Chinese church's statment on the Holy Spirit

I'm currently reading "Inside China's House Church Network" by Yalin Xin, in which he describes in detail the history and inner workings of the Word Of Life house church network, the largest in China. The following is a portion from a statement on the Holy Spirit that was drafted in 1998 by four of the largest house church networks, standing for somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 million Chinese Christians:

"We do not believe in the cessation of signs, miracles or the termination of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit after the apostolic period. We do not forbid
speaking in tongues nor deo we insist that everyone must speak in tongues.
We do not use a criterion of speaking in tongues as the evidence of being
saved. We refute the view that the Holy Spirit is not a person in the
Trinity, but only a kind of influence" (Xin, 146)

A couple thoughts after reading this:
1. The use of negative statements ("we refute...", "we do not use...") seems very wise to me. In order to most accurately state what you believe you have to give both positive and negative information. This is especially true in our culture where words and definitions are becoming more and more flexible.
2. I wonder how many theologians and pastors have formulated their view on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (cessationism/continuationism) having had absolutely no contact or experience with such things. Theologically speaking, one may be able to point out to a Chinese Christian why certain gifts are not to be considered the regular pattern for this age. He would likely respond by saying something like, "I have seen the sick healed, the lame walk, and numerous other Acts-like miracles, and those on a regular basis throughout my Christian experience. How shall I possibly conclude that the Bible says such things do not happen?"
3. I've read of many amazing miracles happening in rural China, and I believe what I have read, because the stories are verifies by multiple sources ("The Heavenly Man", "Back to Jerusalem", interviews with various leaders in "Inside", cited above). However, I've never heard of such things happening in the western world. Either a) this is because of a lack of faith on the part of western Christians, or b) God's plan is for unique outpourings of his Spirit to be manifested in certain times and certain places. I lean heavily toward (b).

I definitely lean toward Piper's and (I think) Carson's position on spiritual gifts. The popular term seems to be "open but cautious". We'll see how that develops as I continue to study these things in the coming years.

Grace in the wilderness

Jeremiah 31:2-6

2 Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5 Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”

I just love this passage and wanted to share it. Verse 2 has been mulling in my mind for a few weeks. I have escaped the sword of God's wrath through the cross of Christ, and found grace in the wilderness. I think the Christian life can be described as a continual receiving of grace in the wilderness for those who have survived the sword. The book of Jeremiah was written during the time of Judah's being driven into exile for their idolatry. In the midst of this, God speaks these words to his people - his filthy, undeserving, and rebellious people. The wilderness is the only possible place where a person can find grace, and God is the only one who can give it.

God gives grace in many forms

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cohen sleeping. He gets pretty creative with the positions, especially in this side-sleeping positioner we've been using. We've tried quite a few different positions, soothing techniques, and other various tricks in order to try to get him to go to sleep easier. Sometimes we are successful, but more often than not it takes 45+ minutes of soothing him to get him to sleep. Needless to say, this is exhausting! (I realize that some experienced parents would laugh at my thinking 45 minutes is a long time to sooth a baby, haha, but I'm still adjusting!)
As we've been launched head first into the world of parenting we've learned just how different babies can be. Between talking with friends and reading parents' stories in books and online we've seen quite a spectrum - from the baby that sleeps through the night on night-one to the baby that screams night and day for 9 months. Through hearing these stories, and through our experiences over the past 4 weeks we've been reminded that God's grace is tailor made for each of his children. It's not neither helpful nor honoring to the Lord to wish for the grace that he has given to someone else instead of accepting that grace that he is so kindly offering to you.

For some parents, their grace comes in the form of a baby that sleeps very well. This is a gift from God, and should be treated as such. For parents with colicky babies, God's grace comes in the form of his sustaining presence and comfort from his Word, a friend who drops by to help out just at the right time, parents who come to stay for a few days to do the cooking and cleaning and to help the baby when he cries, and on it goes.

I've struggled in the past with thinking that my life has been too easy, and that that must mean that God knows I don't trust him enough to go through something really hard. Ridiculous, I know. But in that pattern of thinking, I make the fundamental mistake of thinking that anyone has the strength to endure difficulty on their own. God gives all grace and strength, for all good things come from his hand. And for this, He is worthy of our highest praise and adoration.

