tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44087181805114653532024-03-05T23:57:44.251-08:00Ponderings of a Pilgrim PastorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger319125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-64406702355605040762021-05-01T09:16:00.007-07:002021-05-01T09:16:50.460-07:00Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?<p>Yesterday, a friend and colleague of mine shared one of the hardest questions skeptics ask Christians and wanted to know how I would answer it: Why would a loving God send people to hell? Honestly, I kinda fumbled the answer at the time, and I've been thinking about how to answer it better. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>So, Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?</b></i></p><p>Inherent in the question itself is the idea that eternal condemnation is entirely undeserved. I think this reveals the heart of the matter with this question, which is a misunderstanding of the moral and spiritual condition of all human beings and a misunderstanding of the character of God. So, I would perhaps begin my response by asking one of these questions:</p><p><b>Would you prefer that there be no final and perfect justice in the universe?</b> Are you satisfied with the limited and temporary nature of justice that human authorities carry out in this world? We have a deep and fundamental longing for real justice, so are we unable to trust God to see clearly and wisely and to do what is right as the Judge of the Universe? </p><p><b>Do you think there's anyone who would deserve to be condemned to hell?</b> Do you think truly evil people - mass murderers, child rapists, human traffickers, drug kingpins, racist leaders who commit mass genocide, and others - deserve eternal condemnation?</p><p>Sometimes people will express their objection to eternal condemnation by asking, "Why would God send good people to hell just because they don't believe in God?" By asking it this way, they are acknowledging that perhaps some mass-murdering terrorists, genocidal dictators, or serial child abusers might deserve such condemnation but not the good people of the world. </p><p>Well, I have good news: God will not condemn any good people, no matter what they believe. God doesn't condemn good people, for that would truly be unjust, and God is not unjust. </p><p>The Bible tells us that, at the end of the world, on Judgment Day, everyone will be judged according to their deeds (Revelation 20:13) and that people's own consciences, their own knowledge of right and wrong, can either excuse them or condemn them before God (Romans 2:15-16). So, you can rest assured that God will judge justly: Everyone will be judged on the basis of what they have done or not done according to the standard by which they know things to be right and wrong. </p><p>So, what about you? Have you knowingly and willfully done wrong? How often, really? Do you think of yourself as a good person who does not deserve condemnation, in a fundamentally different category than the evil people of the world? Have you lied? You know lying is wrong, so how often have you lied, honestly? Have you stolen anything from anyone, even time by being lazy on the job or someone's reputation by gossiping about them? Have you cheated? </p><p>If you have, like most people, lied and stolen and cheated, doesn't that make you a lying, cheating thief? How many banks does a person need to rob before they're a bank robber? How many lies do you have to tell before you're a liar? </p><p><br />And this brings us to the heart of the matter: God will not send any good people to hell, but the only truly good person who has ever lived is Jesus Christ. And our consciences know it. "Good people" are a myth. Obviously, not everyone in the world is an evil, murderous maniac, right? Yes, but Jesus Himself did say that if you hate someone, you've killed them in your heart. Have you ever had murderous hatred for someone, dehumanizing them in your heart? </p><p>The Bible tells us that there is no one who is righteous before God, not even one. We know this is true because God's standard of righteousness must be higher than my own conscience, and I'm not even righteous before my own conscience. </p><p>Now, here's the even better good news: Not only will God not send any good people to hell, but He has opened the way for all of the bad people in the world to go to heaven. God will not be unjust by condemning the innocent, and He will be gracious and merciful to pardon the guilty. He gave His Son who gave His life to provide complete forgiveness for all who call on Him. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXmCIHpXLylAjLUBd2ShCh-dMrs6yBSzku16cPd_eJXa6CN4Os1Qv2FxaA02gTjQgA355gI2anc7BmFhnvwAUhj9-8OWbQWapfG2e0pUb7HQkc_DDt1GcCxO0Tb0Hy8m2yaRYP6PkptCt/s1376/isaiah-30-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1376" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXmCIHpXLylAjLUBd2ShCh-dMrs6yBSzku16cPd_eJXa6CN4Os1Qv2FxaA02gTjQgA355gI2anc7BmFhnvwAUhj9-8OWbQWapfG2e0pUb7HQkc_DDt1GcCxO0Tb0Hy8m2yaRYP6PkptCt/w400-h208/isaiah-30-18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>God shows no partiality with His free offer for forgiveness through His Son, Jesus. He calls everyone everywhere - rich and poor, successful and failure, men and women, every race and people and group - to come to Him and receive from Him complete forgiveness, a clean record before Him. Jesus paid for it, and we receive it as a gift. </p><p></p><p>I would suggest that the truly astonishing thing is not that a holy and just God would condemn the guilty, which is all of us, but is that He would willingly pay the highest imaginable price to pardon the guilty and bring us into His heavenly family home. Once we give up the mythology of the "good person," we begin to see the overwhelming goodness of the merciful God who pardons and forgives. We stop resenting God for His justice and we run to Him for His grace instead! </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-6235043653813196532019-12-06T10:37:00.002-08:002019-12-06T10:37:23.754-08:00Worship Jesus This Christmas<i>A re-post from 2014:</i><br />
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This Christmas season, we should take some time to really think about the wonderful titles and attributes of Jesus and how each of them speaks of how priceless and incomparable He is -<br />
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1. He is our <b>Savior</b>, the One who rescues us from sin and death by His death and resurrection.<br />
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2. He is the <b>Christ, the Anointed One, Messiah</b>, chosen by God and anointed by His Spirit to be our representative and our champion, our great Head.<br />
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3. He is the <b>Alpha and the Omega</b>, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He was before all things and He will endure forever as the Head of he New Creation, the New Heaven and Earth.<br />
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4. He is our <b>Wonderful Counselor</b>, the One who speaks the truth from His perfect wisdom, the One who always has our best interests in His heart when he advises us.<br />
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5. He is the <b>Mighty God</b>, unrivaled in power and might, awesome and majestic, Creator and Sustainer of all things.<br />
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6. He is the <b>Everlasting Father</b>. The best earthly fathers sometimes disappoint and all of them eventually pass away, but Jesus is everlasting and perfect.<br />
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7. He is the <b>Prince of Peace,</b> the only one who can bring us true peace, because He is the only One who can reconcile us to God and to one another and cleanse our consciences of all guilt.<br />
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8. He is <b>Emmanuel, God with Us</b>. In this Title of Christ, we see how he is the fulfillment of God's great desire and plan for the ages, that he would be with His people and His people would be with Him, forever.<br />
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9. He is the <b>Chief Cornerstone</b>, the foundation of the church, the anchor for His people, the solid foundation of the family of God.<br />
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10. He is the <b>Word of God</b>, the Logos- the great and powerful Word that framed the heavens and that orders all things.<br />
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11. He is our <b>Righteousness</b>, the One who makes us acceptable to God, who covers the filth of our sin with His spotless record of a perfect righteous life.<br />
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12. He is our <b>Older Brother</b>, the One who rightfully has the inheritance of God, the universe, and who graciously shares it with us.<br />
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13. He is <b>King of kings and Lord of lords</b>, the ruler of the kings of the earth and the majestic prince who sits enthroned above all earthly powers.<br />
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14. He is the <b>Son of Abraham and the Son of David</b>, the fulfillment of God's Old Testament covenant promises and the embodiment of His faithfulness.<br />
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15. He is our <b>Redemption</b>, the One who in Himself has bought us back from our slavery to sin and our imprisonment to despair.<br />
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16. He is the <b>Head of His Body, the Church</b>. He alone rules the Church, directs her priorities by His word, receives her worship and empowers her ministry and mission for His kingdom purposes.<br />
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17. He is the <b>Lord</b>. When the Bible uses this title, it has two truths in mind: Jesus is YaHWeH, the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is also the master, the ruler over His people - and what a Master we have!<br />
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18. He is our <b>Friend</b>. He has befriended us and shown His will and plans to us in His Word. He has established fellowship with us and listens to us when we speak to Him.<br />
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19. He is our <b>Master</b> and we are His slaves. He is the Master who willingly submitted Himself to slavery for our redemption and now calls us His slaves, slaves He bought with His won blood, slaves He loves and adopts into His family, and slaves whose only freedom is found in total surrender and service to Him. - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rAG5L7H-c&feature=endscreen&NR=1">More on this theme from Michael Card</a><br />
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20. He is our Bridegroom and we are His bride. He loves us, draws us to Himself, cleanses us and dresses us in a spotless gown. In the end, He will take His bride to Himself and be with us forever.<br />
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21. He is the <b>Warrior</b> who fights our battles for us, winning the victory over our enemies and leading us in triumph for eternity.<br />
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22. He is the <b>Great Physician</b>, the Healer of our souls and our bodies who will one day heal us so completely that we will never be sick or suffer again.<br />
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23. He is our <b>Advocate with the Father</b>, the One who speaks in our defense and whose blood and righteousness secure our acquittal every time.<br />
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24. He is the <b>Brightness of His Father's Glory</b>, the One who shines with radiant splendor, the very splendor of God. If we were to see Him, we would fall at His feet like we were dead and beg Him to depart from us, as we would be keenly aware of our sinful unworthiness.<br />
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25. He is the <b>Consolation of Israel</b>, the One who brings comfort to God's people, as He brings peace and speaks His peace to our souls.<br />
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26. He is the <b>Desired of All Nations</b>. The nations of the earth, all peoples of the world, long for the deliverance, freedom, peace and healing that He alone can bring. He brings the Gospel of His Kingdom to all nations, excluding none.<br />
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27. He is our <b>Eternal Life</b>. It is the power of His unquenchable life that He gives us and which empowers us to live forever. Just as it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him, so death will be forced to relinquish us at His command.<br />
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28. He is the <b>Light of the World</b>, the One whose very presence and influence shatters and dispels the darkness of ignorance, sin, despair and death. He shines with a brilliance infinite and eternal and He will be the light of the New Jerusalem, shining forever and banishing all shadow and night.<br />
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29. He is our <b>Good Shepherd</b>, who laid down His life for us and who leads us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.<br />
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30. He is<b> I AM</b>, the unchanging, self-sufficient, self-defining, self-sustaining, ever-faithful and unchanging One.<br />
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I could go on and on . . . For a more complete list of the titles of Jesus from Scripture, look at <a href="http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestudyresources/qt/namesofgodjesus.htm">this page</a>. As I reflect on these names, each one is so wonderful in itself, and yet the full excellence of Christ is the fact that He Himself fulfills all of these titles and has all of these attributes in Himself.<br />
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Let us worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this Christmas season! He alone is worthy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-75894357583583252692019-08-20T11:43:00.000-07:002019-08-21T11:33:45.416-07:00The Arrogant Intolerance of Militant Agnosticism"<i>Here's the truth: Anyone who tells you they know the answers is lying!</i>"<br />
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This is the proclamation of Starlight on Amazon Prime's new anti-Superhero and anti-Christian program, <i>The Boys</i>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrB4DE7b9os">Her speech</a> (Warning: It's profane.) is filled with the kind of anti-Christian "tolerance" that our culture loves. Josh Harris shared it on his Instagram, apparently because it reflects the way he now feels as an ex-Christian. Of course, <i>The Huffington Post</i> praised the scene, as have many other culture-shapers.<br />
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Her speech is a brilliant summary of the worldview dominant in our culture, our generation's Zeitgeist, which I call Militant Agnosticism. It proposes this: <i>No one has any real answers to the big questions of life, and anyone who says they do is lying, so we should just all accept and celebrate everything</i>. Now, that's what Militant Agnosticism claims to believe, in reality Militant Agnosticism asserts many answers to life's questions, and it does so with quite a bit of arrogance and intolerance.<br />
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On the surface of it, her bold statement is self-contradicting: She's making a big truth claim, telling you that anyone who makes big truth claims is lying. Plus, what does this statement say about Jesus, who said, "<i>I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me</i>." Was Jesus lying?<br />
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Just within the context of Starlight's longer speech, she claims to not know anything for sure and not have any answers, except for these:<br />
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1. Because the Bible was written at a time when life-expectancy was 30 years old, we shouldn't take it seriously.<br />
2. The Bible was never intended to be taken literally.<br />
3. The Bible teaches a salvation that Starlight claims excludes homosexuals and Ghandi, so it's probably just an evil book.<br />
4. She does believe in God, but she doesn't think anyone can say anything meaningful about God - except apparently that He didn't inspire the Bible, wasn't incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, and is a big fan of the LGBTQ+ agenda and of Ghandi.<br />
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Oh, and what we're also supposed to pick up by inference:<br />
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5. All religious conservatives are probably sexual abusers, especially if they're men.<br />
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This doesn't seem to be agnostic after all, does it? In fact, Starlight believes all sorts of things. She makes a whole series of explicit and implied truth claims. The convenience of claiming agnosticism is that you don't have to bother with facts, logic, and consistency. You can just make emotionally inflammatory statements that make you feel good.<br />
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The truth is that no one actually lives life as an agnostic. We all have pretty well-formed worldviews that have clear moral categories and a basic picture of what we think ultimate reality is. You can't really live life if you don't think there are any answers to any of the important questions in life. Decision-making, goal-setting, values and morals would all be impossible. What militant agnostics want to do is to <i>claim</i> not to have any clear answers while strongly condemning all of the proposed answers that come from those they dislike. <br />
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The story of the blind men and the elephant provides us with the perfect illustration of this: Militantly agnostic people are fond of the story that says all religions are like blind men exploring an elephant. One man feels its broad side and claims an elephant is like a wall. Another feels a leg and says an elephant is like a tree. Still another feels the tail and says that the elephant is like a snake. Because they're all blind, they can only tell part of the story, the part they feel.<br />
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This story sounds wise and insightful, but it's really incredibly arrogant, because it claims to be told from the perspective of the only one in the story who can see the whole picture. Far from being agnostic, this story condemns all world religions and claims that it alone has the true truth, the whole picture. Only it can see the elephant, because only it can truly see.<br />
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The militant agnostics are very clearly anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, anti-military, anti-police, pro-LGBTQ+, pro-feminist, pro-Darwin, pro-environmentalist, and pro-marijuana. I'm not saying they're wrong about everything they believe; these things are all worth discussing carefully and reasonably. I'm just saying they're not really agnostic; they have a defined worldview. They think they're right, and everyone on the other side of each of these argument is so wrong that they don't even deserve the respect of a debate.<br />
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The convenience in claiming agnosticism is that you're spared the need to have a debate. Instead, you can simply label those who disagree with you as "hateful" and "intolerant bigots," and you can then attack them freely and viciously, all while claiming the moral high ground and laying your head on your pillow at night, assured of your own self-righteousness.<br />
