The View From My Chair

Civil and Uncivil Discourse in the Church

2012-02-01T09:41:00.002-05:00

T. J. Addington, once again, brings a godly perspective to a common problem in the church universal today. Considering the upcoming elections, note carefully his comment son politics - jk:

Many do not realize how much of our national culture we bring into our churches that is problematic. Take for instance, the divisions brought on by elections in the US. Our nation is sharply divided and divisive in how it deals with those divisions. And, we have developed a polarized, black and white mentality where one side is "right" and the other side is "wrong." In addition, the tone of the discourse is sharp and divisive by its very nature. One tires of people shouting at one another on news programs.

How often in the church we bring the same black and white mentality coupled with polarizing attitudes, demonizing of those we don't agree with and divisions within the congregation. In fact, conflict seems to go up in congregations during election seasons which is not a surprise given the divisive spirit in the nation at large.

However, if ever there should be a place where discourse is civil, reasonable and respectful it ought to be in the church where in God's Spirit we can disagree with one another in an agreeable way and never demonize others simply because we don't see eye to eye. Think of the Biblical teaching on being gentle and kind to one another, patient with one another, long suffering and self controlled. Quite different than the polarized attitudes in our culture at large.

Whenever the tone in the church becomes sharp and polarizing we need to be aware that it is secular culture behavior that is taking place rather than Jesus culture behavior. Whatever our differences, and whatever our positions, if ever there were a place where civil and respectful discourse should take place it should be in the church. This is why conflict in the church that results on division and divisiveness in unhealthy ways never reflects the character of Jesus but our society at large. Where it does take place, the biblical injunction is to forgive and seek to live at peace.

In addition, when it comes to politics, Jesus culture transcends our political differences and parties. Whenever I hear church leaders pushing a political agenda, party or candidate I know that for them Jesus does not yet transcend secular politics. There are Christ followers in all walks of life and political persuasion. At the work water cooler we debate politics. In the church we lift Jesus high. He is the hope of the world, not a political party. And for believers, being in the family of God transcends being in whatever political party we adhere to.

Fighter Verse for Sun, Feb 4

2012-01-29T19:26:00.002-05:00

This one is a long one but I think it's going to be easier than it looks. We've learned a few tricks in getting this done. First, don't wait until the end of the week. It goes much easier if you work a few minutes a day on it. Second, instead of trying to memorize the whole passage, memorize phrases, 4 or 5 words at a time, then link the phrases together. Here's this week's verses:

Romans 11:33–36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?

35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?

36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Predestination?

2012-01-29T19:14:00.002-05:00

A great posting from GotQuestions.org - jk:

Answer: Romans 8:29-30 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5 and 11 declare, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Many people have a strong hostility to the doctrine of predestination. However, predestination is a biblical doctrine. The key is understanding what predestination means, biblically.

The words translated “predestined” in the Scriptures referenced above are from the Greek word proorizo, which carries the meaning of “determine beforehand,” “ordain,” “to decide upon ahead of time.” So, predestination is God determining certain things to occur ahead of time. What did God determine ahead of time? According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. Numerous scriptures refer to believers in Christ being chosen (Matthew 24:22, 31; Mark 13:20, 27; Romans 8:33, 9:11, 11:5-7, 28; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9; 2 Peter 1:10). Predestination is the biblical doctrine that God in His sovereignty chooses certain individuals to be saved.

The most common objection to the doctrine of predestination is that it is unfair. Why would God choose certain individuals and not others? The important thing to remember is that no one deserves to be saved. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23), and are all worthy of eternal punishment (Romans 6:23). As a result, God would be perfectly just in allowing all of us to spend eternity in hell. However, God chooses to save some of us. He is not being unfair to those who are not chosen, because they are receiving what they deserve. God’s choosing to be gracious to some is not unfair to the others. No one deserves anything from God; therefore, no one can object if he does not receive anything from God. An illustration would be a man randomly handing out money to five people in a crowd of twenty. Would the fifteen people who did not receive money be upset? Probably so. Do they have a right to be upset? No, they do not. Why? Because the man did not owe anyone money. He simply decided to be gracious to some.

If God is choosing who is saved, doesn’t that undermine our free will to chose and believe in Christ? The Bible says that we have the choice—all who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). The Bible never describes God rejecting anyone who believes in Him or turning away anyone who is seeking Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). Somehow, in the mystery of God, predestination works hand-in-hand with a person being drawn by God (John 6:44) and believing unto salvation (Romans 1:16). God predestines who will be saved, and we must choose Christ in order to be saved. Both facts are equally true. Romans 11:33 proclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

Recommended Resource: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer.

When Truth Becomes Toxic

2012-01-29T07:46:00.000-05:00

Excellent post from T.J. Addington's blog today:

We value truth in evangelicalism because our faith and practices are grounded in God's truth. Francis Schaeffer called God's truth "true truth" and without a doubt there is much that passes for "truth" today that is anything but.

Truth, however, is a bit like dynamite. Handled carefully it is healing and helpful, as Paul said "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)." But, if mishandled, it becomes legalistic, a hammer that wounds, and hurts rather than heals. Especially when truth is applied without grace.

Jesus was all about truth. Jesus was also all about grace. The Apostle John says He was the perfect blend of grace and truth. Can you imagine what we deserve if God did not extend grace to us? Yet how often do we use truth without grace when dealing with others?

The account of the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus is a great lesson. The fact that she was guilty is clear by Jesus' words, "go and sin no more." Truth without grace would have said, "stone her." Grace said, "He who is without sin throw the first stone" and "go and sin no more." Of course, the guys who brought her to Jesus were not about grace, or actually truth for that matter as they conveniently forgot to bring the fellow she was caught with.

There are in the church, men and women like these fellows who are self appointed theology and behavior police. Legalistic, moralistic and self assured of their right to point out the wrongs of others, using "truth" or scripture to push their agendas or make themselves feel good - at the expense of grace. Truth without grace is indeed a scary thing. The combination as seen in Jesus' interactions is a life changing paradigm. It is like the parable of the master who forgives his servant's debt only to have that servant go and demand payment from the one who owed him. Grace had been received but was not extended.

This is how the pharisees of the New Testament used truth. It was hard, harsh, devoid of grace and Jesus called them hypocrites because those who are most judgemental are most hypocritical as none of us can live up to standards of perfection. We are all in need of grace.

Much conflict in the church and relationships comes down to a willingness to use truth at the expense of grace. It lacks the very patience, understanding, mercy and gentleness that God uses when He deals with us. The words may be truth but the attitude behind them has nothing to do with the attitude of Jesus. We are lucky that He does not do to us what we often do to others. I know churches with grace in their name whom are devoid of grace inside their own walls. This is when truth becomes toxic, damaging and harsh rather than healthy, healing and gentle.

We are all guilty at times of allowing truth to become unhealthy because our attitudes toward others do not reflect the wonderful, gentle, caring, patient, merciful and abundant grace of Jesus. Handle grace and truth carefully and it is a beautiful thing. Mishandle it, and like dynamite it causes a lot of damage. As Jeremiah so aptly said in Lamantations, "Because of His great love for us we are not consumed (even though they deserved it)." Why then do we consume one another? Why do we so often choose not to extend to one another the very grace that God extended to us in Jesus? The short answer issin. But when we extend that grace it is a beautiful thing indeed. Who in your life needs your grace?

Bible Reading Plans

2012-01-08T23:00:00.000-05:00

Our sermon this morning was out of Heb 4:12-13. We spoke of the power of God's word and talked about how it pertains to our corporate worship at WBF as well as our individual lives. You can hear the sermon here.

We used the lessons in our text to launch into a detailed presentation of our plans for the upcoming year. Among other things, we discussed Daily Bible Reading Plans. Last January, we offered a number of plans on the first Sunday of the year. We had a huge response. A lot of people began to see the value and importance of making some time available to read the Bible every day. Most of these plans require only about 10-15 minutes of time and can be a significant factor in personal spiritual growth and development.

Here are the plans we recommend this year. You can click on any one of them to see what they look like or, we'll be happy to email one or all of them:

Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading Plan - This is the Mac Daddy, Mama Jama of all Bible reading plans. It is 7 months long and calls for 10 chapters a day. Kelly and I did this one last year. It took some deliberation and discipline but, after the first week or so, we fell into a sweet and easy pattern of reading that actually became engaging and quite a blessing. Once we were finished, in September, the Bible had become integral to our day and we began searching for another plan. We came up with the next one:

Chronological - This plan takes you through the Bible chronologically, tracking events in the order they occurred. We're a little over a third of the way through and it is absolutely fascinating and educational as well. It involves about 10-20 minutes of reading a day.

One Year Plan - a simple plan to complete the Bible in a year. It's easy to follow and will take about 15 minutes a day. This is a great plan for someone who has never done this before but seasoned Bible reading veterans can get much out of it as well. The Word of God is rich and deep. Much can be learned from repeated readings.

Reading Chart - Here's a plan that offers a simple way to keep track of what books and chapters you've read. You can move along at your own speed, avoiding the possibility of doubling over in your reading (not a bad thing in itself). In the past, I've found that this type of chart can be very helpful for someone who has never read through the Bible from front to back but wants to make sure they've read all of it.

WBF Conference Schedule for 2012

2012-01-08T21:57:00.004-05:00

There are plenty of great conferences to attend this calendar year. It's always hard to choose the best but we have some previous experience to go on and we are recommending the following.

For the men of the church:

The Shepherd’s Conference(John MacArthur)

Registration$300

March7-9

LosAngeles, CA

This is one of the best of the best. They feed us well. We get well over the registration fee back in free books and resources and, the teaching is from some of the best theological minds of our time. Our group will leave from Dulles on Tues, Mar 6 and return on Sat Mar 10. Pastor Bob is heading this one up. He has already arranged hotel rooms and will be happy to help you arrange travel.

Basics 2012 (Allistair Begg)

Registration$140

May14-16 (Leave Mon morning, return Wed evening)

Cleveland,OH

This has been a mainstay of our schedule for 7 years now. It is relatively close by and fairly inexpensive. We drive to Cleveland (about 7 hours, leaving early on Monday morning and returning around dinner time on Wednesday). We have a great time of fellowship while we eat some truly fine food and listen to world-class teaching. we usually get a good number of men to travel along with us. Let me know if you want to join us this year.

This one is for everyone! Kelly and I have been to this one twice and recommend it highly. Join us this year. We usually drive but are willing to get there ahead of time and pick up folks at the airport.

T4G (Together for the Gospel)

“Together for the Underestimated Gospel”

Registration $249, Students $99

April 10-12

Louisville, Ky

Another huge conference situated right next to the Ohio River in Louisville. Louisville is a great town, the hotels are reasonable and everything is right in the middle of the downtown area and within walking distance. The conference always has a wide variety of speakers and a nice compliment of breakout sessions as well. This is a good one! Here's another one that will give you more than your registration fee in free books and resources. Let us know if you would like to join us!

We're also going to begin offering one-day conferences right here at WBF this year. Keeping the duration short and the subject matter focused will allow us to offer these meetings free of charge. That way we can invite as many folks as would like to come. We'll offer child care, if needed and provide breakfast and lunch. Our first one is this month:

WBF Winter Worship Conference

Sat. Jan 21

8 AM - 4PM

Breakfast and lunch provided

Registration free!

This will be a nuts and bolts conference for our Worship Program. We've asked everyone involved with the Worship Team to attend but we're opening it up to the entire church. If you've ever wondered how the services come together or, if you've ever entertained the idea of joining the Worship or Sound/AV team, come and spend the day (or even part of the day) with us. If you plan on attending, send an email to Diane Strang so we can make meal arrangements.

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

2012-01-08T20:53:00.001-05:00

Tim Challies
01/08/12
11

What I've posted below comes from Tim Challies blog today. This is a theme we've been emphasizing in our teaching at WBF for quite some time now and Tim covers it elegantly jk:

Better minds than mine (or yours, probably) have wrestled with the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Bibles teaches, or seems to teach, that God is sovereign over all things, and yet it also teaches, or seems to teach, that man is responsible to turn from his sin and come to God. Here are two great quotes that discuss how we can reconcile these things.

The first comes from Andrew Fuller.

A fleshly mind may ask, “How can these things be?” How can Divine predestination accord with human agency and accountableness? But a truly humble Christian, finding both in his Bible, will believe both, though he may be unable fully to understand their consistency; and he will find in the one a motive to depend entirely on God, and in the other a caution against slothfulness and presumptuous neglect of duty. And thus a Christian minister, if he view the doctrine in its proper connexions, will find nothing in it to hinder the free use of warnings, invitations, and persuasions, either to the converted or the unconverted. Yet he will not ground his hopes of success on the pliability of the human mind, but on the promised grace of God, who (while he prophesies to the dry bones, as he is commanded) is known to inspire them with the breath of life.