How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

I remember a while back listening to a Tim Keller sermon on hell. In the sermon series that he was in, each week he tackled a typical "problem" that New Yorkers (where his church is) have with Christianity. The sermons are excellent, and I would eagerly recommend them. However, I felt uneasy about the sermon on hell. Keller takes C.S. Lewis' stance, that no one is 'sent' to hell, but that they go there willingly. In this article, John Piper argues against Lewis' stance.

How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

Pictures of the past 2 weeks

Life officially feels different. And what a blessing! Things are generally going well. Life is all about expectations, and we're constantly reminding ourselves, "This is normal, we knew it would be like this!" whenever we're tempted to feel worried or discouraged. Cohen's gaining wait, sleeping reasonably well, and eating plenty. It's going to be ridiculous how many pictures we'll have of this guy by his 18th birthday!

This is right after his bath, on his birthday. The gold heart is monitoring his heart rate.

Passed out on the futon

He's got a pretty good things going on here with the carseat.

Relaxing on his favorite pillow

Cohen's first family picture!

Aunt and Grandma

Proud Grandpa

This one's a little blurry, but it's my favorite picture so far.

Welcome, Cohen

All throughout the Bible it is made abundantly clear that God is the giver of life, and the one who brings conception. God blessed Eve with a third Child, Seth, after the death of Abel, would continue the line of the promise. God granted Sarah and Abraham a child through the promise that he made to them. Samson birth was appointed by God, that he would complete the tasks that the Lord had assigned. Hannah bore Samuel after pleading with the Lord for a son. David was formed in the womb by the Lord. John the Baptist was blessed with the Spirit before he was born. Jesus' birth was foretold to Mary and to Joseph, and appointed before the dawn of time.


We praise God for his mercy on us in granting us a son. We have done nothing to deserve the Lord's kindness, and we dare not take it for granted. In his grace and mercy, God grants that thousands of children would be born daily to parents who do not acknowledge his rule and his grace. Thank you, Father, for this gift! Thank you for putting it in our hearts to love you and to serve you. May you be honored in the life of our son, Cohen Samuel Lawrence. May Jesus Christ be glorified in this home.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Ps. 145:8-9

More posts coming...

I apologize for the complete lack of updates. We haven't given up on the blog. In the past several weeks we've been preparing to move, I've been applying for a job (which had a rather long interview process), and trying to keep my head above water in my classes. We have some good photos to post and we'll have some more soon. Check back!

PS. Check out the "Better Bibles Blog" link that I added to the sidebar. These guys are all involved in Bible translation in one way or another, and the blog deals with interesting and difficult translation issues. Very interesting.

Have you 'mastered' salvation by grace?

I've been recently lamenting the fact that I so struggle with legalism - that I struggle to really get the gospel of grace. Martin Luther is one of the most helpful theologians for this type of feeling.

Martin Luther:

“Particularly when you hear hear an immature and unripe saint trumpet that he knows very well that we must be saved by the grace of God, without our own works, and then pretend that this is a snap for him, well, then have no doubt that he has no idea of what he is talking about and probably will never find out. For this is not an art that can be completely learned or of which anyone could boast that he is a master. It is an art that will always have us as pupils while it remains the master. And all those who do understand and practice it do not boast that they can do everything. On the contrary, they sense it like a wonderful taste or odor that they greatly desire and pursue; and they are amazed that they cannot grasp it or comprehend it as they would like. They hunger, thirst, and yearn for it more and more; and they never tire of hearing about or dealing with it, just as St. Paul himself confessed that he has not yet obtained it (Phil. 3:12). And in Matt. 5:6 Christ calls those blessed who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

What's the difference between God's people in OT and NT?

How are God's people delineated in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant?
How about under the New Covenant?
Are there any important parallels or distinctions to be drawn between the two?
Do these parallels or distinctions play out in any important ways practically or theologically?

I've been reading through Ezekiel for a little while now. It's one of the most difficult books in the Old Testament for me. There are some really mysterious scenes and some unique language. Plus, there are few (if any?) direct references to Ezekiel in the New Testament that shed any light on the book. However, there are a few sections in the book that are absolutely amazing - some of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. One is chapter 16, which is terrible and beautiful at the same time. Another amazing chapter is 34, where God says that he will send his servant to be the shepherd of his sheep.