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As a evangelical Christian, it would be so easy to fight fire with fire, to simply dig in our heels and respond with the same kind of hateful vitriol that is spewed by the militant agnostics. But we have a King who calls us to a different response, one that looks more like taking up our cross daily and following Him. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.<br />
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The Apostle Paul didn't threaten to burn down the pagan temples of his day, nor did he lead massive protests and boycotts against them. Rather, he resolved to speak the truth in love and to boldly proclaim the Good News of who Jesus is and what He has done. In the end, the culture decided it would cut off his head to silence him, but that was the culture's choice, and not his. He chose to love and to lovingly tell the truth without compromise. Will we do the same? Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-84374712764826538582019-06-14T10:52:00.001-07:002019-06-14T10:52:23.104-07:005 Keys for Summer<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
The school year has ended and summer has begun. Take a breath! Now what?</div>
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All of us parents want to have a great, meaningful summer with our kids, right? We want a summer of great memories and, hopefully, a spiritually rich summer, too. So, how? </div>
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Here are 5 keys- simple and yet vital priorities that I am convinced will make a great difference:</div>
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<b>1. SLOW DOWN!</b> During the school year, we can feel like we're going 100 miles per hour and just frantically trying to stay one step ahead of our schedules. We need rest and refreshment, and that means we need to make it a priority NOT to over-schedule and over-plan our summers. Don't give in to the American middle-class idols of productivity and achievement and make summer as crammed as the school year. Slow down. Take time to relax together. </div>
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<b>2. READ! </b>Instead of slowing down in front of screens all day every day, open some good books. During the school year, so much of our reading is assigned to us, but we get to pick what we read in the summer months. </div>
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How to read? Read both individually and together as a family. </div>
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What to read? Good stories! My absolute favorites for reading to kids are <i>The Chronicles of Narnia</i> by C.S. Lewis and the <i>Little House</i> books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Here's some help for others:</div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-challenges/finding-great-books-for-kids/choose-better-read-aloud-books&source=gmail&ust=1560620913701000&usg=AFQjCNGezUnudc_1zcnEc22LYYhp8NWIXg" href="https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-challenges/finding-great-books-for-kids/choose-better-read-aloud-books" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.focusonthefamily.<wbr></wbr>com/parenting/parenting-<wbr></wbr>challenges/finding-great-<wbr></wbr>books-for-kids/choose-better-<wbr></wbr>read-aloud-books</a> </div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://redeemedreader.com/category/book-reviews/family-read-alouds/&source=gmail&ust=1560620913701000&usg=AFQjCNH5AYIU7CP0rEhwwShLiHStH-uPyw" href="https://redeemedreader.com/category/book-reviews/family-read-alouds/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://redeemedreader.com/<wbr></wbr>category/book-reviews/family-<wbr></wbr>read-alouds/</a> </div>
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<b>3. GET OUTSIDE!</b> Go to a pool, a pond, a park, a playground, for a walk on the Ma and Pa Trail, for a dip in the water at Rocks State Park. Pack a lunch and get outside to enjoy God's creation! OR, just play outside in your yard or sit outside and read and enjoy the beautiful weather! </div>
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<b>4. GO SOMEWHERE! </b>Don't neglect the great places close to you home, in your own county. Or take a day-trip to someplace a little bit farther away.</div>
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<b>5. SEEK THE LORD!</b> If you're not in the habit of regular family worship, summer can be a great time to get started. If you already are, summer can be a great time to take a little more time and go a little deeper. Looking for something to do together? <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wtsbooks.com/collections/w3-childrengenre&source=gmail&ust=1560620913701000&usg=AFQjCNEhvP0aSFwaIDNOGoVqJpwgeqvF2g" href="https://www.wtsbooks.com/collections/w3-childrengenre" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>wtsbooks.com/collections/w3-<wbr></wbr>childrengenre</a> </div>
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My recommendation for family worship Bible study is <i>Long Story Short</i> (OT) and <i>Old Story New</i> (NT) by Marty Machowski. </div>
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Also, when you're on vacation, don't neglect gathering for worship with God's people. (<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pcaac.org/church-search/&source=gmail&ust=1560620913701000&usg=AFQjCNEqcJJP1cR3d7ZYH4qKbNkmeZTOzA" href="https://www.pcaac.org/church-search/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.pcaac.org/church-<wbr></wbr>search/</a>) </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-23580449106593668762019-04-04T09:35:00.002-07:002019-04-04T09:36:29.104-07:00Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Last PoemI just finished teaching (briefly) about Bonhoeffer, and I was struck deeply by his last poem, "Who Am I?" As a pastor and teacher, who is nonetheless a great sinner with tremendous weaknesses, these words have been resonating deeply with my heart:<br />
<br />
<h3 style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span class="jump-title" id="jump-nav-auto-id-0" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Who am I?</span></span></h3>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who am I? </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They often tell me<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />I step from my cell<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />calm and cheerful and poised<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />like a squire from his manor.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who am I? </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They often tell me<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />I speak with my guards<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />freely, friendly and clear,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />as though I were the one in charge.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who am I? </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They also tell me<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />I bear days of calamity<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />serenely, smiling and proud,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />like one accustomed to victory.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Am I really what others say of me?<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Or am I only what I know of myself?<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />restless, yearning, sick, like a caged bird,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />struggling for life breath, as if I were being strangled,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />starving for colors, for flowers, for birdsong,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />thirsting for kind words, human closeness,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />shaking with rage at power lust and pettiest insult,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />tossed about, waiting for great things to happen,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />helplessly fearing for friends so far away,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />too tired and empty to pray, to think, to work,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />weary and ready to take my leave of it all?</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who am I? </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This one or the other?<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Am I this one today and tomorrow another?<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Am I both at once? Before others a hypocrite,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />and in my own eyes a pitiful, whimpering weakling?<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Or is what remains in me like a defeated army,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Fleeing in disarray from victory already won?</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who am I? </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They mock me, these lonely questions of mine,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Whoever I am, Thou knowest me, O God, I am thine!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-34030983980213545622019-03-02T06:26:00.003-08:002019-03-02T06:26:29.974-08:00Failure To Thrive? NOT! - A Tribute to My MomThis is the eulogy I read at my mom's funeral:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Failure to Thrive: Most Definitely Not</b></div>
<br />
Failure to thrive. Several times when I visited my mom in the hospital, she would bring up the fact that, when she was a baby, she had been diagnosed with “failure to thrive.” She thought that was the root cause of all of her medical problems. We have close friends who have an adorable baby girl who has fallen into that category, “failure to thrive,” and when I see their beautiful baby girl, I’ve been thinking of my mom.<br />
<br />
What does it mean for someone to fail to thrive? In the medical community, they mean a baby who is not growing properly according to expectations, but it broke my heart to see my mom celebrate her 70th birthday at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and still wrestle with the specter of this label hanging over her head.<br />
<br />
Whatever else you might say about my mom and her almost 72 years of life, she most certainly did not fail to thrive.<br />
<br />
When my mom sang Andrae Crouch songs in a Gospel choir in Oslo, Norway, in 1975 and 1976, she was not failing to thrive.<br />
<br />
When she and my dad bought a 1973 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon in New Jersey in 1977 and set off to drive across the country with four children under the age of 10, she may have been a bit insane, but she was not failing to thrive.<br />
<br />
When my mom worked Christmas seasons at retail stored like JCPenney so she could buy nice Christmas presents for her children, she was not failing to thrive. And if you ever saw my mom on Christmas Day, with the Carpenters and Johnny Mathis playing in the background and all her family gathered around the tree in their pajamas to open presents, you would have seen a woman who was most definitely not failing to thrive.<br />
<br />
What does it mean to thrive? What does it take to thrive?<br />
<br />
To truly thrive, you need to serve others, and my mom was a thriving servant: Whether she was serving as a cub scout den mother or making costumes for high school performances of Carousel and South Pacific, my mom loved to serve. She catered the food at our wedding, because she knew we couldn’t afford to hire a caterer. She cooked, cleaned, decorated, taught, volunteered, encouraged, and did whatever needed to be done that she could do.<br />
<br />
To thrive, you should be a creator and not just a consumer. My mom was one of the most creative people I have ever known. She made beautiful cakes for birthdays and church events and school play cast parties. She made our wedding cake. She made blankets and scarves. She made ceramic figures to make our house festive for Christmas and Easter. She made clothes and costumes. She wrote poetry and stories. She decorated our house for Christmas every year with enough creativity for six homes.<br />
<br />
To thrive as a creator, it really helps to love beauty. My mom loved to sing, and she had a wonderful voice. She sang as Judy Garland in high schools and sang in several church choirs as an adult. She also loved listening to music and reading books. She had a special love for the beauty of the seaside – beaches, shells, lighthouses, boats. <br />
<br />
To thrive, you need to love, and my mom loved her family and her friends very much. She treasured her friendships with Maha and Sandy and others, and she loved spending time with her family. She would pour herself into people she loved, giving sacrificially and sometimes wearing herself out and putting herself in the hospital because she would rather spend herself in love than take care of herself and rest.<br />
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Above all, to truly thrive, you need faith in God. Honestly, my mom had a complicated relationship with God. While she was always a strong believer and she brought us up in the Christian faith, she wrestled with God sometimes. She didn’t understand why God had given her so many medical problems, which so often sidelined her from what she felt called to do. When God took her mom from her in 1985, when I was 11 and my mom was 38, she was hurt deeply and didn’t always understand God. She shared with me years later that she slipped into a time of depression and spiritual coldness following the death of her mom. It was a hard blow. I understand. God’s not afraid of our doubts and our struggles and our questions. He wants us to bring them to Him.<br />
<br />
But my Nana was a strong Christian woman, and the same faith that lived in her lived in my mom. Many times in my own walk with the Lord, I have taken special encouragement from Paul’s words to the young pastor, Timothy, in 1 Timothy 1:5-6: “<i>I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you</i>.”<br />
<br />
Perhaps that’s as good a definition of any of what lies at the heart of a truly thriving life. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “<i>I have come that they may have life, life abundantly</i>.” To thrive, to live life abundantly, we must have sincere faith in Jesus living in us, and we must fan into flame the gift of God given to each of us who belong to Him and believe in Him.<br />
<br />
If you’ll permit a preacher to preach for just a minute, I want to urge you to thrive as my mom thrived – trust in God, love others, create and don’t just consume, appreciate the beauty around you, give and serve. If you do this, you will thrive, not only in this life but in the eternal life to come.<br />
<br />
You see, the really beautiful thing about thriving in this way – rooted in faith in Jesus – is that as much as you thrive in this life, this life will be only the beginning. On February 22nd, 2019, my mom’s weak earthly body died, but her soul went to be with her Lord, and in His loving presence, her soul is blessed with infinite love and joy and peace, and she will thrive forever. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-24794066659275715142019-02-26T02:29:00.002-08:002019-02-26T02:29:52.875-08:00Dealing with DeathMy mom died a few days ago - Friday, February 22nd at around 8:00 in her bed at home. She was pronounced dead at 9:03 p.m. I know it's not fashionable or polite these days to say she died. We much prefer "passed." But when you lose someone close to you, you know what it is: death. And you have to deal with it.<br />
<br />
We've been dealing with my mom's death this week. We have to deal with her body. The funeral home had to come and take her body away, but they couldn't take her body until a doctor agreed to sign a death certificate. Then, you need to decide: Will she be embalmed or not? Will she be cremated or buried? Will there be a viewing? Will her casket be open or closed? Where will she be buried? And so we had to deal with these things: Picking out a casket, driving to cemeteries in the rain, honoring my mom's wishes, and also trying to handle our grief.<br />
<br />
So many details have to be dealt with when you're dealing with death: How do you notify people? Who do you call? Who finds out on Facebook? Who gets included in the obituary? Are all the names spelled right? Who's going to do the funeral service? How is the funeral service going to be structured? Who is going to speak? Who is coming in from out of town? When are they getting here? Where are they staying? Are we going to get together as a family before the funeral? Where? What do you say to people who don't really know what to say to you? "I'm sorry for your loss." "Thank you." "We're praying for you." "Thank you."<br />
<br />
Death is real, and you have to deal with it. So is grief. You have to deal with your grief, whether you want to or not. You don't get to plan your grief. It doesn't come on schedule. It's not polite. At times, grief has felt like a dark blanket being thrown over most of my brain, leaving me just enough to do the next thing I have to do, barely. At other times, grief has felt like hunger, and I just want to eat. I think I get that from my mom, actually. Grief has made me so tired, and grief has made me unable to sleep. It's 4:35 a.m. I've been awake since 3:30.<br />
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Death. Grief. Is this the way a pastor is supposed to talk? Shouldn't it be "passed into glory" and "celebrating her life"? Two of my siblings and I sat in my mom's room looking for pictures for the funeral and reception. We do indeed want to celebrate her life. But going through mom's stuff in the room where she died, reality hits. She's gone, and we have to deal with it.<br />
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But we do not deal with death alone. <br />
<br />
The Bible deals with death:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>"Sarah lived 127 years . . . And Sarah died . . . and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." - Genesis 23:1-2 <br /></i></li>
<li><i>"Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah . . . There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife." - Genesis 25:8-10<br /></i></li>
<li><i>"For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living." - Job 30:23<br /></i></li>
<li><i>"My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me." - Psalm 55:4<br /></i></li>
<li><i>"What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?" - Psalm 89:48</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Oh, yes, death is all over the pages of Scripture. The Bible does not avoid saying that people died, and it doesn't not pretend that death is not hard. Because it is. Death is an enemy, a thief. The Bible calls death "the last enemy" in 1 Corinthians 15.<br />
<br />
Even Jesus dealt with death.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>"See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death." - Matthew 20:18<br /></i></li>
<li><i>Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” - Matthew 26:38<br /></i></li>
<li><i>"And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last." - Mark 15:37<br /></i></li>
<li><i>"When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." - John 19:30</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Then, Joseph and Arimathea and Nicodemus came and dealt with the body. They wrapped Him up and buried Him. This is what we confess: "He was crucified, dead, and buried."<br />
<br />
But when the enemy death swallowed Jesus, it took on more than it could handle. As Peter preached it: "<i>God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.</i>" (Acts 2:24) In Jesus' resurrection, something happened to death: "<i>our Savior Christ Jesus . . . abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel</i>." (2 Timothy 1:10)<br />
<br />
Death could not hold Him. It was not possible. And so He abolished death.<br />
<br />
