God Incarnate (Part 1)

"It is no wonder that thoughtful people find the gospel of Jesus Christ so hard to believe, for the realities with which it deals pass our understanding." - J.I. Packer in "Knowing God"

In the chapter entitled "God Incarnate" in J.I. Packer's Knowing God, he begins by discussing the different things that other religions struggle with when contemplating the Christian faith. This chapter is devoted to dealing with two of those difficult truths.

"Here are two mysteries for the price of one - the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus Christ. It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. 'The Word became flesh.'(Jn. 1:14)

How can God become man? Moreover, how can God become man and fully keep His deity? Who is the Child that "became flesh"?

J.I. Packer gives two points for who the child is. I would like to look at the first one today.

"1.The baby born at Bethlehem was God. More precisely, putting it is Bible language, he was the Son of God....The Son, note, not a Son...."

Jesus was the true Son of God, sent to earth as a baby, and yet fully God. How can this be? Out of the four gospels John is the one that specifically refers to the trinity and the incarnate Christ.

Packer gives 7 points taken from the book of John that tells us about the divine "Word" mentioned. Dwell on these this week. This list has helped me to know about Christ better. To know more that went into His plan than just saying "I'll go into the world." There was a lot more involved that helps us to know Him a little better.

"(1) 'In the beginning was the word' (1:1) Here is the Word's eternity. He had no beginning of His own; when other things began, he - was.

(2) 'and the Word was with God' (1:1) Here is the Word's personality. The power that fulfills God's purposes is the power of a distinct personal being...

(3) 'and the Word was God' (1:1) Here is the Word's deity. Though personally distinct from the Father, he is not a creature; He is divine in Himself, as the Father is.

(4) 'through Him all things were made' (1:3) Here is the Word creating. He was the Father agent in every act of making that the Father has ever performed.

(5) 'in Him was life' (1:4) Here is the Word animating. There is no physical life in the realm of created things except in and through Him.

(6) 'and that life was the light of men' (1:4) Here is the Word revealing.In giving life, He gives light too; that is to say, all people receive intimations of God by the very fact of being alive in God's world, and this, no less than the fact that they are alive, is due to the work of the Word.

(7) 'The Word became flesh' (1:14) Here is the Word incarnate.The baby in the manger in Bethlehem was none other than the eternal Word of God"

"...any good-hearted goal, without the desire to give people eternal joy in God, is condemnation with a kind face." John Piper

For the month of october i have been reading through John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. When i read the above quote i was basically slapped in the face. This is so blunt, so honest...and so true. This can range from the good intention of building a relationship with people, that you work with for example, so that you can tell them about Christ but never actually do because you don't want to be met with criticism or come off as "judgemental" or you just don't really know what to say (which i personally am guilty of). All the way to well meaning organizations that feed, clothe, and shelter impoverished families all the way around the globe.

I remember working with a girl for a while at a restaurant and we had built a pretty good relationship. One night a table was keeping her there pretty late. I could hear the conversation and turns out the lady at the table was telling her about jesus. i remember being annoyed with this woman because to me she was being inconsiderate by holding this waitress up and she had never met my friend before in her life, therefore butting into business that wasn't her right to know. When i told my fiance, now my husband, later on that night i could not stop crying over his response. He said in that moment, this woman loved my coworker more than i had, because she shared the gospel with her...something i had never done in all my time of knowing her. And he was right.


If we truly loved people and thirsted for souls to be won to Christ, we aren't glorifying God by being silent. So love people by telling them about Christ.

Grace and Peace.

Goats eat anything

As a kid I loved picking out books on killer animals such as snakes, tigers, mountain lions, and killer bee's. One book that I remember checking out at the library was a book on sharks which told how they could pierce through a small boat, or that they can leap several feet into the air when catching seals. But I remember one story (whether true or not) about some scientists who found a tin can in a shark one time, and it was apparently not the type of thing that typically ends up in water. The shark had eaten a goat that ate a tin can... the odd thing was I never question the goat eating the can as much as I did the shark eating a goat. How could that have happened? But the mystery now is how can a goat just keep munching on a tin can?


Whether the story is true or not I think most would agree that goats will eat just about anything. While sheep on the other hand are much more selective about their meals. All to true with the gospel today. We seem to live in a society that will swallow anything and if you don't care for the taste your supposed to smile and be polite saying “its not for me but I'm sure its great for you”. All the while never saying “Hey that tin can is bad for you and the sharp edges could actually harm you!”


We know false teachings have been a problem for a long time, Paul didn't waste any time in 1 Timothy before he started reminding Timothy that he was there to guard against false doctrine. Knowing this, and through a few conversations in the last few months it just appears to me that our society, even among believers, is so much more concerned with being tolerant than we are concerned with the gospel. We have people who though they try very hard to break down the old walls of religion with music and hipness, they keep simply stirring up more trouble and hardly breaking past the point that they are trying to make (usually trying to breakdown legalism). Or preachers who love to teach on sex, and money but they try to avoid to much discussion on the gospel implications on life (Luke 9:23), the wrath or justice of God. Which leaves the goats unknowingly chewing on unsweeted tin cans that seems like the less painful thing to do. Rather than keep searching for the flock that is at the meadow instead of the junk yard picking through the left over worldly junk.