God condemns the "shepherds of Israel" in verses 1-10, bringing against them charges of neglecting to provide and protect. He goes on to say that He himself will shepherd his people. In God's description of his own shepherding, we get an important glimpse into the Old Covenant definition of the people of God. In verses 15 and 16, God says,

"I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fast and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them i justice."

First notice that God identifies all of the sheep of whom he is speaking as being His. The sheep belong to him. They are his people. In verse 31 he says again, "And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture." Then, notice that God declares that he will destroy some of his sheep! Verse 2o is even more explicit:

"Behold, I , I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep."

As the passage continues, it's important to notice different ways that God begins to refer to his sheep. In verses 17, 19, and 21, God distinguishes between the sheep he will destroy and the one's whom he will save. Then all of a sudden in verse 22, he refers to "my flock" as the one's whom he will most certainly save. These are the one's over whom he will appoint his servant David as their shepherd. This, of course, is Jesus.

The simply conclusion that can be drawn from this text is that under the Old Covenant, not all of God's people (sheep) were truly God's people (God's flock). How does this compare with the New Testament people of God?

In John 10, Jesus declares himself to be "the good shepherd", directly and purposefully pointing to himself as the fulfillment of Ezekiel 34:23. However, Jesus' description of his relationship with the sheep is different from God's relationship with the sheep in Ezekiel 34. Whereas God says that some of the sheep will be judged and others will be saved, Jesus says in John 10:27-28,

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."

All of these sheep will be saved. In Ezekiel 34 there were 3 categories.

1. Sheep who will be saved (Jews and those self identified as part of the Jewish Community)
   
2. Sheep who will not be saved ((Jews and those self identified as part of the Jewish Community)
3. Non-sheep, who will not be saved (Gentiles)

In John 10 (and today) there are now only 2 categories of people:

1. Sheep (Jews and Gentiles)
   
2. Non-sheep (Jews and Gentiles)
   

Three brief points to be drawn from this comparison:

1. Since the beginning of time, no one has ever been saved by their nationality. No Jew was every saved for being a Jew. Jews (sheep) who loved God were saved, Jews who did not love God were not saved. The revolution which Jesus brought was not to change the mode of salvation from ethnicity to faith.
   
2. With regard to baptism - In the Old Testament, all of the sheep received the sign of the covenant, circumcision. However, under that covenant, though all were circumcised, some sheep were saved and some were not. Under the New Covenant, all of the sheep receive the sign as well. And as we have seen, all of the sheep are also saved. Only regenerate believers are sheep, and only regenerate believers are to receive the sign of the covenant. The "rule", to put it crudely, which transcends the Testaments/Covenants would be this: All of the sheep (God's people) are to receive the sign of the covenant.
   
3. With regard to the local church - in the Old Testament, Israel, the community of God's people was composed of both saved and unsaved people. Under the New Covenant, the community of God's people is composed only of saved individuals. So, where there certainly will be a mixture of save and unsaved on any sunday morning in a local church, there must also be some distinction made as to who are the community of believers and who are not. This distinction is accomplished with church membership and sustained with church discipline.
   

Vacation Pictures

Part 1: Keating-Milner wedding in Oklahoma City

What an awesome wedding weekend! We were so thrilled and honored to be a part of such a gospel-centered wedding. Seeing friends from China was really great also. We hadn't realized how much we miss seeing these people!

We had a rough start to our vacation - a canceled flight from Louisville to OKC. We ended up getting in to OKC only an hour behind schedule, but without our bag. So our pictures don't start until Saturday evening, which is when we got our bag, and our camera.

Megan and Kelcy - 29 weeks and 21 weeks (I think) respectively

DK and Megan

The China crew, plus a few spouses and girlfriends

Part 2: Virginia Beach

The majority of the week was spent hanging out with Ian's parents - swimming, eating, talking, a little shopping - which was really fun and relaxing. We didn't, however, take any pictures of us with them. These next pictures are with our friend Leslie and her and Kevin's new baby, Harper. She was born in April, but this is the first time we've met her.

Leslie and Harper

Megan, getting some practice

We intended to spend most of the day Friday with Ian's sister, Christina, and her family, but it wasn't meant to be. It started raining on Wednesday and pretty much didn't stop before we left. Friday afternoon plus Virginia Beach tourism equals traffic nightmare. What should have been a 1 hour drive took three hours. So our visit was cut a little short, but we had a really good time.

