Sin & the Cross

“Q: Who has truly pondered the weight of sin?

A: The one who has truly pondered the weight of the cross.”

- Anselm of Canterbury, quoted by Micahel D. Williams in Far as the Curse is Found (Phillispburg, NJ; P & R Publishing, 2005), 76.

HT to Of First Importance

Turn Off Your Idol – Paul Washer & David Wilkerson

A Friendly Response to MacArthur’s Millennium Manifesto

Those who endorse dispensational premillennialism seem to adhere to it with a fanatical fervor that has long amazed me. That a man of Dr. MacArthur’s stature as a theologian and teacher should do the same is not just amazing, but intensely disturbing. There are glaring hermeneutical problems with the approach that far surpass those of any of the other interpretive approaches to the Revelation. That alone would seem to be a strong deterrent from taking this approach. -JB

from FIDE-O:

Posted by Jason E. Robertson

My Review:
Dr. Sam Waldron has written a very clear response to Dr. John MacArthur’s first message of the 2007 Shepherd’s Conference. Not only does Dr. Waldron give a comprehensive case against MacArthur’s Dispensationalism but also for a biblical Amillennialism. Furthermore, Dr. Waldron outlines and corrects the extreme misrepresentations of Amillennialism proposed by Dr. MacArthur. In fact, it was these misrepresentations that upset so many of us during that conference. We would not have minded so much if Dr. MacArthur had attempted to biblically defend his eschatalogical beliefs — it’s his conference, he could have done whatever he wanted! But to misrepresent the eschatological view that was held by most of the other preachers on the conference roster that year and the view that is held by the vast majority of Christians within Reformed churches, was what surprised so many of us.

Dr. MacArthur did not even champion Historic Premillenialism which has been held by many throughout church history, but instead he attempted to persuade us of the merits of Dispensational Premillenialism! His whole thesis was based on a false premise that Historic Premillenialism, Amillenialism and Postmillenialism subscribe to “replacement theology and supersessionism.”

Dr. Waldron deciphers Dr. MacArthur’s Dispensationalism, explains why Amillennialism is not Replacement Theology or Supersessionism, and explains why one cannot be both Dispensational and Reformed theologically at the same time.

With sufficient brevity, Dr. Waldron gives a helpful historical and hermeneutical arguments against Dr. MacArthur’s position. Furthermore, Dr. Waldron discusses biblical texts important to this discussion such as: Galatians 6:16, Romans 9:6, 1 Corinthians 10:18, 1 Corinthians 12:2, and Ephesians 2:12-19. His biblical arguments include many texts proving that the Church is the Israel of God, the seed of Abraham, and the heirs of God’s promises in both the Old and New Testaments.

In fact, one of the most refreshing sections is the one on hermeneutics. Reading this section reminded me of the first time I read Before Jerusalem Fell by Kenneth Gentry, Jr. This section really digs deep enough into this debate to reach the fault-line in the Dispensational position. The Dispensational hermeneutic is severely fallible and everything built upon it eventually collapses in theological confusion and biblical inconsistencies.

My Hope:
Who knows, MacArthur’s message and Waldron’s response may turn out one day to be viewed as the first signs of the end of the Dispensational Theology era. One can only hope — 150 years is too long for any divergence from biblical theology. The damage it has on the church will take many generations to fix. Among respectable theological institutions Scofield’s Classical Dispensationalism already seems to be dead, so does Blaising’s and Bock’s Progressive Dispensationalism. But Dispensational Premillennialism, which is what Dr. MacArthur adheres to, seems to be fighting for its life. It’s hermeneutic is faulty and its theological conclusions are very damaging to the church.

My Friend:
Much like Dr. Waldron’s sentiments, I consider Dr. MacArthur my friend and most importantly my Christian brother. In fact, in many ways he has served as a mentor and teacher. His biblical defense of “Lordship Salvation,” his relentless critique of liberalism and the church-growth movement, and his fearless defense of Calvinism has profoundly shaped my life and ministry. His commentaries and books and sermons are as valuable to me than an anything in my library. The compassion and generosity that he personally showed me when I was in a time of adversity affirmed to me and all my friends that Dr. MacArthur is more than just a biblical theologian, more than just an excellent expositor, he is a true man of God.

