Never Thought I'd See it...

John MacArthur on TBN!
And amazingly, it seems like they love him! Then again, I don't watch much TBN, so it's quite possible that the people who are making noise are only a small fraction of the audience... but anyway, this is good stuff, so I thought I'd share. Each video is about 10 minutes, but well worth it.

Praise God that even TBN gets the goods sometimes. I've actually seen a lot of Kirk Cameron recently that is much better than I recall in recent years. He may be getting more reformed as he grows as a Christian. It can only be good for TBN, so long as they keep him around.

HT: Pure Church

Why We Protestants Are Still Protesting...

This is from Reformation Theology ... I am just going to re-post it here because a link simply will not do.

So many people over the years have asked me what the difference is between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. It's not a short answer, but this article briefly points out some of the major ones. Obviously you can't get into all the theology behind these things in a brief synopsis like this, but I wanted to post it here both for myself as a go to reference if I ever need it, and for you, in case you do. (Whoever 'you' might be.)

Here is the post:

Ten Differences Between the Reformation and Rome

This article by Guy Davies appeared in the September/October issue of Protestant Truth. Guy is Joint-Pastor of Penknap Providence Church and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Wiltshire, England.

1. The Roman Catholic Church believes that its traditions and teaching are as authoritative as Scripture. The Reformed value tradition, but accept the Bible alone as their authority, and sole rule of faith and practice.

2. The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Pope, as successor of Peter and Bishop of Rome, is head of the visible Church. The Reformed believe that Christ alone is head of the Church and that no man may claim universal primacy over the people of God.

3. The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Bible cannot be properly understood apart from the official interpretation of Rome (the Magisterium). The Reformed believe that Christians have a responsibility to judge the truth of all teaching by the extent of its conformity to the teaching of the Bible as it has been commonly accepted with the help of responsible exegesis and the witness of the Spirit.

4. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that we are justified by baptism and that justification must be supplemented and improved by works. The Reformed hold that the Bible teaches that justification is God's declaration that a sinner is righteous in his sight, on the basis of faith in the finished work of Christ, apart from works. We are justified by faith alone. Baptism does not effect justification; it is the sign of it, as well as of the believer’s cleansing from sin and reception of new life in Christ.

5. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Lord's Supper is a re-offering of the sacrifice of Christ and that the bread and wine are actually changed into the body and blood of the Saviour. The Reformed hold that that in Scripture the Lord's Supper is a fellowship meal that is to be kept by believers in remembrance of the finished work of Christ. The bread and wine are significant symbols to believers of Christ's body and blood. At the Lord's Supper, they enjoy communion with the risen Christ, who is present at the Table by his Spirit.

6. The Roman Catholic Church regards its ministers as priests. They re-offer the sacrifice of Christ at the Mass and act as mediators between God and the faithful, taking Christ’s role. The Reformed teach that all Christians are priests, who offer a sacrifice of praise and worship to the Lord. Some, called to be teachers and pastors, are ministers of the Word. Their task is to give themselves to prayer, the preaching of the gospel, and to care for the flock.

7. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that after death the souls of departed believers who have not made sufficient satisfaction for their sins in their lifetime go to purgatory in order to do that prior to going to heaven. The living can affect how long the departed have to spend in purgatory by observing Mass, obtaining indulgences, and praying for them. The Reformed hold that purgatory is not taught in Scripture. They believe, in accord with Scripture, that at death the souls of believers will depart from the body to be with Christ in heaven, awaiting the resurrection to life, glory and immortality.

8. The Roman Catholic Church believes that Mary can be invoked as mediatrix with Christ and that the faithful should pray to her and show devotion to her. Rome also teaches that believers should pray for themselves and for the dead to the faithful departed whom the Pope has designated as saints. The Reformed honour Mary as the mother of our Lord and see her as an example of obedience and love to God. They maintain that there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and that, despite the protestations of Rome, its teaching takes away from the sole mediatorship of Christ. Prayer and worship is to be offered to God through him alone.

9. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there are seven sacraments and that these sacraments work ex opere operato, effectively conveying grace to those who receive them. For example, baptism regenerates and justifies, and participants in the Mass actually feed on the body and drink the blood of Christ. The Reformed find only two sacraments or ordinances in Scripture, baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are means of grace that are only effective when received by faith.

10. The Roman Catholic Church regards herself as the one true Church through the apostolic succession of her bishops. Non-Roman Catholic Christians are regarded as 'separated brethren' who have schismatically divided the body of Christ. Reformed ministers are not truly ordained to the apostolic ministry. The Reformed define the Church not institutionally, but as a company of believing, godly people where the gospel is truly preached, baptism and the Lord's Supper rightly administered and Church discipline graciously applied. The true apostolic succession consists not in the physical laying on of hands as understood by Rome, but in believing and preaching the gospel proclaimed by the apostles and recorded in Scripture.

Me again: Now, there are some in the RCC who will argue that some of these things have passed out of the church and are no longer held as doctrines, but the fact of the matter is that the councils that put these doctrines in place have never been overturned, and so in the highest orders of the RCC, they still stand.

