Lost in wonder, love and grace

Sin and Busyness

2009-03-24T10:52:00.003-04:00

Oh oh, major conviction time for me. I'm continuing to read through John Owen's excellent book The Power and Efficacy of Indwelling Sin as I wrote about in my previous post.

This morning, Dr. Owen had a significant warning for me. If I have a dangerous addiction (besides coffee and chocolate), it is addiction to busyness. I love to be busy. Often too busy.

But busyness, and the weariness that can come with it, all too often provides an opening for temptation in my heart. Exactly as the good Doctor says:

The deceitfulness of sin makes use of corrupt reasonings, taken from the pressing and urging occasions of life. ... Men have not leisure to glorify God and save their own souls. It is certain that God gives us time enough for all that he requires of us in any kind in this world. No duties need to jostle one another, I mean constantly. Special occasions must be determined according to special circumstances.

So, the good Doctor argues, that if in general we don't have time for all of our duties then we are in the wrong. My wife and I have frequently expressed our surprise that God put only 24 hours in a day. "What was he thinking?" has been my frequent refrain. And only 7 days in the week?!

Owen's next statement brought the surgeon's scalpel deep:

But if in anything we take more upon us than we have time well to perform it in, without robbing God of that which is due to him and our own souls, this God calls us not unto, this he blesses us not in. It is more tolerable that our duties of holiness and regard to God should entrench upon the duties of our callings and employments in this world than on the contrary; and yet neither does God require this at our hands, in an ordinary manner or course. (Overcoming Sin and Temptation, p 312)

Ouch. A good pain, a healing pain.

And so sin tempts us away from the "duties of holiness" --- daily reading of Scripture, prayer, meditation, memorization, etc. --- which are so effective at combating sin, and weakens us for further temptation.

May God grant us the courage and humility (and time!) to review our schedules with these points firmly in mind.

Dealing with sin...

2009-03-02T16:45:00.004-05:00

If you have never read any of John Owen's classic works on dealing with sin and temptation, stop reading this very minute and order your copy right away!

I've read many books on dealing with sin, and nothing outside of Scripture holds a candle to this one. Forget all those modern light and fluffy treatments; this book is the meat that you need.

John Owen is a good doctor. He knows where sin hides. He knows the dark parts of your heart. And like a good doctor, he is going to pursue those festering bits, expose them to the light, and show you how to fight them! Glorious!

You can read the original Owen to great advantage. All Puritan writers are challenging in their complexity, and Owen particularly so, but if you read slowly and out loud, you will have few difficulties. And the gold is worth mining!

However, the modern, lightly re-rendered version "Overcoming Sin and Temptation," as edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor, makes him more accessible without losing anything vital. I'm thoroughly enjoying this book, and profiting greatly!

Here's a taste: Owen discussing how indwelling sin starts small, but if it is fed, it grows until it conquers. Instead, we need to fight it with all we have the moment it begins to rear its ugly head (Overcoming Sin and Temptation, p. 289):

Sin grows not to this height at its first assault. Had it not been suffered to make its entrance, had there not been some yielding in the soul, this had not come about. The great wisdom and security of the soul in dealing with indwelling sin is to put a violent stop unto its beginnings, its first motions and actings. Venture all on the first attempt. Die rather than yield one step until it.

What happened to 2008?

2009-02-27T11:03:00.004-05:00

It was not the best of times, nor the worst of times, but it was the most silent of times. Not one blog post in 2008.

So, in 2009, I will turn over a new leaf. Except that is a rather anachronistic expression, especially for a blog. Instead, I will make a clean <br>. I will go <b>ly into the future, not knowing where I will <head>.

I have two series planned ... we'll see how things go. Thanks for waiting, and welcome to the Year of our Lord, 2009!

Greek is Only for Scholars

2007-12-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

"Greek is only for scholars, and university folks. I'm a busy pastor!"

If you feel this way, you're not alone. Judging by the degree requirements of most modern seminaries, there is a wholesale abandonment of the original languages. It seems many schools don't see such study as necessary or as relevant as, say, additional courses in business management and team vision building.

But if indeed all Scripture is breathed out by God, and sufficient to make us competent, equipped for every good work, then our ability to understand Scripture is the most necessary and relevant training we can have!

John Newton, who entered into his ministry after being an illiterate slave trader, promises:

The original Scriptures well deserve your pains, and will richly repay them.

And George Mueller, who cared for over 100,000 orphans over his lifetime (can any of us claim to be busier than he?), and who was not primarily a pastor but an evangelist and organizer, talked about the importance of the original languages to his own life:

I studied much, about 12 hours a day, chiefly Hebrew ... [and] committed portions of the Hebrew Old Testament to memory; and this I did in prayer, often falling on my knees. ... I looked up to the Lord even whilst turning over the leaves of my Hebrew dictionary.

Not convinced yet? How about the testimony of George Whitfield? He made 7 trips between the US and Europe (by ship, not plane!), preached over 16,000 sermons over his lifetime, speaking to up to 30,000 people at a time, with neither microphone nor PowerPoint. In his last days, he was quite ill, and would eventually die from overwork and asthma. But in his final years, what was one of his great comforts? You guessed it: Greek!

Though weak, I often spent two hours in my evening retirements and prayed over my Greek Testament, and Bishop Hall's most excellent Contemplations, every hour that my health would permit.

Dear reader, listen to the urging of John Newton, George Mueller and George Whitefield. And as a final word of encouragement, Martin Luther challenges us:

As dear as the gospel is to us all, let us contend with its language.

(All quotations are taken from John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals.)

Biblical Counseling: Truth and Lies

2007-12-17T23:50:00.000-05:00

Counseling. I had come to hate that term. My previous school taught courses in counseling, in fact you could do an entire M.Div. in it. And even though there is always a lack of good pastors, the counseling major was always full.

Why did I hate the term? Because, in my experience, it was through "counseling" that so much corrupt teaching, deception and outright heresy was sneaking into the church. I was absolutely aghast at some of what went under the umbrella of counseling, both in seminary and in previous churches.

I listened to people teaching that making casual inward promises to ourselves can bind us in crippling "inner vows", that experiences in the womb can become spiritual strongholds enabling demons to control us, that other people's sinful attitudes toward us can be "bitter roots" that twist our own lives in mystical ways, and that the path to freedom is through instantaneous divine revelation and the binding of demonic powers.

Garbage, swill, tripe and foolishness!! What irreverent babble! Warmed-over pseudo-Jungian fantasies lightly baptized with irrelevant Bible verses.

So, I was pretty soured on "counseling". Until I had a chance to sign up for such a course in my new seminary. I haven't even started the course yet, but I'm reading the texts in advance.

And I am thrilled, delighted and profoundly encouraged to see what truly biblical counseling looks like. Jay Adams, David Powlinson, Ed Welch, John MacArthur ... how sweet to see men who take Scripture seriously and trust God when he says that he has provided in his Book all that we need to counsel (2 Tim 3:16-17).

Here are seven core elements that Powlinson and Adams lay out as central to truly Biblical counseling (from Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically, John MacArthur et al):

God is at the center of counseling. God is sovereign, active, speaking, merciful, commanding and powerful. ... The Bible is authoritative, relevant, and comprehensively sufficient for counseling. God has spoken truly to every basic issue of humn nature and to the problems in living.
Commitment to God has epistemological consequences. First, other sources of knowledge must be submitted to the authority of Scripture. The sciences, personal experience, literature, and so forth may be useful, but may not play a constitutive role in counseling. ... false counsel must be noted and opposed ... The false claimants to authority must be exposed and opposed.
Sin, in all its dimensions is the primary problem counselors must deal with. Sin includes wrong behavior, distorted thinking, an orientation to follow personal desires, and bad attitudes. Sin is habitual and deceptive, and much of the difficult in counseling consists in bringing specific sin to awareness and breaking its hold.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer.
The biblical change process which counseling must aim at is progressive sanctification.
The situational difficulties people face are not the random cause of problems in living. These difficulties operate within the sovereign design of God.
Counseling is fundamentally a pastoral activity and must be church-based. It must be regulated under the authority of God's appointed undershepherds.

Amen and amen. May this truly Scriptural counseling increase, and may the deceptive lies currently plaguing much of the Church be finally repented of and forsaken!

Downs Syndrome and Modern Hypocrisy

2007-11-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

I listened to a charming interview on CBC Radio 1 this morning. The host was interviewing two sisters who have embarked on a speaking tour, the exact focus of which was never clear to me.

The relationship between these girls was charming and encouraging, particularly since the younger girl (who was 30, I think), had Downs Syndrome. She was reasonably clear, articulate, thoughtful, charming. Her sister's devotion to her was profound and laudable.

They talked about their close relationship. They talked about goals, joys, life. They talked about how good life was even with a disability, and the unique insights and gifts that came along with those challenges.

At no point in the conversation was there the slightest reference toward the thought that was continuously echoing in my head during the entire interview. This thought was: if she had been conceived more recently, her Downs Syndrome would have been detected and she would almost certainly have been killed!

It was surreal, listening to this woman describe her goals, joys, frustrations, and experiences, and thinking "Yes, but modern society says you should be dead. You should not have been born."

A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated. (Source: Wikipedia)

I remember sitting in church a few years ago, right behind a couple who had a beautiful little girl with them. This girl, less than a year old, clearly had Downs. Her daddy held her on his shoulder, and I could look her straight in the face, and I wept!

"We kill people like you, little one," I was thinking. "You will have almost no peers with similar struggles, because the others were detected and their parents had them eliminated."

May God grant our nation repentance and revival!

Why study Greek and Hebrew?

2007-11-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

I was going to create a new blog focusing on New Testament Greek for beginners, or even those who had not yet begun. But I ran out of steam after just a few posts ... so I'm going to bring those articles over here instead.

Why should I, the busy pastor or teacher, study Greek and Hebrew? I will start this blog with a series seeking to provide convincing answers to that question.

We'll look at several positive reasons, and try to remove several common misunderstandings. But the quick, summary answer is: to be sure! To be certain!

Study the original languages to be sure. To be sure in your exegesis. To be sure in your preaching. To be able to say, "Thus says the Lord" with great courage and conviction.

Knowing Greek and Hebrew is not about learning some hidden language, some secret gnostic meaning within Scripture. If you hear someone say, "In the original Greek this actually means..." they are generally wrong. But knowing those languages is about being able to follow the author's line of thought. To do away with English ambiguities (even though they may be replaced by Greek ambiguities).

How important is this? Well, how important was the Reformation? Martin Luther said:

If the languages had not made me positive as to the true meaning of the word, I might have still remained a chained monk, engaged in quietly preaching Romish errors in the obscurity of a cloister; the pope, the sophists, and their anti-Christian empire would have remained unshaken.

From John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals.

Knowing the Greek made him positive, made him certain, made him sure! Your congregation or your class deserve no less than the certainty that what you preach and teach is indeed what God has said.

Sweet and Sour for the Pleasure of God

2007-11-20T10:08:00.000-05:00

I will complete the Don't Waste Your Arthritis series someday, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post some manuscripts of messages I preached at churches without sound recording.

Sweet and Sour for the Pleasure of God

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor 2:14-15 ESV)

When I was a brand new baby Christian, about 11 years old, I invited a friend of mine to a weekday Christian club. I very much wanted him to be saved, so after a very stirring message at that club, I turned to Chris to talk about the gospel. Now, the church we attended was a King James Version church, my question to him was:

“Chris, have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Not surprisingly, he said a bit nervously, “Um, no.” I asked him if he wanted to be, and he said, “ok.” (Brave kid.) So, without further description of what the gospel was, I asked him to pray after me. I basically prayed the “sinner's prayer,” asking Jesus to forgive our sins and to be Lord of our lives. Then I turned to him and asked,

“Do you feel any different?”

“No.”

“Ok, we got to pray it again.”

So we did.

All this to say that I was not then a natural evangelist. Nor am I now one. I struggle to share my faith, alternating between guilt and fear. When I hear messages on the need to tell the gospel, I get this awkward tightening sensation in my gut. Do you know that one? Are you feeling a bit of it now?

Sometimes you might get that feeling when missionaries come and describe their work. But then they describe the need for financial support, and I start thinking “Phew. I don't need to tell people the gospel. I can pay someone else to do it!”

Now, it is absolutely a requirement that our churches be involved in sending and supporting the growth of the gospel in other lands; the missionary effort is vital and worthy of our sacrificial giving. But supporting missions, at home or abroad, should not be an excuse for our neglecting personal evangelism.

How's the awkward, twisty sensation now?

Everyone finds sharing the gospel a little scary. Sure, some more than others, but we all find it frightening. We're afraid that we may be laughed at, or asked a question we can't answer, or needlessly offend someone, or even turn off or mislead someone we're trying to reach.

Even the Apostle Paul in Eph 6:19-20 says, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Even he needed prayers for boldness.

But this same Paul, in our text today, will teach us why we can be truly bold in telling the gospel to those God has put around us. At various points in 2 Corinthians, Paul is defending his apostleship. And in our passage this morning, 2 Cor 2:14-16, he gives us three reasons for a God-focused boldness. We can tell those around us the gospel boldly because:

v.14, God is doing the work through us,
v. 15, God loves the fragrance of witness,
v. 16, God establishes the results of our testifying.

