Monday, March 28, 2011

What Kind of Legacy am I Leaving?

Recently one of the other pastors at Central, Don Craig, led our staff through a values exercise. He gave us a bunch of cards that had values listed on them. First we had to group the values in "A" values and "B" values. Then we had to take or "A" values and pick our top six. Honestly, I do not really like these kinds of exercises. They are hard and challenging. But that challenge can be very good for us. One of the top six values I picked was legacy. As a pastor I am mindful that a number of places in the New Testament there is mention of church leaders being people who lives are to be imitated (see 1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:7, Hebrews 13:7 and 1 Peter 5:3). But even more than being a pastor, I am also a parent. My life is impacting four precious gifts from God. God ha entrusted Kerri and I with the responsibility of raising these gifts. As we do that, we want them to know and love God and value the things of God. I suppose that is why this blog linked below grabbed me so tightly this morning.

5 Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church

(Please note, the linked web site was having some issues this morning, it should be back working normally soon in case you try to go there and you do not go there.)

I believe that God values church. He calls it by names like the body of Christ, the bride of Christ and the family of God. Years ago, Kerri and I had the challenging privilege of starting a new church. To start the church, we were trying to find people in the are who might be interested in being part of a new church. We tried different things to make contacts and connections. The first sort of public meeting/event we had there were just ten people, that included the four of us (we only had two children at that point). Our oldest son Zach had just turned 3. As we started the service, he ran off. I went after him and I heard words from his mouth that broke my heart. He said "Daddy, I hate church." I know he was only 3 and I know he hated it because he wanted kids to play with and his brother Josh was only 7 months olds, and there were no other kids. But I also knew then and I still know today that God values church and I do not want my kids to hate something that God loves.

I want to leave a legacy that encourages my kids to love what God loves. Please click on the link above and think about the legacy of your life. It is not a small matter.




Thursday, March 24, 2011

Video to Consider

In follow up to the post I made on Monday I thought this video might be worth 4 minutes of your time. I found it challenging and reminded me that the issues of theology are not simply matters of intellectual debate. They are truths that should impact how I live and invest my life. Please watch it.

David Platt on Universalisim

Monday, March 21, 2011

Different Views of Eternal Destinies

In the last 3 or 4 weeks, there has been a noted discussion in the blog world and even in the popular media about the eternal destinies of people. In the process of that, different views have been discussed. Below is my attempt to provide an overview and analysis of four schools of thoughts related to the eternal destinies of people. Please note, my overview and analysis was originally created to prepare me for an exam question, so some of the statements may seem odd or without reference. If you have any questions about the material or would like to discuss any of it, please comment and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Also, to make it clear, I hold to fourth view listed, exclusivism. I do believe that salvation is only possible because of Jesus' death and resurrection, and that to receive salvation, a person must exercise faith in Christ before death to be saved. Thank you for reading this posting.


1)      Universalism

a)     Definition
i)       Beougher article in Southern Seminary Journal -  the teaching that though hell may exist it will eventually empty as God’s will to save all persons will finally triumph

b)     Key Features
i)       James Chancellor article in Review and Expositor – God’s desire of salvation is an overpowering force that nothing can stop
ii)    Hell is temporary
iii)  It becomes a means of grace in which dead unbelievers are brought to their senses – Emil Brunner calls hell “a pedagogic cleansing process
iv)   God’s essential attribute is love – Beougher
v)     Packer notes this love attribute does not mean that people are not bad, but God’s love overpower that

c)      Motives For
i)       Prevents God from being a failure
ii)    It appeases our feeling about people being lost
iii)  Helps us emotionally deal with struggles of missionary task

d)     Analysis of
i)       Biblical record related to eternal judgment
(1)   Daniel 12:2
(2)  Matthew 25:41-46
(3)  Revelation 20:11-15
(4)  Universalist response according to Packer – universalism represents an irresistible influence from main thrust of New Testament
ii)    Beougher – raises the question: is it Legitimate to elevate one attribute?
(1)   Even if yes, would not holiness be better choice – Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4
(2)  Drummond’s affirmation of A. W. Pink’s observation – concordance search – more on God’s wrath than love in the Bible
(3)  Drummond suggests in The Word of the Cross that out of God’s holiness comes His benevolence, His love
iii)  Historical rejection
(1)   Present in Origen (185-254)
(2)  Condemned by Synod of Constantinople in 543

2)     Pluralism
a)     Definition
i)        Jesus is just one of many paths to salvation – Ron Nash in Is Jesus the Only Savior?

