For the earth shall be full

Overmuch sorrow

2010-05-08T17:43:00.001-04:00

"Overmuch sorrow yet more hindereth hope; when men think that they do believe God's word, and that his promises are all true to others, yet cannot they hope for the promised blessings to themselves. Hope is that grace by which a soul that believeth the gospel to be true, doth comfortably expect that the benefits promised shall be its own; it is an applying act. The first act of faith saith the gospel is true, which promiseth grace and glory through Christ. The next act of faith saith, I will trust my soul and all upon it, and take Christ for my Saviour and help: and then hope saith, I hope for this salvation by him: but melancholy, overwhelming sorrow and trouble is as great an adversary to this hope as water is to fire, or snow to heat. Despair is its very pulse and breath. Fain such would have hope, but they cannot. All their thoughts are suspicious and misgiving, and they can see nothing but danger and misery, and a helpless state. And when hope, which is the anchor of the soul, is gone, what wonder if they be continually tossed with storms."
-Richard Baxter (http://www.puritansermons.com/baxter/baxter25.htm)

Whitfield on Christian unity

2010-03-21T21:39:00.003-04:00

I'm reading Iain Murray's Heroes right now, in which he gives brief biographies of several Christians. The chapter on Whitefield focuses on Christian unity. Murray gives 3 reasons why unity fails and 5 ways to increase it. This has been challenging and encouraging for me recently.

3 reasons unity fails:
1. Because fallen human nature is universally prone to prejudice, ignorance, and the adoption of wrong principles.
2. Because "church" in the sense of denominational organization is identified with the body of Christ.
3. Because if encounters constant opposition from the powers of darkness.

5 Ways to increase unity
1. Let us see other believers first as Christians
2. Let us desist, as far as possible, from controversies on secondary issues.
3. Let us be sure to recognize our own failures in this grace.
4. Let us seek to keep the unity of heaven before us
5. Let us seek closer fellowship with our savior, Jesus Christ.

Life Update

2010-03-06T16:30:00.006-05:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything on here - this blog has proven to be one of several things that I haven't had time to stay up with in the last few months. Hopefully that will change at some unknown time in the future.

This semester has been up and down as we've been learning to adapt our lives to Cohen, all while maneuvering through school work, various physical pains and problems, and battling anxiety about the future. It's been a daily fight to trust the Lord and not to hold on the comforts we are so tempted to think we are entitled to. The Lord has been extremely faithful, answering our prayers for wisdom and patience, sanctifying us through learning to serve Cohen and one another. We've both found that we are very prone to slipping into a legalistic attitude toward God. We have a tendency to let our sin get us down, and to imagine that since we aren't displaying whatever signs of grace we think we ought to, that means we aren't right with the Lord, or aren't growing in our faith, or whatever. Praise God that the gospel is of free grace! I've been especially comforted lately by Zephaniah 3:17 -"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." It helps me to fight my tendency toward seeing God primarily as my judge, who is constantly disappointed with me and shaking his head at my sin, knowing that this verse is true for me in Jesus Christ.

Cohen. Cohen has calmed down quite a bit since the first 2 months. He's on a pretty set schedule, and does quite well even when we take him out. Our favorite thing to do is put him in the baby bjorn and go for a walk. He chews on the front edge of the carrier the whole time and just makes noises. We will probably be doing that every day now that it's warming up. My birthday was on Thursday, and I decided to take the day off from work and class and do something fun as a family. We went to Clark State Forest in Indiana and walked around for a while. The weather was beautiful, and it was a really awesome day! Cohen did great at being flexible.

School.After this semester, I'll have about 40 hours of seminary under my belt. If I stick with the current plan of taking 3 classes during the semester and one in between I can be done in 2 more years. Thankfully I've gotten a lot of the tougher classes out of the way already, so I think this is manageable, but we'll see.

Future.When we think about how we might serve the Lord after seminary two possibilities are coming to our minds right now. The first is going back to China and serving as long term church planters, and the other is doing Bible translation in some capacity, probably also in conjunction with church planting. To be honest, we feel very weak and unfit for either of these ministries, and we know that there are some significant ways that we need to grow if either of these is to become a reality.

Misc. I'm going to China with a group from our church in July to visit some M's and to do some EV work there. I'm really excited, and praying that God will help Megan and I through this trip to discern whether he would have us pursue going back there in the future. This is going to be another summer of weddings. We'll be going to weddings in Blacksburg, Virginia Beach, Baltimore, and Bluefield. It will be fun, but exhausting. My brother in law, Tom, has been promoted in the Coastguard. This is great news, except that it also comes with a transfer to Clearwater, FL. He will likely be moving in July and Christina and the kids will join him once the house sells. How great it is that everyone in our family is able to trust the Lord and his sovereign plan, even though we're all sad to know we'll be farther apart.

Thank the Lord that it's his strength that sustains us to the end, because it's clear that we don't have it in ourselves.

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

The Name of the LORD

2010-02-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

Why is God's proper name written as LORD in the OT? Is there anything wrong with saying the LORD's name, Yahweh (or Jehovah)?

From The Journey from Texts to Translations, by Paul Wegner:

"(YHWH was not written according to its true pronunciation) because the Jewish people did not want the name of their God to be taken lightly, as the third commandment states: 'You shall not miuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name' (Exod. 20:7).....The scribes reasoned that if they did not point the name Yahweh then it could never be treated lightly since his name would not really be known."

YHWH was never spoken by Jews, they said Adonai (lord) instead. This was expressed in the translation of the Septuagint.

I'm personally a fan of using a transliterated version of YHWH, even in English Bibles. The reasoning expressed in Wegner's explanation strikes me as almost superstitious, and completely missing the point of the third commandment. We say the name of Jesus, why shy away from also saying Yahweh? Most people have never noticed the difference between LORD and Lord in an English Bible, and as a result they lose something rather significant in reading the OT, and also probably miss many of the NT pointers to the divinity of Christ (Rom 10:13, Mark 1:2-3, for example). The word for God in Hebrew, Elohim, is similar to our word for God, that is, it's generic. It can mean God or god. The word Adonai (lord) is similarly ambiguous. YHWH, on the other hand, is a proper name.

There is the issue of pronunciation. No one can be sure how YHWH is supposed to be pronounced because the vowels were lost along the way. I think it's safe to say that the first vowel should be an /a/ as in Father, because we have many other words in the OT that use the first two letters of YHWH and always pronounce is "Ya". Hallelujah, for example, which means praise YHWH, "Hallelu-Yah." In any case, I don't think it's a huge deal whether we pronounce his name correctly. We don't worry about it with any of the other proper names in the OT.

For a people who have never heard of the Christian God, they will doubtless have their own word(s) for God/god, words that are probably as ambiguous as our word "god". I believe it is tremendously helpful and important for them to learn a specific name for the specific God who they are to worship as The God. The Chinese Bible uses Ye He Hua (transliterated form of YHWH) for YHWH and Shang Di or Shen (generic word for God/god) for God. This is the way that I'm inclined to go as well. When a Chinese person picks up the Bible and reads the name Ye He Hua they will say, "Who is this?" But as they keep reading they will learn who this God is and the name will take on definition naturally.

Theodicy and the Day of the Lord

2010-01-30T17:02:00.004-05:00

The blog has not fared well since Cohen was born - I think I'll shoot for one post a week and see how that goes. The new semester just started, and my mind is once again overloaded with all that I'm learning and thinking about in my classes. This is a wonderful thing! I'm blessed to absolutely love what I'm studying. I can't say the same was true for my undergrad.

Anyway, I'm taking a class on Joel and Amos. We take the Hebrew text verse by verse, discussing both textual and theological issues. We've only had two classes thus far, and so we've just been talking about introductory matters. I want to post some thoughts about theodicy that we briefly discussed on Thursday. My professor only barely began the discussion before class ended, but I think I know where he's going. I'll find out on Tuesday.

