Sons Of The Prophets

Rain, Christ, and Sin

2009-09-24T16:12:00.003-04:00

As I reflect upon the past couple of weeks I was drawn to think about the weather? I recall a particular afternoon when I was hustling around trying to get lunch made before I headed out the door to attend to other matters. I sat down and prepared to eat when the skies opened up and a stead rain began to fall. The windows were open and a cool breeze filled the room. I stopped and soaked in the moment. Nothing marvelous about it, no bright light from heaven accompanied by angels sing. However, this moment reminded me of God's absolute control and power over all things. I began to thank the Lord for the beauty of this day. However it was not the day itself that I found to be most beautiful. As I gloried in this day I was reminded that the true beauty the beauty that I longed for was to be found in Christ. In his gospel, his atoning sacrifice, in his divine nature, in his obedience to the Father, in his glorious resurrection, and his promise to return. It is Christ himself who truly is beautiful and worthy of my praise and adoration. Yet time and time again we try and find fulfillment in our own lusts and idols and after we have bowed down to them they leave us feeling dirty, naked, and alone. If only we could find our complete satisfaction in Christ and him alone. How true Jeremiah 2:13 is of every man, "for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." What must we do? We must repent of our idols, we must break our cisterns, and we must see Christ as beautiful. We find must find him alone to be most satisfying. With the apostle Paul we must pray that all things in life become rubbish except for knowing Christ the Lord.

Martin Luther On Motives

2009-09-17T16:03:00.002-04:00

I found the quote listed below very insightful from Martin Luther on the nature of motives. This comes from "A Sermon on the Three Kinds of Good Life."

He who seeks nothing other than holiness is the one who seeks God himself, and he will find him. He who seeks reward, however, and avoids pain, never finds him at all and makes reward his God. Whatever it is that makes a man do something, that motive is his god.

The Christian Life According to Martin Luther

2009-09-12T15:45:00.002-04:00

I am currently reading the works of Martin Luther, the great reformer. I have enjoyed much of what I have read and have not enjoyed some other things. Listed below is a quote from the 95 Theses on what the Christian life is to be about: repentance. You can read the entire document here.

Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ... willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

-- Martin Luther 1517

Written Prayers

2009-08-23T17:23:00.002-04:00

For some time now I have been ulitizing written prayers as a spring board and as my own prayer for the day. William Carson has written a brief word on the written prayers and the Puritans thoughts on them. I often use the prayers from the Valley of Vision and I would commend them to you.

The Human Will: Free Yet Bound

2009-08-07T12:01:00.002-04:00

A number of years ago, one of my mentors, Charles Draper, said that the unregenerate man's will is like water traveling down a hill. It travels freely and yet it is bound by something, gravity. I found this illustration illumanting and very helpful. Walter Chantry has written an article that demonstrates the validity of this illustration from the Bible.

Where Have We Been?

2009-08-07T12:00:00.002-04:00

My apologies for abandoning the blog. I will post more frequently in the weeks to come.

John Owen On Preaching and the Spirit

2009-04-09T18:16:00.002-04:00

Here is a quote that I have found helpful on the work of the Spirit in the conversion of sinners. I think that it is easy for preachers to think that if people are not immediately responding to their sermons, it must mean that something is wrong with their delivery. Owen provides a helpful reminder...

...The real effectiveness of preaching does not lie in the clever oratorical ability of men, nor in the ability to back up the preaching by doing miracles. It lies in the following two things. Firstly, the preaching must have been instituted by God. He has appointed the preaching of his Word to be the only outward means for the conversion of the souls of men (1 Cor 1:17-20 Mark 16:15, 16; Rom 1:16). Secondly, the power that makes preaching effective in the hearts of men for their salvation is in God’s hands alone. To some, preaching is made effective for salvation, to others for damnation. God also gives his appointed preachers special spiritual gifts and abilities to preach his Word (Eph 4:11-13). So the power to persuade a person to repent and believe the gospel by preaching lies in the sovereign will of God.

You can read the entire thing here.

Defining The Gospel In A Single Statement

2009-03-10T18:57:00.003-04:00

In article about the simplicity and the complexity of the gospel, Tim Keller provides a helpful single sentence definition of the gospel. Listed below is his summary of the gospel.

Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

Obama And Stem Cell Research

2009-03-10T18:31:00.002-04:00

As the Obama presidency continues, it is becoming clear that he will continue to promote is pro-choice agenda. The editors of the National Review have posted an article about the recent changes that the President has made to promote his pro-choice ideology.

The Public Discourse

2009-03-10T18:17:00.002-04:00

Today I heard an interview with Robert George, one of the clearest thinkers on the pro-life debate. He contributes to a website, The Public Discourse, which discusses ethics, law, and the common good.

Married Families, American Culture, And The President

2008-12-16T09:16:00.002-05:00

Mona Charen has written an important article discussing the impact that married families have on society and the need for President Obama to support the nuclear family.

The John Birch Society

2008-10-18T21:50:00.002-04:00

I have become quite concerned with the current political climate in America. However, I have been introduced to the John Birch Society recently and I have been pleased with their views and mission. Listed below is their mission statement.

To bring about less government, more responsibility, and -- with God's help -- a better world by providing leadership, education, and organized volunteer action in accordance with moral and Constitutional principles.

Obama's Commitment To Infanticide

2008-09-22T04:44:00.005-04:00

Senator Barack Obama not only supports abortion, but he also supports infanticide, which is the killing of a born baby's life. Jill Stanek, who has followed this story for some time, lists ten reasons that Senator Obama has given for supporting infanticide. Bornalivetruth.org is a site that has information regarding Obama's voting track record against the lives of the born. Stanek, in February, provided links to several articles that show the Senator's commitment to infanticide.

HT: JT & PLB

Currently Listening To...

2008-07-30T09:15:00.002-04:00

I have become a podcast addict over the last couple of years. I listen to a host of different podcasts throughout a week. They range from sermons, to lectures on history, literature, and politics. Here are my current favorites:

The Kindlings Muse is an online forum where thoughtful people can explore ideas through art, movies, books, music and events.

The State hosted by a friend of mine, Adam Naranjo. He discusses politics, culture, and the news that does not make the mainstream news.

The White Horse Inn is hosted by Michael Horton. He and three others discuss theology and the current state of the American church.

Steve Brown Etc. is hosted by RTS professor Steve Brown. Brown has a wide specturm of guests on his program, like Donald Miller, Tony Campolo, Marvin Olasky. They discuss politics, books, theology, and the church. This program has good dose of humor in it and is a nice blend of the sacred and the profane, if you could imagine such a thing.

Yes, But...: Prophetic Disputation And Contemporary Preaching

2008-07-16T18:09:00.006-04:00

I serve my church by preaching on a weekly basis. Thus, I spend a portion of my time reading books on preaching and thinking through how better to communicate God's Word to people. My primary concern is to communicate clearly the Word of God (Col. 4:4). I have found many books helpful: Between Two Worlds, Sacred Anointing, Anointed Expository Preaching, etc. However, I attempt also to apply insights from the preaching found in the Bible. The book of Hebrews, which calls itself a sermon (Heb. 13:22), caught my eye a number of years ago in how the book explains a passage of Scripture and then calls people to apply it (Heb. 3:7-4:11). The book of Malachi has done the same recently in how the prophet uses disputation with his audience. The prophet's use of disputation, I believe, can be of help to the contemporary minister.

First, what is prophetic disputation? A definition that I have found helpful is this: A speech in which the prophet argues a particular point of view by interrogation. The speech typically includes two things: a quotation of an opinion and then a refutation of that opinion. Here is an example from Jeremiah 8:8-9:

How can you say, "We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?" But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?

Here one can see that the prophet quotes opinion of the people and then responds by telling them the truth according to God.

This type of speaking is needed today as well. The reasons are numerous. In our current context, any truth claim that is made is considered offensive. When a minister says for instance, "There is only one true Savior, Jesus", modern people say to themselves, "How can you say that?" or "How do you know that?", etc. Sin has effected people deeply and we should not assume that any time we proclaim the truth, people will sit back and just agree with us. Their false beliefs must be questioned and then responded to with God's Word.

Even the people of God have their own disagreements with the Word. In the context of the prophetic disputations in the Bible, the prophets are preaching to a rebellious Israel. We all come to the Bible with our own beliefs on how we should believe, conduct ourselves, etc. Some of those beliefs are in conformity to Scripture and some are not. Thus, the preacher that takes into account these inward disputation that his hearers may have, will do his listeners a great service by correcting their false assumptions.

Klaxn

2008-07-11T13:29:00.002-04:00

Adam Naranjo and company have an interesting site and podcast at Klaxn.com. They discuss politics, culture, and the news that is never touched in the mainstream media. However, if you believe that the Republican or Democratic party is synonymous with the kingdom of God, then you probably should avoid this site.

Are We Running Out Of Time?: Sorting Through The Maze Of Eschatology

2008-07-11T13:16:00.004-04:00

Eschatology, or the study of what the Bible teaches about the destination of history and the end of all things, is a very complex subject. I have found a short summary/comparison chart that may glean some light on the different systems of thought on the subject. Personally speaking, I believe that postmillennialism comes the closet what the Bible teaches.

Postmillennial Baptists?

2008-07-11T12:52:00.003-04:00

Postmillennial Baptists? I thought those only existed on this blog and in the halls of history like Andrew Fuller and William Carey. At the same blog I found a very brief but helpful summary of some of the beliefs of postmillennialism.

What Is A Reformed Baptist?

2008-07-11T12:19:00.002-04:00

David Charles has produced the Five Points Of Reformed Baptist Churches on his blog. According to Charles, the five points are...

1. Reformational
2. Calvinistic
3. Puritan
4. Coventanal
5. Baptist

I agree with a majority of what this Christian brother says in his post. However, I find some points of disagreement. I guess that makes me a an Almost-Reformed Baptist.

Christianity and Conspiracies

2008-06-26T18:41:00.002-04:00

Robert Morey is a fine Christian thinker and teacher. I have always found his teachings thought-provoking and engaging. I recently stumbled across a piece about Christianity and conspiracies that featured him. You can find him in part 2 of these videos.

Part I

Part II

Update

2008-06-19T07:58:00.001-04:00

For those who come to this blog, we will be posting again. Currently, we have all been busy with work, expanding families, etc.

