No Religious Liberty at Iowa State University?

Well, it appears to be that way. I received the latest edition of WORLD magazine last night and to my disappointment (and thankfulness that they published it) this article was in there. It appears that at Iowa State University religious liberty is truly out the back door. Where’s the ACLU now? What do you think? If you're an ISU alum please consider writing a letter to your alma mater. [Below is the entire article which I linked from the title, please take the time to read it. Thanks!]

Publish and perish
SCIENCE: Iowa State denies tenure to an intelligent design advocate with impeccable credentials | Mark Bergin

Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez never anticipated becoming a test case for academic freedom. Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, the self-described "geek-scientist" is heralded throughout his field for developing the concept of a Galactic Habitable Zone. Journals such as Nature, Science, and Scientific American have featured his work.

But in his spare time, Gonzalez shuns scientific orthodoxy to research evidence for intelligent design (ID), an extracurricular pursuit that draws sharp criticism from many colleagues and now threatens his job. Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy denied Gonzalez tenure last month despite a distinguished publishing record that includes 68 peer-reviewed articles.

"I was surprised and a little depressed," Gonzalez said of his emotional reaction. "I almost decided not to turn in an appeal, but several friends convinced me to do so. This might have precedent, so it was important for me to go through it for the sake of others who might go through this in the future."

Gonzalez filed his appeal May 8. President Geoffroy has until June 6 to consider overturning his initial ruling, an unlikely reversal that would defy the consensus recommendation from the tenured faculty of the Physics and Astronomy Department, the chair of that department, a committee from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the dean of that college, and the university provost.

Gonzalez elected not to share with WORLD the specific stated reasons for his tenure denial or the substance of his appeal, fearing such public revelations might hinder the process. He referred to the disputed issues in more general terms: "I really don't think they have a legitimate reason for denying me tenure." He also said that possible discrimination for his views on intelligent design was one of his concerns.

Geoffroy declined to make any public comment on the matter while it remains under review. But Eli Rosenberg, chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department, told WORLD the central issue was not ID: "That was not an overriding factor in the decision that was made at the departmental level. You take a look at somebody's research record over the six-year probationary period and you get a sense whether this is a strong case. Clearly, this was a case that looked like it might be in trouble."

John West of the ID-advancing Discovery Institute, which counts Gonzalez among its senior fellows, scoffs at that explanation. "His department's standards for excellence in research require 15 peer-reviewed publications. Guillermo has nearly 70," West said. "It's pretty apparent that the reason for this tenure denial is because he is a proponent of intelligent design." Statistics obtained by the Discovery Institute reveal that 91 percent of faculty up for tenure this year were approved. Gonzalez fell short of that soft standard despite co-authoring one of his department's textbooks last year.

Two years ago, on the heels of Gonzalez publishing his pro-ID book The Privileged Planet, Iowa State religious studies professor Hector Avalos circulated a petition calling for university faculty to denounce ID as non-science. Avalos, an avowed atheist, procured the signatures of 120 faculty members and generated what Gonzalez calls "an extreme level of hostility against me."

Curtis Struck, a colleague of Gonzalez in the Physics and Astronomy Department and professor at ISU for 24 years, told WORLD he was not surprised by the decision to deny tenure. "Some of Guillermo's papers any astronomer would be proud to have written. Some others that is not the case," Struck said. "He includes some things in his astronomy resumé that other people regard as taking a coincidence too far."

Specifically, Gonzalez listed The Privileged Planet on his resumé when applying for tenure. Rosenberg admitted that the presence of that text played into the decision-making process. He also explained that the reputation of a professor among others in his field is a significant factor.

Gonzalez said he does not regret his ID work despite the resultant grief. He has never introduced the topic into his classes and sees no reason why academia should require him to abandon a personal interest. "I've never been involved in any of the educational debates over whether creation or evolution should be taught in schools. I just want to do ID research on my time," he said. "Maybe I should have waited until after I received tenure."

Copyright © 2007 WORLD Magazine
May 26, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 19

Approaching Mercy to the Poor

I'm now finishing another book I started before the semester. Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller. This book is very challenging and it is humbling me...but here's a quick quote that I thought was instructive regarding the simplistic approach to poverty that many conservatives and liberals take.

At first, we must witness to the free love of Christ in our mercy. But at some point, we must call the whole person to Christ. Very, very often, it is the needy person himself who then removes himself from your aid. We must strive to maintain this balance. The problem with "conservatives" is that they tend to establish conditions immediately, denying mercy to people who are living unrighteously. By contrast, "liberals" may never attach conditions to further aid. [pp. 98]

Any thoughts?

Get Yourself Out of It

I'm finishing some books that I started before last semester started before I get back into Owen's The Glory of Christ. I just finished Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching and this quote from John MacArthur Jr. stuck out to me.

If you want to be used mightily by God, get yourself out of it. Learn to see yourself as a garbage pail, or, in the words of Peter, clothe yourself with humility. It's not you; it's not your personality; it's the Word of God. He doesn't need the intellectuals. He doesn't need great people, fancy people, or famous people. Because the people aren't the power. The power is the message! "That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves [pp. 283]."

Reminds me of John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease. [ESV]"

Mitzvah, Kosher, Heaven, & Hell: Part 2

[FYI...I edited this a little today out of respect for the folks I was speaking with 5/21/07. I'm afraid I was cynical in my original post. I'm sorry.]

My conversation with the rabbi…

The couple I was speaking with earlier (on 5/16/07) left and I walked into the rabbi’s back room and said, “I think that couple I was talking with out there was explaining things to me wrong.” He said, “Well, what did they tell you?” So I proceeded to tell him how they said that basically when we sin against God there are no repercussions, “He’s just bummed a little.” I asked him if that’s correct in his view.

At first he started to discuss how if we break kosher or mitzvah (commands) then we are sinning against God. I was assuming this meant what Scripture teaches about the fact that since God is an eternal God a sin against His holiness would mean that it is an eternal sin that merits eternal punishment…but that’s not what he meant.

I said, “Then when we sin against God and break His commandments then we merit eternal punishment in hell, right?” He said, “No!” So I asked if Judaism believes in a heaven and a hell. He said, “Not in the same way that you do.”

So I asked in what way does Judaism believe in heaven and hell? What he described was interesting to say the least. He didn’t describe either in regard to places that one goes to either be with or without YHWH. I’ll try to explain what he described.

Heaven…he didn’t have much to say other than that democracy as it exists in the U.S.A. is built on torah (laws of God). Seems like it’s a concept that by following the torah we can achieve a God pleasing society?? I asked about the afterlife and he didn’t have much to say at all. This was difficult for me to understand! From what I understood the rabbinical worldview believes in an almost post-millenial view of the kingdom of God (only without Jesus)…that God’s kingdom is being built on earth now through us. I haven't had the opportunity to ask how they believe the mosiach (messiah) will come...but hopefully I will. I pray I can share the gospel clearly, somehow.

