May God Be With You

Archive for February, 2009

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A Calvinist Evangelist?

In Evangelism on February 27, 2009 at 7:00 am

In a recent article, Keith Mathison tackles the oxymoron of a Calvinist Evangelist.  Can there be such a thing?

If I have heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “A Calvinist evangelist? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Calvinism undermines evangelism.” This accusation has been repeated so many times that few make the effort to argue it. Instead, it is simply assumed. Never mind that some of the church’s greatest evangelists have been Calvinists. One need only be reminded of men such as George Whitefield, David Brainerd, or “the father of modern missions,” William Carey. “Yes,” we are told, “these men were great evangelists and Calvinists, but that is because they were inconsistent.” But is this true?

The fact of the matter is that Calvinism is not inconsistent with evangelism; it is only inconsistent with certain evangelistic methods. It is inconsistent, for example, with the emotionally manipulative methods created by revivalists such as Charles Finney. But these manipulative methods are themselves inconsistent with Scripture, so it is no fault to reject them. In order for evangelism to be pleasing to God, it must be consistent with the whole system of biblical teaching. But what does such evangelism look like?

To get the answer to this question, see his full article HERE.  Also, check out these talks on evangelism by Mark Dever HERE.

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Today is Ash Wednesday

In Christian Life on February 25, 2009 at 6:40 pm

Occasionally this time of year, I’ll see students at the university where I work with an ash cross on their foreheads.  Why do they do this?  Bad hygiene?

Today is Ash Wednesday and it has been traditionally set aside by many churches as a day of repentance and fasting.  It occurs 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays) and marks the beginning of a 40-day period called Lent, a season of fasting and prayer before Easter.  A pastor marks a person’s forehead with ash in the sign of a cross, ash being the biblical sign of sorrow and repentance (e.g., David, Daniel, Job, etc.).   Traditionally, the pastor will recite Genesis 3:19 as he makes the ashen cross (“for you are dust, and to dust you shall return”) as a way for a person to reflect on their frail humanity and his or her need for Christ.

Protestant groups that follow this tradition include some Presbyterians, Lutherans, Wesleyans, and even some churches within the Free church movement.  Other protestant groups protest the practice, believing it should be an inward, not outward, practice.  They often cite Matt. 6:16-18 in their argument:

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Should you observe Ash Wednesday?  It really is a matter of individual consceince.  There is nothing wrong with reflecting on one’s sinfulness or fasting, but the practice should not point merely inward, but should ultimately point to Christ.  The writer of Hebrews reminds of this when he encourages us to look “to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).  As with any practice or tradition, Christ should be the center.

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Remember the Gospel of Judas?

In Christianity, Scholarship on February 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm

Remember the furor over the Gospel of Judas a couple of years ago?  You probably have not heard much about it lately?  Why?  Dr. Gene Edward Veith gives an update re: the saga.

Do you remember the furor over the recent discovery of an ancient manuscript entitled The Gospel of Judas? The media reported that the document presented Judas as a good guy who turned Jesus over only because Jesus told him to. The reports implied that the church had gotten it wrong over all these centuries, that Judas was no sinister betrayer but a leading disciple to whom Jesus imparted special knowledge. The media coverage indicated that we would now have to re-evaluate our knowledge of Jesus. The translation became a best-seller and National Geographic, which was behind the publication of the text, made a TV documentary on the subject.

But have you heard the rest of the story? The media that hyped The Gospel of Judas has not been as vigilant in reporting how scholars have been shooting down all of these claims, to the point of accusing the National Geographic of “scholarly malpractice.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, though, has shown how genuine scholarship got hijacked by media sensationalism, pop-culture superficiality, and commercial temptations.

The media left out the little detail that the manuscript had Judas not turning in Jesus at His request to atone for the sins of the world; rather, Judas was bent on sacrificing Jesus to a demon named Saklas. So much for this being an alternative Christian tradition.

But the biggest problem was that the manuscript was dishonestly translated. What the National Geographic translated as “spirit” (with Judas being described as the “13th spirit”) should be rendered as “demon” (with Judas being the “13th demon”). The best-seller said that Judas has been “set apart for the holy generation.” It should read “set apart from the holy generation.” Perhaps the most flagrant mistranslation was leaving out a negative, saying that Judas “would ascend to the holy generation.” The manuscript actually says that Judas “would not ascend to the holy generation.”

The National Geographic translators rendered the text so that it read the opposite of what it actually said. Apparently, even the Gnostic heretics who wrote this document did not think much of Judas.