The Locust Plague - Chapter 1
Joel chapter one is about a locust plague that strikes Jerusalem. It is catastrophic, wiping out both crop and livestock. Joel goes into great poetic detail of the destruction and devastation that the locusts bring. It's hard for us to imagine such an event, and furthermore to imagine locusts being the cause of the demise of our very livelihood. The event was much more serious than most of us probably understand when we read the text.

The Invading Army - Chapter 2
In Chapter 2 Joel describes the invasion of Jerusalem by a foreign army, employing the language of the locust plague from chapter 1. This is likely a prophecy of the impending exile of Judah in 586 B.C. (depending on the dating of the book, which is a rather difficult task). This event is also catastrophic, bringing life as they knew it to an end.

The Last Judgment - Chapter 3
Finally, in chapter 3, Joel prophecies the last judgment, where the Lord enters into judgment with all the nations of the earth. This is the decisive and cataclysmic event of history. For those who have not bowed their knee to the God of Israel, all joy and goodness are forever lost.

Typology and the problem of evil
My professor made this point with regard to the connection between the three event and the term "the day of the Lord":

Each of these events is "the day of the Lord". The prophets employed a system of typology - using initial events to describe and point to future events. For example, David is a type of Christ, the exodus is a type of the salvation that is found through Christ, etc. For the inhabitants of Jerusalem at the time of the locust plague, nothing in their minds could have been worse than what they experienced. The same goes for those who lived through the sack of Jerusalem and the exile to Syria. One points to the next, and each one can legitimately be called "the day of the Lord". There will be, however, a final and ultimate "day of the Lord" with each preceding event finally points to.

What does this have to do with the problem of evil? Before I make the connection let me give several alternative views to the question, "Why do evil things happen?" Take as an example the earthquake in Haiti - how is it that God, would we describe as good, would allow such a thing to happen? Here are some possibilities:

1) God is not good, but finds pleasure in doing harm to earth and its creatures. (rejection of God's goodness)
2) God and Satan are opposing powers, and God is unable to prevent Satan from all the evil that he desires to do. (rejection of God's omnipotence)
3) The world is fallen and as a result calamities and evil things happen. It's so much that God or anyone/anything else purposes them, they are simply a result of living in a fallen world. (this can sound tempting, but I would consider it radically unbiblical and a rejection of God's sovereignty as the Bible describes it)
4) There is no God, events are random and purposeless. If this is true, then the words "good" and "evil" have no objective meaning and the conversation isn't even worth having. Furthermore, we have no right to complain about any "evil' thing that anyone does to us, because it is simply their preference to do it.

Now for what I believe is the view of the Bible. Let me preface this by saying that I believe that God's design in suffering is much more complex than this one aspect I will present. I don't mean to attempt to explain the purpose of suffering and calamities. That being said, I do believe that this is a significant one and is very important for the Christian to understand.

In the book of Joel, each disastrous event points to the next, and ultimately to the final event, the last judgment. God's design in purposing disastrous events is that such events would point people to consider the last judgment, and to repent. God is completely and utterly sovereign over all things, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and genocides. His sovereignty does not remove the responsibility of humans where human volition is involved. But neither does human volition remove God's sovereignty.

Therefore, whether we ourselves are involved in some life-altering disaster, or whether we simply see one one the news, the proper response is mourning and repentance. For the Christian, this morning can be followed by joyful thanksgiving that at the last judgment we will stand covered with the blood of Christ and will be welcomed into eternity as sons and daughters of God.

Photos!

2010-01-17T14:45:00.017-05:00

Photo dump time! These were taken around Christmas and New Years (in no particular order because blogger makes it very difficult to organize photos on this blog!) Some of these are with Ian's family and with friends from Virginia Beach, the others are in Bluefield with Megan's family. We have many, many more pictures, and will hopefully find the time to post them all in an online album before long.

Rory, Megan's brother, holding Cohen by the Christmas tree.

This is what most of New Years consisted of - hanging out together, playing games, eating and drinking. Very relaxing! It was too cold to do much outside anyway.

At one point Grandpa Mullennex played the fiddle for Cohen for an hour or so and he really enjoyed it.

The ever-expanding Lawrence clan. Christina, Ian's sister, is holding their newborn boy, Quincy Christopher.

Mary is a pro at the baby thing

The Rohrer's made us this awesome apron with each of their names and handprints on it. You can see Qunicy's footprints on the right.

Kevin and Leslie Magee's daughter Harper trying to exert her age, size, and hand-eye-coordination on Cohen. He put up a good fight though.

We called this his Elvis costume. It looks ridiculous.

Megan's newly-engaged sister Beth loving on Cohen.

Grammy and Cohen were made for each other!

Chinese church's statment on the Holy Spirit

2009-12-16T12:32:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-16T22:34:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-14T21:40:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-31T20:56:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-30T18:16:00.009-04:00

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

2009-10-25T15:06:00.004-04:00

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

Have you 'mastered' salvation by grace?

2009-09-10T14:54:00.002-04:00

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?

2009-08-17T20:45:00.006-04:00

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.

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

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

Sheep (Jews and Gentiles)
Non-sheep (Jews and Gentiles)

Three brief points to be drawn from this comparison:

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.
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.
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

2009-08-16T08:57:00.014-04:00

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

2009-08-06T09:19:00.009-04:00

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

2009-08-04T09:27:00.011-04:00

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

The Case for (early) Marriage

2009-08-04T09:23:00.000-04:00

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.

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(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

2009-07-22T08:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-07-19T13:51:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-07-19T13:26:00.004-04:00

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

2009-07-10T16:37:00.006-04:00

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

2009-06-16T17:50:00.003-04:00

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.

Baby (boy!) Lawrence in the womb

2009-06-07T21:34:00.004-04:00

Megan had her ultrasound this past thursday. What an amazing experience! We've officially passed the halfway mark, and the nurse confirmed the October 22 due date. The pictures are kind of tough to make out, the captions should help.

Face

One foot on the left, both on the right (kind of sideways)

Profile

Gender-determination shot. What do you think?

Teaching Opportunity in China

2009-06-03T08:00:00.003-04:00

We just got an email from the supervisor at the college where we taught in China. He wanted to pass along that there are several teaching opportunities at various campuses in Northeast China, teaching English and making between 4000-9000 RMB a month ($615-$1380). If anyone knows someone who is interested you can put them in touch with us.

Managing our attitudes toward pain

2009-06-02T16:26:00.004-04:00

You'll have to excuse yet another post on pain and suffering. I don't intend to be morbid, I simply find again and again that the theology of pain and suffering is of the utmost importance in how we view ourselves and how we view God.

I recently stumbled across a blog post of John Piper's from July 2008. You can read the whole thing here, I remember reading it when he posted it and finding it extremely helpful, but had until recently forgotten. Here's the gist:

One of the reasons God rarely gives micro reasons for his painful providences, but regularly gives magnificent macro reasons, is that there are too many micro reasons for us to manage, namely, millions and millions and millions and millions and millions.

Knowing the limitations of our finiteness, God doesn't reveal to us the micro reasons of our pain but directs us to faith. Pain is one of the best opportunities to grow in trusting God, especially when we are completely powerless to take the pain away. All of sudden, challenges raise in our minds to God's love, God's sovereignty, God's goodness. All of these questions are resolved, if dealt with, during an experience of pain. Either God is loving, sovereign, and good, and this pain is therefore for my ultimate good - despite the fact that I don't understand all of the micro reasons for my current suffering. Or, this pain is so terrible that God cannot possibly be loving, sovereign, and good. The former response is bolstering to one's faith. The latter is a rejection of faith. Suffering shows us who we are.