Martin Luther on the Use of Images Part 3

2008-05-05T18:54:00.001-04:00

Deep down Luther desired that images be abolished due to the tendency for them to be abused, however, he knew that they helped many believers, and again for Luther the tendency for abuse did not justify the destruction of images. Luther felt that the weaker brother needed images in order to grow in his faith. He believed that Christians who were strong and rooted in their faith should tolerate weaker Christians out of a sense of love. In his first sermon of the Invocavit the reformer provides an example of a mother nourishing her child. He writes that a mother begins by feeding her child milk, then soft food, and finally coarse foods. If she weaned the child at once and gave it ordinary food the child would not be nourished because it could not handle the food. So with weaker Christians Luther held that believers should deal with them in a spirit of patience and love. However, Luther did not think that stronger believers should allow the weaker ones to remain dependent upon images, stronger believers should provide the weaker ones with milk (tolerate his images) and wean him off and onto more solid foods (the Word). Luther felt that if the weaker brother was stripped away from images all at once it would have damaging effects upon his faith. He provided another illustration to drive his point home, he wrote, that no one has the power to move the sun, it stays in one place and shines continually, but we have the power to guide where the light is allowed to shine. Therefore, the faith of the weaker brother must remain pure and immovable in the heart. The responsibility of the stronger Christian is to guide the weaker brother away from images in a spirit of love. This process he believed would be different for each believer, some would respond quickly for others it would be very slow and gradual. Luther wrote to stronger believers saying, “Therefore, we must not look upon our own, but upon our brother’s powers, so that the who is weak in faith, and attempts to follow the strong, may not be destroyed of the devil.”[1] Luther warned Christians not to be built up with pride because they did not serve images, if pride crept into their hearts Satan would use this to crush them. He believed that stronger Christians must seek to help the weaker in a spirit of humility and fear, he desired that they would see themselves as servants to the weaker brother. Finally, Luther exhorts stronger Christians to remember that they are not fighting against popes or bishops but against the evil one, he writes,
“For here we battle…against the devil and do you imagine he is asleep? He sleeps not, but sees the true light rising, and to keep it from shining into his eyes he would make a flank attack—and he will succeed, if we are not on our guard. …if we yield him but an inch, we must soon look to it how we may be rid of him.”

Not only did the reformer believe that images helped weaker Christians he held that images were a useful tool in teaching the uneducated and illiterate. He wrote in the 1529 edition of his Personal Prayer Book that images help children and “simple folk” retain the message and stories of the Bible better than merely by words of instruction. Luther thought that the Bible should be illustrated so that pastors and teachers could use the images to instruct their people in the Scriptures. Luther also thought that images helped many individuals retain information better than the written Word. Luther writes, “…what harm would there be if someone were to illustrate the important stories of the entire Bible in their proper order for a small book which might become known as a layman’s Bible?”[2] He also writes, “…external images, parables, and signs are good and useful: they illustrate a thing so that it can be grasped and retained.”[3] He continues his argument by saying, “…the attention of the common man is aroused by illustrations and examples more readily than by profound disputations…He prefers a painted picture over a well-written book.”[4]
[1] Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther: Volume 2 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1932), 394.

[2] Martin Luther Luther’s Works: Volume 43Devotional Writings II (Philadelphia: Fortress Press), 43.

[3] Sergiusz Michalski, The Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant image question in Western and Eastern Europe (London: Routledge, 1993), 26.

[4] Ibid, 11.

Resources For Preaching Christ From The Entire Bible

2008-05-02T07:59:00.000-04:00

This is an on-going project for me, but I have gathered some resources for preaching Christ from the Entire Bible

Books
Preaching Christ From The Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermetical Method by Sidney Greidanus

Preaching Christ From Genesis: Foundations For Expository Sermons by Sidney Greidanus

Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ From All The Scriptures by Dennis Johnson

The Messiah And The Psalms: Preaching Christ From All The Psalms by Richard Belcher Jr.

Preaching Christ In All of Scripture by Edmund Clowney

Unfolding The Mystery: Discovering Christ In The Old Testament by Edmund Clowney

Preaching The Whole Bible As Christian Scripture by Graeme Goldsworthy

The Goldsworthy Trilogy by Graeme Goldsworthy

Gospel-Centered Heremenutics: Foundations And Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation by Graeme Goldsworthy

Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament by Christopher Wright

Articles/Posts/On-Line Resources

Biblical Theology Briefings Site has many articles related to the subject

Theocentric Preaching Blog's list of various articles related to preaching Christ

Ad Trinitatem on Preaching Christ From The Old Testament

Ted Donnelly on Preaching Christ From The Old Testament (Exiled Preacher)

Ted Donnelly on Preaching Christ From The Old Testament (Banner of Truth)

Arthur Boulet on Preaching Christ In The Old Testament

Steve Matthewson on Preaching Old Testament Stories: The Challenge of Christology

Michael Horton on Preaching Christ Alone

Tim Keller on Preaching In A Post-Modern City Part III: Preaching That Is Christ-Centered

Sinclair Ferguson on Preaching Christ From The Old Testament (on-line booklet)

Covenant Presbyterian Church, Abilene TX on How A Christian Can Read Any Old Testament Passage

Ron Cammenga on Preaching Christ From Old Testament Historical Narratives

Jim Hamilton on The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman

Jim Hamilton on The Messianic Music of the Song of Songs: A Non-Allegorical Interpretation

Graeme Goldsworthy on The Kingdom of God and the Old Testament

Graeme Goldsworthy on Hermeneutics and Christ

Jonathan Gibson on Ezra a New Moses?

David McDonald on Not by Spear or Sword

T. Desmond Alexander on The Promise of David's Greater Son

Audio

Tim Keller on Preaching To The Heart

The Kindlings Muse

2008-04-24T09:50:00.003-04:00

I have recently begun listening to the podcasts of The Kindlings Muse. These radio shows I believe are helpful with regards to assisting Christians to think about art, music, movies, and culture in general.

Horton On The Gospel Of Personal Relationship

2008-04-24T09:27:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite programs to listen to is the White Horse Inn. Over the years, I have personally benefited from the discussions that take place on the show. This week's broadcast, April 20th '08, on the Gospel of Personal Relationship is a very thought provoking episode. I would recommend all the broadcasts of the White Horse Inn, but especially this one. Below is a description of the episode. Take up and listen!

It is often said that Christianity is a relationship rather than a religion. On this edition of the program the hosts interact with this popular view, and attempt to demonstrate that the focus upon one's relationship with God apart from understanding doctrine has always been a disastrous approach throughout the history of the Church.

Martin Luther On The Use of Images Part II

2008-04-14T10:31:00.002-04:00

I have been out for quite some time. I apologize. I plan on posting now on a regular basis. Here is part 2 of the paper on Luther and images if you missed part one click on 2007 and you will find it about 1/3 of the way down the page.
In Christ,
Tyler

While it may appear that Luther is naïve he understands that images can be abused. Luther acknowledged that images were being abused, he held that when this was happening images should be abolished from worship. Luther stated in his fourth sermon of the Invocavit, “…I wish they were abolished everywhere because they are abused,--it is useless to deny it.”[1] While Luther held that images were good and useful he knew the destruction they could cause. He concluded when they were worshipped they should be destroyed, just as King Hezekiah broke the brazen serpent when it was worshipped (2 Kings 18:4). Luther did not think that because someone could abuse images they should be abolished. He felt if images were to be smashed because they were tempting the people to idolatry then all of God’s commands should be carried out. This would mean that believers would be responsible to stone adulterers, execute murderers, etc. Luther thought the way Karlstadt encouraged the masses to destroy images promoted madness, foolishness, and unconsciously it accustomed them to a revolutionary spirit.[2] He felt that to abolish images completely was to harm the believer who may have benefited from them. Although, most people will not be nourished from images some will and for that purpose they should remain. Luther taught that as long as a believer did not put their trust in images that would not be lead into idolatry.
Luther believed that it was the responsibility of the church to teach its people that images mean nothing to God and that he is not served nor pleased when his people erect an image in honor of him. Luther argued that if the church had taken the time to teach its people that images count for nothing they would have given them up freely without an uproar. Luther warns Christians that Satan’s desire is to deceive them into believing that anything that is abused is sinful and should be abolished. Luther provides an example from Deuteronomy 4:19, here Moses commands the Israelites not to worship the sun, moon, or stars because God has commanded that to do so is an abomination to him. However, there are many people who worship these celestial bodies, therefore, should they pulled from the sky? Luther responds by saying of course not! He continues by saying that wine and women bring many a man great misery and make him appear very foolish, therefore, should he kill all the women and pour out all the wine? What about gold and silver they can cause much evil in the world should they be condemned? Here Luther is trying to show how ridiculous it is to destroy something simply because of its probability of being abused. Rather Luther identifies who man’s worst enemy is,
…”if we would drive away our one worst enemy, who does us the most harm, we would have to kill ourselves, for we have no greater enemy than our own heart, even as Jeremiah says, ‘The heart of man is crooked,’ or, as I take the meaning, always twisting to one side or the other.”[3]

Luther also affirms that if he rose up and condemned images the devil would still be crafty enough to find one individual whom images has help. He would use this to bring pain and suffering upon Luther for condemning something that has brought another believer closer to God.
Many people during the time of the Reformation where uneducated and illiterate. Therefore, the question often arouse whether the average laity would be able to understand that the image they saw was not the true God and should not be worship? Karlstadt had a very low view of the laity he did not feel they were able to avoid abusing images. Luther however, demonstrated a greater trust in the average laities' ability to reason and understand the purpose of images. Luther did not believe that if the average laity looked at an image of Christ on the cross that he would be moved to worship it. Rather, he trusted that the individual would understand that the image merely represented the one true Christ who is seated in heaven.[4] Like eating meat or drinking alcohol, Luther felt that images were a matter of Christian freedom. Luther argued that the church cannot say that a believer must or must not participate in the veneration of images, because to do so is to remove the freedom they have in Christ. To force a believer to worship in a way that pleases oneself is to forsake the idea that Christians are to demonstrate love in all areas of life. Luther argued that if a Christian forces another believer to abstain from images he causes him to doubt his faith and vice versa.[5] For Luther images were amoral, they could be used for good or for evil, therefore, since images did not posses any moral standard Christians could choose to use them or abstain. Luther taught that in areas where the New Testament did not give a clear teaching there was to be freedom of conscience. He writes, “Where doing or to refrain from doing is in question, and concerning which God has taught, commanded, and forbidden nothing, there we should permit free choice as God himself has done.”[6] Some during Luther time tried to say that Jesus did not participate or teach the use of images in worship. Luther answered the iconoclasts arguments by saying if they are going to say believers may or may not participate in acts that Jesus affirmed or condemned then they had better be prepared to walk on water, perform miracles, refrain from marriage, and abandon all earthly pleasures.[7] Therefore, based on this idea Luther felt that the use of image must be an issue of Christian freedom.
[1] Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther: Volume 2 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1932), 407.

