God at Work as You Work

Reading from one of my favorite Systematic Theologies this morning. Related to the idea of Divine Concurrence, Augustus Strong writes:

"The divine efficiency interpenetrates that of man without destroying or absorbing it. The influx of God’s sustaining energy is such that men retain their natural faculties and powers. God does not work all, but all in all."

"The movement of the electric car cannot be explained simply from the working of its own motor apparatus. The electric current throbbing through the wire, and the dynamo from which that energy proceeds, are needed to explain the result. In like manner we need a spiritual Christ to explain the spiritual activity of the Christian."

Phil. 2:12-13
"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

For All the Blissful People Out There

There are those who condemn teaching on such difficult topics as election on the basis that "we shouldn't pretend like we understand everything about God". Setting aside the fact that this is the biggest straw man since Ray Bolger, is that really the goal of theology? Of course we will never fully understand God, but are we not called upon to understand God to the extent that He has revealed Himself? Shouldn't the fact that certain teachings of Scripture are difficult cause us to grapple with them more diligently? And, does understanding God better somehow cause us to marvel at His immensity less?

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason has an excellent post this morning. Well worth the read.

Prayer Warriors

Listening to a powerful sermon by Pastor Tommy Nelson. He is preaching on "Prevailing Prayer," from Romans 15. In it he made a statement, regarding prayer as "the breath of the warrior" (Ephesians 6:18) that is well worth remembering:

"Successful ministry is the spoil of prayer."

For too many of us prayer is a txt msg to JC our BFFL, rather than the agonizing exertion we see in the Bible. It is a matter for the shopping mall, rather than the Garden. And the enemy is ROTFL.

Jewish Whassup

For students of the Old Testament, here is a deep insight into Jewish culture.

Jumping Over the Stumblingblock

If you missed it, here's an interview with Joel Osteen and counterpoint by Dr. Horton. Ya know, I don't care if the guy preaches to more people than God, shouldn't we at least balk a little when he says, "There's a lot better people qualified to say, 'Here's a book that's going to explain the Scriptures to you'." If you're not qualified to explain the Scriptures, Joel, then how are you qualified to be a PASTOR?!?!?

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." (2 Tim. 4:1-2, NASB)

So, just how does that compare to Joel's comments?

Cooties in the pulpit

If the church of, say, the Reformation era, was a majestic eagle then the church of today is Beaky Buzzard. Take the example of the 7-year-old preacher and the 9-year-old "prophet" in this video. I only WISH it were a joke.

So, how can you be "the husband of one wife" when she still gots cooties? I guess since the kid "got saved" when he was 3, and he's now 7, that means he's not a "new convert"?

"It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.
4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity
5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),
6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." (1 Tim. 3:1-7, NASB)

Psalm 115:3

Another verse to avoid if you want to remain comfortably Arminian:

But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Ps. 115:3, NASB)

Music that Feeds

If you haven't yet heard the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team's recordings you have GOT to check them out. These are skilled musicians, but they are first and foremost committed Christians. You'll find this music uplifting and relaxing in turns. And they just get better and better with each recording. Here's a great place to start:

Creator of It All

Enjoy!

Keeping Our Focus

While preparing for Sunday morning's sermon on Ephesians 4:11-16 I came across this statement in a commentary:

"The first concern of the leadership of the church should be for the filled seats, not the empty ones. When a young preacher complained to Charles Spurgeon that his own congregation was too small, Spurgeon replied, 'Well, maybe it is as large as you'd like to give account for in the day of judgment'." (MacArthur, John. The MacArthur NT Commentary: Ephesians, p. 154)

What an excellent perspective, first from John MacArthur as he reminds us that we were given as gifts to the church and therein lies our first duty; and then from C. H. Spurgeon as he reminds us that the larger the congregation, the greater the responsibility. We must break out of the "double your pleasure; double your fun" view of church growth, and get back to the Biblical view:

"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (James 3:1, NASB)

The Wrong Side of Easter

"This broken, warring world is living on the wrong side of Easter Day. That is the basic fact, and the source of all our troubles. We are back where the disciples were, between Good Friday and the Resurrection. . . . We are standing helpless before the towering mystery of evil's tragic dominion, feeling our hopeless inadequacy in the face of the grim facts of sin and chaos and man's ruthless inhumanity to man. . . . the supreme need of the world at this moment is to start living on the other side--the right side--of Easter. It is to know that in the Resurrection of Jesus God Himself has spoken, and God's empire of righteousness and peace and joy and liberty has been brought decisively to light." (James Stewart, The Strong Name, p. 35)

Hosea 6:6

"They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them." (Hosea 6:6, NASB)

Evolution of a Heresy

"Church history shows over and over again that slight errors develop into serious errors which soon become heresy. In this case one of the most serious heresies of our generation has developed, namely, the idea that human decision is the cause of regeneration." (Erroll Hulse, The Great Invitation: Examining the Use of the Altar Call in Evangelism, p. 6)

Job 9:10-12

Another text to avoid if you want to remain comfortably Arminian:

"Who does great things, unfathomable,
And wondrous works without number.
11 “Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
12 “Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’" (Job 9:10-12, NASB)

I Can't Believe It's Not Arminian!

For those who have never encountered authentic Calvinism:
"There should be no inhibitions in proclaiming the gospel of the good news of salvation in the person of Christ. There are no doctrines in the Bible which in any way limit the free offers and invitations of the gospel. The preacher of the gospel should never feel any inhibition in declaring the free justification held out by God to every sinner who will repent and believe in Christ." (Erroll Hulse, The Great Invitation: Examining the Use of the Altar Call in Evangelism, p. 5)

Here is Love Vast as the Ocean

Today I discovered the wonderful Welsh tenor Huw Pridday. Here he is singing "the love song of the Welsh revival," a hymn called "Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean". He starts in Welsh, then switches to English. Good luck making it all the way through with a dry eye.

