Monday, October 27, 2008
Sad...
Once again, I have left a bunch of people I dearly love. At least I'm only 4 1/2 hrs. away from B-town...so hopefully I can make some weekend trips. In the meantime, I'll be looking at a lot of eyeballs owned by the brave men who have risked their lives for our freedom. I want to take one more opportunity to mention Paul Washer's sermon "10 Indictments" given at the recent Revival Conference in Atlanta, GA. It is a must for all Christians in this country. See my last post for its link. Also check out this short video of Washer talking about persecution in America.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
A Renewing of My Mind
(I composed this a few months ago and haven't updated my blog due to limited internet access...fyi I have been in back in B-town for 2 1/2 months now and am already getting ready to head off again, this time to Huntington, WV)
In the past few weeks I have been embarking on a journey to rework my understanding of life in Christ and reinterpret my life experiences in light of scripture, which by necessity includes the proper use of Bible words. In one sense I have been on this journey for years, but recently it has been a very conscious, heart and mind-wrenching experience. I suppose it started with me surrounding myself with people (Grace Community Church) who seem to have a prominent concern with whether or not I'm a Calvinist, and then wondering how in the world a church full of Presbyterians and Baptists (and a "third wheel" of a pastor with a Vineyard background) could even remain standing, let alone how I found myself in such a thing (I am of course referring to Church of the Good Shepherd).
On one hand, it has been very exhausting not only to have these conversations, but also sit under sermons where at least half of the time was focused specifically on aspects of Reformed doctrine (which for the past month has been the case). To be honest, I have avoided having the "I'm not Reformed" conversation, because the prospect alone wears me out right now. So why do I keep going back? Well, I know they love Christ, they love the souls under their care, and they handle God's word seriously, even if we reach different conclusions about some doctrines. For the same reason, I will never attend another church in Bloomington other than CGS. They truly love one another and do things rightly. I will always be with people like this, as opposed to finding a church where I "agree" with their "doctrine" but is absolutely dead.
The good thing about all this frustration is that it has caused me to reconsider my understanding and use of words and biblical terminology. In my studying, I came across a discussion mainly between two brothers over at sermonindex.net regarding the distinction between Baptism in the Holy Spirit and fillings with the Holy Spirit. Ron Bailey, both in this discussion and in his teaching series "Having begun in the Spirit" makes mention that Bible words don't have definitions, but histories, and we must track these histories to understand the words. God was very specific in His choosing of words, and used two very detailed languages (unlike English) to express what He wanted to convey to us.
The Bible has very few true synonyms. At its simplest, in any language, if two words meant the exact same thing, there wouldn't be two words for the thing. Even if two words essentially mean the same thing, they often have quite different etymologies, so they bring different emphasis. Add to this that this is God's word, so we must pay close attention to how He uses words. Some may call me a little too pedantic, but in this day of evangelical muck-soup, maybe a little pedantry is what we need.
In college, while involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was taught, as literally millions have been since the late 1950s, that one gets "saved" simply by praying a magical prayer. 4 simple laws to agree to, then after a 10 second regurgitation of a written prayer...WHAM! congratulations! Now you can be assured that you are going to heaven! No more worries! While this whole "method" (as well as most of the teaching contained in the little booklet) is completely baseless and unscriptural, I think a lot of the problem is our concept and use of the word "saved." It's so shallow. The Bible use of this word is not to describe a one time event in the life of an individual whereby beforehand he was not saved (which is sloppily equated to "not in heaven") and now he is (which is sloppily equated to "in heaven"). Rather, a person goes through many "salvations", is continuing to progress in salvation, and will eventually have a salvation not yet seen. Salvation is a very broad term with many applications (may I direct you to Paris Reidhead's sermon So Great Salvation for some great insights regarding this concept) leading to one Great Application. Salvation is so much more glorious than the concept most of us have been taught. It encompasses things like conviction, repentance, justification, regeneration, sanctification, glorification...which are all very distinct workings of God in the life of the Christian resulting in conformation to the image of His Son.