[2] Carl C. Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1979), 49-50.
[3] Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther: Volume 2 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1932), 408.

[4]Sergiusz Michalski, The Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant image question in Western and Eastern Europe (London: Routledge, 1993), 20.

[5] Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther: Volume 2 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1932), 396.

[6] Carl C. Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1979), 51.
[7] Ibid, 51.

Been Out For A While

2008-03-31T10:06:00.004-04:00

I have been out for a while but I will start posting on a regular basis.

The Internet Monk On Freedom In Worship

2008-03-31T10:02:00.002-04:00

I have found the insights of the Internet Monk rather stimulating lately. He is thoughtful, provocative, and even funny at times. I would recommend to you his thoughts on the subject of freedom in worship.

Online Resources For Expository Preaching

2008-02-26T00:29:00.004-05:00

Milton Stanley has put together a helpful collection of online resources to assist the preacher in developing expository sermons.

Using The Greek New Testament For Devotions

2008-02-26T00:08:00.003-05:00

I have found an interesting series of posts on the benefits of using the Greek New Testament for your devotions.

The Best Humans Can Do: Extreme Makeover Home Edition, The Cross, And The Love Of God

2008-02-21T11:40:00.005-05:00

My wife loves the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. When we get home from church, typically, she sits down, watches the show, and then tells me about it. I am sure that you know all about it, however, if you don’t let me give you the basic run down. ABC chooses some family of noble character and builds a gigantic house for them, free of charge. I have watched the show on occasion and I thought to myself before, "That would be a great job. You make your living helping out people who deserve and need it."

When I have watched the show, I was always struck by the amount of people who come out to volunteer for the project. It always seems like hundreds of people give up their precious time to dedicate long hours for someone else. Businesses typically donate materials, time, or labor to these causes. Over all, the show demonstrates that humans do, at times, make great sacrifices for one another.

Although I believe this is a noble cause, at the end of the day, the greatest acts of human love, pales in comparison to the display of love God makes at the Cross. I have yet to see a show where the people to whom the house was built were convicted criminals. In addition to this, I have yet to see a show where the people receiving the brand new home were people of blatantly flawed character, like a con-artist, gambling addict, terrorist, etc. In fact, that may be one of the reasons people like the show so much: the right people get rewarded.

Like the Apostle Paul said, every now and then, a man will sacrifice greatly for another, if that man is an upstanding fellow (Romans 5:7). But God reveals love, not to the deserving ones, because they do not exist, but to the rebellious. God makes the greatest display of love to those who are ungodly, that is, not like him (Romans 5:6-8). He gives his only Son to die in the place of his enemies.

His motivation for this is based on his love, that is, his self-giving nature. People may give their time and energy to those perceived to be worthy. But God gives, not merely something that would inconvenience him, but a Person he loves like no one else, his Son Jesus.

When you look at a show like the one I mentioned, it is understandable to some degree why people would want to contribute to a cause like that and even watch it on TV. We want to give to the rightly deserving. However, when turn from the TV show and then consider the Cross, we really begin to understand the vast distance between human love and God’s love.

Ryken On A New Book About Narnia

2008-02-02T23:07:00.000-05:00

I have found this article by Philip Ryken on Michael Ward's new book explaining the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I recently finished the first book and I intend on reading through the rest, at least, as soon as I complete a twenty page paper on John Calvin for Dr. Paul Helm.

HT: JT

John Calvin's Concern For Missions

2008-01-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

In spite of the many misreprentations of him, John Calvin had a great concern for missions and the spread of the gospel. Paul Helm tipped me off to an article on this subject by Michael Haykin.

Bradley On The Problem Of Smothered Sons

2007-12-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

I found this article by Anthony Bradley to be very helpful about the problems that develop when mothers smother their sons because of problems they have with their husbands.

On Listening To Sermons: Modern American Evangelicals

2007-12-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

The current stasis of my sermon listening history consists of a variety of American preachers mostly. These men are typically Reformed and expository, something that I typically look for, although I listen to William Willamon, a Methodist from time to time. I know, I need to repent: Forgive Calvin for I know not what I do! Nevertheless, I thought that I would include a brief list of American preachers I currently listen to on a somewhat regular basis.

Mark Driscoll is a regular on my iPod. I began listening to him because I wanted to hear a man who is being used of God to reach people in one of the most unchurched cities in America, Seattle. Driscoll is funny, clear, and he is by no means afraid to say what the text says regardless of the response to it. My wife commented that she admires that he preaches expository sermons in Seattle, from sometimes up to an hour and a half per sermon without loosing your attention. I agree. Regardless of what people think of him personally, Driscoll loves Jesus and preaches the Bible as faithful as he can.

Tom Nelson is a regular download for me. I knew of him from the Song of Songs conferences he does on marriage, but I never knew that he was a pastor until Brain Payne, my preaching professor, said he was one of his favorite preachers. I started listening to him when he began his series on Romans. They have been very helpful.

Tim Keller is a preacher I try to listen to as much as possible. He is preaching to people in the middle of New York City and people actually come. Keller's preaching has been an answer to prayer for me. Early on in my Christian life, I struggled with wanting to preach so that both believers and unbelievers would be affected by the message. But my problem was I didn't know how to do that. I really struggled with trying how to figure out how this could be done, or even, if it should be done. There were a lot of people in some circles who were saying, "Sunday is for preaching to the saved." I believed that to be true to some extent, but I still didn't know what to do about the presence of unbelievers in the congregation and their need to hear the gospel. By the grace of God, Keller has attempted to show that both saved and unbelievers can be preached to at the same time, because they both need to believe in the gospel.

Don Carson is a current favorite of mine. Although he is a New Testament scholar, he was once a pastor and he has a deep concern for pastoral things. I began reading his books right before I started going to Boyce. Carson was invited to give a series of lectures at Southern at the time and so I was able to listen to him at that time. I bought his sermon on Galatians 2 delivered at that time and I wore it out in my tape player in my truck. His insights are a tremendous help.

I could probably name many others at time this. I attempt to listen to sermons from all sorts of Bible-believing men and not just the popular conference speakers. In fact, I listen to sermons from some of my fellow students at Southern if I find them on-line. I am deeply grateful to God for what he is doing in the lives of these young men and I pray that it continues.

In conclusion, I listen to sermons because I need to. God meets his people in a special way through the preaching of the Word. I hope that those who have helped me may also help you.

On Listening To Sermons: The Scottish Reformation

2007-12-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

I am probably a lot like you, if someone speaks with a British or Scottish accent, I immediately think that they are worth listening to. This is probably not true, but it is how I often operate. With that in mind, after the Piper influenced reformation in my sermon listening history, I came to experience a Scottish reformation of sorts.

I found out about the preaching ministry of Alistair Begg from someone I went to church with. They said something about this Scottish guy on the radio, and so I tuned in. Begg was expository, clear, passionate, and even witty at times. Corey and I, along with our now wives, were able to hear the man preach at his church in Cleveland. We were all on a trip in D. C. and we decided to take a long detour up to Cleveland to hear him preach. It was one of the best sermons I have ever heard. For one, it was out of Ecclesiastes, which is not a book you hear preached much. In addition to this, it was clear, powerful, and Begg appeared to be a very humble man, doing his service for the church and leaving the platform quietly. I have on my iPod, at this moment, numerous sermons by him, and with the exception of Piper, I have listened to no one else as much.

Eric Alexander is probably the other important Scot during this period. I heard Alexander while I was a student at Boyce College. He was invited by Dr. Mohler to preach in chapel. He preached on Acts 4:23-31 on the sovereignty of God. His preaching was very powerful and I eventually drove a hour and a half once to hear him preach again. I bought the sermons recorded during his time at Southern, but that was all the sermons I had from him. I was very happy when I found some more of his sermons at sermonaudio.com.

Recenly, Sinclair Furegson has been a regular on my iPod of late. What I love about this Scot, is that he preaches Christ from the Old Testament in a faithful way. I try to download all the sermons I can that he has preached on the Old Testament precisely for this reason. In addition to this, his sermons are grace-centered sermons. Furegson cannot be accused of making moral demands in his sermons apart from explaining what God has done first. He is quickly becoming a important model for me.

Francis Schaeffer On Evangelism And Boycotting Culture

2007-12-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

I would recommend the entire post on the subject of what Christians are to do about the anti-Christian themes in the movie, "The Golden Compass." The post is balanced and wise. However, I wanted to highlight a quote from Francis Schaeffer about witnessing to people who express their disdain for the Christian faith within culture.

From the book, The God Who Is There:

These paintings, these poems, and these demonstrations which we have been talking about are the expression of men who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art? Christians should stop laughing and take such men seriously. Then we shall have the right to speak again to our generation. These men are dying while they live; yet where is our compassion for them? There is nothing more ugly than a Christian orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.

On Listening To Sermons: The Reformation

2007-12-11T11:25:00.001-05:00

As I have mentioned previously, sermon listening has been a vital source of spiritual nourishment for me. During the "middle ages" of my Christian experience, I listened to Reformed expositors. Most of the men that I discovered during that time, I still listen to today. However, a "reformation" of sorts came about around the end of my fourth year as a disciple of Jesus.

The reformation was sparked by the preaching of John Piper. It was a reformation for a couple of reasons. First, in my early years, I believed that preaching should be passionate, and even expressive at times. I mean, after all, a minister is preaching the Word of the Eternal God. However, during the "middle ages", I came to believe that to be a true expositor meant you should be monotone. This was not the fault of any of the faithful men that I listened to. It was my own fault, period. Why I came to believe this, is really beyond me.

In addition to this, during this period, I went through the "Ephesus syndrome", as I like to call it. That is, I had orthodoxy, but my heart was cold towards God. I had, like the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, been able to snuff out false doctrine, but I left my first love, Jesus. Piper awakened me to this disease, and for that, I thank God for his ministry.

Now I know that emotion/passion is a tricky subject. Some people are by nature, a bit quiet. Some people by nature are a bit expressive. Just because someone is more expressive about his preaching, does not mean he is more faithful. In addition to this, just because someone is a bit more reserved in their expressions, does not mean that they are not passionate about God's Word. These types of debates were not the issue for me. I grew up in a more charismatic church, and I knew, from first hand experience, that outward expressions did not always reveal an inward disposition.

However, the discovery of Piper was still a reformation for me. As all of the bloggers on this site like to say, "That white boy can preach!" Piper is Reformed, and yet, he is expressive and passionate when he speaks. This is just how he is. But it was refreshing to me. When I began reading his book on preaching, he made it clear that he thought boring preaching was sinful. I needed to hear that when I did, I came to believe that boring preaching was godly.