Over the past several years, Daniel 9 has been an encouraging passage for me with regard to managing pain. It presents a perfect example of God's general policy to direct the suffering to grand and magnificent hope and not on minute details. Here's the story: Apparently, Daniel had been reading Jeremiah, and had come across the prophecy where God proclaimed that Israel would be in captivity for 70 years. He began to pour out his heart toward God, asking for mercy for the Jewish people. Eventually, the angel Gabriel brings Daniel God's answer. The answer does not include small details of Israel's suffering, but rather points to God's magnificent and overarching plan. God's response declares a much greater return from exile than Daniel was even asking for. Namely, the coming of the Messiah, who would "put an end to sin, and atone for iniquity".

One of the hardest things to do when in pain is to pick your head up and look at the big picture. This is precisely what God calls us to do time and time again throughout Scripture. But he doesn't expect us to do it with our own power or with some self-manufactured hope. Only with the hope of the gospel - that Christ has come in the flesh and atoned for our sins and purchased our righteousness - only in this hope can we pick up our heads. Then we can even rejoice in our pain, knowing that it is working for us an eternal glory in Christ.

Squirrels

2009-05-29T15:39:00.005-04:00

Our apartment complex is squirrel central. Over the past few months we've had two interesting run ins with these ridiculous animals. Last fall, I was studying at my desk and I heard a knock on the door. I answered the door and no one was there. I looked down and saw a nut in front of the door, and when I looked down the stairs there was a squirrel sitting at the bottom of the landing. It appeared as if the squirrel knocked on my door to give me a nut. I think what probably happened is that the squirrel carried his nut up the stairs and starting banging on our door to try to open the nut.

Yesterday, Megan walked in the door mid-morning and there was a squirrel sitting on the stove. She naturally flipped out and ran out of the kitchen. Then she got her courage up and went back in, just in time to see the squirrel scamper back through the hole it bit in the screen and jump back on to the roof. It ate a hole in the cereal box and was starting on the plastic bag. It also started eating a hole in the coffee bag. Needless to say, we will be leaving that window closed from now on.

Return to Eden

2009-05-28T17:16:00.003-04:00

I've recently noticed a few passages in the Bible on the theme of the New Creation being a return to Eden. I don't believe that the Bible says that this is true in every sense. For example, those who are a part of the new creation, that is those who are saved in Christ, can never fall away as Adam and Eve did. However, there are still some very clear allusions to Eden in the new creation language in Scripture. Here are two that I've seen recently.

Temple language
1. Genesis 2:10-14 describes a river that flowed out of Eden and split into 4 rivers that basically watered the entire earth.

2. Beginning in Ezekiel 40, Ezekiel receives a vision from the Lord of the future city of God. In chapter 47 he sees the temple, and out of it flows a massive river which gives life to everything that it touches.

3. John 7:38, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,'"

4. In the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22, there is a river flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, giving life to everything in this city. This passage gives one of the clearest indication of a return to Eden. What was lost in the fall was humankind's glad acceptance of their complete dependency on God. In the new creation this rift is restored, demonstrated by centrality of the throne of God in the New Jerusalem and the live giving water which flows from it.

Thorns and Thistles
1. In Genesis 3, after the fall, God curses Adam saying, "cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread."
-Thus, man's work will no longer be a joyful and pleasant endeavor, but will be burdensome
and inefficient.

2. Isaiah 55:10-13. Verse 11 is rather well known:

"(my word) shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose."

Verse 13 shows the connection with the reversal of the fall and the curse with regard to the work of mankind:

"Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Then, connecting this with Hebrews 6:7-8,

"For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."

The point is this - where the curse brought resistance from the earth to the effort of mankind, the new creation, through Christ, brings forth abiding fruit both in and through new creatures - those who are alive in Christ. The work, of course, is God's. HE sends his word to accomplish its purpose. HE does the work in the hearts of the elect that yields fruit. Moreover, human work produces fruit which will not last, whereas God's work produces fruit that lasts eternally. The 'everlasting sign that shall not be cut off' is the people of God, the new creation. This new Eden, so to speak, will not fall into decay. It will abide forever. Furthermore, the 'new creation work' that we do, particularly sharing the gospel, does not suffer from the curse. It will go forth and accomplish that which God purposes. It is joyful and rewarding, as God intended physical work to be for Adam in the garden.

Nashville

2009-05-24T10:35:00.009-04:00

We're in Nashville this weekend. We planned to do something this weekend at the beginning of the year, just as a time to get away and be together. It's been a lot of fun so far. We went downtown and the Opryland Hotel yesterday. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so we only have cell phone pics. These are all from inside the hotel. It's like a huge garden, complete with a river winding throughout. Pretty amazing. The picture of Megan with the horse is clearly the best one.

The difference between the East and the West

2009-05-15T16:15:00.004-04:00

In The Missionary Call, David Sills gives an excellent explanation of the difference between how people relate in Eastern cultures compared with Western cultures:

"Every culture uses language for two reasons. One is to communicate information and the other is to maintain relationships. The culture of the United States uses language in this order of priority. Relational, face-to-face cultures of the group-0riented societies of the world operate with an opposite order. Our culture of direct communicators expects honest answers to questions; in fact, our society depends on it. But indirect communication cultures answer with what you want to hear in order to appease and avoid the awkwardness that saying no to a request might cause. The resulting confusion makes the North American missionary seem rude and demanding at times, while he things that people in the new culture are liars who are incapable of telling the truth" (139).

That last sentence described us for at least the first year of our time in China. I really wish I would have read something like this before we went over!

A few photos

2009-05-15T15:25:00.028-04:00

Sorry for the very infrequent blog posts. I've been meaning to post these photos for a while. The first set are from our trip to Virginia Beach in March to see my family, taken at Golden Coral. The second set are from Thunder Over Louisville, a yearly event here in Louisville that boasts the nation's largest fireworks display. We went with a few friends and had a great time. The fireworks were impressive, rivaling even the ones we saw on Chinese New Year in Guangzhou two years ago.

This is Christina and Andy, the youngest.

Here's Ian and Tyler (6)

Ian's mom and Mary (9)

Tom and Lucy (4)

There were an insane amount of people out for Thunder.

Ryan, Erin, and Chaun

This was the coolest part - they shot fireworks off the bridge and it looked like the bridge was on fire.

...Use words only when necessary

2009-05-09T16:15:00.003-04:00

(From Justin Taylor's Blog)

"Gospel" means "good news." If so, then *the saying "Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary" makes about as much sense as telling a reporter he should broadcast the news but that words are optional.

(*St. Francis of Assisi apparently didn't say this; not sure who said it first.)

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The comments under the original post on JT's blog are worth reading also. Here's my personal opinion, having been involved in ministries that love to quote this saying: Speaking the gospel and living the gospel are inseparable. In America today, speaking the gospel is about the most unpopular thing you can do. Therefore, in ministries, especially relational ministries, I think that people need more encouragement to speak the gospel than they need encouragement to live it out (that is, in ways other than speaking it, which is certainly one way to live it out). For me personally, the result of hearing this saying over and over again was a massive under-emphasis on speaking the gospel.

On What Day Did Jesus Die?

2009-04-09T11:28:00.003-04:00

In Matthew 28:40, Jesus says,

"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

The common belief among Christians is that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday. But as Jack Kelly points out, "There isn’t any way you can put three days and three nights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning."

I read Jack Kelly's article on this controversy two years ago, and conveniently, he posted it today on his website. It's rather brief, and I found it very helpful and convincing. In summary, he argues that Jesus was crucified on Thursday, which was Passover. The next day was a Sabbath, but not a typical Sabbath. It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread, and that year, it was a Friday. In the Jewish system, a new day began at sundown, and Jesus was actually laid in the tomb before sundown on Passover day. Therefore, he was in the tomb on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday day, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. He arose before sunrise on Sunday morning, and therefore was not in the tomb at all during Sunday day.