In the past few weeks I have been embarking on a journey to rework my understanding of life in Christ and reinterpret my life experiences in light of scripture, which by necessity includes the proper use of Bible words. In one sense I have been on this journey for years, but recently it has been a very conscious, heart and mind-wrenching experience. I suppose it started with me surrounding myself with people (Grace Community Church) who seem to have a prominent concern with whether or not I'm a Calvinist, and then wondering how in the world a church full of Presbyterians and Baptists (and a "third wheel" of a pastor with a Vineyard background) could even remain standing, let alone how I found myself in such a thing (I am of course referring to Church of the Good Shepherd).
On one hand, it has been very exhausting not only to have these conversations, but also sit under sermons where at least half of the time was focused specifically on aspects of Reformed doctrine (which for the past month has been the case). To be honest, I have avoided having the "I'm not Reformed" conversation, because the prospect alone wears me out right now. So why do I keep going back? Well, I know they love Christ, they love the souls under their care, and they handle God's word seriously, even if we reach different conclusions about some doctrines. For the same reason, I will never attend another church in Bloomington other than CGS. They truly love one another and do things rightly. I will always be with people like this, as opposed to finding a church where I "agree" with their "doctrine" but is absolutely dead.
The good thing about all this frustration is that it has caused me to reconsider my understanding and use of words and biblical terminology. In my studying, I came across a discussion mainly between two brothers over at sermonindex.net regarding the distinction between Baptism in the Holy Spirit and fillings with the Holy Spirit. Ron Bailey, both in this discussion and in his teaching series "Having begun in the Spirit" makes mention that Bible words don't have definitions, but histories, and we must track these histories to understand the words. God was very specific in His choosing of words, and used two very detailed languages (unlike English) to express what He wanted to convey to us.
The Bible has very few true synonyms. At its simplest, in any language, if two words meant the exact same thing, there wouldn't be two words for the thing. Even if two words essentially mean the same thing, they often have quite different etymologies, so they bring different emphasis. Add to this that this is God's word, so we must pay close attention to how He uses words. Some may call me a little too pedantic, but in this day of evangelical muck-soup, maybe a little pedantry is what we need.
In college, while involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was taught, as literally millions have been since the late 1950s, that one gets "saved" simply by praying a magical prayer. 4 simple laws to agree to, then after a 10 second regurgitation of a written prayer...WHAM! congratulations! Now you can be assured that you are going to heaven! No more worries! While this whole "method" (as well as most of the teaching contained in the little booklet) is completely baseless and unscriptural, I think a lot of the problem is our concept and use of the word "saved." It's so shallow. The Bible use of this word is not to describe a one time event in the life of an individual whereby beforehand he was not saved (which is sloppily equated to "not in heaven") and now he is (which is sloppily equated to "in heaven"). Rather, a person goes through many "salvations", is continuing to progress in salvation, and will eventually have a salvation not yet seen. Salvation is a very broad term with many applications (may I direct you to Paris Reidhead's sermon So Great Salvation for some great insights regarding this concept) leading to one Great Application. Salvation is so much more glorious than the concept most of us have been taught. It encompasses things like conviction, repentance, justification, regeneration, sanctification, glorification...which are all very distinct workings of God in the life of the Christian resulting in conformation to the image of His Son.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A Calvinism I Can Chew on, and Find Tasty (part 1)
Last night at Bible study, Brother Tim Conway (pastor at GCC) was discussing the need to overcome sin, and how the warnings of scripture often go right over the heads of most Reformed folks because of the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. He suggested that Jesus wasn't just being hyperbolic in Matthew 5:29. If we don't take sin as seriously as Jesus talks about and mortify the deeds of the flesh, we are in danger of hell. Tim obviously believes that if you are "elect" you have no choice but to overcome; but he acknowledged that the emphasis of scripture is on us thinking that the possibility exists that the Saint might not overcome and enter heaven if we are not violent about it. He recalled a pastor friend of his, whenever asked by a young believer if it was possible to lose salvation, even though his theology would say "of course not," he would instead say with gusto, "You can if you DO."