Disclaimer: I very much love my Roman Catholic friends and believe that they are just as able to be saved by God's grace as I am, in spite of whatever bad theology they hold to - I'm sure mine isn't perfect either.

This Post is Already Obsolete...

This is an amazing video on how fast the world is changing and how technology is affecting our lives.
This generation is in for a roller coaster ride - but I suppose we are already somewhat used to it...

Just thinking back 15 years to when I entered college - even in those 4 years everything changed so drastically - the world was truly a different place when I came out. I went in having never heard of the internet, and I got to watch it be born (commercially) and blossom right before my eyes. I left college with a desktop PC, having easily logged thousands of hours on the web and having started a website advertising business with a friend.

I entered college having never desired or even conceptualized having a cell phone, and left college having owned two different ones... I'm sure those are the two big ones so far in my lifetime - as far as commercially usable products. Both of them have advanced beyond anything I dreamed of even back then - and it looks like that trend will continue.

I thought the most intriguing idea asserted in the video was that by the time I am 70 (if the Lord wills I make it that far), a $1000 PC (which today is NOT a top of the line PC) will have more computing power than the brainpower of the entire human race combined.

I hope we use it for more than surfing porn...

HT: Reformation Theology

Tempered Excitement....

It's been a very long time since I posted something sports related (I think it had something to do with the GIANTS winning the SUPER BOWL - remember that?). And while the Giants are not so quietly rolling over the rest of the NFL in defense of their championship, the Mets are quietly busy frying up deals on the Hot Stove at the Winter Meetings in Vegas.

After two disappointing ends to consecutive seasons, whose blame can likely be laid solely at the feet of the Mets bullpen, I am pretty excited to see that the late innings will now be patrolled by what (if healthy) is being called the best 1-2 relief tandem in the game.

Welcome to New York Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz.

I am glad to have you, but this is New York - so don't expect me to pack up my TUMS just yet. I am excited, but it's still December and my heart is still broken from '07 and '08. But here is to hoping that '09 and the new "Bailout Field" (which is very impressive) will set my mending heart aflame once more. Spring seems that much closer...

Follow Up from a Recent Post

Just more from Rev. Piper to help fill in the blanks of his so called "Christian Hedonism".

“God is the one Being in the entire universe for whom self-centeredness, or the pursuit of his own glory, is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he
does all things ‘for the praise of his glory,’ he preserves for us and offers to us, the only thing in the entire world, which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now and always will be, first, for himself. I urge you not to resent the centrality of God in his own affections, but to experience it as the fountain of your everlasting joy.”

- John Piper, “Is God for Us or for Himself?“

HT: Of First Importance

Please, Do Yourself a Favor...

LISTEN TO THIS

Do it. You will thank me... well, no... you will thank God.






HT: Unashamed Workman

What Does it Mean to Love My Enemy?

I have not been privy to the TV talking heads in the last couple weeks, or even those on the radio that I used to enjoy listening to, but have gotten away from in recent years.  So I don't have any first hand exposure to what has been said regarding the recent terrorist attacks in India...

However, apparently there is still a lot of talking going on regardless of whether or not I am listening, which is why I am grateful to those who are listening and writing about it... which brings me to the content of this post.

Go and Read this post by Greg Gilbert on the 9Marks blog.

It is reacting to some of the response on TV and radio by a prominent Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, and how some Christian's have taken it up and embraced it.  It's good stuff, and I think extremely important to think over and reflect on in our current global-political atmosphere, and particularly in light of how terrorism has become a main stream part of our everyday lives.

Here are the concluding thoughts if that trigger finger ain't so itchy:

Not many of us will ever have the opportunity to sit face to face with a terrorist and have to decide what loving that person might look like. But we do have to decide whether we’ll take pleasure in the thought of that person being in hell—or whether we’ll pray and genuinely hope for that person’s salvation and forgiveness. Putting it all together, I think the best and most Christian response is probably this: to be glad when a terrorist is brought to justice and punished, even executed, by the state, but at the same time to pray that someone, somehow, in those final moments is telling him the Gospel of Jesus, and to hope that one day you’ll stand next to him praising Christ as two forgiven sinners who, if it weren’t for him, would both be in hell.

What you simply can’t do, though, is decide that you’re worthy of God’s grace but that other guy is not.

Even if you don't read the whole thing - take that last line to the bank... all day long.

And Speaking of John Piper...

Here is a recent transcript of a short talk he gave at ETS where he basically outlined, in 7 thesis, what he has spent the last 25 years of his life saying.

It was the spring board for a time of Q&A, which, if the audio does surface, I will try to post here.

But here is what Mr. Piper had to say.

Feel free to discuss.

While we are here... or there, as it were...

While you are over at Pure Church check out these vids from John Piper on retirement:

Now, I'm nowhere near retirement - but I do feel the squeeze of the entertainment lifestyle pressing me in on all sides.  I find it hard to imagine that it could get more difficult than it is to fight it - but I suppose with more time on your hands, all temptation becomes more difficult to fight.

so FIGHT!