I digested Piper's sermons for two big reasons: they were expository and there was a sense of gravity to his preaching. When I listened to him, and I still do today, I felt the weight of what he said. To be honest, I have listened to his sermons more so than probably anyone else. He came at an important time in my life and his preaching has shaped me immensely.

On Listening To Sermons: My Middle Ages

2007-12-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

By the grace of God, I have been a Christian for nearly ten years. As I mentioned in a previous post, listening to sermons has helped to shape my Christian life. For the first three years after I became a Christian, I listened mostly to Herb Reavis and Martyn Lloyd Jones. During the "middle ages" of my journey, I began listening to others.

At some point around this time, I began preaching a bit myself. As I preached, people would tell me that I sounded like so and so. It may have been pride, vanity, or both, but I decided I didn't want to sound exactly like anyone, although I would never deny I was greatly influenced by certain people. As a result, I began listening to sermons by a hand full of people.

By a providential accident, I found the radio program of R. C. Sproul on a local radio station. Many of the radio broadcasts are sermons or teaching sessions that he does in his church. I cut much of my theological teeth on this man's instruction. I still download his podcast on a regular basis to listen to what he has to say. However, through his ministry, I was introduced to other preachers that have been a great source of instruction.

One such preacher was the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice. Boice was a Reformed expositor that I would listen to on-line. I remember listening to various sermons on the Psalms and being impressed by how he handled the text. He was a very clear preacher and one who was easy to follow. This is something that I still admire about him.

John MacArthur's sermons where also important during those middle years for me. MacArthur's slow pace through the text reminded me of Lloyd Jones, who he admits is a preaching hero for him. I became friends with my blog mate Corey around this time, who was also a student of MacArthur. For a period of time, I was able to listen to him on a local radio station and eventually on-line. To this day, I still listen MacArthur via podcasts.

The "middle ages" of my sermon listening experience were characterized typically by two criteria: Reformed and Expository. In addition to this, I would say that during this time, I began listening to a rotation of preachers. I was not listening to all the sermons I could by Boice or MacArthur or someone else, but I was listening to collection of them. Although I get on "kicks" from time to time, I still employ a rotation of ministers when I listen to sermons.

For the preacher, I would recommend a rotation of preachers. The reason is simple: God has given you abilities that others do not have. It is better to sound like yourself than to sound like someone else when you deliver a sermon. Learn what you can from the best in the discipline, but be yourself when speak to your people. Tim Keller once said, “When you listen and read one thinker, you become a clone… two thinkers, you become confused… ten thinkers, you’ll begin developing your own voice… two or three hundred thinkers, you become wise and develop your voice.”

On Listening To Sermons: My Early Preaching Fathers

2007-12-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

I became a Christian went I was 19. After my conversion, I found a deep love for the Bible that could only be explained by the grace of God now found in my life. In addition to this, I felt as if I had wasted many years that could have been used for Bible study. As a result, I attempted to "make up for lost time" and so, I began listening to sermon tapes of the man who was my pastor at the time. Since I spent a lot of time in traveling from place to place, I would listen to one of his sermons wherever I was going.

This has been a habit that I have not been able to break since those days. Early on, I listened typically to as many sermons as I could by which ever minister I was particularly into at the time. It is probably sick, I know, but I go through periods where I develop a "crush" on certain preachers.

Early on, I listened to a lot of topical preaching. I did not know there was another type of preaching until I heard a Southern Baptist pastor, named Dr. Herb Reavis. Dr. Reavis was an expository preacher. I heard him preach verse by verse, from one passage, at a revival and I was hooked. By that time, I knew I was called to ministry and my church had confirmed that call. After hearing him, I knew that I wanted to preach like that. The pastor of the church where I attended began getting his sermon tapes, and after he was done, he would pass them on to me. I listened as Dr. Reavis preached through 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Judges, Luke, most of 2 Peter and Genesis. I am deeply grateful to God for this man's ministry of expository preaching.

After this, I began listening to other expository preachers, mostly those that Dr. Reavis recommended. In the course of time, I found the sermons of my preaching hero, Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones. A new crush had developed. Lloyd Jones' preaching was deeply theological. The discovery of this man's preaching was more important than I realized at the time. During that period of my Christian life, I began reading Neoorthodox theologians, which, as a fairly new believer, I was not discerning enough to know what I was getting into. God used Lloyd Jones' preaching to provide me with the foundations upon which my theology began to grow.

Those first few years of my Christian experience were deeply shaped by the preaching of those two men. At that time, I developed a love for the expository sermon, that thankfully, hasn't left me. Although I never heard Lloyd Jones in person, he died when I was three, I have been able to listen to him because of many unnamed people who have preserved his preaching ministry through audio recordings. Also, although I have only heard Herb Reavis in person four times, through listening to his tapes, I was able to walk with him and his church through large portions of the Scriptures.

In conclusion, I would recommend this form of "Bible in-take" as Don Whitney calls it. Obviously, listening to sermons on CD, MP3, or on-line should not replace hearing good preaching at your local church. Nevertheless, whether you preach, teach, or neither, listening to additional sermons can be a source of grace in your life.

A New Song For Your Hymnals

2007-12-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

HT: RJD

Mohler On The Cost of Conviction

2007-12-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

I have greatly benefited from the sermons Dr. Al Mohler gave at a conference about his election as president of SBTS and the events that followed. You can download the sermons for free by clicking on the links below.

The Cost of Conviction Part I

The Cost of Conviction Part II

Steve Lawson On A New Reformation

2007-12-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

One minister I have been listening to a fair amount lately has been Dr. Steve Lawson. He is the pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, AL. He is a fine expositor and a clear communicator. Recently, he has written a couple of books: one on John Calvin as an expositor and the other on the Doctrines of Grace. He is passionate about the recovery of the Doctrines of Grace, expository preaching, and church reformation. I found an article he wrote on church reformation to be very stimulating, I hope you do as well.

Martin Luther On The Use of Images Part 1

2007-11-27T10:40:00.000-05:00

I will be doing a series of post on Luther's stance on the use of images in worship. This is a subject I have been thinking about over the past few months. I feel that this is an issue that the each congregation needs to think about and come to a decision on. I hope you enjoy.

Introduction

When one thinks of Martin Luther they may reflect upon the ninety-five theses he nail to the church at Wittenberg, or his defense at the Diet of Worms. For some his teaching on justification by faith alone is what they remember most. All of these events and teachings are fundamental to understanding who Luther was. However, another area of Luther’s life that was very important to him was the use of images. This paper will seek to explain Luther’s position on images, it will provide a critical analysis of his arguments and lastly, it will present an application for life and ministry.

The Story That Lead to Luther’s Response

Andreas Bodenstein Karlstadt became a prominent leader of the Reformation around 1517. Karlstadt had moved to radical positions on many theological issues including the use of images. He concluded that images should be destroyed because they were being used as idols. On January 24th, 1522 the city council in Wittenberg passed an ordinance which required the removal of images from all the churches. Then three days later on January 27th, 1522 Karlstadt published a pamphlet entitled, On the Removal of Images. Central to his argument was the idea that the use of images was idolatry, he believed that worshippers were offering honor to images and not to God. Furthermore, he rejected the idea that images were some kind of Bible for the illiterate. He did not believe the honor given to an image by an illiterate believer could be passed on to what the image represented. Karlstadt built his biblical arguments from the Mosaic Law in which he argued that the first and second commandments were eternally valid prohibitions against images. Karlstadt argued that in the New Testament, Paul showed a great distaste for the flesh and argued that it had no value in understanding the divine.[1] It was because of Karlstadt’s actions that Luther responded so strongly. Luther returned to Wittenberg on March 6th 1522 and annulled the ordinances of the city council and stopped the removal images. He then responded to Karlstadt in the form of eight sermons known as the Invocavit and with a treatise entitled, Against the Heavenly Prophets.[2] Both of these works laid out the majority of Luther’s position on images.

Luther’s Arguments for Images

Luther responded to Karlstadt’s argument that the Scriptures forbid images by referring to passages that appear to teach the exact opposite. He used four examples from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. He cited the altars erected by Noah and Abraham (Genesis 8:20; 12:7), the cherubs on the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:18; 37:7), and Paul and the sculpture on the ship (Acts 28:11). He responded to Karlstadt’s arguments based on the first and second commandment by saying, “ What is forbidden here is the adoration and not the making of images…one can have or make images, but one should not adore them.”[1] For Luther the prohibition against making “graven images” refers to the first commandment, “you shall not have other gods beside me.” Furthermore, Luther distinguished between exterior idolatry, which included the cult of images, and a more dangerous interior idolatry, namely the idols which every person has in their heart.[2] He did not regard the discussion on the first commandment as very important and he doubted whether the iconoclasts would be convinced of his arguments anyways. Luther found it interesting to say that images were forbidden in Scripture when God had given Moses strict commandments on how to build the ark. In those instructions God gives Moses detailed instructions on where the cherubim are to be placed and how they are to look (Exodus 25:18-20). Luther argues that if God did not intend for us to have images then he would not have commanded Moses to place the cherubim on the very placed he was to worshipped. In regards to Paul in Acts 28:11 Luther believed that Luke placed this story into the text to show that outward things could do no harm to a believers faith so long as they were not trusted in.[3] Luther also argued that Moses erected the image of the brazen serpent before the people of Israel. He asks if Moses, who gave the Law forbid the making of images then why did he in turn make one? Luther again attacks Karlstadt with Scripture by referring to Paul’s address to the Areopagus in Acts 17. Here Paul walks around and sees all of the idols of the city and he confronts the crowds and calls out their idolatry but he never overturns the idols. Luther writes,
“He preached against their idols, but he overthrew none by force. And you would rush in, create an uproar, break down the altars and overthrow the images? Do you really believe you can abolish the images on this wise? Nay, you will only set them up more firmly.”[4]

In regards to making images Luther wrote, “But it is impossible for me to hear and bear it in mind without forming mental images of it in my heart. For whether I will or not, when I hear of Christ, an image of a man hanging on a cross takes form in my heart, just as the reflection of my face naturally appears in the water when I look into it. If it is not a sin but good t have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?”[5]
[1] Ibid, 19.

[2] Ibid, 6.

[3] Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther: Volume 6 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1932), 406.

[4] Ibid, 405.

[5] Carl C. Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1979), 55.

[1] Sergiusz Michalski, The Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant image question in Western and Eastern Europe (London: Routledge, 1993), 21.

[2]Ibid, 19.

An Exegetical Approach to Luke 4:14-30 Part VI (Final Post)

2007-11-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

The Words of Jesus Invoke a Murderous Response 28-30.

