Thoughts Along the Way

Political Prediction: January 30, 2012

2012-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

If Romney gets the GOP nomination look for President Obama to pander to evangelicals in some way shortly before the election.

There's a wide gap in this voting block that is not favorable towards Romney. I suspect the President will try to take advantage of that discontentment. I don't imagine it will be the same type of strategy as Gingrich or Santorum are taking, but I do imagine it will be done in such a way as to make sure everyone knows the President is protestant and Romney is Mormon.
We will have to wait and see, but it should be interesting.

The Gathering Church

2012-01-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday we were thankful to get to worship with a church plant in Ashe County called The Gathering Church. We were blessed to worship our Creator by singing songs that were about Him and His work and not about us. We were blessed to listen to some good expository preaching from 1 Corinthians and learn some of the implications of divisions within the Body of Christ and our responsibilities towards one another. Good times!

We also enjoyed spending the day with one of the elders and his wife and children who are quickly becoming dear friends. Thanks Scott, Bonnie, Joel, Evan, Alyssa, Josiah, and... We love you in the Lord!

Expansion

2012-01-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

I began with what I thought was going to be a fairly straightforward task of studying baptism and its role in salvation. As I was finishing up studying baptism in the gospels and was preparing to move on to Acts and the epistles I realized that I was going to have to expand on what I was studying.

Isolating NT texgts about baptism was going to give me a clear picture of a piece of the soteriological puzzle, but it was going to be isolated from the larger picture displayed in the puzzle. As I realized this I began to realize that if I am going to have a robust understanding of soteriology then I am also going to have to study all of the New Testament passages that deal with the subject. Otherwise I am going to miss the forest for the trees.

In short, this is going to take a while! :)

To Do List...

2012-01-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

1. Catch up on my daily reading in Job.
2. Study the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith to determine whether or not to adopt it for Articles of Faith in the church plant.
3. Finish working on the church plant's constitution.
4. Finish studying and organizing my introduction to the Gospel of John.
5. Finish studying baptisms place in soteriology for my conversation with a brother in the Lord.
6. Start & finish studying the warning passages in Hebrews for my conversation with same brother.
7. Paint kitchen.
8. Replace knobs on bathroom sink.
9. Move entertainment center & drill new hole in the floor for its new location.
10. Read Biblical Eldership.
11. Work on a trivium structured catechism for our family.
...that's all I can think of for now...

Twin City Bible Church

2012-01-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Our family had the privilege of worshipping today with our brothers and sisters at Twin City Bible Church in Winston Salem, NC. As we prepare to plant a church here in Wilkes we are visiting some other churches who share some of our distinctives to see how those distinctives flesh themselves out in these various churches. Today we were blessed to worship in Scripture, preaching, song, and communion in a reformed, elder-led church. Something I've heard many times became more real today as I witnessed it....Theology Matters. What a blessing it was to hear and sing about God's sovereign grace, the reason that grace is necessary, and to culminate the renewing of mind by singing praises to our Savior and God. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

CPU

2012-01-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

Got a new laptop today with an eye to the future. Amy, my wife, needs our current laptop to do various and sundry things and I'm going to be needing one to work on serving my brothers and sisters in the Lord as we plant a church in the next few months.
So here's to laptops, microsoft word, biblegateway.com, esvonline.org, net.bible.org, and other online resources.

Traditions

2012-01-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Recently I spent 5 hours with a brother in the Lord who was explaining to me a view he holds with which I disagree. He had some good points so I decided to study it for myself and find out exactly what I think about it. While studying I have constantly had to beat back the things I have learned my entire life in order to not push my traditions on the Scriptures, i.e. eisegesis, and instead allow the text to speak for itself, i.e. exegesis. It has been a tough process but the fear of the Lord has made me do it. I only want to believe my traditions inasmuch as they are reflective of the teaching of the Scriptures. Where the two part is the same place where I want to part with my traditions and this is a hard thing.

The truth of the matter is though that I'm not dealing with history or math problems, but with what the Creator has said about Himself and the nature of salvation and I tremble to think of the One who can kill the body and then throw the soul into Hell. God have mercy on me and help me to believe what You have said.