Charles Spurgeon talks about this same thing in his inimitable way:

“That God predestines, and yet that man is responsible, are two facts that few can see clearly. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory, but they are not. The fault is in our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and I find that in another Scripture, that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other. I do not believe they can ever be welded into one upon any earthly anvil, but they certainly shall be one in eternity. They are two lines that so nearly parallel, that the human mind which pursues them farthest will never discover that they converge, but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.”

Fighter Verses...What Are They?

2012-01-08T20:26:00.000-05:00

We started a new program at church this morning called "Fighter Verses". It's a way for our entire church family to memorize Scripture together on a weekly basis.

This is how it works:

Every Sunday morning a new verse will be assigned
We will memorize it during the following week
The next Sunday, we will ask for a volunteer to recite the verse from memory.
Then the entire congregation will recite it together as well.

The Fighter Verses web site displays the entire, 5 year program. The verses are chosen and divided up according to theme and content. Our first set of verses concentrates on the character and nature of God.

We tried this out together during the service and found out how really easy it was...OK...so we used an easy verse, John 11:35...but it worked! Most folks are familiar with the verse but we all learned the Scripture reference as well.

http://www.fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/

Our first verse, for next Sunday (Jan 15, 2011), is:

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

There are some great tips and tools offered on the web site. I just downloaded a really cool and helpful App for my iPad. They have one for Android as well. Unfortunately, I don't see one for Blackberry.

The handiest tip I've seen, so far, has been to simply read the verse out loud 10 times a day. I timed it and this takes 2-3 minutes at most. It works!

Let's do it!

Sproul on the Unpardonable Sin

2012-01-07T12:12:00.003-05:00

FROM R.C. Sproul Jan 06, 2012 Category: Articles

“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (Mark 3:28–29).

I cannot tell you how many times in my teaching career very distraught Christians have come to me to ask about the unpardonable sin and whether they might have committed it. I suspect most believers have asked themselves whether they have done something unforgivable. It is not surprising that many people struggle with this issue because the precise nature of “the unpardonable sin” is difficult to discern and many theories about it have been set forth through church history. For instance, some people have argued that the unpardonable sin is murder and others have said that it is adultery, because they see the serious consequences that those sins wreak on the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage. But I can speak with full assurance that neither of those sins is unpardonable. There are two reasons for my assurance. First, Scripture shows us examples of people who committed these sins and were forgiven. Exhibit A is David, who was guilty of both adultery and murder, and yet, after his confession and repentance, he was restored fully to his state of grace. Second, and more important, when Jesus taught on the unpardonable sin, He said nothing about murder or adultery.

Amen

What, then, did Jesus say? He began in a radical way by saying, “Assuredly, I say to you.” Sometimes evangelical Christians who want to express agreement with something they have heard from a preacher or a teacher will say “Amen.” The word amen is transliterated from the Hebrew amein, which means “truth” or “it is true,” so those saying “Amen” are agreeing with what they have heard. But instead of giving His teaching and waiting for His hearers to say “Amen,” Jesus Himselfsaid “Amen” before He gave His teaching. The word translated as “assuredly” here is the Greek equivalent of the word amein. In other words, Jesus announced that He was about to say something true. This was a way of saying, “Now hear this.” He was giving great emphasis to the teaching He was about to utter.

What is Blasphemy?

Jesus then stated that “all sins” can be forgiven, including “whatever blasphemies”—except for the specific blasphemy of the Spirit. Luke’s account of this teaching is even more specific: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10).

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[BLASPHEMY] IS DESECRATION OF THE HOLY CHARACTER OF GOD… IN A SENSE, IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF PRAISE. —R.C. SPROUL

At this point, we need to define blasphemy, and this verse from Luke gives us a clue as to what it is. The two phrases “who speaks a word against” and “who blasphemes” are parallel. Blasphemy, then, involves speaking a word against God. It is a verbal sin, one that is committed with the mouth or the pen. It is desecration of the holy character of God. It can involve insulting Him, mocking Him, or dishonoring Him. In a sense, it is the opposite of praise. Even casually using the name of God by saying, “Oh, my God,” as so many do, constitutes blasphemy. We can be very thankful that the unpardonable sin is not just any kind of blasphemy, because if it were, none of us would have any hope of escaping damnation. All of us have, at many times and in many ways, routinely blasphemed the name of God.

Blasphemy Against the Son of Man

Jesus’ statement that “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him” seems shocking in light of the abuse and mistreatment He later went through, culminating in His execution on a Roman cross. But we must remember how, as He hung on the cross, Jesus looked at those who had delivered Him to the Romans and mocked Him as He was dying, and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Even though these men opposed Christ to the point of executing Him, there was still hope of forgiveness for them. Likewise, in the book of Acts, Peter told the people of Jerusalem that they had delivered Jesus to the Romans and denied Him, but he added, “I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:17), and he called on them to repent. So, on at least two occasions, the New Testament makes it clear that forgiveness was possible for those who despised Christ so much that they killed Him. These accounts verify Jesus’ assertion that any sin against the Son of Man could be forgiven.

Blasphemy Against the Spirit

But what of blasphemy against the Spirit? To understand this difficult saying, we need to see that it came in the context of Jesus’ opponents charging Him with doing His work by the power of the Devil rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, they were not slandering the Spirit—not quite. Their statements were directed against Jesus. So, He said to them: “You can blaspheme Me and be forgiven, but when you question the work of the Spirit, you are coming perilously close to the unforgivable sin. You are right at the line. You are looking down into the abyss of hell. One more step and there will be no hope for you.” He was warning them to be very careful not to insult or mock the Spirit.

Christians and The Unpardonable Sin

Humanly speaking, everyone who is a Christian is capable of committing the unforgivable sin. However, I believe that the Lord of glory who has saved us and sealed us in the Holy Spirit will never let us commit that sin. I do not believe that any Christians in the history of the church have blasphemed the Spirit.

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THANKS BE TO GOD THAT THE SIN THAT IS UNPARDONABLE IS NOT A SIN HE ALLOWS HIS PEOPLE TO COMMIT. —R.C. SPROUL

As for those who are not sure they are saved and are worried they may have committed the unpardonable sin, I would say that worrying about it is one of the clearest evidences that they have not committed this sin, for those who commit it are so hardened in their hearts they do not care that they commit it. Thanks be to God that the sin that is unpardonable is not a sin He allows His people to commit.

Excerpt adapted from R.C. Sproul’s Mark, the fifth volume in the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary series. Now available in the Ligonier store.

Why Read the Bible?

2012-01-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

Here's another helpful tidbit from GotQuestions.org. This is very much in line with some of the exciting things we have to share this Sunday:

Question: "Why should we read the Bible / study the Bible?"

Answer: We should read and study the Bible because it is God's Word to us. The Bible is literally "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, it is God's very words to us. There are so many questions that philosophers have asked that God answers for us in Scripture. What is the purpose to life? Where did I come from? Is there life after death? How do I get to heaven? Why is the world full of evil? Why do I struggle to do good? In addition to these "big" questions, the Bible gives much practical advice in areas such as: What do I look for in a mate? How can I have a successful marriage? How can I be a good friend? How can I be a good parent? What is success and how do I achieve it? How can I change? What really matters in life? How can I live so that I do not look back with regret? How can I handle the unfair circumstances and bad events of life victoriously?

We should read and study the Bible because it is totally reliable and without error. The Bible is unique among so-called "holy" books in that it does not merely give moral teaching and say, "Trust me." Rather, we have the ability to test it by checking the hundreds of detailed prophecies that it makes, by checking the historical accounts it records, and by checking the scientific facts it relates. Those who say the Bible has errors have their ears closed to the truth. Jesus once asked which is easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Then He proved He had the ability to forgive sins (something we cannot see with our eyes) by healing the paralytic (something those around Him could test with their eyes). Similarly, we are given assurance that God's Word is true when it discusses spiritual areas that we cannot test with our senses by showing itself true in those areas that we can test, such as historical accuracy, scientific accuracy, and prophetic accuracy.

We should read and study the Bible because God does not change and because mankind's nature does not change; it is as relevant for us as it was when it was written. While technology changes, mankind's nature and desires do not change. We find, as we read the pages of biblical history, that whether we are talking about one-on-one relationships or societies, "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). And while mankind as a whole continues to seek love and satisfaction in all of the wrong places, God—our good and gracious Creator—tells us what will bring us lasting joy. His revealed Word, the Bible, is so important that Jesus said of it, "Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). In other words, if we want to live life to the fullest, as God intended, we must listen to and heed God's written Word.

We should read and study the Bible because there is so much false teaching. The Bible gives us the measuring stick by which we can distinguish truth from error. It tells us what God is like. To have a wrong impression of God is to worship an idol or false god. We are worshiping something that He is not. The Bible tells us how one truly gets to heaven, and it is not by being good or by being baptized or by anything else we do (John 14:6;Ephesians 2:1-10; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10-18, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13). Along this line, God's Word shows us just how much God loves us (Romans 5:6-8; John 3:16). And it is in learning this that we are drawn to love Him in return (1 John 4:19).

The Bible equips us to serve God (2 Timothy 3:17; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). It helps us know how to be saved from our sin and its ultimate consequence (2 Timothy 3:15). Meditating on God’s Word and obeying its teachings will bring success in life (Joshua 1:8;James 1:25). God’s Word helps us see sin in our lives and helps us get rid of it (Psalm 119:9, 11). It gives us guidance in life, making us wiser than our teachers (Psalm 32:8,119:99; Proverbs 1:6). The Bible keeps us from wasting years of our lives on that which does not matter and will not last (Matthew 7:24-27).

Reading and studying the Bible helps us see beyond the attractive "bait" to the painful "hook" in sinful temptations, so that we can learn from others' mistakes rather than making them ourselves. Experience is a great teacher, but when it comes to learning from sin, it is a terribly hard teacher. It is so much better to learn from others' mistakes. There are so many Bible characters to learn from, some of whom can serve as both positive and negative role models at different times in their lives. For example, David, in his defeat of Goliath, teaches us that God is greater than anything He asks us to face (1 Samuel 17), while his giving in to the temptation to commit adultery with Bathsheba reveals just how long-lasting and terrible the consequences of a moment's sinful pleasure can be (2 Samuel 11).

The Bible is a book that is not merely for reading. It is a book for studying so that it can be applied. Otherwise, it is like swallowing food without chewing and then spitting it back out again—no nutritional value is gained by it. The Bible is God's Word. As such, it is as binding as the laws of nature. We can ignore it, but we do so to our own detriment, just as we would if we ignored the law of gravity. It cannot be emphasized strongly enough just how important the Bible is to our lives. Studying the Bible can be compared to mining for gold. If we make little effort and merely "sift through the pebbles in a stream," we will only find a little gold dust. But the more we make an effort to really dig into it, the more reward we will gain for our effort.

Recommended Resource: Read the Bible in One Year.

Are Christmas Trees Appropriate for Christians?

2011-12-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

OK, one more from GotQuestions.Org. I'm not sure this applies to those aluminum tress that were popular when I was but a wee child! jk

Question: "Should we have a Christmas Tree? Does the Christmas Tree have its origin in ancient pagan rituals?"

Answer: The modern custom of a Christmas tree does not come from any form of paganism. There is no evidence of any pagan religion decorating a special holiday tree for their mid-winter festivals, although the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. The first Christmas tree was decorated by Protestant Christians in 16th-century Germany. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early German traditions, and the custom most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio.

There is nothing in the Bible that either commands or prohibits Christmas trees. It has been falsely claimed by some that Jeremiah 10:1-16 prohibits the cutting down and decorating of trees in the same manner as we do at Christmas. However, even a cursory reading of the text makes it clear that the passage is one in which Jeremiah sets forth the prohibition against idols made of wood, plated with silver and gold, and worshipped. A similar idea appears in Isaiah 44, where Isaiah speaks of the silliness of the idol-worshippers who cut down a tree, burn part of it in the fire to warm themselves, and use the other part to fashion an idol, which they then bow down to. So unless we bow down before our Christmas tree, carve it into an idol, and pray to it, these passages cannot be applied to Christmas trees.