In verses 28-30 the crowd respond with anger and rage to Jesus’ words. The idea that Jesus would reach out to Gentiles produced the angry reaction. In essence Jesus was saying that the Nazarenes were worse than Syrian lepers and Phoenician widows. The crowd rose up to take Jesus to the brow of the cliff in which their city was built upon, the exact location of this cliff is unknown. To the Nazarenes, Jesus would have been accused of the lynch laws these laws said that a person who blatantly violates the law is to be executed on sight. If Jesus is understood as a false prophet by the crowd he would have been subject to such a slaying as found in Deuteronomy 13:5.[1] Many scholars have argued as to whether Jesus’ escape from the crowd should been seen as miraculous. Luke may or may not have been implying a miraculous escape, what is certain is that he is wanting to show that Jesus’ time of suffering had not yet come.[2] After this Jesus moves on to Capernaum where he heals a man with demons, the rest of Luke’s gospel is the manifestation of Luke 4:14-30. Luke will demonstrate through the rest of his gospel how this Messiah has come to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed, and that he is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Applying Luke 4:14-30 to Both the Lost and the Saved

What purpose, if any does this passage have for the twenty first century, are there any practical implications that the text yields both to the unbeliever and the believer? Yes, in regards to the unbeliever the application is quite clear, they are exhorted to put their faith and trust in Christ. From this passage the unbeliever can see that Jesus is the one who fulfills all of the promises of God, he alone is the one who grants salvation to all who will come to him. Unbelievers live in constant bondage to their sin they are spiritually oppressed and chained to unrighteous living, only Christ has the power to set them free. To the young teenager or college student who is searching for absolute truth they must deal with the claims of Jesus in Luke 4. As C.S. Lewis said they must conclude if Jesus is a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. To the man in the back row who lives in constant fear of death he must trust in Christ as Lord knowing fully that the good news that Christ proclaims is freedom from sin and death. This passage at the same time serves as a warning to unbelievers that if they reject Jesus as the Nazarenes did they will miss out on God’s salvation and will face his judgment.
This passage is also vital to the life of all believers, this passage should serve as a reminder to believers about the great blessing of salvation they have freely received in Jesus Christ. The believer should constantly be reminded of the liberty they received at the cross. This passage should give saints encouragement that they too will face reject when they proclaim the gospel of Christ. Luke 4 also teaches believers that they should continue believing and trusting in Christ because outside of him there is no hope for mankind. To the saint who is consumed by cancer this passage provides hope that God has the power to heal their body, but even more that through Christ he has healed their soul. This passage applies to the teenager who struggles in being accepted by her lost friends this passage helps her understand that her friends do not hate her but the Christ she follows. Lastly, this passage should move believers to examine themselves on a regular basis to determine if they have become like the unbelieving Nazarenes.
Conclusion
Like the Jews in Nazareth Jesus calls people of every generation and from all ethnicities to believe upon him and be saved. Man is warned that if he does not place his trust in Christ then God’s blessing will pass him by. What is this blessing? Life eternal. The crowds recognized that Jesus was a popular teacher. Yet they did not understand that he seen himself as the promised anointed one. As Jesus compares himself to the Old Testament prophets the crowds respond with murderous intentions. People everywhere must come to a decision on Christ, either he is the one whom the prophets promised would come, or else he is a blasphemer who deserved to die. May the church of the Lord Jesus Christ always find its hope in the fulfilled promise of the Old Testament.

[1] Ibid, 419.
[2] Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary Volume 24: Luke (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 160.

Barna Research On Americans And Bible Reading

2007-11-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

I was surprised to find that, according to George Barna, most Americans accept the stories in the Bible at face value.

Tim Keller On Gospel-Center Preaching

2007-11-11T07:02:00.000-05:00

I have stated before, that Tim Keller is one of my favorite preachers and he is a model of ministry. For a long time, I personally struggled with how to preach to unbelievers and believers at the same time. I continually felt a responsiblity to preach the gospel to unbelivers who were present in the congregation, and yet, I felt a responsiblity to preach to the saints there too. Keller has been foundational in helping me think through this dilemna. His third article on preaching the gospel in a postmodern city has challenged me again.

Prayer For The Week

2007-11-04T06:33:00.000-05:00

Psalm 119:33-40

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statues;
and I will keep it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments
for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.

Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.

Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!

An Exegetical Approach to Luke 4:14-30 Part V

2007-10-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

Jesus compares himself to the Old Testament prophets. 23-27.

The message Jesus has just given would have inevitably demanded that Jesus perform a miracle verifying his claims. Jesus then operates as a prophet by saying to the people, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, Physician heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” While there are various interpretations of this proverb most conservative scholars agree that what the people want is for Jesus to verify his claims, the proverb carries a “you profess, so now produce” mentality. Jesus has asked the townspeople to believe he is the Messiah and they are hesitant until he shows them a sign.

In verse 24 Jesus is clearly presenting himself as a prophet by his remarks. In the Old Testament God’s prophet was often rejected by the people, Jesus is saying that he is no different. It is interesting to note that Jesus read in verse 19 that this Messiah (which he understood to be himself) would proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, yet he as a prophet is not accepted in his hometown. The local rejection at Nazareth is but a picture of the greater rejection Christ will face. Jesus in verses 25-27 cites a low point in Israel’s history in which Old Testament Israel ignored the preaching of Elijah and Elisha. To better understand Jesus’ point one must examine the Elijah and Elisha narratives in their context.

In the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17), the word of the Lord comes to Elijah telling him to go to Zarephath which is in Sidon, and stay with a widow and her son. Upon arriving Elijah begs the woman for a drink of water and some bread. The widow is angered at his request because of her and her son’s own starvation she explains to the prophet that her barrel of flour is almost empty and only has enough for her and her son to have one final meal and then starve to death. Elijah tells her to provide bread for him and then her family and in return the Lord will fill her barrels with enough flour to last through the drought. The woman responds in faith and makes bread for Elijah and then some for her and her son, in return the Lord remains faithful to his promise and continues to fill the barrels. The same widow comes to Elijah when her son dies and begs him to cry out to the Lord to raise him. Elijah takes the child and lays on him and prays to the Lord, the Lord hears him and raises the child back to life.[1]

Next, Jesus turns to the story of Elisha and Naaman (II Kings 5). Naaman is a commander in the Syrian army suffered from leprosy. During one of the Syrian raids in Israel the army carried off a little girl who becomes a servant to Naaman’s wife. The little girl encouraged her master to tell Namaan to go to the prophet Elisha in Israel to be healed. The king grants Naaman permission to go to the king of Israel and be healed. The king of Israel tears his clothes when he realizes that the king of Syria thinks that he has the power to heal Naaman. When Elisha hears of the matter he has Naaman come to him, he orders Naaman to go and dip in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman is outraged and decides to leave but is convinced to do as Elisha said by one of his own servants he dips himself in the Jordan seven times and is healed of his leprosy.[2] What is the point of these two passages in light of Luke 4? In each story the prophet of God who is sent to preach to the nation of Israel ministries to people who are Gentiles, people who were outside the covenant. Why? Israel had hardened its heart against God and his messenger so God in return sought to display his glory among Gentiles rather than his own people. The Jews would have understood the magnitude of these narratives, God chose not to bless his covenant people but rather he gave his blessing to pagans who responded to him in faith! Therefore, Jesus uses these narratives as a testimony against the people of Nazareth. Here Jesus is saying that they to will miss out on God’s salvation because they have refused to accept him, therefore, like Elijah and Elisha Christ will seek to minister elsewhere. The comparison to this dreary time in Israel’s history certainly warns that the consequences for rejecting Jesus may involve God’s rejection.[3]

[1] Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Everyman’s Bible Commentary: First and Second Kings (Chicago: Moody Press, 1991), 94-96.
[2] Ibid, 154.
[3] Darrell L. Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Luke Volume 1: 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 418.

Go And Pollute No More

2007-10-15T10:56:00.000-04:00

Unless you have been living with the Amish, you are aware of the current discussion about global warming. Regardless of which side you fall down on, concerned Christians should attempted to think from a Christian worldview about the environment. I have been reading on the subject recently and to be honest, there is wealth of trash out there, no pun intended. However, sometimes while searching, you find a pearl in the field. I have listed below two articles from a Christian point of view that I found helpful. I encourage you to read them, go, and pollute no more!

An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation

Do Evangelicals Need a Biblical Environmental Position?

Francis Schaeffer Speaks to the Problem of Ecology

Prayer For The Week

2007-10-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

I Kings 8:55-60

Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statues, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God, there is no other.

Prayer For The Week

2007-10-07T06:19:00.000-04:00

I want to include a prayer of my own. When I personally pray, I often follow the A. C. T. S. method. A is for Adoration, C is for Confession, T is for Thanksgiving, and S is for Supplication. This has been a helpful guide for me and I hope it is for you too.

A
God you alone are the true God. You have made all things and you alone sustain them.

C.
I confess to you that I live my life as if I sustain myself.

T.
Yet I thank you for what you have done. You sent your Son to die for my self-sufficency. He was dependent when I was not, and for that I am grateful.

S.
Grant me to trust in you. Grant me to walk by faith and not by sight.

For the sake of Christ my King I pray,
Amen

What I Am Theologically

2007-10-06T10:23:00.000-04:00

My favorite Christian of all time is Martyn Lloyd Jones, the Calvinistic Methodist preacher from Wales. I guess his Calvinistic Methodism influenced me more than I know... or these quizzes are rather dumb.

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

79%

Reformed Evangelical

79%

Fundamentalist

68%

Neo orthodox

68%

Emergent/Postmodern

64%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

50%

Roman Catholic

39%

Classical Liberal

25%

Modern Liberal

Prayer For The Week

2007-10-04T18:11:00.000-04:00

A praise for guidance and grace.

O Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We pray you allow us never to stray from you, who are the Way, nor distrust you, who are the Truth, nor to rest in any one other thing than you, who are the Life. Teach us, by your Holy Spirit, what to believe, what to do, ad how to take our rest.

Erasmus

Creeds And Confessions?

2007-10-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

In case you are unaware, I would consider myself a "creedal/confessional" Christian. That is, I believe that what I and other Christians I am united to, believe the Bible teaches needs to defined. Creeds and confessions are helpful tools to aid in that process.

Now if you are a good Bible thumper like myself, you will be saying, "Why do you think that anyone needs those creeds? All you need is the Bible to express what you believe." To that I would say that the Bible is the ultimate authority of the church! I completely agree! The problem with the, "no creed but the Bible" view is that heretics use the Bible to come up with their ideas too.

For example, when talking to a Jehovah’s Witness, you will notice that they will quote the Scriptures to defend their claim that the Son is not divine. We both use the Bible, but we are saying completely different things about matters with eternal significance. I came to see the usefulness of confessions while serving in a local church.