The Uniqueness of the 4th Gospel

2012-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to learn that over 90% of the Gospel of John is unique. Here's a chart I made detailing the material that is included in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), but is not included in John's Gospel and vice versa. Thanks to Bible.org for all of the articles that allowed me to compile this information.

Material Exclusive to either John’s Gospel Or the Synoptic Gospels
Event/Information	The Gospel of John	The Synoptic Gospels
Jesus’ Genealogy		X
Account of Jesus’ Birth		X
Events of Jesus’ Childhood		X
Account of Jesus’ Baptism		X
Account of Jesus’ Temptation		X
Sermon on the Mount		X
John the Baptist’s Doubts		X
Casting Out Demons		X
Healing Lepers		X
Parables of Jesus		X
Transfiguration of Jesus		X
Selection & Sending Out of the 12 & 70		X
Eschatological (Prophetic) Addresses		X
Woes on Religious Leaders		X
Institution of the Lord’s Supper		X
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane		X
Giving of the Great Commission		X
Account of Jesus’ Ascension		X
Jesus as the Creator	X
Jesus as the “Only Begotten” of the Father	X
Jesus as the promised Lamb of God	X
Jesus as the Great “I Am”	X
Turning Water into Wine	X
Conversation with Nicodemus	X
Conversation with the Woman at the Well	X
Account of the Woman Caught in Adultery	X
Raising Lazarus from the Dead	X
Jesus Washing the Disciples’ Feet	X
Upper Room Discourse of John 14-17	X
Teaching on the Coming of the Holy Spirit	X
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer	X

Iowa

2012-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Excited to see the beginning of the 2012 Presidential election tonight. I don't think Iowa is about who is going to win as much as who is going to have to go home. Personally, I am hoping that Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are going to have to go home after tonight.

Driving in the Snow

2012-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Drove home in the snow after a great time with the Day family in Ashe County. My wife was on the phone telling people we were safe and she was saying what a good driver I was in the snow. I know it's just a compliment on my driving, but there's something about getting a compliment from your wife that does a husband good. I'd rather have my wife's compliment than 100 from others.

New Year

2012-01-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

I hope this year to post something almost every day.

1st day of 2012 was another day with the usual routine. Same successes, same failures...here's to more unusual days to come.

¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; ² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. -Psalm 1:1-2

The blessed man is not influenced by the wicked, but instead finds his delight in God's law.

Marriage

2011-06-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

We can't expect our society to affirm biblical marriage if we don't as the Church. Until we crusade with vigor against divorce in the Church we should expect to be ignored outside the Church when we crusade against gay marriage. I hate to say it, but on this issue we are correctly labeled as hypocrites. We point fingers at homosexual sin while giving a wink and a nod to heterosexual sins.

Time

2011-05-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have a few posts I'd like to write, but no time to do so. C'est la vie.

Isn't that funny. I'm trying to learn Spanish and Greek and the only saying I know is in French, of which I have no knowledge!

Osama Bin Laden

2011-05-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

My wife woke me up last night to tell me that Osama Bin Laden had been killed and his body taken after a nearly 10 year manhunt. The 1st words out of my mouth were "Sweet". After reflecting on that for a moment my mind went from being thankful that he had received justice to being remorseful that he would be receiving justice for the rest of eternity.

I know that one day I will praise God for all those He justly condemns to Hell, but in my flesh I feel sorrow for them. Ultimately it brings me to one thought.

Thank you Father for your great mercy.

Question abour Sovereignty

2011-04-27T19:08:00.001-07:00

I so often hear people say that God is sovereign and that He never fails to accomplish anything He purposes to do. A few minutes later I hear them say that God tries to save everyone but people reject Him. So can someone who believes everything in the 1st two sentences explain to me how God tries to save everyone but fails to do so and yet is still sovereign?

Eostre

2011-04-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I don't have a problem with easter eggs.