Tyler (5), in the middle-back, always like to do strange things with Megan's hair. In this picture she has curlers. Mary (9) on the right and Lucy (4) in the front.

Tyler, Tom, and Andy - the Rohrer men. Andy (2) is looking a lot more grown up than the last time we saw him!

Finally, here's the whole family. Plus two more yet to be picture - baby Lawrence (coming end of October) and baby Rohrer (coming mid December)!

We had such a great week, we're so thankful to Ian's parents for hosting us :) - it was hard to get on the plane yesterday morning and see our vacation coming to an end! Ian starts classes on Tuesday, and both of us will be back at work tomorrow morning. We praise God for already answering so many prayers about our life here in Louisville. He gives good and unique gifts in each season of life.

Book List, part 2

This is part 2 of my all time best book list. I should have mentinoed in the first part what I mean by "all time best", namely, books that have had the greatest influence on me. I'm not very normal when it comes to reading. I don't often read a book for pleasure. I read primarily to learn and to study, inside and outside of class. There have been other books which I've enjoyed a lot, but this list is of books which have transformed the way I think. Some of the books earlier on in the list (part 1) were transformative largely in part because they got me started with reading books! The books in this list, however, were more personally tranformative either in my patterns of thinking and/or in leading me to make significant life decisions.


God's Smuggler, Brother Andrew (Fall/Winter 2005)

This is the autobiography of Brother Andrew (now the leader and figurehead of Open Doors), a dutch Christian who was saved as a teenager and called to an amazing ministry. He spent years of his early life smuggling Bibles into communist countries, mostly in Eastern Europe. Megan read this while I read Heavenly Man, and then we switched. I think that God really used these books to give us a heart for the nations and to move us to consider going to China. Brother Andrew's faith is amazing, and the stories he tells are encouraging and instructional.


Desiring God, John Piper (Fall 2006)

Thus begins the massive impact of John Piper on my thinking and on my Christian life. This book rocked my world as I read it during our first semester in China. I began to realize that my Christian walk consisted almost entirely of thinking, and very little of feeling and loving. I began to beg God to give me joy and affection for him. This was the beginning of a new chapter in my walk with the Lord. The book is somewhat difficult, but not as bad as I've heard some people say. Too many Christian books don't engage the mind enough. Desiring God requires slow and deliberate reading, and it's well worth every page.

Pleasures of God, John Piper (Spring 2007)

I read this toward the end of my first year in China. It's probably my second favorite Piper book, behind Desiring God. It continued the reorientation of my understanding of God that began when I read Desiring God. Specifically, I began to accept a Calvinistic theology from an informed standpoint, interacting with Piper's arguments. God used this book to destroy my delusions of having a free will apart from him. I read The Forgotten Spurgeon at the same time, which supplemented all of these thoughts.


The Forgotten Spurgeon, Iain Murray (spring 2007)

This book is a biography of the 3 major controversy's which C.H. Spurgeon was involved in - Calvinism, baptismal regeneration, and the downgrade. It's a fascinating book on multiple fronts. Murray's chapter on the effects of Arminianism on evangelism is worth the price of the book. The latter chapters provide a insightful look at one of the single most important events in the history of evangelicalism in the past several centuries. Namely, the liberalization of the Baptist Union. The biggest effect that this book had on my thinking was with regard to mothods of evangelism. Particularly, respecting God's sovereignty in salvation in my methods of EV and discipleship.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Winter 2007, I think)

I actually haven't completely finished this book. But it's not a connected story, only a collection of sermons, so I don't need to finish it to assess it accurately I don't think. These are some of the most challenging and sanctifying sermonds I've read. I committed to read one sermon a day after my quiet time during a period when Megan and I were in Bluefield, before returning to China. God used this book to really challenge me in some basic Christian areas - love for others, love for and pursuit of God, sharing my faith, etc. This is a great book and helpful resource.