There is no shame in the true gospel of Christ. Romans 1:14-17

The Lord Reigns

There is only one God. He is the God who sovereignly reigns over all things! He alone is worthy of praise. He has stretched out the heavens and calls the starry hosts by name! It is He who knows how many hairs are upon your head! It is He who has worked out His glorious plan of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is He, though knowing our every thought, word, and deed, who offers forgiveness for sins. Our God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent! May we cast worthless idols to the ground as we worship the one, true, and living God! The LORD reigns and he alone is worthy of our praise.

"The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.
His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!

Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O LORD.
For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name."

-Psalm 97

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 3

The centrality of the church can be seen in that the authority of Christ resides in it.

"...the gates of hell shall not prevail against [the church]. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)

"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

It would be easy to dismiss these passages as being about the universal church and say that any couple of Christians contain this authority from Christ. What we see in Matthew 18 is that this authority rests in the local church as they make important decisions. This doesn't mean that the church has the right to make decisions that are unbiblical in nature but that is because a true church is defined by true biblical doctrine (Matthew 16:16-18).

When God’s church assembles it is through them that He speaks His will. The example Matthew 18 provides is that after the long process of calling a member of the church to repent of his sin the church finally has to pronounce that this person is not one of God’s people and they ought to then move to treating them as they would a lost person and pleading them to repent and believe the gospel.

This is one of the great truths found in the Bible. God is using the body of his people in this world to accomplish His purposes. I want to encourage you to love your church. If you aren't a member of a church stop missing out. If you are a member of a church but haven't given yourself to it like you should there is no better time than now.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

A Prayer

Dear God,

First of all thank you. Thank you for sending your Son, so that I may continue to speak to you. Thank you for the blessings you have given me here on earth. You have blessed me with much, Lord; a good doctrinal-teaching church, loving parents that care about me, and numerous pleasures.

Father, so many times I take these things for granted. I look around me and see them, and don't thank you or them for there ministry in my life. Instead I go through life looking at everything else out there, Lord. I pass over what you have specifically chosen for me. Lord, forgive me for this. I don't deserve any of these priceless gifts anyway; they are a product of your grace and I don't treat them that way.

Please help me. Please help me to thank you more. Please help me to thank my pastors more and show my appreciation. Please help me to thank my parents more and to serve them better than I do. I know I can't do this on my own, Lord. I have proven that already. I need your strength to do what is right. I need you to humble me to myself and help me to see others, because my life isn't about me. If it was, I would still be doomed; because you saved me, my life should be about you.

It isn't always. I mess up and think more highly of myself than you. That's where I need your help, Lord. To keep my focus, first, on you, and, second, on others; to serve them. Give me this focus, Father. You are my strength in weakness. Make me weak.

It is only by your Son's blessed name that I pray to you. Amen.

Christ in Me, the hope of glory

"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." colossians 1:27

What a hope of glory we have...Christ in us, a mystery that God chose to make known to Gentiles. Do you ever stop and pause to think that we as Gentiles could have been left in the dark? But God in his Love and Mercy chose to let this great gospel known to us as well. That He decided, well maybe not decided but as redeemptive history played out, I'm going to open this up to not just Jews but to everyone else. And just like that were able to be grafted in. What a wonderful blessing. We get to know "the riches of the glory of this mystery", and it sure is a mystery sometimes. The gospel so beautifully simplistic, Christ dying for sinners (and all of us are), but also so overwhelming and powerful as we realize just how big our debt is and that we can't, no matter how hard we try, have any part of this grace lest we take just a smigeon of glory away from Christ. My hope and prayer is that as the years continue, Christ will seep into more of our lives to the point where he is truly our everything and all that we live for. Grace and Peace.

No more work?

Oh the weight that was on me when my sins were revealed. What a weight that was lifted when Christ bore the weight of sin and shame. Christ not only took the weight and the shame from us while on the cross but He put the shame to shame Hebrews 12:2.
We cannot take that on ourselves. The simple thought that we in ourselves could cure sin is as easy as telling a terminal patient that it is their job to fix themselves. Even if the patient were to some how turn around the doctor would be the one who receives all of the praise for good work. Christ didn't cunningly swoop in under the radar and cheat death. Christ beat death in the open for the glory and praise to fall on Him as He restored life and brought Justification for those who believe.

Why do we praise? Because He Bore our sin, our shame and our guilt and made us not guilty 1 Peter 2:24. We praise because He knew no sin until He bore our sin 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.
We praise because we had no chance to Justify ourself in front of a righteous holy judge Ephesians 2:5, Galatians 2:20.

For most who see this it is nothing new, if thats the case here is a wonderful song to worship through song with. If it is new, I pray you have heard the good news, that Christ came, died, and rose again. The is no reason to work for justification any more.

