Psalm 32
A few months ago, I began memorizing scripture – I started with Psalm 32. Today, I had the opportunity to take what I’ve learned from memorizing and meditating on this Psalm and share it in a sermon. (more…)
Dealing with Arianists
This follows this post and this post dealing specifically with Jehovah’s witnesses. (more…)
Jehovah’s Witnesses – The new world translation
This post follows my previous one which focuses on who Jesus claimed and demonstrated himself to be. (more…)
Jehovah’s Witnesses – Jesus is God
A couple of nights ago, I went to see a couple from our church to talk with them about a Jehovah’s Witness friend they have who has been trying to convert them to their church (or rather their cult or religion). We talked at some length and looked at a number of scriptures and I thought I might record some of what we talked about here. (more…)
David, Bathsheba and adultery
The story of David and Bathsheba is well known, but not known well enough. We will often read it and not really check our own hearts as we ought and so we dont always take out everything that we can. (more…)
How do you describe conversion?
I was just reading A H Strongs Systematic Theology and struck the passage quoted below.
If you are saved by Gods grace through the justification that is given by trusting Jesus Christ for salvation – how do you describe your conversion?
Here’s what A. H. Strong said:
Arminian converts say: “I gave my heart to the Lord”; Augustinian converts say: “The Holy Spirit convicted me of sin and renewed my heart.” Arminianism tends to self-sufficiency; Augustinianism promotes dependence upon God. (Strong, A. H. (1907, 2004). Systematic theology. p605)
Many people I know fall into the first camp. However, scripture says clearly that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10) – therefore the work of salvation must by necessity be entirely the work of the Lord on the heart of a believer and all be for His glory.
Educating your children
The choices we make about how we educate our children is one of the most important decisions we will make for our children. Any parent who cares about how their children are raised and whether they are raised in the fear of the Lord or not will be deeply concerned that their children are being educated to the best of their abilities.
When we first sent our children to school, we sent them to the state primary school just down the road from where we lived. Of the schools in the area it was recognized as one of the best, so we thought we were doing the best for our children.
One of the guiding principles of the primary school our children attended was the concept that they concerned themselves with the whole child. This sounds pretty good. They don’t just teach them the alphabet, they also do sports, social studies, art, science and other facets of modern education.
While this sounds good, our understanding as parents of our responsibilities given by the Lord require us to bring up our children in the instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:3, Deut 31:12-13). Indeed, it is the parents responsibility both to teach and to train our children for adulthood. This does not mean a mandate for home schooling, and indeed home schooling is not an option for everyone – even though for many it may be the best option.
This responsibility requires that parents own the teaching process, that we are responsible before God for the training and education of our children and whether we teach the children ourselves or outsource the job, we will be held accountable before the Lord for the education (or lack of) that our children receive.
We now have our children in a Christian School and have been shocked and surprised at the responses and opinions many Christians – including close friends – have toward Christian schools.
Today we often hear of children who are not longer in Christian schools as well as those who want to give their children a Christian education but cant and many (most) who sharply disagree with the very notion of Christian education.
Over the next few posts I hope to examine some of the reasons we put our children in a Christian School and also deal with some of the objections we commonly hear.
If you have some objections to Christian schooling, let me hear them and I’ll give my response to the objection – and/or grant the points validity.
Ways to read the Bible – mastering the Bible
The term “mastering the Bible” is a hat tip to a very good little book by James Grey called “How to Master the English Bible”. Which while it is a difficult book to purchase, it is a little book well worth purchasing.
This method of reading requires longer concerted periods of reading in many cases and is well suited to gaining a deep familiarization of a particular book of the Bible.
How? Simply read the book (e.g. Ephesians) from start to end in one sitting – and then repeat. If possible re-read the book several times in one sitting. In some instances, this takes considerable time and concentration (e.g. Romans), but as you re-read you’ll find that you’ll see more of the meaning that the author intended and possibly more gaps (such as customs) that hide the intention.
Over time you’ll become very familiar with the book and have a deep understanding of the theme, intentions and characteristics of a book.
This is a great method to use to prepare to teach on a book of the Bible, or just to get a better understanding of a book or set of books.
There is only one better way of mastering a book than this method in my experience – and that is to memorize the book.
If you apply this method to (for instance) the entire new testament, you will indeed master the bits that you read over time and even the whole Bible.
Ways to read the Bible – devotional reading
Devotional reading is purposeful reading that is focused on allowing scripture to help us interact with the Lord. This is well described by George Muller of Bristol:
The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication;so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer…
Now what is the food for the inner man: not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts… (Cited in “Desiring God” by John Piper, pp155-157)
This is a great way to start your day. Wayne Grudem also uses a method like this:
Usually I just “camp” on a phrase or verse, sometimes writing it out and pondering application to my own life. I also keep a blank notepad beside me because God often brings to my mind things that I need to do and I make a quick note.