A number of years ago now, I taught a series of classes on what particular cults and religions believed and how to witness to them. What I learned very quickly from teaching the material and witnessing to other people is this: people must define what they mean when they say things like "God", "Salvation", "Jesus Christ", etc. When a Mormon says that he believes in God, he does not mean the same thing as when I say it. I was continually saying to the people I was teaching, "You must ask these people what they mean when they say 'salvation by grace' or 'God'."

It was from this context I came to see the great need for a clearly defined statement of faith for the church. During this time, I began to study some church history where I learned that Christians in the past were dealing with the same theological problems that I was addressing in my day. The results of these debates and events were creeds: a concise statement of what Christians believe the Bible teaches about a subject matter.

Confessions of faith are not meant to replace the Bible. They are not to have authority over the Bible. In fact, the church, through her studying of the Scripture, may need to restate or reject things in a confession because it does not accurately reflect the teachings found in the Bible. Nevertheless, they are helpful tools which can be used to spell out clearly what Christians believe to be true.

I have listed below some helpful thoughts on this subject.

Hold Fast Your Confession by the Exiled Preacher.

Why Creeds And Confessions? by Jay Rogers.

Are Creeds Appropriate For Bible Believing Baptists? by Tom Nettles.

Confessional Christianity by D. Matthew Allen.

Links And Blogs Update

2007-09-28T11:58:00.000-04:00

For those of you who care, I add links and blogs to our sidebar on a regular basis. Part of what I want to do is to provide access to resources that I find helpful or thought provoking.

John Stott On Propitiation

2007-09-28T10:35:00.000-04:00

John Stott , now retired from the ministry, is without a doubt, one of my favorite Christian teachers. He is not a perfect man, nevertheless, he has been a model for me as a communicator of the gospel. He is biblical, doctrinal, practical, and clear. I have been helped by his writings more than I can express. His finest work, which is one of my all time favorite books, is The Cross of Christ. I have copied for you a section from that book on the nature of propitiation. As the Bible teaches, Jesus, at the cross, turned away the wrath of God from sinners when he died for them. This is taught in Romans 3:25, I John 2:2, 4:10. Stott' s thoughts on it are very helpful.

Stott explains

Why is propitiation necessary? ...The Christian answer is because God's holy wrath rests on evil. There is nothing unprincipled, unpredictable or uncontrolled about God's anger: it is aroused by evil alone... According to Christian revelation, God's own great love propitiated his own holy wrath through the gift of his own dear Son, who took our place, bore our sin and died our death. Thus God himself gave himself to save us from himself.

MacArthur and Pagitt On Yoga

2007-09-22T21:48:00.000-04:00

John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, and Doug Pagitt, emergent church leader, recently appeared on CNN. The two battled it out over Christianity and its relationship to yoga. If you know MacArthur, and you should, he called it Hinduism and made clear that it has no place in the church. Pagitt, on the other hand, well... Pagitt doesn't have the same convictions as MacArthur.

Doug Groothius and Phil Johnson offer their thoughts on the exchange. However, you can read the transcript here for yourself.

Let's Put Off Some Romantic Jesus Music

2007-09-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

John Stackhouse has posted some brief but insightful thoughts on the current trend among Christian songwriters to sing to Jesus as if he is their cuddling partner.

Just as a tip to any of you who are wondering what I mean. If you can put your spouse's name in place of Jesus' name in the song, and it makes more sense, then you are guilty of making Jesus your lover/boyfriend. Modern praise songs and old hymns do this. Worship music, regardless of when it was written, should have an element of reverence to it, since we are addressing it to a God who is holy (Psalm 99).

Prayer For The Week

2007-09-22T18:09:00.000-04:00

A prayer for the gift of children.

Almighty God and heavenly Father, we thank you for the children whom you have given to us; give us also grace to train them in your faith, fear, and love, that as they advance in years they may grow in grace, and be found hereafter in the number of your elect children, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

John Cosin

A Brief Reflection on Enviromental Stewardship

2007-09-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

What is the Christian's responsibility in regards to the creation? Has Genesis 1:28 destroyed creation no it has not, the commands of God are good and true and life giving, however, man in his sinfulness has destroyed the creation through his irresponsible actions such as littering, oil spillage, pollution of bodies of water, etc. I am not advocating that believers need to go out and hug trees in Jesus' name but I am suggesting that we reconsider the way we have viewed creation. Who's world is this that we live in? It belongs to our Father in Heaven, he is the Creator and he has entrusted us with his creation for the purpose of tending and caring for its needs. The creation demonstrates the glory of God and it is God's glory that he is chiefly concerned with. We find numerous passage throughout Scripture where the beauty of God's creation is discussed and praised. God has given his creation to us for our benefit, however, where have we gotten the idea that to mistreat it and use it in an irresponsible fashion is ever acceptable. Genesis 1:28 does not give us the right to do with creation whatever we see fit. Rather it teaches us to be good stewards of creation we are to care for it, we see in chapter 2 verse 15 that the Lord placed Adam in the garden to tend to it. I am not saying that we shouldn't cut down trees to build homes but instead just live in a cave and ask God to provide us with warmth and comfort. I believe it is acceptable to cut down trees to build homes and it good to have furnaces to keep our families warm in the dead of winter but we must consider how we as Christian can assure that we do not use up all the resources that God has given us. Can we find alternative methods of heating our homes, and fueling our cars, what about recycling I think these are all practical things that we need to consider.

On the flip side Christians can become so consumed with protecting the creation (I do not just means trees, or oceans, but animals as well) that they elevate creation over human life. The difference between animals and trees compared to humans is that humans are made in the image of God and everything is not. Therefore, humans obtain a higher level of value and worth than the creation. If we have a population of people that are starving and we have the resources to feed them, but it may mean working a field a year or two more than it should without rest I believe we have a responsibility before the Lord to feed these individuals. Why, because they are image bears.

A great example of Christians taking responsibility for the creation is one of my professors in Seminary. He is a pastor in Chicago and once a week his church goes throughout the streets and allies of the city and picks up trash. They do this because they know that the world belongs to God and we do not have a right to just "trash it" (pun intended).

Yet the good news is that there is a day coming when Christ will return and on that Day, the creation will be restored to the beauty it once had in Eden before Man fell. So we as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ say together, "Come quickly Lord Jesus."

Tim Keller On The Cross And Suffering

2007-09-17T20:41:00.000-04:00

I have been encouraged and challenged by Pastor Tim Keller of late more than any other man. He has helped me to place the gospel at the center of everything I think and do. I recently listened to a sermon he preached at a conference on how the Cross of Christ should inform our understanding of personal suffering. You can read the full article by clicking here.

... the Cross and its aftermath shows us how dangerous it is to judge God on surface appearances. His way is to work strength through weakness and bring resurrection and new power through death.

Sam Storms On The Sovereignty Of God

2007-09-17T20:31:00.000-04:00

Sam Storms has a helpful article on what his life would be like if he did not believe in the absolute sovereignty of God. I have to say "Amen" to his seven reasons.

Prayer For The Week

2007-09-10T06:55:00.000-04:00

Psalm 85:1-7

LORD, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

Your forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sins.

You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.

Brief Reflections On Mercy

2007-09-04T07:29:00.000-04:00

I have been preaching through Luke for some time now. One of the major themes of Luke is Jesus' ministry to the outcasts of society. He loves and cares for the poor, women, children, and sinners in general. Salvation is for all people, not just the Jew.

As I have preached through this book, I have been challenged on how I might personally apply these insights in my own life. I have been praying to God to be a more mericful person and to be able to show that mercy in everyday life. Now I currently work in the mental health field and I have to show mercy. I work with the outcasts of our society: the mentally ill, mentally retarded, wards of the state, etc.

Needly to say, mercy is on my mind a large portion of the week. I work with people who are much like I was: they are alienated from the community as I was alienated from the community of faith. They are in desparate need of God's mercy as I was and still in need of God's mercy. You see, I was saved by the mercy of God. God pited me and he didn't even spare his own Son so that I might be saved (Romans 8:32).

I have been preaching through Luke for some time now. One of the major themes of Luke is Jesus' ministry to the outcasts of society. He loves and cares for the poor, women, children, and sinners in general. Salvation is for all people, not just the Jew.

As I have preached through this book, I have been challenged on how I might personally apply these insights in my own life. I have been praying to God to be a more merciful person and to be able to show that mercy in everyday life. Now I currently work in the mental health field and I have to show mercy. I work with the outcasts of our society: the mentally ill, mentally retarded, wards of the state, etc.

Needless to say, mercy is on my mind a large portion of the week. I work with people who are much like I was: they are alienated from the community as I was alienated from the community of faith. They are in desperate need of God's mercy as I was and still in need of God's mercy. You see, I was saved by the mercy of God. God pitied me, and he didn't even spare his own Son so that I might be saved (Romans 8:32).

My heart and mind has been helped by the insights of others on this subject. Phil Ryken has written an article on the relationship between Reformed doctrine and mercy ministry. John Piper's sermon on John Newton warmed my heart deeply the first time I heard it. Finally, Tim Keller's book on the subject has been the most helpful non-inspired resource I have found. I am not the only one on this blog who is concerned about mercy, you can read Tyler's thoughts as he has reflected on the issue.

Prayer For The Week

2007-09-02T08:23:00.000-04:00

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Emergent Motivational Posters

2007-09-02T08:18:00.000-04:00

Phil at Spurgeon.org has made up a number of posters to inspire the Emergent leader within you.

John Piper On Christ And The Old Testament

2007-08-30T08:44:00.000-04:00

It is my conviction that the Old Testament points forward to Christ. I base this belief on passages like Luke 24:27, 43; John 5:39 and other passages. He is the chief subject of in all the Scriptures. John Piper has preached a sermon related to this topic. According to Piper, Christ is the ground and goal of all things in the Old Testament. To this I say "Amen! Preach it white boy!"

Prayer For The Week

2007-08-26T05:13:00.000-04:00

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delievered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Prayer For The Week

2007-08-24T16:06:00.000-04:00

Father of mercies, in Thy Word what endless glory shines;
Forever be Thy Name adored for these celestial lines.

Here the Redeemer's welcome voice spreads heavenly preace around;
And life and everlasting joys attend the blissful sound.

O may these heavenly pages be my ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may I see, and still increasing light.

Divine Instructor, gracious Lord, be Thou forever near;
Teach me to love Thy sacred Word, and view my Saviour there.