b)     Key Features
i)       Requires a understanding that holds that truth is relative
(1)   Implications from that
(a)  W. C. Smith in Nash’s book -  something is only true in a subjective, internal personalized sense
(b)  Re-statement – something is true if it is of help to you
(c)   Smith holds that Jesus’ resurrection only true if it transforms a person
(d)  No religion is objectively true
ii)    From that understanding the conclusion can be reached that all belief systems point in the same direction and to the same God, even if those systems appear contradictory
iii)  Key to note: Jesus is not the Savior, by implication Jesus was not necessary

c)      Motives for
i)       John Hicks – met “saintly non-Christians”
ii)    Seemingly values all religious systems – they are all valid ways to related to ultimate reality

d)     Analysis of
i)       Biblical record would need to be dismiss
(1)   Acts 4:13
(2)  John 3:16-18
(3)  John 14:6
(4)  Isaiah 45:4-6
(5)  1 Timothy 2:5
ii)    Worth noting - John Hick did in fact lose his orthodox view of the bible
iii)  According to Nash, with the de-valuing of Jesus, pluralists must deny the deity of Christ, the incarnation, the atonement and the resurrection
iv)   Chancellor’s article “Christ and Religious Pluralism – most thoughtful Buddhists have reached the conclusion that what Christians mean by “God” and Buddhists mean by “Nirvana” or “Emptiness” are simply not the same
v)     Pluralism claims that truth is personal and private, and objective, propositional truth is a derivative. But that statement is a proposition
vi)   Removes motives that have driven church from the Bible

3)     Inclusivism
a)     Definition
i)       God saves people only because of the work of Christ, but people may be saved even if they don’t know about Christ – John Sanders in What About Those Who Have Never Heard?
ii)    Karl Rahner – Anonymous Christian – non-Christian gains salvation through, hope, and love by grace of Christ, mediated imperfectly through that person’s own religion

b)     Key Features
i)       Two Axioms
(1)   Particularity – Jesus is the only mediator of salvation – in agreement with 1 Timothy 2:5
(2)  Universality – God intends His salvation to be available to all humans
ii)    God is Amazing – Sanders’ understanding of that statement
(1)   God includes all in His grace and excludes in judgment only those who spurn that grace
(2)  God has already accepted all people prior to any response, but not all accept God’s acceptance
iii)  Inclusivism holds general revelation is sufficient to lead someone to exercise faith – salvation
(1)   Sanders – faith means a person responds in trust to giver of truth
iv)   Article by Gary Phillips – affirms Jesus Christ is ontological basis of salvation, but Jesus need not be the epistemological basis
v)     Pinnock – key part of view to make it work – Son’s work is in context of universal work of Holy Spirit
(1)   Wellum – Southern and Miles – Western – total change of 2000 years of understanding of Holy Spirit
(2)  In John 14:26, 15:26, 16:8-11, Holy Spirit points to the Son

c)      Motives for
i)       Pinnock – if God loves the world and desires everyone to be saved it logically follows that everyone must have access to salvation
ii)    Sanders – solution to the issue of evil related to salvation

d)     Analysis of
i)       Drummond – New Testament reveals nothing of salvation apart from hearing Good news of Christ
ii)    Romans 1:18ff suggests the insufficiency of General Revelation
e)     Inclusivists suggest an idea that is emotionally “nice” but does not take as of first importance what Paul did in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5
i)       Messages in Acts major on Jesus’ death and resurrection
f)       In taking this position, it would seem to soften our need to really strive in the spirit of Colossians 1:29, which would led to less evangelism and less growth possible

4)     Exclusivism

a)     Definition
i)       Sanders – God provides salvation only in Christ and it is necessary to know about the person and work of Christ and exercise faith before death to be saved.

b)     Key Features
i)       Gospel message is necessary condition for salvation – Romans 10:17
ii)    Up holds the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus in His deity, incarnation, death and resurrection

c)      Motive for
i)       Agreement with Biblical text
ii)    Explains actions of Apostles and throughout church history

d)     Analysis of
i)       People go to hell because they are sinners
(1)   Willful rejection – John 5:39-40 – for those who have heard about Jesus
(2)  Willful in subordination – Romans 1:18-21 – for all people
ii)    Challenge of
(1)   OT believers
(a)  Sanders suggests – exclusivism interpretation logically consigns to damnation all those living before Jesus
(b)  Walter Kaiser – Belief in God’s promise and His Promised One in Toward Rediscovering the Old Testament
(c)   Progress and development of Promise – Galatians 3
(2)  Infants and Mentally Unable
(a)  Significant silence in Bible
(b)  2 Samuel 12:23