Hell…this was interesting. He went back to the parent analogy that the couple I was speaking with early alluded to. He said that God loves and is merciful…why would he create children and then send them to a place like Christians envision hell to be. I said, “Well, we believe that when we sin against God’s holiness and justice it merits eternal punishment…that’s not what you believe?” He said that God’s not like an angry parent handing out punishment for something His children couldn’t control. (It seems that he considers all humanity to be children of God. I thought Jews would not consider all humanity as children of God…only Jews as chosen children of God maybe this is just my misunderstanding.). He described that God isn’t just an angry being handing out condemnation eternally. He drew another analogy to nakedness. He said that to a Jew being seen in your true essence of nakedness is the ultimate shame. I started to relate that to Adam and Eve’s response to God when they were ashamed of their nakedness (Gen 3:7, 10-11) and Noah (Gen 9:22-23), but he didn’t have much to say about this. He proceeded to tell me that in Jewish culture that if he was to see me naked in the shower that is the ultimate shame and ignominy that could happen and we very well may never speak to each other for the rest of our lives. I was trying to understand what this had to do with hell…so I said, “So if you break the mitzvah (commands) and torah (laws) of God then you will suffer in hell eternally.” He said, “No!” I asked with him to explain clearly what they believe. So he said that when we don’t follow God’s commands it is sin. These sins get in the way of us being able to please God, and be happy ourselves. As we miss these “opportunities” to experience God in His law they pile up like garbage in the essence of who we are…he said it’s like, “being filled up our clouded with sin.” The punishment for sin is basically the consequences of not being able to please God and experience punishment on earth for sin. He talked about the soul as being free from the sinful body by following God’s laws…sounds similar Gnosticism to me. Like murder (another analogy)…he started to tell me about Jeffrey Dahmer and how his punishment or hell was the terrible things in life that he experienced and the punishment that he experienced in jail and the death sentence. He told me that he believed that the Christian view of hell is why people are leaving the Christian churches. He said, “I can’t tell you the countless number of women that come into my deli afraid of God…and His wrath and punishment.” I said, “But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7), the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10).” And he said, “Yeah, but not that kind of fear.” When I read the interactions of the Old Testament between God and humanity it seems that they were pretty AFRAID, TERRIFIED, and SCARED. Just seems wrong to say that…

There was almost no reference to the afterlife in our discussion regarding heaven and hell. It was hard to understand. I don’t know how one can come to these conclusions with an honest measured and rational reading of the Hebrew Scriptures. In the future I will try to understand more by reading the Scriptures instead of talking philosophically like we were.

We’re not meeting next week, but I’ll be sure to post more of our discussions in the future. Interesting stuff. If you have the opportunity please pray for these folks. Please pray that they might be receptive to the gospel.

Prophetic Hat

Okay we filled up our Civic this evening and it was about $33.00 for about 10 gallons of gas. I know some of you have it a lot worse, but man that's a lot.

Anyhow, Lindsey and I made predictions...about when we will pay over $40.00 for gas.

My guess is July 4, 2007 and her guess was September 5, 2007.

That's $4.00 a gallon. Put on your prophetic hat...when do you think central Iowa will hit $4.00 a gallon??

What is the Church 1.2

Generally the Greek for the church is ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) which means assembly, “clas. an assembly of the citizens regularly summoned, the legislative assembly; LXX the Jewish congregation; NT the church - either place or body (from Zhubert.com)."

There are two perspectives (in my mind) that we can consider the church through.

First, in God’s view it is ecumenical/universal assembly of Christians (across time and geography) which exists in local assemblies of Christians.

Second, from a human perspective it is the plural word for Christian…a gathering of Christians…or the place they gather. I’m not going to be discussing the church as location/building, rather the church as assembly.

From my definition of what it means to be a Christian (in my post What is the Church 1.0) I would add to it that once a person is saved they are saved in the context of community. Everyone, including Adam and Eve, was created in the context of community, and when saved one is engrafted (Rom 11:17) as a member into Jesus Christ’s body/bride/church/etc., namely the Christian community.

A Christian does not exist outside of the context of community. There might be a circumstance where a person is physically separated from others (e.g. solitary confinement), but that person is still in some sense part of the Christian community and has fellowship with God by the gracious gift of faith. It seems that a Christian who is free from prison or persecution would have the desire to gather with fellow redeemed sinners. However, in the past even the church under persecution has shown that they will gather no matter what. It seems that much of the fruits of the Spirit imply community (How can love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control [Gal 5:22-23] be seen...let alone even exist outside of the context of relationship?). Here is a snippet from a paper I wrote on the church that is relevant:

No church is perfect. Many Christians have grown dissatisfied with the institution of the church. They have either been hurt by rigid policy (biblical or unbiblical) or emotionally by the Christians that are members. Much of this may also be a byproduct of the pragmatic contrasted with the biblical faithfulness philosophy of ministry. This has driven people to the practice of what George Barna recently argued for in his book Revolution.

The Bible never describes ‘church’ the way we have configured it. The Bible goes to great lengths to teach us principles for living and theology for understanding. However, it provides very little guidance in terms of the methods and structures we must use to make those principles and insights prevail in our lives. It seems that God really doesn’t care how we honor and serve Him, as long as He is number one in our lives and our practices are consistent with His parameters.

Barna, George, Revolution: Worn Out on Church? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004), 115-16.

Barna is arguing for a half truth. The parameter given by God to honor and serve Him is through the local church. It seems that Barna is arguing for the church as an organism more than the church as an organization or institution. An organism cannot exist without a God ordained organization which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, may take many shapes and forms. Ask any biologist if there is organization in organisms and the answer will be an emphatic, “Yes!” Even the smallest house church has an aspect of organization (even if it doesn’t practice the biblically mandated offices of Pastor, Elder, and Deacon). The argument of Barna encourages the idea that, “No one needs to go to church to be a Christian.” This may be true, but that statement, while intended to convey humility and a radical faith, actually implies spiritual arrogance. This arrogance is fed by human selfishness justified by a consumerist worldview. John Calvin has responded to this perceived humility in independence from the local church:

Separation from the church is the denial of God and Christ. Hence, we must even more avoid so wicked separation. For when with all our might we are attempting to overthrow of God’s truth, we deserve to have him hurl the whole thunderbolt of his wrath to crush us…Therefore, those who more boldly than others incite defection from the church…have for the most part no other reason than by their contempt of all to show they are better than others….For because God willed that the communion of his church be maintained in this outward society, he who out of hatred of the wicked breaks the token of that society treads a path that slopes to fall from the communion of saints.

Calvin, John, The Institutes of the Christian Religion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1960), 1024-25 & 1030-31.

This statement is coming from a reformer! This points to the fact that Calvin and other reformers were not leaving the church; rather, they were reforming it. Separating oneself from the visible church is not an outward sign of a regenerated believer. However, it is impossible to judge a man’s heart.