So, let's read 2 Cor 2:14-16.

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

The first verse gives us our first point.

(1) We can tell them the gospel boldly, because God is working through us.

As we share God's gospel, then as God was working through the apostles who wrote that gospel, so also God is working through you.

Why can you be bold is talking to your co-worker? Because God is the one working, not you. He is working through you, but it's his work.

And how is God doing that work? Paul uses the striking image of the Roman triumphus, or victory parade. After a successful military campaign, when a Roman general returned to the city of Rome, there would be a procession in his honour. At the head of the procession came the magistrates and the senate, followed by the trumpeters and some of the spoils of war: gold vessels, pieces of captured ships. Then there would be flute players, followed by a collection of captured enemies driven in chains. Finally, the victorious general himself riding in his ornate chariot, followed by his victorious soldiers.

But surprisingly, the language here implies not that Paul is one of the triumphant soldiers, but rather one of the defeated foes. He portrays himself as a conquered enemy, a trophy not of war, but a trophy of grace. God is the victor, and Paul is the former enemy of God, now conquered. And so it is with ourselves. We too were once enemies of Christ (Col 1:21), rebels against God, ignoring him, or railing against him. But now we are his joyful captives. Our rebellion is ended, but instead of being reluctant, defeated foes, we are enthusiastic, privileged subjects of our triumphant, glorious king.

God is holding a victory parade, demonstrating his power and his grace to those rebels who have joyfully surrendered to him.

And as the procession of the Roman victor wound its way through the city, at various times some people would burn incense along the route, others would carry and display spices from the conquered regions, and others still would scatter garlands of flowers and sprinkled perfume along the streets. Thus along the route, pleasant fragrances filled the air. Paul picks up this part of the image, and teaches that God likewise is spreading a sweet fragrance, in this case not of flowers, but of the knowledge of Christ. The beautiful aroma that accompanies the joyful captives is the knowledge of Christ, who he is, what he has done, and so includes the gospel itself.

Notice also how God is spreading that fragrance. “Through us”, Paul says. What a wonderful paradox ... the defeated captive has now become the active evangelist. God's agent is no one other than God's prisoner. And so, likewise, we who have become joyfully submitted to God become the means whereby he himself spreads the gospel, the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. And that fragrance is spreading, as the verse says, everywhere.

So what does that look like? How do we live as God's prisoners who have become his proclaimers? How, through us, does God spread that sweet fragrance, the knowledge of Christ, everywhere? Let me suggest one very practical way: that fragrances spreads as you share the story of your freedom-granting defeat. How did God overcome your rebellion? What has he done in your life, in your heart, since you became his trophy of grace? Tell that story.

Look at the people around you, in this church, and see if there is anyone whose story you do not know. If they are a Christian, you don't know how they became one. Then pick someone, and take some time – say today over lunch – and ask them. Ask them how they became a Christian. Ask them how they were introduced to the gospel. It will encourage them, tie you closer together, and give you encouragement and even ideas of how to take the gospel to those who have not yet heard it.

We can boldly tell others the gospel, because it is God's work through us. And not only is it his work, but Paul teaches us that it is also his pleasure. Look at verse 15.

15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

(2) We can tell those around us the gospel boldly, because God loves the smell of witness.

What does witnessing, giving testimony to the gospel, smell like to you? To me, it generally smells like fear. And nervousness.

What does our telling of the gospel smell like to God? It smells like the aroma of Christ. It smells like the sweet fragrance of his beloved Son. When we embody the gospel, when we live it and when we explain it, we ourselves become to God the aroma of Christ.

Paul has changed the metaphor now. Instead of the fragrance of the Roman triumphal march, we have the God-pleasing scent of the burnt offering used in the worship at the Temple. How do we know? Well, this Greek word was used many times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and most of the time referred to the “pleasing odor” of the sacrifice. Paul says that as the apostles took the gospel amongst the people, those apostles became that pleasing odor. And by extension as we continue that work, taking the gospel as written by these same apostles, we too arise to God as the sweet aroma of his Son.

What a marvelous reason to tell people the gospel! Not just because they need to hear it. Not just in the hope that they may be saved, wonderful as that is. Certainly not to merely discharge a duty. But we give pleasure to God as we testify. We are to God like the pleasing aroma of the sacrifice, greater yet, we are the sweet fragrance of his Son, as we strive and struggle to testify.

Aromas are some of the most powerful stimulators of memory, don't you find? Perhaps the declicous scent of a turkey baking in the oven stirs thoughts of wonderful family gatherings. Maybe the warm, welcoming smell of fresh bread reminds you of home, or the sweet chocolately fragrance of a cake baking brings up happy memories of childhood birthdays.

Yet none of our most appreciated aromas compares to the joy God takes in the sweet fragrance of his Son. And as we testify, as we tell people the gospel, even though we may stink of fear, he breathes deeply of the precious, glorious aroma of his beloved Son.

Notice, please, that Paul teaches that our witness is among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. He does not say that God takes pleasure only in the response of those being saved. Although the Bible teaches that there is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7), here the pleasure God takes is in the sharing of the gospel, not in the response of the hearers. This is enormously encouraging.

Is God pleased when a sinner repents? Absolutely.

Is God pleased when a sinner hears the gospel, even if he doesn't repent? Absolutely.

Those who share the knowledge of Christ are a pleasing aroma to God, whether the hearer responds or not.

So, as we go amidst those who are being saved and those who are perishing, although we often do not who is whom, how can we be prepared to share the gospel boldly and thus be the aroma of Christ to God? I recommend carrying some tracts with you, and looking for someone with a few minutes to spare who you can talk with.

Why tracts? Because you don't know in advance how long you'll have to speak with a person. If you carry some good booklets with you, ones that explain the gospel with clarity and accuracy, you have something you can leave with the person you're talking to. It gives them a chance to reflect later on what you said, or what you didn't have a chance to say. If you write your name and number on the back, they can always contact you later if they want to. A person who doesn't want to talk will often be willing to take a tract for later perusal.

And where will you find those people to talk to? If you work outside your house, then talk to your co-workers. Lunch times are excellent times to discuss Christ. Grab a friend, or simply an acquaintance, and take them out for lunch. Pray that God would go ahead of you, lead you in as his joyful captive, and spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ through you to this person you're inviting. And know that, however you are received, however far you get in your explanation, however clear or confused you might become, you are giving God pleasure by bringing to him the lovely, precious aroma of his Son.

So we can tell people the gospel boldly because it is God's work, and because it is his pleasure. And as hinted in the previous verse, Paul will teach us quite directly that the results of our testifying are not up to us, but up to God.

15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

(3) We can boldly tell those around us the gospel, because God establishes the results.

Paul says we have been placed amongst two groups of people: those who are being saved, and those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are the stench of death. Literally, the smell from death to death. And to those who are being saved, we are the fragrance of life. Literally, the smell from life to life.

So Paul tells us in advance that to some people, when we act as the aroma of Christ and share with them the glorious truth of the gospel, in their noses we will stink. We will be the stench of death. To a person currently perishing, alienated from God and hostile in mind (Col 1:21), the Christian represents the smell of death. And will not be well received.

Ah, but if that person should ultimately turn out to be one who is being saved, then one day some joyful captive of Christ will share the gospel with him or her, and it will be the sweet scent of new life!!

What makes the difference is not the skill of the person witnessing, nor the persuasiveness of the gospel tract, nor the care with which the opportunity to share was chosen. What makes the difference is whether this person is at that moment called by God or not (Jn 6:44, “no one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”). We don't need to market the gospel, to sell the gospel, to convince the person to become a Christian. Instead, we need to faithfully tell them the gospel, which is God working through us, which gives him pleasure, and leave the results to him.

You may never know the results of your testifying this side of eternity, as God does not confirm in advance to us who is being saved and who is perishing.

Many years ago, I and a friend held an evangelistic Bible study on our university campus. We invited several people to come and meet with us weekly, where we would read together from the Bible and discuss the passages, always bringing up the centrality of the gospel.

The study really didn't go well. Sometimes there were three people there, more often two, occasionally just one person, and most of the time nobody else showed. We'd be sitting there at a table in the cafeteria, praying that God would send someone while secretly hoping that he wouldn't, because I found the experience rather scary. It was very unpredictable. I was afraid of being mocked, or asked questions I couldn't answer, or of offending the other person, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Plus I was very busy. I had a thousand other things to do, and on and on went this internal conflict.

By the end of the term, we had gotten together maybe 5-6 times with a couple of guys. No evident progress in the gospel. No conversions, or even really deep questions. A failure, right?

About two years later, I was at a retreat with the same university group, when this large fellow named Peter walks up to me and says, “Hi, do you remember who I am?” I was totally at a loss, and admitted that I had no idea who he was. He said, “I was one of the guys in that Bible study you had. The next year I transferred to another university, and there someone shared the gospel with me, and I've become a Christian.” In fact, he had joined the same university ministry to spread the gospel.

My Bible study was one link in the chain that God used to draw him. We were pretty much a stench to him, before God called him. But God was doing his work. And God was pleased by our testifying. And one day God drew him, sent to him another with the same gospel, and it became a life-giving fragrance. As Paul exclaims at the end of this verse, “who is equal to such a task?” No one but God himself.

So, how do we tell the gospel boldly, given that God establishes the results? Create opportunities to tell people the gospel. Don't wait for the perfect time, it will never come. Don't wait until you feel more comfortable, that may never come either. Don't worry about the results ... although we shouldn't go out of our way to insult people, and although we want to be reasonably clear about the gospel, it isn't our job to “make the sale”, so to speak. Our job is just to tell them. Just tell them the gospel.

This week with your coworkers, perhaps you can look for a chance to mention that you heard this message this week about telling the gospel, and ask if you can tell them right now. While chatting to the neighbour at the store, ask them if they know what Christmas is really about. Invite the lady at the grocery store to this church next Sunday. Gossip the gospel.

Tell people, just tell them. To some people, you will stink. But to some, God may bless you with the joy of seeing them receive the life-giving fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. And in all cases, God will be doing his work, and he will be taking pleasure in your aroma.

Perhaps you've been sitting here this whole time, and you're wondering “what is the gospel”? Maybe there are people here, who are still those who “are perishing”, who are still enemies of God and not joyful captives. If you're not sure what the gospel is, then please listen closely:

The word “gospel” means “Good news.” But the gospel starts with the bad news that we are all born sinners, heart-hardened rebels against God. One day, after our death, we will be justly condemned by God and sent to eternal punishment under his well-deserved wrath.

That's the bad news of the Good News.

But, the good news is that Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died in the place of sinners. Now all who turn from their sins and turn to him in faith, trusting in him for their justification, they are received by him. Their sins are removed by his cross, they are made righteous by his perfect life, and will live with him forever. Repent, and believe, and put all your trust in him and him alone. That's the gospel.

What's the gospel? The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for the sins of all who trust in him, and he rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. That's the gospel. (Paraphrase from John Piper)

Romans 6:23 -- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, all you who are joyful captives of Christ, tell those around you the gospel. Even though it's scary, even though you may be rejected, even though you won't be perfect in your presenting, tell them the gospel.

Tell them the gospel boldly, because you know that God is working through you.

Tell them the gospel boldly, because God loves the smell of witness.

Tell them the gospel boldly, because God establishes the results.

Be bold with the people around you. Tell them the gospel.

Don't Waste Your Arthritis (Part 1)

2007-07-24T10:03:00.001-04:00

On February 15, 2006, John Piper wrote, on the eve of his surgery for prostate cancer, the marvelous article Don't Waste Your Cancer. This is a definite must-read for Christians, healthy or ill.

While I have neither the wisdom, godliness nor eloquence of Dr. Piper, I still wish to make my own tiny contribution. A little over a year ago, I was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis. Although it is not a fatal condition, like cancer can be, it is a progressive and chronic disease that comes with its own blessings and challenges.

Here are the first 4 of Dr. Piper's 10 points with arthritis substituted for cancer. My own comments follow each point:

1. You will waste your arthritis if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

What a glorious truth this is! Not just permitted by God, but designed, ordained by our loving Father. It's not because Satan is playing with us, or just by accident, or just "one of those things." The promise of our Sovereign is that "...we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

2. You will waste your arthritis if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

A gift! A good gift! So, if I'm having a bad morning, or feeling stiff in the evening, or sick from the medication, all of those are purposeful events, good gifts, sent by my Father! Praise God!

Few things are more frustrating than purposeless suffering. But all of these times are full of purpose, full of significance, full of good!

3. You will waste your arthritis if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

An excellent point, and a somewhat subtle one. Taking comfort in odds is looking away from God. There are no "odds" for Christians. No "probability". No "likelihood".

Far better than that, we have the definitive actions of an omnipotent Sovereign, a loving Father who already paid the ultimate price (the life of his Son) to be able to bless us at all! And who will not hesitate to pour out on us all blessings according to his good will and wisdom.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)

This point is double-edged: not only do we not seek hope in odds, but we also refuse despair that odds might bring. There are some depressing statistics for those with inflammatory arthritis. But those don't apply to the sons and daughters of God. For us, we will receive only what our Father has graciously granted us.