You can read the whole article here if you're interested. I'd definately reccomend it.

I'd be interested if anyone has heard this take before, and if anyone is aware of any problems in his logic or his argument. His is the only article I've read staking this claim, although I'm sure there are others.

The future of interpretation of the bill of rights

2009-04-08T19:04:00.003-04:00

An article posted today on Foxnews.com reveals the scary reality of interpreting the bill of rights apart from a framework of absolute truth. Here's the subject:

A porn flick making its way across college campuses is drawing stiff resistance from critics who say universities shouldn't pay for smut. But the film's supporters say it doesn't rise to the legal definition of obscenity, and the schools have a First Amendment right to show it.

Legally, freedom of speech does not hold for obscenity. So the definition of 'obscenity' is particularly important. I've personally never considered the "legal definition of obscenity".

According to the Supreme Court's ruling in Miller v. California, speech can only be defined as obscene when it meets three conditions -- it must appeal to prurient interest, violate contemporary community standards and lack serious artistic, literary, political or scientific value.

(Prurient - Adj.
1. Having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.
2. Causing lasciviousness or lust
3. Having a restless desire or longing. )

Robert Shibley, vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), was interviewd by Foxnews for their article. He states his opinion:

"We're very concerned about the Maryland Legislature interfering, and here's the reason why," he said. "I don't think there's any doubt that this movie is pornographic in nature but I think there is a very active question about whether this movie constitutes obscenity in any sense."

Pornography is not obscene?

"I don't think this would be found to be obscene in the legal sense under the Miller v. California test because I do think this has artistic value," Shibley said, adding, "I am not comfortable with the government deciding what kind of art has value and what doesn't."

Here is the underlying question: Does the government have any legitimate basis for making moral judgments?

Francis Schaeffer said that if the Bible is set aside as the moral standard for society and law, then over time it would be replaced by some elitist group, who would set the standards themselves.

Read the whole article here.

Christian Patience

2009-04-07T21:25:00.004-04:00

Over the last few days I've been typing out the manuscript for the first sermon that I will ever preach. It's for my introductory preaching class. The text is James 5:7-11. Below is a paragraph from my conclusion. I'm not sure if this will make it in the final cut or not, but I thought I'd post it here. In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul says, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." God has truly ministered to me in the perparation of this sermon. A pastor who faithfully prepares and preaches sermons is uniquely ministered to by his very work. It's been a pleasure to experience this.

Christian patience is radical, and it is radically different from anything that the world would label as patience. What makes us different is our God. If God is sovereign over the time of Christ’s return and the end of history, then he also sovereignly allows all of the suffering which we endure until that day. The ability to be patient is directly related to one’s faith that there is a purpose to the time spent waiting. As pain increases, hope more easily decreases, and impatience easily takes over. To the unbelieving mind, time spent waiting is time wasted. Time spent suffering is certainly wasted, and is meaningless. Consider the logic behind those who support assisted suicide. We hear reasoning like this, “He was in so much pain. Life just wasn’t worth living.” The Christian perspective is incomprehensible to the unregenerate mind. Not only is the end worthwhile, but the present is as well. And we have the promise from God that our pain will never go unmatched by the grace which he provides. God is merciful, he is compassionate, he gives only good things to his children.

Challies post on Evil as Entertainment

2009-04-06T22:38:00.004-04:00

Tim Challies posted a blog today entitled Evil as Entertainment. I would highly recommend reading it. For someone who spends at least some time every day reading articles, news, and blogs on the internet, it was convicting for me. Here is an excerpt:

What is the problem with this? Again, Postman answers, “In both oral and typographic cultures, information derives its importance from the possibilities of action.” Telegraphy, television and other forms of electronic media have made the relationship between information and action both abstract and remote. We hear more news than ever which elicits more opinions than ever, but which leave us increasingly impotent, unable to do anything more than offer opinions and bluster about what we might do if we could.

I'm often struck by the productivity of guys who lived hundreds of years ago, without computers, or even modern writing implements. People like Augustine and Jonathan Edwards wrote more books, essays, and sermons that amount to more books than the vast majority of Americans will ever even read. I pray that God will give us wisdom in learning to use modern conveniences for his glory.

Newsweek article on Christianity in America

2009-04-06T15:06:00.004-04:00

There's a good article in this week's Newsweek titled The End of Christian America. It's definitely worth reading, and I think rather well written and fair. Here's an excerpt giving some of the statistics that resulted in the article being written:

According to the American Religious Identification Survey that got Mohler's attention, the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 percentage points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. The Jewish population is 1.2 percent; the Muslim, 0.6 percent. A separate Pew Forum poll echoed the ARIS finding, reporting that the percentage of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith has doubled in recent years, to 16 percent; in terms of voting, this group grew from 5 percent in 1988 to 12 percent in 2008—roughly the same percentage of the electorate as African-Americans. (Seventy-five percent of unaffiliated voters chose Barack Obama, a Christian.) Meanwhile, the number of people willing to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has increased about fourfold from 1990 to 2009, from 1 million to about 3.6 million. (That is about double the number of, say, Episcopalians in the United States.)

On his blog, Al Mohler comments on the article and on his conversations with the the author, who is the editor of Newsweek.

In love with Chik fil A

2009-03-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

This is hilarious...

Only in China...

2009-03-13T16:42:00.001-04:00

(March 12, 2009, AP)
More than 1,200 residents in northeastern China have set a new world karaoke record by singing continuously for 456 hours, two minutes and five seconds. Students, soldiers, and businessmen from Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, sang more than 6,200 songs from February 20 until yesterday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported today. It beat the old Guinness World Record, set by Finns in July, by nearly 10 hours.

Beautiful statement on Perseverance

2009-03-07T09:17:00.003-05:00

This statement is Article 23 in the First London Confession of Particular Baptist Churches, 1644. It's one of the most beautiful statements I've seen on the Perseverance of the Saints:

"Those that have this precious faith wrought in them by the Spirit, can never finally nor totally fall away; and though many storms and floods do arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon, but shall be kept by the power of God to salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being formerly engraven upon the palms of God's hands."

Wrestling with God

2009-03-05T21:43:00.003-05:00

Over the last 2 years or so, I've met quite a few people who place a significant marker in their lives at the point where they began to understand and accept God's sovereignty in salvation. Did God choose me to believe in him completely apart from my own actions and decisions? Yes. It's offensive on every level, especially to an American. But there's something divinely powerful about a person's yielding to God over issues of predestination and irresistible grace. And it's always a wrestling match, like Jacob wrestling with God. I've yet to meet a person who has truly wrestled with these issues and not been blessed. Humbled like Jacob, but blessed. Humility is one of the greatest gifts that God can give to a man or woman, and one of the greatest joys for a person to receive and experience. What is more humbling than to realize that God chose me to be His before I did anything good or bad? Wasn't I wise enough to accept the offer of salvation when I heard it? Nope. That wisdom was not mine, it was a gift from God.

The difference that I've seen is in people who have truly wrestled with this truth. Many For many years I simply rejected it out of hand. I refused to interact with the Bible over the issue. Part of me thought it was just academic - a fun question for people to ask and speculate about. At the same time, part of me was offended at the idea that some people might be elect and some not. I thought that God would be unjust to elect some people and not others.

There are a lot of questions, mostly philosophical in nature, that can be raised in objection to the doctrine of predestination. I believe that these questions have answers, but that's not my point. My point is the fight. Becoming a Christian is not an easy process. But for many, like myself, for whom it seems as though it was easy, the fight simply comes later on down the road of faith. For me it looked like this, two years ago: on my hands and knees for many mornings in a row, asking God why I could not be joyful in my faith. Why, after asking for many mornings would God not grant this to me? Why can I do nothing to change this situation? How is this fair!? My faith, it seemed, was too small; but then how could I ask for more faith if my very prayers were faithless? After several weeks, God graciously opened my eyes to see that my situation was a drama for the process of salvation. And my conclusion had been correct: I stand completely and utterly at the mercy of God.