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Can’t We All Just Get Along? Reflections re: Os Guinness

In Public square on February 23, 2009 at 9:59 pm

Os Guinness visited Biola University today to talk about restoring civility to the public square.  By civility, he meant “the act of showing regard for others” [1] and by the public square, he meant “a place of assembly for the people” [2], like the agora in ancient Greece.  Guinness painted two extremes for the Christian to avoid.  First, avoid the position that your Christian faith is entirely a personal, private affair and thus does not have any interaction with the public square (e.g., politics, etc.).  In other words, avoid divorcing Christianity from public life.  Second, avoid the position that the Christian faith should dominate all other voices.  In other words, avoid wanting for Christianity to become the state religion and suppress all other beliefs.  Historically, the second extreme has not played well for Christians.

Guinness argued that there is a middle ground of public civility that Christians have a unique opportunity to forge.  This middle ground avoids the extremes and says, in a republican [3] and democratic [4] state (notice the small “r” and small “d”), Christians should have a place at the table in public discussion, neither “allowed” to dominate or rule nor pushed away from the table, but allowed to earnestly compete.  Under girding this place at the table should be the confidence Christians ought to have in their belief system.  We should have confidence that there are good ideas in Christianity that compete well (in the sense of a sporting event), if not great, against non-Christian systems in the public square.   We should not react out of fear or insecurity or pride to those who might have differing and competing opinions, but rather argue lovingly and convincingly.

This may be where Christian apologetics [5] plays a role; civil, well-argued, tight, loving discussions with those who disagree with us.   Francis Schaeffer [6], one of Guinness’ mentors, once said that love is the greatest apologetic, so good reasoning and arguing in love seem to me to be a powerful force in the public square that will help us avoid all the ugliness and insecurity of  the extreme right and the poverty and bankruptcy of the extreme left.

By the way, Biola University has a wonderful Christian apologetics programs, offering many events free of charge.  Check out their latest events at www.apologeticevents.com.

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Wanting to Want God

In Christian Life on February 23, 2009 at 6:47 am

O God, I have tasted Your goodness,

and it has both satisfied me

and made me thirsty for more.

I am painfully conscious of

my need of further grace.

I am ashamed of my lack of desire.

O God, the Triune God, I want to want You;

I long to be filled with longing;

I thirst to be made more thirsty still.

Show me Your glory, I pray,

so I may know You indeed.

Begin in mercy a new work of love within me…

Give me grace to rise and follow You

up from this misty lowland

where I have wandered so long.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

- A. W. Tozer

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The Power of the Gospel in Changing Lives

In The Gospel on February 21, 2009 at 8:17 am

Christ is in the business of saving people who, from our perspective, are the most unlikely to receive Him.   The Gospel of Christ crucified is the most powerful message on the planet.  I think this video attests to the power of this message.

To see more videos like this one, please go to http://www.iamsecond.com

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The Power of God’s Word

In Preaching on February 17, 2009 at 10:52 pm

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I rarely like to post about my personal life, but I feel a need to share something in this post that I hope brings encouragement to all those who attend church on Sundays and hear God’s Word preached. Let me first give you the reason why I feel this need.

A person said to me once that my church is all about theology and “head knowledge” and not about transformed lives. He seemed to see some kind of disconnect between what people know and say and how they are living their lives. I imagine there might be some truth to this observation in certain specific cases.  But, I have two responses to people who believe things like this. First, welcome to living as a Christian. What we know almost always out paces our ability to live it out consistently. Think about the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. What might our lives look like if we lived that truth out completely and consistently? Second, I believe the Word of God preached and taught transforms our lives on an every day, practical level in ways that are not always quantifiable.  Here’s where I get to myself and my family.

Back when my pastor was preaching on the James’ epistle, he spoke on James 1:27:

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

My wife Chrissie was cut to heart by the sermon based on this text. We went to lunch afterward and she tearfully shared how she realized that she had a heart for children without a mom and dad, the orphans. I shared I had similar feelings. We then set out to somehow minister to these children. Foster parenting through a Christian organization seemed like a good route, so we registered with an agency and went through the many hours of required training. But God had other plans for us. He dropped two beautiful twin 3 year old girls into our lives through a friendship we have with a relative of theirs and we are now their legal guardians and hopefully their adoptive parents in due time.

So, why do I share this? Because I firmly believe that God’s primary way of working in the hearts and lives of His people is through the preached Word. The Word transforms. In our case, the Word of God transformed our very family in an amazing and radical way, a way we never expected.

So, I say to any person who thinks the way the person I mentioned earlier thinks, “Don’t you believe that God does not work through His preached Word in churches. My family is living proof that He does. Maybe your regard for the power of God’s Word is way too low. It is powerful! If you have any doubt, look at the picture I have embedded in this post.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

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Why Read The Dead Guys?

In Books on February 14, 2009 at 12:14 am

Last night I attended my reading group at church.  It was a truly enjoyable time sitting around the fireplace at church with the guys.  We are currently reading Martin Luther’s Concerning Christian Liberty.  I love Luther’s thesis…

“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.”