4. You will waste your arthritis if you refuse to think about death.

This point takes a slightly different cast in the light of a non-fatal but chronic condition. In addition to death, we are driven to think about the fact that our bodies are not built to last forever. But one day, they will be.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Phil 3:20-21)

It's not easy to lose physical abilities, to grow weaker, to put up with more pain. But we can praise God that this is only for a season! Even aging is only for a season. Aging is temporary! One day, even our bodies will be restored, glorified, forever!

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor 15:51-53)

Don't waste your arthritis! Let it wean you from this world, and equip you with greater longing to that final resurrection day, when we shall be with God forever!

Privileged to Share

2007-04-23T22:32:00.000-04:00

Let me introduce to you Pastor Oliver. He is a church-planting missionary pastor in eastern Nigeria, whom my family and I have had the remarkable privilege of supporting for the past few years.

Pastor Oliver is part of The Evangelizers' Team Ministries International, who reach out to the Akaeze, Edda and Efikpo people in Nigeria. God has been bringing great glory to himself through the work they are doing in this impoverished, strife-ridden land.

The head of TETMI is Pastor David, pictured here with my family. (Can you guess who is whom?)

He has been on deputation for the past several weeks, going throughout Canada to share with sponsors and churches about this marvelous work

And connecting us, those whom God has blessed with resources, with these brothers whom God has blessed with powerful gospel ministry amongst the poor, is a wonderful organization called Partners International.

Partners exists to link Canadian Christians with indigenous Christian ministries in various countries throughout the world. My wife and I have been involved with them for several years, in various projects, and we have been consistently delighted with their passion, sincerity and God-oriented focus.

Although they are indeed involved in feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and educating the ignorant, they have always maintained the centrality of the gospel in their mission. TETMI is focused on equipping, sending and supporting missionary pastors who bring the gospel, assemble the resulting churches, and train local leadership to repeat the process. In the process, they also create schools, teach children, dig wells, and feed the hungry.

And we Christians who cannot go to Nigeria can send our abundance to supply their needs, and thus participate in the glory that God is bringing to himself. We can love our African brothers and sisters, bless the hardworking pastors, and have this little but vital part in the growing body of Christ.

I'm looking forward to meeting in heaven family I never knew I had. Hopefully they will teach me to worship Christ in tongues I've never known, music I've never heard, insights that never occurred to me, and all to the praise of our Triune God.

...your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” (2 Cor. 8:14-15, ESV)

A Truly Christian Charity

2007-01-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

We just received our newest copy of the Compassion magazine yesterday. Compassion is a Christian charity that provides one-on-one sponsorship of poor children, and has been doing so for over 40 years.

One of the things that thrills me about Compassion is their enthusiastic, explicit commitment to bringing not only supplies but the gospel to the children they look after. In big, bold letters on the back cover of the magazine is the following:

Compassion believes... Jesus Christ is the only way

It is for this reason that every child in our care is regularly presented with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and given a chance to respond. A relationship with God can only come through the acceptance and forgiveness of His Son. Although Compassion holds this as a core principle, children are never coerced into making a proclamation of faith. Ministering to children of many different cultures and religious background, we know that food, healthcare and education alone are not enough. We choose to present the eternal hope that only Christ offers.

If you are a believer considering sponsoring a child through one of the many sponsorship agencies that exist, I urge you to examine the God-oriented witness of the agency.

One very large agency comes to mind, whose advertisements we have all seen. But search their web site, and you will find no commitment to the gospel, only a description of themselves as a "Christian humanitarian organization." That's it. No talk of God. No talk of the gospel.

Praise God for Compassion! Praise God for an organization committed to His glory, as well as to serving the poor! As their motto says, "Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name."

Prodigal Hearts and Irresistable Grace

2006-09-09T08:06:00.000-04:00

Just a brief meditation on my reading this morning...

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. (Judges 10:6 ESV)

Throughout much of its history, particularly throughout Judges, Israel worshiped just about anything they could find other than the one true God. Why? Did the Sidonians exhibit greater passion and dedication to their god? Or was it simply easier or more "profitable" to worship man-made, man-centered gods? (Although Molech was hardly easy to worship, since doing so required child sacrifice.)

What is it about the human heart that would rather worship rocks and trees than God Himself? I guess the question answers itself, in a way. We are born as rebels.

We are born in sin, defiant of our Creator. We would rather honour sticks and stones, pray with meaningless repetition and self-inflicted pains, even sacrifice the lives of our precious children, then bow before the Almighty.

How foolish to believe that we could ever come to God on our own initiative. If He doesn't open our hearts to Him, we will surely remain adamant against Him.

Praise God for His irresistable grace!

Hymns to Evolution

2006-09-05T21:53:00.000-04:00

Pastor Paul links to Al Mohler's discussion on the failure of evolutionary psychology to explain music. Dr. Mohler remarks that it is "[n]o wonder there are no great evolutionary hymns."

Now, I'm not here to defend atheistic evolution, but I was tickled by the thought of a hymn for evolutionists. So here are my humble (very! humble) attempts.

First, I was going to use some grand old hymns as models. But I couldn't bring myself to damage such great hymns. (Even though some would have been excellent material. Think of "Foam of our fathers, living foam.")

So, I decided to inflict my sartirlyrical powers on some old standbys, instead.

Goo in a Bottle
To the tune of "Time in a Bottle".

If I could store goo in a bottle,
you know, that wouldn't be bad,
for first bit of goo, I would store, would be
great great great great,
great great great great
grand dad.

Mercifully short. The next one isn't.

Evolutionists' Island
To the tune of "Gilligan's Island." (For our younger readers, who don't know what I'm talking about, you can hear the original here.)

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
a tale of a quirky fate,
that started in a pool of goo,
that became me and you ... that became me and you.

The weather started getting rough,
volcanoes by the score,
some chemicals, a meteor or two
amino acids began to form ... they just began to form...

And then by many fits and starts,
the mighty dinosaurs,
appeared and roamed the earth and then..
... umm, well, then they were no more ... (another meteor).

Quickly we mammals then appeared,
as whiskered, little mice
we grew to become you and me
(how's that for artifice?) ... this theory is so nice ...

And now we're here
and now we know just how we came about
Thanks, Chuck Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould, the Leakey man (and his wife), Stephen Hawking, and the rest,
we're adrift on evolutionists' isle!

The most dangerous key in the world...

2006-09-01T22:32:00.000-04:00

The most dangerous key in the world is the "send" key, or the "publish post" key.

Have you ever received an e-mail like this?

Dear Tom;

It was nice of you to take the time out of your busy schedule to visit me. I enjoyed our time together, especially after being so out of touch.

Faithfully yours,
Aunt Betty

How should I understand this e-mail? Is grouchy old Aunt Betty upset that I don't call her more often? Or is my sweet, loving aunt honestly expressing her appreciation for a visit by her favourite nephew?

If I read the e-mail on Monday, I might interpret it as the former. On Tuesday (or after my morning coffee), I might see it as the latter. The point is that it is almost impossible to properly interpret tone in most peoples' e-mails.

Have you ever dashed off a quick e-mail to a friend, only to find out that they totally misunderstood your intention or attitude? Have you ever received a gruff or ominous e-mail, only to find out via a quick phone call that there was nothing gruff or ominous intended?

(I can see all of my readers' heads nodding. All five of you.)

Me too. In fact, years ago I committed to never using e-mail to communicate anything sensitive, critical or emotional. And any time I have broken that commitment, I have always regretted it.

So, why did it not occur to me that the same is true in blogging? In fact, it is true in spades! (And diamonds, hearts and clubs)! If a personal e-mail is open to misunderstanding, how much more so is a public announcement?

Three times over the past six weeks, some loving and wise brothers have pointed out to me articles I have written on this blog which fall into that "sensitive" category. Either I took on issues that were not appropriate for blogging, or my articles employed a tone (even an unintended tone) that was not godly.

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. (Pr 9:8).

I may not be a very wise man, but I am working on it (or, more accurately, God is working on me, amen!) I love these brothers for their grace, courage and mercy. Although I have not changed my stance as expressed in most of those articles, they have shown me more godly and more biblical ways to deal with these issues, and I am humbled and deeply grateful!

Accordingly, I have removed several postings altogether, and edited out some references in others.

My hope and prayer is that this blog may as a result be more profitable to a small part of the Body of Christ (all five of you again!), and that my own heart may be wiser, humbler, and more "useful for the master of the house" (2 Tim 2:21).

Thank you for your patience and grace, dear reader.

Father Abraham and the Seeker-Sensitive Church

2006-08-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

All churches should be seeker-sensitive. Every Sunday, every preacher in the pulpit should be praying that there are unregenerate souls sitting before him, and he should preach the glorious gospel with all the passion and intensity he can muster.

I was reading this morning the story Jesus tells called "The Rich Man and Lazarus". And I was struck again by the non-seeker-sensitive emphasis of Abraham. The rich man, in hell, sees Abraham and Lazarus in heaven and asks him to send Lazarus to warn his still-living brothers:

But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

If a non-Christian won't believe the testimony of Scripture, they won't believe even if a corpse springs up from the coffin and warns them to repent! How much less than will they believe Gospel-Lite which tells them little more than that Jesus loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life?!

Oh, may we tell all that we can about hell, about the Law, about sin, and wrath, and judgment! May we tell them about grace, and forgiveness, and reconciliation, and imputation of our sin and Christ's righteousness! And may we tell them about ten thousand thousand years of infinite joy in the presence of God!

A Patient Mercy

2006-07-24T22:59:00.000-04:00

In preparing for the message I was privileged to preach Sunday night, I was working through Luke 12:13-34.

The middle section of that passage records Jesus' teaching to his disciples about the basic necessities of life:

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

This promise from God to provide all the believer's daily necessities is not only extraordinary, but it is also very difficult to believe and trust in. What I was so struck by was the patience of our Lord in reassuring the disciples (and us!) of this promise.

Look at the number of times he repeats the command or the reassurance:

v 22, "do not be anxious about your life ... about your body"
v 24, "how much more value are you than the birds!"
v 26, "why are you anxious about the rest?"
v 28, "how much more will he clothe you..."
v 29, "do not seek what you are to eat ... nor be worried"
v 30, "your Father knows that you need them"

Six times in nine verses Jesus is reassuring us, comforting us, seeking to convince us. What patient, gracious mercy!!

Praise God for his inexhaustible grace!

Rejoicing in Imperatives!

2006-07-18T07:58:00.000-04:00

The evangelistic tract Quest For Joy, produced by John Piper's church, starts with the bold statement:

Did you know that God commands us to be glad?
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

As I've been working through Deuteronomy in my daily readings, I've been struck repeatedly by how often God's people were commanded to rejoice.

Deuteronomy 12:7
And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

Deuteronomy 12:12
And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters...

Deuteronomy 12:18
... And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.

Deuteronomy 14:26
... And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.

Deuteronomy 16:11
And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter ... at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.

Deuteronomy 16:14
You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter...

Deuteronomy 26:11
And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house...

Deuteronomy 27:7
and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.

And if the saints of the Old Testament had reason to rejoice, then how much more may we on this side of the cross, indwelt by the Spirit, rejoice with all our might before our Lord!!

Go and rejoice in your awesome God today!

Now where is that "publish post" button?

2006-07-10T07:37:00.000-04:00

It wasn't planned, but my last post was over 3 months ago. However, I've finally returned from my blogging holiday (blogiday?). According to SiteMeter, there are still a few hardy souls who visit this site regularly, which is encouraging. Hopefully I can begin posting articles worthy of your faithfulness.

For today, a brief thought on theological training. I'm just finishing my 9th seminary course, which I feel very privileged to be able to do. The theology classes have been particularly interesting and valuable (although I love Greek too!). Although I haven't learned a lot of new ideas, what I appreciate is being taught about new categories for thinking through and arranging what I do know.

For example, take the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the world. How you understand this relationship has profound effects on how you live.

As Michael Hill notes in The How and Why of Love, those who see people as largely products of their society (the "holistic" view), tend to adopt the perspective that the whole world is the Kingdom of God, and so focus on a social gospel, one which emphasizes the transformation of systemic evils via political and social means.

Those who see people as independent individuals (the "individualistic" view) tend to see the Kingdom as being a purely future state, and often abandon any form of social reformation as being hopeless. After all, who cares about the social conditions of those who will be Left Behind?

The most scriptural of these models is that the Kingdom is both here, but not yet revealed to its fullest extent (the "already/not-yet" view, aka "inaugurated eschatology"). Jesus announced the start of God's Kingdom on earth, but that Kingdom will not be fully known until his return and the final judgment. Those who live with this perspective understand that we are obligated to seek social reform in accordance with God's revealed will, since the Kingdom is here, but also recognize that the sinful hearts which produce this systemic evil will only be completely dealt with through individual regeneration or final judgment, since the Kingdom is not yet consummated.

Well, that's a pretty dense article for a first post. Thanks for reading this far! :-)

May God bless you today with the ability to make much of Him!

Prayer doesn't work! Good!