A church is an assembly that gathers together (Matt 18:20; Heb 10:23-25). The church traditionally has gathered together on Sunday because that is the day the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; Matt 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19). The local church is the only context in which Christians can genuinely fulfill the “each others” and “one-anothers” that the New Testament commands (Mark 9:50; John 13:14, 34-35; 15:12, 17; Rom 12:10; 13:8; 14:13; 15:7, 14; 16:16; 1 Cor 11:33; 12:25; 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; Gal 5:13, 15, 26; 6:2; Eph 4:2, 32; 5:19, 21; Phil 2:3; Col 3:9, 13, 16; 1 Thess 3:12; 4:9, 18; 5:11; Heb 3:13; 10:24-25; Jas 4:11; 5:9, 16; 1 Pet 1:22; 4:8-10; 5:5, 14; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12; 2 John 5).

So as Pastor Wayne was pointing to in the comment he posted here there is a dual reality when a person is a Christian. They have been objectively saved individually yet in the very act of salvation they have been inaugurated into community, the Church. They are like two sides of a coin. Similar to when a person conceived and born. He or she is alive personally/individually, yet he or she also exists in the context of a family. So it is in the communion of Saints.

Mitzvah, Kosher, Heaven, & Hell

I had a fascinating conversation with a couple before I met with the local rabbi last night.

We were talking at the kosher deli and a woman came over to get some chocolates. She was pretty upset because they were out of non-dairy chocolates. The couple I was discoursing with was explaining to me that they have to wait six hours before and after eating meat to have dairy products.

I have known a lot of Jews that don’t follow this mitzvah (command) so I started asking a lot of questions, because I honestly am trying to understand what their perspective is and where they are coming from.

I asked, “What happens if you don’t follow the mitzvah and you break kosher?” They said really nothing happens. They said it was a command from God and if you follow it then you make God happy, but if you don’t follow it then God in His mercy is just a little bummed. So I said, “I bet you have to be really careful to eat at a restaurant other than here.” And they told me that they can’t in order to keep kosher. I said, “Is it because there is blood in the meat?” (thinking of Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; 7:26; 17;12, 14; 19:26; Deut 12:16, 23, 27; 15:23; 1 Sa 14:34; Psalm 50:13; Ezek 33:25). They said, “No!” They explained that it’s only because of the manner in which the meat and food is prepared. I always thought kosher meant the food was blessed by a Jewish priest, but from their perspective it’s just the ritual preparation of the meat.

So back to mitzvah (command). I said so if you break the mitzvah of kosher then God is upset with you? They explained that if you break a mitzvah God isn’t upset He’s just bummed a little. So I said, “Then if you break God’s mitzvah He’s not pleased with you.” The woman looked at me and said, “Well, everything is relative…isn’t it?” I was a little confused what she was talking about, but I asked her to explain. She said that it does bring God pleasure when we follow His mitzvah, but if we don’t it’s no big deal, you can just do what you want to do, it’s a pretty diverse approach. Then the gentleman looked at me and said that they don’t look at God the way Christians do. I asked him to explain. He said that I have the wrong perspective on God and that there really is no consequence if we don’t follow God’s mitzvah, but that we just miss opportunities to connect with God when we don’t follow His commands…that we basically do things to make God happy, but if we don’t it’s no big deal. He said that it’s like parents. Parents don’t have children to punish them, rather to love them. When the kids do bad things against the command of their parents the parents are just a little bummed, that’s all.

Then I asked, “Do you believe in heaven and hell?” And they said yes, but not in the way Christians do…

I was really confused…and they left shortly after all of this. If you are a Jew and can clarify some of what I understood, or support what this couple was telling me that would be great. Is this what all Jews believe, or just this couple? If yes, think we disagree on the interpretation of the Hebrew Scripture. Stay tuned, in my next post I’ll write a little about my conversation with the rabbi that flowed out of this conversation.

Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth

Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.
With key addresses and practical seminars by

• Mark Dever
• Phillip Jensen and
• Tony Payne

Quick Blurb:

I can think of no other person who can speak with greater authority on ‘Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth’ than Phillip Jensen, Dean of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney. Phillip Jensen's profound understanding of the gospel and how to evangelize has for decades effected a dynamic ministry, not only in Australia but around the world. My advice is to rearrange your calendar and, by all means, attend the conference at Capitol Hill Baptist, October 30-November 1.
(Kent Hughes, General Editor, Preaching the Word commentary series)

For more information see http://www.gospelgrowth.org/

The Use of Methods in Evangelism

"Whenever wrong methods are popularized, on the basis of a weak or erroneous theology, the work of God is marred and confused. Dependence on men, whoever they are, or upon means, is ultimately the opposite of biblical religion. But where sound theology is weak it is quite possible for success to appear to lie in the very things which out to have been avoided rather than approved."

Iaian Murray p. 412 from Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858

One Reliable Droid, R2-D2 Is

I tried to say that in typical Yoda fashion.

I'm counting on R2 to get me through my classes...I gave him my last assignment to mail out yesterday. He certainly came through for princess Leia...now he just has to come through for me!

Here are a few classic quotes as well!

"R2-D2, it is you, it is you !" - C3PO to R2-D2 in A New Hope

"R2 says the chances of survival are 725... to one" - C3PO to Leia in Empire Strikes back

"You're a fighsty little one, but you'll soon learn some respect. I have need for you on the master's sail barge and I think you'll fill in nice." - EV9D9 to R2D2 in Return of the Jedi

One final test to take today and then I can respond to some comments that I've let hang, and start doing the Church Series I wanted to do again! Have a great weekend!

Emerging/Emergent in Des Moines

Are you a Christian that lives in the Des Moines (Iowa) area? Do you know anything about the Emerging/Emergent Church movement? Well, maybe you should.

I have had some experience with a few different churches on the west side of town and here's some of what I have learned. There are two very large churches that have a pretty big influence in DSM that I'm thinking of, particularly Lutheran Church of Hope (ELCA) and Valley Evangelical-Free (EFCA).

Valley Church has not made a public statment about their stance or approach to the issue; however, they have had Tony Jones head of Emergent-US come as a guest speaker to their district youth leaders and their high school through college age kids (Jake Bouma talked about it coming up here and he took notes on this lecture here from this post. Also, Brandon Barker, the leader of student ministries at VEFC, posted about this here and here.). Valley Church has an attendance of probably approximately 1,500 every week (e.g. in the 4/29/07 Valleygram it says there was 1,747 in attendance.) All of this being said their most recent church plant Waukee Community Church has identified itself with the views of Mark Driscoll's perspective on the Emergent Church. Kind of confusing I know.

Lutheran Church of Hope has made statements regarding the Emerging church but not the Emergent church...however, in their commenting on the Emerging church they did say they align with the views of Brian McLaren. Their statement is no longer published online. They emailed me a copy of it this week though. If you're interested just let me know. I'd be happy to email it to you. The website where it originally was listed is here where January 21, 2005 is listed. Here are a few quotes from their article:

"Lutheran Church of Hope is an early example of the emerging church."