Made Us Alive by Seth Jones & Michael Bleecker
V1
The weight of all of my shame Released when you came And gave up your life
The freedom you give in your grace Chains broken replaced With your own life

Pre-Chorus
We sing to the One who has made us a l i v e
We sing to the One who has made us a l i v e

V2
Crucified with Christ, No longer we live, But Christ lives within
You’re crowned with many crowns Our praises resound To Jesus our King

Chorus
There on the cross He bore our sins
And then imparted righteousness
And now we stand here justified
Now we live because He died

listen to it at http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/music/weekend

Your love has met Your law's demand

Last sunday we sang the hymn "We Come, O Christ, to You" in church. I was struck deeply by the richness of this text written by Margaret Clarkson. This hymn draws our attention to the glory of Christ in many ways. It speaks of Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the life. It speaks of Christ as Savior, Lord, and King.

This hymn was so helpful in drawing my soul to meditate upon our glorious King Jesus!




"We come, O Christ, to You, True Son of God and man,
By whom all things consist, In whom all life began:
In You alone we live and move, and have our being in Your love.

You are the Way to God, Your blood our ransom paid;
In You we face our Judge and Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand,
Your love has met Your law's demands.

You are the living Truth! All wisdom dwells in You,
The Source of every skill, The One eternal True!
O great I Am! In You we rest, Sure answer to our every quest.

You only are true Life, to know You is to live.
The more abundant life that earth can never give: O Risen Lord!
We live in You, in us each day Your life renew!

We worship You, Lord Christ, our Savior and our King,
To You our youth and strength adoringly we bring:
So fill our hearts, that all may view Your life in us,
and turn to You!"

Guest Post- A Response to the President's Speech on So-Called Homosexual "Marriage"

The following post is by my buddy Jason Lapp in response to the President's speech to the Human Rights Campaign. For more resources on this subject check out Albert Mohler's excellent article on the speech, my past articles on the subject of homosexuality, or Lance Quinn's article on the subject of Christian ethics.

I’m completely humbled and grieved by President Barack Obama’s speech to the Human Rights Campaign. I was asked to write on this speech by my friend Stephen Bean which I obliged. As I began doing more research on the speech I began to realize the significance of our President’s words. The rowdy applause throughout his speech, by those in attendance, reminded me of my fallen condition before Christ. I gladly cheered on the sin that crucified the Savior.

My prayer for this post is that it will not come across as bashing a certain people group but rather humbly pleading for sinners to repent and trust in Jesus Christ. I know the power of the gospel because it saved a wretch like me.

President Obama made it clear that when we look back at his time as President he hopes people reflect on the fact that he “put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians.” I want to address President Obama’s devastating words:

“You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.”

According to God’s word this is impossible.

God in his perfect, holy word has given to us a definition of marriage. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). The command in Scripture for marriage is between one man and one woman. A brief argument may occur that God did not define the term wife.

In Genesis 2, before the declaration of marriage, it says, “God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (21-22). God created woman from man then declared the two to become one flesh. Christians must embrace this truth.

Two general points I’d like to make in response to the President based on Genesis 2:24:

1. A man shall leave his father and mother
2. A man shall hold fast to his wife

President Obama words can only mean that he is walking in a world of illusions or he is claiming to be God. God’s word says a man leaves his father and mother which President Obama contradicts by addressing marriages that are unable to bear there own children therefore not allowing there to be fathers and mothers. Then God’s word says a man shall hold fast to his wife. This is impossible with the President’s words because a man will hold fast to his husband or a woman will hold fast to her wife.

I find neither of these scenarios defined as marriage by the Creator in his word. Sadly President Obama does not see it that way. According to God’s word a relationship between two men or two women cannot be just as “real” as a relationship between a man and a woman as defined in Scripture.

The greater significance to President Obama’s words is the Good News of the gospel. Marriage was designed by God to give us a human picture of the gospel. In Ephesians 5, Paul gives us clear teaching on the roles in marriage. These roles are God’s design for marriage between two sinners so marriages may reflect the gospel bringing glory to God. Husbands are called to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (25). This is the gospel.

Husband’s are called to give themselves up for their wives. We are called to die to self treating our wives with respect and love. Why? “That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (26-27). Christ gave himself up for his church leaving us his Spirit to sanctify us. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands as they are to the Lord (22). We, as Christ’s bride, are to be submissive to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. Only through the work of the Holy Spirit can we be given the power to be submissive to the commands of Christ. This is why the fight for marriage as defined in Scripture is so crucial. Our government is now trying to distort the gospel.

As Christians our ultimate authority is God’s word. Our desire ought to be to follow the will of the Lord as he guides us by his Spirit. We must be like Peter and the apostles when they were commanded by the government to stop proclaiming the gospel in Jerusalem. They responded saying, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (29-32).