2006-03-31T10:58:00.000-05:00

A headline item in today's CBC news:

Prayer has no effect on heart patients in U.S. study.
Last Updated Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:26:55 EST
CBC News

Having people pray for heart bypass patients had no effect on their recoveries in an American study, researchers say.

And I say, "Amen!"

Why? Because I don't believe in prayer? Because I don't believe in intercession?

Not at all. Prayer is an awesome privilege which God uses in blessing individuals and the world. Prayer is powerful and effective, a faith-filled worship of God and celebration of his sufficiency and sovereignty in all of life!

But God is not coin-operated, even for prayer currency. We do not plug in our prayer quarter, turn God's crank, and wait for heavenly gumballs to come tumbling out of the slot.

From the abstract:

Results:
In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15).

We cannot submit God's sovereign action, even in response to prayer, to statistical calculation, confidence intervals, and numeric prediction. Underlying these types of studies is a mechanistic concept of God that I find frightening.

God hears prayer. God answers prayer, according to his infinite power, wisdom and plan. If you're a believer, you can pray confidently according to the manifold promises God pours out on you in the Bible.

If you are an unbeliever, then there is only one prayer that God is waiting to hear from you, and that is a pleading for forgiveness and salvation in the name of his Son.

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
(Mark 1:14b-15)

If God were simply to heal you, then you may never know your need of him, and a healthy life could result in a lost and wretched eternity. C. S. Lewis called pain God's "megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Prayer is the echo of the freedom and sufficiency of God in the heart of powerless men.
(John Piper)

So pray! And believe! And trust God's sovereign wisdom in his answer.

Voluntary victims of shariah

2006-02-10T10:12:00.000-05:00

On September 11, 2005, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty moved to reject the use of Shariah law (or any other religious-based tribunal) in settling family disputes. This was after hundreds of people around the world protested the idea of introducing Islamic law into Ontario.

In February 2006, Islamic blasphemy laws have been effectively brought to bear throughout large portions of the Western world, suppressing cherished freedoms of speech and criticism through threats of murder and acts of violence, oppression and terror.

As Richard Neuhaus wisely notes in his February 8, 2006 posting (emphasis added):

The conflagration is not, as many American and European editorialists are opining, about sensitivity to the religious feelings of others. The same editorialists routinely approve of “transgressive” art and vituperative rhetoric that trashes Christianity. Nor is it about the “hypocrisy” or “unfairness” of Muslims who incessantly publish vile anti-Semitic and anti-Christian caricatures, although what they do is certainly not nice.
No, the teaching of Islam is that it is blasphemy to visually depict Muhammed, whether favorably or unfavorably, but especially unfavorably. It is also impermissible to criticize the teachings of the Qur’an and the hadith. These and many other prohibitions are part of the sharia law that militant Islamists are intent upon imposing upon Islam and, insofar as they are able, on the world.

If you haven't seen the cartoons yet, I urge you to have a look at them (this page, about halfway down). Not to provoke our Muslim neighbours, but so that you will be aware of just how mild these cartoons really are.

Will we be ruled to Shariah law? I am dismayed by the cowardice of the North American media, who refuse to publish these cartoons. Unless people can see how mild these drawings are, they cannot properly understand the issue of this global Islamic violence.

It truly is, as John Neuhaus noted, not about sensitivity but about Islamic law. If for fear of our lives we cannot publish silly cartoons, what is next? Criticism of the Qu'ran is also considered blasphemy. As is criticism of Mohammed.

The next time North American media choose to offend Christians and Jews in the name of freedom of expression, it will ring hollow in the face of this moral cowardice.

Technorati Tags: shariah, cartoons, Islam, violence, cowardice, media

That the next generation might know them...

2006-02-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Psalm 78:4-7 (ESV):

4 will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
5 established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;

When we were at our former church, I was asked to preach on the responsibility of parents to their children. Near the end, I warned parents that current trends will result in our children facing far more difficult days as Christians in this society than we could even imagine now. I urged that:

...if we are content now to just do the minimum, we will leave our kids underequipped to deal with this future. The Bible warns about those who have joy in the gospel but little understanding of it, and when the sun comes up and it gets hot, they are like little plants that wither because they have no roots. Or Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish builders. When the storm came, only the wise man, who knew God's word and obeyed it, had a house left standing. I think the storm is coming, and the dry times are coming, and we must ensure that our kids' roots run deep, and their houses are well-founded on the Rock of the Word of God.

Accordingly, my wife and I are always looking for ways to train up our children, whether that be through new traditions, recommended books, or changes to family devotions.

I'd love to know what others who read this blog (or even stumble across this article) are doing to train up their children. To "prime the pump," I'll start by sharing how we do family devotions.

Every evening, starting around 7:30, the whole family gathers on the couch. Our kids, who are 6 and 7, are already into their pyjamas and ready for bed.

We begin with singing. We have a binder of songs, mostly from Sovereign Grace Music, with the song sheets downloaded from their web site. Our church sings these songs, so the kids are familiar with them. My guitar playing is pretty awful, which matches my singing ability, but I have a patient wife with a great voice, so it works out.

After a song, we take a few minutes while I read the Bible to them. We started with picture-based children's Bibles, much like The Big Picture Bible recommended by my pastor. We worked through Bibles with ever-fewer pictures and more text, until they are now reading the ESV Bible. We work sequentially through the Bible (we're just into Exodus now), with the kids listening while I read to them. They are able to read it themselves, but I think it's important for them to hear Scripture as well as read it.

Next we move to the day's installment of the Shorter Catechism. We're using the book Training Hearts, Teaching Minds (which I've talked about in a previous blog entry). This is an excellent book for introducing children (and adults) to the terrific tools of the catechism. The kids use their own Bibles to look up and read out loud the passages referred to by this book. If they're looking sleepy at this point, we do "sword drills".

Then we sing another song.

Finally, we close with an extended reading (15-20 minutes) from another book. Currently we're reading a series of short biographies in a book called Heroes Who Changed the World (we skip Francis of Assisi). At other times we've worked through several pictoral or young reader editions of Pilgrim's Progress. In a year or two I think they'll be ready for the full version.

So, that's the basic outline of our family devotions. It takes about 45 minutes from start to end. I know that the one element we're missing in family prayer. We do pray separately with the children when putting them to bed, but we need to spend time praying as a family.

Any thoughts? Criticisms? Suggestions for incorporating prayer? What do other parents do for family devotions? Please share!

Technorati Tags: parenting, Christianity, children

The Bible: Inspired but inadequate?

2006-01-17T17:35:00.000-05:00

I'm reading through an odd text for a course I'm taking. It consists of a number of interviews done for Preaching magazine over the past couple of decades, and it has a truly eclectic group of preachers as its subject, including Max Lucado, George Barna, R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur.

I was truly horrified to read the following quote:

I think it's very tempting for traditional preaching styles to present Christ and the Word of God as the quick cure-all for whatever ailment is afflicting an individual today. I think that might be a little simplistic. If someone has been sexually molested, if someone grew up in the home of an alcoholic father, if someone has been beaten as a child, there are some deep psychological wounds that have to be carefully treated by trained Christian counselors before these wounded people can thorougly appropriate the promises and precepts of Scripture. (Communicate with Power, ed. Michael Duduit. (Michigan: Baker, 1998), 74-75.

The speaker is Bill Hybels, back in 1992. It is a frightful thing to see how even the pastors of the church are willing to exchange the glorious resources of God for the muddy cisterns of modern psychology.

Were there no sexually molested people in first century Palestine? Were alcoholic fathers absent throughout the Roman empire? Is child abuse purely a 21st century phenomenon? Nonsense. God provided what they needed then, and what we need now, in the marvelous riches of his Word illuminated and made active through his Spirit!

As David Wells so trenchantly observes in The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church:

Biblical inspiration was affirmed but its consequences were not worked out for our preaching, our techniques for growing the Church, our techniques for healing our own fractured selves. These all happened largely without the use of Scripture. It is as if we think that while the Bible is inspired, it is nevertheless inadequate to the tasks of sustaining and nourishing the twentieth-century! The result of this divine myopia is that he has left us with something that is inadequate to the great challenges that we face today.

I can personally testify to the power of God's Word to heal brokeness. My step-father was an alcoholic who was at times physically abusive. But I am neither, having both forgiven him and loved him. All of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family have been divorced at least once. My wife and I have been married for almost 10 years and are deliriously happy. My wife's father is a mean-spirited man who often was (and still is!) physically abusive. But she is a loving, devoted Mom.

And we attribute all of our health to the work of God's Spirit primarily through his Scriptures. He is the God who heals us, and to turn to anything else is sinful, dishonouring and destructive. Not that there isn't a place for counseling, but all the wisdom of the counselor will come through the Word and all the effectiveness of the counselor will be of the Spirit through the Word.

If you want a remarkable testimony to this truth, I highly commend the story of Jan Fletcher to you. In her pamphlet God's Complete Provision: for healing the pain of childhood sexual abuse, she describes the start of her suffering:

Molestation in my pubertal years by a church deacon, and later, incest by my stepfather in my mid-teens, led me to engage in rampant promiscuity, as I tried to find love in all the wrong places.

By Hybel's standard, this woman needs specialized counseling. Some, including my former church, would recommend mystical prayer counseling, which Mrs. Fletcher is very familiar with (see her online book Lying Spirits). But when she was 39, God graciously led her to true healing, in reconciliation with himself:

No gimmick and no special formula discovered by any man can heal the human soul. Only the power of God can truly give lasting healing. God's healing is absolutely unique, because the result is a changed heart and a new spiritual birth. God freely offers it to us, but the cost of giving it to us was not cheap. It was very costly. This precious gift of spiritual rebirth required that Jesus, the Son of God, suffer a humiliating death on a Roman cross.

....

True healing comes through reconciliation with God, as we accept God's gift and submit our sinful nature to God's work in us through the cross. This reconciliation is not based in a mystical encounter we initiate. ... Instead, as the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 10, our salvation, and the healing to our souls that it brings, does not come through a subjective feeling. It comes through a willful and reasoned acceptance of the objective truth of the message of the Gospel heard through the word of Christ.

Let us flee all false and worldly solutions to the all-sufficient, all-powerful Word of God!

Tech: Performancing blog editor

2006-01-17T11:42:00.000-05:00

I'm never satisfied with my blog editor.

Until now, I've been using the Flock editor. A variant of the firefox web browser, it has a built-in blog editor which has been a great tool. Unfortunately, it does have a small number of annoying quirks, and is missing a few features, most importantly text colouring. However, as the developers state clearly, these are the early days for Flock, which is not yet ready for day-to-day use. I believe it will mature into an excellent, stable and capable editor.

This post is being written using Performancing, a tool I've never seen before. It has been written by professional bloggers for professional bloggers, and while I neither style myself as a professional nor aspire to be, I'm impressed with this bit of software.

It runs as a plugin for firefox, which allows you to run the browser in the top part of the window and the editor in the bottom. This greatly simplifies browsing for references while you're writing your blog. It also allows editing in both "preview" and HTML modes, a necessary feature for tweaking the format of your article.

So, if you use the firefox browser (and you should!), I recommend trying out the Performancing editor.

[The only limit on my enthusiasm for that recommendation is the fact that this is the 2nd time I've written this article. The editor ate the first version. Your mileage may vary.]

So long, Santa! (Christmas alternatives)

2006-01-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

How was your Christmas?

I hope it was blessed with making much of Christ and the unimaginable, incomprehensible wonder of the eternally-begotten Son of God born as a man.

Two years ago, my wife and I, were trying to keep both our focus and that of our young children on Jesus, on his birthday. But it was a struggle. In particular, the kids had trouble seeing beyond the pile of presents under the tree.

When Christmas day came, we were dismayed to see the idea of presents consuming all of their attention. Skip the Bible reading, let's get on to the gifts!

Then we watched them rush from gift to gift, caring very little for each individual present, and very concerned about where their next present might be hiding. We knew that if they had received any one of these gifts on a normal day, they'd be thrilled. Instead, the value of each gift was lost in the yuletide potlatch.

There had to be a better way.

At the time, we were receiving the Christian Parenting magazine from Christianity Today. Though we were rarely impressed with the magazine, the article Bye-Bye Bunny made the entire subscription worthwhile.

Following the authors' suggestion, we have stopped giving presents at Christmas (we still do stockings). This frees us up from the shopping madness of December, as well as reducing the focus on gifts, and makes room for bringing in a full focus on the miracle of the Incarnation.

This doesn't mean that we are being stingy with our kids. Instead of giving gifts at Christmas time, we have "GOTYA days" for every individual member of the family at some point throughout the year. On that day, we celebrate the person, give them gifts, and spend time together as a family. This is the time when they receive what would otherwise be kept back until Christmas. For the kids, the date of their GOTYA days is a surprise, although we schedule those days approximately 6 months from their birthdays. Since two of our birthdays are very close to Christmas, this means we don't have to go 12 months between celebrations as before.

So, why the name GOTYA? Well, we don't like the name, but we haven't come up with a good replacement. The authors of the article created it as an acronym meaning "God Thinks You're Awesome." We believe that's an inappropriate description and don't use that phrase, but we still call them GOTYA days, although without a good explanation for the word.