Future Grace, John Piper (Winter 2008)

Megan and read this together, and at the same time we were doing a Bible study in our small group on the book Battling Unbelief, also by Piper, which is actually just a abbreviated version of Future Grace. The book is rather rhetorical and repetative, but Piper's point is that by the time you finish it the main thesis of the book has so pervaded your thought as to become the new standard. The thesis is this: Christian obedience ought not result from thankfulness for what God has done, but from faith that he will bless obedience and continue to provide grace to enable it. Faith, not thankfulness, is the root of obedience. This has really transformed my thinking.

Dominion and Dynasty, Stephen Dempster (summer 2009)

This is a theology of the Old Testament. It's one of those books where, literally on every page, I saying, "Whoa! Now I see! I had never understood that before!" Dempster argues that the OT, read in the traditional Jewish order of books and not in the Christian order (the order in your Bible) reads as a continual narrative rather than a disjunctive collection of stories. In this light, he explains the main idea behind each book of the OT, highlighting the themes of dominion (the promise of land) and dynasty (the promise of descendents) throughout. It gets technical at times, but generally is not a difficult read. This book has changed the way I read the Bible, both OT and NT.

My top all time book list, part 1

In the order that I read them:

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Senior year of high school)

I didn't actually read a lot of books in high school. I read a lot of cliff's notes though. But this was one book that I actually read, and I loved it. If you've seen the movie, then you get the basic idea of the book, except that the book is much longer and more detailed. It recounts the most detailed and intertwined stories of revenge, but has a conclusion more typical to the time it was written than to today: the lead character realizes that all of his revenge has not satisfied him, and that he would have been better off to leave vengeance to the Lord.

Brother's Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky (Started freshman year of college, finished 3 years later)

I was still not a big reader at this point, hence the 3 years required to read this book. But, by the second half of it I really began to enjoy it. Dostoevsky is well known for his detailed look inside the human soul and consciousness, and this book is a great example of that. Well worth the 900+ pages.






Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper (2005)

This was the first of many John Piper books that I've read. I got my first taste of John Piper when a friend gave me a sermon of his, with the same title as this book. I couldn't get enough of it. I gave it to Megan to listen to (this was before we were married), and she went out and bought the book. She finished it and then gave it to me. I actually don't remember if I read this book first or The God Who is There, but they were very close together. God used this book to begin to reorient my world, seriously. Piper's passion for the supremacy of God in all things is contagious. I finished this book with a new passion for not wasting my life - by glorifying God in all that I am and with all that I have. This is probably the easiest Piper book to read, with the possible exception of some of his biographies in The Swans Are Not Silent series.

The God Who is There, Francis Schaeffer (2005)

I was introduced to Schaeffer by some friends at church . They suggested to us a 10 part video series, narrated by Schaeffer (very humorous at times) on his book How Shalll We Then Live? It was excellent, so I picked up this book, which is one of his most well known and foundational. This book helped me to begin to see all of history from God's persective - including the arts, philosophy, governments and politics, and the church. Schaeffer is a genius, and his ability to understand the tides of culture and morality are astonishing. This is a tough read - he has a list of vocabulary in the back of the book, most of which are words and terms that he made up.

A Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis (Spring 2006)

This was one of my favorite Narnia books. Megan and I read them together during the spring and summer of 2006, mostly while driving around Virginia visiting people. The scene that sticks out the most in my mind is the one where Shasta and the others are attacked by lions while being chased. Shasta later finds out that it was Aslan who had scratched him. It's a compelling and Biblical picture of suffering. Besides that scene, the story is great as well, as are all the Narnia books.




The Heavenly Man, Brother Yun (Spring 2006)

This is an amazing book. It's the story of Brother Yun, a Chinese Christian and former leader in the underground church. It tells of his conversion and ministry, recounting many amazing stories and miracles. The book is also radically Christ-centered. The point is clearly not to make the reader marvel at the miracles and astonishing events that surround Brother Yun's life, but to make us marvel at God in Jesus Christ. One warning, the events of this book took place mostly in the 80's and early 90's. China changes very quickly. Do not read this book and then think that this is what today's China is like. There are certainly simliarities between then and today, but there is much that is different.
------------------------------------------------

That's it for now, I'll post part 2 as soon as I have some more time.