For the vast majority of theological issues that face the church today I completely agree with Dr. MacArthur. But, yes, this one theological difference that I know that I have with Dr. MacArthur is significant. And, yes, the nature and substance of this issue necessarily effects many other important theological issues. It is almost like the issue of infant-baptism, it doesn’t mean that paedobaptist are heretics; it just means that although their contributions to theology are vast, they are absolutely in error on this very significant issue! So, I continue to consider Dr. MacArthur one of the greats in our generation. Nevertheless, I hope that one day, in some dispensation not too long from now, all forms of Dispensationalism will cease to exists in our theological institutions, disappear from our theological curriculum, and never be heard from again in our pulpits.

To borrow from Dr. Waldron’s concern, it is interesting to note that the very modern age that marked the rise of Dispensational Premillennialism also marked the fall of Calvinism. Ironically, Dr. MacArthur should be duly noted as one who has fought hard for the revival of Calvinism. If he could reform his ecclessiology/eschatology then we might be able to declare “Revival has come!”

Seeking the Lord

“Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11)  

 

Wayne Grudem says in Systematic Theology  that “…when we realize that God is the definition and source of all good, we will realize that God himself is the ultimate good we seek. We will say with the Psalmist: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).”

Knowledge of God and our Savior Jesus Christ – the true God as He is revealed in the Scripture – is our defense against the “winds of doctrine” that are blowing at gale force today: “…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:13-14).

Knowledge of the God who never changes, who is eternal, who is faithful, who is love – such knowledge magnifies our praise and intensifies our worship. The One who is always with us, who sustains us, who grants us our very breath is our unfailing refuge. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).

Pray at the Pump

Although I may not concur with Michael Spencer in all of his theology, I heartily agree with him that the “Pray at the Pump” movement betrays an appalling ordering of our priorities. It is time for us to spend less time and energy on preserving our decadent life style and more on preparing for a future that may contain far more “deprivation” than high gas prices.

from jesus shaped spirituality:

Several days ago, I posted an invitation to discuss Jesus and Gas Prices on this blog. It’s a topic that, to a large extent, will reveal how much we really can engage our imagination with the concept of Jesus shaped discipleship.

For example, one evangelical has taken his particular view of rising gas prices and started a movement called “Pray at the Pump.” Somehow, the rise of gas prices is a sign of the end times and praying at the pump for God to lower prices will apparently prove that he’s in charge.

Of course, one wonders if it ever occurred to anyone that the inconvenience to the American lifestyle of mobility and affluence isn’t really something that God would respond to as an act of mercy. Most Americans are inconvenienced by gas prices because of the value they place on mobility and the decisions they’ve made about the kind of life they want to live, decisions made with the assumption of cheap gas in the background.

So somewhere a homeless man or a family struggling to put food on the table will see a group of middle class suburban Christians gathered around a gas pump, praying that God will have mercy and get things back to where we can all go about our business.

I don’t have to spend much time asking if Jesus would join such a prayer meeting.

This is the imagination and mindset of American Christians: God is committed to our lives as we imagine them. He is committed to the gas, the SUVs, the economics, the houses, the conveniences, the investments, the stability, the politics, the military and the religion that maintain the lives we lead.

And if you question this, you risk going down a hole labelled “Fanaticism.”

I grew up with parents and grandparents who had lived through the great depression. (That was an economic downturn in the early 20th century, not a psychological episode.) This event had stamped their view of life in America. They were never quite comfortable with prosperity as we are. They were embarrassed by having too much, and they were deeply aware of what poverty looked like.

My mother’s family knew what it was like to be hungry. Were it not for a wealthier relative, she was quite sure they would have starved in the 1930’s. My father’s family of eastern Kentucky mountaineers lived in what we would call third world conditions today, with just enough subsistence farming and hunting to survive in the backwoods of Lee County, Kentucky.