Check out the article. Then, let me encourage you to try out their suggestions with your family. We have been absolutely delighted with the impact it has had on ours!

Between Two Worlds: Pray for Piper

2006-01-06T14:13:00.000-05:00

Between Two Worlds: Pray for Piper

You may have seen this already, but even if so, please take this as an opportunity to pray for John Piper.

Words literally cannot express the value of what God has done in my life and the lives of my family through the teaching of this man. There are many excellent expositors and defenders of the Reformed faith, men who can explain theology and Scripture compellingly, but no one writer stirs my heart for God like John Piper.

Even this letter is a blessing. May God pour his riches of grace and strength upon you and those around you, Dr. Piper!

Meditations Upon a Bookstore

2005-12-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

Our family doesn't do gifts at Christmas. Some day I'll write about this excellent idea we've stolen called "GOTYA days" which allow us to celebrate our loved ones while freeing Christmas (somewhat) from the tyranny of things.

However, we do purchase some gifts for extended family. Since we love to give gifts that have, if possible, some eternal value, we often end up shopping in Christian bookstores. This year in particular, that has been deeply depressing.

What do you find in these stores? Second-rate, sentimentalist pseudo-Christian fiction, bracelets filled with uninterpretable acroyms (WWJD, FROG), jewelled fishies and crosses with real mustard seeds embedded in them, rewarmed worldly hip-hop PRAZES FOR JEEZUS FREEKS albums and the latest variation PURPOSE-DRIVEN(TM) DRIVEL(TM).

I guess I'm grumpy today. But let me share with you some of the "treasures" I found at the Treasure House in Barrie, but which could be found in most Christian book stores. Text in italics are taken from the advertising copy of the store.

Instructing your children:

VEGGIE TALE FAMILY DEVOTIONAL
Bob, Larry, and the whole VeggieTales team show you how to build a powerful relationship with God.
I used to like VeggieTales. Our kids used to watch them, until they were about 3 or 4 years old. We stopped following Bob and Larry after that dreadful version of Jonah's story. But as a family devotional? Never! Want to train your children to know God? Use this wonderful, child-friendly catechism instead!

Don't have time for meeting with God? Try:

HCSB Light Speed Bible
Now you can read and comprehend every word of the Bible in 24 hours! Includes a 4-step speed-reading technique at a seventh grade reading level.
Speed-reading the Bible? Comprehend every word? So, do you speed read the love letters your spouse sends you? Do you speed read the old letters written by departed loved ones? No. You bathe in them, meditate on them, mull them over, celebrate them. Why would we treat God's letter as less worthy of our attention and effort?

Find the Bible too complex? We have an answer for that too!

The Message: Vintage Remix and Numbered Edition
God's Word was meant to be read -- and understood. It was first written in the language of the people, and this Bible gets back to that.
Another confession: I liked "The Message." I enjoyed it as an extreme paraphrase, but one with some insightful commentary. But I never considered it to be Scripture! These recent printings have verse references added and come in large leather editions. I can only assume the idea is that some people use The Message as their regular Bibles, which is frightening.

Sigh. Also in the store were two or four bookcases labelled "self-help," though we as Christians should be most aware of the sheer folly of trying to help ourselves. The "prophecy" shelf had a lovely sampling of the most extreme madness offered to the Christian church, including lovely tomes by Prophets Joyner and Price.

Oh, and don't miss the anniversary of Wilkinson's Prayer of Jabez. After all, you don't want to miss a chance to "release God's favour, power and protection."

Ok, enough grumping. There are many wonderful books out there that glorify God, humble man and edify the saints. All for the cost of a little digging.

May God bless your Christmas with much of himself!

What's wrong with childcare?

2005-12-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

Hmm, I never intended this to become a political blog. But I cannot pass by this battle of world views between the Conservatives and Liberals, since it is so relevant to this issue of raising children.

The Liberals are promising to pour $11 billion dollars into institutional child care, partly in response to the Conservative plan to enable parents to choose non-institutional child care options (for example, raising your own kids at home).

So, why am I so opposed to institutional child care? I do recognize that in some situations it may be a necessary evil. But I do believe that as Christian parents, we should be very hesitant to ever commit our kids to state-run preschools. (In fact, we should be hesitant to put them in state-run schools, but that is a topic for another post.)

State-run institutions do not teach a Christian world-view. In fact, they will actively exclude Christ. If you really believe that "the first five years last a lifetime," then surely this is not the place for our children.

Not only that, but there is considerable statistical evidence for the damaging effects of preschool. Here are extracts from several reports over the past few years:

LifeSite News, November 10, 2005:

Preschool Damages Children’s Social Skills and Emotional Development
Preschool has a negative effect on a child’s social and emotionaldevelopment, according to a study of 14,000 US preschool children.

On average, the report found that the earlier a child enters apreschool center, the slower his or her pace of social development.“Our results for the intensity of attending a center program – measuredin hours per week and months per year – are worrisome, while varyingacross different types of families and children,” the report stated.

News Release, National Institutes of Health (USA), July 16, 2003:

Child Care Linked To Assertive, Noncompliant, and Aggressive Behaviors -- Vast Majority of Children Within Normal Range
The more time children spent in child care from birth to age four-and-a-half, the more adults tended to rate them, both at age four-and-a-half and at kindergarten, as less likely to get along with others, as more assertive, as disobedient, and as aggressive, according to a study appearing in the July/August issue of Child Development.

The link between time in child care and problem behavior was greater than the link between infant temperament and problem behavior or maternal depression and problem behavior. This link between time in child care and problem behavior was also greater for children in center-based care than for children in other types of care.

The link between time in child care and problem behavior occurred across all family backgrounds and all types and quality of care.

CBC News, April 20, 2001:

Child care linked to aggression in children

The more time children spend in day care, the more likely they are to exhibit assertive, defiant and even mean behaviour by the time they get to kindergarten, says new research.

A study presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Minneapolis found that 4 1/2-year-old children who attended day care were rated by mothers, care-givers and kindergarten teachers as more aggressive than kids who stayed at home.

Given all these negative results, why are the Liberals pushing so hard for increased institutional care? Even parents don't want it. According to this February 16, 2005 article from LifeSiteNews.com a recent poll by the Vanier Institute of the Family showed:

Nine out of ten Canadians feel that in a two parent situation, ideally one parent should stay at home to raise the children
almost all employed mothers would work part-time if they could afford it
as would 84% of fathers
parents surveyed indicated that daycare would be their last choice for child care

So why are they doing it? The parents don't want it. The statistics don't support it. The only answer is ideology. The Liberals want to shape Canada into their desired image: secular humanism, radical feminism, and "tolerance" which tolerates everything except dissent.

Parents, raise your children to honour God! Don't abdicate to the state the responsibility given to you by God. Instead, ask God for what you need to discharge this solemn (and joyful) task!

So, Mr. Harper, what about three for three?

2005-12-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mused about Stephen Harper reading my blog. Then I read this article:

Harper mulls income splitting among tax cuts as campaign enters Week 2

Well, in this post I had noted that when my family went from two incomes to one income, from no dependents to two dependents, the drop in our tax bill was less than $1000, even though our income had almost been cut in half.

I guess Stephen Harper really does read my blog. (Yes, I am kidding.)

I'm delighted with what I'm hearing from the Conservative Party. It has always bothered me that from an income tax vantage point, each wage earner is treated as a separate entity, instead of the family unit being seen as a single economic unit. This is quite unfair and unrealistic.

Looks like I'm voting Conservative this year. For the first time.

However, if you're still listening Mr. Harper, there is one evil in Canada which is far greater than redefining marriage, far greater than judicial activism, far greater than unfair tax laws.

Let's stop murdering babies. Let's work towards a complete ban on abortion. I know it will take time, but:

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.

By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

As James Lowell wrote to protest America's war with Mexico, so let the Conservative Party claim all of the Right and begin to end this wicked practice.

(Thanks to the CyberHymnal for the words to this song.)

A glimmer of hope

2005-12-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

Does Stephen Harper read my blog? (Heh. Ok, I think I know the answer to that one.)

More likely (way more likely!) he listened to Advocates for Childcare Choice and other Canadians who wanted more parental input into the care their children receive.

Instead of simply pouring billions more into institutional childcare centres, the Tories are proposing a per-child subsidy of $100 per month that would be given directly to the families. This would be combined with an additional $250 million per year for institutional childcare.

Applause, applause!

For more information, see the CBC article.

Perhaps there is hope for our nation, after all. (There is always hope with a sovereign God!)

All our sons command?

2005-11-30T09:19:00.000-05:00

Oh, Canada, our home and native land,
True patriot love, in all our sons command.

I want my country to command my son's and daughter's patriotic love,but I don't want my country's government to supplant me as their father.

In Germany, the state defines where the children will be taught and what they will be taught. The UK is contemplating mandating state education of children from the moment they are weaned.

Canada has not gone as far as either of these examples, but there isdisturbing movement in that direction. The government is looking atpouring billions of dollars into a nationwide childcare program, tocreate many more spaces in childcare centres. (And no, this isn't partof last week's desperate spending spree by a government about to bedissolved.)

Why not spend that money to enable parents to raise their children athome? The tax system in Canada discriminates against single-incomefamilies, making it more difficult for mothers to stay with theirkids. In one tax year, our family went from having two incomes and nodependents to one income with two dependents. The total tax savings? than a thousand dollars.

There is a group working for greater fairness in child care dollars. leave you with this (slightly redacted) article that LifeSite Newsran two weeks ago:

Parents to Demonstrate on Parliament Hill for Choice in Childcare

By Terry Vanderheyden

OTTAWA, November 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This Saturday November19th, the National Fund the Child Coalition, a national alliance ofgrassroots organizations which is opposed to the Liberal government's"one-size-fits-all" National Daycare program, will be holding a numberof rallies across the country.

The Coalition argues that the government-controlled daycare programdiscriminates against the majority of Canadian families. The Coalitioncalls on the federal government to support all Canadian families by"funding the child."

The Coalition advocates a program which will provide parents with childcare choices and "fair and equitable financial support for all Canadianfamilies."

"While families have been working and carpooling and trying to makeends meet, they haven't had time to notice that the federal governmenthas promised billions of dollars to fund a government controlledchildcare program that actually discriminates against the majority ofCanadian families and ignores the fact that parents across Canada arenot asking for more daycare," a Coalition flyer emphasizes. "Thisproposed program does not treat all families equitably."

The Coalition points out that families who chose to have a parent stayhome with children, or have a relative care for children are beingunfairly discriminated against. "Individual families and groups acrossCanada are generating a simmering national debate about who should bemaking decisions about child care: the government or parents," theflyer continues. "The answer is simple - Canadians are demanding thegovernment 'fund the child' which means providing financial supportdirectly to parents, so they can make child care decisions on behalf oftheir children."

"Instead of the federal government funding a program that clearlydiscriminates against the majority of Canadian families, they could belaunching an impressive, innovative and purposeful new Canadian SocialPolicy, one which will stand the test of time, if it is built on thecornerstone of fair and equitable financial support for all Canadianfamilies."

They also encourage supporters to email Paul Martin and localprovincial Premiers about the program: "Tell them you want them to'Fund the Child' instead of building a discriminatory and unpopularsystem of universal daycare."

technorati tags: children, Christian, childcare, Canada, government

The Family in God's Presence

2005-11-30T00:34:00.000-05:00

This is a second posting on discipling our children that began with this call to parents to take seriously their responsibility toward their descendants.

One of the wonderful ways we can teach our kids is to have them at the Sunday morning service with us. I am grateful to belong to a church where the pastor hates juniour church. We have long believed in the importance of having our children worship with us and learn together with us.

John and Noel Piper, in their excellent pamphlet The Family: Together in God's Presence, express the importance this way:

Children should see how Mom and Dad bow their heads in earnest prayer during the prelude and other non-directed times. They should see how Mom and Dad sing praise to God with joy in their faces, and how they listen hungrily to His Word. They should catch the spirit of their parents meeting the living God. Something seems wrong when parents want to take their children in the formative years and put them with other children and other adults to form their attitude and behavior in worship. Parents should be jealous to model for their children the tremendous value they put on reverence in the presence of Almighty God.

Our children are five and seven. They have learned the basic skills of singing with us, and sitting still through the message. Our pastor, who loves kids, makes an extraordinary effort to include the children in the sermon, occasionally asking the children questions, explaining key points in simple language, and using compelling and memorable allegories.

To further help them participate in the message itself, we encourage them to write or draw something related to what the preacher is speaking about. The pictures on this entry were taken from the kids' notebooks.

Here is an extract from the five year old’s notebook from a sermon on Romans 8:5:

how can we be justified? Well, we can ask God But if you are in hte flehs you can not be justified. things will not Get you to heaven. But we can repent from our sin.

Another extract from the same author's notebook, a few weeks later:

God came to us. He deid on the cross. God is the only person who is perecet [perfect]. But on the other hand there is sin. Satan tempts us to sin. But God is good. God has sent blessings. psalm 100:29 says: They provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. this is of the scripture. Revelation 22:21 says the grace of the LORD Jesus be with all. Amen. From the ESV. If you dond't understand what I meen I'll explane it to you. What a great God we have. I'v written all this with my owen hand. And no help.