Typically with this method you wouldn’t necessarily read as broadly as you might with the time otherwise. Alternatively you might also be more selective in where you read from – for example spending more time in Psalms than in perhaps the first five books (the Pentateuch).
Slowly moving through the text allowing ourselves to soak in it and respond to what we find there is a great practice, however, it may not be for everyone. Personally I’ve found this more effective the longer I’ve been a Christian. If you are new believer, you might prefer the hunger based method for the moment.
Ways to read the Bible – hunger based
There are several ways to read the Bible that I’ve used over the years and there may be others that you can think of, but in the next few posts I’m going to explore a few of thee and where and when I’ve used them – and where you might like to use them too.
The first of these I’m calling “hunger based” because it is not set on reading a specific amount of scripture or keeping a pace – it is based on filling a spiritual hunger. This method is ideal for new believers and believers who have a hunger to know Christ and broadly understand the will of the Lord.
Simply put it means just reading. You might start in John 1 and end in John 5. It really doesn’t matter how long you read for, the key thing is that you are engaged and taking in the word as you read. You might read lots and find it doesn’t really strike your heart or just read one verse and “camp” on it for 30 minutes.
This method is also a great way to familiarize yourself with scripture as you can take in whole books (e.g. Ephesians) or even large narrative passages (e.g. 1 Samuel) really easily which allows you to get a broad understanding of the sections, themes and focus of the Bible.
Now this might also seem to be a lazy approach to reading – and it may, however, lazily reading the Bible is better than no reading. Hopefully in the next few posts you’ll get a few ideas for other ways to read the Bible which might help solve lazy reading from ignorance of alternative methods.
Martin Luther on Open Theism
As previously noted I’m reading through Martin Luther’s Bondage of the will at the moment.
Along the way several of his thoughts have jumped out at me on various subjects (not the least of which is his stinging assessment of Erasmus’s book (Bondage of the will was written as a response to a book by Erasmus).
If you don’t know what Open Theism is, it essentially states that God doesn’t know the future. Here is what Luther said to Erasmus when he said that God doesn’t know the future:
…If you doubt, or disdain to know that God foreknows and wills all things, not contingently, but necessarily and immutably, how can you believe confidently, trust to, and depend upon His promises? For when He promises, it is necessary that you should be certain that He knows, is able, and willing to perform what He promises: otherwise, you will neither hold Him true nor faithful, which is unbelief, the greatest of wickedness, and a denying of the Most High God!
(Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, p37)
The church is persecuted today
You probably know that more Christians are killed for their faith in Jesus today than ever before. There are many countries around the world where people who turn to Christ for salvation don’t live very long after doing so.
There are many countries where this is the case. For instance North Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, India, China, Pakistan and Iran are all at the top of the list of countries where Christians are being killed regularly (if not daily). These countries along side Eritrea and Vietnam are the worlds 10 worst persecutors of Christians.
Take for example the following story from Somalia:
David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali was born and raised in Somalia until he was forced to flee to Yemen following the political turmoil that engulfed his home country.
Like almost all Somalis, David was also a Muslim. He was exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ when he was living as refugee in Yemen. In 1995, he committed his life to Jesus Christ. But living as Christian in Yemen was difficult for him and he was forced once again to leave for another country. This time he headed to Ethiopia, where Christians make up the majority of the population.
After long years in exile, he traveled back to his native Somalia to visit his family and friends. His relatives must have observed the change that David had undergone. They wanted to know if he was still a Muslim.
On April 22, 2008, at 4:30 PM, one of David’s cousins led two other members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab to David and asked him if he was a Muslim or an infidel. He answered, “Neither.”
They asked, “Then what are you?” He answered, “Waxaan ahay Masiixi,” which means, “I am a follower of the Messiah.”
At this, David’s cousin was enraged and humiliated. In Somalia’s strict Muslim society, David’s conversion to Christianity brought enormous shame on his family. His cousin’s response was to pull out a gun and shoot David. The other two extremists did the same, and the three continued shooting David until their Muslim “honor” had been avenged.
This and many other stories are chronicled in the International Christian Concern “Hall of Shame” for 2009. The Hall of Shame reads a bit like a cross between a political summary and Foxes Book of Martyrs, but is well worth reading.
It is also worth subscribing to the Voice of the Martyrs newsletter or contacting a VOM representative at your church. We who live safely in the west should be actively seeking to help our brothers and sisters in Christ who are subject to persecution. We must start by understanding the situation they are in. We also need to pray and give to help them out.