Some people think this is wishful thinking. Some people think this is just religious hocus-pocus. But when Jesus rose again, He came to His disciples and He showed them how very real He was. He invited Thomas to put his fingers in the nail scars on His hands and even to put his hand into the wound the spear had left in His side. He broke bread with them. He ate fish with them. Jesus had been dead and buried for three days, and then He was alive. It was real. It is real, for He remains alive today.<br />
<br />
Death has never been more real to me than it has been since Friday, but neither has the reality of resurrection. It has all become a very flesh-and-blood reality.<br />
<br />
<i>"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."</i> - Hebrews 2:14-15<br />
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"<i>He partook of the same things</i>." This is powerful comfort: Before Jesus died Himself, He grieved the loss of His earthly father, Joseph. He wept at Lazarus' tomb, right before He raised him - perhaps because He knew Lazarus was going to die again. Perhaps because He felt what sorrow and grief were gripping Mary and Martha, His dear friends He loved.<br />
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Jesus has experienced death. He has dealt with it. And He has dealt with grief.<br />
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And God deals with <i>our</i> grief: "<i>You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?</i>" - Psalm 56:8<br />
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That verse was part of my Bible reading yesterday. What great comfort that brings, to know that our tossings and our tears are kept by God. He counts them. He bottles them. He writes them down in His book. He deals with our grief.<br />
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And so we can deal with death in hope. We can deal with death as those who know that God deals with our death and grief with us. We can deal with death as those who know that Jesus has defeated death and death will not have the final word. It still hurts. It's still very real. But it is not the end.<br />
<br />
"<i>For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death</i>." - 1 Corinthians 15:25-26<br />
<br />
"<i>We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>“Death is swallowed up in victory.”</i><br />
<i>“O death, where is your victory?</i><br />
<i> O death, where is your sting?”</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ</i>." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-57Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-5614100894449075042019-02-12T05:54:00.003-08:002019-02-12T05:54:29.181-08:00God Almighty Rules over All<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The LORD has established His throne in heaven, </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> And His kingdom rules over all. –Psalm 103:19</i></div>
<br />
Do you remember when you first discovered that your dad was not really all-powerful? When I was a small boy, I really did think my dad could do anything. My dad is pretty handy and big (6’ 5”), so to a small 6-year-old, he seemed like Superman. Yet like all of you, I had to endure the hard, slow realization that my dad was not, in fact, omnipotent, until, as a teenager, I wondered if my dad could do anything right at all.<br />
<br />
Some people (even many professing Christians) think that our typical childhood experiences with our earthly dads is a model for what should happen to our view of God over time, as we mature in our faith. As crises and conflicts come, they reason, we ought to see that a world full of evil is incompatible with an all-powerful and all-good God. Since we all believe that God is good, we must then abandon the idea that God is all-powerful in favor of a God who looks a lot more like our limited and fallible dads.<br />
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The Bible gives us no room whatsoever for such a pale view of God. In Scripture after Scripture, God shines through with radiance as the great and glorious King of the Universe. “Nothing is impossible with God,” the Bible boldly proclaims time and again (see Luke 1:37 and Mark 10:27). When God’s people doubt His power in Isaiah 59:1 - “<i>Surely, the arm of the LORD is not too short to save</i>.”<br />
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When Jesus came, He demonstrated the Almighty power of God. Jesus showed unmistakably that nothing could stand in God’s way or frustrate His will. God was mighty enough to create life in the womb of a virgin. He was mighty enough to use a wicked king’s edict to get His Son to the proper place to be born, Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2). He was able to use dreams and visions to deliver His Son from the hands of a murderous tyrant (read Matthew 2). <br />
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When Jesus began His own earthly ministry, He showed His power over demons, even a legion of them (Mark 5). He showed His power over storms, when He instantly brought “great calm” with two simple words (Mark 4:35-41). He multiplied food to feed 5,000 and then 4,000, showing that in God’s hands, no shortage is too difficult to overcome. He healed the sick, restored the lepers, gave sight to the blind and loosened the tongues of the mute. He even raised the dead, even when the dead had been in the grave for four days, like Lazarus (John 11).<br />
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Even though we can read all of these stories in the Bible from the men who witnessed them and who testified to the truth of them, still we doubt, don’t we? Will I have enough money to pay all of my bills? Will something happen to me that God cannot control? Jesus commanded us not to worry because worry is the fruit of a heart that doubts Almighty God. We doubt either His power or His goodness, or else we would not worry. <br />
<br />
We have no reason to doubt. We have no need to worry. Our God demonstrated His unfailing, unbelievably generous love for us by giving His Son for us. He demonstrated His overcoming power unmistakably by raising Him from the dead. He now tells us that if we belong to Christ by faith, that same power is at work in us (Ephesians 1:19-21). If our God is Almighty, then let us rest in Him! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-89764902712893001852018-12-31T11:26:00.005-08:002018-12-31T11:26:52.110-08:00A Word from John Newton at the Change of Years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-4B8z9EHMOk0mlmeG-56T6sUrOOwsKXWScrst1ACJEKCFtS38bfYLSBz2srDcrIKPg_mYhWPfj2vvUIWQ1hNNmDetzlkW1p0iIFTdprN63TDENbKu3a0O3nHF0JPmkkhp5Uyz2sb5D4Q/s1600/JewelsFromNewton-web-652x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="652" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-4B8z9EHMOk0mlmeG-56T6sUrOOwsKXWScrst1ACJEKCFtS38bfYLSBz2srDcrIKPg_mYhWPfj2vvUIWQ1hNNmDetzlkW1p0iIFTdprN63TDENbKu3a0O3nHF0JPmkkhp5Uyz2sb5D4Q/s320/JewelsFromNewton-web-652x1024.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
One of my favorite devotional books is <a href="https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/devotional-books/jewels-from-john-newton/">Jewels from John Newton</a>, edited by Miller Ferrie and published by Banner of Truth. Here is today's reading for the end of the year, very appropriate to think about as we prepare to begin a new year in God's grace. May we live it for His glory! Here's some help for us to think how to do that:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Set your affection on things above. - Colossians 3:2, ESV</b></i></div>
<br />
If we are, indeed, believers in Christ, and partakers of the power of His resurrection, we are bound by obligation, and required by our rule, to set our affections on the things that are above, not on the things on the earth. He has called us out of the world and cautioned us against conformity to its spirit.<br />
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While we are in this world, it is our duty, privilege, and honour, to manifest that grace which has delivered us from the love of it. Christians must indeed eat and drink, and may buy and sell, as other people do; but the principles, motives, and ends of their conduct are entirely different. They are to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, and to do all for His glory.<br />
<br />
By His wisdom and providence, He places them in different situations, that the power and sufficiency of His grace may appear under a variety of outward circumstances: Whether they are rich or poor, bond or free, they are so by His appointment. If they cheerfully comply with His appointment, they shall, in due time, be sensible that he chooses better for them than they could have chosen for themselves.<br />
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The language of faith, when in exercise, will not be, "What is most conducive to my temporal ease and prosperity?" but . . .<br />
<br />
"What will give me that faintest opportunity of glorifying Him who has bought me with His blood and called me out of darkness into His marvelous light?<br />
<br />
Too much of my time has already been wasted; how shall I improve the little uncertain remainder for His service?<br />
<br />
I am too short-sighted to judge for myself, but He has thus far determined it. I am where He had placed me. The calling in which His mercy has found me (if it be a lawful one) is that in which, for the present, I am to abide as the best for me. When it ceases to be, I may depend upon Him to appoint for me another. But, until then, I desire to be contented with such things as I have and to be thankful for them.<br />
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He knows my frame, my feelings, my wants, and my trials; He permits, yea, invites me to cast all my cares upon Him; he assured me that he cares for me, and therefore I only wish to do or to suffer according to His will today, and to leave the concerns of tomorrow in His hands.<br />
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While I live, may I live for Him; and when I die, may I go to Him!<br />
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May His grace be sufficient for me, and all shall be well." <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-4248413497135054752018-12-27T08:25:00.001-08:002018-12-27T08:26:39.287-08:00Time to Stop and Think! <h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Reflections and Priorities Heading into the New Year</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3j1d8S2iTnE9sYkGAgEWCxctfix8-X5TPN_8yuMZRXnECf8KC6nq7tCP_uI1TLhKRR0y7tadBkJxxftmCa7g68F54kB_4bjwl6poDpCjvRSPSvQRiReUmr1fWVs941_dz2DRuqTe4R0gx/s1600/tempus+fugit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="570" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3j1d8S2iTnE9sYkGAgEWCxctfix8-X5TPN_8yuMZRXnECf8KC6nq7tCP_uI1TLhKRR0y7tadBkJxxftmCa7g68F54kB_4bjwl6poDpCjvRSPSvQRiReUmr1fWVs941_dz2DRuqTe4R0gx/s200/tempus+fugit.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The turn of the calendar each year puts me in a reflective mood, as I look back and loo</span>k ahead, much like the Roman god Janus, for whom January is named. 2018 was a great year, and 2019 looks to be a significant one for me and for our family: My dad turns 70, which means both of my parents will be septuagenarians. I'll turn 45, and then my oldest son will turn 15. Right after our marriage reaches the 21-year milestone, our church will celebrate the 4th anniversary of our launch. Later in the year, my little baby girl will hit the double digits. Whew! See what I mean about getting reflective! <i>Tempus fugit</i>! </div>
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<b>Thankful for a Good 2018</b></h3>
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As I reflect back on 2018, I have many reasons to give thanks. I began the year in Uganda at <a href="https://reachingafricasunreached.org/">Reaching Africa's Unreached</a> (RAU) with L.B. Graham and Jonathan Koppenhaver, and was able to make a return trip to Uganda in July with Bob Brown. In between, we welcomed Jacob and Carol Lee of <a href="https://reachingafricasunreached.org/">RAU</a> for a visit here, during one of the worst wind storms in the history of the state of Maryland! I loved ministering with Reaching Africa's Unreached and am so thankful for the mission opportunity. </div>
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Beth and I celebrated our 20th anniversary with a family trip to Nashville, where we ate Biscuit Love, visited Antique Archaeology, saw a great concert at The Station Inn, and had a great time at the Nashville Zoo. We celebrated the 3rd anniversary of our church launch and headed into our children's fourth year at New Covenant Christian School. Then, I began teaching with Veritas Scholars Academy again.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXixJaWVcAKTYRyxiR7NEbzpe70H5HW6MWOCcORjBDV3pmL7JCBO2q0xE_eFwoXGVnAv1KAd9kOAGMKURf00qhgs5RCexglma2UgHztcYEY5YiQAOSqRk9XpSs2xQ1hrIDGT463HpxfeA/s1600/kids+at+church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXixJaWVcAKTYRyxiR7NEbzpe70H5HW6MWOCcORjBDV3pmL7JCBO2q0xE_eFwoXGVnAv1KAd9kOAGMKURf00qhgs5RCexglma2UgHztcYEY5YiQAOSqRk9XpSs2xQ1hrIDGT463HpxfeA/s320/kids+at+church.jpg" width="240" /></a>I got to do a couple of very special weddings, one for a former student of mine and another for Jonathan Koppenhaver and his lovely bride, Emily. I also got to help coach football for the first time, coaching both of my boys as the offensive and defensive line coach for the Maryland Christian Saints U14 team. </div>
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I'm also thankful that I was able to focus on personal growth in two key areas: I got physically healthier in 2018, losing weight and keeping it off (at least, until this Holiday Season hit). I also was able to spend quality time in God's word every day this year. </div>
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The highlight of our year was undoubtedly was having our boys meet with the elders to give their testimony of faith in Jesus and then standing before the congregation to make their public professions of faith and become communicant members of Forest Hill PCA. God's faithfulness is amazing and we are so, so thankful!! </div>
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So, 2018 was a very good year. As the year comes to a close, I can truly sing, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpJxPyo3JE">My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness</a>." </div>
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Priorities for 2019 (with Musical Accompaniment)</h3>
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As we head into 2019 in just a few days, I've been prayerfully reflecting on what our priorities need to be in the new year. I'd like to invite you to pray with me for these priorities, as you prayerfully consider your own:</div>
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<b>1. A continued commitment to daily time in God's word.</b> For me, there's no other option but to get up early enough each day to get coffee going and then get into the Word before the day gets going and I get swept up in the noise and busyness. ("<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHmenrxcbsw">First Song That I Sing</a>" by Sara Groves) </div>
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<b>2. A renewed emphasis on prayer daily.</b> While I have been very consistent with daily time in God's word, my prayer life has not been as rich or meaningful. I long to have better, richer times of prayer with the Lord every day. ("<a href="http://just%20a%20closer%20walk%20with%20thee/">Just a Closer Walk with Thee</a>")</div>
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<b>3. A renewed commitment to my physical health.</b> The holidays have not been good for me, as my eating has been very bad since Thanksgiving Week. I've also stopped exercising regularly. I have real health concerns (cholesterol, blood sugar) that have motivated me to get more serious about my physical health, and I need to be a good steward of my health, for the sake of my kingdom calling and my family.</div>
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<b>4. Rest and family time.</b> Anyone who knows me knows I have a bad tendency to work all the time. I want to be more focused in my productivity and make it a higher priority to take time to rest. Specifically, I want to make Saturdays a real day off each week in 2019. We'll be doing a Saturday morning Calvin study at 7:00, and after that, I want to come home and spend the day with my family doing no work-related stuff but just spending good family time. My oldest son is 14 and in 9th grade, so I know my time with my kids is getting short! ("<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPJRS3ddDOw">Cat's in the Cradle</a>" by Harry Chapin and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YubenYTAwOI">Planting Trees</a>" by Andrew Peterson) </div>
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<b>5. Time to Study and Think.</b> I spend much of my time producing - sermons, lessons, etc. - and preparing to produce. I want to spend more time reading and thinking for personal enrichment and growth and not always just to produce something. </div>
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<b>6. More Thankful in the Mundane.</b> I want to be more intentionally thankful in the small moments and the routine ordinariness of life. I want to remember what I've learned from Paul Tripp that life is lives in the little, ordinary moments and not the big, important ones. ("<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1MQaHQgqrY">Setting Up the Pins</a>" by Sara Groves) </div>
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<b>7. Slow Down and Enjoy People.</b> I struggle with building good, meaningful relationships with people. I love preaching, teaching, writing, etc., and I do love spending time with people, but I don't do it as well as I know I could. So, I'd like to make relationships and hospitality a higher priority in 2019. I'm planning to go back to Uganda in July, and I want to make relationship-building with the men who come for training a priority there, too, and not just what I'm teaching them. ("<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quoaKh289tk">Just One More Thing</a>" and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtnmGm53eA">Every Minute</a>" by Sara Groves)</div>
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God is good. I am overwhelmed with gratitude at His goodness. I want to make sure to enjoy it and make the most of it each day, for His glory and the good of His people! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-67751814364417034622018-11-15T07:13:00.005-08:002018-11-15T07:14:14.577-08:00A Defense of the Christian Sabbath: Westminster Standards<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Defense of the Westminster
Confession’s View <br />
of the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are Christians to
do with the fourth commandment? Should we see it as binding on our consciences,
like the rest of the moral law? Or should we view it as fulfilled in Christ in
such a way that it is no longer directly applicable to us, like the rest of the
ceremonial law? If it is part of God’s moral law, does the Westminster
Confession go too far in its description of the Lord’s Day as the Christian Sabbath,
burdening God’s people beyond what Scripture requires? Is the Westminster
Confession Pharisaical? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I believe Scripture and
the Confession are in full harmony with one another on the Lord’s Day, the
Christian Sabbath. I believe the language of the Confession and Catechisms is
correct in how it defines the Sabbath and how it describes how the Sabbath has
been fulfilled by Christ and remains applicable to believers today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Scriptures teach us
that the Sabbath has its origin in creation, and is thus a creation ordinance,
part of God’s unchanging moral law, woven into the warp and woof of Creation.