And that's true. No one helped him at all. Those verses he mentioned weren't even part of the service. The kids frequently amaze us at what they are able to understand from the sermon.

Being together as a family before God with the assembled church family is a marvelous priviledge. Don't let your children miss out!

technorati tags: children, training, worship, journal

"Professionalism" and Children

2005-11-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

As discussed in previous postings, in many Western nations including Canada, there is an increasing pressure to allow the state to raise our children. We who are Christian parents (and the churches which form our communities of faith) must vigorously resist the intruder.

Sadly, I think many Christians have become used to the idea of allowing the "professionals" to take over many of the responsibilities which should have remained with the parents. We put them into daycare the moment they're weaned, into preschool when they reach three, juniour kindergarten at five, seniour kindergarten at six, and visit with them occasionally between now and university.

In no area is this "leave-it-to-the-professionals" attitude more dangerous than in our churches.

Let the pastor lead our kids to Christ, the Sunday School teacher instruct them in Scripture,the Children's Church teach them to worship, and their weekday club leader disciple them.

No, no, no, NO!

When we stand before God in the final judgment, who is he going to ask first about the raising of our children? Their Sunday School teacher? The pastor?

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children (Ps 78:5 ESV)

Fathers are to teach their children! (Or, if the father is unbelieving or absent, mothers!) There are many, many references commanding the people of God to teach their own children. Pastors, Sunday School teachers, and others are valuable additions, wonderful partners for the parents, but the responsibility cannot be delegated. We, parents, are called and equipped by God to teach our children the "glorious deeds of theLORD, and his might, and the wonders he has done." (Ps 78:4)

I'm going to attempt to wax eloquent (or perhaps wane eloquent) on this topic as part of this series on children. To end this short polemic with a bit of practical advice, let me direct you to an earlier posting I made on using the Catechism at home for training your children.

May God convict us, direct us, and empower us to leave a godly legacy and profound spiritual inheritance to our children!

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
(Deut 29:29 ESV)

technorati tags: children, Christian, discipleship, training, professionalism

Tech: A Taste for Spam?

2005-11-24T22:47:00.000-05:00

Spam, once known by the less-picturesque name of "unsolicited commercial e-mail" or UCE, is one of the great scourges of the Net.

According to MessageLabs, currently 67% of all e-mail traffic is spam.? At one point in July, last year, spam reached a whopping 94.5% of all e-mail traffic.

That's a lot of e-mail about questionable diets, unsavoury personal practices, suspicious medications, illegal pyramid schemes and vile pornography.

So, how do you prevent spam? One excellent tool in this continuing battle is spamgourmet.com, whose icon is that strange image above. Spamgourmet provides free, disposable e-mail addresses.

The key to preventing spam starts with protecting your e-mail address. However, there are many circumstances which require you to provide a valid address: online newspaper registration, software downloads, blogs, etc. You might reasonably fear that some of these groups may not entirely trustworthy with your precious e-mail address.

Enter spamgourmet. It allows you to create disposable e-mail addresses. A disposable e-mail address is an address that will work for a time, then stop working. Thus you can give out your e-mail address freely, and you may suffer some spam for a time, which will suddenly stop when that address is no longer valid.

After registering with spamgourmet and giving them your normal e-mail (you have to trust somebody, right?), you can create any number of temporary addresses which will be provided by the web site. Admittedly, these addresses look a little strange (e.g. mytmp.10.tomgee@spamgourmet.com), but it seems a small price to pay for protecting your inbox.

There are many other functions provided by this excellent service. If you've finished buying all the cheap Prozac you'll ever need, check them out!

State approved children?

2005-11-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

In a previous posting, we saw an example of a modern, Western, democratic state which not only banned homeschooling, but also banned a private Christian school, removed the rights of parents to control their children's education, and jailed one Baptist couple for not sending their children to a school play (which they considered blasphemous).

If you are a Christian parent, serious about training up your children, you can surely sympathize with the difficulties experienced by these German parents. I'm not saying that you must homeschool to be a good Christian parent, but we must have the ability to limit the amount of darkness that our children are exposed to. As shepherds of our children, we need to have some control over the fold and some ability to fight the wolves.

There seems to be a trend in some Western nations (including my own: Canada) to expand the role of the state is the shaping of children. It was the excellent LifeSite news organization that reported on the following:

UK Proposes Mandatory Preschool from Birth
By Terry Vanderheyden
LONDON, November 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A proposed law to mandate that all children enter preschool from birth is being debated by UK lawmakers.

Introducing the bill, Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said that the program would provide "integrated care and education from birth. We want to establish a coherent framework that defines progression for young children from nought to five." .....

A "coherent framework". But whose framework? Not a biblical framework. Not a God-honoring framework. As a state-sponsored institution, it is not likely to be one that is receptive to the exclusive claims of Christ.

The Bible is filled with commands to train up our children (Deut 6:7, Eph 6:4), including many references to our grandchildren and even great-granchildren (Deut 4:9-10, Ps 78;4-6). As Christians, as the Church, we must keep our focus not only on our own kids but two or three generations into the future. How are we preparing our kids now to train their children and grandchildren?

Certainly part of that responsibility includes maintaining a context in which our children are even allowed to train their children. If it's getting more difficult now, what will the future be like when, God willing, our children want to pass on their values and their faith to their own kids?

Beware, our British brothers and sisters! The wolves are much too close already to the cradle! We will pray for and with you!

Next time: So you don't think this can happen in Canada, eh?

technorati tags: Christian, education, preschool, homeschool, UK

Tech: edit your blogs with flock!

2005-11-19T00:44:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. I'm a geek. There. I've said it. I like to write about theological issues, and any issue that relates to God is infinitely more important than earthly issues. So I've been holding off talking about technological issues.

But it's been hard. And I've decided to give greater reign to my geekiness. However, I will label any such posts with the "tech" prefix. But for my fellow technophiles, I will be sharing recent discoveries over the next few weeks. You've been warned! :-)

Ever since I began this blog, I've been looking for a decent editor.
I'm on a dial-up line, so using the built-in Blogger interface isn't an option ... I need an offline editor.

I'm enthusiastically pro-open source, vehemently opposed to the Microsoft monopoly, so using the Word plugin for Blogger won't work for me. I've been getting by with the e-mail interface, except that there's no efficient way for me to include pictures in these images. And you've got to have pictures!

So I have been totally, utterly delighted to discover flock! This marvelous web browser has a fully integrated blog editor. The editor integrates with Flickr, making image insertion very simple. It understands the abilities and limitations of typical blog entries, and fully supports offline composition, drafts, and finally publishing. It also permits organizing and editing of existing posts. Wonderful!

The software has many other perks that I have not yet explored. It supports an integrated, online version of bookmarks through del.icio.us, automatic notification through technorati, and no doubt many other features. Based on the firefox code base, you have a full-featured web browser and endless modules and themes to play with. If you're still using Internet Explorer, you really should consider switching to firefox or even to flock (unless, of course, you've developed a great love of being infected with spyware and cross-scripting worms).

The current version is a developer's prerelease (0.4.10), which means it has some rough edges. It doesn't (yet?) support font colours, and some dialogs have completely transparent backgrounds that make them difficult to use, but I'm still totally tickled with it.

Well done, flock team! I eagerly await the next version!

Raise up your children (before the state does it for you)

2005-11-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

The Brussels Journal reports in its provocatively-named article Hitler's Ghost Haunts German Parents on the plight of German parents who, objecting to the secular ~~corruption~~ emphasis of state classrooms, desire to teach their kids at home or at self-organized Christian schools. Two Baptist couples have lost authority over their children's' education by the appointment of a state truancy guardian, another couple was imprisoned for several days over their refusal to allow their children to attend a school play they considered blasphemous.

As the Journal notes:

Children are not allowed to opt out of classes or school activities and homeschooling is illegal in Germany since Adolf Hitler outlawed it in 1938.
....
The German mentality, even among its so-called conservatives, is very statist. Parents are considered to be incapable of schooling their own children. In this respect the German mentality does not seem to have changed much since the days of Adolf Hitler, when the Germans were expected to look upon the state as a caring parent.

So here is an example of a modern, Western country that asserts full state control over the teaching of the children. Could such a thing happen here?

Should we care?

I mean, public school education was what most of us Western Christians have had. If it was good enough for us, it's good enough for our kids, right? Sure, they don't teach the Bible, but we can do that at home, or at Sunday school.

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Psalm 78:4-7

I hope over the next series of posts to show that, at least in Canada, in most circumstances the secular school is a poor choice for Christian parents. I also believe that the state is in fact extending its control over our children. I don't think it's through the actions of some government conspiracy, but is a natural result of the direction our culture has been heading. When "tolerance" is the only standard against which morality is measured, then the "intolerant" claims of Christianity become the ultimate crime.

But to begin, I encourage you to read the Journal article. It sent chills down my spine. I hope it will do the same for you.

Train Up Your Children: The Catechism

2005-11-11T10:27:00.000-05:00

This post by kerux on the importance of preaching to children made me think about the training that we as parents owe to our children.

One of the wonderful tools that my wife and I have been using during our family devotions is a book called Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade, P&R Publishing. Based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, it walks you through 107 questions and answers, one question per week. It contains a well-prepared discussion, along with Scriptural passages, on some aspect of the answer for 6 days of the week (you get Sundays off).

Our kids, who are 5 and 7, greatly enjoy this time. We review the previous 10 questions and answers each evening, then read through the day's entry. For the Bible passage, we do a "sword drill" (where the children race to look up the verses in their Bibles) and take turns reading the verses aloud.

The catechism is a marvelous tool. Before I started seriously looking into it, my concept of "catechism" was some boring old list of peculiar questions with academic answers. But the catechism is not boring! It is an incredible, succinct distillation of centuries of theological understanding and wisdom.

I mean, when your kids have asked you "What is prayer?" ... what did you say? I think I said "prayer is talking to God." Which is a fine answer for a 2-3 year old, but look at the rich answer of the catechism:

Q98: What is prayer?
A98: Prayer is offering our desires to God in the name of Christ for things that agree with His will, confessing our sins, and thankfully recognizing His mercies.

Here are some other sample questions and answers:

Q1: What is man's primary purpose?
A1: Man's primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

Q2: What authority from God directs us how to glorify and enjoy Him?
A2: The only authority for glorifying and enjoying Him is the Bible, which is the word of God and is made up of the Old and New Testaments.

Q35: What is sanctification?
A35: Sanctification is the work of God's free grace by which our whole person is made new in the image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to righteousness.

Most of these answers are too complex for our children to remember, so after we've discussed them, we create simpler ones which are part of our nightly review. For example, answer 2 has become "The Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, and is the word of God."

Although it will take us fully 2.5 years to cover the whole book, by the end the kids will have explored the nature and purposes of God, the truths of the Trinity, the purpose of man, the nature and consequences of sin, the requirements and consequences of redemption .... what a wonderful foundation to be able to provide for you children.

I enthusiastically encourage all Christian parents to consider using this book or some other form of the catechism to train up their children. This is part of their spiritual heritage and will be part of the legacy which you will leave to them.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

Offtopic: SiteMeter

2005-11-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

Like many other bloggers, I have a link to SiteMeter on my blog. (Right side of the screen, at the bottom of the other links). It tracks how many visitors come to this site, roughly how long they stay, and how many pages they read.

The most interesting part of SiteMeter, though, is that it tracks how each visitor found this site. Many visitors are directed here by web search engines, and SiteMeter records the search terms that were being used. The searches that have brought people here recently are an eclectic and funny mix, including:

"literal interpretation of Jonah"
    Ok, so that's not very funny.

"critical statements about sovereign grace ministries"
    Not that I remember making any. I'm very fond of their music and preaching!

"agnes sanford"
    I'm quite delighted to be part of the commentary on the frightening Mrs. Sanford.

"document on odd neighbours"
    Well, I could certainly write one up, if you like. No lack of material. (Probably my neighbours would say the same about me.)

"john and paula sandford critique"
    Theological descendants of Mrs. Sanford. So again, I'm happy to be part of the nay-saying crowd.

"some ideas on how you handle race issues at school"
    Well, I guess you run that race just as fast as you can. Oh, wait, not that kind of race?

"theophostic ministry"
    See comments on John and Paula. Fairly similar practices.

"christian international dating"
    I have no idea why such a phrase would send you here!

"does a lost love ever wonder about the person they left behind"
    This is more sad than funny, although I hope the person who came here with that question would get some hint of the only Love who would ever fill that hole they have.

Error from the Inside-Out

2005-11-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

The (In)Scrutable Observer (Dave Ulrick) is a man who was involved in the Charismatic movement for many years. I highly recommend that you check out his insightful and very honest blog, especially his posts (such as this one) examining his years as a Charismatic. He speaks of having many remarkable experiences, some of which are hard to explain, but his conclusion is that the spiritual fruit that he received was "100% rotten."

Food for thought.

Error in Toronto

2005-10-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

Post removed by author.

Pages for the Poor

2005-10-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

Do you have children who love to read? Do you know children who love to read?

Do you want these children to have a greater sense of God's love for the poor? Do you want to teach them about how we can help serve the global poor?