In the 1970’s, my father had money buried in jars in the back yard. Because he’d lived through bank runs and closings, he never entirely trusted banks.

Almost every one reading this post has their savings and retirement placed where you couldn’t get it tomorrow if you had to. And I really don’t think about it, because life seems very secure.

It is that feeling of security, and where it is, that gets in the way of knowing Jesus. It is why people are praying at gas pumps, and why millions of Christians will believe that whatever changes the American way of life is an “end times crisis,” while the daily poverty and desperation of others around the world is no crisis worth thinking of.

Here’s what I want to get to: Most people who know anything about Jesus know that he lived and taught some kind of radical economics. Christians may differ markedly on what it all means, but Jesus taught again and again that you can’t serve God and the god of financial security. Your treasure must be laid up in heaven. When you are rich in this world, you may be blind to truth and compassion. Your presumption that God is on the side of your economics may be called “foolishness” tomorrow.

Most people know this, and it appears that most American middle class evangelicals and many of their churches don’t know it. Jesus seems to be a spiritual guru, a success in life teacher, a ticket to heaven. He doesn’t mind the economic decisions I make unless I invest in porn or abortion or Democratic candidates. He’s on the side of whatever it takes for our country to have it’s “way of life,” including $2 gas in mom’s Upward soccer delivery SUV.

So….it occurs to me that, should there be a serious economic crisis in America- and would anyone like to bet on the likelihood of that?– it appears that most evangelicals are absent the individual or collective resources to process it on any level other than something like “Satan is attacking God’s people” or “The rapture will happen any minute now.”

I’d like to suggest that evangelicals need to learn how to embrace poverty. Not for show, but because at some point we will have to embrace poverty and, right now, we’d be without a clue on what to do.

We need to look at our churches, technology, luxuries, lifestyles and comfort zones with a ruthless eye. How can we untether ourselves from the God we believe has made all of this happen and told us to move into it as the American promised land?

How can we embrace downward mobility as the way of Christ without self-righteous carping, but with genuine repentance for the foolish way we’ve ignored the economic dimension of discipleship?

We need some contemporary St. Francis’s to throw away their personal affluence and show us another way.

We need Bible teaching that challenges our involvement in what is surely a doomed system.

We need leaders willing to walk away from the building and the salary, and to teach others to do the same.

We need a holy imagination of what it would mean to be “simple church” in terms of economics, and not just programs.

What will your church, your student ministry, your children’s ministry, your discipleship, your worship, your youth program and your evangelism look like in an extended economic crisis?

We need to be so formed by Jesus that the possibilities and authenticity of poverty will be beautiful to us.

We may be forced to embrace economic realities that have prayer meetings at the gas pump looking appropriate. If that’s not going to be the case, we need a new way of following Jesus now.

Tips for Self Discipline

Helpful stuff from John MacArthur

Practically speaking, how can a person develop self-discipline in his or her life?

Here are some things that have helped me through the years:

1. Start Small. Start with your room. Clean it, then keep it clean. When something is out of place, train yourself to put it where it belongs. Then extend the discipline of neatness to the rest of your home.

2. Be on time. That may not seem very spiritual, but it’s important. If you’re supposed to be somewhere at a specific time, be there on time. Develop the ability to discipline your desires, activities, and demands so that you can arrive on time.

3. Do the hardest job first. When you do that, you will find it easier to do the simpler tasks.

4. Organize your life. Plan the use of your time; don’t just react to circumstances. Use a calendar and make a daily list of things you need to accomplish. If you don’t control your time, everything else will.

5. Accept correction. Correction helps make you more disciplined because it shows you what you need to avoid. Don’t avoid criticism; accept it gladly.

6. Practice self-denial. Learn to say no to your feelings. Learn to do what you know to be right even if you don’t feel like doing it. Sometimes it’s even beneficial to deny yourself things that are acceptable to have, like a doughnut in the morning or dessert after dinner. Exercising such self-restraint helps you develop the habit of keeping other things under control. Cultivating discipline in the physical realm will help you become disciplined in your spiritual life.