As part of God’s moral law, the Sabbath shows us how to love God and love our
neighbors. The Lord’s Day, as the Christian Sabbath, retains the force of the
moral law but is fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ, giving it an even
stronger redemptive aspect as we remember the resurrection of Christ as the
inauguration of the new creation and look ahead to the Day of the LORD each
Lord’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Origin of the Sabbath:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On the 7</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Day of Creation, God rested and, by doing so, blessed the seventh day and made
it holy. Genesis 2:1-3 –</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and
he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.<b> </b></span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God
rested from all his work that he had done in creation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the Fourth Commandment in Exodus 20, God
refers to this creation rest as the basis for the Sabbath commandment – <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> S</span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ix days you shall labor, and do all your work,</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your
daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or
the sojourner who is within your gates.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For in six days the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">–
Exodus 20:8-11<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We see the two main elements of the moral law
both reflected in the fourth commandment: Love of God by keeping the whole day
holy unto the Lord, and love for neighbor by giving them rest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As further evidence that the Sabbath is a
creation ordinance and not just a part of the Mosaic covenant, consider: Even
before God gave the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 16, in the giving of the manna,
God was enforcing the Sabbath. He instructed His people to gather twice as much
manna on the day before the Sabbath, and the leftover manna did not spoil on
the Sabbath, when God provided no manna. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Deuteronomy 5, God gives the Fourth Commandment
a second time, this time in a redemption context, that of being released from
bondage and so giving rest to those who serve you, including your animals – <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> your God commanded you.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Six days you shall labor and do all your work,</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your
daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey
or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that
your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and
the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm. Therefore, the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath
day.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, the Sabbath
commandment is given differently in the two accounts of the Ten Commandments,
the first rooted in creation and the second in redemption. Both emphasize the
call to love our neighbors as ourselves and to give justice to workers by
allowing them the rest God designed them to need as creatures. In both Exodus
20 and Deuteronomy 5, we are clearly told that our obligation in keeping the
Sabbath is to give rest to others as well as to take rest ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thus, based on the
Pentateuch, we can conclude that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance, is part
of the moral law of God, and involves both loving God and loving our neighbor,
as we remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy unto the Lord and also give the
gift of rest to our neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus and the Sabbath:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus openly and
repeatedly challenged the Pharisees on their regulations regarding the Sabbath.
Because of these repeated confrontations, those who have a high view of the
Lord’s Day as a Christian Sabbath and are known as “strict Sabbatarians” are
often accused of being “Pharisaical” in their view of the Sabbath. But was
Jesus seeking to lower the bar on what it meant to remember the Sabbath day to
keep it holy? Should we see Jesus’ actions and words as loosening the standards
of the moral law? If that’s what Jesus was doing, it would be a contradiction
to everything else He did regarding the moral law of God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rather than seeing Jesus’
confrontations with the Pharisees as aimed at lowering the standard of God’s
moral law on the Sabbath, we should see them the same way we see Jesus handling
the moral law in the Sermon on the Mount and in other places: He restores the
moral law to its original intent as the One who is both the author and the
embodiment of the moral law. In doing so, He takes the moral law to its
internal and spiritual application, to rescue it from the reductionistic
“dumbing down” of the Pharisees. Remember, the problem of the Pharisees is not
that their view of the law of God was too high but that it was too low!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, what was the
deficiency with the Pharisees’ view of the Sabbath? They forgot the justice and
the love of neighbor embedded in the commandment. They had reduced the
commandment to a list of rules and had created loopholes to allow them to
circumvent the seemingly strict regulations they had created. This allowed them
to be legalistic in the true and worst sense of the term: They added to God’s
law, and their additions were actually a subtraction, a reduction of the law,
by neglecting justice and mercy, love of God and love of neighbor, in exchange
for rule-keeping, box-checking self-righteousness. Healing on the Sabbath was
exactly right, giving rest to your neighbor from the work of bearing the burden
of disability or sickness or demonic oppression. Giving rest to your neighbor
in love of your neighbor is exactly what the fourth commandment calls us to do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paul and the Sabbath:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The proof-texts of
those who deny the Lord’s Day as a Christian Sabbath come from Paul’s teachings
regarding the ceremonial law, like Colossians 2:16: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">Therefore let no one pass
judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or
a new moon or a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sabbath</span></span></i><span style="background: white; color: black;">.” These references from Paul are all
referring to the ceremonial Sabbaths, or the Ceremonial Law aspect of the
Sabbath, not the creational Sabbath. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The creation Sabbath is the one day in seven, which God set in place at
Creation, and not the added holy days and Sabbaths of the ceremonial law in
keeping with Mosaic feasts and festivals. These ceremonial law Sabbaths are
fulfilled in Christ in such a way that they are no longer binding on believers,
as with the dietary laws, the sacrificial system, and the Mosaic worship
calendar. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Change from the Last Day to the First Day:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The resurrection of Jesus did consummate His fulfillment of the Law, of
every promise in the Law and Prophets, and it fundamentally transformed the
meaning of the law in every aspect for believers. Regarding the Sabbath, the
resurrection of Jesus changes the day from the last day of the week to the
first day, and also changes the focus and emphasis, so that the day of rest is
now called “the Lord’s Day” – that is, “the Day of the Lord.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus rose on the first day of the week, made His appearances to His
Apostles on the first day of the week. (Ever wonder why poor Thomas had to wait
a week?) Believers very soon began gathering for worship on the first day of
the week, and by the close of the Christian canon, the Apostle John in
Revelation 1 was referring to the first day of the week as “the Lord’s Day.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We no longer base our Sabbath solely on the creation rest of the seventh
day but even more so on the new creation in Christ. Our salvation rest of the
first day celebrates the rest we have in the hope of the resurrection. This
redemption aspect of the Sabbath was already embedded in Deuteronomy 5, but it
is made even more full and explicit in Christ’s resurrection, securing exodus
not just from Egypt and human slavery but from the bondage of death and the
slavery of the fear of death. Thus, the day of rest is now called the Lord’s
Day, because on it we look back on the day of the Lord’s victory over death and
we look ahead to His coming day, the Day of the Lord. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Isaiah
58 & the Christian:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another issue raised in Sabbath discussion is Isaiah 58, raising two
questions:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Does this
passage still apply to believers?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">What does
Isaiah mean by verses 13-14? – </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you
turn back your foot from the Sabbath,</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i><span class="indent-1-breaks"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">from doing your pleasure on my holy day,</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="text"><span style="background: white;">and call the Sabbath a delight</span></span><br />
</span></i><span class="indent-1-breaks"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">and the holy day of the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> honorable;</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="text"><span style="background: white;">if you honor it, not going your
own ways,</span></span><br />
</span></i><span class="indent-1-breaks"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">then you shall take delight in the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i><span class="indent-1-breaks"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="text"><span style="background: white;">I will feed you with the
heritage of Jacob your father,</span></span><br />
</span></i><span class="indent-1-breaks"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">for the mouth of the </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> has spoken.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those who see the Sabbath as belonging specifically and exclusively to
the Mosaic covenant think that Isaiah 58 may have some good things to say to us
about justice and mercy, but otherwise the language about fasting and the
Sabbath doesn’t directly apply to believers in the new covenant age. I would
respectfully submit that this is one of the major flaws of the “fulfilled
Sabbath” view: It eviscerates so much of the Old Testament and nullifies it for
believers today, much more like dispensationalism and much less like a
covenantal view of the unity of Scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other question is about what the Lord means when He rebukes His
people for doing their pleasure on the Sabbath, on His holy day. Some have said
this language just means that you shouldn’t sin on the Sabbath, and that “doing
your pleasure” is short-hand for sinning and doing wickedness. If that’s the
case, this becomes a very strange passage indeed. Is God saying that we should
do just all of our selfish sinning on the other six days of the week? Surely not!
The phrase “talking idly” confirms the right understanding of this passage and
helps us see why the language of the Confession that some people regard as “so
strict” and “Pharisaical” is, in fact, Isaiah’s language – or, rather, the
Lord’s language through Isaiah. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Sabbath is the LORD’s holy day and we are to delight in it. We are
to delight in it by worshipping Him throughout the day and by giving rest and
relief to our neighbors, just as Isaiah emphasizes the same justice and mercy
for our neighbor workers that the fourth commandment itself contains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Doing your pleasure on MY holy day” is the heart of the issue. Yes, the
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Yes, the Sabbath is a
gift and a blessing and not a burden. But none of God’s commandments are
burdensome, even if our sin makes it very hard for us to keep them. It is our
sinful selfishness that is the burden, a burden which disregards the honor that
is due to the Lord and the love that we owe our neighbor for the mere sake of doing
our own pleasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conclusion:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the end, the fourth commandment is like the rest of the ten
commandments. It’s a call from our holy, holy, holy God to love Him and love
others by doing something which is contrary to our culture and to our sinful
nature. We are to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, by worship and rest
and loving acts of mercy to our neighbors. We are to give rest as surely as we
are to take it, for we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and to remember
that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Our focus is to be one of
love, eager to give rest to our wives, children, congregation, neighbors, and
to honor the Lord by keeping His holy day holy indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Like the rest of God’s moral law, we fall short and never keep it as we
should. We must never see it as a basis for self-righteousness, nor must we
reduce it to external rule-keeping. Rather, we are to humbly confess our sin
and shortcomings, rely on the Lord for His mercy in Christ Jesus, and seek to
honor Him by the power of the Spirit, as the Spirit applies the work of Christ
and His righteousness to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-85202160136060856952018-09-21T09:38:00.001-07:002018-09-21T09:38:41.580-07:00When We Worship People, Everyone LosesFor the second time, I'm in Starbucks working on a sermon while listening to a long playlist of songs by a highly regarded artist. Last time, it was Whitney Houston. This time, it's Paul Simon. Whitney was one of the greatest vocalists the world has ever known, but listening to her music years after her tragic death was overwhelmingly sad, especially "The Greatest Love of All." Paul Simon is one of the great songwriters, regarded as perhaps second only to Bob Dylan for his songwriting. I am convinced that we destroyed both of these tremendously gifted people by worshiping them.<br />
<br />
We are worshipers. We can't help it. We need to put someone or something high on a pedestal for worship. It's wired deeply into the fabric of our being by the God who made us for Himself. Our sinful nature denies God the worship he is due, but it cannot suppress our worship instinct, it can only re-direct it. It can only mis-direct it. When it does, it generates an endless appetite for idolatry, destroying both us and our idols.<br />
<br />
Whitney Houston and Paul Simon are just two examples. Whitney's tragic death makes her destruction more obvious, but I believe Paul Simon's has been just as real. From what I've read, Paul Simon has struggled with depression, anxiety, insecurities, and short-lived marriages, as he has earned a reputation for treating people around him like garbage. Some of his most popular songs are essentially meaningless, according to his own explanations. In 2015, his former best friend and musical partner Art Garfunkel said, "I created a monster." But I think we all did. We created it by worshiping the gift rather than the Giver.<br />
<br />
The long list of destroyed idols in America is as tragic as it is endless: Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Britney Spears, Mike Tyson, Anthony Bourdain, Michael Jackson, Prince, Justin Bieber, Bruce Jenner, the Kardasians, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and many more. We talk about the "tortured artist," but perhaps we need to speak about the "tortured idols." It's not without good cause that the most famous star-making show in American was called "American Idol."<br />
<br />
Hear me clearly: I'm not judging these people. It's not their fault. It's ours for worshiping them. Neither can I simply point the finger at the world, for we do the same thing in the church with our celebrity pastors. Remember when John Piper and C.J. Mahaney both had to step down and take leaves of absence for being prideful? Who wouldn't be prideful if they were elevated and praised as much as those men were? We could add other celebrity pastors to the list: Bill Hybels, Mark Driscoll, Tulllian Tchividjian, etc.<br />
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The fallen world has always worshiped idols, and they always will, until Jesus comes again. But the church should know better!<br />
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Here's what we need to do: Stop worshiping people! I know that's easier said than done. Sometimes we just can't help it. We admire someone. We've been so blessed by their artistry or their ministry. We've been so inspired and affected by their gifts in one way or another. But we MUST recognize the rising feeling of awe and wonder in our souls as worship. We must repent of that as idol-worship. and we must redirect that worship to God.<br />
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I'm a pastor, and I've spoken in front of people hundreds of times in my life. I know how good it can feel to have people looking up to you, hanging on your every word. I know how tempting it is to stop loving people and start needing them instead. I know how easily we can slip from serving others out of love for God to using others to serve our own egos. It's a dangerous and deadly drug, and it can leave you feeling so cast down after the rush is over that you look for something else to scratch that itch. I think that's why many pastors struggle with internet porn.<br />
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So, here's what we <b><i>all</i></b> need to do: Worship God! I need to begin each day looking to the Lord, acknowledging my dependence on Him and His Lordship over me. I need to be broken in worship before Him before I can serve others in love in His name.<br />
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Here's some practical advice for how we might, by God's grace, turn away from worshiping others and back to worshiping Him:<br />
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1. If you love reading Christian books more than reading the Bible, especially books by a particular Christian author (because you just love the way they write!), take a break from reading their books and begin your day with a healthy dose of Bible reading.<br />
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2. Pray for pastors and church leaders instead of praising them. You can thank your pastor for preaching God's Word, but also let him know you're praying for him, and then make sure you do faithfully pray for him, daily.<br />
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3. Pastors: Make sure your elders and fellow church leaders have the freedom to hold you accountable if you start acting like an egomaniac. Don't assume you won't; assume you will. Tell your elders or church leaders to directly confront you if you start acting prideful, and make sure you are ready to receive their counsel. If you serve as a lay elder or church leader, you have a responsibility to Christ to guard His flock from power-hungry, self-driven men!<br />
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4. In worship, if you find yourself half-hearted in singing and praying, just waiting for the message - showing up late, checking your phone, not singing, etc. - check yourself and repent. You are in church to worship God, not to hear a message from your favorite speaker.<br />
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5. If you're tempted to skip church because your pastor is away and a substitute will be preaching, don't do it. Make sure you attend! Again, you go to church to worship the Lord and hear from His word, not to hear an interesting talk from a powerful speaker.<br />
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6. We need to make sure our worship services are covenant encounters with the living God, and not just a rock concert followed by a motivational speaker. The more churches adopt entertainment-driven models of worship - stage lighting, smoke, performance worship, etc. - the more we are making the people on stage into "American Idols." Covenantal worship is a dialogue between God and His people, not a show for an audience.<br />
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7. We should probably have a mental list of the people we're tempted to worship and regularly pray for them, thank God for them, and ask God to check our hearts against idolatry.<br />
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We belong to one God, He who created us and redeemed us at the highest price. Let us worship Him alone! <br />
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<i>Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,</i><br />
<i> for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Why should the nations say,</i><br />
<i> “Where is their God?”</i><br />
<i>Our God is in the heavens;</i><br />
<i> he does all that he pleases.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Their idols are silver and gold,</i><br />
<i> the work of human hands.</i><br />
<i>They have mouths, but do not speak;</i><br />
<i> eyes, but do not see.</i><br />
<i>They have ears, but do not hear;</i><br />
<i> noses, but do not smell.</i><br />
<i>They have hands, but do not feel;</i><br />
<i> feet, but do not walk;</i><br />
<i> and they do not make a sound in their throat.</i><br />
