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Monthly Archives: June 2008

Step back, take a deep breath

27 Jun

and weigh it against the scriptures. That continuation of this post heading is from one of the rare critical comments I found as I researched “The Shack” by William P. Young. This is the newest book being heralded in the Christian community. For the most part this book is getting rave reviews. Just yesterday (June 26th) the book received 10 reviews and all but one were given the highest mark (5 stars) by the reviewer. The book has been as high as #7 of the top selling books on Amazon.com. The book is hugely popular. It currently has over 680 reviews, with 527 of them ranking it 5 stars.

As a Christian I have seen many books get heralded as the next new great thing to bring you closer to God. To mention a few: “The Purpose Driven Life”, “The Prayer of Jabez”, “Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper”, “Wild At Heart”, “The Ragamuffin Gospel”. Each of these were gobbled up by the Christian community. Are we that desperate and thirsty to know God outside of His word? Do we abandon everything we know or don’t know about who God is as written in scripture? Someone explain to me why we latch on to what a man has written above what is found in the God breathed scripture. Why do we not step back, take a deep breath, and weigh the book against scripture?

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Posted by on June 27, 2008 in Christian books, Dr. Albert Mohler, Mark Driscoll, The Shack, The Trinity, Theology

 

Which path are you on?

24 Jun

A new report published yesterday (June 23rd) by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life indicates that people from all major religious categories believe that their religion is not the only path to eternal life, and that there’s not just one correct version of their faith. The report is based on a massive national poll commissioned by the organization last year. According to Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, “What most people are saying is, ‘Hey, we don’t have a hammerlock on God or salvation, and God’s bigger than us and we should respect other people.'” Rev. Reese is partly correct. God is definitely bigger than us. But we should respect Him and His word given to us.

This report is nothing new. Anyone who cares about the direction our culture and nation are going in relation to religion or more importantly the gospel of Jesus Christ has seen this coming for a long time. This direction is right out of the post-modern textbook. The church of today continues to water down the message Jesus Christ commissioned us to give to the nations. And as we cowardly buckle under the pressure to not just tolerate other religious views but accept them as well, we will continue to see this tolerance of an anti-gospel grow and grow. We will also see more intolerance for those of us who will not, by the grace of God, allow our spine to become like rubber and accept this notion. This accommodation that flies in the face of John 14:6, as Jesus emphatically states:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This is the essence of the gospel. Jesus came to this earth and lived a sinless life. He came to die for the sinners. He died on the cross and took on the wrath of God that was due to the sinner. He was raised again on the third day and before he ascended back to heaven He gave us a commission to take what we know about Him to all the nations. We cannot compromise that. So which path are you on? The narrow one that leads to truth and Christ or the supposed many other paths to heaven and eternal life?

 
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Posted by on June 24, 2008 in eternal life, gospel, heaven, John 14:6, post-modernism, Preaching, tolerance

 

Music review Tuesday – 3 Doors Down

23 Jun

Those guys from Escatawpa, Mississippi are back at it again. If you aren’t a big fan of their music you might not know who I am writing about. The band is 3 Doors Down. The band that rocked a song about the only substance that can kill Superman with “Kryptonite”. The band who decided that the drummer Brad Arnold should be the lead singer in the band because no one else would. He has since come out from behind the drum kit and is the band’s front man. The band whose debut album in 2000 became the 11th best selling album in that year. The same band who in October of 2002 performed live on the flight deck of the USS George Washington as it made a port visit to Lisbon, Portugal. After that day lead singer Brad Arnold stated that he had never felt more insecure. He was just sure that at 22 years old he would be seen as a kid by those on the ship. Much to his surprise he found out that the average age of the sailors on the ship was 19. This same rock band who have broken the typical liberal rock band mold have always been supportive of the troops as they fight to defend our nation. But a little more about that later in the review.

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Posted by on June 23, 2008 in 3 Doors Down, Music Review

 

Don’t go there!

13 Jun

Today, while searching for Puritan quotes I came across one that really hits home. It is from Irish writer Richard Steele. I love how some of these guys look like aging 80’s rock stars. (see image to right) Anyway on with the quote. It is from Steele’s writing “A Remedy For Wondering Thoughts”.

The belief that God is everywhere should persuade us to sin nowhere.

We should not delude ourselves into thinking that because we are alone physically or in thought that we are outside of God’s reception. God’s is with us. Christ is in us. Wherever we go, God is there. So a word or actually a phrase to myself and other brothers and sisters: Don’t go there!

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2008 in Puritan, quotes, Richard Steele, sin

 

Who can charge God’s elect?

11 Jun

It’s been a while since I have posted anything. I have been a little sidetracked since the passing of my mother a few weeks ago. To be honest I have been having a hard time coming up with something to write about since attending the memorial. I had forgotten how natural it is to write about the things of Christ. As a believer in Christ and His gospel it should be at the forefront of your daily thoughts. Yesterday my son from Tennessee called to speak with my wife and I and in my conversation with him it naturally turned to the things of Christ. One of the many things we discussed were the promises to the believers found in Romans chapter 8. In particular verses 33 and 34. Two short verses with powerful implications for the believer. In verse 33 the apostle Paul poses the rhetorical question:

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?

Much like what we read in Job, Satan stands in heaven accusing those that belong to God. How can he accuse? He does so because we still continue to sin. But as I mentioned above, Paul’s question is rhetorical because the believer should know full well that the punishment for our sins, past, present, and future, were satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Believers have not done anything to save their selves from the deserved punishment. For if we did, wouldn’t Satan’s accusations be credible? But thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ that our sins were paid by Him and the rhetorical question has an answer. This is found in Paul’s proclamation in the next verse.

It is God who justifies.

If it is God who justifies the sinner through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, what leg does Satan have to stand on as he accuses? It is God who justifies the believer, His own, His elect. What this means for the believer is since God justifies, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer. In other words the sinlessness of Christ is attributed to the believer and God declares us righteous. If we have the righteousness of Christ then the accusations of Satan are null and void. He cannot make a charge against God’s elect. I am so thankful that God is the one who declares me righteous through Christ’s death and resurrection, and not something that I earn. God, who is rich in mercy and grace, is the only one who can declare you free from all charges. Forever!

Soli Deo Gloria!

 
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Posted by on June 11, 2008 in Justification, righteousness, Romans, Theology