There is no spiritual significance to having or not having a Christmas tree. Whatever choice we make, the motive behind a believer’s decision about this, as in all matters of conscience, must be to please the Lord. Romans 14:5-6a sets out the principle in a passage about liberty: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.” The Lord is grieved when Christians look down upon one another for either celebrating or not celebrating Christmas. This is spiritual pride. When we feel that somehow we have achieved a higher plain of spirituality by doing or not doing something about which the Bible is silent, we misuse our freedom in Christ, create divisions within His body, and thereby dishonor the Lord. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

This is another one that comes up frequently. We've actually had folks leave the sanctuary when they saw Christmas tree. I don't have a problem with folks who don't want a tree in their house. That being said, every negative discussion I've been drawn into regarding Christmas trees revolves around Jeremiah 10:1-16 being taken totally out of context. This is just one small reason we stress reading Scripture in context and not trying to form our theology around a few phrases taken from here and there.

Personally, I love the look and warmth the Christmas tree in our living room each year. I've never had an inclination to worship it or pray to it nor have I wanted to attribute any supernatural power to it. The same goes for our tree in the sanctuary. It does not displace the cross. We do not sing to it. We do not revere it. It is a seasonal decoration appropriate for the time of year. It comes down after Christmas an is stored away for the rest of the year.

Odd, we've never had anybody get upset over the Easter Lilies. jk

Do Some Christmas Traditions Have Pagan Origins?

2011-12-21T23:06:00.002-05:00

Here's another thoughtful one from GotQuestions.Org.
This is another one that pops up every year. "Aren't Christmas Trees evil? Isn't the whole holiday some sort of pagan feast? What about all that fruitcake? You can't tell me that isn't demonic!" My comments are at the end.

Question: "Do some Christmas traditions have pagan origins?"

Answer: There is no doubt that some of what we now refer to as Christmas traditions can be traced back, in some form, to pagan cultures and celebrations. The ringing of bells, for example, is generally thought to have had its origin in the early pagan winter celebration of ringing of bells to drive out evil spirits. In later centuries, bells were rung on Christmas Eve to welcome in the spirit of Christmas with joyful noise (Psalm 95:1). When Christians enjoy the beauty of a glorious bell choir ringing Christmas carols, we are reminded of the coming of Jesus into the world, not the driving out of evil spirits.

Similarly, there was an early pagan tradition of lighting candles to drive away the forces of cold and darkness. However, is it likely that our hearts are drawn to those early pagans rather than rejoicing in our Savior, the Light of the World (John 1:4-9) as we light candles? Of course not. Nor is it likely that when I give gifts to my loved ones at Christmas, the gifts will have less significance to either of us because some Druid somewhere in time offered a gift to his goat as part of some pagan ritual. No, we remember, as we should, the gifts given to the Christ-child by the Magi (Matthew 2:11). Jesus was the greatest gift ever given, and therefore His birth is worthy of celebration.

So obscure are the beginnings of many Christmas traditions that reference books and internet sites contradict one another on the details. Some of our most popular and beloved Christmas symbols are entirely Christian, and were never part of any pagan religion anywhere. At the same time, some Christmas traditions undoubtedly do have their origins in the pagan past. What is important is not the origins of traditions, but their significance to us today as believers in the Son of God. December 25 was not mentioned in the biblical narrative as the day Jesus was born, and, as such, we cannot be dogmatic about it one way or the other. But even if the date is completely wrong, there is still the opportunity for thousands of people who wouldn’t go to church any other time of the year to go on Christmas day and hear the gospel of Christ.

If you are fully convinced that you cannot, in good conscience, observe a particular Christmas tradition, do not observe it. If you are fully convinced that a particular tradition is too steeped in paganism to honor God in any way, by all means forsake that tradition. At the same time, if you are fully convinced that you can honor and worship God through a particular tradition, honor and worship God (Romans 14:5)! For Christians, Christmas traditions can be an important part of the celebration of the birth of our Savior, and they remind us of that momentous event that changed the world forever. More importantly, they bring to mind the miracle of new birth He created in us when He came into our hearts, saved us from our sins, and made us children of God by the shedding of His blood on the Cross (Colossians 1:20). It is this amazing truth that enables us to say with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

After all the teaching we've seen in The Sermon On the Mount, it should be fairly clear that heart motivation has much to do with what we do and why we do it. If our heart is to honor God and is truly oriented on that motivation, I think we're fine. This, of course, is not a license to adopt an "anything goes" attitude. But, let's be honest with ourselves, Scripture does not give us a mandate to celebrate the birth of Christ every year. On the other hand, it does not prohibit it either.Whether or not some forest dwellers chose to have a campfire on or near this date should not scare us away from turning our attention (and the world's BTW) to Christ.

It's failry easy to find fault and be critical. If one looks hard enough, it's easy to find some remote parallel in pagan history to just about every tradition we observe in modern times from Christmas to Easter to Arbor Day.

I don't think it's productive for us, as Christians, to point a finger at the world in judgment. I know of churches that refuse to observe Christmas because of the pagan celebration rumor, telling everyone who will listen the error of thier ways. What kind of witness is that to a lost person who wanders in during the holidays looking for mercy and compassion "Sorry! We don't do Christmas here!".

Ultimately, this is the same as the now-infamous "Santa issue". Each one of us will have to decide, in his own heart, which traditions to embrace and which ones to reject. What must be avoided, if we are to remain Scriptural, is accusation and condemnatiom. Neither sentiment fits very well with what this time of year is supposed to be about. jk

The Lord's Prayer from "The Sermon On The Mount"

2011-12-19T16:02:00.001-05:00

Have you ever look close...real close...at the Lord's Prayer?

We finished our series, "The Sermon On the Mount" two weeks ago. It was a close look at an incredible sermon delivered by Christ at the very beginning of His ministry here on Earth. The series began with a teaching on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 in March and continued on through Matthew 7, ending on Dec 11.

The primary theme of the Sermon was "The Supremacy of God In All Things". The primary lesson throughout was "How the Supremacy of God Plays Out In Our Relationships With Others".

Right in the middle of it all, is the Lord's Prayer ( Mt 6:9-13).

Matthew 6:9–13

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’

It's a short but powerful prayer, particularly when viewed in the context of the primary thrust of the Sermon. When you look at it that way, it becomes clear that the prayer has God as the focus of the things being prayed...not the pray-er (the one praying).

During our time in these phenomenal 3 chapters, there were two versions of the Lord's Prayer portrayed. Both of them brought all the teaching in the Sermon On the Mount to bear on the way the Lord's Prayer is structured and prayed. While I would never pretend to try to improve upon the beauty, power and simple elegance of the original, a few have asked to see those versions in writing. I pray they are an encouragement to more carefully consider using the pattern we see in "The Lord's Prayer" in our daily devotions and prayer life.

Here's the first version, from the Sermon on Oct 16, "The Lord's Prayer":

God…You are in heaven and are King over heaven andearth

Your name is holy, may my life reflect Yourholiness

Your kingdom come, may all Your Son is andrepresents

Manifest itself in and through metoday

Your will be done, Lord I surrender my will forYours…

Hereand in heaven where You reign over all…

Lord, grant me the things I need

Toacknowledge my daily dependence upon You…

Sustainme physically and grow me spiritually

ThatI may know how much I need You

Andlearn more about You today…

Forgive me for violating Your statutes andordinances

Andhindering my communion with You, Lord…

Restoreme into a full relationship with You today

And I ask that You do it in a way

That reflects my emulation of whatYou’ve done for me

Andshows in the way I forgive those who have

Violatedand sinned against me…

I ask that You not allow me not to be tested

beyond my endurance…but that I rely on Yourstrength

andthe leading of Your Holy Spirit

tolead me away from temptation today…

and if I am tested and fail…

Ipray that you deliver me

Fromthe hands and the plans of the Evil One

And I pray all these things knowing in faith

That You are powerful, loving and sovereign

Over all things…trusting that You will answer…

And thatYou will give me the discipline and counsel

To receive Your answer

Because yours is the kingdom

Youris the power

Andyours is the glory…forever…Amen…

The sermon from Dec 4, "Lord, Lord" included a more detailed version:

Our Father, our gracious, merciful Father, who is in heaven,who sits on the throne of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Creatorof everything, beautiful, awesome, amazing, loving, kind, perfect in all things, beyond ourimagination, beyond our comprehension, Father in heaven, we lift up yourname. We magnify it. We extol your virtues. For you, Father, are holy. Lord, you are holy.

And we pray today, that Your name would be hallowed; hallowedin our lives, that Your holiness would permeate our lives and flow from us as awitness and a testimony to Your beautiful perfection; not to our spiritualitybut to Your presence in our lives. Andwe pray that by that, Your name would be revered and hallowed by those we comeinto contact with.

And because of that holiness, Father, we pray that Yourkingdom would come, that Your kingdom would rise up in our lives, that the presenceand the saving power of Your Son, Jesus Christ, would manifest itself in allthat we do, that it would come flowing from us, Father, that His power and Hisauthority would reside in us and flow through us, Father. But we ask also for His humility and Hismercy and His forgiveness and His grace to flow from us as it has flowed to us.

And we pray, as You continue to draw us closer and yourkingdom continues to manifest itself in our lives, Father, that your will wouldbe done in our lives, that we would have the wisdom and the discernment to knowwhat Your will is, Father, as we are drawn closer to You and we would have thedesire, the desire Father, to embrace Your will and to discard ours. And that as a result of that, that Your willwould be done right here in our lives on earth, just as it is in all of itsperfection and beauty and flawlessness in heaven.

Father, we humbly come before You and ask You to give ustoday our daily bread, Father, that You would sustain us physically that Youwould provide the food and the clothing and the shelter for us, Father, that weneed. That your provision for our needswould become a testimony to the great God that you are and a testimony and awitness to our total dependence on You as we turn to you for the very breadthat we eat.

But, Father even more than that physical sustenance, we praythat You would nourish us and feed us spiritually, Father, that we would dineupon Your word and that it would cause us to become strong and to grow in ourknowledge and awareness of You. Feed usphysically and spiritually, Father. Andour hearts cry for that spiritual nourishment more than anything else, that wemight grow in you.

We pray, Lord, that You would forgive us those things thatwe have done that would alienate us or distance us from You, but only in somuch as we have been forgiving of others, Father. We pray that You would mold us and shape usinto those vessels of mercy and forgiveness and grace that You designed us tobe, Father, and as we move in those things, Father, we are drawn closer to Youand closer to You and become more intimate with You, Father, that our sins maybe cleansed daily even as we release those who have sinned against us,Father. And that again would be atestimony to You.

And we pray, Father, that You lead us not intotemptation. Father, that by the presenceof Your Holy Spirit, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the knowledgeof Your word, Father, and our desire to be closer to You, for our hearts to beas one, Father, that we would be led away from temptation. And Lord, that we would have the motivationand the commitment to turn the other way as we grow in You. Teach us, Father. Teach us the paths of righteousness. Father, should we fail in walking thosepaths, should we fall to that temptation, we pray then, Father, that You woulddeliver us. Father, You would deliver usfrom the evil that would seek to drag us down and cause our witness to defameYou.

Lord, we come to You today lifting up this prayer with thefull faith and knowledge that only You are capable of answering thatprayer. Because Yours is the power,Yours is the kingdom and Yours is the glory forever and ever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord be your guide and counselor. May He be your protection and provision and...may He be the author of your prayers. jk

The War On Christmas

2011-12-19T14:44:00.004-05:00

Another insightful comment on the Holiday Season from GotQuestions.Org This one addresses a trend that has been growing in recent years, to remove any religious (read "Christian") reference to Christmas. While many, like myself, find this ludicrous, given the actual name of the holiday, it is a sobering reflection of the times we live in. jk :

Question: "How should Christians respond to the "War on Christmas"?"

Answer: Many people perceive that there is a concerted effort to eliminate the word “Christmas” from public discourse—sort of a “war on Christmas.” The stories seem to be coming more frequently: a grade-school choir sings “We Wish You a Happy Holiday” instead of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” for their “Winter Concert.” A library invites “holiday displays” from the community provided the displays have no religious connotation—the stable may have animals in it, but no people. It is possible to do all one’s Christmas shopping and never see or hear the word “Christmas” in the stores.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with saying “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” But if someone says “Happy Holidays” for the sole purpose of not saying “Merry Christmas,” then we are right to question what’s going on. “Why is the word Christmas censored?” we wonder as we wander through the malls. Why do some public schools celebrate everything from Kwanzaa to Labafana the Christmas witch, and ban the Nativity, all in the name of “inclusion” and “tolerance”?