<i>Those who make them become like them;</i><br />
<i> so do all who trust in them.</i><br />
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- Psalm 115:1-18, ESV</div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="text Heb-12-28" id="en-ESV-30224" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">Therefore let us be grateful for receiving <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-30224AV" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-30224AV" title="See cross-reference AV">AV</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-30224AW" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-30224AW" title="See cross-reference AW">AW</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span class="text Heb-12-29" id="en-ESV-30225" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">for our <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-30225AX" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-30225AX" title="See cross-reference AX">AX</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>God is a consuming fire. </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Heb-12-29" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">- Hebrews 12:28-29, ESV</span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-66584547099485730122018-06-23T08:26:00.001-07:002018-06-23T08:26:17.629-07:00Velociraptor: Monster or Messiah?<i>Spoiler Alert! This post deals with the ending of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.</i><br />
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25 years later, <i>Jurassic Park</i> remains a really enjoyable movie. We watched it together as a family last week as we anticipated the release of the latest installment in the franchise, <i>Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom</i>.<br />
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Interestingly, even though I put a "spoiler alert" at the top of this post, the movie trailer pretty much gives away the ending of the movie - the dinosaurs are released from captivity and end up mixing with the population of the world at large. Thus, the world itself becomes "Jurassic World." I can't remember another movie trailer which gave away the final line of the movie.<br />
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What drives the movie is not the mere fact that these dinosaurs are released, but how. The movie- makers create sympathy for these "de-extinct" creatures and manipulate us as an audience into being happy they are knowingly released into the world by one of the heroes of the movie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqxFv6tlJR-tR9sEB6dBXyw_oDpz46pEsUJuV7l4qJJAIe3L1QooOv9R3rExpRFmJdRwI_HuIuTchirTJ0O1xubFsZYrbTKVTvdkg37ZbfPMAbLDHSCCZ3n10J8M_pqCQ4I5AVF7eWMwf/s1600/JURASSIC-WORLD-FALLEN-KINGDOM-1-0a5ff5f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqxFv6tlJR-tR9sEB6dBXyw_oDpz46pEsUJuV7l4qJJAIe3L1QooOv9R3rExpRFmJdRwI_HuIuTchirTJ0O1xubFsZYrbTKVTvdkg37ZbfPMAbLDHSCCZ3n10J8M_pqCQ4I5AVF7eWMwf/s320/JURASSIC-WORLD-FALLEN-KINGDOM-1-0a5ff5f.jpg" width="320" /></a>Jump back in time to the first <i>Jurassic Park</i> movie and think about this: In the first movie, knowingly creating the dinosaurs was a horrible mistake, as cloning technology was used by people playing God with long-extinct animals. John Hammond was a man whose good intentions led him down the path to scientific and moral disaster. While many of the dinosaurs were majestic and beautiful creatures, many of them were literally cold-blooded, man-eating monsters. The more intelligent raptors were the scariest of them all.<br />
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Now, we're led to believe that these long-extinct animals belong in the world, in the wild, sharing the planet with people. Even more, we're now supposed to accept that the most cunning monsters - child-hunting velociraptors - are now the true heroes and potential saviors of humanity.<br />
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[Interestingly, this change requires some historical revisionism, as most moral shifts do. If Owen's training of Blue had really gone as well as this new movie indicates, then the first scene we have of him with the raptors in the last movie makes no sense. It's a blatant contradiction.]<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XT7Gm32klzs" width="560"></iframe>
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True, some of the moral messages of the movie franchise remain unchanged: Dr. Henry Wu is still a complex villainous figure with his DNA manipulation and cloning power. He's still playing God and wreaking havoc, while also trying to remain a respectable, responsible scientist. He's one of the franchise's best characters.<br />
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But the ending is always the key the moral compass of any movie. In the end, a little girl - herself a clone of her mother - releases the dinosaurs from a death sentence to a life of freedom because "they're living things . . . just like me." Superficially, we can understand her feelings. But for adults to stand by and allow her to make that choice and for us as an audience to be expected to cheer it is astounding.<br />
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We're quickly shown a shot of a Mosasaurus about to eat an innocent surfer. T Rex crashes into a zoo and confronts the lion enclosed there, simultaneously setting it free and de-throning it as the "king of beasts." Cute, right? But how many innocent children, surfers, zoo-keepers, etc, will be killed and eaten by these creatures? That doesn't seem to matter. In fact, as Dr. Malcolm's wise and authoritative voice implies, humanity deserves this kind of "judgment day" at the hands of nature.<br />
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Here's the problem: Dr. Malcolm is clearly the voice of reason and wisdom in this movie, and he's obviously an atheist still committed to the moral implications of chaos theory. When chaos theory is removed from being a mathematical description of complex systems to being a description of the moral order of the universe, it is deadly: Personal moral responsibility becomes subjective and almost irrelevant in the face of larger forces at work. And humanity has no special value or worth; if anything, humanity is the most worthless and disposable life form.<br />
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<i>Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom</i> is in line with the overall moral trend of our culture: away from God, away from personal moral responsibility, away from valuing humanity as made in God's image, toward a more brutal form of naturalism which values animal life above human life, toward a self-fulfilling chaos theory of morality and reality.<br />
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But it's just a movie, right? Not really. Movies both reflect and shape the moral conversation of our culture. They take our culture's values and display them on the screen, telling us stories that further shape our culture's moral narrative.<br />
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Recently, I heard a teenage girl playing with an online game about moral dilemmas, choices and consequences. She was asked, "Would you kill an innocent child if you knew that by doing so you could bring peace to the Middle East?" She said, "Yes, I would." I said, "That's the morality of someone raised on <i>The Hunger Games</i>." In our culture's moral worldview, it's perfectly fine to take innocent life as long as you're doing so for the "greater good."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oAmm36hTrv742C2TUnqaXCxMG9kQe-3M9feZMSuty9UGkW0C0BEbUJPc0t7PEZ_KQ9GikDQ6kLg4x1d56kb1wlOu19hInRDhJUv_du54-nnV0Mcw2inH33pSCJ0Zkl7rHTB8d-OqkOFr/s1600/PRinc_photo_of_fetus_at_16_weeks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="493" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oAmm36hTrv742C2TUnqaXCxMG9kQe-3M9feZMSuty9UGkW0C0BEbUJPc0t7PEZ_KQ9GikDQ6kLg4x1d56kb1wlOu19hInRDhJUv_du54-nnV0Mcw2inH33pSCJ0Zkl7rHTB8d-OqkOFr/s320/PRinc_photo_of_fetus_at_16_weeks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Is this really the way our culture thinks? Abortion says yes. Most people know that abortion is the violent taking of an innocent human life. Yet most remain pro-choice, rationalizing the death of the innocent as the necessary cost to ensure reproductive freedom and to limit the population growth of a supposedly over-populated planet. Even most pro-life people simply accept abortion as a reality they cannot change. In other words, not just one innocent child, but millions of innocent children must die every year all over the world for the perceived "greater good."<br />
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In the end, perhaps <i>Fallen Kingdom</i> is the most suitable subtitle for this movie. It signals another step in the downfall of the Judeo-Christian moral consensus based on natural law and the Scriptures, a fallen moral kingdom being replaced with subjective emotionalism, chaotic naturalism and de-humanizing humanism. As the Judeo-Christian moral kingdom falls, chaos reigns. Welcome to <i>Jurassic World</i>!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-82067761428733988032017-11-23T08:30:00.000-08:002017-11-23T08:30:12.330-08:00Why Did the Pilgrims Come to America? The Biggest Thanksgiving Myth of AllThis time of year, people like to post articles clearing the air of some well-worn Thanksgiving myths. Articles from <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/mayflower-myths">The History Channel</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/24/americans-thanksgiving-myth-food-folklore">The Guardian</a>, and <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/11/10-thanksgiving-myths-dispelled/">Today I Found Out</a> all have an interesting mix of myth-busting facts and political agenda. The agenda ranges from a desire to secularize the Pilgrims ("It was a secular harvest festival and not a religious day of Thanksgiving.") to a re-hashing of the "evil whites oppressing the natives" narrative. Some myths get busted only to be re-established as likely fact (The Pilgrims probably did not have turkey during that "Harvest Festival" - or did they? I actually think they did.)<br />
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One myth we hear repeated at this time of year is rarely challenged: The Pilgrims came to America so they could have the freedom to worship God as they pleased. The freedom to worship God according to their wishes, their desires, their preferences, etc. is a noble-sounding ideal to an American audience. After all, we love freedom so much we sometimes think we invented it. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifIwk4u58dQ7FJVlnN0iCMHP-G9Uop44jjYNRBcOrzAIwcgPBoEEiwfKcbDQKfAKwFXPbAcvAVjBpmQsmZ55g2ewRdM06GWK7AuQbzl8lXMJnX0OdnCE5PtQRk78CLdu-q8nFvP5pl8m/s1600/PuritanWorship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifIwk4u58dQ7FJVlnN0iCMHP-G9Uop44jjYNRBcOrzAIwcgPBoEEiwfKcbDQKfAKwFXPbAcvAVjBpmQsmZ55g2ewRdM06GWK7AuQbzl8lXMJnX0OdnCE5PtQRk78CLdu-q8nFvP5pl8m/s1600/PuritanWorship.jpg" width="320" /></a>Here's the problem: If you asked a Pilgrim, "Should we be able to worship God however we desire?," they would definitely have said, "No way!" The idea that the worship of God could be shaped by human desire and preference was so repulsive to the Pilgrims, it was the reason why they had separated from the Church of England, been persecuted by the Church of England and ultimately driven to the New World. <br />
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The Pilgrims belonged to a group known as "Puritans," which was a mocking name given to them by their enemies. They probably just saw themselves as Reformers. They stood in the Calvinistic line of the Protestant Reformation, characterized in part by the Regulative Principle of Worship. Lutherans and, to some extent, Anglicans generally accepted any forms of worship that were not explicitly banned by Scripture. They didn't feel the need to justify all of the elements of their worship service by Scripture.<br />
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In Geneva, John Calvin took a different approach. He believed that the whole worship service and all of its elements should be regulated by Scripture. This meant that Calvin did not include anything in the worship service except that which was explicitly called for by the Word of God. For more on this topic, see <a href="http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/regulative-principle-worship/">this excellent article by Derek Thomas</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu9SrnzgGonxlA8bU2jKMsZShnmc9hg25TY8k6UaFfbYZVeaKjQynMp895pzM3TuVLVujaoXh2Me4-92iJmov3-jY_mtN-cxzA-cuxu0OR9GbZId5MLM_sL-P_3JP30HpFlm5NeU3cWVs/s1600/Anglican+Worship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu9SrnzgGonxlA8bU2jKMsZShnmc9hg25TY8k6UaFfbYZVeaKjQynMp895pzM3TuVLVujaoXh2Me4-92iJmov3-jY_mtN-cxzA-cuxu0OR9GbZId5MLM_sL-P_3JP30HpFlm5NeU3cWVs/s1600/Anglican+Worship.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn40V4snVhxUbTxVmI84Tfc4AWc7U6fBptBkYM-BlGaTR5f9H0OiJUFSRgr4QHoMHPlpDPPJPkjTRXR9bW_bmpOVVLh4V_oY1WQM02rwVaY3retgqT2LNkqh7MtCR2pAHA7V8A605ZrkAu/s1600/Worshiping_the_golden_calf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn40V4snVhxUbTxVmI84Tfc4AWc7U6fBptBkYM-BlGaTR5f9H0OiJUFSRgr4QHoMHPlpDPPJPkjTRXR9bW_bmpOVVLh4V_oY1WQM02rwVaY3retgqT2LNkqh7MtCR2pAHA7V8A605ZrkAu/s1600/Worshiping_the_golden_calf.jpg" width="176" /></a>The New England Pilgrims wanted a simple form of worship as required by Scripture: Bible reading, preaching, singing, prayers and the sacraments. The very idea that you could worship God according to your own desires was so repulsive to them that they considered it a form of idolatry. Just as the Old Testament King of Israel, Jeroboam, set up golden calves for the worship of God in Bethel and Dan, the Pilgrims regarded certain elements of Anglican worship as man-made additions forbidden by God and offensive to the truth of Scripture. <br />
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So, did the Pilgrims come to America seeking religious freedom? Well, yes. And no. They wanted the freedom to be able to give God the worship He deserves, the worship He requ<br />
ires, without persecution. But that's not the same as saying they wanted to worship God according to their own desires. <br />
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Today, nearly four hundred years after that first Thanksgiving/"Harvest Festival," most Christians (not to mention average Americans) don't even think about the basic question: What kind of worship does God require? Most think it is merely a matter of personal preference, of individual taste. We tend to think that worship should conform to our desires, not that our desires should give way to God's will for the sake of God's glory. <br />
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The Pilgrims arrived in the New World wanting to establish "a city on a hill," a holy colony, a commonwealth of righteousness to further the spread of the Gospel in the world. They were very concerned that their doctrine and their worship both be pure and faithful to God. They believed that the effectiveness of their witness was directly dependent on the strength and consistency of their faithfulness to the standard of Scripture. The best way for Christians today to truly honor their legacy is to seek to imitate their faithfulness.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-49932667423892746302017-11-22T15:09:00.000-08:002017-11-22T15:10:42.428-08:00Replay from 2016 - Alphabets of Thanksgiving<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv7lmsJqlNcGpwQMBOHOgRFi0ubhGHAwEiSQ7RVciiCniU0sPgioLB2hAB0vB-L222rgSLfwZWNskHd4_B4DMaRRWqqFGNhYCCNAT8Sa-AhwAvS_3yAaqzgNeBlX-XkMLdZ3Yy6ti1bb8/s1600/alphabet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv7lmsJqlNcGpwQMBOHOgRFi0ubhGHAwEiSQ7RVciiCniU0sPgioLB2hAB0vB-L222rgSLfwZWNskHd4_B4DMaRRWqqFGNhYCCNAT8Sa-AhwAvS_3yAaqzgNeBlX-XkMLdZ3Yy6ti1bb8/s320/alphabet.jpg" width="234" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a challenge and a fun exercise for Thanksgiving: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had our children make an alphabet of thankfulness, listing out something they're thankful for for each letter of the alphabet. To help us have the right focus and priorities in giving thanks, I suggest the challenge of three alphabets for adults - the attributes of God, the spiritual blessings of redemption in Christ and the earthly blessings of our life in this pilgrimage. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Make them prayers of thanksgiving to God:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Almighty, nothing is impossible for You,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beautiful beyond all comparison</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Compassionate to weak sinners</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deliberate in your plans and purposes for Your glory and the good of Your people</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Excellent in all of Your ways</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Faithful to all of Your covenant promises</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Good and Great</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Holy, Holy, Holy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Insightful, seeing to the very heart of things as they truly are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just and true in all Your ways</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kind to the weak and lowly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Loving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Merciful when we deserve wrath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Never-leaving and never-forsaking Your people</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One God existing eternally in three persons</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Powerful and patient</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Quiet and undisturbed by the chaos in our world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reigning forever</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sovereign over all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Truthful</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unchanging in Your perfection</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Very God </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Without Equal or rival<br />eXcelling all others in wisdom, power and love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You are glorious, holy and majestic and You are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zealous for Your own glory and for the good of Your people! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Father, I thank You that in Christ Jesus, I have been</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Adopted in Christ as Your son forever<br />Blessed with every spiritual blessing<br />Cared for in every detail of my life<br />Dealt with not according to my sin, but according to Christ's righteousness<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">E</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">lect by Your sovereign and abundant love</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">F</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">orgiven of our sins by the shed blood of Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">G</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">iven the Holy Spirit as a seal and deposit of eternal life with You</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">H</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">oly and chosen to be blameless in Your sight</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">n Christ by grace and bound for glory</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">J</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">ustified by grace through faith in Christ Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">K</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">nown by You and knowing the mystery of His will, fulfilled and revealed in Christ</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">L</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">oved by You, God Almighty, the Sovereign Ruler of ALL</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">M</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">ade Your heir through Christ and Made the inheritance of Christ</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">N</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">amed a saint, through the perfect obedience of another</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">O</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">wned by You forever</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">P</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">owerful through Your mighty strength, working in me</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Q</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">uite secure, sealed by the Spirit and safeguarded by Your power</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">R</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">edeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">S</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">howing forth faith in the Lord Jesus and love for His people, by His Spirit and for His glory!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">rusting in Jesus by grace</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">U</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">nited with Christ</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">V</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">ictorious over all the powers of this dark age</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">W</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">aiting for the promised consummation of the age to come</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">e</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">X</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">alted in Christ to the right hand of God</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Y</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">earning for the Second Coming of Jesus, for the freedom that is mine in Him and</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Z</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">ealous to praise You for Your glorious grace, rich blessings, wise and powerful salvation and incomparable power!