7. Welcome responsibility. When you have an opportunity to do something that needs to be done, volunteer for it if you have talent in that area. Accepting responsibility can force you to organize yourself.

United with Christ in the Resurrection

“An unbreakable bond or unity exists between Christ and Christians in the experience of resurrection. This bond has two components – one that has already taken place, at the beginning of Christian life when the sinner is united to Christ by faith, and one that is still future, at Christ’s return.

In terms of a distinction Paul himself makes (2 Cor. 4:16), so far as believers are ‘outer man,’ that is, in terms of the body, they are yet to be raised; so far as they are ‘inner man,’ at the core of their beings, they are already raised.”

- Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. “Resurrection and Redemption: How Eschatology and the Gospel Relate“

HT to Of First Importance

Two: A Metaphysical Poem

Compliments and thanks to The Constructive Curmudgeon

Two fundamental and consequential metaphysical options, two cosmic narratives:

1. In the beginning (for no reason)
were the Particles,
which banged into existence without a banger,
which popped without a cause,
which exist without forethought of the ends they were to mindlessly and pointlessly achieve.

My parent was a particle.
My lord is chance/necessity, a match made by happenstance, forged by fortuity.
My life is void of meaning;
I smelt it out of nothing and hope to win the day (before all dies)…

I use big words for a small world.

A narration sans Narrator, I (i) find.

2. In the beginning was the Word (the primordial, primeval Reason)
Who brought the space-time world into existence by design,
which exists due to a Cause that had forethought to the ends it would achieve mindfully, purposely, assuredly.

My Father is God Almighty.
My Lord is Telos and significance.
I find meaning by searching for clues, cues, signs.
Life is a text with an Author, a Narrator–interpretation is hard, but real.

I hear the Narrator, even when silence reigns.
The Word speaks, though so many cover their ears.
In my beginning–the beginning–is my End.

The Prayer of Jabez

The book, The Prayer of Jabez, left me feeling uneasy – as if something was not quite right. This article defines my uneasiness very well.

from FIDE-O

Does anyone know what happen to the Prayer of Jabez craze? Has anyone seen any further marketing of this fad?

Below is a good article that was written back when this fad was in its heyday:

What is your opinion of the new best-selling book The Prayer of Jabez?
Should Christians be learning how to pray Jabez’s prayer?

The Prayer of Jabez, by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, has gained enormous popularity in the Christian community. Within the last year it has sold more than 4 million copies-3.5 million in the last four months alone-and has maintained a first-place ranking on many national best-seller lists. The author is a distinguished Bible teacher and founder of Walk thru the Bible Ministries. His organization, which hosts more than 2,500 Bible conferences annually, is designed to train Christians in a fundamental understanding of both the Old and New Testaments.

Wilkinson’s book is a study on Jabez’s prayer recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. Dr. Wilkinson’s purpose is to encourage believers to continually look to Jabez’s prayer as a model to follow if they expect to receive great blessing from and accomplish great things for God. Dr. Wilkinson writes, “This petition has radically changed what I expect from God and what I experience every day by his power” (p. 7). In fact, he continues to express throughout the book the need for Christians to pray this prayer, so they too can experience a radical change in their life.

We commend much within The Prayer of Jabez.

For example, Dr. Wilkinson rightly emphasizes the importance of prayer in the Christian life. All Christians should commune with the Lord in prayer. Jesus, for example, gave his disciples an outline to follow in prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and fashioned a parable to encourage persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-7). Following the Lord’s lead, The Prayer of Jabez does an excellent job of emphasizing the need for cultivating a rich prayer life.

Another helpful focus of the book is its exhortation for Christians to focus their prayers on ministry and not on personal desires. That is noteworthy as many of today’s popular books encourage prayer merely for individual gain. They assert that God owes blessings to them, and they should ask Him for anything they desire. Dr. Wilkinson never encourages that attitude. Though he states God will bless the believer, the blessing will come in the form of more and more opportunities to minister to others in need. Answered prayer, Dr. Wilkinson reminds us, is born out of proper motives (James 4:3).

With those commendations in mind, however, there are some areas of concern in The Prayer of Jabez.