One reason put forward by those seeking to avoid the word Christmas is that it would offend non-Christians. But, according to a recent Gallup poll, only 3 percent of adults in America say it bothers them when a store makes specific reference to Christmas. The exclusion of Christmas, then, is not really a way to “adapt” to a more diverse culture, but a way to engineer a more secular culture.

Many times, the arguments against Christmas programs and displays are couched in political terms, but the bias against Christmas goes much deeper than that. This is primarily a spiritual battle, not a political one.

How should Christians respond to the ubiquitous use of “Happy Holidays” and the exclusion of Christmas? Here are some suggestions:

1) Celebrate Christmas! Let the joy of the season show in your life. Teach your family the significance of Jesus’ birth and make the Christmas traditions meaningful in your home.

2) Wish others a Merry Christmas. When confronted with a “Happy Holidays,” get specific, and wish the greeter a “Merry Christmas!” You may be surprised at how many respond in kind. Even if you’re met with resistance, don’t let it dampen your cheer. Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew was rebuffed year after year, but it never stopped him from wishing his humbug of an uncle a Merry Christmas and inviting him to Christmas dinner.

3) Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). The Christmas season is a wonderful opportunity to share Christ’s love and the gospel message. He is the reason for the season!

4) Pray for those in positions of power (1 Timothy 2:1-3). Pray for wisdom. Pray for revival so that Christmas, instead of being “offensive,” would be honored by all.

"Charlie Brown Medley, Live" - he Piano Guys

2011-12-18T20:13:00.001-05:00

These two are having entirely way too much fun! This is a live set done at a nursing home. Everyone gets into it! jk

Does giving gifts make Christmas about material things?

2011-12-18T19:55:00.001-05:00

More excerpts from GotQuestions.Org. This is a great series with solid and thought provoking answers to some of the issues Christians struggle with over the holiday period. Here's a good one that's been debated among church goers for some time. jk

Question: "Should we give gifts at Christmas?"

Answer: Many people take the idea of gift giving at Christmas back to the scripture inMatthew 2:10-11 which talks about the Magi (wise men) giving gifts to Jesus at his home: "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."

The Bible gives a wonderful story about the gift God gave us—Jesus Christ—and we can use it as an opportunity to present the gospel and to show love. Giving and receiving gifts can be part of fulfilling what Paul says about giving in 2 Corinthians 8:7-8, "But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others." Paul was talking to the churches who were giving him gifts (financial) so that he could keep on in the ministry. We can apply this same lesson to our own lives by giving to others, not just at Christmas, but year round!

So, can gift giving become the focus of Christmas instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of His Son (John 3:16)? Absolutely! Does giving gifts have to take away from the true meaning of Christmas? No, it does not. If we focus on the wonderful gift of salvation the Lord has given us (Isaiah 9:6), giving to others is a natural expression of that gratitude. The key is our focus. Is your focus on the gift, or on the ultimate gift-giver, our gracious Heavenly Father? "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (James 1:17).

What's All This Doctrine About?

2011-12-17T09:55:00.001-05:00

From the Blazing Center by Josh Blount:

Let’s be honest. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who asked for the three volume set of Elenctic Theology in their stockings this year, and the other 6,999,999,998 of us on the planet.

Ok, perhaps that’s not an entirely fair polarization of humanity. But maybe you’ve wondered sometimes, what’s with all this talk of doctrine and theology and academic stuff? Shouldn’t Christians just love Jesus and love people? In this post I want to give you one particular reason why it might be worth your time to crack open a challenging doctrinal book over the holidays (though your stocking still might be better off without Elenctic Theology). But first a story.

When I was a kid, I loved all things western. I wore a cowboy hat in my preschool pictures; through my mom, I personally dictated a letter to the local TV station that had the audacity to removeBonanza from the daily programming (oddly enough, an irate letter from a 5 year old did nothing to alter their decision). Around the time I was old enough to have my own room, I discovered the author Louis L’Amour who, despite having about four basic plot ideas, managed to write over one hundred western novels. I read them all. But there was a problem.

The heroes in all the L’Amour novels were tough mountain men, and I soon discovered that they shunned sleeping in beds as too “softening.” Real men slept on the hard ground, wrapped in their one blanket, six-shooter in hand, steely eyes piercing the gloomy dark for bandits and desperadoes. I on the other hand had a box spring, a mattress AND a goose-down pillow. My manliness was in serious jeopardy. So I asked my parents for permission to remove my bed. And (I have very flexible parents) they agreed. For about three years I slept on the floor (though my parents drew the line at a six-shooter and campfire). Why? Because when I learned about Louis L’Amour characters, I loved them – and so I wanted deeply to be like them. What we know and love, we imitate.

Now here’s the point: if you want to be like God, you need to know and love God. And conversely, if you grow in your knowledge of who God is (which is what good theology is all about) you will begin both to love him more and to imitate what you love in Him. There’s no better way to grow more patient towards you spouse than to study God’s patience towards you; there’s no better way to grow more compassionate to the people around you than to study Jesus’ compassion to hurting people.

So why tackle a book like Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology or Richard Sibbes’ The Bruised Reed or John Piper’s The Pleasures of God? Because the more you and know and love God, the more we’ll imitate him and strive to be like him.

And (thankfully) God won’t make you give up your mattress.

What Do I Tell My Kids About Santa?

2011-12-17T09:38:00.000-05:00

Excerpted from Got Questions.Org

Question: "What should parents tell their children about Santa Claus?"

Answer: Although Santa Claus is a mythical figure, his creation is based in part on a great Christian man named Saint Nicholas of Myra, who lived in the 4th century. Nicholas was born to Christian parents who left him an inheritance when they died, which he distributed to the poor. He became a priest at a young age and was well-known for his compassion and generosity. He had a reputation for giving gifts anonymously, and he would throw bags of money into people's homes (and sometimes down their chimneys) under the cover of night to avoid being spotted.

Nicholas passed away on December 6 sometime around the 340s or 350s AD, and the day of his death became an annual feast in which children would put out food for Nicholas and straw for his donkey. It was said that the saint would come down from heaven during the night and replace the offerings with toys and treats—but only for the good boys and girls. There are many different versions of the legend of Saint Nicholas, but all are the inspiration for the jolly, red-suited gift-giver that we now know as Santa Claus.

Many Christian parents are torn as to whether or not they should play the "Santa game" with their children. On one hand, he makes Christmas fun and magical, leaving wonderful holiday memories for years to come. On the other hand, the focus of Christmas should be on Jesus Christ and how much He has already given us. So, is the story of Santa Claus an innocent addition to Christmas festivities, or is he a subject that should be avoided?

Parents need to use their own judgment in deciding whether or not to include Santa during the holidays, but here are some things to consider: Children who believe that the gifts they receive Christmas morning are from a magical man with unending resources are less likely to appreciate what they have been given, and the sacrifices their parents make in providing them. Greed and materialism can overshadow the holiday season, which is meant to be about giving, loving, and worshiping God. Children whose parents are on a tight budget may feel that they have been overlooked by Santa, or even worse, deemed one of the "bad" boys or girls.

An even more troubling aspect of telling our children that Santa comes down the chimney each year to leave their gifts is that it is, obviously, a lie. We live in a society that believes that lying for the "right" reason is acceptable. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, it is not a problem. This is contrary to what the Bible tells us. "For the Scriptures say, 'If you want to live a happy life and good days, keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies'" (1 Peter 3:10, NLT). Of course, telling our children that Santa is real is not a malicious deception, but it is, nevertheless, a lie.

Although it is probably not typical, some children honestly feel deceived and betrayed by their parents when they find out that Santa is not real. Children trust their parents to tell them the truth, and it is our responsibility not to break this trust. If we do, they will not believe more important things we tell them, such as the truth about Christ, whom they also cannot physically see.

This doesn’t mean we must leave Santa completely out of Christmas. Children can still play the "Santa game" even if they know it is all pretend. They can make lists, sit on his lap at the mall, and leave out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve. This will not rob them of their joy of the season, and gives parents the opportunity to tell their children about the godly qualities of the real Saint Nicholas, who dedicated his life to serving others and made himself into a living example of Jesus Christ.

Note from jk: Ultimately it is, as the article points out, up to the parents to decide how they want to handle this. I've seen disasters occur form both perspectives. Either way, in making the decision what to reveal to our children, we should prayerfully, carefully follow Scriptural guidelines in bringing the truth in a gentle and loving manner.

I remember my daughter coming to me when she was 6. We had been very careful about Santa, telling her Santa was pretend but fun.
She said, "Dad, I know Santa is pretend, right? The Santas we see in the mall and on TV are make believe...right?"
I said, "That's right, you have it!"
She said, "So I can't really see Santa...right?"
I said, "Right!"
She said, "Hmmm...I can't really see Jesus either. Is He real?
This led to a nice talk about where our faith lies and she got that too. Praise God! But then she said...
"I've been telling my friends Santa is not real.But, how do I get them to believe in Jesus if they can't see Him either?"

See? This is an area not addressed in the article. What do we tell our children to say to other children? This has to be handled with the same loving compassion we use to reveal the truth to our own children. Every year, our church staff has to deal with some incident or another in a Sunday School class in which one child blurts out to another, "There is no Santa Claus!", causing unbelievable uproar and anguish. Instructing our children to be sensitive in this area shows respect for other people's viewpoints and also respects all parent's rights to raise their family their way.

These are the tricky decisions we have to make as parents and shepherds of our little ones. Handling them with the integrity of the truth and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit to our children will never let us down and makes our decisions easier and it will teach those life lessons to our kids.

Should Christians Have A Christmas Tree?

2011-12-16T21:17:00.001-05:00

Excerpted from "Got Questions.org"

Question: "Should we have a Christmas Tree? Does the Christmas Tree have its origin in ancient pagan rituals?"

Answer: The modern custom of a Christmas tree does not come from any form of paganism. There is no evidence of any pagan religion decorating a special holiday tree for their mid-winter festivals, although the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. The first Christmas tree was decorated by Protestant Christians in 16th-century Germany. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early German traditions, and the custom most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio.

There is nothing in the Bible that either commands or prohibits Christmas trees. It has been falsely claimed by some that Jeremiah 10:1-16 prohibits the cutting down and decorating of trees in the same manner as we do at Christmas. However, even a cursory reading of the text makes it clear that the passage is one in which Jeremiah sets forth the prohibition against idols made of wood, plated with silver and gold, and worshipped. A similar idea appears in Isaiah 44, where Isaiah speaks of the silliness of the idol-worshippers who cut down a tree, burn part of it in the fire to warm themselves, and use the other part to fashion an idol, which they then bow down to. So unless we bow down before our Christmas tree, carve it into an idol, and pray to it, these passages cannot be applied to Christmas trees.

There is no spiritual significance to having or not having a Christmas tree. Whatever choice we make, the motive behind a believer’s decision about this, as in all matters of conscience, must be to please the Lord. Romans 14:5-6a sets out the principle in a passage about liberty: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.” The Lord is grieved when Christians look down upon one another for either celebrating or not celebrating Christmas. This is spiritual pride. When we feel that somehow we have achieved a higher plain of spirituality by doing or not doing something about which the Bible is silent, we misuse our freedom in Christ, create divisions within His body, and thereby dishonor the Lord. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Breaking the Chains of Pornography

2011-12-16T07:59:00.000-05:00

Valuable lessons from a great site called "Covenant Eyes":

by James Tarring Cordrey

Years ago my wife surprised me with a direct question about my use of pornography. What followed that question is known in our marriage as “The Confession.” The brutal truth of my long addiction came to light and a long, painful journey of healing began.

As God has brought healing into my life, there are five key lessons I have learned, and each one has been crucial to my freedom.

Lesson 1: I Had Been Lied To…

My culture, influenced by pornography, had told me all sorts of lies about how normal it was to indulge sexual lust. Even though I was a Christian who knew wasn’t supposed to lust, I still allowed myself to be persuaded that my urges were a sign of being a healthy man who had a normal sex drive. Sure, I wasn’t supposed to look at porn, or masturbate to sexual fantasies, but the pull of pornography was so powerful there was simply no way to resist it.

But it wasn’t just secular culture that had lied to me. Christian culture had as well. During those moments when I felt convicted about my sin, other Christians counseled me by saying that the best I could hope for would be a life in which I managed to keep it from getting out of control. There was no discussion of actual freedom.

At one point in college I confided in a leader of my campus ministry that one of my goals for the school year was to experience victory over lust and masturbation. His response was: “It’ll never happen.” I realize now that I made a horrible agreement with that lie back in college and I lived under it for a long, long time.