Over the years we have seen the government re-write definitions that are clearly defined in God’s word. Government is appointed by God and we ought to submit under the government (Romans 13:1-2). So how do we uphold to one command in Scripture (marriage is between a man and a woman) while not submitting to another (be subject to the governing authorities)? Is there any time in which we ought to stand up for the truth while going against the truth? When the government sinfully passes laws going against God’s perfect will we must respond like Peter and the apostle by obeying God rather than man. We should not respond with violence by taking the law into our own hands (Rom. 12:19) but we must speak the truth in love.

Christian, are you standing firm on the truth of God’s word? Do you care that our government is trying to rewrite the truth with a lie? We are not being loving by sweeping this sin (or any sin) under the rug. Love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). The world has labeled us as narrow minded, discriminating people who are not open minded and loving. While I hate that they see it that way I do not want to compromise the truth of God’s word.

My prayer is that all Christians will pray for President Obama to make decisions based on the truth. May Christ open his eyes to see the truth of marriage through the lens of Scripture. May Christ open his heart to the significance of this decision. By God’s grace may the President see the importance of not distorting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The King and the Cow

Pride, it is one of the hardest and sneakiest sins that Christians have to battle. It can start as merely thinking you did well in something and it can end up ruining lives.

Nebuchadnezzar is an example of extreme pride in the lives of humans. Because of his extreme sin, God gave extreme punishments; but He also gave great grace.

Nebuchadnezzar was a great king and had seen the power and wisdom of God through the story of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3).

In chapter 4, The king began to have strange dreams for the second time. Yet again the Lord used Daniel to interpret those dreams. In the dream God portrayed to the king through Daniel that He was going to smite down the king because of his pride.

Daniel pleaded with the king that he would listen to God’s warning, but the king’s prideful heart was hard.

Daniel 4:30
“’Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty powers as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?’”

And God’s punishment immediately came upon him.

“While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”

Immediately Nebuchadnezzar’s mind became as a beast. For seven years, he lived with a hard heart and a beast’s mind, because he would not submit to God; and yet God was gracious.

God could have killed him right there for his sins and He can do the same to us for our prideful thoughts and actions. God is the only powerful being in existence and we insult Him by thinking that we can somehow be good in any way.

God is the only good in us. Our boast should never be in us. He saved us! We did nothing. All we can do is thank Jesus for His grace on the cross and His continuous grace as we continue to be prideful and sinful.

And God continues to show his grace to Nebuchadnezzar, because God allowed him to be humbled and the king “lifted his eyes to heaven” and he boasted in God:

Daniel 4:34b-35

“for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’”

Then God not only restored the king's mind, but his kingdom as well. God lavished grace upon Nebuchadnezzar that we cannot understand because we are sinful human beings.

The proclamation of God's greatness, spoken by Nebuchadnezzar, are truly humble words. We are accounted as nothing. We have nothing to give to make us worthy to save, but we can thank the Lord and praise Him for the work He did for us that we could not do. Thank you, Lord! Humble me by showing me how filthy and unclean I am and how Holy and Gracious you are!

(This is lengthy, but some of it is song lyrics.)I have recently come across a song that strikes two emotions in me: anger and sorrow. The song: I'll make them good girls go bad. Just knowing the title makes me cringe, so i looked up the lyrics and sure enough this song is yet another look at the depraved human heart. Im not going to post the entire song, just one little snip-it later and i will also be using other examples. This is a post not solely addressing a song about good girls going bad, but rather a woman's call to modesty.

This topic of modesty is a big issue for women because many of us gals have a tendency to place worth in beauty and the attention we can get from boys which is wrong because our worth comes from God and God alone. Modesty is important for us because it falls into a pretty big category in the christian's life: not conforming to the world. " Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ." 1 John 2:15. When we are modest not only in our dress and appearance, but also in our attitudes (which ill go into more detail later) we are showing the world that we don't place our value in people's attention and opinion of us.

On the surface modesty would appear to only go as far as makeup and clothes and the way those two are arranged, but it really is such a deeper...its a heart issue. Girls today are tempted to show a little skin to get a lingering look. So a sacrifice of purity is made just to get attention for a few seconds and inevitably lead someone to lust whether knowingly or not and regardless of if they care or not. This attention comes from a desire that is in all of us. Whether male or female all of us want to be wanted and loved and appreciated, it just takes different forms depending on whether your male or female. This desire isn't bad but when it becomes ultimate to the point where we sacrifice purity and living for the glory of God, then its a sin.