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Few Things Learned
It has been 5 months to the day since I last posted. I had no intentions of taking such a long hiatus, but alas, here we are. I hope to post more regularly once again. Last semester was long and rough, but I have finished my classwork and am currently on rotations for the next year. I dearly miss Church of the Good Shepherd and my family there, but I have found a good fellowship here in San Antonio at Grace Community Church. I don't know how I keep winding up in staunchly Calvinist circles, seeing as how I am not one. My friend Lane would tell you it's because God wants me to be one so he puts me (or has predestined me to be) in situations where it's screaming at me. I of course would smile and quip that it was my choice to be here ;-)
On another front, I did not buy the soprano sax I discussed many moons ago. I was in need of a better automobile to make my cross-country journeys so I bought a 2008 Hyundai Elantra, thanks to Lane.
A Few things I have learned in the past few months about manhood both from a dear brother in the Lord and walking through some of my experiences with him:
1. Men make decisions. Hopefully, they are grounded in scripture and supported with a multitude of godly counselors. But they make decisions in faith, without looking back, and face whatever outcome God gives.
2. Men are open and honest in relationships...always. Hiding feelings and emotions while playing games and speculating about what a woman is thinking and feeling is just foolish. No one profits from such things.
Now, I am not suggesting that if a man likes a woman he should immediately pursue her gung ho. Contrary, much prayer and counsel must be sought to see if she is a godly woman and that he is ready to pursue such a woman. Then, and only then, should he pursue.
I will not go any further than this because I still lack much wisdom in such things. So I leave it here, and will continue to seek, in general, as I started in this blog, what it is to be a man.
On another front, I did not buy the soprano sax I discussed many moons ago. I was in need of a better automobile to make my cross-country journeys so I bought a 2008 Hyundai Elantra, thanks to Lane.
A Few things I have learned in the past few months about manhood both from a dear brother in the Lord and walking through some of my experiences with him:
1. Men make decisions. Hopefully, they are grounded in scripture and supported with a multitude of godly counselors. But they make decisions in faith, without looking back, and face whatever outcome God gives.
2. Men are open and honest in relationships...always. Hiding feelings and emotions while playing games and speculating about what a woman is thinking and feeling is just foolish. No one profits from such things.
Now, I am not suggesting that if a man likes a woman he should immediately pursue her gung ho. Contrary, much prayer and counsel must be sought to see if she is a godly woman and that he is ready to pursue such a woman. Then, and only then, should he pursue.
I will not go any further than this because I still lack much wisdom in such things. So I leave it here, and will continue to seek, in general, as I started in this blog, what it is to be a man.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Adam, the First Man--Part 1: Men are Dirt!
Here you go, ladies, this verse is for you:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7a). We are dirt. No one can deny it. Even before the Fall, we were dry, lifeless, simple. Low, humble, nothing. But then..."[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7b). When God breathes into a man, he becomes full of life as God intended him to be. We cannot be men without God in us.
"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen 2:15). Ok, here we go. Start throwing stones and call me male chauvinist or primitive. But it's what the Bible says. Who was to work? Man. Woman wasn't even in the picture yet. Am I saying it is wrong for women to work? No. But is she to be the worker? No. Man is to be the "breadwinner." Get mad if you want. But God is establishing His proper order.
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:16-17). Man had fellowship with God in the garden, and was allowed to eat of any tree, which included the tree of life. He could seek God, but was not allowed to seek knowledge. We too will die by seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake, and not the Lord. Communing with God must be our primary concern. As Leonard Ravenhill said, "do you go to church to meet God, or to hear a sermon about Him?"
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen 2:18). This is the first time God, in our record, said "it is NOT good." Everything else in creation up to this point was good. But man should have something else besides himself or the rest of creation (Gen 2:19-20). Notice that scripture does not say it is not good for man to work alone, but it is not good for him to be alone. For a man to be a man, not only does he need the Breath of God, but at some level needs companionship with another. Specifically why, God does not say (or at least I'm not privy to it without inducing), we just know it's good in the sight of God. This is the primary purpose of marriage; to have companionship that is good in the sight of God. Kids come later and are a blessing of God in this relationship, but the realtionship itself is first. So what would constitute this companion? First of all, it would be a help. [More stones] Not someone to lead him or provide for him, but to help him be. The companion would also have to be meet for him, which carries a lot of meaning. A more literal translation (I take the word of saintly scholars here...I know nothing of Hebrew) is corresponding to. Not exactly like him, but in his likeness exactly opposite to him such that they match perfectly. Physically (including sexually...think about it...there's only one way for it to work), emotionally, relationally. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons the divorce rate is over 50% and pornography is such a problem in this nation is because we have confused the roles of men and women. Thanks to the hippies and the feminist movement of the last 40 years, our culture has taught men to be women and women to be men. And until we rediscover God's proper order of things, don't expect much to change.