Doesn’t this sound like Paul?

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all…” (1 Cor. 9:19)

Luther uses the rest of this short book to unpack this statement.  Read these great quotes…

“From these considerations any one may clearly see how a Christian man is free from all things; so that he needs no works in order to be justified and saved, but receives these gifts in abundance from faith alone. Nay, were he so foolish as to pretend to be justified, set free, saved, and made a Christian, by means of any good work, he would immediately lose faith, with all its benefits. Such folly is prettily represented in the fable where a dog, running along in the water and carrying in his mouth a real piece of meat, is deceived by the reflection of the meat in the water, and, in trying with open mouth to seize it, loses the meat and its image at the same time.”

“Yet a Christian has need of none of these things for justification and salvation, but in all his works he ought to entertain this view and look only to this object–that he may serve and be useful to others in all that he does; having nothing before his eyes but the necessities and the advantage of his neighbour. Thus the Apostle commands us to work with our own hands, that we may have to give to those that need. He might have said, that we may support ourselves; but he tells us to give to those that need. It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and well-being, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, thoughtful and busy one for another, bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ.”

“Here is the truly Christian life, here is faith really working by love, when a man applies himself with joy and love to the works of that freest servitude in which he serves others voluntarily and for nought, himself abundantly satisfied in the fulness and riches of his own faith.”

What a great evening we had.  It was not just talk about these ideas, but rather, it was talk about applying these ideas to our lives… about serving and loving others (e.g., our wives, etc.) out of the abundance of love God has given us, knowing that our service and love merit us nothing in God’s sight, but rather our rightness with God being found in the merit of Christ, who died our death for us so we could share in His resurrection life, a life of sharing and love.  And, we when we get up in the morning and don’t feel much like serving and loving, preaching the Gospel to ourselves that Christ died even for our lethargy.

So, why read the dead guys?  Simply they have much rich wisdom and powerful encouragement to share with us.  May I never become arrogant and think the past or those who lived in it have nothing to offer me.  The Holy Spirit used them mightily in death and He uses them mightily in death through the works they left behind.

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Book Recommendation: A Case for Historic Premillennialism

In Books on February 13, 2009 at 8:25 pm

One of the most popular eschatological (end times) systems is dispensational premillennialism, which involves a pretribulational rapture of believers followed by seven years of tribulation, Christ’s return, a 1000 year reign of Christ on earth, and then the final battle.  This is the system behind books and movies such as the Left Behind series.  This system has become so dominant in Christian circles that, at times, a person’s Christian faith can be called into question by not holding to it. One alternative to this system is what is called Historic or Classic Premillennialism, also known as Post-tribulational Premillennialism.

In 2007, a group of Christian scholars gathered at Denver seminary to discuss this topic and the book pictured above is the result of their discussion.  Their subtitle is An Alternative to “Left Behind” Eschatology. I hope people will read this book to at least see there are orthodox, evangelical alternatives to what we have typically been taught through the Christian media and in some of our churches.

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My Dilemma: Loving & Hating Eschatology

In eschatology on February 13, 2009 at 8:15 pm

In currently teaching a series on the book of Revelation, I have had to confront my distaste for eschatology (the study of the last days); more specifically, not eschatology itself, but rather particular methods in the study of eschatology.  Let me illustrate my dilemma of loving and hating eschatology by talking about the book of Revelation.

In the book, there are major literary events that occur: a throne and lamb in heaven, judgments upon the earth, God’s new city where His people will dwell forever, etc.  One of the methods for understanding these events is to match them up to historical events.  In other words, the literary events in Revelation primarily match the events in the first 400 years of the church (i.e., preterism), or the literary events match events future to John’s readers and us (i.e., futurism), or the events are spread throughout church history (i.e., historicism).  These are all examples of a puzzle solving method when it comes to this book and this is where my hate of eschatology (again, not eschatology itself, but these methods) wells up.

What is a better path?  I believe it is the picturing making method.  In other words, let the literary events in Revelation (or Daniel or Ezekiel) be literary events and look at the big pictures the book gives us.  Revelation makes sense this way.  So, instead of trying to figure out who the anti-Christ will be or trying to determine if the church is present in chapters 4-19 or building a time line, focus on the big themes: a throne, a lamb, a storm of judgment, and a new city.

The original readers in Asia Minor (today Turkey) experienced pressures from all angles including the pressures of economics, the Roman imperial cult, earthquakes, etc.  How did they respond to the big picture visions of a throne, lamb, storm, and a city?  Probably by feeling encouragement to persevere, even perhaps to death, because their God sits on the throne and nothing happens to them except by divine decree or permission.  This kind of God with this kind of power is a God to trust.  This is a God to hope in.  He is their future.  And this is why I love eschatology.