Friday, March 18, 2011

Prayer Thoughts

I really wish I could say that I find it easy to pray and that I am some kind of prayer giant. Like I said, I wish I could say that. I do not always find prayer an easy thing to do. I am not certain I fully understand all the reasons why prayer is not always easy for me. One of the reasons I think I struggle is simply that I do not all that prayer means or all that prayer does in my life. To help me address that, I greatly appreciate it when I hear or read the insights of other people on prayer. Below is a quote from a new book by Russell Moore of Southern Seminary.


Russell Moore:
One of the first ways you can tell that you are moving beyond temptation into a pattern of sin is if you find yourself in a time of prayerlessness.
That isn’t just a “spiritual maturity issue”—it’s a gospel issue.
You are recreated through the gospel with a nature that longs for communion with God. The Spirit within you cries out, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Prayer is exactly how you experience the sympathy of your high priest who has triumphed over your temptation. After all, you are not the only one praying when you pray. The Spirit himself prays through you, and as he does so, he works to align your will and desires with those of Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:26–27).
If you are reluctant to pray, it just might be that you, like Adam and Israel before you, are hiding in the vegetation, ashamed to hear the rustling of the leaves that signals he is here.
Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ, p. 171.


These words struck me for a couple of reasons. First, part of my struggle in prayer might be a indicator to me that I am moving from temptation to a pattern of sin. When I neglect to prayer, instead of recognizing that when I turned from sin to God and trusted or put my faith in the Lord Jesus that I was reconciled to God and now can live in connection or communion with God, I live as if none of that matters. And yet, I still know that I need the mercy and help of my high priest. And because of who my high priest is, the Lord Jesus, I can receive that help as I turn to Him. As Dr. Moore pointed out in the quote above, it is through prayer that we can experience that sympathy and help to exit the temptation expressway to sin and get on God's freeway to triumph in Jesus.

A second thought was when I pray, Dr. Moore also reminds us of the truth of Romans 8:26-27. The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us. When I pray, I have the incredible joy of participating withe Holy Spirit in a time of intimate communication with the Father. Romans 8 goes on, in verse 34 to be exact to say the Lord Jesus is also interceding for us. When we pray, we are joining in the conversation of the Trinity. When I am hesitant to pray, I am like Adam, hiding in the bushes, missing out on the relationship I was created to have, missing out on the relationships the Lord Jesus died and rose again to reconcile and the relationship the Holy Spirit is transforming me to enjoy. I do not want to live in the bushes. I want to live in relationship. Praying helps me make that change.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

What do you think about the Bible?

This morning I noticed this video posted in a couple of places. It is a video displaying the reaction of a group of people who were receiving the entire New Testament in their language for the first time. Wow, their tears, their joy and excitement, their incredible gratitude. It was humbling to watch, but also challenging. What do I think about the Bible. Do I see the incredible privilege I have to hold in my hands the complete revelation of God's Word to us in a language I can understand and read? Do I treasure the fact that I have multiple copies and version? That I have paper copies and copies on my computer and phone? May we learn to treasure God's Word and be thrilled and excited every time we read it and listen to it being read. Please watch the video below.

http://vimeo.com/17025038

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Thinking About Hell

Over the last few days I have been thinking a little bit about the subject of hell. I cannot say that it is a subject that I like thinking about, yet that does not mean I should avoid it. This morning I read a quote from R. C. Sproul that challenged me about how I should think about hell. On page 12 of his book Chosen by God, Sproul wrote, "You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true." His words words hit me with considerable force. If I say that the Bible is God's Word, then I need to believe it and not what I like. That is easy to say, but it is harder to actually do. Believing God and His Word implicitly and explicitly means that I will have to change and conform to it, instead of trying to get it to fit into my life and thinking. That can be painful, but necessary.

Further on the subject of hell, I also read an article this morning by Timothy Keller entitled, "The Importance of Hell." I have inserted the link below. I think the article can help us think more clearly in line with the Bible about hell.

http://www.redeemer.com/news_and_events/articles/the_importance_of_hell.html

It does feel right to say enjoy reading an article about hell, but I do pray that it will edify you and help us have a better grasp on a subject that was very important to Jesus. And if I am going to live as a follower of Jesus, I need to have the same values as Jesus.