His CDs are available in the US through http://www.backusbooks.com/audiocds.htm. Enjoy!

Just Take a Look at ME Now

Back to my adventures in The Church That Trump Built. I noticed something else sriking about the service. It's a common feature now in larger auditoriums (autidoriae?) and, I think, a symptom of a theological DVT in the church today.

On either side of the platform, suspended from the ceiling, was an enormous monitor displaying the lyrics for the praise songs (with appropriate floral backgrounds) as we entered. Later, as the preacher took center stage, the cameras zoomed in on him. Sitting half-way back and to stage left, I still had a pretty good view of the man; but found myself constantly distracted by the massive Oz-like apparition to either side of him. That's when a thought struck me, and I've been mulling on it ever since: just why in the name of Charles Stanley do we need two jumbotrons in a church?

"Well," someone says, "it's so the people in the balconies [there were two] can see the preacher." But that would be my point: why do we have to SEE the preacher? Isn't he up there to proclaim the truth of the Word of God?

If this were a rock concert I could see the need for a clear view: you paid to be entertained, and you don't want to miss the show. But since when is church about being entertained? Let me suggest that we went astray at some point (I blame it on Finney, but then, I blame most of our modern churchianity on Finney). For decades Fundarnmentalism has been more about the centrality of the preacher than the centrality of preaching, and that has been the movement's fatal flaw.

Don't see the difference? Look up on the big screen(s).

Why Men Have Nipples

You've seen (and promptly forwarded to all your friends) the clever little emails with the list of unanswerable questions such as, "Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?" and "Why is there braille on drive-up ATMs?" One of my personal favorites is the perennial anatomical puzzler, "Why do men have nipples?" I'm sure evolutionists (who I've found generally lack a sense of humor) have opined in sonorous tones about vestigial remnants etc ad nauseam. I have my own theory, courtesy of cable TV.

As I've watched broadcast TV in the hotel room this week, for the first time in quite a while, it has dawned on me exactly why men have nipples: we are evolving into women. Strange but true. Consider the parade of foppish, effeminate, bed-headed metrosexual slobs who pass for masculine today. Now cast your mind back along the timeline. Remember that picture of your grandfather in his crisp new dress uniform? There was fire in those eyes; the best we can manage nowadays is a twinkle. That tan was baked-in, not sprayed-on. And for heaven's sake, that high-and-tight haircut never even SAW "product".

The only difference between this and other evolutionary theories is that in this scenario we are NOT evolving into higher life forms (not to say that women are lower life forms; rather, any male describing an item of clothing as "fabulous" is a sign that the gene pool needs some chlorine). But don't worry -- this process is reversible. First, we capture enough of these "metros" to form a decent gene pool. Shouldn't be hard--clothes horses, like other horses, tend to run in herds. Then we duct tape them to chairs (duct tape can be obtained at the Home Depot -- that's the big store next to the Supercuts). The next step is to tuck their shirt-tails in and button their sleeves. If they're wearing a ball cap, we turn it around so the bill is once again functioning properly. Then comes the most important step:

Pop a copy of High Noon into the DVD player and wait. When Gary Cooper strides down the middle of the dusty street, on his own in the face of a town of cowards and a group of men out to kill him, for no other reason than that it's the right thing to do, you point to him and say, "You see the guy with the tin star? THAT is how a man carries himself."

Or, better yet, "You see that carpenter hanging on the cross, bleeding and broken yet finishing the job because it's the right thing to do? THAT is how a man carries himself."

Now, tuck in your shirt. Make your grandpa proud.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
(Ecc. 3:11, NASB)

Luddite Homiletics

A mad brilliant post about Luddite fundamentalist homiletics -- I remember many of these from the theological train wreck of a Bible college that I attended. Check it out:

Signs That You Might Need to Study

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Worship: the Musical

This is why I'm blogging now: spent Sunday night with friends at one of those Bible-Belt uber-churches. By the time the saccharine, mood-lit, look-at-me music performance was done, and it was time for the pastor to take center stage, I expected to see Michael Crawford in black cape and half-mask. "The Paaaaastor of the Opera is theeeere . . ."

I am certainly NOT opposed to large churches. They can accomplish things that small churches simply can't. But surely there is a line we cross somewhere before climbing onto the second escalator to get to the upper balcony. Or maybe it's before installing the second jumbotron big-screen (more on that later).

It tends to put a bit of a damper on my worship when I'm sitting in a church thinking, "I could plant half a dozen churches on their printing budget alone!" But, hey, the full-sized daycare had really cool playgrounds. Hey, shoppers, join today and get a 2% discount on your tithe for the first 30 days (with paid membership, some restrictions apply, see store for details).

Psalm 65:4

As I've read through my Bible again this year, the sovereignty of God has seemed to stand out in a special way. In an effort to show that His sovereignty is in fact discussed outside of Romans 9 and Ephesians 1&2, I'm starting a series of posts consisting of Texts to Avoid if You Want to Remain Comfortably Arminian.

How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple. (Ps. 65:4, NASB)

Welcome to my catharsis.

I had always thought that blogs were little more than a catharsis for 21st-century Travis Bickles trapped between the Scylla of narcissism and the Charybdis of agoraphobia. I guess I was right to some extent (he says as he looks into the mirror and practices his "Are you looking at me?"), because after a visit to one of the Bible-belt's infamous uber-churches it was either start blogging or pray that over-the-counter Valium gets FDA approval fast. And, hey, this is free.

More about my field trip to B.B. Warfield's worst fever dream later. For now, I'll pause to let you wiki Travis Bickle, Scylla, and Charybdis.

Seeya.