First of all, the book leaves the door open for Christians to presume upon God. Wilkinson writes, “I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers.” (p. 7, emphasis added). Though it is true that God hears the prayers of His saints, there is no guarantee that He will always answer them in the expected manner. To suggest to the reader that God will always answer those who pray Jabez’s prayer greatly overstates reality.

Furthermore, that expectation could lead believers to experience disappointment with God. Someone might feel justified complaining that he prayed the “model prayer of Jabez” but God never answered. The truth is, there could be other reasons for God’s silence, such as our own unconfessed sin or impure motives. Or perhaps God’s plan for that person is far different from what they asked for in prayer. Dr. Wilkinson does not clarify his statement, but repeatedly claims throughout the book that God will most assuredly answer the “Jabez” prayer, a claim that oversimplifies all God’s Word says about prayer.

The book also tends to trivialize the discipline of prayer by making the words of Jabez’s prayer the formula to follow. Wilkinson encourages Christians to repeat the words of Jabez’s prayer regularly. But Jesus spoke against that kind of rote prayer style in Matthew 6:7, where He warned His disciples not to use vain, repetitious prayers. Rather, Christians should pray to God with heartfelt sincerity. Simply repeating the prayer of Jabez daily runs the risk of reducing a believer’s prayer life to vain repetition.

Moreover, The Prayer of Jabez can also create confusion about the importance of the many other prayers throughout the Bible. Does Jabez’s prayer somehow take precedence over Jesus’ model of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13? Are Paul’s prayers worth imitating? Do the prayers of other Old Testament saints help us better understand prayer any more or any less than Jabez’s? Focusing solely on Jabez’s brief prayer implicitly ascribes to it some kind of magical character it does not possess. Certainly, Jabez’s prayer is a very good model, but it does not have any inherent ability to unlock God’s power in the Christian life. Unfortunately, Dr. Wilkinson’s book does little to dissuade such conclusions about the prayer.

Finally, The Prayer of Jabez paints an inconsistent picture of the Christian life. Wilkinson asserts that praying Jabez’s prayer leads to a life of incredible blessing and ever-increasing ministry opportunities-a life that sounds almost like a fairy-tale. However, little reference is ever made to the reality of genuine difficulties in life, and the necessity of sincere prayer to face those difficulties in a God-honoring way. Furthermore, Dr. Wilkinson fails to encourage the importance of faithfulness in the mundane circumstances of daily living. He seems to indicate that real Christian living is only happening when Christians encounter regular miracles and astounding ministry opportunities in life. Scripture, however, points to the importance of learning to live a life fixed on pleasing God in all the little details in life-attitudes, thoughts, words, and behavior. The Prayer of Jabez fails to exhibit biblical balance in that regard.

In conclusion, The Prayer of Jabez can be a helpful tool because it encourages Christians to look to Jabez’s prayer as one of many biblical models of prayer worthy of emulation. You can look to Jabez’s prayer along with the prayers of other Bible characters in an effort to better inform your own prayer life. But remember, true prayer does not consist of a set of mantras or incantations employed to elicit a particular response from God. God is not a genie in a bottle, waiting to be coaxed out so He can grant wishes. Rather, prayer is about aligning your mind and heart with God’s sovereign purposes.

Prayer is a rich privilege God graciously grants to His children, enabling us to express our submission to His will for our lives. To that end, may we all learn to pray with the humility, dependence, and expectation of blessing Jabez exhibited. (GTY.org)

Revolt Against Heaven and Earth

from The Constructive Curmudgeon

The Democratic Party has issued a statement in favor of homosexual marriage and opposed to The Marriage Protection Act. This is the party of Senator Obama.

The big picture on all this is this: humans, qua rebels against God, are wanting to be autonomous of God’s standards for creation and gender. They want to redefine marriage in a way it has never been defined previously. This goes against common sense, natural law, common law, the teachings of all the world’s religions, and, of course, then, against the Bible.

Now that the Dems have (for the hundredth time) securely set themselves against God, creation, and the common good, how many Christians will be voting for them in November?