Lesson 2: Real Change Is Really Possible…

Shortly after The Confession, I realized that my theology had been warped. I had come to believe that God actually didn’t transform people. I used to read verses that spoke of new life and new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:4 and Revelation 21:5), and I never thought that what God was talking about was actual change.

The Christians I knew never really talked about transformation, and when we encountered these verses in Scripture, they were usually explained away using some sort of language of religiosity, so that I never saw what was plain: God changes people. The pattern throughout Scripture is one in which people leave behind their former way of life and cling to the hope and promise of being made new and clean in Christ. I had missed that somehow. I had missed the fact that the “newness” being spoken of was actually accessible to me.

Lesson 3: …But You Will Have To Fight For It…

Anything worth having is worth fighting for. This is certainly true of freedom. Moreover, God identifies Himself as a warrior in Exodus 15:3, and since I bear His image, that means I am a warrior as well. I had been taught all my life that I should be the world’s nicest guy, and that meant I had no idea how to fight for something that was important.

At my first counseling appointment after The Confession, the counselor asked me straight up: “How bad do you want to be free?” He challenged me to adopt the attitude that I would do whatever it took to be rid of porn and win back the trust of my wife. The counselor was calling me out; attempting to awaken the warrior within me. It worked.

Lesson 4: You Must Engage In Spiritual Warfare…

There is a reason Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the armor of God. There is a reason why Peter advises us to be alert that Satan prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour in 1 Peter 5. We have a real enemy and he hates us intensely because we are the image of God.

Fortunately, we have a conquering God. Nevertheless, in our daily experience we still face the temptations presented to us by our Enemy who is constantly lying to us about where life is to be found. In the days, months and years that followed The Confession,I have learned how to pray against the work of the Evil One and break the strongholds I have allowed him to build in my life, focusing on 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. It has been crucial.

Lesson 5: It Really Is A Matter Of Life And Death…

On the night of The Confession, God made it clear for the first time that my involvement with porn was actually killing me and my marriage. The rage, disgust, anguish, despair and intense pain I saw my wife experience as I told her about my addiction was a visual representation of the Scriptural reality that sin brings death. Getting free, God told me, was a matter of life and death. It clicked for me that night. I started reflecting on all the ways I had brought death into my life or my marriage by indulging in pornography. I saw how my attitude, my selfishness, my treatment of others and the ways I had failed to be an authentic man had all been shaped by looking at pornography. And I realized that if continued with pornography there was a very good chance that I would end up in a situation where I would be in physical danger as I looked for riskier forms of indulgence.

But the journey away from porn has been lifegiving every step of the way. I am truly alive now because of the freedom God brings. I recognize that every temptation to lust or look at porn is an issue of life and death and I am called to be a warrior in the image of my God, fighting for purity and freedom.

Get the Free E-Book

Learn more about critical steps to freedom in this new free e-book, Your Brain on Porn: 5 proven ways pornography warps your mind and 3 biblical ways to renew it.

"Charlie Brown Medley" - The Piano Guys

2011-12-14T12:11:00.003-05:00

OK, this is what they sound like live, no overdubs or effects. Still awesome!

"Where Are You Christmas?" - The Piano Guys

2011-12-14T12:05:00.003-05:00

These guys are amazing!

Trusting God's Will For Your Child

2011-12-13T16:37:00.002-05:00

This from Thriving Family.com jk

by Dr. Juli Slattery

Imagine that someone handed you a blank journal and a pen. Your assignment: Write the script for your child's life.

What if you were told that everything you wrote in the journal would come to fulfillment? You could choose the perfect career, lifestyle and spouse for your child. You could even determine exactly when and how your child's life would end.

What would you write?

I know this may sound a little strange, but thanks to Mary, the mother of Jesus, I ask myself

this question every Christmas. I can't help but imagine her rocking baby Jesus and pondering what His life would hold. Knowing He was the Son of God, Mary must have envisioned a royal and glorious life for her child. I wonder if she lay in bed thinking of how He would someday be honored as King.

But as the years passed and the events of Jesus' life unfolded, perhaps Mary's heart cried out, "This can't be! He's the Son of God! Where is the honor my son is due?" As she stood at the foot of the Cross, gazing at His beaten face and broken body, what

would she have given to save her son from this pain and humiliation? Surely, such suffering had never been part of what she would have scripted for His life. How desperately she must have longed to rescue Him from that cross.

Imagine what would have happened if Mary were somehow able to stop the Crucifixion. The deep love of a mother might have thwarted the very purpose of her son's time on Earth.

Mary's story challenges me to ask myself, What crosses do I keep my children from bearing? Out of the depths of my love, what aspects of God's plan do I fight to protect my sons from? What pain, difficult choices and persecution do I train them to avoid?

I am so thankful that nothing, not even a mother's love, could keep my Lord Jesus from the Cross. Am I equally willing to pray that nothing, not even a mother's love, would keep my children from God's work in their lives? I must humbly acknowledge that whatever script I could write for their lives would fall far short of God's plans for them.

This Christmas season let Mary's story challenge each of us to trust God more fully. Let our prayer be "Lord, have Your way with our children."

“Daddy, I Don’t Think God is Real!

2011-12-13T16:24:00.003-05:00

I had what was perhaps the most interesting theological conversation I’ve ever had last night, and it was with my seven year old son. It started with overhearing him tell his younger brother that they had to be “normal” by obeying us parents and to quit “acting up.” When I asked what he meant by “normal” my son explained that being obedient was normal, disobedience was not. I told him that, while we were teaching he and his brother to be obedient, to do so all day every day was not possible. In fact, what is normal is to be disobedient. That was why we spend time teaching them about Jesus Christ. That only by submitting to Him, in repentance and faith, would God make us a new creation that desires to obey Him. That was when the conversation got interesting. My seven year old son looked at me and said, “I don’t know if I believe in God, I think He’s made up.”

Like many parents would understandably feel at that point, there was a moment of panic that set in. “I have a seven year old atheist!!” ran through my mind. But what followed was a series of questions from my wife and I that patiently and lovingly asked why he felt that way and trying to explain, biblically why we could believe God was real and why we could trust his promises. In the end, this conversation only lasted about fifteen minutes and, while we could see his young mind was still trying to process what we said, we could tell he was really considering it. It was perhaps my proudest moment as a father. Not because I skillfully answered his questions, trust me, I’m not that smart. But because my son, at seven years old was wrestling with the hard questions of faith and was seeking genuine answers. He wasn’t just blindly accepting what mom and dad said, he wanted real life explanations that made sense. And it was the blessing of God to allow my wife and I to be the ones to explain it to him.

Now there is a very real reason why I have relayed this touching family moment. It was only a few months ago that I had picked my kids up in Sunday School one day. As I entered the class, I overheard the teachers leading the children through a “sinner’s prayer” and welcoming them to the Christian family. While this post is not intended to decry Sunday Schools in general, I remember the sense of genuine concern I had over this. Christians are not made because someone lead another in a prayer or had them sign a card. People become Christians because they have been humbled by the understanding of their wretched sinfulness and, in repentance and faith, turn to the only possible means of salvation, Jesus Christ. While a later conversation with the Sunday School teacher addressed this issue, I could not help but think of it again last night.

In our current evangelical culture, my kids would have been declared saved and no one would have ever been allowed to question that. Never mind we are repeatedly called in Scripture to examine ourselves and see if we are in the faith. Never mind the parable of the sowers which describes what false converts look like. None of those things are considered, only that they said the sinners prayer. Yet, last night in my son, I saw the doubts and questions often used by many to deny the existence of God. While this is not proof of a definitive lack of salvation, neither should it ignored as a possible indication he has not yet been made new. In most churches and Sunday Schools today, these serious and reasonable questions go unanswered. Many times, churches erroneously assume young kids simply can’t understand these big concepts. They teach them Bible stories and figure that is enough. But even well meaning churches, who teach solid biblical truths, only have a couple hours per week to teach the answers these kids desperately need. A couple hours against a full week of secular humanist onslaught is often simply not enough.

So what is the answer? In a word, us. We parents are the ones God has assigned over our children. He has given the responsibility and the authority to raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It our duty, not our option, to be the primary source of biblical instruction in their lives. It is we, not school, not friends, and certainly not television, that should be forming the worldview that they will one day live by. And that worldview should be grounded solely in the good news of the gospel. That means we, as parents, must be prepared to answer some of the hardest questions we will ever encounter. That means we need to know our Bibles. That means we need to understand at least a basic level of apologetics. It means we have to understand the difference between the unbiblical concepts of evolution and the Bible’s teaching on Creation. It means we cannot be lazy. It means we have to work hard. It means giving up our time and our pursuits so that we can train up our children to love the Lord and commit their lives to Him.

Some may see this as an overwhelming task. They may think, “I’m just not smart enough,” or “I’m not equipped to teach like that.” If you have children, God has equipped you to teach. The Bible never attempts to persuade us that teaching our kids might be a good idea. It commands us to. And if you have commanded, you have been equipped. If you don’t feel intellectually capable, change it. The resources out there to provide Christians with this ability are numerous. Ministries such as Answers in Genesis and CARM exist for the express purpose of providing apologetics training. Numerous sound biblical preachers such as John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, and Voddie Baucham have websites and audio messages that can assist you as you study the bible. But the single most important things you can do are pray, read your bible and spend time with your kids talking about the things of God.

Truly we parents have no greater ministry than the training up of our children to fear and love the Lord. This is not anyone else’s responsibility, it is ours. Let us not abdicate it to anyone or anything else. Oh, and the second proudest moment of being a parent happened to me this morning. My son came up to me and said, “Now I know God exists, because if he didn’t I wouldn’t be here.” Excuse me, I think I have some grit in my eyes I need to wipe away, because I can’t explain these tears any other way.

How Much Do I Give?

2011-12-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is the second of two parts posted by Tim Challies on his blog. You can see the first part here. jk:

Yesterday I wrote about Christians and money and tried to give an answer to 2 questions: Do I have to give some of my money away? and What should my attitude be as I give my money away? You can find that article here. Today I want to continue this little 2-part series by asking and answering 2 more questions: Where am I to give? and How much am I to give?

Where Am I to Give?

If what I said yesterday is correct, then we have established that we have to give some of our money away. This leads to the question of where we are to give that money. We have a near-endless number of great options available to us—we can give to the church, to individuals, to parachurch organizations or to charities and non-profits. If you have money to give, you will never have trouble finding worthy causes eager and willing to accept it. But what does the Bible say?

I find that question more difficult to answer than I might have thought. The New Testament presupposition seems to be that your primary form of giving is to the local church. At least, this is what appears to be modeled, even if it is not explicitly stated. Certainly this was the Old Testament pattern; the tithe was not given to individuals, but was given to the Lord through his appointed people.

What I find in the New Testament is that our responsibility for caring for others, whether that is in sharing the gospel or in sharing our wealth, begins closest to us and then moves out from there. A man is considered worse than an unbeliever if he does not care for his own family, not if he does not care for a family on the other side of the planet. After that, his responsibility is to his own local church—the brothers and sisters in Christ with whom he has covenanted. This is very practical; it would not make a lot of sense for him to assume primary care for a family in Asia while his primary care comes from someone in Australia.

So first we need to care for family, then church, and after that it goes out to other Christians. The New Testament seems to place a higher priority on caring for other believers than caring for unbelievers. Both may be important, but we are to care for other Christians before we care for non-Christians. And then of course there are times in which we can and ought to care for everyone, as a way to tend to needs and as a way to open up doors for the gospel.

This is what we see modeled in the New Testament. After caring for their own families, people were giving through the church. While there is no doubt that Christians were at times giving directly to other Christians, the early church model is to give to the church so the church can distribute to those in need. We see this in the stories of Barnabas and Ananias and Saphira, those people who brought their gifts to the church for distribution (though out of very different motives). The church was the collection point and the distribution point.

This idea of giving primarily to the church makes sense for quite a few reasons.

First, the church appoints certain people to be aware of need and responsive to it. In most churches this is the job of deacon who are called and equipped to be both proactive and responsive when it comes to need.

Second, the leaders of the church can identify the most important needs. The elders and deacons work together to identify and determine how to meet whatever needs arise.

Third, a lot can be done with more giving to fewer causes. There is nothing inherently wrong with you giving a bit of money to this cause while I give a little bit of money to that cause, but what can have a greater impact is for both of us to give to the same cause through the local church. This then lets us join together in prayer and other forms of support as a community.