Anne Steele
From Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Hymnal no. 218 (1933)

Tim Keller On The Gospel Vs. Religion

2007-08-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

As of late, I have been helped by the insights of Tim Keller more than anyone else. He has thought deeply about the current context that America has found itself in and how to preach the gospel in the midst of it. I have listed below two articles that discuss gospel preaching in our current context, but they are also helpful with respect on how to understand the ways the gospel changes our witnessing, living, and thinking.

Preaching in a post-modern city Part 1

Preaching in a post-modern city Part 2

D. A. Carson On Worship

2007-08-24T11:09:00.000-04:00

Tony Payne has interviewed D. A. Carson on worship. This is a helpful article and highly recommended.

HT: JT

Where Did All These...

2007-08-15T12:43:00.000-04:00

It has been noticed by a number of people that there has been a resurgence of Reformed/Calvinistic doctrine among young pastors and students. But the question that needs to be asked is how did this happen? Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, has attempted to answer the question from a historical standpoint. Lig Duncan has been nice enough to put the list of answers together for us.

Ed Stetzer On Why Young People Leave Church

2007-08-15T05:51:00.000-04:00

In a recent podcast, Ed Stetzer reported on why young people stop attending church. Stetzer also comments on why young people starting coming back to church.

When considering why young people leave church, Stetzer says, "Teens are looking for more from a youth ministry than a holding tank with pizza.

"They look for a church that teaches them how to live life. As they enter young adulthood, church involvement that has made a difference in their lives gives them a powerful reason to keep attending."

Michael Haykin On J. I. Packer

2007-08-15T05:31:00.000-04:00

J. I. Packer, now in his eighties, has been an influence on Christians for several years now. Michael Haykin recently wrote a post discussing what books of Packer have the most important in shaping his Christian life and mind. If you have never read Packer I recommend starting with the following list.

1. Knowing God
2. Keep in Step With the Spirit
3. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
4. A Quest for Godliness

SBTS Adds Faculty For The Biblical Counseling Program

2007-08-13T18:58:00.000-04:00

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been going through some changes as of late. A couple of years ago, Dr. Russell Moore annouced that the school would be moving to a biblical counseling model, as opposed to a Christian psychology or an integrated approach to counseling. This is a welcomed change from the perspective of these bloggers. According to a recent article in the Towers magazine, SBTS will be adding David Powlinson and Paul David Tripp as visiting professors. These men are scholars in this field and their teaching will be welcomed.

HT: JT

Prayer For The Week

2007-08-12T15:30:00.000-04:00

Lord God, let us keep your Scriptures in mind and meditate on them day and night, persevering in prayer, always on the watch. We beg you, Lord, to give us real knowledge of what we read and to show us not only how to understand it, but how to put it into practice, so that we may deserve to obtain spiritual grace, enlightened by the law of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord, whose power and glory will endure throughout all ages.

Amen.

Origen of Alexandria

John Piper On Martyn Lloyd Jones

2007-08-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

This week I finished listening to a lecture that John Piper gave on Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones has been the greatest influence on my preaching. Piper has been very high on the list of influences as well. So I was interested to here Piper's reflections on the man, his preaching, his view of spiritual gifts, and his desire for revival. Piper presents a balanced view of the Doctor. He does not make him out to be the fourth person of the Godhead and he is not overly critical of him either.

Michael Horton On Charles Finney

2007-08-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary in California has written a helpful article on the legacy of Charles Finney. If you want to understand the where much of the confusion came from in the American church, Finney is your guy.

In Finney's defense, as a social advocate, he spoke against slavery, racism, and the oppression of women. However, as a theologian and preacher, he spoke against some key teachings of the Bible.

Prayer of the Week

2007-08-06T09:52:00.000-04:00

Psalm 98

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things!

His right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

he has revealed his righteousness in

the sight of the nations.

he has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness

to the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

with the lyre and the sound of melody!

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who dwell in it!

Let the rivers clap their hands;

let the hills sing for joy together

before the Lord, for he comes

to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with equity.

Ed Stetzer On Expository Preaching

2007-07-31T16:47:00.000-04:00

The church planting guru, Ed Stetzer, has provided some helpful insights on expository preaching and church planting. Stetzer is a lone voice in the church planting network for the importance of expository preaching. May God raise up a million more.

Prayer For The Week

2007-07-30T22:21:00.000-04:00

Let me love you, Lord
and give thanks to you
and confess to your name,
because you have forgiven
my grave sins and wicked deeds.
By your sheer grace and mercy
you melted my sins away like ice.
To your grace also do I ascribe
whatever sins I did not commit,
for what would I not have been capable of,
I who could be enamored even of a wanton crime
I acknowledge that you have forgiven me everything,
both the sins I willfully committed
by following my own will,
and those I avoided through your guidance.

Augustine of Hippo, from Confessions II, 7, 15

The Focus of Worship Music: Is it about me or God?

2007-07-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

I love music and appericate the creativity and thoughtfulness that most musicians put into their music. Like any good Christian boy I enjoy music that exhalts our Savior as well. However, as the years go by and more and more Christian music is being produced I have found that it lacks biblical truth. It appears that a large percentage of Christian music is more focused on man and less focused on God and who he is. Before becoming a Southern Baptist (and proudly mind you) my brother, Corey, and myself were involved in the charismatic movement. Our church was well know in the area for having "powerful music". However, many of the songs that we sang focused more on man and less on God. Even today a large portion of worship music is saturated with man and what he can do for God rather than what God has done for man. Worship music (or any form of Christian music) should be focused on some attribute or person of the Trinity. When I sit down after singing praises to my Lord I should be glorying in the person of Christ. Another problem I see with worship music is that much of it is becoming very erotic in nature. For example a dear friend gave me a copy of her churches worship albumn and wanted me to tell her what I thought. After listening to it a couple of times I had concluded that Jesus Christ was not to be seen as my Sovereign Lord but rather as my "boyfriend". Allow me to explain myself. There was a particular song that talked about feeling Jesus' breath all around me and gazing into his beautiful face, feeling his warm embrace, etc, etc. I felt like I was in a romance novel. This is very erotic, and to me rather questionable, now maybe I'm just being a little narrow minded but I don't want to think of Jesus doing any of those things. I understand the idea behind the words, that Christ is intimately involved with his children, but is there not a more biblically appropriate way of saying it? I do not doubt the good intentions of most Christian musicians, I truly believe that they have a desire to serve the Lord with their music. However, I feel that worship music must line up with the Scriptures. When we observe songs in the Scriptures they are always consisent with the rest of the Word. Therefore, the time of musical worship in the church should be a time that we (the minister, song leader) are teaching our people a biblical truth about God. Worship music should draw us closer to our Savior it should also helps us see the areas of our lives were we need repentance and grace. I believe that the song leader/pastor should be a man who knows the Word of God and his knowledge and understanding of the Word dicates the type of music he brings before the church.

Some of you may say, "Why does this really matter if the music brings someone closer to God who cares what it says?" Well I feel it matters because we do not want to give our people a false understanding of who God is. Just as a pastor must be careful to rightly interprete the Word to his congregation so that they do not have a false hope so a song leader must be careful in the music he selects, it must be pieces that are biblically accurate in order to avoid giving false hope.

Lastly, we all know that music is a very emotional tool. I know that in my own life I have been in a worship service and been moved by the music to the point of tears. However, I must ask myself was it the music that moved me or the one who the music was directed towards? I want to believe it was Christ that moved me but I know that many times I probably got caught up in emotion and not in Christ. Therefore, I feel that the church must be care in pushing for an emotional response from its congregation, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to move hearts not man.

Finally, I leave you with a hymn that I feel both displays the truth of Scripture and causes the believer to glory in Christ and be moved by him.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Tho' the darkness hide Thee, Tho' the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Amen.

An Exegetical Approach to Luke 4:14-30 Part IV

2007-07-28T17:06:00.000-04:00

Lastly, Jesus says that he is here, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is a reference to the year of Jubilee found in Leviticus 25. The year of Jubilee was the fiftieth year after seven cycles of seven years in which Israel’s land and people gained freedom. The year of Jubilee was inaugurated with a blast from a ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement. During this year of joy and liberation the Law demanded that the land and people be sanctified. This occurred in the three ways, first, it was to be a time of rest for the soil as well as the people (Lev. 25:11). Secondly, All land was to be returned to the original owner (Lev. 25:10-34). Lastly, Every Israelite who had sold himself into slavery due to poverty and had not yet been redeemed was to be freed along with his entire family.[1] In Isaiah 61:1 the word used for “release is the same as that found in Lev 25:10. It seems quite likely, that the prophetic description of the “year of the Lord’s favor” was partly inspired by the idea of the jubilee year. Therefore, Luke is trying to show what God is doing spiritually and physically through Jesus Christ.[2] Jubilee by analogy becomes a picture of total forgiveness and salvation. It is Jesus who would set the people free from a fear of death, from obligations to manmade ordinances, from guilt, Satan, and sin. When Jesus spoke these words he had already began his ministry and following him and his teaching would have been various signs, and wonders. Therefore, Christ was saying the year of Jubilee has already begun in his ministry.[3] Furthermore, this declaration has eschatological overtones, this one who has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor will also be the one who will restore all things. At the second coming of Christ the new heavens and the new earth will be inaugurated and the full effects of the year of jubilee will finally be felt.[4]
Luke omits the rest of Isaiah 61:2, which speaks of the Lord’s vengeance. This omission may have been made to delay the allusion to judgment until Jesus’ warnings in 4:24-27. But another reason is more likely, the ultimate time of God’s vengeance is not yet arrived in the first coming of Christ. This omission represents part of the “already-not yet” tense of New Testament eschatology, while God’s judgment is coming it has not yet come. Christ initial coming was in terms of hope, but it does give an implication of judgment, which is seen in 4:24-27.[5]
After Jesus had finished reading the passage he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The attendant was the person who was responsible for getting and returning the scroll to the ark where it was kept. Jesus then sits down to teach, teaching in a sitting position was customary during this time. The eyes of all in attendance were fixed upon Jesus, Luke uses the word “atenizontes” which depicts intense focused emotion. Verse 21 should best be understood as a summary of Jesus’ sermon. Jesus says in verse 21 that today Isaiah 61 has been fulfilled in their hearing, those who heard him would have understood what he was saying, “this Jesus, this son of Joseph (verse 22), he is claiming to be the servant spoken of in Isaiah 61!” Luke’s usage of the word today, “semeron” does not mean now and only now but rather gives the idea that today is a timeless “now” a reference to the immediate present and to the future.[6] This “now” is the messianic age that is realized in Jesus’ coming and will continue throughout the age of the church and ultimately until he returns.[7] After Jesus speaks the crowds are amazed by his gracious words. The crowds amazement came from Jesus’ rhetorical and oratory ability. Then they begin to show doubt by their response, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” The question arises in their mind about Jesus’ parentage, they know that he is the son of Joseph so how could this common man make such a claim how could their own neighbor be the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise? While the Jews marveled at his gracious words about the coming messianic age they would have never agreed that its fulfillment was in Jesus.[8]
[1] Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1694-1695.
[2] Darrell L. Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Luke Volume 1: 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 410.
[3] William Hendriksen, The New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 254.
[4] Gordon J. Wenham, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Leviticus (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 324.
[5] Darrell L. Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Luke Volume 1: 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 411.
[6] Ibid, 412.
[7] Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary Volume 24: Luke (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 157.
[8] William Hendriksen, The New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 256.