Question: Why do we, followers of Christ, get worked up about "Holiday Trees" and all that jazz at Christmas, but we celebrate the death and resurrection or our Lord by hunting for rabbit eggs on Easter?

Quick note...Easter gets its name from Eostre, the name for a Germanic fertility goddess. At least Holiday originally meant Holy Day.

Final Note: Again, I don't have a problem with Easter or the egg hunts, but it seems as though the Passion Week, as well call it, is full of potential celebrations, feasts, outreach opportunities, times of prayer, reflection, and meditation that could fill the entire week with Christ, but we as modern day Christians show our shallowness by having the most memorable thing of the weekend being our kids running around looking for eggs with candy in them. Just sayin'... seems like we've gone from Beethoveen and Michealangelo to modern Christian creativity of copying every cool new fad and putting it on a t-shirt with our "Holidays" as well as our art.

Final, final Note: Dare I say....perhaps we like the shallowness because a robust week would require us to drop all other things to celebrate the Passion Week?

Sometimes...

2011-04-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

doing what is required and you desire to do is hard. I always tell my kids, "You do what you're supposed to even if everyone around you isn't." Easy to say, hard to do.

Huh...

2011-04-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Haven't had time to post in a while so I thought I'd....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....and that about does it for today's post. Hope you have a good week.

Unprepared

2011-03-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

When I stand up to teach during Sunday school I generally get the feeling that I'm the only one who is prepared for the lesson. I think I get that feeling because I know that when I'm not teaching a particular Sunday I'm not prepared for the lesson someone else is going to be teaching.

I believe in preparation and I really enjoy the digging through the Scriptures and various resources that goes into it. I'm beginning to wonder though if I'm just shoveling the knowledge I'm gaining into my brothers and sisters laps,by doing all the work before hand, only have it spill out of those laps shortly after they leave the room.

I wonder how it would go if I came prepared, but instead of shoveling everything I learned onto them I had them ask their own questions about the particular passage of Scripture and then start showing them how to dig to find honest answers to those questions themselves and corporately as a class? I don't think it would be very exciting, with all the cross-referencing, but I wonder if it wouldn't be more edifying?

I'm thinking, "Give a man a fish and you've fed him for a day, teach him to fish...."

Top 10 Sights that Made me Fall in Love with Western U.S.

2011-03-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

#9. Old Faithful comes in at number 9. Apparently "faithful" is defined as + or - 30 minutes because that's the range of time they give you for the set time they tell you she will go off. Old Faithful was neat, but the sulfur smell took some of the shine off the geysers for me.

You're so lucky!

2011-03-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

"Your children are so well behaved. You're so lucky!" I hear this every once in a while from people observing our children. I'm thankful for the complement that is being shared and it is very encouraging. However, my children being well behaved has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with the grace of God.
It's by God's mercy that I was raised by parents who disciplined me and had expectations that I would discipline myself. It's by God's Word that I understand that children are not tabula rasas, i.e. blank slates, but they are born sinners and good behavior is an unnatural state of affairs for them. It's by God's grace that He saved my wife and myself and has given us a biblical understanding of multi-generational faithfulness. Lastly, it's by God's grace that the cummulative effect of all this mercy and understanding is the knowledge that our children must be raised so that they understand when they disobey or are disrespectful to Amy and myself, they are sinning against God and breaking His requirements and claims on their lives.

If you are a follower of Christ and are married mark this passage of Scripture.
"Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring." -Malachi 2:15
God has made you one in your marriage and has given you a portion of the Spirit in your marriage and He expects something in return. Godly offspring.

Well behaved children are not the product of their natural personalities. It's really rather the opposite. Well behaved children are the product of parents encouraging the Imago Dei that every human being possesses and punishing the fallen nature they are all enslaved to. It's simple really and it's a biblical principle. Reward the good and punish the bad.

Fitting In

2011-03-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

A 5 point Calvinist, Post-Tribulation Rapturer, and Old Earth Creationist walk into the room. Not sure "Rapturer" is a word, but this sounds like the beginning of a joke doesn't it?