Then check out a great read-a-thon program called Pages for the Poor.

My wife has developed this program which combines excellence in reading with ministering to the global poor via Partners Interational. She ran this program with a homeschooling group last year, and with just 11 families participating over a 5 week period they raised $2,132, providing through Partners' Harvest of Hope:

12 goats
4 piglets
18 Bibles
1 mule (for a travelling pastor in Cuba)
1 bicycle (for a travelling evangelist in South Asia)
a range of medical, dental, farming aids, clean water projects and school supplies
sponsoring 2 children for an entire year

Partners International is a wonderful organization that helps the poor, but never loses sight of the Great Commission, recognizing that the best way to serve the poor is to bring them the Gospel.

Whether your children are accomplished readers or just beginners, I think you'll find the program encouraging and worthwhile. You can participate as individuals, families, Sunday Schools or other groups.

An upcoming issue of Faith Today will be talking about this program, but you can find all the information you need now at the website.

Demons, Deception and the Sufficiency of Scripture

2005-10-21T22:39:00.000-04:00

Post removed by author.

The Reformation of Hallowe'en

2005-10-19T12:14:00.000-04:00

It's almost that time of year again! When our neighbourhoods celebrate fear, horror and death (albeit in a tongue-in-cheek fashion) and we poor Christian parents are faced with the dilemma of deciding how to handle Hallowe'en again this year.

Some parents take their children to their local church's "harvest festivals", where the kids can enjoy costumes and candy but in a more wholesome environment. This is what we had done for the past two years. But now, having left that church and joined with a small church that doesn't hold such an event, we are again confronted by the question of what to do with Hallowe'en.

For the first two years in our neighbourhood, when our kids were too young to trick-or-treat, we handed out candies and greeted the children, just like everyone else on the street. However, we didn't play spooky music or have half-buried skulls in our front yard. (Or even one of those "witch-flown-into-lamp-post" things that seem to be everywhere.)

When our kids were a few years old, we tried having an anti-Hallowe'en. Instead of dark music, cobwebs and scary sounds, we set up halogen flood lights, table lamps, anything that would glow brightly. Then we put out a table with a cheery collection of coffee, hot chocolate, bowls of candy, classical music playing (and not "Toccata and Fugue"!) and a VeggieTales video for the kids. This was a neat opportunity to meet the kids, meet the neighbours and hang out, reclaiming the good parts of the evening without participating in the dark side. The first year we met lots of people. The second year, almost no one came by. Maybe Christian neighbours are scarier than skulls with glowing eyes?

Tim Challies has a provocative and compelling post which argues that some form of participation is a better testimony to your neighbourhood than a dark house and absentee Christians. He's convinced me that my family should consider doing this again.

However, we're taking a different approach this year. We will be having a "Reformation Celebration." After all, it was October 31, 1571 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door! An event well worth celebrating.

We're getting together with a couple of other families. Each group will dress in "period costume." (Well, maybe "period bathrobes". Trying to find a doublet, hose, and other medieval elements would require too much planning.) We will acting out various sketches celebrating different stories of the Reformation (the kids love this stuff!), and celebrate the work of God in the recovery of the Solas. (I want to be Tetzel selling indulgences! "When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs!")

So, we'll see how it goes. Maybe next year we'll combine the anti-Hallowe'en with the Reformation. Get our neighbours to be part of the fun.

Of course, it's pretty cold in Canada by the end of October. Does anyone have a good, winter bathrobe they can lend me? I'll let one of your relatives out of purgatory!

The Limits of Submissive Dissent?

2005-10-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

I was reading a great post from Clint Humfrey about dealing with dissent on peripheral matters.

Rest of post removed by author.

What do miserable Christians sing?

2005-09-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

This was the title of the most recent edition of the Sovereign Grace Journal. The lead article was discussing the loss of the lament in modern Christian worship. While the Psalms are filled with many songs to be sung by those grieving or feeling abandoned or angry at God, the whole genre is absent from our worship services.

I've come across one song that, while not written for worship, is I think a good example of a modern-day lament. I've used the song in my personal devotions, and I'm going to try to adopt it in our family devotions. My children are 5 and 7, so I'm not sure how they'll interpret it, but it will give us a good chance to talk about how to respond in faith when we're mad, or sad, or lonely.

The song is Rich Mullin's Hard to Get. It's copyright 1998 by Liturgy Legacy.

You who live in heaven
Hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth
Who are afraid of being left by those we love
And who get hardened by the hurt.
Do you remember when you lived down here where we all scrape
To find the faith to ask for daily bread?
Did you forget about us after you had flown away?
Well, I memorized every word you said.
Still I'm so scared, I'm holding my breath
While you're up there just playing hard to get.

You who live in radiance
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin?
We have a love that's not as patient as yours was
Still we do love now and then.
Did you ever know loneliness?
Did you ever know need?
Do you remember just how long a night can get?
When you are barely holding on
And your friends fall asleep
And don't see the blood that's running in your sweat.
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While you're up there just playing hard to get?

And I know you bore our sorrows.
And I know you feel our pain.
And I know it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained.
And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most.
And after I figured this, somehow
All I really need to know....

Is if you who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time?
We can't see what's ahead
And we can not get free of what we've left behind.
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret.
I can't see how you're leading me unless you've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so you've been here all along I guess
It's just your ways and you are just plain hard to get.

I think this song has many fine, lamenting elements. Written in that dense, informal style so characteristic of Rich Mullins, it expresses fear, frustration, abandonment, doubt. Yet it is shot through with statements of faith, with the recognition of Jesus' sympathy with our suffering, and submission to his love and leading.

However, at the same time, it is uncomfortable. It says things that I know are unworthy of God, and ends with a sort of hopeful resignation. Rather reminiscent of some of the lament Psalms. Perhaps, just the sort of thing a miserable Christian could sing.

Reformation and Conversation

2005-09-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

Although I've been thoroughly Reformed in my beliefs for years, I'm a recent arrival to Reformed churches. For the last decade, my family and I had been deeply ensconced in the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

So, I tend to be very aware of the differences between my old community and my new one. One of the truly great distinctions of the Reformed folks I find myself around is that they love to talk! They love to discuss God, Jesus, the Bible, the Church, doctrine, the World ... pick any topic that has any relation to God, and they'll talk about it! (I should say, we'll talk about it. I love these people, these truths, this God and these wonderful relationships.)

Dr. Haykin in a recent message given at the chapel at TBS noted that God loves words. Our Lord is the God Who speaks! And boy, Reformed also keep on speaking! There are blogs (Toronto Baptist Seminary, kerux noemata, Cowboyology, Ruminations by the Lake, Christian Thought, tolle lego, even this humble forum), conferences (Carey, FRPS, Sovereign Grace), periodicals (Sovereign Grace Journal) and many, many other forms of communications. And modern day Reformed conversationalists are simply following in a long established tradition. Look at the incredible number of books, pamphlets and sermons put out by Luther, Calvin and their kin!

A few weeks back, I was rereading Pilgrim's Progress, and came to the part of the story where Christian and his comrade Hopeful have entered the Enchanted Ground, where to sleep is to perish. They find themselves struggling to keep their eyes open as they traverse this part of their journey, so Christian says to Hopeful: "Let us keep ourselves awake with good discourse."

That is truly a Reformed suggestion.

Let the good discourse continue!

Calvinism #3: The Courage of Conviction

2005-09-08T16:07:00.000-04:00

A personal note today.

Over the past few todays, in preparing this little series of posting on Calvinism, I've been rereading the little booklet What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism, from Bethlehem Baptist Church. Mostly, I was looking for those quotes from Augustine, Whitefield, Spurgeon and others that I've included in the previous posts.

Well, be careful what you read and what you type. God might just use it to convict your heart and redirect your life.

First, being a huge fan of Spurgeon's teaching, I was quite affected by this quote from WWBA5PC:

Spurgeon started a college for pastors and was intent that the key to being a worthy teacher in the church was to grasp these doctrines of grace:

Arminianism is thus guilty of confusing doctrines and of acting as an obstruction to a clear and lucid grasp of the Scripture; because it misstates or ignores the eternal purpose of God, it dislocates the meaning of the whole plan of redemption. Indeed confusion is inevitable apart from this foundational truth [of election].

Without it there is a lack of unity of thought, and generally speaking they have no idea whatever of a system of divinity. It is almost impossible to make a man a theologian unless you begin with this [doctrine of election]. You may if you please put a young believer in college for years, but unless you shew him this ground-plan of the everlasting covenant, he will make little progress, because his studies do not cohere, he does not see how one truth fits with another, and how all truths must harmonize together...

This coherence that election provides to the Bible has indeed been foundational for me. In understanding God's electing sovereignty, much of what was previously incomprehensible within the Bible now makes sense: the call of Abraham, the choosing of the nation of Israel, the entire passage of Romans 9, etc.

While working through these thoughts, I also read this post from Clint Humfrey about the Toronto Baptist Seminary, where amongst other details he describes it as:

the only school in Canada that explicitly emphasizes the sovereignty of God in all things, particularly soteriology. This has been popularly called 'Calvinism' but the emphasis is larger than the label.

I thought about my own studies at Tyndale Seminary, where I've been studying part time for the last year. I really enjoyed the Greek classes, but was concerned that in some of the other courses there was a lack of Bible-centredness. The experience of another close friend at this school led me to understand that this lack would likely become more significant as I went forward. I may very well be painting with an overly-broad brush, so don't take my comments as a wholesale criticism of the school ... these are my personal thoughts and experiences and may not correspond to most peoples' encounters with the school.

The final confirming note came from my rereading the last chapter of Piper's book Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals. God had used this book 1.5 years ago to totally change the direction of my life and send me to the seminary. Now He used it again to change the school I was in.

The last chapter of this excellent book, called "Brothers, Pray for the Seminaries", says this:

We cannot overemphasize the importance of our seminaries in shaping the theology and spirit of the churches and denominations and missionary enterprise. The tone of the classrooms and teachers exerts profound effect on the tone of our pupils. What the teachers are passionate about will by and large be the passions of our younger pastors. What they neglect will likely be neglected in the pulpits.

When I was choosing a seminary, someone gave me good advice. "A seminary is one thing" -- he told me, "faculty. Do not choose a denomination or a library or a location. Choose a great faculty. Everything else is incidental." By "great faculty" he, of course, did not mean mere charismatic personalities. He meant that wonderful combination of passion for God, for truth, for the church, and for the perishing, along with a deep understanding of God and His Word, a high esteem for doctrinal truth and careful interpretation and exposition of the infallible Bible. (pp. 261-262)

That was enough for me. With the help of my pastor, on the very last day of registration, I've transferred from Tyndale to TBS. I don't want to be a great scholar. I don't want to be known as an expert in any given field. I want to passionately love God, His church, His Word, and the lost! I want to accurately preach and teach the transforming truths of the Bible, to model Christlikeness, and to delight in God's glory in and through his global body and local church!

Now, if only I could get the textbooks in time......

Calvinism #2: Who needs evangelism?

2005-09-06T10:36:00.000-04:00

I used to teach courses both at my church and my at-work Bible study on evangelism. Lifestyle evangelism, explaining the gospel, the Roman Road, the Bridge to Life, etc. But one part that always troubled me was the idea of asking people to believe something. To choose to believe something.

I mean, belief is not a choice. If I tell you that 2+2=4, you don't choose to believe or not. You simply believe, or you don't. When talking with my sister-in-law (see previous post) and her husband, I used her husband's blue shirt as an example.

To her husband I said, "Jeff, I know your shirt appears to you to be blue. But I tell you it's really red. And it's really important that you believe that it's red. In fact, you will suffer eternal torment unless you come to believe that your shirt is red." But if he looks at his shirt, and it still looks blue to him, what is he going to do? Pretend it looks red? Try to convince himself that it's red? If he really believes that he will suffer, but the shirt still looks blue, what is he to do?

(Please don't push my example too far. I know it's a grossly imperfect model of believing in the claims of Jesus. All I'm trying to illustrate is that people don't choose to believe. They simply believe or they don't.)

This contradiction, asking people to believe in the Gospel but knowing that belief is not a choice, drove me to the Scriptures. The result of many months of work was another course called "The Theology of Evangelism", which was basically an introduction to the 5 doctrines of grace and their consequences for personal evangelism. It's funny how when some Christians first encounter Calvinism, they think it makes evangelism unnecessary. However, the truths of God's election and irresistable grace are not obstacles to evangelism, they are the hope of evangelism! What other hope do we have for reaching the lost but that God Himself will draw in unstoppable power?

John Piper tells a story about a missionary he and his wife heard at an Urbana conference. Both of them were young, rather tentative Calvinists. A long-time missionary stood before the crowd and said "Twenty years ago, if I had been a Calvinist, I would never have gone to the mission field." This caused their hearts to sink. And then he said, "Now, after twenty years of dealing with the hardness of the human heart, I could never remain on the mission field if I were not a Calvinist."