"Sir, I'm hungry"...:here's a track go be warm and filled"

2007-07-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

What role does the church play in helping the sick, poor, abused, orphaned, widowed,mentally and physically disabled individuals of society? Why is it that the church often fails to reach out to the needs around them. As someone who has worked in the field of mental retardation and developmental disabilites it boggles me how often I see people staring at my clients and whispering. It has distrubed me many times when I have brought them to church and the reaction of the congreation is anything less than friendly. Are these indivuduals not created in the image of our Heavenly Father, do they not possess worth and value? Fortunatly most of my clients were blessed with churches that loved and embraced them despite their disablities. These were Christians that cared for them, loved them, and sought to meet their physical and spiritual needs. I cannot recall all the times that they would show up on my clients door step with bags of clothing, linens, and everyday items that they need. They would come by the house just to sing songs with my clients and read their favorite Bible stories to them, and all this was done in the name of Christ. I have heard and seen beleivers who when approached on the street by a homeless indivudals in need of food and shelter, hands them a track and tells them about Jesus. Now I believe that they need Christ and need him desperately, but is meeting his need for food and shelter less spiritual than just handing him a track and then saying go be warm and filled? How many times do we see in Scripture and especially in the New Testament that Christ sought to meet the physical as well as the spiritual needs of the people. Feeding the five thousand, raising Jarus' daughter, healing the man born blind and countless other stories. Are we the church not called to do the same, are we not to go and heal the sick, feed the hungry, care for the widows and the orphans, and help the disabled. Does James 1:27 not say, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visist orphans and widows in their afflication..." Then why is the church failing in this area? Maybe we have become so caught up in programs and santified forms of entertainment that we have forgotten about our need to minsiter to the needs of the less fortunate. Therefore, I feel that we should encourage and exhort our members to go out and visit the orphan and the widow, to feed the hungry and to shelter the poor. Now I understand that their are "bumbs" out there who just won't work and it just doesn't seem right to give $5 dollars to them so that they can spend it on illegal drugs. But what about the man who hasn't had a meal in 3-4 days are we just going to walk right by him and on the last day just tell Jesus, "Well Lord I just didn't want to be taken advantage of." I pray this is not our response, I pray that the church will be awaken and understand its need to share Christ with others by meeting their needs. Do I have the solution? No. Do I admit that I am apart of the problem? Yes. The church must repent and relay on God's grace and strength in becoming better stewards of the mission field that surronds us.

Prayer For The Week

2007-07-22T15:18:00.000-04:00

Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have
mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

Benefits Of Expository Preaching

2007-07-21T07:03:00.000-04:00

John Brand gives fifteen benefits of expository preaching.

I have previously posted D. A. Carson's reasons on why a preacher should preach expository sermons.

Russ Moore On Interracial Marriage And Emergent Truth

2007-07-18T15:30:00.000-04:00

Being the by-product of an interracial marriage, I am always interested when the subject comes up within the church. Russ Moore has responded to Tony Jones of the Emergent Village on the nature of truth and interracial marriage. This is a written response to a radio debate held on the Albert Mohler radio program.

Does Going Off To College Spell The End of Faith?

2007-07-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

It is commonly said that when Christians go off to college, they normally walk away from the faith. A recent study by the University of Texas says that they are leaving the church but that they are not leaving behind their faith.

Prayer For The Week

2007-07-15T07:13:00.000-04:00

My God,
I pray that I may so know you and love you
that I may rejoice in you.

And if I may not do so fully in this life
let me go steadily on
to the day when I come to that fullness...
Let me receive
That which you promised through your truth,
that my joy may be full.

Anselm
Philosopher, archbishop of Canterbury

A Layman's Advice To Preachers Part 2

2007-07-13T21:57:00.000-04:00

Here is the rest of the list for preachers that was given to me:

5. Keep the humor to a minimum. Too many preachers think it's their job to get their listeners to laugh. It's not. Your job is to proclaim to them the Word of God. There's nothing wrong with interjecting humor from time to time. But when you're finished preaching, what I should remember is what you had to say about God - not the joke I heard you tell.

6. Have a structure to your message. Don't just give me a running commentary. Decide what the main points of the text are, and build your sermon around those main points. Clearly listing your main points makes it easier for the listener to follow what you're saying.

7. Don't read your sermon. When it's time to preach, I hope the sermon is so burned into your heart and mind that you don't have to read it verbatim. Using notes is fine, but you'll lose your listeners if you stand up and read.

8. Believe what you're saying. Preach with emphasis and earnestness. Make me think you believe in the importance of what you're saying. If you speak like you're bored with your subject matter, don't expect me to be interested.

A Layman's Advice To Preachers Part 1

2007-07-10T18:03:00.000-04:00

What I have listed below was given to me during a class I took on preaching. They are the insights from a Christian man on how preachers can better serve their people from the pulpit. I would invite anyone who reads this post to include any additional insights.

1. Preach the Bible. That sounds simple enough, but sadly, it's growing more and more uncommon in today's pulpits. Pick a text from Scripture, any text will do, then tell me what that text means and how it applies to my life. I desperately need a deeper understanding of Scripture. Give it to me.

2. Preach the gospel. I've listened to too many sermons where the gospel was nowhere to be found. What I need more than anything in my life is the gospel. I need to be reminded of what God did for me through the work of Jesus Christ. If your sermons don't include any mention of the gospel, then you have failed your listeners.

3. Talk less about yourself and more about God. Too many times after I've listened to a sermon, I could tell you quite a bit about the preacher, but precious little about God. There's nothing wrong with using personal examples from time to time, but keep it to a minimum.

4. Don't tell me about the Greek and the Hebrew all the time. Yes, I think studying Greek and Hebrew has value. Greek was one of my majors, in college, so I know how valuable it can be. But while it's OK for you to study the Greek or the Hebrew in your sermon preparation, you don't need to make it a point to inform your listeners of that. Constantly referring to Greek and Hebrew words and constructions comes across as arrogant.

Prayer For The Week

2007-07-08T06:59:00.000-04:00

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?

But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.

Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.

There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!"

You have put more joy in my heart than they have
when their grain and wine abound.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep
for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Alistair Begg On The Loss Of Expository Preaching

2007-07-07T06:37:00.000-04:00

By Faith has published a portion of Alistair Begg's book on preaching. The article examines why expository preaching is so absent from churches today.

Interview With Tom Schreiner On The Cross

2007-07-05T19:39:00.000-04:00

The cross of Christ is always a topic of discussion among people in every generation. The Against Hereies blog has done an interview with Dr. Tom Schreiner on the nature of the Atonement.

A Poem And A Few Thoughts On Preaching

2007-07-05T07:49:00.000-04:00

I was listening to a sermon from a Resurgence conference and I heard the poem below read by the speaker. The speaker said that this poem reflects a desire within the culture for people to speak with conviction. His exhortation was to preach that way. I have to say, I agree. One of the things needed in our land and in the world the most is broken, passionate, convicted preachers of the Bible.

Totally like whatever, you know?
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Prayer For The Week

2007-07-03T14:54:00.000-04:00

I intend on posting a prayer from either the Bible or from a godly person each week. I have found that praying and listening to the prayers of others is a helpful aid to my personal prayer life. Here is the first from the Anglican poet George Herbert.

You have given so much to me.
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

If You Are Not Sure What To Buy Corey...

2007-06-29T16:52:00.000-04:00

I am sure that you wonder what to get Corey Mosier for birthdays, Christmas, etc. Well folks I know where you can find the perfect gift for the most Lutheran influenced member of this blog squad: Old Lutheran.com. It is your one-stop shop for Luther neckties, T-shirts, and much, much more!

Emerging Church For Dummies

2007-06-28T19:08:00.000-04:00

If you do not know what the emerging/emergent church movement is, you can find enough links here to keep you busy for a while.

The Last Days According To Travis Part IV-- Why I Believe Jesus Reigns Now, Not Later

2007-06-25T18:25:00.000-04:00

It has been quite some time since I have picked up this topic, nevertheless, I have some more reflections I would like to make about it. My belief that Jesus reigns now and not later is not the most popular view today among Christians in America. Most believe that Jesus will return at the end of a seven-year period of tribulation and then reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years. This belief is known as Premillennialism, that is, Jesus returns before the thousand years. I am currently recovering from Premillennialism and although the detoxifying process has been tough at times, the Scriptures have guided me to believe that the reign of Jesus is now. I currently based this belief primarily on three passages.

First, at the conclusion of his gospel, Matthew records Jesus to say that, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18). That statement was made after the resurrection and before the Second Coming. According to Jesus, he understands his reign of the cosmos to be a present one.

Second, in Acts 2:14-36, the apostle Peter also teaches that the reign of King Jesus is now in the presence of glory and not later from Jerusalem. As Peter addresses the Jews on the day of Pentecost, he says to them that David prophetically spoke about the resurrection of Jesus. According to Acts 2:30-31, the apostle Peter understands the throne promise to the coming son of David in 2 Samuel 7:11-13, 16 to be fulfilled at the resurrection. The promise of the angel to Mary in Luke 1:32 is that Jesus would reign on the throne of David. Peter understands that the reign of Jesus begins at the resurrection.

Third, in I Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul makes clear that Jesus presently reigns as King. According to verse 25, Jesus “must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.” Paul is referencing Psalm 8:6, which the early Christians interpreted as a reference to Jesus. Verse 26 claims that the final enemy to be destroyed by Christ is death itself. The apostle makes it quite clear that the Son will continue to reign until he has defeated all his enemies. After his reign, he will hand over the kingdom to the Father.

This passage contradicts the idea of a future reign from Jerusalem. In fact, in the mind of the apostle Paul, the resurrection of Jesus began his reign and this reign will continue until the end of this present age. After he has reigned, the Father will reign in the age to come according to I Corinthians 15:28.

More could be said on this subject, however for the sake of time, and for that matter your interest, I will leave it here. These passages contradict the common view that Jesus will return to reign from Jerusalem for a period of time. Although other passages could be included, according to the understanding of Jesus and the apostles, Christ reigns right now.