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">And Father, I thank You for all of the blessings You give me in this life, make my pilgrimage through this world full of signs of Your love. I thank You for . . .</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">America, for the freedoms we still enjoy, even as I pray for the land of my sojourn to turn to You</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Books that inform, delight and inspire</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Children that teach me more than I could ever teach them, including my</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Daughter, a special delight for my dad heart</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">English poetry from John Donne, George Herbert and more</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Family and food, which seems to go so well together</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">G.K. Chesteron's wit and wisdom</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;">Home, a safe place of love in this world, as imperfect as it is</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Icicles and ice-covered trees in winter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Joy and laughter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kindness given and received </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Love of family and friends</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mountains</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Newborn babies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">October leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Preaching, the privilege of opening Your word to Your people</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Quiet mornings in my comfortable chair</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reading stories to my children</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunrises and sunsets that set Your sky ablaze with beauty and glory</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Teaching, the gift to impart truth to young minds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Underwater documentaries that capture a hidden world of wonders</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Veterans who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">a Wife more wonderful than I could ever deserve</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">X-rays and other medical technology, which have saved the life of my son twice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Young children's laughter and wonder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zoos, displaying God's creativity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For all of this and so much more, I thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, those are my alphabets of Thanksgiving today. Make and pray your own!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-8260915131994065422017-09-25T08:25:00.003-07:002017-09-25T08:27:12.677-07:00Stand Up for Those Who Put Their Lives on the Line for YouThere was only one hero in the NFL yesterday, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Villanueva_(American_football)">Alejandro Villanueva</a>. He wasn't heroic because he stood for the National Anthem while the rest of his team cowered in the locker room. He stood alone for the anthem, trying to stay out of sight, because he was and is a hero. He's not a hero because he plays football in the NFL but because he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Rangers including three tours in Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4HG8tixPJjqg49VXwtFlI-KNpCB4QQncXy_LGJzodLqEf3PkNGu0BNCK7e_icW1TEaH4bAv3N8ehJeXMpUPy37Rc9_-NmKDv0OEd6q6Q4rvBXhA8voXrdkhEJIvoOvYLxXYHdMF75Iii/s1600/Allejandro+Villanueva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4HG8tixPJjqg49VXwtFlI-KNpCB4QQncXy_LGJzodLqEf3PkNGu0BNCK7e_icW1TEaH4bAv3N8ehJeXMpUPy37Rc9_-NmKDv0OEd6q6Q4rvBXhA8voXrdkhEJIvoOvYLxXYHdMF75Iii/s320/Allejandro+Villanueva.jpg" width="320" /></a>Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said his team wanted to be united and not to allow controversy to divide them. That was his explanation for their decision not to take the field for the National Anthem. Then why did the team abandon the one true hero on their roster and make him stand alone? Why did a controversial tweet and the fear of public opinion cause them to hide in shame rather than stand with their teammate who had put his life on the line for them?<br />
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If NFL players need a reason to look beyond some tweets and stand with pride for their nation's anthem, I can give them 666,441 of them. That's the number of men and women who have died in combat winning and protecting our freedoms as Americans. Another 1,498,240 have been wounded in combat. So, what matters more, 140-character outbursts from President Trump or over 2 million men and women who have been killed or wounded in combat?<br />
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The national anthem is our time as a country to recognize that we enjoy some very special freedoms, and that those freedoms are not free. Our freedoms are given by God and have been protected by the blood, sweat and tears of others. Our time to honor those others is NOT the time to sit, kneel, abstain or hide like cowards from controversy. Stand up for those who put their lives on the line for you!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-52621798877579399612017-09-19T10:42:00.000-07:002017-09-19T10:42:51.955-07:00God and the Problem of EvilLast month, I wrote about why God must exist and promised to tackle the question of evil, suffering and the existence of God in my next post. Over a month later, I now sit down to write something. Sorry for the delay, but other things have crowded in, like the start of a new school year and daily blogging elsewhere (<a href="http://www.actsandromans.org/">www.ActsandRomans.org</a>).<br />
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I am not a trained philosopher, and I am not going to be able to give you an extensive treatment of the problem of evil. I want to say something that may be different from what a philosopher would say: <b>Evil and suffering are problems for everyone, but only faith in God offers real hope in the face of them. </b><br />
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We live in a world of real evil and incredible suffering. We cannot and should not deny this. Buddhism says this is because all of life is an illusion, but that's not true. Life is real and is also full of wonderful goodness and beauty, of love and life. How do we reconcile a world that is so full of good and bad, of beauty and ugliness, of joy and pain, of love and sorrow, of pleasure and pain? Eastern mysticism would say that the world is a balance of these and that they need each other to exist. Does that mean we can never experience good without evil, love without loss, pleasure without pain? That doesn't sound ultimately hopeful either, does it?<br />
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The Bible is realistic about the horrors and wonders of life in this world. What's more, the God of the Bible offers us real hope in the midst of the chaos. How so? Consider the following . . .<br />
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<b>1. Without God, evil and suffering aren't even problems.</b> They're just facts of life. If the atheists are right and Darwinian evolution is the whole story of the world, then evil isn't evil at all. It's just the survival of the fittest. What Hitler was doing with the undesirables in his society actually makes more sense than what Mother Theresa did. Moreover, suffering and death are so natural that we shouldn't be troubled by them. The fact that we are disturbed by evil and troubled by suffering and death actually shows that atheistic Darwinian evolution can't be the whole story.<br />
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<b>2. Without God, evil and suffering have no solution.</b> We can't expect them to ever end or be resolved because this is how life and evolution progress, right? Science may promise us relief, healing, extension of life, but the darker realities remain fundamentally unchanged and unchangeable.<br />
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<b>3. Only with God do we have clear and transcendent categories for good and evil, right and wrong. </b>I'm not saying atheists can't live decent lives or come up with moral codes, but the reliability and source of of our moral standards and judgments remains entirely subjective and unstable without God. No one has ever been able to demonstrate otherwise.<br />
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<b>4. Only in the death and resurrection of Jesus do we have a solution to evil, suffering and death.</b> Jesus Himself fully embraces and conquers evil, injustice, suffering and death in His own body on the cross and in the resurrection. Jesus alone has overcome death in a permanent way, as He lives forever. he offers life to all who trust in Him, and He alone has it to give. (If you're skeptical about the reality of the resurrection, consider the overwhelming evidence as well as the effect it has had in people's lives. - <a href="http://ponderingsofapilgrimpastor.blogspot.com/2011/09/consider-person-of-jesus-open-challenge.html">Read more here</a>.) <br />
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No one can answer all of the WHY? questions that come deeply and painfully in this life. In order to answer those questions, we would have to be God. We would have to know all that He knows, see all that He sees. We can't. Here's what we can know: If our frustration causes us to throw faith in God out the window because He hasn't explained why particular forms of evil and suffering plague this life, we are throwing away any hope for a real resolution, for a real rescue. Without God, we ultimately sink into a relativism that allows for no good, no evil, no reason, no redemption.<br />
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<b>For further reading:</b><br />
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https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2008/08/20/interview-with-john-frame-on-problem-of/<br />
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http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/confronting-the-problem-s-of-evil<br />
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http://www.reformed.org/webfiles/antithesis/index.html?mainframe=/webfiles/antithesis/v2n2/ant_v2n2_evil.htmlUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-63273550959138867972017-08-15T07:47:00.002-07:002017-08-15T07:47:24.992-07:005 Reasons Why God Must ExistGod is not the kind of being who might exist or who might not exist. Either God exists or He does not. I see at least five reasons who God must exist, why it is not possible for Him not to exist. I will confess openly that not all of these five reason rest strictly on logic and science. I deeply value both logic and science, but I think those are only two of several ways of knowing truth. Universal human intuition and aspiration are also valuable guides to reality. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Origin:</b> </span>Thomas Aquinas made this case famous in the 13th Century. R.C. Sproul has more recently made it most effectively and simply: The universe is a chain of cause and effect, going back to some point of origin in the past. Denying the cause-and-effect nature of our universe makes science, medicine and life all impossible. Yet you cannot simply trace back the chain of cause-and-effect infinitely. This is called an infinite regress and is a logical contradiction and an impossibility. The universe must have had a beginning and must have had a first cause.<br />
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Since time and space are part of the universe, the first cause must be something outside of time and space, something unbound by the constraints of the universe, since it is the cause of the universe. To avoid an infinite regress, the first cause cannot itself be caused by someone or something else. It must be an un-caused cause. This means this first cause must be self-sufficient, self-existing. The first cause of the universe is God.<br />
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<b>Objections:</b> The most common objection to this argument is to respond, "Well, if everything needs a cause than even God needs a cause, and whatever caused God must itself need a cause, too." Versions of this objection vary, but they are all very simple category errors and faulty logic. The whole argument is that there must be a first cause which is itself un-caused. The argument never states that "everything needs a cause," but simply that the universe is a chain of cause-and-effect. God, by definition, is un-caused and self-existent. Saying He needs a cause because everything needs a cause is a logical fallacy called a category mistake. <br />
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The other objection to this argument is that the universe might be an infinite regress. Speculating that the universe might be a logical self-contradiction is not really a helpful argument. An infinite regress is simply not possible. Many people in cyberspace have been boldly and rudely asserting that infinite regress is possible and/or that cause-and-effect is just a biased and baseless a priori assumption, but cause-and-effect the foundation for everything we do in life. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Design: </span></b>The second reason why God must is exist is that the universe not only has an origin but also shows irrefutable evidence of design by a higher intelligence. This is something which most people can figure out by intuition and simple observation, but atheists would seek to convince us that what we see and experience is not what is real. They say that the universe appears to have been very well designed but is actually the result of random forces of accident - collision, mutation, etc.<br />
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Things that are well designed must have been designed well. If you were to find a book on a beach, you would not deduce that it emerged by accident. The language would indicate an author with intent. How much more so the existence of language itself or the incredibly complex code written in DNA? DNA is more sophisticated code than all of Silicon Valley could ever write, and it codes all the structures for all of life. Are we seriously to believe that it's a random accident?<br />
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<b>Objection:</b> Evolution explains it all without God, right? Wrong. Evolution is an explanation of how forms have changed over time, but it does not remove the intelligence of God as the origin of the systems of the universe and life. Understanding how a process unfolded over time does not explain who did it or why. The ability of species to adapt to their environment and consistently, repeatedly make advantageous genetic adaptations makes God the Designer more likely not less.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Morality:</span></b> We human beings have a deep sense of morality, a deep sense of what ought and ought not to be. It is not based on what is, but on what we know should be. We can point to social evolution and parental modeling and social conditioning, but all of these things are the mere proximal cause of most moral sensibility. They do not adequately explain the universal presence of a strong moral sense in all cultures throughout all time.<br />
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Morality requires God for two reasons:<br />
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1. To explain the origin of the human need for morality.<br />
2. To provide a consistent, cross-cultural basis for a universal code of morality.<br />
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Some people think the second reason is not something we should be striving to achieve, but everyone actually does seek this, deep down. We are morally outraged by immoral things, whether those immoral things are done by someone in our own culture or in another culture. Consider these examples:<br />
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1. If whites could cherry-pick Bible verses and mix them with a sense of racial superiority and use this cultural morality ti justify slavery and Jim Crow, we all know it was wrong, regardless of what the white culture thought.<br />
2. If Hitler could use Darwinian evolution to justify exterminating undesirables by the millions, we all know he was wrong, regardless of whether or not his culture allowed and accepted it.<br />
3. Today, we feel deep moral outrage at female circumcision, the kidnapping and brainwashing of girls by Boka Haram. We know the white supremacist who killed innocents in Virginia was wrong.<br />
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<b>Objection:</b> People will try to tell us that this is just emotional cultural conditioning or the expression of a personal preference, but we know that's not true. A moral sensibility is universal. It requires a source in a transcendent moral being, and it requires grounding in some norm that transcends cultural bias, too. Morality requires God. [NOTE:<i> This is not the same thing as saying that you must believe in God in order to be a good person. That's not true or helpful. Many atheists are nicer and more moral than many theists</i>.] <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. Justice:</span> </b>Closely related to the need for God from morality is the need for God for justice. These two are closely related because our deep sense of morality is closely connected to our deep need for justice. We not only have a sense that people ought to do certain things and ought not to do certain other things, but we also have a deep knowledge that wrong should be punished and right should be protected.<br />
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Here's the problem: Without God, we never get justice. All human governments are corrupt and fallible. All human justice is unfair and unequal (yes, that's true all over the world, not just in America). There's not final reckoning, no righting of wrongs, no rewarding of innocent suffering, without God. I will address this more below in my response to the problem of evil as a reason for dis-believing in God. <br />
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<b>Objection:</b> Just because we all want justice, that doesn't mean that justice has to exist, right? True, but without God, we never get true justice. So if we want to have true justice, justice requires God the Final Judge. This perhaps explains why many atheists become violent revolutionaries. They have lost hope that any final reckoning will occur, so they are determined to make the final reckoning themselves. Sadly, history shows that, even when they succeed, they usually make for the most oppressive and unjust governments - see Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc. (If you're a Marxist atheist and you think I'm mistaken in my assessment, please <a href="http://a.co/iiqIPu5">read this book</a>.) <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">5. Jesus:</span></b> Oh, no! Now the religious guy is claiming that his God is the evidence that a God must exist. Now we've gone down the rabbit trail of religious mythology to try to prove theism. But wait a minute, please. Jesus is a unique figure in all of human history and among all religious leaders. Consider the following:<br />
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1. The disciples of Jesus claimed that He claimed He was the Son of God. No other religious leader made such claims or had personal disciples who made such claims.<br />
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2. The disciples of Jesus recorded numerous public miracles performed by Jesus in the presence of hundreds of eye-witnesses, many of whom were the enemies of Jesus and not His followers. No other figure in history and no other religious founder has such claims made about them.<br />
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3. The disciples of Jesus all claim that He rose again from the dead, appeared to them in bodily form on numerous occasions, and then ascended into heaven. No other religion makes such historical claims about its founder.<br />
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These claims are all made by men who knew Jesus personally and were all recorded in writing within 50 years of the life of Jesus. Moreover, almost all of the men who made these claims were pressured, harassed and even killed for these claims, and yet not one of them recanted. None of the disciple of Jesus ever caved to the pressure and changed his story.<br />
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The miracles of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus require God. I've heard many people say they cannot consider Jesus as the Son of God because they don't even believe in God. But if you take the opposite approach to the topic and consider the person of Jesus first, the reality of God follows. <br />
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<b>Objection:</b> The most popular recent objection to this claim is to deny that Jesus ever existed or that we can know anything about Him. This is historically nonsensical. For more, please read these posts:<br />
