think we usually hear carefully what John is saying that God does. John is not saying that as we confess our sins one by one, God will then forgive us our sins one by one, as though He has a ledger in heaven with all your sins listed and a box next to each one in which He checks off whenever you remember to confess one. God is not a Scrooge. God is not counting yours sins. God has no ledger. The promise from the apostle is that when we confess our sins, whatever ones we can remember, whatever ones the Spirit shows us, when we confess those, God washes us completely clean. He promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we confess our one or two or three sins, whether they are big or small or medium, God forgives us those and everything else. It’s like asking for three dollars off a billion dollar debt and having the whole thing cancelled. It’s as though we come to God having played out in a big mud puddle covered head to toe in filth and grime, and we ask God if He could please wash our hands, we think they might have gotten a little dirty, and God in His mercy, smiles and joyfully washes everything clean. But it’s even better than that. If anyone sins, the apostle says, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Not only does He wash us clean, but God the Son is our constant representative in heaven. And that means that when God looks at your record, He only sees Jesus. He only sees the Righteous One, He only sees His Beloved Son crucified for sin. God only hears Jesus saying, he’s with me, she’s with me. They’re with me. And this means that we serve a God of overwhelming grace and mercy. We serve a God who loves to forgive, who looks for excuses to show mercy and grace. And this means that we must be this way with one another, with our children, and with our enemies.

Exodus 14:1-31: Mighty Deeds for a Mighty God

2010-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

Introduction
The crossing of the Red Sea is the climax of the Exodus from Egypt. It is the death and resurrection of Israel, the triumphant overthrow of all her enemies, and the revelation that Yahweh is God, and He fights for His people.

Yahweh’s Armies
Israel is going up out of Egypt in military formation, as the armies of Yahweh (12:37, 41, 51, 13:18). This means that Pharaoh’s “camp” is coming up against Yahweh’s “camp” (Ex. 14:19-20). It looks like Pharaoh’s 600 chariots are coming down on a defenseless refugee camp, but God thinks of it much differently: Israel is Yahweh’s victorious army (having just plundered the Egyptians), and now Yahweh is planning to ambush them and finish them off (14:3-4). It’s the Angel of God that is leading them; Yahweh is in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (13:21, 14:19). The cloud is shade in the hot, desert wilderness by day and warmth and protection by night. And this glory cloud is a shield for Israel (14:19-20).

It’s worth noting how many times the words chariots (12) and horsemen (7) appear in this story (in Ex. 14-15). Chariots were like the ancient world’s version of a tank. But God’s glory cloud is also associated with chariots in Scripture (Ez. 1, 10). Remember the horses and chariots of fire that take Elijah up into heaven (2 Kgs. 2:11) and the chariots that surround Elisha in the city when the Arameans attack (2 Kgs. 6:14-17, cf. 2 Kgs. 7:6). God is the chariot of Israel. It was the Angel of Yahweh who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and it is the Angel of the Lord who is associated elsewhere with the captain of Yahweh’s hosts (Josh. 5:13ff).

Not only is Israel Yahweh’s army, not only are His angels His army, but Yahweh is the hero of the army of Israel and fights for them (14:14, 25). Even though Israel’s response is initially unbelief and fear (14:10-13), Yahweh chooses carefully which battles to lead his people into (13:17, 14:3-4). And God is setting an ambush for Pharaoh (14:3-4, 17-18). Psalm 77 describes Yahweh’s glory cloud as a mighty thunderstorm (77:16-20), and Moses says that God took off their chariot wheels (14:24-25). And this is how the Lord overthrew the entire Egyptian army (14:27-28) and saved Israel (14:29-31).

God Chooses our Battles
God always chooses our battles. Sometimes this is plain and obvious with severe sickness or disease, and sometimes it is less obvious with making plans for the future. As much as possible, we should make sure that this is where God wants us, and then we should dig in with faith.

The Lord Fights for You
It would not have been more faithful for one of the Israelites to charge the Egyptian chariots with a pitchfork. Faith means watching God fight for us, and it means watching God fight for us when it looks like He might not. And our nation does not know how to do this because we have not shown them.

Mighty Deeds for a Mighty God
TRC exists as a collection of sinner-saints in Moscow, Idaho who have been delivered from bondage to sin, death, and Satan and brought out through the waters of baptism into the freedom of the Triune God in His body, the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-7, Col. 2:8-16). The God who saved Israel in the first Exodus is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead in the second Exodus, and when Jesus sends us to serve and love the city of Moscow, He does so as the commander of the armies of God. He sends us with His full authority and power (Mt. 28:18-20). Our job is to see the mighty works, fear the God of heaven, and believe Him and His Word (Ex. 14:31).