Fourth, the New Testament makes it clear that the church is to set aside certain men to the work of the ministry and some of these are to be set aside to vocational ministry. Most Christians take this to mean that they are to be paid for their work. By making the church your primary means of giving, you are supporting your pastors in the ministry. And, of course, you are also supporting all the ministry of that church, from paying salaries to paying for a building and Bibles and everything else that is needed to keep a church going. If you are at a church week-by-week but giving your money to another cause, you are not supporting and sustaining your own church.

It is worth nothing that if you do not trust your church to use your money wisely, you may want to look for a new church! I would hope you can find a church where you can give generously, trusting that the leaders will use your money wisely. This is not to say that you need to do all of your giving to the local church, but certainly you ought to support it generously.

And this leads us to our final question and very possibly the one you most want an answer to.

How Much Do I Give?

It is worth nothing that when people ask this question what they typically want to know is this: Do I still need to tithe? People don’t tend to ask this when they want to give more than the 10 percent. So let’s answer it: How much do I give?

First, you are to give in accordance to what you have been given. In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul writes that the church is to take up a weekly collection and that each person is to give “as he may prosper.” In other words, he is acknowledging that each person will give a different amount. Those with more money were expected to give more than those who had less money.

Something to note: God does not tell us to give what we do not have and he does not tell us to give beyond our means. To give more than you have, to put yourself in debt or to be unable to pay your bills, that is not what God wants from you. Some of you come from Christian traditions where you are expected to “plant a seed,” where you are to give money you don’t have, so that the Lord can prosper you. Getting into debt to get out of debt is unbiblical, impractical and unwise. You need to be generous, but wise.

So there is the first principle of how to give: At minimum, you are to give according to what has been given to you.

Second, and this is closely related, you are to give enough that it is sacrificial. If you are giving an amount that really doesn’t even impact you—you make $10,000 a year and are giving $100 or you make $50,000 and are giving $250 or you are making $50,000,000 and are giving $20,000—your giving is not truly sacrificial. Giving is meant to be felt. If you aren’t feeling your giving, if you aren’t having to put other plans on hold because of your giving, you are probably not giving enough. There is a special kind of thrill that comes at the end of a year when you look at what you have given that year and see sacrifice. You can see that you could have had a new computer or a new kitchen or a new car, yet you’ve chosen to serve and honor the Lord. That is God-honoring sacrifice. God loves that. God blesses that. And there is the second principle: At minimum, give enough that it makes a difference to your financial position.

So what do we do with the tithe? Does God tell us today that we need to continue giving 10%? Well, that isn’t ever expressed clearly in the New Testament. The tithe is never reaffirmed and it is never canceled. But what is clear is that all of the New Testament laws were not lowered but heightened after Christ. The Old Testament warned against adultery; Jesus warned against a lustful glance. The Old Testament warned against murder; Jesus warned against even a hate-filled thought. Those Old Testament laws were a starting point to a much greater kind of obedience. Out of obedience to Christ and because of what Christ has done, the stakes have all been raised.

This makes it sound to me like that 10% is a mere starting point. Because there is not a clear command we need to use wisdom and we need to heed conscience, but I can’t imagine any way that Christ would have lowered the bar. In an age of law, 10% was simple obedience. In this age of grace, priceless grace, how could we say, “I now have freedom in Christ to give nothing,” or “I have freedom in Christ to give what’s left at the end of the month or what’s left in my pocket at the end of the week.” So I would encourage you to think of 10% as a kind of baseline and go from there.

So how do you give? Give willingly and cheerfully, give primarily to your local church, and give enough that you feel it. Do all that, take it before the Lord, and you will be a blessing to others. - Tim Challies

I'd like to add to Tim's comments here.

Kelly and I have struggled through the questions in these last two postings and fully understand how difficult they can be. In the process we also learned that God always blesses obedience and doubly blesses obedience with a joyful heart.

Quite a while back, we made the conscious decision to devote a portion of each paycheck to the Lord's work...the very first portion...not the last or what was left over. I have to say, we have not become rich in any worldly sense in doing this but we have seen, time and time again, God provide for us and help us meet our needs and obligations in spite of our apprehensions at the time of writing those checks.

This is the only area of our walk that God encourages us to test him on (Malachi 3:10). We also struggled, at one point, as to where our tithe should go. It is the very real proclamation that we trust in God's wisdom more than we trust in our own.

We aslo struggled with the "Where? question. We ultimately decided that we should tithe where we were being fed and where we were growing. Our reasoning was based on the realization thatour local church was an equipping church (they had equipped us!) and was worthy of enough support that they should be able to expand their ministry and equip others. Few folks realize how difficult it is for local churches to meet expenses and stay healthy. The only income a church like ours has comes from the collection taken at each service. After years of spreading our tithe everywhere around the world, we decided to "bring our tithe into the storehouse". We still support other ministries, but it always is a sacrificial gift, over and above our tithe which goes to our home church exclusively.

I've ministered in this area with others for years. In every case where people decide to be faithful to what the Scriptures say, I've seen people freed up, blessed and able to give the way they always knew they should. Many respond to this type of teaching by saying, "OK, I'll pray about it.", to which I respond, "Since when does God ask us to pray about heeding His commandments?" Just do it. Test Him on this. See that He is faithful and willing to sustain us when we trust in Him. jk

Do I Have to Give?

2011-12-13T11:38:00.002-05:00

Tim Challies
12/12/11
16

This two-part series appeared at Tim Challies' blog yesterday. I'll print it in two parts. You can read the 2nd part here. jk:

Last week I wrote a little bit about money, trying to point out 4 of the ways that we, as Christians, tend to think about money and possessions in worldly ways. Today I want to follow that up with what the Bible says about giving and tithing. God gives us money and tells us to be careful, faithful stewards of it. Is one component of our stewardship giving at least a part of that money away? Let me answer this question by asking a series of four more: First, Do I have to give? Second, How am I to give? Third, Where am I to give? And fourth, How much should I give?

Let’s acknowledge from the outset that this is an always-difficult subject and one which generates quite a lot of discussion and disagreement. I plan to share the way I have worked it out in my own mind.

Do I Have to Give?

Money is a good gift of God. Even though it can be used for great evil and even though it always threatens to become an idol, money is good. Money is not the root of all evil; rather, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. This means that there is nothing wrong with earning it; there is nothing wrong with bringing home a paycheck. And, in fact, quite the opposite is true. The Lord expects that we will work hard, earn a fair wage and use our money responsibly.

With this in place, and assuming that you will earn money, does God now require you to give at least some of it away? My understanding is that he certainly does. I have come to this conclusion in a couple of different ways.

First, we see this modeled in the Old Testament. Of course we need to be careful with drawing from the Old Testament since we now live after Christ rather than before him. But having said that, many principles of the Old Testament are instructive. One thing God made clear to his people, from the earliest days, is that he required them to give back to him. He asked for the firstfruits of their labor; he wanted the first and the best. These firstfruits were symbolic of God’s claim to all of it. By giving away the first and best, God’s people were acknowledging that allof it was truly his. If they had given the last and worst, it would have been an indication that it truly and actually belonged to them. God asked for the best and that is what the people were to give him as their joyful duty.

God also asked for a tithe. He first announced this law in Leviticus 27 where he says, “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.” This means that one tenth, ten percent, of the harvest was to be given to the Lord. In that day the people did not deal in currency as much as in produce and goods, so that is what the Lord required them to give. No matter what line of work you were in, you were required to bring a tenth of it to the Lord—the first and best tenth. God did not get the leftovers but the best of the best.

Parenthetically, it is important to note that the tithe is always 10 percent. It is not a word that means giving or donating, but a word that describes that very specific amount of 10 percent.

That gives us a little Old Testament background. Of course we also need to turn to the New Testament. In Matthew 6 Jesus says this: “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do…” and so on. It is important to note that he doesn’t say if you give, but when you give. Jesus simply assumes it. In fact, there’s nowhere that Jesus tells us that we shouldn’t give to the Lord’s work. After Jesus’ death, in the early days of the church, we see his people giving generously. There is that amazing passage in chapter 2 of Acts: “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Chapter 4 again talks about the giving and generosity and says that there wasn’t a person in need; everyone gave and those who had need received. Giving is also one of the themes of the New Testament epistles—giving because the Lord has given to us and giving as the Lord has given to us.

All of this to say, the New Testament teaches and models giving. There are lots of other places we could go beyond these few passages. We are to work and then we are to give away at least a part of the money we earn.

This leads us to the second question:

How Am I to Give?

What I mean here, is What is my attitude to be? What should the state of my heart be as I give? We can answer that in a couple of ways.

First, we are to give as an act of worship. Jesus solemnly warned against giving with wrong motives. He spoke to the Pharisees and warned them against giving publicly and with a lot of fanfare. Apparently some of them liked to make a great show of their giving, just as they made a great show of their fasting and other acts of worship. This betrayed the real reason they gave—they wanted to be seen and admired by men. Their giving was really for themselves, for selfish reasons, and not for God. Jesus taught that we are to give in order to glorify God, in order to thank God and ultimately, in order to worship God. This takes our eyes off ourselves and reminds us of what the Old Testament tithing and firstfruits was all about—everything belongs to God and everything we have is a sign of his goodness to us. We give to worship God.

Second, even though we are told to give, we are to give freely and willingly, not only out of obligation. In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul writes about giving and says, “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” So even though we are commanded to give (“each one must give”), we are still to give freely. In other words, giving grudgingly is not what God is after. He doesn’t want us to give with an angry or selfish heart or even a heart that is resigned to saying, “OK, since you asked, I’ll do it.” He wants us to give freely. And we can do this when we understand, again, that it is all truly his. If it all belongs to him, if he is the owner and we are the steward, we should be grateful and amazed that we can keep any of it! God could easily demand every bit of money we earn; that would be his right as the owner.

So our giving is to be free. Even though we are told to give, we are to give freely and not under compulsion. We are to give cheerfully. That verse wraps up with saying, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Christmas is fast coming and perhaps that gives us the opportunity to think about the way we give. Would you want your friend to bring you a Christmas gift and say, “I felt like I had to get you something, so here it is.” Of course not. If you are given a gift, you want that gift to reflect a cheerful and willing heart. And that is how the Lord expects that we will give to him.

That is the answer to our second question: how are we to give? We are to give willingly and cheerfully and as an act of worship. Tomorrow I’ll ask and answer two more questions: Where am I go to give?, and How much am I to give?

I'll add some personal comments on the follow up posting. jk

Christian Songs? "That's The Way..." Earth, Wind & Fire

2011-12-11T22:20:00.001-05:00

Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the premier acts of the late 70's and early 80's. Their music had a "spiritual" quality to it. Few people know that one of their lead singers, Phillip Bailey, was a devout Christian who actually recorded a number of gospel albums in the 90's. He and Maurice White wrote much of EW&F's music. While it is a stretch to call any of their songs "Christian", the message is in there if you squint real hard and look closely enough just as it is in many of the pop songs that rose in the charts back in those days. Listen to their "Devotion" some time for a clearer message and Bailey's soaring falsetto! Meanwhile, here's one of their biggest hits:

"The New American Religion" - Al Mohler

2011-12-08T09:03:00.001-05:00

Whether of not our children need to be taught theology and doctrine has been an ongoing conversation at our church (and many others) for quite some time. Our current Youth Program places a heavy emphasis on the Sunday morning teaching from our pulpit which is rich in those two subjects. The overall vision is to put a firm foundation under our kids before they get out into the world. Al Mohler has written an insightful article on this very subject. Reading it has caused me to realize that this teaching and philosophy for our youth is even more vital than I had imagined. If we don't give our children sound doctrine and theology while they are with us and living at home, where will they get it? If we raise them to believe it's not important enough to learn doctrine at church, where will they learn it? If we send them out into the world without it, whose theology will they ultimately embrace? The article is long but our children's spiritual welfare is at stake. Read it, absorb it and understand why we think it's important.

When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."

As a matter of fact, the researchers, whose report is summarized in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, found that American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. As Smith reports, "To the extent that the teens we interviewed did manage to articulate what they understood and believed religiously, it became clear that most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe, or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it. Either way, it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both."

As the researchers explained, "For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."

The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes--adolescent and otherwise--is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views--one can hardly call them worldviews--are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."

The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast emptiness at the heart of their understanding. When a teenager says, "I believe there is a God and stuff," this hardly represents a profound theological commitment.

Amazingly, teenagers are not inarticulate in general. As the researchers found, "Many teenagers know abundant details about the lives of favorite musicians and television stars or about what it takes to get into a good college, but most are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were." The obvious conclusion: "This suggests that a strong, visible, salient, or intentional faith is not operating in the foreground of most teenager's lives."

One other aspect of this study deserves attention at this point. The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?