In today's Church these are 3 minority positions on 3 hot-button topics, at least they are hot-button for some. It just so happens that I hold to all 3 of these positions. If that wasn't enough I homeschool my 3 children and I hope God blesses my family with many more children. If I wasn't weird enough for you before that last sentence then I'm sure I am now! :)

So when someone like me has strong convictions on all of these subjects, except Old Earth Creationism....I'm strongly convicted about creationism but am still in the "opinion" stage of the old or new earth discussion, how can I possibly fit into a community of believers that largely disagree with me on these important subjects?

Well I've been asking myself that question for a while and here's what I've found. My knowledge and convictions on these subjects does not have to waiver OR interfere with my love for my brothers and sisters in Christ.

"And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in decietful schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Eph. 4:11-16

We can share the truth of our convictions, we can back that truth up with the Truth, i.e. the Scriptures, and we can love our brothers and sisters and consider them more important than ourselves. Finally, we can trust the Holy Spirit of God to change their minds on the subjects of discussion and disagreement and bring us all into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and that's how I, and you if you're weird like me, can fit in. I/we must trust the Holy Spirit to change people in His timing and understand that any wisdom I/we have is not found in clever arguments or beating people into submission but my/our wisdom is only found in faithfully proclaiming the Scriptures and trusting God with the rest. Isaiah 55:8-11

Note to my/your self: Sometimes my/your mind is the one that is changed.

Top 10 Sights that Made me Fall in Love with Western U.S.

2011-03-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

#10 While visiting Yellowstone National Park Amy discovered some very humurous signs, at least we thought they were funny. Apparently some people look at buffalo and see cudley stuffed teddy bears. I looked at them and saw a burley beast. Likewise, some people see geysers and think, "I wonder what it looks like down that hole?" I looked at them and thought, "It's gotta be pretty hot down there to get enought pressure built up to shoot that water 100 feet in the air...not to mention the steam that's constantly pouring out of there." So the #10 reason why I fell in love with Western U.S. are the "Here's Your Sign" signs.

Car Line

2011-03-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

I help in the afternoons loading children into their parent's cars at my school. I've been doing this for almost 11 years now. For the first 3 years of my career I did it in the morning when parents drop their children off as well as in the afternoon when they pick them up. For the last 8 years I've done it in the morning for the majority of the time, but have also mixed in the afternoon for most of this year.

So every day of the school year I get to see how parents and their children interact as they are leaving each other for the day as well as how they receive each other after a day apart.

I've got one thing to say. HANG UP THE PHONE AND LOVE ON YOUR KID. I'm going to guess that in my time of doing car line duty around 50% of the parents that drop their children off and pick them up don't even acknowledge they are leaving the car or getting into it because they're too busy on the phone. Everyone's going to have a day or two like that every now and then, but for the majority of the 50% I'm talking to it's every day.

One day these parents are going to wonder why their children are ignoring them and won't have anything to do with them. Perhaps it's because you ignored them their whole childhood so you could get done what was on your agenda instead of investing yourselves into them.

God be merciful to these kids and to these parents. Help them to wake up before it's too late.

Do Your Kids Whine?

2011-02-28T18:10:00.001-08:00

Rough Waters

2011-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

"Jesus never said that He was the bridge over troubled waters, but He did say He would pull us through them, if we can stand the tow." -Greg Koukl

Saying, "I don't know"

2011-02-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

I don't like to say, "I don't know" about something, especially when I've been studying that something for a few days. I had to tell the Sunday School class that this morning while we were studying 1 Peter 3:21.

I told them that the temptation when you come across a part of Scripture like this is to go with your tradition or what you've always heard on the subject and dismiss the difficulties that a passage may bring.

I refused to do that this morning for 2 reasons: #1. "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."-James 3:1 #2. When someone I'm listening to is dealing with a tough subject and they dance around it, while trying to sound very convincing, I have a hard time trusting that person's teaching on other, less difficult, topics.

As a teacher God will judge me with greater strictness and this is a fearful thing to me. I don't want to stand before God and have Him question me on how I taught people and my only answer be, "Lord, I know I didn't search it out, but everyone believed X on that topic so it was impossible to explore Y, so I just took the easy route. Forgive me." I also know that as a student I have more trust in someone that's willing to say "I don't know" than I do in someone who will just give an answer hoping they are right.