I would love to ask any Christian, if I had the opportunity, if they've wrestled with Scripture over God's sovereignty (The book of John is a good place to start). The issue is not periphery, it's at the heart of the gospel. How sinful do you think that you are? What did Jesus mean when he said, "No one is good but God alone." If believing in Christ is "good", then how can a bad person ever do such a good thing? In fact, the best thing!? God is Lord over all things which he created. It's in the very nature of who he is as God to rule over all that he has made, and he will not give this glory to another, certainly not to us.

He delivers the afflicted by their affliction

2009-02-21T09:38:00.004-05:00

My head has been hurting quite a lot this week, and I've returned recently to meditating on what the Word teaches us about God's purposes in our pain and affliction. The more I meditate on these things, the more I see how central they are in day to day living, even apart from my headaches. The following thoughts are not new, but God has been driving them deeper into me, so maybe I can express them more clearly than I have before.

In some places in the Bible, suffering clearly refers to persecution. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be persecuted for his sake. James and Peter encourage the churches to remain steadfast in their suffering for the cause of Christ. This is a kind of suffering that all Christians should experience at some point in our lives, albeit probably not to the extent that the apostles did. 1 Timothy 3:16 says that "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

But this isn't the only kind of suffering that the Bible discusses. Many people, myself included in times past, are discouraged when they read passages about suffering because they think that the only suffering that the Bible has in mind is persecution. This is absolutely not true. The book of Job is one of the best places to go to begin to understand God's purpose in non-persecution-type pain, affliction, discomfort, etc.

In Job 36, Elihu gives a theology of suffering. I believe that Elihu, the final friend to speak to Job, should not be lumped together with the other 3. His speech is true to the rest of Scripture, and God does not rebuke him like He does the other 3 friends.

First, Elihu gives God's purpose in suffering, then he gives two possible responses. Finally, he gives us the reason why we should respond the one way and not the other.

Job 36:8-9

"And if they are bound in chains
and caught in the cords of
affliction,
then he declares to them their
work
and their transgressions, that
they are behaving
arrogantly.
He opens their ears to instruction
and commands that they return from iniquity."

The purpose of affliction is to awaken us to our arrogance (which is continual), reveal to us our sin, and humble us before God. The design is so that we might turn to him and more fully live with respect to Him, obeying him from the heart as a manner of life.

The negative response is this, in verse 13:

"The godless in heart cherish
anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them."

Their pride wells up, causing them to respond in anger. They say to themselves, "I don't deserve this suffering!" Rather than having their eyes opened to the reality of their rebellion, they harden their hearts in pride and anger, and turn further from God. In effect, they deny both their own smallness and God's bigness.

The positive response, verses 11, 15

"If they listen and serve him,
they complete their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasantness."

"He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity."

We might expect this verse to say, "He delivers the afflicted from their affliction." But it doesn't say that. What then, are they afflicted being delivered from? Verse 16 gives the answer - he delivers them from closed ears. That is, he delivers them from not perceiving themselves and God according to what is true. He reveals to them their sinfulness and finitude, but God's greatness and majesty and perfection. This is the amazing mercy of God in afflicting his children.

We don't understand what life truly is. We think that life is about being comfortable, successful, and full. Even we Christians act this way, and we prove it by the way that we respond to pain and affliction.

Romans 8 gives a New Testament cap to this discussion. Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." For those who are in Christ - that is, those who have believed with their hearts that Christ's death counts on their behalf, as evidenced by patterns of joyful obedience - for these people, nothing in life should be considered 'condemnation'. 8:31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The implied answer is 'nothing and no one." For the one who has trusted Christ, no difficulty, affliction, failure, pain, or loss is the result of God's punishment or condemnation. Christ has absorbed all of the punishment that we deserve.

Then, if affliction is not God's punishment or condemnation towards me, what is the point? Paul gives the answer in 8:28, one of the most glorious verses in the Bible, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Pain and affliction are God's gifts to his children, who see dimly and hear faintly. I long for God to teach this truth more fully to my heart at a young age. All of life on this earth is affliction. As I age my comfort will not increase.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." - Rom 8:18

Economic Crisis in China

2009-02-20T15:47:00.002-05:00

There's an article on cnn.com (read here) today about the difficulties that many rural Chinese are having as a result of the current global economic crisis. It's quite eye-opening. Few people in America will suffer as severely as those in other countries. While we were in China, one of the traits of the Chinese that continued to amaze us was their ability to press on and not complain. They accept hardship and learn to cope.

With Christianity on the rise in China I can't help but wonder what role this crisis is playing in God's design.

The Holocaust and the Resurrection

2009-02-11T07:38:00.003-05:00

There's been a story in the news this week about a Catholic priest whom the Pope recently reinstated. Almost immediately after being reinstated, this priest made a public statement denying the holocaust. Catholics and Jews around the world are protesting the Pope's decision and calling for action. As I was listening to recent updates on NPR yesterday I was astonished to hear how many holocaust-deniers there are in the US and in the world. Something as recent and well documented as the holocaust leaves little (or no) room for doubt in my mind. How is it that so many actually deny it?

There's a certain parallel here with the resurrection and with belief in general. What is the cause of unbelief? Is it a lack of evidence? Many say that if God showed himself to them, in a way that they could see and experience, then they would believe. This was a common thing that we heard in China. But is it true? How many would actually believe in God if they saw him?

The holocaust took place about 60 years ago. There are innumerable photographs and even video footage of the concentration camps. We have testimony after testimony of guards who worked in concentration camps, describing the horrors that occurred there. We have the eyewitness testimonies of soldiers, some of whom are still alive, who walked through the concentration camps and saw the famished captives there. And finally, we have the testimony of prisoners who were released and lived to tell about their experiences, some of whom are also still alive. Is there any lack of evidence that the holocaust occurred? Absolutely not. The issue of people denying the holocaust has nothing whatsoever to do with evidence. What we see, rather, is the ability of the human heart to twist any amount of evidence in order to serve its ends, its preconceived beliefs.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11), there was a division among the people. Some believed. Some, however, did not believe, but went and reported what Jesus did to the Pharisees. They believed, in a sense, in what Jesus had done. But they did not believe in Him. They wanted him dead, that's why they told the Pharisees. The issue was not one of evidence, but of the heart.

The next time I have a conversation with someone who doesn't believe in Christ because of a lack of evidence, I'm going to ask them what they think about those why deny the holocaust. I think that the comparison is striking.

Biblical Imagery of Conversion

2009-02-04T14:50:00.006-05:00

There's a lot of powerful imagery in the Bible that God uses to get across his point. Metaphors and similes are usually only used to make a single point of emphasis, often highlighting either human sin or God's grace. For example, the common OT metaphor of Israel as a prostitute is meant to vividly portray their idolatry in turning from God to worship man-made things. Some of the most powerful metaphors are used to reveal the nature of conversion. As a rule, these metaphors should not be pushed to have multiple and complex meanings. The surface-level meanings are profound enough.

What I see in each of the following passages is that conversion is solely God's work and is completely dependent on his will alone. God uses means to accomplish his purposes, and these means are also his designs. Consider these passages

New Birth: John 3:1-15
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Creation: 2 Corinthians 4:6, 5:17
"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Abandoned Newborn: Ezekiel 16:4-6 and following

"And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’"

I believe that the message of these metaphors is simple and powerful: Conversion is God's work alone. Does a newborn lying on the ground decide to accept the grace of the person who picks him up and cares for him? Does a baby consent to being born? (in fact, if babies could choose, they'd probably prefer to stay in the womb rather than come out!) Does an uncreated thing agree to being created? The obvious answer to each of these questions is 'NO'. God is not restricted by humans, and it is his free decision to overcome and change the human will in conversion. On the most basic level we have no say in the matter.