In the end, this study indicates that American teenagers are heavily influenced by the ideology of individualism that has so profoundly shaped the larger culture. This bleeds over into a reflexive non-judgmentalism and a reluctance to suggest that anyone might actually be wrong in matters of faith and belief. Yet, these teenagers are unable to live with a full-blown relativism.

The researchers note that many responses fall along very moralistic lines--but they reserve their most non-judgmental attitudes for matters of theological conviction and belief. Some go so far as to suggest that there are no "right" answers in matters of doctrine and theological conviction.

The "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" that these researchers identify as the most fundamental faith posture and belief system of American teenagers appears, in a larger sense, to reflect the culture as a whole. Clearly, this generalized conception of a belief system is what appears to characterize the beliefs of vast millions of Americans, both young and old.

This is an important missiological observation--a point of analysis that goes far beyond sociology. As Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton explained, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism "is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life. It teaches that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant, respectful, responsible, at work on self-improvement, taking care of one's health, and doing one's best to be successful." In a very real sense, that appears to be true of the faith commitment, insofar as this can be described as a faith commitment, held by a large percentage of Americans. These individuals, whatever their age, believe that religion should be centered in being "nice"--a posture that many believe is directly violated by assertions of strong theological conviction.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is also "about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents." As the researchers explained, "This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, et cetera. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people."

In addition, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism presents a unique understanding of God. As Smith explains, this amorphous faith "is about belief in a particular kind of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in one's affairs--especially affairs in which one would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance."

Smith and his colleagues recognize that the deity behind Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is very much like the deistic God of the 18th-century philosophers. This is not the God who thunders from the mountain, nor a God who will serve as judge. This undemanding deity is more interested in solving our problems and in making people happy. "In short, God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process."

Obviously, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is not an organized faith. This belief system has no denominational headquarters and no mailing address. Nevertheless, it has millions and millions of devotees across the United States and other advanced cultures, where subtle cultural shifts have produced a context in which belief in such an undemanding deity makes sense. Furthermore, this deity does not challenge the most basic self-centered assumptions of our postmodern age. Particularly when it comes to so-called "lifestyle" issues, this God is exceedingly tolerant and this religion is radically undemanding.

As sociologists, Smith and his team suggest that this Moralistic Therapeutic Deism may now constitute something like a dominant civil religion that constitutes the belief system for the culture at large. Thus, this basic conception may be analogous to what other researchers have identified as "lived religion" as experienced by the mainstream culture.

Moving to even deeper issues, these researches claim that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" Christianity itself, as this new civil religion seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions.

Consider this remarkable assessment: "Other more accomplished scholars in these areas will have to examine and evaluate these possibilities in greater depth. But we can say here that we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

They argue that this distortion of Christianity has taken root not only in the minds of individuals, but also "within the structures of at least some Christian organizations and institutions."

How can you tell? "The language, and therefore experience, of Trinity, holiness, sin, grace, justification, sanctification, church, . . . and heaven and hell appear, among most Christian teenagers in the United States at the very least, to be supplanted by the language of happiness, niceness, and an earned heavenly reward."

Does this mean that America is becoming more secularized? Not necessarily. These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith.

This radical transformation of Christian theology and Christian belief replaces the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the self. In this therapeutic age, human problems are reduced to pathologies in need of a treatment plan. Sin is simply excluded from the picture, and doctrines as central as the wrath and justice of God are discarded as out of step with the times and unhelpful to the project of self-actualization.

All this means is that teenagers have been listening carefully. They have been observing their parents in the larger culture with diligence and insight. They understand just how little their parents really believe and just how much many of their churches and Christian institutions have accommodated themselves to the dominant culture. They sense the degree to which theological conviction has been sacrificed on the altar of individualism and a relativistic understanding of truth. They have learned from their elders that self-improvement is the one great moral imperative to which all are accountable, and they have observed the fact that the highest aspiration of those who shape this culture is to find happiness, security, and meaning in life.

This research project demands the attention of every thinking Christian. Those who are prone to dismiss sociological analysis as irrelevant will miss the point. We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible. The faith "once delivered to the saints" is no longer even known, not only by American teenagers, but by most of their parents. Millions of Americans believe they are Christians, simply because they have some historic tie to a Christian denomination or identity.

We now face the challenge of evangelizing a nation that largely considers itself Christian, overwhelmingly believes in some deity, considers itself fervently religious, but has virtually no connection to historic Christianity. Christian Smith and his colleagues have performed an enormous service for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in identifying Moralistic Therapeutic Deism as the dominant religion of this American age. Our responsibility is to prepare the church to respond to this new religion, understanding that it represents the greatest competitor to biblical Christianity. More urgently, this study should warn us all that our failure to teach this generation of teenagers the realities and convictions of biblical Christianity will mean that their children will know even less and will be even more readily seduced by this new form of paganism. This study offers irrefutable evidence of the challenge we now face. As the motto reminds us, "Knowledge is power."

_____________________________________________

Christian Songs! "Spirit In the Sky" - Norman Greenbaum

2011-12-06T23:27:00.001-05:00

In the very early days of the Jesus movement, Norman Greenbaum added some distortion to his guitar and, using a standard blues riff, sang about Jesus. This is about as bold a statement as any mainstream pop got back in those days.

Christian Songs? "Sweet Cherry Wine" by Tommy James and the Shondells

2011-12-05T14:17:00.001-05:00

Very few people realize Tommy James got saved after his rock and roll career got started. He started writing songs about his salvation experience. This was one of them. The wine mentioned was the communion wine. His record company wasn't very happy about all this but, by the time he started writing about his faith, he was already a fairly big star. There wasn't much they could do about it!

Christian Songs? "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb

2011-12-02T19:00:00.001-05:00

Long before the Christian recording industry became big business, record producers avoided any overt mention of God, Christ or religion in popular recordings. Still, a few slipped through here and there. This one is "Sunny" recorded by Bobby Hebb in 1966 and covered hundreds of times by many different artists. The video is also an amusing peek into the mid 60's rock shows, when lip synching was the norm.

"Ready Or Not?" - A redemption story

2011-11-25T09:57:00.001-05:00

Worth 14 minutes of your time....

"Is There Anyone There?" From FLN

2011-11-25T09:19:00.001-05:00

A great outreach Christmas video for Family Life Network:

Is there anyone there? from FLN on Vimeo.

"7 Misconceptions About Submission"

2011-11-16T13:06:00.001-05:00

This from an excellent blog today, "Girls Gone Wise"

Submission. OOoo . . . that dread “S” word!

This morning I had an interesting conversation with Rachel Held Evans, who is writing a book on “A Year of Biblical Womanhood.”Though Rachel and I would likely disagree on several points regarding the Bible’s teaching on womanhood, I deeply appreciate the opportunity for us to dialogue and engage on the topic. Rachel asked me to answer three questions about submission:

What are some common misconceptions about what it means to be a “submissive wife.”
Why might some (think secular audience) be surprised to learn that you submit to your husband. In other words, how do you yourself defy the stereotype?
How long have you been married, and how has submission worked out practically in your marriage? (In other words, what does it look like when you submit to your husband?)

Those are excellent questions! Here’s how I answered her first question, “What are some common misconceptions about what it means to be a “submissive wife?”

Seven Misconceptions about Submission:

Misconception #1: Submission is universal—the directive applies to all women, even those outside of the faith community.

The biblical directive to submit applies to Christians—not to those outside the faith community. People without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit have neither the discernment nor the power to live out submission and authority in a godly manner.

Misconception #2: Submission is gender-exclusive—it’s just for women.

Men have a responsibility to submit too—it’s not just something that’s required of women. EVERY Christian, female or male, has the responsibility to submit to the Lord, and also to the authorities the Lord has placed in his or her life. What’s more, the biblical concepts of submission and authority cannot be disassociated. The two are indivisibly connected. A biblical definition of submission cannot be understood apart from a biblical definition of authority.

Misconception #3: Submission is generic—every woman submits to every man.

The Bible instructs a wife to submit herself to her own husband; not to men in general.

Misconception #4: Submission is a right—a husband has the right to demand his wife’s submission.

A husband does not have the right to demand or extract submission from his wife. Submission is HER choice—her responsibility… it is NOT his right!! Not ever. She is to “submit herself”— deciding when and how to submit is her call. In a Christian marriage, the focus is never on rights, but on personal responsibility. It’s his responsibility to be affectionate. It’s her responsibility to be agreeable. The husband’s responsibility is to sacrificially love as Christ loved the Church—not to make his wife submit.

Misconception #5: Submission is indiscriminate—it means mindless acquiescence.

A Christian’s first responsibility is to submit to the Lord and His standard of righteousness. A wife is not called to submit to sin, mistreatment, or abuse. The Lord does not want “weak-willed” women—women who lack the discernment and strength to respond to the right things and in the right way. Godly women do not submit to sin. They carefully and intentionally weigh and discern how to submit to sinful human authority in light of their primary responsibility to submit to the ways of the Lord. No brain-dead doormats or spineless bowls of Jello here! Submission is neither mindless nor formulaic nor simplistic. Submitting to the Lord sometimes involves drawing clear boundaries and enacting consequences when a husband sins. Submission is an attitude of the heart. A woman can have a submissive spirit even when saying “no” and refusing to go along with sin.

Misconception #6: Submission precludes mutuality—it creates lopsided, one-way relationships.

Submission and authority function hand-in-hand with all the other biblical directives about how Christians ought to interact with one another. Along with submitting to her husband, a Christian wife also has the responsibility to be transparent, speak truth, confront sin, and challenge her husband to ever increasing levels of holiness. As heirs together of the grace of life, both husband and wife have the responsibility to love, encourage, and build one another up; and to interact with forbearance, kindness and humility. Biblical authority and submission contribute to mutuality, and do not diminish or detract from it. (It’s “both-and” not “either-or.”)

Misconception #7: Submission promotes abuse—it encourages husbands to be domineering, self-centered boors.

When properly understood and enacted, the framework of hierarchical relationships within the Christian community serves a protective function, for every authority is accountable to a higher authority. This community structure encourages husbands to fulfill their responsibility to love as Christ loves, and holds them to account when they don’t. It fosters Christlikeness and prevents abuse. A wife whose husband is abusive can appeal to higher authorities for intervention and protection. It is the responsibility of the authorities to protect and seek the good of all those under their care.

Defying the Stereotype

Rachel’s second question was “Why might some (think secular audience) be surprised to learn that you submit to your husband. In other words, how do you yourself defy the stereotype?

My answer:

My husband takes his responsibility to love me as Christ loves the Church seriously. I take my responsibility to submit to him seriously. That means that I am cherished and have a voice. That means that he is respected and supported. I work with him, and pull in the same direction. Some might be surprised that I believe in submission because my marriage displays a unity, intimacy, and mutuality that is deep, profound and enviable. I am flourishing. I have what most women want. And it is a great paradox how it is has been achieved. The way of faith is the way of paradox: lose your life to live it, give to receive. It is also a great paradox that honoring God’s pattern for authority and submission in marriage fosters unity and mutuality.

What Does Submission Look Like?

Rachel’s third question was “How long have you been married, and how has submission worked out practically in your marriage? (In other words, what does it look like when you submit to your husband?)

My answer:

I’ve been married for 29 years—“just getting going” says my mom, who’s been married for 62.
“What it looks like” is a difficult question, since submission is not something foreign—not something “other”—to the character of a redeemed woman. Submission is not as much an “action” as it is an “attitude.” So it can’t be dictated by behavioral prescriptives. Submission boils down to a having spirit of amenability. It means being soft, receptive, responsive, and agreeable. Because of the misconceptions surrounding the definition of submission, I actually prefer to use the term “amenability.” Amenability comes from the French amener (to lead). An amenable woman is “leadable” as opposed to “ungovernable” She’s responsive to input and likely to cooperate. Amenability is part of the three-fold womanly disposition of 1 Peter 3:4-5, which includes gentleness, calmness, and amenability—which works itself out in a married woman’s life in submission to her husband.
So “what it looks like” on an on-going basis, is that I am soft, receptive, and agreeable toward my husband. I love responding to his lead. I respect who God created him to be as a man—and support his efforts to provide godly oversight for our family. I respect the position of responsibility that goes along with being a husband and father. “Respect” is probably the best word to describe what submission looks like in my marriage.
For me, submission is one of those things that is far more easily identified by its absence rather than its presence. I know that I am struggling with it when I am critical, impatient, defiant, and “snarky” toward my husband—when I refuse to cooperate and am unresponsive to input, when I rush in and take control, when I fail to “provide space” to allow my husband the opportunity to be a man and provide godly oversight for our family. In other words, it’s not readily apparent to me when I’m submitting, but it’s painfully obvious to me when I am not. I sense that I am disrespecting/ disregarding my husband, taking control, and pulling against him rather than for and with him.