In my mind the man that will say "I don't know" is taking it serious while the one who is giving all the answers, regardless of their confidence in them, is untrustworthy. He's untrustworthy because he can never deal with one issue.......

WHAT IF HIS AND EVERYONE ELSE'S TRADITION IS WRONG?

He can't deal with this issue, not because his tradition is necessarily wrong, but because he's unwilling to even explore that possibility.

In the end, understanding 1 Peter 3:21 and the issue it raises concerning baptism and salvation isn't a subject one is going to be able to master in the time I was able to devote to it this week. However, when that is the case we should not be pretending to have the answers and should instead stick with a more trustworth response, "I don't know."

Do You Read the Bible Literally?

2011-02-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

I was asked today at school, by a former teacher, if I take the Bible literally when I read it. First of all it was a blessing to be asked such a question while at a public school. Second of all it was a blessing to have been prepared to answer this question by learning from people much smarter than myself.

I've had this question posed to me in the past when I wasn't prepared to give it a proper answer so I just responded with what I assumed to be the most orthodox answer which was, "Yes, it's God's Word, so I take it literally." Usually this response to that question is followed by a series of questions that are designed to back you into a corner until you throw up your hands and say, "I don't know, I just know it's God's Word." I don't think this lady had that in mind, but in the past when I've been asked this question I have found that response to be less than persuasive. I think that's a fair criticism. I know I don't find that kind of response convincing when I'm trying to get someone to see the problems in their thinking on particular topics.

Some of you may be scratching your heads at this point thinking, "Reading it literally IS the orthodox position, so what are you talking about?" The problem with answering this question with a simple "yes" is that it's not a complete answer. If you only read the Bible literally then what do you do when you read the parables of Jesus? What about when Paul compares the Christian life to a race? Parables are generally figurative in nature. The ones Jesus gave in the NT are figurative and so is Paul's description of following Christ, but they communicate a literal truth. The problem is when you answer the question, "Do you read the Bible literally?" with a simple "yes" you don't have the leeway to take into account things in the Scriptures like parables or figurative speech.

So how should one answer this question? I've found that answering it the way Greg Koukl does generally stops people in their tracks. It's really a common sense response if you just take a minute to think about it. It's like one of those times when you hear someone explain something and you hit yourself on the forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

When someone asks you this question you should respond, "I read the Bible the same way I read anything else, such as a newspaper. I read it in such a way as to understand what the author is trying to communicate. I wouldn't read the sports page literally if it said, "Last night the Reds devoured the Braves." because doing so would mean that I had to believe that the Reds were a bunch a cannibles. This is clearly not what the author is trying to communicate and the context of the story guides me in this understanding. Likewise I wouldn't read this list of stock prices in the Buisness section figuratively. When the context of what the author is writing requires that I read it literally, then I read it literally. If the context requires that I understand it figuratively, then I read it that way. I apply these same rules when I read the Scriptures."

I hope this helps and when they bring up some part of Scripture that they don't "like" and say, "Well do you take this part literally?" You should put the question back to them and say, "How does this make sense if you read it figuratively? And if I read it figuratively then what is the literal truth am I suppose to take from it?"

Your work will be done and you can sit back and watch them splash about in the sea of self-contradiction trying to explain away their "dislikes". Don't forget to throw them the lifeline of the gospel though before they drown!

Also, remember to give this answer with gentleness and love. Give it with understanding and care...dare I say even help them out as they splash around!

Is Your Brain Fixed?

2011-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

The following is a conversation between my 5 year old son and 4 year old daughter tonight during our ride home.