Sign the Fight FOCA Petition

2009-01-29T09:10:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), you need to be aware of it. You can read a brief history and description of the proposed act here. Basically, the act would undo all anti-abortion legislation, including late term abortion, and prevent further efforts at fighting abortion on state and federal levels. All hospitals would be required to provide abortions, which would be funded by tax payers.

On the anniversary of Roe vs Wade on January 23, President Obama expressed his stance once again:

On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose.
While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.
On this anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our sons: the chance to attain a world-class education; to have fulfilling careers in any industry; to be treated fairly and paid equally for their work; and to have no limits on their dreams. That is what I want for women everywhere.

The logic here is scary. What he means by "to have no limits on their dreams" is to not be limited in any way regarding the desire to have an abortion. So, according to this logic, in order for a woman to be a first class citizen, she must have the right to kill her unborn child. In the signing of FOCA into law, Obama and others would place the 'freedom of choice' on the same level as the right to vote and the right to free speech. This 'freedom of choice',however, is a different brand of freedom, a postmodern phenomon that our forefathers would have gasped at - the freedom to inflict harm on another for the sake of personal desires.

Winter Storm

2009-01-29T09:06:00.002-05:00

For those of you not in Louisville, here's a picture out our back window right now. It's been a while since we've seen snow cover like this! Branches are down all over town and quite a few are without power. We've both been off work and school all week, except that I worked for a few hours yesterday at Chik-fil-a.

New Semester

2009-01-23T08:34:00.002-05:00

Life has been pretty slow and uneventful here lately (hence the lack of blog entries), which has been just fine with us. I'll start classes again on Tuesday, and I'm actually anxious to get started - this semester I'm taking greek syntax and exegesis, history of the baptists, hermeneutics, and intro. to preaching.

We're planning to go to Nashville for a day and a night in a few weeks, just to get away. Anyone have any suggestions on cool things to do there or where to stay?

Granted to believe and to suffer

2009-01-15T08:33:00.003-05:00

I've been memorizing Philippians chapter 1 - verse 29 is astonishing:

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake

1. It has been granted to us to believe. Belief in God is not simply an act of my own will, rather, it is a gift of God.

2. In the same way that it has been granted us to believe, it has also been granted to us to suffer! This is the part that blows me away. What should I understand about suffering from this verse?

a. Suffering comes from the hand of God.
b. The gift of suffering goes hand in hand with belief. And it is a gift! It is good for me!

3. Both my belief and my suffering are for the sake of Christ. Paul is so adamant about this that he says it twice in this short verse. My faith is for Christ's sake. My suffering is for Christ's sake.

Piper on Scripture Memory

2009-01-11T17:48:00.003-05:00

John Piper preached a convincing sermon (big surprise) last Sunday on what it means for the Word of God to abide in you.

The abiding of Jesus’ word in us means that his words find a home in us. They fit. They belong. In John 8:37, Jesus says, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” That’s the opposite of the word “abiding” in us. When the word abides in us, it finds a place, a home. It’s not foreign. It belongs. You move other things around and even get rid of some things so that the word has room and “feels at home.”

He pointed out, as he often does, the great value of memorizing Scripture:

anything that brings the word of God into connection with our minds will work to strengthen faith and promote understanding and bring about the fruit of the Spirit and the transformation of our lives—and not just our own, but the lives of others also. Memorizing Scripture makes this kind of connection between God’s word and our minds more constant, more deep, and more transforming. Realistically, nothing else can take its place.

Read or listen to the whole thing here.

Wolves and theology

2009-01-08T10:46:00.008-05:00

I can't explain the way my mind connects things, or whether or not the connections make any sense to anyone else, but here' goes...

Two nights ago we watched a documentary espousing the environmental decay that has resulted from the removal of large predators from their habitats. One investigation in particular began with biologists noticing sings of decay in Yellowstone National Park - erosion along river banks and the disappearing of Aspen trees. Their investigation led them through many possible factors such as global warming, but each of these was determined not to be responsible. What they eventually found was that the decline in Aspen trees began at the same time that Yellowstone's last wolves were killed, around the 1930's.

How can the removal of wolves cause the disappearance of Aspen trees and the erosion of river banks? Well, wolves hunt elk. But when the wolves disappeared, the elk had free range of all of the plants and trees in the park. Over time, they overgrazed on plants along the banks of streams and rivers, increasing erosion. The elk also freely ate from young Aspen trees, preventing their growth into maturity. It was found that there were nearly no middle aged Aspen trees in the park for this very reason.

Why were the wolves removed? Because they made people feel unsafe and uncomfortable. People visiting the park didn't want to feel that their lives were in danger. And those living close to the park wanted their livestock to be protected.

Now here's the dubious connection: in the same way that the removal of large carnivores resulted in the decay of the ecosystem, a removal of emphasis on key doctrinal positions results in the decay and ultimate destruction of a church. I read this quote yesterday, in Tom Nettles' first volume on Baptist History:

The decline and extinction of some Baptist churches, which Ivimey had the
sad duty of narrating, came when they 'departed from the orthodox doctrines of the Trinity, the proper divinity of the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit, &c'.

Everyone has heard someone make a comment such as, "Doctrine is all that important, what matters is that church members love each other and tell other people about God." I've heard similar statements about the Trinity, grace, & salvation by faith.

When a church minimizes right theology it is officially on the path to dissolution. This is different from liberalization, where false doctrines are celebrated as truth (though that may come in the next generation of a doctrinally-minimized church). Rather, in a church where right theology and doctrine are minimized, any member of the church would likely agree with orthodox confessional statements. The difference is that these doctrinal truths are not championed from the pulpit, learned in Bible studies, talked about at church functions, or included in membership classes. They are given lip service as being important, but are pratically treated as trivial.

Just as wolves were removed from Yellowstone out of fear and out of ignorance of their vital importance to the ecosystem, key doctrines are de-emphasized because they have potential for making people feel uncomfortable, and because their great importance is not understood.

Here's once example:
First, the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone is de-emphasized. Why? Because, it minimizes humans and stresses their sinful nature, which makes some people feel bad about themselves or have a negative self-image/low self-esteem.
Then, over time, human obedience receives an unhealthy focus over and above God's grace. In short, the gospel becomes more and more man-centered, and less Christ-centered.
Finally, and this process may happen over many years, every facet of true biblical doctrine falls apart in the church, (i.e., Christ didn't die for our sins, he died only to show us the love and character of God), because the centrality of Christ in the gospel is the lynchpin which holds all doctrine together.

Wisdom calls for we Christians to be prudent in considering the long term effects of theological positions in our churches. In nearly every case, history can show what the long term affects will likely be of choosing or rejecting any given theological position.

Thankful for Chik-fil-a

2009-01-08T08:33:00.004-05:00

I started my Chik-fil-a training last friday, and today I'll work my first full shift at the grand opening of the new store just down the road. There were 75 people camped out in front of the store by 8:00 yesterday morning to be one of the first 100 in the door - each of whom will get free chik-fil-a for a year (52 meals). It was 34 degrees and raining most of the day!