How Should A Member Respond to a Divisive Elder?

I thought this post over at Pure Church was very helpful...

Not that the issue they are discussing over there has any bearing on anything happening at our church, but I thought it was helpful in shaping how to think about divisions in leadership at the local church level.

See, every session/board is going to have differences. Even though we all hold to the same confession of faith, there will still be differences among the leadership - differences in Eschatology, in Apologetic approaches, worship preferences, music styles, etc... the list could go on and on - some issues, of course, will be more or less important and serious than others.

But the important thing that Paul stresses through his letters and that is brought out in the aforementioned post, is the united front that the leadership needs to have before the members of the congregation. Now, I always knew this to be the case, but it never really struck me as to how important and how serious it is for the Elders not to promote those differences among the congregation.

Now, I am sure that does not mean that if someone asks you, that you should not be allowed to speak what you believe. But we must be careful how we do so - so that it does not undermine the unity of the leadership or, as Thabiti puts it "draw disciples after you". It takes real discernment to speak about these issues to those outside of leadership, and great care and wisdom when you do.

In case you are too lazy to click over, here are the important parts of the post:

Basically, a person commented asking what they should do about an Elder who was promoting a view of preaching that was divergent from the churches commitment to Expository preaching. I'm sure you can use your imagination and plug in any other serious concern. Here is part of the response:

1. Insist that he raise these issues with the elders directly (Matt. 5:22-25; 18:15) and immediately cease talking with others outside the elders about this(Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10). If the eldership is advancing one view of teaching and preaching, and he another, that should be addressed inside the eldership so that unity may be maintained (Eph. 4) and the sheep led in a consistent and healthy direction.

If he has integrity, he should resign from the eldership if he finds himself out of keeping with the ministry commitments of that church and its leaders. If this is beyond the bounds of acceptable divergence, he should step down cheerfully and voluntarily, if he loves the church and has godly integrity.

2. If he refuses to address things with the eldership, let him know that you will go directly to the other elders along with two or three witnesses, others who can testify to his spreading his basic disagreement with the rest of the leadership (1 Tim. 5:19). Demonstrate your support of the entire leadership by helping them to keep short accounts with one another and pointing out difficulties of this nature that they may not be aware of.

Essentially, you want to close the court of public opinion and limit the potential for this man to "draw disciples after himself" by bringing this to light in the court of the eldership. As a member, you shouldn't have to try and address these things alone with someone charged to watch over you. Insist that he speak with the other elders. If he will not, yet holds to his contrary convictions, involve the other elders immediately. Let them judge the matter and keep the unity of the church.

3. Pray for and support your elders if they must rebuke this man publicly and sharply. That will be to the benefit of the entire body (1 Tim. 5:20) and help to make this man sound in the faith (Titus 1:13). Your elders may find this a difficult thing to do, so your prayers for wisdom and courage are needed. Hold them up before the Lord so that they would be able to teach, care, and lead their fellow elder well, and shepherd the congregation through the process as well. Since this man has been quietly spreading his views with others, at the least the elders may need to address this publicly for concern stemming from not knowing how far the comments have gone.

5. In all of your interactions and reactions, seek to love deeply from the heart (Col. 2:14), watch and continue in prayer (Col. 4:2), and joyfully submit to those in authority (Heb. 13:17). Be a model of joyful membership in the church. Do everything to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4).

Again, my perspective here is the big picture. How do the members of the congregation respond to an elder who they feel has overstepped their authority or is undermining the rest of the leadership? I'm not sure I have taken these questions as seriously as I should have in the past. As I think on it, perhaps I myself have spoken ill-advisedly in matters where I disagree with the session I am a part of and need to repent? These are matters to be taken seriously, and I am not sure I have done that to the extent that I ought as I execute the office I have been called to. Let's all be more mindful of these things in our churches and encourage our leadership to be the best leaders they can be under the light of the gospel.

The Pastor and Evangelism

This video is helpful in thinking about your pastor and evangelism.  I know many people who have been frustrated by their pastor's lack of immediate involvement in the evangelism ministry in the local church, and I think Mark Dever gives some insight into the pastor's role in evangelism and why you may not see your pastor on the front lines...

Now, that being said - we ought now to seek to take what our pastor's have equipped us with each week, and apply that to our own evangelism ministry in and outside of the church.  Much of the pastor's job is to equip YOU to do the things you wish he was doing for you.  And don't assume that if you don't see it, it isn't happening!


HT: Unashamed Workman

First Snow of 2008

It's a little after the fact, but it's been awhile since I posted here and I wanted to share these.
So there it is. :-)


It was an unexpected storm... we got about 8 inches or so. But not the damage that occurred in other ares near us. Where we used to live, a tree fell across the street and crushed 4 cars!
It was a very heavy and very wet snow...


Abby didn't care about any of that. She was absolutely thrilled to be out in it. She knew what a snowball was somehow, since even before she was dressed to go out she was yelling "snowball! snowball!" And she was throwing them at us as soon as she could get it in her hands.






A fun morning...