Olivia: Daddy, if you look back here on the way home I might be asleep and you can tell me to wake up.
Thomas: Daddy, my brain is fixed and my mind is right so I know 'Livi is lying.
Daddy: Thomas, 'Livi isn't lying if she says she "might be asleep". She would only be lying if she said she "was asleep" when she wasn't.
Thomas: Yes daddy, but my mind is right and my brain is fixed so I know 'Livi is lying.
Olivia: Thomas, MY BRAIN is fixed and MY MIND is right and so I know your brain isn't fixed.
Thomas: MY BRAIN is too fixed. It's not a machine that has parts that break.
Olivia: Well, my brain is fixed and my mind is right.
Thomas: 'Livi, do you know who fixed my brain and makes my mind right?
Olivia: No.
Thomas: Guess.
Olivia: ***no response***
Thomas: 'Livi I'll give you a hint. His name starts with a "G".
Olivia: ***no response***
Thomas: 'Livi, it starts with "G, O, D" and He's sitting on a cloud.
Olivia: JESUS!
Thomas: That's right and He fixed my brain and it doesn't have any parts because heaven doesn't have any machines.
Olivia: Yeah, because Heaven doesn't have any machines that have parts that break down.
Thomas: So daddy, I know when 'Livi is lying when she says she's asleep, but she's really awake.
Olivia: McDonalds!

What ifs...

2011-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

I wonder sometimes about the "what ifs" in life. What if I did that or didn't do this or said the other thing or on and on and on. I wonder if while I'm standing before Christ if I'll have any "what ifs" running through my mind. What if I would have been more obedient? What if I would have witnessed more? What if I would have studied the Scriptures more? and on and on and on...

Jonathan Edwards, the great 18th century pastor, resolved, "never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can." Edwards resolution was to take this most valuable of resources and make it worth even more. To, as he later resolves, "live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die." (Quote pulled from Here)

Lion in the Cage

2011-02-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

This week we went to the circus with some family friends. A wonderful time was had by all.

During the show a man with a foreign accent and a very colorful wardrobe came out with these tigers. It was really quite depressing to see how he had taken these powerful beasts and tamed them to perform parlor tricks for our amusement. I probably wouldn't have thought much of it, but it reminded me of a couple of quotes I had read earlier in the week from C.H. Spurgeon.

"It is not mine to improve upon the character of Jehovah, but to reverence and adore him as he manifests himself, either in judgment or in grace. I, who am less than nothing and vanity, dare not scan his work, nor bring him to my bar, lest I hear a voice saying, "Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" What am I that I should be the ultimate judge of truth, or of justice, or of wisdom? Whatever God may be, or speak, or do-that is right: it is not mine to arraign my Maker, but to adore him. Extenuations, explanations, and apologies may be produced from the best of motives; but too often they suggest to opposers that it is admitted that God's most holy Word contains something in it which is doubtful, or weak, or antiquated. It looks as though it needed to be defended by human wisdom. Brethren, the Word of the Lord can stand alone, without the propping which many are giving it. These props come down, and then our adversaries think that the Book is down too. The Word of God can take care of itself, and will do so if we preach it, and cease defending it. See you that lion. They have caged him for his preservation; shut him up behind iron bars to secure him from his foes! See how a band of armed men have gathered together to protect the lion. What a clatter they make with their swords and spears! These mighty men are intent upon defending a lion. O fools, and slow of heart! Open that door! Let the lord of the forest come forth free. Who will dare to encounter him? What does he want with your guardian care? Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries. Yes, without attempting to apologize even for the severer truths of revelation, seven times a day do we praise the Lord for giving us his judgments, so righteous and so sure." -C.H. Spurgeon

"The best way to spread the gospel is to spread the gospel. I believe the best way of defending the gospel is to spread the gospel. I was addressing a number of students the other day, upon the apologies for the gospel which are so numerous just now. A great many learned men are defending the gospel; no doubt it is a very proper and right thing to do, yet I always notice that, when there are most books of that kind, it is because the gospel itself is not being preached. Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, a full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best "apology" for the gospel is to let the gospel out. Never mind about defending Deuteronomy or the whole of the Pentateuch; preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let the Lion out, and see who will dare to approach him. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will soon drive away all his adversaries. This was how Christ's first disciples worked, they preached Jesus Christ wherever they went; they did not stop to apologise, but boldly bore their witness concerning him." -C.H. Spurgeon

As I watched this man have these tigers perform the tricks not worthy of a dog I couldn't help but think of how many people these days do the same with the Scriptures. It ought not to surprise us when the media or atheists or others opposed to the Word of God do these things, but it should horrify and disgust us when we see it done from our pulpits and conversations with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I know the context of Spurgeon's quotes aren't exact with my application of them, but they fit well with what I was thinking.