So what do you think? Is there anything I missed? Which misconception do you encounter the most? How would you answer Rachel’s three questions? Or do you have any other questions or comments about submission?

"If I Became A Garden Slug" by Mark Altrogge

2011-11-16T12:17:00.001-05:00

This was posted on the Blazing Center this morning

When you say Incarnation think humiliation.

The Infinite One clothed himself in dust. The Mighty One wrapped himself in weakness.

I don’t like to be humbled. I want to be honored. Have you ever been in a meeting and someone says, “I want to honor someone this morning. I know he wouldn’t want me to say these things about him, but…” and you’re thinking, say my name! Say my name!” Sadly I’ve thought that.

Once a number of my friends and I went golfing on a rainy day. I’m not a golfer – I went to hang out with my buddies. I did terribly all day. I think my friends quit keeping my score on the second hole. By the last hole I was exasperated. I said, “I’m going to smash this ball as hard as I can. It’s going the whole way to the hole in one stroke.”

I ratcheted the club back farther and farther, discs in my back popping. Then I swung. The club hummed louder and louder as it cut through the air, finally breaking the sound barrier. Then the head of the club plowed into the turf a full foot in front of the ball, launching a basketball-sized divot into the atmosphere. The powerful torque generated by my aborted swing sent my feet arcing into the air. I hung there suspended between heaven and earth for a full minute, then came crashing down in the wet grass on my back, my arms and legs flailing like a tipped cow. My friends erupted into wild shrieks of laughter, squealing like stuck pigs. “I wish I had a video camera,” one howled, “I’d be $10,000 richer.” Any vestiges of pride, honor and dignity that I had were stripped away in one humiliating moment. But any humiliation I’ve experienced is nothing compared to Christ’s.

Christ’s humiliation was infinite.

Christ’s humiliation is vastly different from any we experience. When we’re humbled, we really don’t have all that far to fall. If I became a garden slug, it wouldn’t compare to Christ’s humiliation because he was infinitely exalted above all his creation.

Christ’s humiliation was willing.

I don’t gravitate toward humiliation. I don’t wake up saying, “I hope something humiliating happens to me today.” Jesus chose humiliation because it was his Father’s will. In Hebrews 10:7 Jesus says, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”

The Father’s will was for Jesus to take on flesh and be subject to human parents. The Father’s will was for Jesus to be misunderstood, mocked and rejected. The Father’s will was to crush Jesus (Is 53:10). Jesus delighted in all his Father’s will. He said “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” He “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Php 2.7-8).

Christ took on a human body subject to hunger, thirst, and weariness. He readily embraced the whip, the crown of thorns, the nails, and the wrath of God. He didn’t run the other way like Jonah. He didn’t try to excuse himself like Moses. He didn’t try to protect himself like Peter. He was eager and willing to be humiliated.

I want to imitate Christ.

I want to willingly take on lowly tasks for the Lord. I want to eagerly serve when it’s inconvenient. If Christ willingly humbled himself, I want to willingly humble myself for him.

Originally posted Dec. 19, 2007

Two Ways To Depart From Masculinity

2011-11-07T13:41:00.003-05:00

Doug Wilson in a short video on how to lose your masculinity:

Two Ways to Depart from Masculinity from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Listening To Our Spouse

2011-11-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

This from T.J. Addington's blog today. It's a beautiful reminder of the oneness that God creates between a husband and a wife, a bond that is not dependent upon our feelings for one another but upon God's promise in Gen 2:24. I always tell a young couple I'm doing pre-marital counseling with that they will be saying their vows before God and man...and God takes them seriously, forming one flesh. That's what the wedding ceremony is all about. T.J.'s comments are poignant and profound:

There have been a number of key decision points on my marriage where I have been ready to do something and Mary Ann expressed significant reservations. Those reservations kept me from moving ahead until we were both on the same page and were a great gift to me. In fact, I believe that spouses who don't carefully listen to one another on major decisions are not only foolish but potentially failing to listen to the Holy Spirit. I won't say that I was not sometimes irritated by her reluctance to agree with me but I will say she was invariably right and I would have paid dumb tax had I not listened.

Not listening is foolish because there are few people who know us better than our spouse! They know our strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, dark sides and all that makes up who we are. Furthermore, two people engaged in a decision is far better then one, especially when both have to live with the consequences. When I have an especially contentious issue at work or with an individual I will always talk it over with Mary Ann and will listen carefully to her counsel and usually my response is better for it.

But there is another factor that we often forget. As believers, we live with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The question is whether we are listening to the Holy Spirit in our busyness. My observation is that Mary Ann, like many women, are more reflective than many men and hear the whispers of the Spirit better than many men. Those whispers, however, are whispers from God who has our best interests in mind - always. Thus when our spouse indicates reservations it may just be that it is not them speaking but the Holy Spirit through them.

All married couples face significant issues that they face together. The simple practice of praying about these issues together, talking about them and listening carefully to one another on all of them can lead to better decisions, wiser actions and most of all the best shot at hearing the Holy Spirit in the process. We ignore the reflections of our spouse to our peril and may even miss the direction of the Holy Spirit in the process.

Redemption!

2011-11-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

Unbelieving Children and Elders

2011-11-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

This from Justin Taylor's blog:

Editors' Note: Send your theological, biblical, and practical ministry questions toask@thegospelcoalition.org along with your full name, city, and state. We'll pass them along to The Gospel Coalition's Council members and other friends for an answer we can share.

Anonymous from Austin, Texas, asks:

Does the New Testament teach that an unbelieving child disqualifies an elder?

We asked for a response from Justin Taylor, father of three, elder at New Covenant Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois, and vice president of book publishing at Crossway.

**********

There can be few things in life more painful than an unbelieving child. And when the child is the son or daughter of an elder, the questions take on a public dimension in the life of the church. Doesn't the apostle Paul say something about elders needing to have children who are believers?

The verses under consideration are 1 Timothy 3:4-5 and Titus 1:6 . We'll look at them in more detail below, but at this point it's helpful to look at the two different conclusions that faithful interpreters have reached.

Douglas Wilson holds to the first option: "[I]f a man's children fall away from the faith (either doctrinally or morally), he is at that point disqualified from formal ministry in the church" (Douglas Wilson, "The Pastor's Kid " inCredenda/Agenda, vol. 2, no. 3).

Alexander Strauch holds to the second view: "The contrast is made not between believing and unbelieving children, but between obedient, respectful children and lawless, uncontrolled children." In other words, Paul is talking about "the children's behavior, not their eternal state" (Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership , 229).

Which one is right? To answer that, we have to take a careful look at the key texts.

Faithful Leadership in the Church and Home

In 1 Timothy 3:4 , Paul says that an elder "must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive." In the next verse he explains why: "for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" The obvious answer to the rhetorical question is that he can't. In other words, if you can't manage your household at home, you won't be able to care for the household of God. If you regular lose control of your kids, why should you be trusted to lead and protect a flock? John Stott gets the biblical logic right: "The married pastor is called to leadership in two families, his and God's, and the former is to be the training ground of the latter" (John Stott, Guard the Truth: The Message of 1 Timothy and Titus , 98).

None of this is particularly controversial. It's when we get to Titus 1:6 that the harder question arises.

Must an Elder's Children Be Believers?

Paul says that an elder's "children [must be] believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination." On first glance, the answer looks obvious. Paul says that an elder's kids must be believers. But note the footnote in the ESV: believers can also be translated faithful. (It's important to pay attention to footnotes in the translations of biblical texts, as they alert us when there are other equally valid translation options.) The Greek word here is pistas, which can mean either "believing" or "faithful" in the pastoral epistles. (For example, see "believing masters" in 1 Timothy 6:2 and "faithful men" in 2 Timothy 2:2 ). Word studies alone can't solve this---it depends on the context. But let's be clear on the two big options: Paul either meant that (1) an elder's children have to bebelievers, or (2) an elder's children must at least be faithful, submissive, and obedient.

How do we decide? The Reformers rightly insisted that we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. Here we have one author (Paul) writing separately to two young church planters (Timothy and Titus) talking about the same subject (elder qualifications). How do the two passages about family life compare?

When we look at the Greek, we see how similar the language is between 1 Timothy 3:4 and Titus 1:6 . You can see the similarities even if you don't know Greek:

The most natural assumption is that Paul is saying the same thing in slightly different ways. (As Andreas Köstenberger points out, it would be unusual if Paul gave Timothy a more lenient standard about elder's children and Titus a more stringent one.) If they mean the same thing, then to have children who are pista means to have children who arehypotagē. And what does it mean to have children who are hypotagē? Paul explains it in the next clause: "not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination" (see note below*).

Four More Reasons

With that in mind, here are four further reasons that incline me to believe that Paul is referring to the submission and obedience of an elder's children, and not to their salvation.

1) The grounding question of 1 Timothy 3:5 explicitly connects the elder's qualifications with his managerial skills in verse 4.

There is something sanctifying about being the child of a believing parent (1 Cor. 7:14 ). It does not guarantee salvation, but this relational reality sets the child apart in some way. A godly home with the gospel at the center does not automatically produce a believing child, but God has designed things such that this is often the case. In God's providence the modeling of belief and the aroma of the gospel in the home are often the means of producing salvation by grace.

None of this means, however, that there is a one-to-one correspondence between saving faith and good spiritual housekeeping. We see from both Scripture and experience that good and godly leadership does not always prevent children---whether spiritual or natural---from falling away.

So it's puzzling when John Stott says, "An extension of the same principle may be that presbyter-bishops can hardly be expected to win strangers to Christ if they have failed to win those who are most exposed to their influence, their own children" (John Stott,Guard the Truth: The Message of 1 Timothy and Titus , 176). This sounds right at first, but we know it's not true---effective evangelists can have children who leave the faith---and at the end of the day we must remember that salvation belongs to the Lord, who has mercy on whomever he has mercy. If we "expect" someone to be won to faith, we are likely forgetting the inscrutability of grace.

2) Even the best pastoral managers have unbelievers within their church or under their sphere of influence (cf. Galatians 1:6 !).

It's possible for a pastor to manage the church (household of God) well, even though not everyone in it is a believer. If this is so, then it seems that one can manage his family (the smaller household) well, even though not all within it genuinely believe.

3) Insisting that having believing children is a prerequisite to eldership leads to some uncomfortable questions.

What do we make of an elder who has a number of believing children, walking faithfully with the Lord---but one who is not? If most of his children are believers, is he not a good manager of his household? Or does the one unbelieving child call into question his overall managerial ability? If it does, then why did any of his children turn out to be believers?

4) All of the requirements for eldership listed in this passage (being a one-woman man, being temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, a good teacher, not a drunkard, not a lover of money, and not a recent convert) are actions of personal responsibility. We would expect the requirement regarding his children to be in the same category.

Requiring that his children have genuine saving faith is to require personal responsibility for the salvation of another, something I don't see taught in Scripture.

Profound Effect

1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are referring to the general submission and behavior of the elder's children. God has so designed the universe that the parental role of disciplinarian, model, authority, and servant-leader generally has a profound effect upon the behavior of the children. Paul does not spell out what this looks like in every case, nor does he spell out all of the specifics of what will disqualify an elder. The general case, however, is clear:

What must not characterize the children of an elder is immorality and undisciplined rebelliousness, if the children are still at home and under his authority. Paul is not asking any more of the elder and his children than is expected of every Christian father and his children. However, only if a man exercises such proper control over his children may he be an elder. (George W. Knight III, Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles , p. 190. See p. 161 for his argument that Paul is referring to tekna("children") who are under authority and not yet of age.)

May God give the pastors and elders of our churches grace and wisdom in faithfully leading both their churches and their homes.**

_____________________

*In personal correspondence (10/13/11, quoted with permission) Doug Wilson writes: "I am happy to translate the word as faithful, and to say that it means that the children should be 'under good management.' But I don't know why a child would be considered obedient if they were obedient when it comes to making their bed and staying away from cocaine, but disobedient to the central command to love God through Jesus Christ." The problem with this is that we need to let Paul himself explain what he means by faithfulness and obedience, and he explains it negatively in terms of public behavior ("not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination") rather than spiritual faithfulness to the gospel per se.

**I wish to thank Ray Van Neste, Tom Schreiner, and Andreas Köstenberger for offering helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this response.

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