Here are some examples of a worldly mindset on modesty:

As promised, the formerly mentioned song:

I know your type
Yeah daddy's little girl
Just take a bite (one bite)
Let me shake up your world
Cause just one night couldn't be so wrong
I'm gonna make you lose control

I'll make them good girls go bad
(Ladies we need to be self controlled, and yes one night could be so wrong and so damaging)

And a blast from the past: These are cuts from two songs in the popular play/movie Grease:

(this is rizzo making fun of sandy)
Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee
Lousy with virginity
Won't go to bed 'til I'm legally wed
I can't; I'm Sandra Dee
(Trust me here ladies...waiting is so incredibly worth it)

(these are actually, sandy's words)
Look at me
there has to be
Something more than what they see
Wholesome and pure
Oh scared and unsure
A poor man's Sandra Dee
(Wholesome and pure...thats a great thing to be...stay that way for the glory of God)

I'm to young to understand
I don't need a boy , I need a man
look at me, look at me
The queen of virginity!
maybe it's wrong but I know it's right
just look I'm Sandra Dee
(maybe its wrong but i know its right, sounds like your giving into the world)

Sandy, you must start a new
Don't you know what you must do?
Hold your head high, take a deep breath and sigh
Good bye to Sandra Dee
(More like goodbye to purity)

Both of these, a modern song and an older musical, are examples of the temptation for young women to give up a piece of their purity,y a piece of their heart just to impress a boy who is less than worthy of their attention. Even all the way back in Biblical times this was an issue. 1 Timothy 2:9 says, " likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self control, not with braided hair and gold and pearls and costly attire." Even women of this day wanted to look like women of the world to get attention, they just had the wrong motives in mind. So what do we wear or what is the right mind set? its already answered in this very verse: respectable apparel (and yes it is possible to look cute and still be modest), modesty, and self control. If we're professing to belong to christ these are some ways we can best model him.

Discussions that last

Last week I was watching “A night of eschatology” on Desiring Gods website. The 4 panelist's Doug Wilson, Sam Storms, Jim Hamilton and John Piper (I count him even though he was the host because he did offer a little discussion). It is a wonderful discussion on the millennium where 3 guys are sharing their views and thoughts on scripture and their end time views. There was actually a bit of heated discussion that happened as certain scriptures turned up and each person had a different interpretation of it and how it is effected by other passages.


Listening to the discussion it made me curious what it would be like if these guys didn't “get along” as well as Augustus Toplady and John Wesley. Toplady and Wesley both disagreed on the issue of Calvinism. Toplady was known to have said “I believe him to be the most rancorous hater of the gospel-system that ever appeared on this island” about Wesley. That phrase was what reminded me of the debate on the dg website due to the heated discussion. The main differences is that these guys all seemed to be very loving and civil toward each other afterwards

In the disagreement's that Wesley and Toplady had, Toplady wrote an article about Gods forgiveness, meaning for it to be a jab at Wesley. He wrote;

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee,
Let the water and the blood,
from Thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure,
save from wrath and make me pure.

Such a wonderful song that was birthed from a disagreement over scriptures. I can't wait to see what comes from the round table discussion at Bethlehem Baptist. If nothing else it has made me look closer into scriptures that I never paid close attention to, and to praise God that He gave us the drive to study His inspired word close enough that we even care about these issues.

Even though these types of things can be devastating to our views at times if we are shown to be incorrect... isn't that the goal anyways, to be closer in His image and humbled?

All that was said to basically tell you how this song came to mind for sharing this morning.


Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
[originally When my eye-strings break in death]
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

The Lord is your Keeper

Today I want to post a Psalm for us to read. The Psalms are a great place to get lost in, as they are like an anatomy of all the parts of the soul. This particular Psalm is very encouraging to the child of God on the journey of worship.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not stike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."

-Psalm 121

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 2

This is part 2 of a series on the centrality of the local church in God's redemptive purpose. Click here for part 1 of the series.

The centrality of the church can be seen in that Christ died for her and adds to her number.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

"Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

As evangelical Christians we like to emphasize, with good reason, the individual nature of the atonement of Christ (Colossians 2:13-14). But we must not overlook the fact that the New Testament often speaks of Christ dying on behalf of the church.

Functionally this should be one of the greatest comforts in our Christian lives. If Christ died for a particular people, namely, the universal/invisible church, we find our identity as part of this group while participating in the local/visible expression of this people.

Not only did Christ die for the church, he is also the one adding to her number. Acts 2:41-47.

First we see about three thousand souls being saved (Acts 2:41), the next thing they do is commit themselves to the church (Acts 2:42-47) and finally we read that the Lord adds more to their number daily (Acts 2:47).

There is a cycle of salvation and the church is right in the middle. In the coming weeks we will see with a little more clarity why that is the case.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

True Satisfaction

What is true satisfaction?How do we achieve it?

What satisfaction is not:

Luke 12:15-21
"And He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?"

'And he said, "I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.'"

It is not found in having pleasures or anything laid up for yourself on earth.


What satisfaction is:

Isaiah 55:1-2
"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money fot that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."

Jesus is the water for which we thirst. He is the food that we need and can not buy. He is not just a little morsel of bad food food on which we just get by. No! He is wine and milk! He is rich food which satisfies! He is the choicest of all choice foods. He is the only thing that can sustain us for without Him, we have no bread, we have no food, and we have no life. Praise God.