Top Five Reasons I Can't Get into Chuck

2010-11-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

At the recommendation of several friends, I have watched half of the first season of the hit television sitcom Chuck, starring Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski.

Now I certainly grant at least two possibilities that might undermine what follows. Those two possibilities are: 1. My sample size is much too small and creates an inaccurate picture of the series as a whole. 2. I'm just getting old and cranky.

But I just can't get into Chuck, and in fact, thus far, all I can do is cheerfully object to it's popularity. And here are my top five reasons:

5. It's annoying not to know what general genre of television sitcom I am in. Is this a comedy, an action thriller, a soap opera, a mystery, or what? Do I take you seriously when you say there is a bomb or are you going to make a joke about it and take off all your clothes in order to change before going back to your hot dog stand? Was I supposed to care?

4. There are two reasons for doing a little bit of everything (comedy, romance, action-adventure-mystery, documentary): one reason is that you have a good story to tell, and good stories do frequently include elements of every genre. Another reason is that you don't have a good story to tell and you are trying to cover that up with explosions and undressing women and cheap one-liners. As you can tell, I tend to feel that there is more of the latter going on than the former.

3. I resent shows that try to manipulate me. I want a good story, character development, intelligent humor, whatever to win me, but I do not like feeling manipulated. And I feel utterly manipulated when I watch Chuck. Some goofy jokes, a few explosions, a little hand to hand combat, sexy ninja girls fighting each other and fending off the bad guys, a little bit of romantic suspense to up the sexual frustration of the hero, and viola, you have Chuck. There are hooks for everyone. But I don't feel the love, I feel used.

2. And this leads more specifically to a particularly annoying manipulation ploy. I understand that living in modern day America there will be a certain amount of skin that just comes with the territory. And I have no patience for the prudish fanaticism of some who would prefer all women to go around in burlap sacks. But there is a big difference between a bit of Jane Austen cleavage and the moving scenery down at Hooters. Faithful guys rule their minds and eyes, give God thanks for beautiful women, love their wives, and spend goodish amounts of time counting clouds, looking at the ground or finding nondescript bits of the forehead to talk to. It's what good guys do, and it's cool. Even though we could wish for a safer world, we're guys and we fight dragons. But I just can't get into a show trying to cross Jack Bauer with Baywatch. And frankly, I wonder how many Christian husbands are getting little, subtle jollies from the spectacle, while insisting all along that it's just a funny-suspense-action-adventure-fantasy-scifi-thriller-drama-documentary-horror-comedy show.

1. OK, so really most of these objections blur together, and this is probably a summary statement more than anything, but the number one reason why I just can't get into Chuck is because I don't believe in Chuck. I don't believe the characters; I don't believe they really care. I don't believe the world they're in. Now, don't get me wrong, I realize that there is a fantasy/scifi element to the story. The title character Chuck has a microchip thingy in his brain that is filled with all the CIA records and when he sees certain people or objects it causes him to "flash" through all the archives and help the two *real* CIA agents solve the mysteries. Maybe that's even a cool idea for a show. But I don't believe the writers of the show are really intelligent enough to make that story fly. I suspect that they have had a few good ideas that they are now busy trying to decorate and repackage a few hundred times with short skirts and explosions and one-liners.

Again, I fully admit that this analysis may be severely inadequate given my limited sampling of the show. In fact, given the show's popularity, I hope I'm wrong. But at this point I don't plan to keep watching. I admit that I have laughed a number of times at some of the antics that take place between Chuck and his short, oblivious, sex infatuated co-worker, Morgan. But where a few points are scored with the humor, I'm unable to care or believe the rest of the story going on. And when the producers quickly flash to another female chest after a particularly choppy bit of dialogue, I can only feel manipulated, conned, and consequently nonplussed.

For all their weaknesses, I'm still more impressed with The Office and The Simpsons.

Porn as a Public Health Menace

2010-11-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of articles from last spring collaborating with a recent report from the Witherspoon Institute's recent study on the social effects of pornography.

An anonymous woman writes about her own experience in the National Review Online:

"Imagine a drug so powerful it can destroy a family simply by distorting a man’s perception of his wife. Picture an addiction so lethal it has the potential to render an entire generation incapable of forming lasting marriages and so widespread that it produces more annual revenue — $97 billion worldwide in 2006 — than all of the leading technology companies combined. Consider a narcotic so insidious that it evades serious scientific study and legislative action for decades, thriving instead under the ever-expanding banner of the First Amendment."