Most people who hear that I'm working at Chik-fil-a would likely feel sorry for me. After all, I have a degree in mechanical engineering, why should I take orders at a fast food restaurant for 8$ an hour? Well, as a full time student, this is the job that God has blessed me with, and far from feeling sorry for myself, there are many reasons why I am thankful and pleased to have this job. And no, I'm not just seeking for ways to convince myself to be thankful so that I'll feel better. Praise God for making me content in all circumstances! Here are a few reasons why I'm thankful:

CFA trains and expects employees to treat customers with honor, dignity, and respect. My boss explicitly says that our goal is service from the heart (He's a christian). I need all of the practice in serving others that I can get!
CFA's corporate purpose is to glorify God, and the way they do business is a reflection of this purpose.
I work with a lot of other seminary students, which makes for a really encouraging enviorment.
A lot of people don't have a job right now, including many people with far more credentials than I. Right now, Meg and I have all that we need, and we trust God to provide for us in the future, according to His wisdom.
Free Chik-fil-a 3 times a week.
Megan likes the way I look in my uniform :)

Back from the holidays

2009-01-05T12:14:00.006-05:00

No, we haven't quit the blog. just took a 2 week vacation. It was such a blessing being with our families - celebrating Christmas, playing cards, watching movies, playing charades, talking, & doing a lot of eating! What a gift from god our family members are!

We also got to be a part of the wedding and reception of our good friends Mark and Katherine. Rarely does a wedding so consistently and clearly honor Christ as well as this wedding did. We were encouraged throughout the entire celebration. And we also got to reunite with some good friends. We forgot the camera, but stole some pictures from friends.

Everyone in this picture was in China together for the 2006-2007 school year (except Katherine)

First dance as Mr and Mrs Ashbaugh

Christmas Time!

2008-12-21T17:14:00.007-05:00

We took these on our webcam before going to see A Christmas Carol on friday night, performed in a playhouse in downtown Louisville. It was awesome! The best performance of the play that we've ever seen.

These are the only Christmas pictures that we've taken so far, since we don't have any batteries for our camera (due to laziness, not money). Some are pretty good, others not so good.
Hopefully we'll have some better pictures to post after Christmas and New Years!

Merry Christmas!

The Paradox of Christmas - Part 2

2008-12-17T13:28:00.008-05:00

In Part 1 of this post, I defined the paradox of Christmas, which is the incarnation of Christ - that one man was both fully man and fully God. I also defined a paradox - a statement which seems contradictory but in reality is not. In these posts, I'm bringing up some of the Bible's paradoxes, using the paradox of Christmas, which all Christians believe, as a precedent.

In the previous post, I mentioned the paradox of evil - that the Bible portrays the devil as bringing about evil, but God as ultimately in control of the devil's actions. Furthermore, God is perfectly good and righteous.

Another paradox in the Bible is regarding sanctification. Simply speaking, "Sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man." (http://www.refbible.com/)

Christians are saved, or justified before God, by grace (Eph 2:8-9). That is to say, salvation is God's work. Once we are saved, our hearts are changed, and our lives reflect this change of heart. Here's the paradox - throughout the Bible, God both commands us to live in a certain way, and also declares that he will cause us to live in that way.

"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who
works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." -Phi. 2:12-13

Paul doesn't say "work for your salvation", that would be counter to all of his other writings. Rather, he's telling us to struggle in the fight for holiness. But notice what he says immediately aftewards - it is God who does this work in us.

Here's another example.

"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer
stubborn." - Isaiah 10:16

"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your
offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." - Isaiah 30:6

God commands the very thing which he promises to do.

As John Piper says, we must make categories in our brains for these things. We do it, God does it - both are true, since we cannot deny Scripture. But we also know that God does whatever he pleases (Ps 115:3). His purposes preempt ours, even when we genuinely purpose to do something. Any strength that we have is his strength, and he has purposed to give it.

It would be an error to say, "I have no role in my sanctification, only God does it." It would also be an error to say, "God has saved me, but left me to myself to pursue holiness." God works in my to bring holiness, so I must pursue holiness. The paradox of Christmas helps us to hold on tightly to both of these truths.

Chicken Feet!

2008-12-12T08:33:00.004-05:00

We managed to avoid eating chicken feet for 2 years while living in China. Last night we ate dinner with our Chinese neighbors, and guess what we had? Chicken feet! It turns out chicken feet are a lot cheaper in the U.S. than in China.

The verdict? The taste isn't bad at all. There's not a whole lot of meat, as you might guess. The hardest part is just knowing that you're eating chicken feet.

The Paradox of Christmas: Part 1

2008-12-09T11:05:00.008-05:00

The Christmas story gives us a precedent for paradox in the Bible. One person, Jesus, is both fully God and fully man. It took theologians of the early church hundreds of years to agree on this simple conclusion. Why? Because it flies in the face of what we call human reason.

Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. (dictionary.com)

The Bible is filled with Paradoxes - things which may seem contradictory but in reality are not. Since the Bible was written by God (1 Tim. 3:16) it only makes sense that much of its contents would be difficult, in a sense, to understand. The more amazing part is that we can understand it at all! God is the ultimate cross-cultural, cross-language missionary.

When the Bible gives us two statements or ideas which appear to be contradictory, the paradox of Christmas ought to give us pause before simply tossing one out in favor of the other. There are many examples, the one I'll mention today is one of the most difficult: God's sovereignty over evil and his righteousness. (His control over all evil acts and his sinless-ness). Here are some examples from Scripture:

1) Job. In Job 1, the devil is given permission to afflict Job. When Job's family dies in 1:13-19 we are to understand that the devil brought this about. But in 1:21, Job says

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

And just in case we think that Job is wrong in attributing his loss to God, the next verse says

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong

In chapter 2 the devil attacks Job's health, and Job responds in a similar way:

"Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this
Job did not sin with his lips.

2) Paul's thorn. In 2 Corinthians 12, Pauls tells us about his "thorn in the flesh". We can't be sure what this thorn is, but it definately constitutes suffering. In 12:7, Pauls calls his thorn "a messanger from Satan". But in the same verse, he says that the thorn was given "to keep me from being conceited." I don't think that the devil's purpose in sending the thorn was for Job to become more humble. I think it's right to attribute the good purpose of the thorn to God. So the thorn was sent by the devil, and it was sent by God.

What does it mean? It's hard to find language to express this in a way that someone will not find offensive or heretical. But basically, we see that God brings about evil but is not morally responsible for it. Since the Bible is clear that God is holy and righteous (Deut 32:4, Gen. 18:25), it is wrong to attribute sin to him. But because he sovereign (Isa. 46:10, Ps 33:11, Deut 32:39), it is wrong to say that he is not in control of evil and sin.

Hard to wrap your mind around? You're not alone! While many theologians find what they consider satisfactory ways of understanding this notion, it certainly qualifies as a paradox. The paradox of Christmas, of Christ, helps us to stand in the middle of God's sovereignty and righteousness and declare that both are true.

The duty of intelligent men

2008-12-07T21:43:00.008-05:00

According to George Orwell,

"We have now sunk to such a depth that the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men"

I love this quotation. I've been thinking a lot lately about the idol of novelty - that is, thinking of something new and original for the sake of its being new and original. In a sense, it takes humility to just keep on repeating what you know to be true and to be satisfied with the unoriginality of it. After all, many of us, myself included, need to hear the same things over and over and over again.

Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me?There is no Rock; I know not any. - Isaiah 44:8

God's will for our lives

2008-12-04T10:23:00.005-05:00

We were reading 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in the car last Sunday, and both were struck by verse 3:

"For this is the will of God, your holiness"

Anything about the will of God in Scripture always catches our attention. I think this is because at our age and stage in life we're very concerned with what God's will is for us. However, while we tend to think of God's will in terms of future location, occupation, and ministry, Paul steers us toward understanding God's will as primarily concerning the heart and what flow from it. This is something we know but always forget. We are amazingly forgetful when it comes to biblical truth!

1 Thessalonians has more to say about God's will for our lives - 5:16-18 says

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"

Again, God's will for us has to do primarily with what flows from the heart. So every morning when I pray and ask God, "What is your will for me today, and for the future?" I think that God's answer is: "Obey my Word, and with a joyful heart". This truth is liberating for a Christian, because it takes all of the guessing out of the equation. God's Word is rather plain regarding how we are to live day to day. And the truth of the gospel - Christ's death on our behalf (not our works) makes us righteous before God - is the power behind the freedom.