There are a number of organizations I would recommend. One is the Voice of the Martyrs which is dedicated to helping persecuted believers and telling their stories. The other is the Barnabas fund which is only focused on helping believers, but not restricted just to countries of persecution.
Take the time to find out more, and see what you can do to help – we can help!
Grace abounds
The law brings the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). But this is not the message of the gospel. Knowing about the law (and sin) is simply a means to the end. The end is to know Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:20-21 is an amazing statement. It reads:
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
While the more we know of the law, the more we realise we have broken it. However, the more sin there is, the more the grace of God grows. We can see this today in an age where arguably there is more sin than ever before, yet the end has not yet come – Gods grace abounds all the more. Why?
The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9)
Grace abounds today and indeed exceeds the sin around us, because Jesus is still seeking those who would be saved.
Rather than the message of Christianity being about condemnation by the righteousness and holiness of God, God desires that none perish, and that all reach repentance.
The message of Christianity is abundant grace, justification and forgiveness. No strings attached.
If you haven’t reached out to Jesus for this forgiveness that comes through his death, do so today – now is the favourable time; now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2).
Lincolns Birthday – On liberty
The article below appeared in K-House eNews newsletter a couple of days ago. I thought it was a very good summary of both the ideals of democracy as well as the expectations that that same democracy demands of its people. You can read the original article here. Today the 12th is ticking over in North America, so it seems fitting to post it today.
On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room cabin in Kentucky. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, we remember the lanky self-taught lawyer who hated slavery, who pressed forward until he finally attained the highest office in the country – just in time for the bloodiest war in US history. But, even more, we remember the greatness of that man who loved true liberty, who dreamed in his day "of a place and time where America will once again be seen as the last, best hope on earth."
There are many things that can be said about Abraham Lincoln. He lost his mother when he was nine, and two of his four sons died before he did. He stood at the helm of America while it was torn in two, and he not only protected the Union, but managed to emancipate the slaves in the process. Yet, it was not just his humble beginnings or his ability to overcome personal tragedy that made Lincoln remarkable. Nor did the abolition of slavery or the survival of the United States alone make him a great man. Abraham Lincoln was a great man because of what he believed in and what he stood for. He was not only about the business of preserving a collection of states under one federal government. He was a man determined to protect America to be the haven for true liberty that that Founders intended it to be.
In his 1861 address at Independence Hall, which he described as, "a wholly unprepared speech" Lincoln said the following:
"I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Independence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that Independence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together.
"It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment embodied in that Declaration of Independence."
Lincoln loved liberty. He loved true liberty in its good old-fashioned sense. Today the concept of liberty has been kidnapped, and the word has become a euphemism for humans to do whatever they like without legal repercussions. Liberty does not mean a blank check for immorality. True liberty is lifting "the weight" of tyranny, freeing men to govern themselves and take responsibility for themselves as men and not as slaves. The freedom of the black man was representative of the very freedom that all Americans embraced in the Declaration of Independence. No longer would they be called "boy" – told what to do and how to do it. They would henceforth be men, fully responsible for their own lives. That’s true liberty.
It is the same with spiritual liberty. By the blood of Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we are no longer slaves to sin. In fact, we are no longer under the letter of the Law. Yet, our freedom is one in which we serve God in holiness out of love, pushing closer to the heart of God than the Law could ever lead us. It is never a freedom that condones license to sin, but one in which we walk with God as sons and daughters.
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." -2 Corinthians 3:17
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." -Galatians 5:13
But liberty is never free. It always comes with a price. In the case of our spiritual liberty, the only begotten Son of God was slaughtered on a Roman cross to win our freedom. In the case of America, our freedom was also bought with the blood of our forefathers. And it is now protected only with vigilance.
Our precious liberty is in danger of being taken away. Men (and women) who have abused their freedoms have brought financial destruction on the nation and the entire world. Men (and women) who have abused their social freedoms have torn apart the family, brought children into single family homes, and have spread disease, violence, substance abuse and crime. As we have replaced liberty with license, proving ourselves children instead of men, our government has stepped in to hold our hands; we’re in serious danger of losing the very freedoms we love.
We are in the midst of another great civil war. This time it’s a war of ideas and of values. It’s a war that threatens to destroy us just as certainly as the war Lincoln faced nearly 150 years ago. His words from the Gettysburg Address seem just as fitting now as they were then:
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live…The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
That says it.
Happy 200th Birthday Abraham Lincoln. We’re grateful to God for your tremendous service to America. May we not fail those who bled for us by treating their sacrifices as little in value. May we treat our freedoms with great regard, walking not as spoiled children but as righteous men. And may we fight so that this nation can have a new birth of freedom; one in which we truly behave as one nation under God.