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<a href="http://www.gospelsandpsalms.org/2016/06/day-98-luke-11-25-psalm-99-are-gospels.html">Are the Gospels Myth or History?</a><span id="goog_287760351"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_287760352"></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.gospelsandpsalms.org/2016/09/day-150-luke-241-34-psalm-146-how-do-we.html">How Do We Know Jesus Rose from the Dead?</a><br />
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<a href="https://michaeljkruger.com/did-jesus-even-exist-responding-to-5-objections-raised-by-rawstory/">Did Jesus Even Exist by Dr. Michael J. Kruger</a><br />
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For Further Reading: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/believe-god-why-jason-van-bemmel">Believe in God? Why?</a><br />
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<b>NEXT TIME:</b> 3 Answers to the Most Powerful Objection to the Existence of God (The Problem of Evil) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-3938107795948450862017-08-01T09:19:00.004-07:002017-08-01T09:19:46.694-07:00Day 1 of Romans Study: Romans 1:1-7 - What is the Focus, Foundation & Final Goal of the Gospel? <span style="font-family: inherit;">From <a href="http://www.actsandromans.org/">www.ActsandRomans.org</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today's Reading: <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A1-7&version=ESV">Romans 1:1-7</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What is the Focus, Foundation & Final Goal of the Gospel? </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><i>Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, - Romans 1:1-6, ESV</i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." This is the opening line in a popular presentation of the Gospel. Another begins, "Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know, for sure, that if you were to die tonight, you would go to heaven?" </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">Opening lines like these have the advantage of getting the attention of the audience and making them interested in hearing more. Unfortunately, the strength of these openings is also their weakness. People are interested in these openings because the focus is placed in them, and so they reinforce a universal human bias: your life and your eternal destiny are most centrally important. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">This is not how the Bible begins, and it is not how the Gospels begin. Contrast these popular openings with famous openings in the Bible:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." - Matthew 1:1</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>"The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." - Mark 1:1</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God." - John 1:1</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The focus in these openings is quite different: It is on God and His activity or on Jesus Christ and person and work.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The book of Romans has a similar God-centered, Christ-exalting opening. While Paul begins by identifying himself, even his identity is tied up in Christ. He is "<i>a servant of Jesus Christ</i>." Then Paul identifies his mission as an apostle with the gospel of God. The gospel is the good news of what God has done, is doing and will do through Jesus Christ. This is why the gospel is "<i>concerning his Son</i>."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The gospel is not first and foremost a message about God's wonderful plan for your life, nor is it first a message about how you can be sure that you're going to heaven. The gospel is "<i>the good news of God . . . concerning his Son</i>." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Rom-1-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The focus of the gospel is clearly fixed on Jesus Christ. The foundation of the gospel rests on the promise of God, given "</span></span><span class="text Rom-1-2" id="en-ESV-27917" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>through his prophets in the holy Scriptures." </i>In fulfillment of these Scriptures, the Gospel proclaims Jesus, who "<i>was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead</i>." </span><br />
<i><span class="text Rom-1-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></i><span class="text Rom-1-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">We will see this repeatedly throughout this wonderful book: The gospel is all about Jesus, who He is and what he has done. He is the Son of David and the Son of God. He rose again from the dead. He fulfilled the promises of the Holy Scriptures.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span><span class="text Rom-1-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The final goal of the gospel is "</span><span class="text Rom-1-5" id="en-ESV-27920" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-27920M" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27920M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>among all the nations." </i>In other words, the gospel proclaims the good news about Jesus so that people all over the world may put their faith in Jesus in obedience to God and to the glory of His name.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span><span class="text Rom-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">Perhaps this is the reason why the real gospel is always controversial and divisive: The gospel is not all about you! You are not the focus. You are not the foundation, Your glory is not the final goal. But the source of the controversy is also what makes the gospel truly good news: I don't need a boost to my self-esteem or self-exaltation. I don't need more of me. I need Jesus. Through the gospel, God does not give me what I want, He gives me what I need, and that is good news indeed! </span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QWuckLEu_hg?ecver=1" width="540"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-2565904225934638572017-07-10T12:25:00.002-07:002017-07-10T12:25:45.416-07:00Follow Forest Hill's Mission Team in HaitiForest Hill Presbyterian Church is sending a mission team to Haiti. 10 of us, including our oldest son and me, will be serving with Reformation Hope. You can follow us online at <a href="http://www.fhpcinhaiti.com/">http://www.fhpcinhaiti.com/</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-72767306321549285642017-04-06T05:36:00.001-07:002019-10-29T08:10:15.826-07:00How Can We Take the Lord's Supper in a Worthy Manner? (Guest Post by John Calvin)We are joined today by John Calvin, a minister from Geneva, Switzerland, whose best-selling book, <i>The Institutes of the Christian Religion</i> is quickly spreading across Europe. We asked him to explain to us how we can prepare to eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner, knowing that the Apostle Paul said, "<i>Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord</i>." (1 Cor. 11:27)<br />
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Here's what Calvin had to say about this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICUDcWjyOuSujO53NpUJAsZOt2-_O6XW9mMDH37Y6C1PMYEjVeewhRu1dwksPfJLKGpsycGnWZKncThIEzpkyRXlqe2KMMY198lmTPueszrQJNayvHSoe4uejUcd-xg4VpB20NAQOLSIE/s1600/lords-supper-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICUDcWjyOuSujO53NpUJAsZOt2-_O6XW9mMDH37Y6C1PMYEjVeewhRu1dwksPfJLKGpsycGnWZKncThIEzpkyRXlqe2KMMY198lmTPueszrQJNayvHSoe4uejUcd-xg4VpB20NAQOLSIE/s320/lords-supper-3.jpg" width="320" /></a>In seeking to prepare for eating the Lord's Supper worthily, men have often dreadfully harassed and tortured miserable consciences, and yet have failed to reach their goal. They have said that you must be "in a state of grace" in order to eat worthily. What does it mean to be in a state of grace? They have interpreted this to mean being pure and free from all sin. By this definition, all the men that ever have been, and all who are on the earth now, are barred from the use of this sacrament. For if we are to seek our worthiness from ourselves, it is all over with us; only despair and fatal ruin await us. Though we struggle to the utmost, we will not only make no progress, but we would only be more unworthy after we have labored most to make ourselves worthy.<br />
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To cure this ulcer, they have devised a mode of procuring worthiness: After having, as far as we can, made an examination and taken an account of all our actions, we are to be cleansed of our unworthiness by contrition, confession, and satisfaction. I say that such things, at best, give poor and fleeting comfort to alarmed and downcast consciences, struck with terror at their sins. For if the Lord admits only the righteous and innocent to partake of his Supper, every man would have to be very cautious before feeling that he had righteousness of his own which God requires.<br />
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How could we be assured that we have truly done everything in our power to discharge our duty to God? Even if we could be assured of this, who would then venture to assure himself that he, in fact, had done all that he could do? So, we would have no certain security for our worthiness, and access to the Supper would always be excluded by the fearful warning, "<i>Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord</i>." (1 Cor. 11:27)<br />
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It is now easy to judge what is the nature, and who is the author, of this kind of teaching. Certainly the devil could have no shorter method of destroying men than by thus excluding them from the taste and savor of this food which their most merciful Father in heaven is pleased to feed them. To avoid running off such a cliff, let us remember that this sacred feast is medicine to the sick, comfort to the sinner, and bounty to the poor. To the healthy, the righteous, and the rich (if any could be found) the Lord's Supper would be of no value. For Christ is given us for food in the Supper, and we perceive that without him we fail and waste away, just as hunger destroys the vigor of the body. As he is given to us for life, so we perceive that without him we are certainly dead.<br />
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So, the best and only worthiness which we can bring to God, is to offer him our own vileness, and unworthiness, that his mercy may make us worthy:<br />
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<li>to despond in ourselves, that we may be consoled in him</li>
<li>to humble ourselves, that we may be elevated by him</li>
<li>to accuse ourselves, that we may be justified by him</li>
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We are also to aspire to the unity which he recommends in the Supper; and, as he makes us all one in himself, we are to desire to have all one soul, one heart, one tongue.<br />
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If we ponder and meditate on these things, we may be shaken, but will never be overwhelmed by the consideration of this vital question, "How shall we, who are devoid of all good, polluted by sin, and half dead, worthily eat the body of the Lord?" We shall rather consider that we, who are poor, are coming to a benevolent giver, sick to a physician, sinful to the author of righteousness, in fine, dead to him who gives life.<br />
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The worthiness which is commanded by God, consists especially in faith, which places all things in Christ, nothing in ourselves, and in love, which, though imperfect, may be sufficient to offer to God, that he may increase it, since it cannot be fully rendered.<br />
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Some, agreeing that worthiness consists in faith and charity, have demanded a perfection of faith to which nothing can be added, and a love equivalent to that which Christ manifested towards us. And in this way, they, too, bar all men from access to this sacred feast. For, if they are correct, everyone who receives the Supper must receive unworthily, since all, are guilty of great imperfection. And certainly it is too stupid, not to say idiotic, to require, as the basis for receiving the sacrament, a perfection which would render the sacrament vain and superfluous. The Lord's Supper was not instituted for the perfect, but for the sick and weak, to stir up, excite, stimulate, exercise the feeling of faith and love, and at the same time correct the deficiency of both.<br />
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[From <i>Institutes of the Christian Religion</i>, Book 4, Ch. 17, Sec. 41-42, trans. by Henry Beveridge, ed. by Jason Van Bemmel.]Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-20027459478934646482017-01-13T11:24:00.003-08:002017-01-14T08:02:47.626-08:00Poisoning our Kids with Pornography and Pills<b>What Did You Give Your Children for Christmas?</b><br />
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For Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, professing Christians and active members of an evangelical church, got their 12-year-old son, Johnny, some magazine subscriptions and several DVDs, along with a DVD player for his room. They got him subscriptions to <i>Outdoor World</i>, <i>Newsweek</i>, <i>Sports Illustrated</i>, <i>Playboy</i> and <i>Hustler</i>. For his private viewing pleasure in his room, they got him <i>Captain America: Civil War</i>, <i>The Force Awakens</i> and three hard-core pornographic movies.<br />
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The next Sunday at church, Johnny Jones was telling his friends what he got for Christmas. Pastor Smith happened to overhear the conversation and asked Mr. and Mrs. Jones why they got their middle-school boy these kinds of gifts. They replied that they knew their son loved the outdoors and sports, they thought he should keep up with the news, and that he really enjoyed superhero and <i>Star Wars</i> movies.<br />
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Their pastor paused for a moment before asking, "Okay, but what about the pornographic material?"<br />
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To this, Jim and Julie Jones immediately replied, "Oh, we know Johnny. He would never look at those. It was a great value as a package deal, and so we gave him everything, but we told him not to look at the inappropriate stuff. We trust him. He's not interested in that kind of stuff anyway."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErcxivDyz_zzkkktVFY-lhFe7KVhgsvp1MtfX6Dqao3JYXa9s2N3LyDlUN7lXygzrwNG2o1NMPJVNiBblntjlcsEveUe4DCoSkUkN3kBbB9CWMiqRzEAPvD35PkxSpvjR9FQtgO2QtALI/s1600/smartphone-149622_960_720.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErcxivDyz_zzkkktVFY-lhFe7KVhgsvp1MtfX6Dqao3JYXa9s2N3LyDlUN7lXygzrwNG2o1NMPJVNiBblntjlcsEveUe4DCoSkUkN3kBbB9CWMiqRzEAPvD35PkxSpvjR9FQtgO2QtALI/s320/smartphone-149622_960_720.png" width="253" /></a></div>
What do you think of the parenting choices of Mr. and Mrs. Jones? Is the word "scandalous" a bit of an understatement?<br />
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Now, ask yourself this: How many 12-year-old boys in Christian families do you know who have a smartphone? Do their phones have filtering or monitoring on them?<br />
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Putting filtering and monitoring controls on a smartphone is fairly easy. Sadly, getting around most of them is also pretty easy. What's truly shocking to me is how many Christian parents put smartphones in the hands of kids without any controls on them whatsoever. Do these parents not know what kind of explicit pornography is widely and instantly available on the Internet? Does anyone not know that?<br />
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When I work up the courage to ask these parents about their decision, I always get the same response: "Not my child!" Sometimes it's stated with absolute certainty: "I know for sure that Johnny is not looking at anything inappropriate." Sometimes it's more hesitant, "Well, I don't think he's interested in any of that stuff." I think that the thought that their little boy would watch hard-core porn videos is so shocking to them, and the added thought that they're the ones who put those videos in his hands is so unthinkable, that they put their heads in the sand.<br />
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Denial is a comfortable place to stand, until reality hits with a fury.<br />
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Christian kids are addicted to pornography at alarming rates. Virtually no Christian male ages 17-30 has been unaffected by this plague on our society. Their addictions are harming them in deep and profound ways. The sad thing is that most of them were given the device on which they first accessed porn by their parents - without preparation or protection.<br />
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Is there a better way? Try this: <a href="http://www.challies.com/articles/the-porn-free-family-plan">http://www.challies.com/articles/the-porn-free-family-plan</a><br />
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<b>From Porn to Pills . . .</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9whzbHvQXIzh_bCZO8WHyN0R69Zf00fqu0O1zFhn_xTfRmxXKko_9q0tOx4MAFGqiX59JAdMjnMOSloC-p-LyAQBEukxV9yJmIShyAo48A5NYCQIMpTJcLsiDmMxssozVCAFCxpTsr41D/s1600/harford_sheriff_overdose-1483538244-8825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9whzbHvQXIzh_bCZO8WHyN0R69Zf00fqu0O1zFhn_xTfRmxXKko_9q0tOx4MAFGqiX59JAdMjnMOSloC-p-LyAQBEukxV9yJmIShyAo48A5NYCQIMpTJcLsiDmMxssozVCAFCxpTsr41D/s320/harford_sheriff_overdose-1483538244-8825.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Last year, in our middle-class suburban county, 54 young people died from heroin overdoses. 287 overdosed. Even for those who did not die. an overdose is a sign of a serious, life-debilitating addiction. Heroin and other opiate addictions are very powerful and incredible difficult to break. It almost always requires a trip to a residential rehab program, which often still doesn't work.<br />
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How did these young people get hooked on heroin? Almost all heroin addictions began with prescription pain killers. Many of these prescription pain pill addictions can be traced back to a sports injury.<br />
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When I was a kid, I remember getting hurt playing sports and I remember friends getting even more badly hurt playing sports. Almost always, we were given ice, wraps, maybe a cast and some aspirin or ibuprofen. Were we hurt? Yes. Were we out on opium-based narcotics? Almost never.<br />
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During my senior year of high school, 1991, 76 million prescriptions were written for narcotic pain killers. By 2011, that number had risen to 219 million. That's almost three times as many prescriptions. The red and green lines on the chart to the left represent two kinds of opiods, the most powerful class of narcotic drugs and the ones <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin">most directly linked to heroin addiction</a>. Their rate of rise has been even more dramatic.<br />
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Has this been part of some massive world-wide explosion of opium-based prescriptions? No. The United States consumes the vast majority of the world's opiods, those most powerful painkillers like Vicodin. <b>Nearly 100% of the hyrdocodone (Vicodin) in the world is taken in America. 81% of the oxycodone in the world is taken in America.</b><br />
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(Sources: <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/27/americans-consume-almost-all-of-the-global-opioid-supply.html">http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/27/americans-consume-almost-all-of-the-global-opioid-supply.html</a>; <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse">https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse</a>) <br />
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If we followed the pattern of the rest of the world, opium would be a rarely-used drug, but it's not. The consequences of this reality are vast: Not only are young people getting addicted to powerful drugs, but we're also funding Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan through our heroin addictions.<br />
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<b>Why Do We Do It?</b><br />
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Why are parents in America so quick to give their kids access to porn and hard-core drugs? Think about that question for a minute. If I just walked up and said to you, "Christian parents in America are quick and even eager to give their kids access to pornography and hard-core drugs," you might think I was crazy. Sadly, I'm not. It's a truer statement than any of us wants to admit.<br />
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So, why do we do it? I think the main driving factor is fear. We're afraid of our kids being left out or left behind in our technology-driven culture. We're also afraid of letting our kids be in pain, thinking that relieving their pain in always the best thing we can do for them.<br />
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It's also easier, isn't it? When your child bugs you and bugs you for a device, it's easier to just give in and get it. Once they have it, it's easier to just let them spend time on the device. It's quieter. They're busy. Surely they're not looking at anything inappropriate, right?<br />
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We need to stop being driven by fear or laziness or a desire to "keep up with the Joneses" and start exercising more wisdom and prayer in the decisions we make for our children and our family. We're losing a generation to the dark side of the Internet, and we're losing too many of this generation to drugs, too. Now is the time to wake up, pull back and start thinking more carefully about what we put into the hands and bodies of our children. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-24562760049208946452016-12-24T20:35:00.000-08:002016-12-24T20:37:02.734-08:00Christmas Day: Mary Treasured and Pondered<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="text Luke-2-18" id="en-ESV-24983" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span class="text Luke-2-19" id="en-ESV-24984" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">But <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-24984AF" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-24984AF" title="See cross-reference AF">AF</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> - Luke 2:18-19, ESV</span></i></span><br />