One more note, isn't it incredible that God's design and will for our lives is that we rejoice?!
(Here's a great article about this.)

Thanksgiving in Virginia Beach

2008-12-02T12:51:00.005-05:00

Our first thanksgiving in the states since 2005! It was so great to be with family, and the 60 degree weather was nice too.

Nieces and nephews (Ian's sister's kids): Mary, Andy, Tyler, Lucy

Would Paul use Pascal's Wager?

2008-11-26T09:56:00.004-05:00

Pascal' Wager is a well known argument for belief in God. It was formulated by 17th century mathematician Blaise Pascal in his famous work Pensees. It goes like this:

If you erroneously believe in God, you lose nothing (assuming that death is the absolute end), whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain everything (eternal bliss). But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain nothing (death ends all), whereas if you erroneously disbelieve in God, you lose everything (eternal damnation).

Last year, Time Magazine moderated a debate between Rick Warren (Purpose driven Life) and well known atheist Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation). Warren ended the debate by quoting Pascal's Wager.

My question is, does the New Testament say anything similar to Pascal's Wager? The answer is Yes and No, but mostly No.

Yes. Living life in willful obedience to God's Word makes life go smoother in many respects. If by God's grace the fruit of the Spirit is demonstrated in our lives then we will have fulfilling relationships and healthy marriages. Fleeing from sin enables to to avoid the problems which sin brings about.

No. In 1 Corinthians 15:19 Paul says, "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." Paul is talking about the resurrection in this passage, and he's saying that if we're wrong about the resurrection, then we are the most pitiable of people in the world! This is starkly different from Pascal's Wager.

Why Does Paul say this? He gives his answer in 1 Corinthians 11:16-33 - since becoming a Christian, Paul had faced extreme suffering on a regular basis, consistently being upon the edge of death. To have faced such suffering for a lie - which would be the case if Christ was not raised, and if there is no God - would be infinitely foolish and pitiable. In short, Paul was sold out for Christ, willing to stake his entire life on what he knew to be true. This is much more radical than Pascal's Wager.

And why was Paul willing to be sold out for Christ in this radical way? Hebrews 10:34 gives the answer:

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

This possession is Christ, who is the supreme treasure of every one of his followers.

Thanksgiving in America!

2008-11-25T09:48:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow evening we'll head for Virginia Beach, where we'll spend thanksgiving with family for the first time in 3 years! We can't wait to be there! At the same time, we're so thankful for the many creative ways in which God provided fellowship for us while in China over the past 2 years, especially at holidays. We'll miss our 20+ person thanksgiving dinner crammed into a tiny dorm room. More and more, we understand life as a simultaneous joy in one sphere and longing in another. But in all things, we thank God, who is the giver of all good gifts.

Romans 2 and the moral argument for God

2008-11-21T16:34:00.008-05:00

There are a number of typical arguments used to show the existence of God, each of which is centuries old.

There's the argument of cause and effect, which says that if any created thing exists, then there must be an "uncreated creator" who created the first thing.

Another argument points to the order that exists in creation and deduces that there must be an intelligent designer behind this order.

A third argument begins with the reality of a universal moral code. Because humans have an innate sense of what is permissible and what is not, there must therefore be a source to this moral code.

In Romans 2, Paul fleshes out this third argument. His point is not to prove the existence of God; his audience doesn't need convincing of that. Rather, his point is that no one is above God's law, and he leads the reader down a path of reasoning so that they can discover this truth for themselves.

2:1 "Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you the judge practice the very same things."

The person who doesn't believe in God has two significant problems to face from this text:

1. Since you judge others, you concede to the reality of moral standards. If there is no God,
then where do these moral standards come from? If there truly is no God, then you have
no basis for judging the moral actions of others.

2. In judging others, you unknowingly admit that immoral actions deserve judgment. When
you see an injustice, there is a tension inside you which wells up into anger and demands
judgment for that injustice. Well what about you? What makes you think that your actions do
not likewise deserve judgment? In order to be consistent with your own claims, you must
either cease to judge (and truly, to cease even to want to judge), or concede that you too are
under judgment.

This argument, combined with love and humility, is especially effective. Not only does it bring a person face to face with the reality of God, but also with their own sin, which is the first step down the path to the gospel.

And for Christians, Romans 2 makes us pause before judging others, even before judging the most wicked and evil acts that we might read about in the news. For we too are subject to moral standards, and our sin is no less offensive to God than anyone else's. Rather, considering the sins of others gives opportunity for repentance and humility, and for thankfulness to God for Jesus Christ.

Thankful for pain

2008-11-20T13:36:00.003-05:00

I've been keeping a running tab in my head of all of the reasons why I am thankful to God for allowing my chronic head and ear pain to continue. This December marks 4 years that I've had daily, continual pain, and it's taken me as long to be able to genuinely thank God for his grace not only in spite of the pain, but in it as well. Here are 15 reasons, though I'm sure there are many more.

1) It causes me to yearn for eternity and to dwell on heavenly things. (Rom. 8:18)
2) Keeps me from being numbed into apathy by comfort.
3) Humbles me, in my inability to take away the pain. (2 Cor. 12:7-10, Phil. 2:8)
4) In humbling me, leads to me greater obedience. (Phil. 2:8,12; Heb. 12:11)
5) Constantly reminds me of the reality of death, which all pain points to. (Rom. 8:20-22)
6) Places me in the position to be empowered by God rather than try to rely on my own
strength. (2 Cor. 1:9)
7) Gives me a daily example of the reality of Romans 8:28
8) Affirms that I am a child of God, for he disciplines all his children. (Heb 12:7)
9) Leads me to repentance, as pain is a result of the curse, brought about by sin. (Lk 13:1-5,
Job 36:7-10)
10) Produces endurance, character, and hope. (Rom. 5:3-5; James 1:2-3)
11) Glorifies God by displaying his worth through my peace and joy in the midst of pain. (Rom.
5:3-5, 1 Pet. 4:16)
12) Gives me greater communion with Christ, who suffered much physical pain. (1 Pet. 4:13; 2
Tim. 2:3; Phil. 3:10)
13) According to David (and Luther), affliction enables me to better learn God's Word. (Ps
119:71)
14) Many who know about my headaches pray for me, though they otherwise might not.
15) I’m learning to rely on God in the midst of pain at an early age. I know that as life goes on,
pain only increases. (Lam. 3:27)

Venturing into the cyber world...

2008-11-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

We've been contemplating starting a blog for a while, and decided to go ahead and jump in. It's a little scary to have your thoughts posted where anyone can see - makes you type carefully! We hope that this will help our friends and family to feel more up to speed with our daily lives and thoughts. Having moved so many times over the past several years, we loose touch rather easily. We also plan for this to be a means for praising God's grace in our lives, as we share about his faithfulness and goodness to us.

Count on plenty of "random thought" posts as well, particularly regarding things that Ian is studying in seminary. He promises to keep them interesting and to the point :)

Below are some pictures of daily scenes from our life in Louisville. Our world is quite small right now, since we're so close to all of the places where we go most days. So these pictures pretty well sum it up!

Our one-bedroom apartment is on the 2nd floor to the right of the door. Our apartment complex is a historic district.

This is another view of our apartment complex. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the trees are amazing. This has been one of the most spectacular falls we've ever seen

This is the Southern Seminary campus, where Ian spends a lot of time. The campus is small but nicely laid out and really beautiful.

This is us at the Falls of the Ohio state park, just north of Louisville across the bridge.

And this is Louisville, taken from the Indiana side of the Ohio River.

We'll do our best to update the blog regularly, and to be interesting :)

Thanks for visiting!

Ian and Megan