Running (Part 2)

2011-02-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

As I said I planned on running before going to work this week.
Opportunities to do this = 5.
Time it was accomplished = 0.
Hey, it was really cold.

Running

2011-02-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Going to try and start running for 20-30 minutes before going to work in the morning. We'll see if I can keep from hitting the snooze button! My history of trying to exercise early isn't good, but I'm like the little engine that could.

A Well Spoken Young Man

2011-02-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

I saw THIS VIDEO on one of my friend's Facebook page and gave it a look thinking it would be the same ol', same ol'. I was surprised though to find a young man who was well spoken and used his experience and thoughts instead of ad hominem attacks.

In my opinion if the gay community begins to communicate the way this young man did, instead of the way they generally do buisness, the current state of popular Christian thought in the US has no answer...at least one that isn't hypocritical.

I understand that biblically he is wrong on many accounts of his description of the family and what (rather Who) makes and defines it. That is not my point though and even if it was we shouldn't expect the "world" to have a biblical definition of marriage.

My point is that we, the Church, must deal with our heterosexual sin and we must do so biblically with a heart always desiring restoration, but deal with it we must. If we do not deal with heterosexual sin within the Church then we cannot possibly hope to be persuasive in expressing God's requirements about homosexual sin in our culture.

KJV Words that Mean Something Different Now

2011-02-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

I like the KJV but just can't get past the language differences. I switched to another version when I got tired of translating the old english words to modern english in my head while I was reading. I also understood that there were words in the KJV that had a different meaning in the 17th century than they do now in the 21st century, although I didn't know which ones. I found this list through a link on a SEBTS professor's blog. If you've ever wondered you can look for yourself.

Words in the KJV that mean something different now (Part 1)

More Words (Part 2)

Even more words (Part 3)

Quick Thought

2011-02-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

When did my acceptance of whatever makes you happy become the defining landmark of whether or not I love you? When did telling people the truth become hate instead of love? When did telling people their wrong become hate? Do I think my mother and father hate me just because they didn't always capitulate to what made me happy? Were they hating me when they told me the truth whether I liked it or not?

Accepting the Hard Things

2011-02-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

"The trouble is that, nowadays, there are so many who receive the testimony of God only so far as they can satisfactorily account for all the reasons and grounds of His conduct,..." A.W. Pink

I've heard this referred to as "Cafeteria Christianity", where we pick and choose only those things in the Scriptures that we like and reject those things we don't like. Generally when one hears this charge it's almost exclusively aimed at laymen within a church. I think it is an accurate statement to say there are many within the laity of a congregation that view their lives in and out of their local church this way.

I have somewhat of a unique perspective on this issue. I view this issue as a layman who has a desire to be an elder, i.e. pastor, and is being discipled toward that end. As long as I've had this desire though I've been very careful to observe and learn from those who are already leading churches. What I have observed is that if you were to take 100 laymen and 100 pastors and placed them in the "cafeteria line" of the teachings of Scripture you wouldn't find much difference in the percentage of laymen and pastors that are picking the things in Scripture that they like and rejecting those things they don't like.

The only difference I have been able to discern between the two groups is that laymen will pick and choose from the line that contains things like fornication, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, gay marriage, gossip, lying, disobeying parents, reading and studying the Scriptures, honoring God's name, praying, and things like this. Most pastors and elders that I have met generally do not feel the need to pick and choose from this line because they generally accept the biblical position on things such as these. However I have observed pastors and elders picking and choosing on things like church discipline, discipleship, a plurality of leadership, leading the church instead of having committees and deacons perform that function, i.e. biblical church polity, keeping women from teaching men, holding fathers responsible and accountable for discipling their children, and things like this.