"Let me try and connect the vision of Hope with what McLaren and other emerging church leaders are articulating."

"Lutheran Church of Hope is revisiting some ideas of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Anglicanism...deeper sacramentality..."

"I think Lutheran Church of Hope is a concrete example of much of what the emerging church movement is advocating."

Why does any of this matter?? Well, last week I called Lutheran Church of Hope and they said their attendance on 5/29/2007 was over 5,000. Wow! These churches are being influenced by the Emerging/Emergent Church movement...in turn they are influencing tons of people in our community. That's a pretty big deal.

Even the church just down the street from me in Waukee Westview Church is doing a preaching series through N. T. Wright's book Simply Christian.

Now, none of this is necessarily bad, I'm just saying that if you know nothing about the Emerging/Emergent Church movement you should probably do some research...because there's a possibility that it is having an influence on the leaders of your local church and you.

Skipper and Crew

Here's a pic of my sister and I out canoeing with my dad in the backyard in the middle of the winter. My dad is holding a chimney sweeping brush in case you were curious...

My Sister and I

Here's a good pic that I thought I'd share...of my sister and I when we were little;) I can see a little of my niece in those eyes!

Fighting Sin...

You think that you are a good person...and then sin comes in and you take a good look into your heart and see nothing but darkness. What do you do when you see the sin in your heart? You find a mirror and you look into it. As you stare into your own eyes you relate with the Scriptures:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)"

"For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. (Psalm 40:12)"

"...The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth... (Genesis 8:21)"

Our heavenly Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Our Status...

Okay...it's been a while.

• Still wrapping up the semester @ SBTS...I did okay...but a few things to grow from that have happened. Things have been very busy.
• Starting tutoring w/ a Orthodox Jewish Rabbai in DSM tonight. Should be fun!
• Still working at PFG, and Lindsey's still at Allied.
• We found out that CHBC will be providing housing out in DC...but it's furnished and no pets allowed. We have to figure out how to store our stuff and what to do with our cat, Trixie, for about 5 months.
• The plan right now is to do the 5 months, August through December, at CHBC and then to go to KY to finish seminary at SBTS. This could change though.
• We became members of a wonderful church in Waukee and I was baptized about a month ago, we're making a bunch of great friends there. We were actually at Thelma's house last night until after 9:00pm just hanging out. When I was baptized she came up and told me that she was baptized at age 69...Cool!
• We close on the sale of our house on June 7, 2007.

Hope I didn't miss anything...how are you doing? Leave a comment to let me know!

Psalm 14

Hebrew Numbers 1:24-35

Principal Parts Derived Stems

Principal Parts of Qal Stem Weak Roots

7 Major Hebrew Root Stems

Qal Strong Verb Principal Parts

I'm working on memorizing the next few posts...once again I'm doing this as a reminder that when I start blog that I should be memorizing these.

A Diagnosis of the Church

I was catching up with a good friend Rob Young last night and he had a diagnosis for many folks in the church today, and it really popped out to me...

"Our churches are full of Arminians that live like hyper-Calvinists."

I concur!

There are over 400 listings in the phone book for self claiming "Christian" churches in Des Moines, Iowa [not all of these are gospel churches...and I didn't count the LDS/Mormon listings]. Can you imagine what would happen if they were preaching and living the gospel?? I think the Des Moines area would be transformed!

Do any of the pastors that agree with each other on the gospel (e.g. PCA, LCMS, EFCA, SBC, Sovereign Grace...etc.) know their brothers in other denominations? If they don't...what's their plan for reaching this city for Christ??

Gender Neutral??

One more quick comment for the week...

I don't understand the concept of a gender neutral bible (TNIV, NLT, & MSG [if you can call that the Bible]). I'm not saying that these translations are completely useless, but depending on the motivation I'm afraid that the reality of them is un-Christian. God's not an egalitarian God. As I have started to study and learn Hebrew it has made the idea of "gender neutrality" in translation of the Old Testament ridiculous.

You see, adjectives, verbs, and nouns all have a gender assigned to them. I'm sure there are other languages like this. I'm still learning basics...and through the advice of pastor Wayne I'm hoping to study with a Rabbai in town (to learn more of the language). But this idea is coming on strong!

TNIV and other "gender neutral" folks. What are you thinking??

Have a good rest of the week everyone!

Three Books I'm Excited About

Evangelism is not only misunderstood, it is often unpracticed. Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don’t grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel.

Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize? In his answers Dever draws on New Testament truths and helps believers apply those truths in practical ways. As readers understand the fundamentals of evangelism, they will begin to develop a culture of evangelism in their lives and their local churches.

What is an ideal church? While many Christians may never have considered that question, they probably have some preconceived idea of the perfect church in their minds. Yet they often have no clue what the ideal church looks like or how it works in our society.

Author Mark Dever reveals the key characteristics to a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a biblical understanding of the gospel. Dever then challenges believers to develop those characteristics in their churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing both the pastors and members of churches, Dever challenges all Christians to do their part in maintaining the local church. What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help all members fulfill their God-given roles in the church.

Many Christians are puzzled by what is being called the “new perspective on Paul.” Seminary students, pastors, and laypeople encounter it in lectures, on the Internet, and in numerous books in the Christian market, and some evangelicals have received it with enthusiasm.

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan sees that this new perspective on Paul, which raises questions about the traditional understanding of the doctrine of justification, could lead to significant shifts in the historic biblical and Protestant understanding of the Gospel itself. He defines the issue, examines its background, and assesses its serious flaws. His treatment of the topic is both careful and concise, and he provides resources for further study of this “new perspective.”

Senator McCain

I’m going to hear John McCain speak on Friday @ work…It’ll be in a venue of probably 300 or so people...so we might have the opportunity to ask questions…

Do you have any questions that you would ask Senator McCain…if yes, what would it be? If you do and I agree with your question I’ll ask, if given the opportunity. Let me know!

Morning Sky

Here's a pic in case you missed the morning sky yesterday...AWESOME!

Rugged Individualism

Just curious what everyone thinks out there. Something one might notice through observation in Iowa is that from time to time people won't accept grace. Particularly, when something happens and a person needs help they tend to not accept the grace of another person to help out.

I've noticed this at work. Sometimes someone will be buried in work and I'll offer to help and they'll just respond saying something like, "I don't need any help...I can do it on my own." "I wasn't questioning that," is usually my response.

Why is it, do you think, that people won't accept grace from other folks (especially in in Iowa)? Is this just an Iowa thing?

Just curious what everyone out there thinks...

[BTW, I've been crazy busy w/ homework the last couple weeks...I need to let my yes be yes and no be no, so I'm not going to say that this week I'll get back to the church series...but soon I will. My last final is on 5/4/07, so your guaranteed some writing on the church series at that point in time.]

Prayer Request: Virginia Tech Situation

Current numbers are 32 dead and 15 wounded.

Just pray.