The Case for (early) Marriage

Al Mohler posted a thought provoking blog today, commenting on Christianity Today's recent cover story on the troubling lack of sexual abstinence among evangelical young people.
Mohler writes:

Regnerus's proposal is not to devalue sexual abstinence, but to address the fundamental issue of marriage. As he explains, "I've come to the conclusion that Christians have made much ado about sex but are becoming slow and lax about marriage -- that more significant, enduring witness to Christ's sacrificial love for his bride."

In reality, American evangelicals are not "becoming slow and lax about marriage." To the contrary, this is now a settled pattern across the evangelical landscape. Regnerus gets the facts straight, reporting that the median age at first marriage is now 26 for women and 28 for men -- an increase of five years since 1970. As he notes, "That's five additional, long years of peak sexual interest and fertility." Though evangelical Christians are marrying at slightly earlier ages than other Americans, Regnerus correctly observes that this is "not by much."

At this point, Regnerus delivers his bombshell:

Evangelicals tend to marry slightly earlier than other Americans, but not by much. Many of them plan to marry in their mid-20s.Yet waiting for sex until then feels far too long to most of them. And I am suggesting that when people wait until their mid-to-late 20s to marry, it is unreasonable to expect them to refrain from sex. It's battling our Creator's reproductive designs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Here's Mohler's conclusion)

Mark Regnerus certainly drives the point home when he argues that "when people wait until their mid-to-late 20s to marry, it is unreasonable to expect them to refrain from sex." Nevertheless, Christians are called to a moral standard that, by any secular standard, it is profoundly unreasonable. I would prefer to argue that the delay of marriage is unwise, not only because of the demonstrated risk of sexual immorality, but because of the loss of so much God gives to us in marriage.

At the end of the day, the most important fact about this article is that it appears as a cover story for Christianity Today. In that sense, the cover has been blown when it comes to the crisis of evangelical young people and the delay of marriage. It's about time.

'Encouragement' from the Social Security Administration

Yesterday Megan got her yearly social security statement in the mail. It updated her on her current projected savings by retirement and described all of the wonderful benefits of the social security program. One heading in particular caught my eyes: "Will Social Security still be around when I retire?" It seems to be that by even asking the question they are letting on that there is in fact some reason to be worried about this. After reading their explanation I'm having a hard time understanding why I should be encouraged.

Most people know how SS has been working for quite some time now. We all give a portion of our paychecks to social security - in effect, the government is requiring us to save for retirement. But, they don't just store our money away some where so that we can retrieve it when we retire. Rather, they use the money that they receive from SS for other budgetary needs, hoping that there will be enough left when you and I retire to actually give us our money back.

Here's the ss administration's encouragement for us as we wonder if we will ever see this money:
"Even if modifications to the program are not made, there would still be enough funds in 2041 from taxes paid by workers to pay $780 for every $1000 in benefits scheduled." So, we can count on getting 78% of what we pay in ss? And that's if things don't get any worse. So basically, whatever I pay to ss every two weeks from my paycheck, I can take 22% of that and just consider it to be part of my income tax. Unless I'm missing something, that's a pretty bad deal.

Different (Baptist) takes on when to baptize children

This week and last week we've been talking about baptism in our Sunday school class. One of the questions that has received a lot of attention is this"

When is it ok to baptize a child who professes belief? When is it wise to hold off?

The situation that the elders of our church and that many of us in the class want to avoid is the one displayed in this all-too-common testimony: "I was raised in a Christian home and professed belief at age 5. I was baptized at age 6 and continued going to church with my family. But I went through a long rebellious period in my teens where I turned from the Lord. Now I've come back to the faith, and I want to join a church. Have I been baptized? Or do I need to be baptized (again)?"

Confusion over one's state of salvation is epidemic in America, and poor baptizing methods have certainly added to the problem. Too many unsaved adults look back to their childhood baptism to give them comfort over the state of their souls. False hope and false comfort of salvation are barriers that keep people from sensing their need for Christ.

The elder who was teaching our Sunday school class summed up the attitude of another large and prominent Baptist church toward baptizing children in this way:

• Children are easily decieved.
• Children of Christian parents desperately want to please their parents in the things that their parents consider to be important.
  
• Therefore, it is easy for the child of Christian parents to be confused about whether or not he actually believes. For this reason, it is best to wait to baptize such a child until a time when they are out from the under the authority of their parents and have begun to experience the weight of the world. After this time, it will be more clear whether or not the child's (now an adult) faith is genuine.
  