Lyrics to "Love is Here" by Tenth Avenue North(taken from Isaiah 55:1-2):

Come to the waters, you who thirst and you'll thirst no more
Come to the father, you who work and you'll work no more
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed

Love is here
Love is now
Love is pouring from
His hands, from his brows
Love is near, it satisfies
Streams of mercy flowing from his side
'Cause love is here

Come to the treasure, you who search and you'll search no more
Come to the lover you who want and you'll want no more, no
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed, yeah

And to the bruised and fallen
Captives, bound, and broken-hearted

He is the lord
He is the lord, yeah

By his strifes he's paid our ransom
From his wounds we drink salvation

He is the lord
He is the lord!

Diamonds and Pearls

At our wednesday night bible study last night an interesting story came up. This woman in my church was telling us about a conversation she had with a girl at her work. It was about this diamond...a really BIG diamond. 500 karats in fact found in South Africa. Well the day went on, but God put this thought in her head. Simply put, what girl in their right mind if presented with a 500 karat diamond would say, "no thanks ill stick with what ive got." i know i would be very excited if presented with such a treasure. The point she goes on to make is this, so many are presented with the opportunity to know Christ but instead say, "no thanks im fine with this."

Instead of turning away from God and being satisfied with a mediocre life that may have some good times, were offered salvation-life with the Almighty Savior-and grace to walk by faith and live to the glory of God in this life until we were called home. In the book of matthew jesus is giving parables as to what the kingdom of heaven is like. In these parables the kingdom of heaven is the equivalent of the prescence of God. In matthew 13:45 Jesus says, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." Our God is worthy for us give ALL that we have for him, to him. He deserves our faithfullness and devotion and joy and worship and witness...not that he can't get it all some other way, but he allows us to know him and worship him.

It reminds me of another passage in Luke. Its the Triumphal Entry and the disciples are praising Christ for the things that he's done. the pharisees don't like this and they tell jesus to rebuke his disciples. i love christ's reply, " I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." We have the greatest thing, Jesus, our savior, worthy of our praise and our lives lived out to the glory of his name. So...lets live our lives to the glory of his name.

Splitting hairs?

What does Michael Moore, Joel Osteen, Michael Jackson, Mark Driscoll, Modonna, John Edwards, The Ten Commandments, and Seth Macfariane all have in common?
They have all been featured on ABC’s Nightline.

I ran across a “tweet” by Mark Driscoll telling everyone that he was going to be on Nightline. They seem to have taken to the pastor who is as they called him an ““indy rock star” of the evangelicals” which has given him an interesting platform.

Nightline is currently doing a series on the Ten Commandments. It covers a variety of angles on culture and the Ten Commandments along with its relevance in today’s world.
The very interesting thing about the series is the people that they bring in for the various topics. Here is what I have seen on the site: (please don’t be intimidated by length, each commandment is brief).


1. You shall have no other gods before me- I didn’t see anything on this commandment yet.


2. Idols
Pastor Mark Driscoll was asked about Idols. Quite possibly because he tweeted about it during the whole Michael Jackson death media hype.
Mark defined it like this, “An idol is someone or something that occupies the place of God in your life,” he said. “[It] gives you identity, meaning, value, purpose, love, significance, security. When the Bible uses the word ‘idol’, that’s what it’s getting at.”
They used the time to take a tour of Seattle and look at Idols in the city (even down to the football stadium... ouch).


3. Blasphemy
This angle was interesting as Nighline studied the use of the texting era and the phrase “OMG” and what does it mean. Does the G stand for gosh? Or is it using Gods name in vein?
‘It No Longer Carries Any Weight’ could be a result you will conclude by looking at society, so is it even worth looking into?
One of the final thoughts of the article is “Not surprisingly, texting slang, including OMG, has made its way into movies and television as well. On TV, teen dramas like “Gossip Girl,” which features an unseen blogger who stirs up trouble in the lives of a group of upper crust young people, OMG is a frequent part of the dialogue.”
If this is really a concern, its about to get even bigger.


4. Sabbath day
Chick fil-A, the only portion of the series purely focused on the reason behind a corporation’s action. Chick fil-A closes its very profitable doors every Sunday. Knowing full well that they are missing the “church crowd” and Sunday traffic.
Dan Cathy (worker) “Does Cathy ever go into a mall on Sunday, and see a dark, shuttered Chick fil-A, and see all the other stores open, and think, maybe?
“No, never.” “I think, isn’t that incredible, isn’t that neat?” Cathy said. “That we can be closed on Sunday? We’re generating more business in six days than all these other tenants are generating in seven? And we can be with our family.”
Providing nourishment for the body as well as the soul.


5. I didn’t see anything on honoring Father and Mother on the site.


6. Do not Kill
Dr. Philip Nitschke is a man who believes that a rational person of sound mind should have the option of being in control over their own death. There was little mention of the commandment topic as he obviously didn’t seem concerned with going against the bible. Instead he focused on his career and life goal to aid people in knowing how to end their life. “It doesn’t have to be serious disease,” Nitschke says. “It doesn’t have to be pain. I think we should respect the right of rational adults to make this choice.”