Much earlier (centuries before Calvin!), Augustine noted in one of his letters the hope that irresistable grace brings to evangelism:

If, as I prefer to think in your case, you agree with us in supposing that we are doing our duty in praying to God, as our custom is, for them that refuse to believe, that they may be willing to believe and for those who resist and oppose his law and doctrine, that they may believe and follow it. If you agree with us in thinking that we are doing our duty in giving thanks to God, as is our custom, for such people when they have been converted ... then you are surely bound to admit that the wills of men are preveniently moved by the grace of God, and that it is God who makes them to will the good which they refused; for it is God whom we ask so to do, and we know that it is meet and right to give thanks to him for so doing...

A final quote to end today's instalment. George Whitefield was a great evangelist in the 18th century, drawing tens of thousands of people to Jesus. He pleaded with John Wesley not to oppose the doctrines of Calvinism:

I cannot bear the thoughts of opposing you: but how can I avoid it, if you go about (as your brother Charles once said) to drive John Calvin out of Bristol. Alas, I never read anything that Calvin wrote; my doctrines I had from Christ and His apostles; I was taught them of God. (Arnold Dalimore, GEORGE WHITEFIELD 1, p. 574)

It was his belief in this glorious doctrine that enabled his evangelism:

The doctrines of our election, and free justification in Christ Jesus are daily more and more pressed upon my heart. They fill my soul with a holy fire and afford me great confidence in God my Saviour.

I hope we shall catch fire from each other, and that there will be a holy emulation amongst us, who shall most debase man and exalt the Lord Jesus. Nothing but the doctrines of the Reformation can do this. All others leave freewill in man and make him, in part at least, a saviour to himself. My soul, come not thou near the secret of those who teach such things ... I know Christ is all in all. Man is nothing: he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to will and to do his good pleasure.

Oh the excellency of the doctrine of election and of the saints' final perseverance! I am persuaded, til a man comes to believe and feel these important truths, he cannot come out of himself, but when convinced of these and assured of their application to his own heart, he then walks by faith indeed! (Dalimore, p. 407)

(Quotes from Augustine and Whitefield are drawn from Bethlehem Baptist Church's What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism.)

Go and take the Gospel to those around you, asking God to open their eyes and effectually call them!

a TULIP by any other name...

2005-09-05T14:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, my wife and I were discussing "Calvinism" with my sister-in-law and her husband. They are both believers, but certainly do not embrace a Calvinist viewpoint. In response to my SIL's question, I described the 5 points summarizing this doctrine of grace, using the TULIP acronym.

For those unfamiliar with TULIP, the 5 points are:

Total depravity: we are incapable of responding positively to God ("dead in your trespasses and sins", Eph 2:1, Col 2:13)
Unconditional election: God sovereignly chose those whom he would grant the gift of faith before any of us were created ("For he chose us in him before the creation of the world ... he predestined us to be adopted as his sons", Eph 1:4-5)
Limited atonement: Jesus on the cross absorbed the penalty for the all the sins of all the elect, purchasing not only their forgiveness but even the mercy that would effectually draw them to himself ("with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation", Rev. 5:9)
Irresistable grace: when God calls his elect, he overcomes the rebellion of their hearts and brings them to faith so that they are saved ("children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God", John 1:12)
Perseverance (or Preservation) of the saints: those who are called by the irresistable grace of God cannot lose their salvation but will endure to the end ("I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish", John 10:27)

(I am hugely indebted to John Piper and the staff of Bethlehem Baptist Church for their little booklet What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism for a clear explanation of these ideas and approach toward introducing people to them. You can find the booklet on their website (www.desiringgod.org). )

My SIL's response was "I have a problem with every one of those points." Which led to a energetic (but friendly) discussion of these ideas.

Over the next few days I'm going to post some thoughts and experiences I've had regarding these five points and the theology behind them. But I'd love to hear from others about their thoughts and experiences regarding these distinctives.

Let me close this post with a couple of significant quotes from the What We Believe booklet:

George Mueller, an amazing man of faith and founder of several orphanages in Britain in the 1800's:

Before the period [when I came to prize the Bible alone as my standard of judgment] I had been much opposed to the doctrines of election, particular redemption (i.e. limited atonement), and final persevering grace. But now I was brought to examine these precious truths by the Word of God. Being made willing to have no glory of my own in the conversion of sinners, but to consider myself merely an instrument; and being made willing to receive what the Scriptures said, I went to the Word, reading the New Testament from the beginning, with a particular reference to these truths.

To my great astonishment I found that the passages which speak decidedly for election and persevering grace, were about four times as many as those which speak apparently against these truths; and even those few, shortly after, when I had examined and understood them, served to confirm me in the above doctrines.

As to the effect which my belief in these doctrines had on me, I am constrained to state for God's glory, that though I am still exceedingly weak, and by no means so dead to the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, as I might be, and as I ought to be, yet, by the grace of God, I have walked more closely with Him since that period. My life has not been so variable, and I may say that I have lived much more for God than before. (Autobiography, pp. 33-34)

Charles Spurgeon:

I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism: Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel ... unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base i upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the Cross; nor can I comprehend the gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called (Autobiography 1, p. 168)

"We used to sing our theology"

2005-08-05T11:03:00.000-04:00

This was a comment made to me by a class mate. He was mourning the loss of theological depth in worship, believing that in many churches, songs focusing on a personal experience of God have supplanted songs focusing on the nature of God.

Now, I'm a big fan of both forms of worship, both Hillsong/Vineyard and Sovereign Grace/PDI, Matt Redman and Mark Altrogge, Michael W. Smith and Augustus Toplady. Balance is wonderful. If all I sing is experiential -- how wonderful God is to me -- then eventually my worship is more about me than about God. If all I sing is objective -- how wonderful God is in Himself -- then I am not glorifying God fully, since part of praising Him is treasuring Him personally. So I seek to emphasize first how wonderful God is, then reflect as well on how wonderful He is to me.

But that's not the main point of my wandering comment this morning. I was looking through a hymnal at home last night, and was struck by the breadth and depth of these older hymns.

You see, I love old books. Mostly I love to read them, but I also love to have them in my hands, if possible. My grandfather was an enthusiastic collector of old books, all old books. Library sell-offs (and cast offs), auctions, all of these were fertile ground for harvesting more old books. His shelves are a fascinating collection of peculiar tomes ("The Life of Man as Illustrated in a Series of Woodcuts"), pragmatic pamphlets ("The Knotts' Berry Book"), long-forgotten editions ("Best Short Stories of 1912") and a few remarkable gems ("The Atomic Age Begins").

Amongst these was a short, stout, warped and tattered volume whose title can just barely be made out amongst the cracked leather of its spine: "Methodist Hymns". The title page is a little more readable and voluble: "Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Revised Edition, New York, 1854." Written in pencil on the front and back inner pages, in a childish scribble, is the name Martha Long. If I remember correctly, she is my great-great aunt. Maybe there should be another "great" in there.

Now, being hard-core Calvinist, I am in disagreement with some significant elements of old Methodism (and even more with modern Methodism), but boy! could they sing! All of the members of this church back in Aunt Martha's days had their own copies of this hymnal. It was clearly designed to be used both on Sundays and throughout the week. And talk about singing your theology! Just look at the categories of songs in this 750+ page book:

Introduction to worship
The Divine Perfections
Jesus Christ
The Holy Spirit
Institutions of the Gospel

The Ministry
The Church
The Sabbath
Baptism
The Lord's Supper
Provisions and Promises of the Gospel
The Sinner

Depravity
Awakening
Inviting
Penitential
The Christian Life

Justification by Faith
Adoption and Assurance
Sanctification
Means of Grace

Prayer and Intercession
Family Devotion
The Clost
Reading the Scriptures
Christian Fellowship
Duties and Trials

The Warfare
Patience and Resignation
Growth in Grace
Humiliation

Unfaithfulness mourned
Backslidings lamented
Rejoicing

Deliverance from Trouble
Communion with God
Prospect of Heaven
Special Occasions
Time and Eternity
Close of Worship

And let me just share one of these hymns with you. This is number 676. The songs did not for the most part have titles, but summary lines, which for this one is "Riches of God's word".

The counsels of redeeming grace
    The sacred leaves unfold;
And here the Saviour's lovely face
    Our raptured eyes behold.

Here light descending from above
    Directs our doubtful feet;
Here promises of heavenly love
    Our ardent wishes meet.

Our num'rous griefs are here redresse'd,
    And all our wants supplied;
Naught we can ask to make us blest
    Is in this book denied.

For these inestimable gains,
    That so enrich the mind,
O may we search with eager pains,
    Assured that we shall find.

Amen!

Experience is the best teacher?

2005-06-20T17:34:00.000-04:00

Post removed by author.

John Piper on Evangelism

2005-06-17T11:11:00.000-04:00

Love is doing whatever you need to do to help people see and savour the glory of God in Christ forever and ever.

>From Pierced by the Word, #1.

John Piper on Prayer...

2005-06-17T11:09:00.000-04:00

Prayer is the echo of the freedom and sufficiency of God in the heart of powerless man.
John Piper.

John Piper speaks...

2005-06-14T10:01:00.000-04:00

When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He removed forever the wrath of God from all who trust Him. God's disposition to us now is entirely mercy, even when severe and disciplinary. (Rom 8:1)

John Piper, Pierced by the Word, #27

A Work In Progress

2005-06-13T17:30:00.000-04:00

Creation of this blog was a bit of a happy accident, but I'll see what sort of value I can provide. Meanwhile, here is an extract from a letter written by Samuel Rutherford (1660-1661) to a lady friend in Scotland.

This letter has been a great encouragement and challenge to me, to focus on the eternal splendour of our Lord and our final Home.

Tom

Mistress-

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you. You are not a little obliged to
His rich grace, who has separated you for Himself, and for the
promised inheritance with the saints in light, from this condemned and
guilty world.

Hold fast to Christ, content for Him; it is a lawful plea to go to
holding and having for Christ; and it is not possible to keep Christ
peaceably, having once gotten Him, except the devil were dead. It
must be your resolution to set your face against Satan's northern
tempests and storms, for salvation. Nature would have heaven to come
to us while sleeping in our beds. We would all buy Christ, as if we
could any of us pay the price ourselves. But Christ is worth more
blood and lives than either you or I have to give Him. When we shall
come home, and enter into the possession of our Brother's fair
kingdom, and when our heads shall find the weight of the eternal crown
of glory, then we shall look back to pains and sufferings and then we
will see life and sorrow to be less than one step or stride from a
prison to glory. Our little inch of time -- suffering is not worthy
of our first night's welcome-home to heaven. Oh, what then shall be
the weight of every one of Christ's kisses! Oh, how weighty, and of
what worth shall be every one of Christ's love-smiles be! Oh, when
once He shall thrust a wearied traveler's head between His blessed
breasts, the poor soul will think one kiss of Christ has fully paid
him back for forty or fifty years' wet feet, and all its sore hearts,
and light (2 Cor. 4:17) sufferings it had in following after Christ!

Oh, thrice blinded souls, whose hearts are charmed and bewitched with
dreams, shadows, feckless things, night-vanities, and night-fancies
of a miserable life of sin! Shame on us who sit still, fettered with
the love and fondness of a loan of a piece of dead clay! Oh, poor
fools, who are beguiled with painted things, and this world's fair
weather, and smooth promises, and rotten, worm-eaten hopes! May not
the devil laugh to see us give out our souls, and get in but corrupt
and counterfeit pleasures of sin? O for a sight of eternity's glory,
and a little tasting of the Lamb's marriage supper! Half a swallow,
even a drop of the wine of consolation, that is up at our
banqueting-house, out of Christ's own hand, would make our stomachs
loath the brown bread and the sour drink of a miserable life. Oh, how
witless we are, to grow restless, and chase, and run, till our souls
be out of breath, after a condemned happiness of our own making! And
do we not think far too much of ourselves when we make it a matter of
child's play, and drink a toast over paradise? We trifle with the
heaven that Christ did sweat for, in return for a blast of smoke, and
for Esau's morning breakfast. O that we were out of ourselves, and
dead to this world, and this world dead and crucified to us!

If we would fall out of love with all our masked and painted lovers,
then Christ would win and conquer to Himself a lodging in the inmost
chamber of our heart. Then Christ would be our night-song and
morning-song; then the very whisper of our Well-beloved's feet, when
He comes, and His first knock or rap at the door, would be as news of
two heavens to us. O that our eyes and our soul's smelling should go
after a blasted and sunburnt flower, even this plastered, fair (on the
outside) world; and as a result we have neither eye nor smell for the
Flower of Jesse, for that Plant of renown, for Christ, the choicest,
the fairest, the sweetest rose that ever God planted! Oh, let some of
us die to smell the fragrance of Him; and let my part of this rotten
world be forfeited and sold for ever, provided I may anchor my
tottering soul upon Christ! I know that sometimes I murmur, "Lord,
what will you have for Christ?" But, O Lord, can you be trifled with
and propined with any gift for Christ? O Lord, can Christ be sold?
Or rather, may not a poor needy sinner have Him for nothing? If I can
get no more, oh, let me be pained to all eternity, with longing for
Him! The joy of hungering for Christ should be my heaven for
evermore. Alas, that I cannot draw souls and Christ together! But I
desire the coming of His kingdom, and that Christ, as I assuredly hope
He will, would come upon withered Scotland, as rain upon the new-mown grass.