You can read the rest of her piece here.

While she will conclude with suggestions for government studies and health care provisions for this "drug abuse," which I'm skeptical of, the overall thrust is a broad ranging acknowledgment of what the Bible has said all along.

You can't have a society of men acting like beasts and that not have enormous ramifications for the society. Proverbs says that lusting after the seductress reduces a man to a crust of bread, it burns him, and it will ultimately kill him.

"Do not lust after the her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot colas, and his feet not be seared?" (Prov. 6:25-28)

"Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths; for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death." (Prov. 7:25-27)

Katherine Kersten also has an article summarizing a number of the broad effects of porn on our society:

"Pornography is seeping into our society at every level. It plays a role in many divorces, according to a recent survey of family lawyers. It has spilled into popular culture through songs, movies and music videos. The number of TV sex scenes nearly doubled between 1998 and 2005. Porn may even have influenced rogue American soldiers' abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The acts they perpetrated included weird elements of sexual humiliation."

You can read the rest of her article here.

Women of the Reformation or Here's Hoping My Wife Will Open a Brewery

2010-11-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

There's a cool post here on some of the influential women of the Reformation including this on Katherine von Bora, Martin Luther's wife:

Katherine von Bora was a former nun who married Martin Luther. They were married for 21 years and had six children. Her quick tongue, humor, and stubbornness matched Martin’s—no small feat. She managed their home (which was frequently full of students), had a large garden and livestock, fished and farmed, and ran a brewery. She also managed their money and took care of their extended household. Martin called her “My Lord Katie.”

You can read the rest here.

Slavery breeds Captivity

2010-11-17T04:29:00.000-08:00

Michael Walzer again:

While Israel entered the promised land, much of their experience in that land was a return to Egypt. Walzer explains: "So the land of Canaan did not exactly flow with milk and honey, but there was milk and honey and flesh to fill the pots. The extended meaning of the promise -- the end of oppression -- that was more problematic. Pharaoh reappeared in Moabite and Philistine form and then in Israelite form... The textual explanation for the new oppression is simple and straightforward: 'The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.'... The prophets make a larger argument: the oppression of Israelites by foreigners finds its deepest cause in the oppression of Israelites by one another. The argument is briefly and sharply put in the first chapter of Lamentations: 'Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude.' (1:3)

Is it a sin to vote?

2010-11-15T14:22:00.001-08:00

David Brewer, a justice of the US Supreme Court delivered a lecture to students at Yale University in 1902 which included this explanation of the sanctity of democracy in America:

"[The voting booth] is the temple of American institutions. No single tribe or family is chosen to watch the sacred fires... Each of us is a priest. To each is given the care of the ark of the covenant. Each one ministers at its altars."

(Cited by Michael Walzer in Exodus and Revolution, 113)

And if this religious fervor has done anything in the last century, it has only grown. Which means of course that conscientious Christians must be asking themselves, 'Which deity is being served at this temple?' And then very quickly after that, we ought to wonder if it is a sin to vote and if not yet, when?

What would it take to make casting a ballot in the general election on par with tossing a pinch of incense onto the altar before the emperor? At what point should Christians politely refuse to say the Pledge or sing the National Anthem or God Bless America at the ballgames?

Christians, War, and Violence

2010-11-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

In 1970, John Howard Yoder described the need for an open and vigorous discussion between the views he calls "chastened pacifism" and "chastened non-pacifism."

He describes "chastened pacifism" as a pacifism "which differs from the 'classical humanistic' pacifism... in its awareness of the problems of sin and the state." "Chastened non-pacifism" on the other hand is the "position of those Christian thinkers who, although they advocate, at least as a possibility, an eventual Christian participation in war, concede an element of truth in Christian pacifism." (14-15)

Yoder further summarizes Barth:

"Barth begins with a resounding insistence that there is no realm in which the Christian duty to return good for evil, to turn the other cheek, to go a second mile, does not apply... Both Jesus (Mt. 5:38-42) and Paul (1 Cor. 6; Rom. 12) speak of the conscious and intentional abandon of one's legitimate rights and of self out of love. Barth says, 'These Gospel words belong to those of which it is said that they shall not pass away. They express precisely not just a well-intentioned exaggeration of some sort of humaneness or a special rule for good and especially good Christians. They express rather the command of God which is relevant and binding for all men, in the basic sense of that command and in the sense which until further notice must be taken as final.' (CD 430)"

(Karl Barth and the Problem of War, John Howard Yoder, 33)