His clients will bring him all over to be aided or trained “just in case” “Nitschke argues that those who want it, those who need it and those who are of sound mind have the right to be given detailed instructions on how to kill themselves, quickly, peacefully, legally.”


7. Adultery
... This one is disturbing, unsettling and kind of odd for me too watch as a christian and a newly wed. However the topic needs to be discussed. The relevance of the seventh commandment. Nightline brought on a panel of four people to discuss whether or not we are born to cheat.
“Noel Biderman, CEO of a Web site for people who want to have an affair, and Jenny Block, author of “Open: Love, Sex and Life in an Open Marriage.” Block is in an open marriage with her husband and has a female lover on the side.”
“Defending the enduring relevance of the seventh commandment were Pastor Ed Young, whose Fellowship Church hosted the “Face-Off,” and Jonathan Daugherty of Be Broken Ministries, who struggled to overcome sex addiction and adultery in his marriage.”
If you choose to watch the video’s you would be amazed at the topic as it spirals from is the seventh commandment relevant, to whether or not it is helpful for you marriage or not to have an affair. The argument was not as heated of a debate as they tend to get on nightline but there were very few moments where it seemed either side was swayed by the other.


8. Steal
A story about a store owner in New York who killed 2 young men for breaking in a attempting robbery. The story gets more in-depth but the conversation is odd since it seems more fitting for commandment 6. for me.


9. Lie
A.J. Jacobs Tried Not to Tell a Lie, Following Ninth Commandment. This man attempts to follow the ninth commandment literally and finds that he breaks it more than he thought.


10. Covet
Logan-Cannon is a shopahaulic who feels better when she shops. ““I probably would rather shop than eat,” Logan-Cannon said. And her balance sheet confirms it. By her own count, Logan-Cannon is “about $280,000” in debt. That number did not include her mortgage or car payments.”
This is actually an interesting take on the tenth commandment as it shows the result of years of coveting and indulging in those thoughts.

With Nightlines series on the ten commandments should we as believers be concerned? Should we pay attention? Are we responsible for the worldview that others have on the ten commandments? Its interesting that I looked through each article because normally I wouldn’t be as curious but ABC seemed to be interested in the churches view as well as non believers (such as bringing in mark and two other believers).

So are we being relevant in this new age by imposing this old testament command on ourselves and our kids?
I don’t think so. More importantly, Christ didn’t seem to think so when He took the commandments and made them even more strict by including the heart of the commandments (Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 5:21-28).
As well as Paul teaching it on several occasions specifically Romans 6:15-23.

Nightline is doing good work by bringing up the subject. They leave it fairly open ended on several of the topics, but the topic has now been started again.

The Fear of the Lord

The concept of the fear of the Lord can be found all throughout the Scriptures. If you were to open your Bible you would discover that both the Old and New Testaments address it frequently. Just recently I have had the privilege and the blessing of spending a bit of time in the book of Proverbs. It seems that every time I read a passage from that book, I am amazed at the scope of content covered in those 31 chapters. While the deep well of wisdom that can be found in Proverbs is shocking, I have been struck specifically by the verses in Proverbs dealing with the fear of the Lord. While the children of God rejoice that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and while we are told to draw near to the throne of grace with confidence because we have such a great high priest (Hebrews 4:16), we must also remind our souls on a daily basis (or more) that God is God!

"It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers" (Isaiah 40:22);
"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28b); and
"Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases" (Psalm 115:3).

The book of Proverbs deals with the fear of the Lord in an amazing way. In a sense it shows that the journey of the child of God begins with the fear of the Lord, is sustained by the fear of the Lord, and is carried through by the fear of the Lord.

When God reaches down to rescue a soul, He gives him new life. In this new life we are given eyes and ears to see and hear the truth.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7)
When God saves us, we recognize that He is holy, awesome, and powerful and that we are sinful, lost, and weak. This right comprehension of the reality of who God is and who we are will result in the fear of the Lord. This salvation wrought by God is where the person begins in wisdom; this is where for the first time the person truly fears the Lord.

"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil" (Proverbs 8:13)
As we walk in this world it is God's will that we be sanctified (I Thessalonians 4:3). This sanctification is a work of grace by the Spirit in our lives. As we grow in Christ-likeness (Romans 8:29) the Spirit convicts us of sin, and shows us what we must put to death in our lives. If we do not hate evil, we will not be as eager to put the remaing evil in our lives to death. Therefore, the fear of the Lord sustains and motivates us in our battle against sin as we seek to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

"The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom" (Proverbs 15:33)
We are not only to be people who hate evil, but we must also seek instruction in wisdom. We, as the children of God, must humbly and joyfully submit to the instruction that has been revealed to us in God's Word. We ought to be children who delight in the law of the Lord! (Psalm 1:2) We must cling to the testimonies of the Lord (Psalm 119:31) and run in the way of His commandments (Psalm 119:32). We must hate evil and love the instructions of God.