In Christ
Noah

Understanding Radicalization and Islamicization

Please listen to this lecture. It broke my heart for what is going on in the West. This lecture hit me pretty hard emotionally. I pray that this sober reality will help us to weep for ourselves and our neighbors, and to pray that those in Islam will come to into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t need to be afraid because Jesus is Lord, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m afraid how God might use Islam as a rod of judgment against the West.

Henry Forum Lecture: Understanding Radicalization and Islamicization given on 4/13/2007, 11:29pm @ Capitol Hill Baptist Church

I’m going to try to forward this lecture to some of our state representatives. Please pray with me that they might actually listen to it.

In Christ
Noah

Demonstrative and Subject Pronouns

Please pardon these Hebrew posts, but I have found that it helps me to memorize all this stuff if I post it on here...that way when I go to take a break it reminds me that I need to be working on this instead of blogging. And then I don't even have to get off the internet and just work on it online. I have a test Tuesday so the Hebrew posts will slow down a bit after that time.

The Church Series...on Pause

I'm not going to be able to post anything for the Church Series until late this next week due to tests, homework, and term papers. I'll jump right back in though in about a week. Keep coming!

Sold!

Praise the Lord...we accepted an offer on our house LAST NIGHT! It was hard to sleep.

No doubt God is teaching us a few things! Once again, by God's grace, on good friday God gave provision! It's amazing how an offer on the house can remind you of the cross, but that's exactly what it did.

A little background. We started to try to sell our house about a year ago this week. We have struggled with depression and thoughts as to whether or not God was really calling us to do what we had discerned.

So that brings us to the last couple weeks. I didn't do very well on my last Hebrew test, so I knew I was going to have to study a lot this weekend. Also, last week I received the letter of acceptance for the internship program out at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC with two weeks to respond. Also, I received an email on Thursday that about how there is a recording studio in India that is starting that would be used for Christian music recording and recording of preaching and lectures and they need a keyboard (which we are hoping to give the funds for).

Then we met the @ the Marks' house for accountability Thursday night. We knew that a realtor was showing our house so we prayed. Then yesterday, after a pretty stressful week of school and work Linds was making dinner and we received a call that the same realtor wanted to show our house to the same couple. I was optimistic because he was asking if we had any other offers and clarifying exactly how long our house had been on the market. So we packed up everything we were doing...picked up a little and went to Starbucks while they looked at the house. The guys at Starbucks gave us free cake and coffee...and Linds and I had a great conversation. After all of that we headed back home.

We weren't hungry, so we sat down to worship the Lord in remembrance of good friday and my phone started to ring as we praying. After we prayed I turned the sound off the phone so we wouldn't be distracted. When we were through - worshipping, reading the Bible, a snippet of the Death of Death and the Death of Christ, and singing some hymns - I listened to the message. I called our realtor (around 9:15pm) and he told me the offer they made. We took about ten minutes to crunch numbers and pray about it and we countered halfway between their offer and our asking price. At around 9:35pm he told us they had accepted the counter offer and everything is contingent on how an inspection of our home goes (within seven days from yesterday).

We are elated! We still need to depend on the Lord, even though there is nothing wrong with our house (it's about two years old), but it is all in God's hands. It may not go completely through. So we are praying to be content with God's will, whatever it is. After the paperwork is signed and everything is said and done we're going to have a party! So we'll keep you informed:)

Please keep us in your prayers, because we need to figure out where to live in DC, if I'm going to take "J-term" and summer classes, what to do with all our stuff, our/Lindsey's job, insurance...etc.

Praise the Lord!

In Christ
Noah

Psalm 1

Also trying to memorize the following, please pray for me;)

Happy 4th B-day Trix!

Our cat Trixie turned 4 yesterday. Her present was a few cat treats;) She only ate one.

By the way...she's not the only B-day girl this month...mom:)

Hebrew Pronominal Suffixes

Well, I'm currently trying to memorize masculine and feminine singular and plural nouns' suffixes. The first one below [masculine] is סוּס "sous", horse, and the second below [feminine] is שִׁפְחָה "shivchetha", maidservant. Enjoy!

Horse [masculine]:


Maidservant [feminine]:

What is the Church? 1.1

Below are a bunch of quotes regarding different aspects of what the church is. As a segway into what the church is the Larger Catechism from the Westminster Confession is great! I'll probably write some of my thoughts in a post on what the church is next week. Have a good Lord's Day!

I. Westminster Confession [Westminster Confession of Faith. Free Presbyterian Publications Copyright 2003. Printed by Bell and Bain Ltd., Glasgow]

Questions 60-61 are good regarding what it means to be a Christian, and 62-65, 69 are helpful regarding the church (pp. 157-160, and 163).

Q. 60 Can they who have never heard the gospel, and so know not Jesus Christ, nor believe in him, be saved by their living according to the light of nature?
A. They who, having never heard the gospel, [Rom 10:14] know not Jesus Christ, [2 Thess 1:8-9; Eph 2:12; John 1:10-12] and believe not in him, cannot be saved, [John 8:24; Mark 16:16] be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, [1 Cor 1:20-24] or the laws of that religion which they profess; [John 4:22; Rom 9:31-32; Phil 3:4-9] neither is there salvation in any other, but in Christ alone, [Acts 4:12] who is the Saviour only of his body the church. [Eph 5:23]

Q. 61 Are all they saved who hear the gospel, and live in the church?
A. All that hear the gospel, and live in the visible church, are not saved; but they only who are true members of the church invisible. [John 12:38-40; Rom 9:6; Matt 22:14; 7:21; Rom 11:7]

Regarding what the church is...

Q. 62 What is the visible Church?
A. The visible church is a society made up of all such as in all ages and places of the world do profess the true religion, [1 Cor 1:2; 12:13; Rom 15:9-12; Rev 7:9; Ps 2:8; 22:27-31; 45:17; Matt 28:19-21] and of their children. [1 Cor 7:14; Acts 2:39; Rom 11:16; Gen 17:7] (To the children part of this I would argue that at a certain point in their life they must respond, by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, in repentance and faith. Until that point in time they would be a part of the visible church in that they are with their parents, and they are being brought up in the teaching and admonition of the Lord. But this is for a discussion on another day.)