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<span class="text Luke-2-51" id="en-ESV-25016" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>And <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-25016CB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-25016CB" title="See cross-reference CB">CB</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="text Luke-2-52" id="en-ESV-25017" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>And Jesus <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-25017CC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-25017CC" title="See cross-reference CC">CC</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>increased in wisdom and in stature and in <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-25017CD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-25017CD" title="See cross-reference CD">CD</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>favor with God and man. - Luke 2:51-52</i></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">Mary Treasured and Pondered:</b></div>
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<span class="text Luke-2-52" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">The Wisdom of Biblical Remembrance and Meditation</b></span><br />
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And so Christmas Day has come once again, as it has every year for century upon century. Every year, Christmas presents us with another opportunity to consider the person of Jesus – who He was, who He is and what difference He makes in our lives. As we shop in the local mall, we hear the musical question, “What Child is This?” As we drive down the road listening to secular radio stations playing all Christmas music all the time, we hear “O Come All Ye Faithful” and the invitation, “O Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”</div>
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As much as the world still seems intent on kicking Jesus out of His own birthday party, This is still the best time of year for many of us to focus our hearts and minds on Jesus, just as Mary did, and to consider, “Who is this child?”</div>
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Luke tells us that in the midst of that first Christmas night, Mary, having just given birth to her first child in a stable, welcomed visiting shepherds – grubby, low-life, disreputable shepherds – who were strangers to her and who brought her a story of the most fantastic tale. When they tell their story of the visiting angels and their message, Mary listens and treasures up all these things, pondering them in her heart. </div>
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In fact, Luke tells us twice in Chapter 2 that Mary “treasured these things in her heart.” It is an interesting expression, and it means that Mary kept, preserved, treasured and safe-guarded the things she had seen and heard. She kept these mysteries so well that she was likely one of Luke’s primary sources - perhaps the primary source - for the first two chapters of his Gospel.</div>
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Clearly, Mary valued what was happening. She took her role in God’s plan of redemption very seriously and kept the sayings of God very closely guarded in her heart. She was not just casually and callously “going through the motions” because she had to.</div>
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Mary had much to ponder, of course:</div>
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1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Less than a year ago, she had been preparing to get married, the single most important event in the life of a Jewish girl in the first century, when suddenly Gabriel came and stood before her, scaring her out of her mind. Gabriel addressed her as " highly-favored one" and told her that she was going to have a baby boy, who will be God’s own Son. This baby would be the long-awaited Messiah, who will rule over God’s people forever.</div>
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2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary was understandably confused because, based on the “facts of life” she learned from her mother, she knew this was impossible, but Gabriel assured her that nothing is impossible for God. As proof, Gabriel told her that her post-menopausal cousin, Elizabeth, had recently become pregnant. Still, believing that an older, married woman who had been infertile would now have a child was one thing – this kind of thing had happened in the Old Testament to Sarah and to Rachel and to Hannah. But for a virgin girl to have a child, the Son of God? </div>
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3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As overjoyed as she was at being so highly favored by God, the realities of Jewish cultural life and the common-sense skepticism of your neighbors, meant that she have to go away and stay with Elizabeth for a while. As she was approaching the house, Elizabeth herself came to meet her, proclaiming with joy that she is the most blessed of women, the mother of her Lord, and that the baby in her womb leapt at the sound of her voice, thrilled to have a visit from his Lord and her mother. </div>
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4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Then, just as her time was drawing near to give birth, Mary had to travel about 100 miles with Joseph to Bethlehem, to be registered for a tax. </div>
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5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, they went to stay with some of Joseph’s relatives, but they had no room in the main part of the house itself, so Mary and Joseph had to sleep with the animals. (I'm sure this really made her feel like the highly favored mother of the Son of the Most High God.)</div>
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6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Among the animals, Mary went into labor and after a normal, dirty, painful childbirth (no epidurals, remember), she welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world.</div>
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7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Before long, a bunch of smelly, dirty shepherds showed up to brighten up the place. They were excited and in awe of Mary and her child, saying that an angel had just visited them and told them that this baby is their Savior and Lord, the long-awaited Messiah and King of Israel. </div>
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All of this certainly provides ample material for pondering. Mary did not fully understand the meaning of all of the strange and wonderful things that happened in her life, but she thought about them and considered them and compared the various events with each other:</div>
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<li>She was the mother of the Son of God, and yet she was a simple Jewish peasant girl.</li>
<li>Her Son was the long-awaited Messiah, and yet He was the son of a carpenter in a small town ruled by the mighty Roman Empire. </li>
<li>Angels proclaimed His coming, and yet they did so to shepherds out in the fields, not to the king in his palace or the priests in their temple. </li>
<li>The King of the Universe, God’s only son, was wrapped in rags, asleep in a feeding trough.</li>
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As Mary pondered these things, she probably began to think that God’s ways were not like our ways, that the kind of king and kingdom God was working to establish were not what most people would expect. Years later, she would have much to ponder as she saw this King of kings, God’s own Son, hanging naked and bloody and gasping for breath on a Roman cross. </div>
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God decided to rescue the world by sending His Son to be born as a baby. He then saved His people by having His Son die a humiliating and brutal death. This is certainly something we need to ponder, even as Mary did. So, are we? Are you taking time to treasure and ponder the true message of Christmas and the true meaning of the Gospel this year?</div>
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<i>Lord, give us hearts to treasure Your word and ponder Your gospel this year. May we consider Jesus always, not just at Christmas time. May we do more than consider. Maybe we believe and worship Him, now and always. In Jesus' name, Amen.</i></div>
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<b>"Mary, Did You Know?" by Pentatonix:</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-72916038587629768872016-12-23T21:28:00.002-08:002016-12-23T21:28:13.625-08:00Christmas Eve: Joseph and His Dreamsfrom <a href="http://gospeladvent.org/">GospelAdvent.org</a> . . <div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="text Matt-1-18" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Now the birth of <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23163U" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23163U" title="See cross-reference U">U</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>Jesus Christ took place in this way. <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23163V" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23163V" title="See cross-reference V">V</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23163W" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23163W" title="See cross-reference W">W</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>from the Holy Spirit.</span> <span class="text Matt-1-19" id="en-ESV-23164" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23164X" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23164X" title="See cross-reference X">X</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.</span> <span class="text Matt-1-20" id="en-ESV-23165" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">But as he considered these things, behold, <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23165Y" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23165Y" title="See cross-reference Y">Y</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.</span> <span class="text Matt-1-21" id="en-ESV-23166" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">She will bear a son, and <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23166Z" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23166Z" title="See cross-reference Z">Z</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>you shall call his name Jesus, <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23166AA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23166AA" title="See cross-reference AA">AA</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>for he will save his people from their sins.”</span> <span class="text Matt-1-22" id="en-ESV-23167" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">All this took place <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23167AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23167AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="text Matt-1-23" id="en-ESV-23168" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><br /></span><span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23168AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23168AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Matt-1-23" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and they shall call his name <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23168AE" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23168AE" title="See cross-reference AE">AE</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>Immanuel”</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="text Matt-1-23" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">(which means, God <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23168AF" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23168AF" title="See cross-reference AF">AF</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>with us).</span> <span class="text Matt-1-24" id="en-ESV-23169" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,</span> <span class="text Matt-1-25" id="en-ESV-23170" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23170AG" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-23170AG" title="See cross-reference AG">AG</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>he called his name Jesus. - Matthew 1:18-25, ESV</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Joseph and His Dreams</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Do not think for one moment that it is a mere coincidence that his name was Joseph and he dreamed. Scripture tells us the stories of two men named Joseph, both of whom were dreamers: Joseph the son of Jacob in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, and Joseph the son of Jacob in the first book of the New Testament, Matthew. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">The Joseph we read about in Genesis was shown his future in two dreams. These dreams brought him the jealous wrath of his brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Joseph's journey to Egypt ended up saving the lives of God's chosen family, paving the way for a later mighty deliverance under the blood of the Passover Lamb.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbixJ0JhI5Wik7L_38DglQQofoPadnWvxyNpAMi8xhEItJArkebrSCPnC_9BMEja88hPCj8ef8Px9Y76Bw7vFlvBuhEFM8WiP9GMQgxUHNztYe5RaDwyGRNqbPjellrCooja9C7FD0Us/s1600/The_Dream_of_Saint_Joseph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbixJ0JhI5Wik7L_38DglQQofoPadnWvxyNpAMi8xhEItJArkebrSCPnC_9BMEja88hPCj8ef8Px9Y76Bw7vFlvBuhEFM8WiP9GMQgxUHNztYe5RaDwyGRNqbPjellrCooja9C7FD0Us/s320/The_Dream_of_Saint_Joseph.jpg" width="228" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">St. Joseph's dream, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_de_Champaigne" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Philippe de Champaigne">Philippe de Champaigne</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Joseph, husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, also had two dreams before he, too, ended up in Egypt. The first dream told him to take Mary as his wife, and the second dream (Matt. 2:13) warned him to flee to Egypt. This Joseph was also driven to Egypt by jealous wrath, only he voluntarily fled the rage of King Herod. His flight to Egypt also was used by God to preseve the life of God's chosen family. His flight also paved the way for a later mighty deliverance under the blood of the true Passover Lamb. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">These two Josephs are further distinguished as two of the most morally upright and honorable men in all of Scripture. The Bible is very clear-eyed and sometinmes brutally honest about men's faults: Noah was a drunk, Abraham was a liar, Moses a murderer, David an adulterer, Peter a denier, Paul a persecuter. These two Josephs are among a very small handful of men whose tales are told without any stain or shadow on their characters. We're specifically told of Mary's husband that he was "a just man," one who was determined to treat her with gentleness, despite what appeared to be her unfaithfulness to him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">What I have always admired most about Joseph was how quickly obedient he was to the dreams God sent him. The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah and Mary in person, but the angel who spoke to Joseph only came in dreams. I could imagine a hundred excuses I could offer for not wanting to obey a dream, especially when I was being asked to do such difficult things: marry a woman who is already pregnant with someone else's child, fly away to Egypt and leave behind family and friends, and then go back to Nazareth to live among the gossips. Joseph's instructions were never easy, but his obedience was always quick and complete. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Heavenly Father, may we, by Your grace, have the heart of Joseph. May we be just and gentle. May we be obedient and faithful. May we be willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of Your name and Your Son. In His name we pray, Amen. </i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><b>"Joseph's Song" by Michel Card - </b></span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KT4VDAIaMwU" width="540"></iframe> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text Matt-1-25" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"> </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408718180511465353.post-49553847469428657202016-12-01T16:32:00.002-08:002016-12-01T16:32:46.656-08:00New Blog - Gospel Advent - Devotions for Advent and ChristmasYesterday, I launched a new blog, <a href="http://www.gospeladvent.org/">www.GospelAdvent.org</a>, with devotions for Advent and Christmas. A new devotion will be posted daily through Christmas Day. Here is Day 1:<br />
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<b>Day 1: The Word that Framed the Worlds</b></div>
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<i>"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good." </i><br />
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<i>- Genesis 1:1-4a, ESV</i></div>
<i><br /></i><i>"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." </i><br />
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<i>- John 1:1-5, ESV</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><b>In the Beginning . . .</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">As we begin the month of December, our hearts and minds, and over-crowded schedules are focused on the rapid approach of Christmas. Shopping lists, decorating tasks, party schedules, gift ideas, baking, cards and family gatherings all conspire to make this one of the most intensely stressful times of the year. The pressure to make this "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" can make many parents - especially moms - feel like they are scrambling to catch up and always falling short. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Let's take a few minutes each morning to remember that Christmas is not special because of what we do but because of what Christ has done. What brings lasting joy is not the perfect present under the tree, but the gift of salvation, laid in a manger more than 200 decades ago, in that little town of Bethlehem. </span></span></div>
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Who was this child who was born in Bethlehem and was wrapped in swaddling cloths? What was the meaning of His coming into the world? W<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">here do we begin in reflecting on the wonder of Christ's coming? Well, why not begin at the very beginning?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">In the very beginning, God framed and ordered the universe and our home in it by using His word. He spoke and light penetrated darkness. He spoke and order brought shape and meaning to chaos. He spoke and life and beauty filled the empty void. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">John tells us something unexpected and marvelous at the beginning of his Gospel: This word which God spoke is a Person, a Person who has always been with God and a Person who has always been God. All things were made through this Person of the Word, just like we read in Genesis 1. Even more wonderfully, this Person of the Word is the life of the world and the light of all people. The light of the Word shines in the darkness of this world and is never grasped, never mastered, never comprehended and never overcome.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text John-1-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">This Word is the O<span style="font-family: inherit;">ne who "</span></span>became flesh and <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-26048AB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-26048AB" title="See cross-reference AB">AB</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>dwelt among us, <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-26048AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-26048AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-26048AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-26048AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>grace and <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-26048AE" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-26048AE" title="See cross-reference AE">AE</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>truth." (John 1:14) Look outside for a moment and consider: The baby who laid in the manger on that first Christmas, the One whose coming we celebrate, was the Word that formed everything. Go outside tonight and look at the stars and consider: The One who spread that dazzling canopy of light is the light of the world who came into the world to show Himself to us and save us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Lord Jesus, You are the Word that framed the world. You created everything, and then You stepped into Your creation as a baby, small and helpless, to reveal Yourself and redeem Your people. Such grace is too wonderful for us to comprehend. Fill our hearts with love and wonder that we may worship You this Advent season and always. Amen.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy this video from <a href="http://www.dvmfilm.com/">Deo Volente Media</a> and <a href="https://davemorrowmusic.com/">Dave Morrow Music</a>:</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iiA_fVoqe04" style="background-color: transparent;" width="560"></iframe></div>
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