To go back to A.W. Pink's quote that I began with I think the issue I'm raising can be broken down as follows. While the laity of the church will at times deny the inerrancy of the Scriptures by our "cafeteria style" Christianity, the leadership within the church is denying the sufficiency of the Scriptures because of the constant worry over church splits, people leaving the church, et cetera.

I end with a solution. Let us remember Isaiah 55:8-11 and the prophet Jeremiah. You can read Isaiah 55:8-11 for yourself but you may not know what I'm speaking of when I refer to Jeremiah. Did you know that according to what we can find in the Scriptures that for Jeremiah's obedience to God and for proclaiming His Word faithfully, and for pouring out his life as an offering to the Lord we can only find 2 converts during his ministry? That's not exactly a church growth model there is it? No, it's not, but it is better. What we seem to have forgotten in both the laity and the leadership is that our wisdom in our actions, our wisdom in dealing with divisive issues, our wisdom in all these circumstances is not in figuring out a way to come out the other side of the "situation" with a positive or even acceptable outcome. No, our wisdom is rooted only in one thing, obedience to the Word of God. This is where Adam and Eve failed and it is where we are failing. We believe we can figure it out and find a better way to be wise and have a "positive" outcome, but we, like Adam and Eve, are only wise inasmuch as we are obedient.

Family Out of Town

2011-02-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

Amy and the children are gone for a few days. I enjoy the peace and quiet as well as all the time I have to get things done that need to get done. However, my heart aches for them. I miss them terribly.

Sweet Tooth Wisdom

2011-01-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

If you know my wife you know she's...well...cheap! If you want to be politically correct then feel free to call her frugal. If you know me then you know that I'm...well...let's just say I'm a little more free with money. I praise the Lord for my wife though because her frugality has made it possible for us to homeschool our children and save money at the same time on a teacher's salary.

Anyway, on the way home from gathering with our brothers and sisters in Christ this morning I had a hankering (that's a good Wilkes County word for you) for some ice cream. Amy gives me the look when I tell her. You know, the look that says, "You're going to spend all of our grocery budget money on your sweet tooth aren't you?" Well we get to Food Lion and I take Thomas and Olivia in with me and we come out with my ice cream, Thomas' ice cream, Olivia's ice cream, some Little Debbie Cakes, and my "wise" selection.

So we get into the car and Thomas hands Amy our "wise" selection of Godiva Dark Chocolate, which Amy loves. I got into the driver's seat and with a piece of chocolate in her mouth Amy looks at me and in a way that let's me know she's onto me says, "It's hard for me to be upset about the ice cream with my chocolate isn't it?" I just smiled and said, "The wisdom of Solomon baby, the wisdom of Solomon!"

I love our family.

Father and Son

2011-01-29T19:53:00.000-08:00

I took Thomas with me today to play basketball with our new church league team. As I played I looked over at Thomas sitting quietly, observing his father playing ball. I realized that the skills I acquired from an ill spent youth were on display for my son to see. His father could shoot, dribble, pass, rebound, and play defense with a fair level of effectiveness. I wonder if he will ever realize that I once had such a great desire to make him a “ball player”? I once wanted to give him all the skills I had developed and more and watch him bask in the glory that our culture affords those who excel in these games. I looked at my son today with great sadness realizing the glory of what God was doing in our lives as father and son. The sadness in knowing that all these skills I once desired to give him I now hide from him in fear. Fear that those skills may one day open the doors of sin in his life the same way they did mine. The sadness isn’t in him missing the sin, but in missing the joy one can feel if they do these things for the glory of God. The sadness is knowing that I, his father, cannot think of a way to give him these skills while at the same time protecting him from the sin. I guess the sadness is in my recognition that as a man who has not been discipled in my life I am unable to navigate these waters with the experience that can give my son the joy of sports without the sin that can come from being good at them. I praise God for His great mercy in that my weakness as a father has meant that my son has thus far not been distracted by these games in such a way that would allow them to become an idol later in his life, but has instead been focused on learning about who his Creator is and what He expects from him.