• There would be possible exceptions in cases of children who attend the church but do not have Christian parents, or in the case of a child who begins to work outside the home at a relatively young age and interacts with the world, where the fruit of his or her faith is more visible.
  

Our ss teacher gave two reasons why he does not hold to this position:

• We should not be surprised when a child of Christian parents professes faith. God uses means to save people, particularly, the hearing of the gospel and the reading of the Word. When a child is raised in a context where she regularly hears the gospel and sees it lived out in her parents' lives, then we should not be surprised when she professes faith.
  
• The above position (of the other church) has the tendency to make a child think that he must prove his salvation by good works. The idea is that the church desires to see evidence of salvation before it is willing to baptize. If you say to a child, "we won't baptize you now, but once we see evidence of salvation in your life then we will," they will most certainly understand this to mean, "you may not be saved. Once you begin to do things to show that you are, then we will believe you." This may possible result is an anxious child who begins to try to 'earn' his salvation by good works.
  

The whole issue is very interesting and definitely not easy. It's common practice in many European Baptist churches not to baptize any children, hands down. Even for Presbyterians, who would disregard the validity of the entire issue, there's still the question of when do you admit a child into membership? All of the same questions apply. This is something I hope to understand better as I have my own children, as I begin to see the life of a child on a day to day basis.

Is this a big decision?

We recently gave up an opportunity to move into a larger, slightly cheaper apartment just down the street from the seminary. We'd been looking for a new apartment for several weeks, and finally this seemingly perfect apartment came available. Then, after talking and praying about it for a few days, we decided that the wisest decision would be to stay in the complex we are in but move into a larger apartment. We have a lot of friends in the neighborhood here who we wouldn't see very often if we moved out. Plus the outdoor area is great for kids (as the picture shows), and for walking and being outside. Also, there are quite a few people around here who need to hear the gospel, including many different nationalities. So, all in all, we feel good about the decision we made. But it wasn't easy.

Last week we were talking about the whole thing in the car, and I said to Megan, "Why was it so hard for us to make such a small decision? It's just an apartment, it should be that difficult!" And then it hit me, who am I to decide whether or not this is a big decision? Only God knows the outcome of making one decision or the other, and if he put it on our hearts to earnestly seek him for wisdom, then it was a big decision!

Every day, millions of people the world over make massive, life changing decisions in flippant and careless ways. A man accepts a job because it seems perfect for him. Several months later his marriage is seriously strained because his boss expects him to work 6o hours a week and he never sees his wife. A couple quickly snatches up beautiful house that is slightly outside their price range. Within a year or so they feel more like the house owns them. The time and money that are required to keep the house up and to pay their mortgage has change their lives beyond their expectations. The biggest decisions are the ones that reverberate into other areas of life.

I'm a quick decision maker. I don't like to take a lot of time to consider every possible outcome of a decision that lies before me. But several times over the past few years God has refused my inclinations toward making a quick decision. Now, I'm much more likely to ask, "God, is this a big decision?" And I've found that his purposes in putting the two of us through difficult periods of decision making are far more reaching than I could understand.

July 4th in Bluefield

So our Blog updating has been pretty lame lately. Blogging is more work than i imagined it might be. Anyway, here are some photos from last weekend with the Mullennex's in bluefield.


We ate lunch together at a park after canoeing and paddle boating for a few hours. There are some interesting faces being made in this picture if you look carefully.

Megan and Rory decided to lay down on the hill and compare belly sizes. It was close, but I think Megan won



Megan's pregnant belly is finally visible! Though still not very big at all :)

Declaring the Gospel

I'm currently reading What St. Paul Really Said by N.T. Wright, which is great so far. I read this today in his discussion of what the word 'gospel' really means as used by Paul:

When a herald makes a royal proclamation, he says 'Nero (or whoever) has become emperor.' He does not say 'If you would like to have an experience of living under an emperor, you might care to try Nero.' The proclamation is an authoritative summons to obedience - in Paul's case, to what he calls the 'obedience of faith'.(45)

The spiritual and intellectual climate in America can make it easy to preach the gospel like the lame 'invitation' to be ruled by Nero. Paul knew no such gospel proclamation. As Wright points out, Paul viewed himself as Herald of the King, and we should too.