Q. 63 What are the special privileges of the visible church?
A. The visible church hath the privilege of being under God’s special care and government; [Isa 4:5-6; 1 Tim 4:10] of being protected and preserved in all ages, notwithstanding the opposition of all enemies; [Ps 115:1-2, 9; Isa 31:4-5; Zech 7:2-4, 8-9] and of enjoying the communion of saints, the ordinary means of salvation, [Acts 2:39, 42] and offers of grace by Christ to all the members of it in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved, [Ps 147:19-20; Rom 9:4; Eph 4:11-12; Mark 16:15-16] and excluding none that will come unto him. [John 6:37]

Q. 64 What is the invisible church?
A. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head. [Eph 1:10, 22-23; John 10:16; 11:52]

Q. 65 What special benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ?
A. The members of the invisible church by Christ enjoy union and communion with him in grace and glory. [John 17:21; Eph 2:5-6; John 17:24]

Q. 69 What is the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?
A. The communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is their partaking of the virtue of his mediation, in their justification, [Rom 8:30] adoption, [Eph 1:5] sanctification, and whatever else, in this life, manifests their union with him. [1 Cor 1:30]

II. Westminster Confession [Westminster Confession of Faith. Free Presbyterian Publications Copyright 2003. Printed by Bell and Bain Ltd., Glasgow]

Chapter 25: Of the Church (pp. 106-108)

25.1. The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all. [Eph 1:10; 5:23; Col 1:18]

25.2. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; [1 Cor 1:2; 12:12; Ps 2:8; Rev 7:9; Rom 15:9] and of their children: [1 Cor 7:14; Acts 2:39; Ezek 16:20; Rom 11:16; Gen 3:15; Gen 17:7] (again I partially disagree with this part) and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, [Matt 13:47; Isa 9:7] the house and family of God, [Eph 2:19; Eph 3:15] out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. [Acts 2:47]

25.3. Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto. [1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11; Matt 28:19; Isa 59:21]

25.4. This catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. [Rom 11:3; Rev 12:6] And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them. [Rev 2 and 3; 1 Cor 5:6]

25.5. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; [1 Cor 13:12; Rev 2 and 3; Matt 13:24-30] and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. [Rev 18:2; Rom 11:18] Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will. [Matt 16:18; Ps 72:17; Ps 102:28; Matt 28:19, 20]

25.6. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; [Col 1:18; Eph 1:22] Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof. [but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God. [Matt 23:8; 2 Thess 2:3; Rev 13:6]

III. The Glorious Body of Christ by R. B. Kuiper

“Christian theology generally says that the church originated in the garden of Eden immediately after the fall of man, when God promised a Saviour and man accepted that promise in faith. On the other hand, many take it for granted that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a little more than nineteen hundred years ago, marks the birthday of the Christian church. (pp. 21)”

"[The church] consists of many widely differing members, all aiding one another, the quality of harmony is outstanding. There is much diversity among the members of Christ’s church. Some have five talents, others but one. Some have attractive characters, others are relatively unattractive. Some are leaders, others followers. Some are rich, others poor. Some are highly educated, others unlearned. Some are strong in the faith, others weak. But each needs all the others. They complement one another. They co-operate with each other. Collectively they constitute on body. And all are bound together by the greatest of Christian virtues – love. (pp. 101)"

IV. John Calvin Insitutes Bk IV.17 [edited by John T. McNeill]

"Because they also allege that the church is not without basis called holy, it is fitting to examine in what holiness it excels lest, if we are not willing to admit a church unless it be perfect in every respect, we leave no church at all . . . the church’s holiness is not yet complete. The church is holy, then, in the sense that it is daily advancing and is not you perfect: it makes progress from day to day but has not yet reached its goal of holiness, as will be explained more fully elsewhere. (pp.1031)”

V. The Glory Of Christ John Owen Works Vol. 1 [Banner]

“His person, therefore, is the foundation of the church – the great mystery of godliness, or the religion we profess – the entire life and soul of all spiritual truth – in that all the counsels of the wisdom, grace, and goodness of God, for the redemption, vocation, sanctification, and salvation of the church, were all laid in him, and by him were all to be accomplished. (pp. 64)”

I know it's a ton of stuff...but it's good, eh?

What is the church? Part 1.0

This question cannot be separated from what it means to be a Christian, so I’ll answer this question “What does it mean to be a Christian?” first. The following is a modified outline of a lesson I taught almost a year ago on April, 9 2006 called What Does It Mean To Be A Christian. Please bear in mind that this is not the exhaustive meaning of what it means to be a Christian. This merely scratches the surface...

In Christ
Noah

I. Secular Dictionary Definition

a. Christian: (1) Professing belief in Christianity (2) Of or derived from Jesus’ teachings (3) Christianity or its adherents (American Heritage Dictionary)

b. Christianity: (1) The Christian religion, founded on the life and teachings of Jesus (2) Christendom (3) The state of being a Christian. (American Heritage Dictionary)

II. The Bible’s Definition

a. Acts 11:25-26: “So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. [emphasis mine]” (ESV)

b. Acts 26:28: “And Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’ [emphasis mine]” (ESV)

c. 1 Peter 4:16: “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. [emphasis mine]” (ESV)

III. Implications Of the Bible’s Definition

a. It seems that the way Christian is used in these passages shows that Christians were those who heard, believed, and assented to the teachings of Jesus as carried along particularly by Peter and Paul. So that means that at least the epistles of Peter (1 Peter and 2 Peter. Also, Mark see Eusebius 2.14 & 5.8) and Paul (Romans, 1 &2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. Also, Luke & Acts see Eusebius 5.8) contain what the early Christians would have believed. So believing what the New Testament and the Old Testament teaches through the lens of Jesus Christ would have been the foundation of Christianity.

IV. Misuse Of The Title “Christian”

a. C. S. Lewis: “Now if once we allow people to start spiritualizing and refining, or as they might say ‘deepening,’ the sense of the word Christian, it too will speedily become a useless word. In the first place, Christians themselves will never be able to apply it to anyone (Mere Christianity pg. 10)”

V. Effectual Call (God’s Call!)

a. Romans 8:30: “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (ESV)

i. So Christians are foreknown (8:29), predestined, called, justified, and will be glorified.

b. This is a calling which God brings and summons people unto Himself.

i. He called them out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)

ii. He called them “into the fellowship of his Son” (1 Cor 1:9; Acts 2:39)

iii. He called into His own kingdom and glory (1 Thess 2:12; 1 Pet 5:10; 2 Pet 1:3)

iv. He called them to “belong to Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:6)

v. He called them to “be saints” (Romans 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2)

vi. He called them to have hope (Eph 1:18; 4:4)

vii. He called them to Holiness (1 Thess 4:7)

viii. He called them to be patient in endurance of suffering (1 Pet 2:20-21; 3:9)

ix. He called them to eternal life (1 Tim 6:12)

VI. General Call (Hearing The Word From Born Again Christians)

a. The Gospel Paul and the disciples were preaching.

i. 2 Thessalonians 2:14: “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (ESV)

b. It is important that we boldly proclaim the gospel message, trusting that God will, through His effectual call, do what he did with Lydia in Acts 16:14: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

c. Romans 10:13-14: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (ESV)

VII. 4 Key Elements Of the Gospel Call

a. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

b. The penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

c. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3:24-26; 5:8)

i. Our sins imputed to Jesus on the cross (1 Pet 2:24; Gal 3:13)

ii. His righteousness imputed to those who believe (2 Cor 5:21), through baptism believers put on Christ (Gal 3:27).

iii. Accomplishing justification of believers propitiating God’s wrath in the atonement. (Ro 3:23-25; Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10)

d. Invitation to respond in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21)

VIII. Continual Repentance And Faith Are Signs Of General And Effectual Call

a. Acts 20:21: “of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (ESV)

b. Hebrews 6:1: “Faith toward God” (ESV)

c. This initial repentance and faith continue for the rest of a Christian’s life. As Paul writes in Colossians 2:6: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”

IX. Therefore You Are a Christian...

a. If you know that you were saved by grace through faith, and not by works. (Eph 2:8-9) And…

b. Romans 10:9-10: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (ESV)

c. If you believe the following. Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (ESV)

Please leave a comment with any thoughts.