"The fear of the Lord leads to life" (Proverbs 19:23)
Not only is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom, the hatred of evil, and instruction in wisdom; but it also leads to life! The destination of those who fear the Lord is a place of eternal bliss in the glorious presence of the Most High God! Because of Christ's righteousness that covers us and death that paid for us, we can be assured that even as he rose again, we are no longer subjected to the fear of death! (Hebrews 2:15) For in fact,
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:23).
The reward for walking in the fear of the Lord is life eternal...

Are we walking in the fear of the Lord?

"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church

To me…this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Eph. 3:8-10)

In this world of self-help it is difficult to imagine that the Creator might have intended something greater. Though I believe that it is a great thing that so many Christians want to emphasize that Jesus is the savior of individuals, it seems that some wonderful truths have been lost in the process. Perhaps we have tried so hard to avoid the ditch of Roman Catholicism’s errors that we have swerved into the ditch on the other side, individualism.

In this series of posts I want to argue that the local church is God’s primary means of working in the world. This may sound terrible to some and strange to others but let me assure you that when you stop reading Scripture through the lens of tradition it becomes much clearer.

What is the church?

In this post I want to begin with some simple definitions. The church is not an easy biblical term to define; in fact I will need to use two definitions here.

1. The entirety of redeemed people throughout history. This is known as the universal church or the invisible church.

2. The local assembly of a specific group of believers for the purpose of worship, edification, fellowship, and ministry to the lost. This is what I am calling the local church.

One interesting thing that needs to be understood is the reason I use the word “assembly” in the second definition. This is because the word used for church in the New Testament is ekklesia which can be most simply defined as a “gathering of persons for a purpose” (Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains).

What this seems to indicate is that the word is being used mostly to talk about local congregations of believers rather than the entirety of Christian individuals. But what about statements like that of Ephesians 3:10 (see above)? I don’t think Paul is only talking about the church at Ephesus. But I do think that he expected the original audience to think of the church at Ephesus when he said, “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.”

God is working in the world through His people, of that I don’t think there is much question. But what we will see in coming weeks is that those people find their identity, calling, and growth within the context of the local church.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Conscience

In our lives of the 21st century, there are many things that are considered grey areas; parts that are not wrong nor right. So how do we decide for ourselves how to best serve God in those areas? Which of those grey spots are right for us and which are not best? How can we tell?

The answer is a God-given tool called the conscience. Everyone has a conscience (Romans 2:14-15). Its function is to tell you if something is right or wrong. But what is a conscience? The world views the conscience as an annoying mosquito. Is this how we should view the conscience? As something that does not help at all but just distracts us? No, of course not.

The conscience is the soul reflecting on itself. It's the innate part of your soul to help you determine the difference between right and wrong. But how can the conscience show you right from wrong? It shows it by being measured to a specific standard. Most of the time, we, as humans, measure it against those Christians among us that may be just a few steps behind us, so that we look alright(even good) in our own eyes.

So what should we measure our conscience up against? We need to go to the highest authority we can, which is God. The only way we can know God is through His word. We must measure our conscience to the Bible, because that is the only foundational truth on this earth. That is what will make us stronger as Christians by humbling us as humans and lifting God up in our lives.

Everything I have said was said to me by Adam Tyson this weekend at BCLR's spring retreat. At the end of his first session, he left us with 3 challenges, of which I would like to leave you.

1. You must make sure that your conscience has been cleansed. - 1 Peter 3:18

2. You must make sure your conscience maintains balance (between legalism and liberalism)

3. You must make sure your conscience stays pure(continually confessing sin) - Proverbs 28:13

God Bless.Live for Him!

Get the Good Bread!

A while ago I sent my husband to the grocery store. On the small list of items needed was bread. I had written down what brand I wanted just in case he forgot. Well, when he returned he explained to me that the store didn’t have what I had written down. Instead... “I got what I knew would be the most appealing to you and the least appealing to me.” It was funny because he was so right

In Christianity bread can be a synonym for Christ or the Word of God. In John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” And by daily reading God’s word we’re allowing God to fill up our souls and nourish us. By reading Gods word we draw closer to him because we learn about his character and his will for our lives.

So why the husband/bread story? Because in the same way that my husband knows im picky about my bread because I want food that is nourishing and good for our bodies, we need to be picky in our faith and what we choose to believe. There are many false gospels out there today and people who water down what the bible says. There are people who whether they know it or not would lead you down a dangerous road that weakens your faith in Christ. Two that I can think of off the top of my head are the prosperity gospel and the idea that since we have freedom in Christ ( Galatians 5:1 ) we are free to live as we please because we have our “Jesus Ticket.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 says “ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

It is important for us as believers know and study God’s word so that we wont be swayed by false gospels. Think of it like this…it would be silly to study ALL the different versions of a counterfit 100 dollar bill right? That would be time consuming and yeah you would learn to recognize a fake one, but why not just study a real 100 dollar bill and when you see a counterfit come up, you know its not the real thing. God’s word is the real thing, so start feasting on the good bread!