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7a). We are dirt. No one can deny it. Even before the Fall, we were dry, lifeless, simple. Low, humble, nothing. But then..."[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7b). When God breathes into a man, he becomes full of life as God intended him to be. We cannot be men without God in us.
"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen 2:15). Ok, here we go. Start throwing stones and call me male chauvinist or primitive. But it's what the Bible says. Who was to work? Man. Woman wasn't even in the picture yet. Am I saying it is wrong for women to work? No. But is she to be the worker? No. Man is to be the "breadwinner." Get mad if you want. But God is establishing His proper order.
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:16-17). Man had fellowship with God in the garden, and was allowed to eat of any tree, which included the tree of life. He could seek God, but was not allowed to seek knowledge. We too will die by seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake, and not the Lord. Communing with God must be our primary concern. As Leonard Ravenhill said, "do you go to church to meet God, or to hear a sermon about Him?"
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen 2:18). This is the first time God, in our record, said "it is NOT good." Everything else in creation up to this point was good. But man should have something else besides himself or the rest of creation (Gen 2:19-20). Notice that scripture does not say it is not good for man to work alone, but it is not good for him to be alone. For a man to be a man, not only does he need the Breath of God, but at some level needs companionship with another. Specifically why, God does not say (or at least I'm not privy to it without inducing), we just know it's good in the sight of God. This is the primary purpose of marriage; to have companionship that is good in the sight of God. Kids come later and are a blessing of God in this relationship, but the realtionship itself is first. So what would constitute this companion? First of all, it would be a help. [More stones] Not someone to lead him or provide for him, but to help him be. The companion would also have to be meet for him, which carries a lot of meaning. A more literal translation (I take the word of saintly scholars here...I know nothing of Hebrew) is corresponding to. Not exactly like him, but in his likeness exactly opposite to him such that they match perfectly. Physically (including sexually...think about it...there's only one way for it to work), emotionally, relationally. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons the divorce rate is over 50% and pornography is such a problem in this nation is because we have confused the roles of men and women. Thanks to the hippies and the feminist movement of the last 40 years, our culture has taught men to be women and women to be men. And until we rediscover God's proper order of things, don't expect much to change.
"And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:21-23). Here is the next step in God's establishing order. God could have easily formed the woman out of the dust as He did the man. This would have made her separate and "equal" in all aspects (For clarification, I do not mean than men are somehow "superior" or more "evolved" than women, but that we are very different in our roles and responsibilities). But taking her from man's flesh and bone made her in his likeness, of him, as his perfect complement. God did what He said, and made "an help meet for him." This order and method sets God as man's head, and man as woman's head in God. Now don't get mad at me. This is how God did it and this pattern is consistent throughout scripture and taught explicitly by Paul in 1 Cor. 7, among other places.
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen 2:24). Here we see it is the man who is to seek out a wife, not the other way around. The man, being the head and leader, must take this first step. In our culture today, women are more likely to seek men. Another recipe for failure. If a guy can't even step up and risk himself to seek a woman, how in the world is he going to be man enough to lead her in a relationship? Likewise, a female who seeks a male is likely far too "manly" to accept God's role for her in a relationship. In Scripture, when the woman is the one who "puts herself out there" without her covering (either her father or husband), she is considered a prostitute (at this point, I'm sure someone will pick out exceptions, but we must keep in mind, they are EXCEPTIONS, and often for good reason). Once again, we see the primary purpose of marriage; a cleaving to become one flesh. Once in marriage, he is no longer his own, but hers. And likewise, she is now his. All self-ambition and pride must dissolve for the sake of each other. If you get married for yourself, you can be sure it won't work out like you "planned." It can't be about me, it has to be about my wife, and me serving her.
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