Christ Alone

"O GOD,
Thy main plan, and the end of thy will

is to make Christ glorious and beloved in heaven

where he is now ascended,
where one day all the elect will behold his glory
and love and glorify him for ever.

Though here I love him but little,

may this be my portion at last.

In this world thou hast given me a beginning,

one day it will be perfected in the realm above.

Thou hast helped me to see and know Christ, though obscurely,

to take him, receive him,
to possess him, love him,
to bless him in my heart, mouth, life.

Let me study and stand for discipline,

and all the ways of worship,

out of love for Christ;
and to show my thankfulness;

to seek and know his will from love,
to hold it in love,
and daily to care for and keep this state of heart.

thou hast led me to place all my nature and happiness

in oneness with Christ,
in having heart and mind centred only on him,
in being like him in communicating good to others;

This is my heaven on earth,
But I need the force, energy, impulses of thy Spirit

to carry me on the way to my Jerusalem.

Here, it is my duty

to be as Christ in this world,
to do what he would do,
to live as he would live,
to walk in love and meekness;
then would he be known,
then would I have peace in death."

[From the prayer Christ Alone pg. 23 in The Valley of Vision (Banner of Truth)]

Church Membership Series

To bring some of the readers of this blog up to speed…I’m going to start a series of posts on Church Membership. This is really an extension of a post I did a while ago here, and two different comments I wrote at Justin Taylor’s blog: Between Two Worlds here and here. My hope is to have a clear line of thought regarding this issue.

In an effort to work through some of these issues I figured I would do a series on it to directly focus on some of the questions and arguments some people have for and against church membership. I’m doing this to think through “church membership” particularly to figure it out a little more for myself. These are my questions…and it’s my hope that I can discuss a bunch of them:

(1) What is the Church?

(2) What is the difference between the “visible” and “invisible” church?

(3) Can [or should] we attempt to practice the realities of the “invisible” church in the “visible” church?

(4) Is church membership biblical? [the concept…not the word (although the word “members” of the body of Christ is used in the Bible, particularly regarding the “invisible” church).]

(5) What are the biblical requirements for church membership?

(6) What is a “regenerate” church membership?

(7) What are the pros of practicing a “regenerate” church membership?

(8) What are the cons of practicing a “regenerate” church membership?

(9) Is it wrong to practice a “regenerate” or a “non-regenerate” church membership?

(10) How do a few different churches practice church membership? Are some practices extra-biblical? (I.e. can churches require baptism by immersion, require a certain % for a tithe, affirming certain doctrinal positions such as no drinking of alcohol/predestination/perseverance/etc.), etc. for consideration for church membership]

(11) What role has church membership played in the different types of church governments? [Episcopacy, Presbyterian, and Congregational]

(12) Can a church affirm covenantal aspects of the body of Christ while attempting to practice a “regenerate church membership”?

(13) Do the malpractice, misuse, and abuse of church membership negate its practice?

(14) Has pragmatism replaced biblical faithfulness in regard to “church membership”?

(15) Does any of this matter? Why?

I am not a theologian. I am a husband, student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and I work full time at an insurance company in Des Moines…so between marriage, school, and work I’ll try to post thoughts as much as possible. I may not have answers for all of these questions, but hopefully someday (Lord willing) I’ll have more clarity.

Lastly, if you have any other questions that you think a discussion about "church membership" should address please let me know…maybe we can discuss a few of those too.

I hope you will join the discussion!

In Christ
Noah

Affirmations and Denials; Articles XVI-XVIII

Here are the LAST three affirmations and denials from Together for the Gospel's document.

Article XVI

We affirm that the Scripture reveals a pattern of complementary order between men and women, and that this order is itself a testimony to the Gospel, even as it is the gift of our Creator and Redeemer. We also affirm that all Christians are called to service within the body of Christ, and that God has given to both men and women important and strategic roles within the home, the church, and the society. We further affirm that the teaching office of the church is assigned only to those men who are called of God in fulfillment of the biblical teachings and that men are to lead in their homes as husbands and fathers who fear and love God.

We deny that the distinction of roles between men and women revealed in the Bible is evidence of mere cultural conditioning or a manifestation of male oppression or prejudice against women. We also deny that this biblical distinction of roles excludes women from meaningful ministry in Christ’s kingdom. We further deny that any church can confuse these issues without damaging its witness to the Gospel.

Article XVII

We affirm that God calls his people to display his glory in the reconciliation of the nations within the Church, and that God’s pleasure in this reconciliation is evident in the gathering of believers from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. We acknowledge that the staggering magnitude of injustice against African-Americans in the name of the Gospel presents a special opportunity for displaying the repentance, forgiveness, and restoration promised in the Gospel. We further affirm that evangelical Christianity in America bears a unique responsibility to demonstrate this reconciliation with our African-American brothers and sisters.

We deny that any church can accept racial prejudice, discrimination, or division without betraying the Gospel.

Article XVIII

We affirm that our only sure and confident hope is in the sure and certain promises of God. Thus, our hope is an eschatological hope, grounded in our confidence that God will bring all things to consummation in a manner that will bring greatest glory to his own name, greatest preeminence to his Son, and greatest joy for his redeemed people.

We deny that we are to find ultimate fulfillment or happiness in this world, or that God’s ultimate purpose is for us to find merely a more meaningful and fulfilling life in this fallen world. We further deny that any teaching that offers health and wealth as God’s assured promises in this life can be considered a true gospel.

Article XVI is sure to get some comments. Just so you know...I concur with all of these statements.

Bad Theology Alert: Guess the Book!

UPDATE: Here's the Answer...

Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge

Guess what book these quotes are from… Nope not the Da Vinci Code with the concept of the “divine feminine”…No…not the book of Oprah fame called The Secret. Here’s a hint, it is labeled as a “Christian” book. And it is was published by Thomas Nelson Books 4/7/2005. AND it's really popular in Christian circles.

[I've put them in categories to show what errors I see in the book]

(1) Postmodern

He [the Son of God] came to restore the glorious creature that you are. And then set you free . . . to be yourself (pg. 95).”

(2) Divine Feminine?

“The essence of a woman is Beauty. She is meant to be the incarnation our experience in human form of a Captivating God (pg. 130)."

“[woman] is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God (25).”

(3) Open Theism

“The same holds true for Mary, the mother of Jesus only it’s far, far more weighty. Her life also turned on an invitation. The angel came as the courier of the King. But still, she needed to say yes. [God] would not force the whole thing upon her. Her heart needed to be willing (pg. 203).”

“And of course the salvation of mankind rested on the courage of a woman, a teenage girl. What if she had said no? (pg. 204).”

(4) An Image Of A Needy God Based Off Of Sinful Humans' Neediness??

“How many of you see God as longing to be loved by you? We see Him as strong and powerful, but not as needing us, vulnerable to us, yearning to be desired (pp. 28-29).”

“God longs to be desired. Just as a woman longs to be desired (pg. 29).”

“It might come as a surprise that Christ asks our permission to come in and heal, but He is kind, and the door is shut from the inside, and healing never comes against our will. In order to experience His healing, we must also give Him permission to come into the places we have so long shut to anyone (pg. 100).”

(5) A Hole In God's Heart??

"You’ve probably heard that there is in every human heart a place that God alone can fill. . . . But what the old poet was saying was that there is also in God’s heart a place that you alone can fill. 'It follows that there is a chamber in God Himself, into which none can enter but one, the individual.' You. You are meant to fill a place in the heart of God no one and nothing else can fill. Whoa. He longs for you (pg. 120).”

(6) This Lover Imagery is Irreverant, Unbiblical, and Sickening!

“What would it be like to experience for yourself that the truest thing about his heart toward yours is not disappointment or disapproval but deep, fiery, passionate love? (113).”

“We must choose to open our hearts again so that we might hear his whispers, receive his kisses (116).”

“He knows what takes your breath away, knows what makes your heart beat faster (116).”

“[God] wants to be known as only lovers can know each other” (120); . . . “you are the one who takes his [God's] breath away (121).”

“[each woman is] made for romance, and the only one who can offer it to you consistently and deeply is Jesus (125).”

“put yourself in the scene as the Beauty, and Jesus as the Lover (114).”

“the most intimate of all the metaphors Jesus chose to describe his love and longing for us, and the kind of relationship he invites us into (114).”

This is garbage. I can't believe a Christian Publisher would sell this stuff!

By the way women are an amazing gracious gift from God...and God does love us enough to send His Son to die for us, but these quotes miss the point of these biblical truths by a mile!

Any guesses on the book??

Good Friends and The Pines Mission

Check out the Crannells', the Kunzes', the Barbers', and the Careys' blog at The Pines Mission blog.

I just found out about this yesterday [to my shame]. Please pray for them as the serve on this short term mission trip!

In Christ
Noah

For the Ladies

Check out these talks from CHBC. They are especially geared toward women. It may be weird, but I’ve listened to almost all of them. They are quite good;)

(1) Mary Mohler The Beauty of Women series [3/24/2007]

Part I: The Beauty of Women
Part II: The Vanity of Worldly Beauty

(2) Christian Sexuality: Women’s Talk Lecture and Q & A [With Michael Lawrence, Mark Dever, Matt Schmucker, and Scott Croft] [3/2/2004]

(3) Biblical Modesty [Lynette Smith, Careen Behrens, Debi Simons, Shelly Pelletier] – Lecture and Q & A [5/11/2004]

(4) Ed Welch Does Thin Equal Beautiful – Lecture and Q & A [2/3/2006]

(5) Albert Mohler The Nature of True Beauty – Lecture and Q & A [11/14/2005]

In case you’re interested the following talks regarding sex are also very good even though they aren’t particularly for women. Sorry for the bait and switch from the title of the post;)

(1) Michael Lawrence The Beauty of Intimacy: Sex, Marriage, and the Gospel [12/5/2006]

(2) Christian Sexuality Men’s Talk [With Michael Lawrence, Mark Dever, Matt Schmucker, and Scott Croft] – Lecture and Q & A [2/17/2004]

(3) Albert Mohler’s series Naked and Not Ashamed: An Evangelical Theology of Sex

Part 1: The Mystery of Marriage [11/11/2001]
Part 2: Reproductive Techniques and Contraception [11/11/2001]
Part 3: The Family and the Culture War [11/11/2001]

Q & A for messages 1-3 [11/11/2001]

Part 4: Homosexuality: Does Gender Matter? [11/12/2001]

Q & A for part 4 [11/12/2001]

The Typical Protestant Pastor

In the 3/24/2007 RTS newsletter the following stats on a “typical protestant pastor” were listed. I thought some of you might be interested.

BARNA GROUP RESEARCH ON THE TYPICAL PROTESTANT PASTOR
The findings below are surprising and contradict earlier research from several other sources. There are "straws in the wind," which indicate that a sea change in church growth research may be underway; this is one of them.

• Only 5% of Protestant pastors in America are women.

• Almost all pastors are married.

• While 13% have been divorced almost all of these are remarried, and if you think that is a surprisingly high percentage, remember that it is half the percentage for the entire population.

• The pastoral work force is aging. The average age of Protestant pastors was 44 in 1992 and is 48 in the most recent survey.

• The average number of years spent in full-time pastoral ministry jumped from 14 years in 1992 to 17 years in the most recent survey.

• The average tenure in a church is 5 years.

• A substantial share of those pastors who stay with a congregation for a long time lead churches that are not growing.

• Many long-term pastors rate their own teaching and preaching skills as average or below average.

A Christian! A Christian!

Here are a few snippets of a quote of Samuel Davies who was a Presbyterian preacher in the second Great Awakening.

Iaian Murray prefaces the quote by saying:

"Had Davies given more prominence to the distinctives of his own church it would have been to the numerical advantage of the Presbyterians, but his prime concern was to serve a much greater cause."

Samuel Davies:

"To be a Christian is not enough now-a-days, but a man must also be something more and better; that is, he must be a strenuous bigot to this or that particular church . . ."

" . . . the Christian is swallowed up in the partisan, and fundamentals lost in extra-essentials . . ."

"A Christian! a Christian! let that be your highest distinction, let that be the name which you labour to deserve. God forbid that my ministry should be the occasion of diverting your attention to anything else."

[Pp. 29 of Iaian Murray's Revival and Revivalism. Banner of Truth Trust.]

He did hold the value of local church or denominational distinctives/convictions . . . but he was right to recognize that that wasn't the first thing the church exists to proclaim.

Praise God for men like this!

Also, this quote of Murray's also stood out to me . . .

"News was spread by some in England that the infant College [Princeton] adhered to the 'Calvinistic Scheme' and was 'in the hands of bigots', and this closed both pulpits and purses to the visitors. The Independents (Congregationalists) and Baptists, who, Davies noted, 'are more generally Calvinists than the Presbyterians', gave the two preachers a better welcome. But these groups had little numerical strength ('the congregations are so small that it is enough to damp one's zeal in preaching to them'), a fact not unrelated to the 'dry orthodoxy' and 'Antinomianism' which Davies also observed among them. Dr John Gill was supportive but 'he modestly pleaded that his name would be of little service and that the Baptists in general were, unhappily, ignorant of the importance of learning'.

[Pp. 15 of Iaian Murray's Revival and Revivalism. Banner of Truth Trust.]