an annual "Spiritual"

Last Sunday was a transitional class period for the Contenders Sunday school class. We had finished studying the book of Titus the week before and we’re going to start studying Galatians this coming Sunday. So to have a little break I decided to have the class do a Spiritual.

We weren’t singing the great and moving songs of the faith that were made famous by African slaves and post-slavery African American singers and songwriters…no, we were taking a look at our spiritual lives in similar fashion as one would go to a doctor for an annual physical exam.

I got this idea from Lynn Wolters, but he got it from a Church Camp preacher/teacher…and he might have gotten it from somewhere else too. The point is that I didn’t come up with this idea myself, but I think that it has a solid enough point and purpose that it will be useful.

What is the point of a Spiritual exam?

Basically, the purpose of this is to facilitate a true introspection of your own Christian walk to see where you need to grow.

”Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?” – 2 Corinthians 13:5

”So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; “ – Philippians 2:12

”These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. “ – 1 John 5:13

The categories that we looked at were varied to show the far reaching scope of how the life of a believer is to be changed by Christ. The categories that we looked at were these:

• My overall relationship with Jesus Christ (John 14:15; 15:10; 1 John 5:3)


• Time in the Word (Psalms 1:2,3; Joshua 1:8)


• Prayer Life (Matthew 6:8; James 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)


• Sharing the gospel (Matthew 28:19; Romans 10:14,15)


• Service for God (Matthew 6:24; Galatians 1:10; 1 Timothy 3:1; James 4:4)


• Church Attendance (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25)


• Obedience to his Word (Ephesians 2:10; 4:1; Colossians 1:10; 2:6)


• Service & Servant leadership (Ephesians 5:22-27; James 1:27)

Other than seeing how well we are doing in these areas, one of the main things that I stressed was to find out which direction you are going? Is my life becoming more Christ-like, more holy, or am I staying the same or slipping down and becoming less Christ like.

I put together a web quiz where I tried to ask questions in such a way that tries to expose the trend of your spiritual life as well as what that says about your spiritual status. The results that you get are not the all-in-all truth, but they may help in telling where you’re at. In other words…take it, but take it with a big (mambo) grain of salt.

You can find the quiz by clicking here.

learning by studying and teaching

Since late 2004 or early 2005 I have been privileged to teach through Colossians, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Titus, and Jude. It has been a great blessing for me to be able to study these texts with the goal of being able to teach on the important points (a very few of them, at least) of these books to my peers. It amazes me to think about how much I have learned and how much I have grown in my appreciation and love for both the Word of God and for God Himself in this study.

Sometimes, it is a cause of guilt to think that if I didn’t study in order to be able to teach, I wouldn’t have studied as much or as deeply. It’s true. I wouldn’t have had the external motivation or paradigm to encourage me to study well. Along with teaching, this blog has also been an avenue that has encouraged and facilitated further and deeper study of the Word.

But in all reality, I don’t feel guilty that my studies aimed at teaching are what has been the vehicle for my growing in knowledge and understanding. I guess that it is comparable to what the experience of going on a missionary trip (at least a short-term one) is like.

I went to Africa for a 3 week mission’s trip in the summer of 2000. My team’s objective was to engage in evangelism, minister to kids at schools and orphanages, and to help out a local church in various other ways. Before I went, I had heard various people from previous missions trips say that they had gone so that they could be a blessing to the people who they would be ministering to, but, instead, it was the missionaries who came back with an overwhelming sense of God’s blessing and grace and having been ministered to. This was the case with my experience.

One of the most blessing experiences that I was able to do was to purchase a guitar to bring down to Africa in order to use during our trip and then to give it to the local church so that they would have another instrument in their worship services. The leaders of the church expressed gratitude and I am sure that it was (and hopefully is still being) well used. However, I felt overwhelmingly blessed and privileged to minister to them in this way.

John MacArthur made a comment during his sermon series on Luke 15 (dealing with the parable of the prodigal son) that lasted a period of about 5 weeks. And even with that amount of time, he said that he knew that he would be unable to communicate the whole of what he had learned and gleaned from his long study of the text. I would add, for myself, that my ability to effectively communicate what I have learned is also an impediment that makes the gap wider between what I know and have learned from what is taught to those to whom I teach.

In Sunday school we just went through the Spiritual (you can read about it in my previous article), and I wanted to make an impression on those in my class (and you too) of how important service is in a healthy Christian walk. Not everyone is a pastor or a missionary or any given role in the body of Christ. So I am not suggesting that every Christian should regularly teach a Sunday school class. But I do want to encourage all Christians to serve and to work in your local church. It can be as the sound booth tech, someone who runs the power point, an usher, a deacon, singing special music, or whatever. But serve regularly. And even though I said (and I still mean it) that not everyone can or should be a regular teacher, you can always study hard on something and offer to give a Sunday school teacher a break. If you study really hard, and work diligently in dedicated time, you can come up with a devotional that will be edifying for other believers.

When my brother-in-law and his wife were trying to settle in on which church to attend (they had been alternating between two good ones during their dating and engaged relationship), I was concerned for them. Not because I had any critical doubts about either of the two churches, but because I wanted to stress the importance of service. I think that I gave him 3 things to look for in a church (after the foundational theological issues have been addressed and satisfied), and they were:

• The pastor needs to do good biblical preaching


• The ability and desire to fellowship with peers and non-peers alike


• You need to serve, in some way, and start as soon as you can.

I stressed these 3 things because they hit on three areas of where each individual can grow. Also, you will be ministering to people by being involved in their lives (fellowship), engaging the pastor on what he is preaching about, and ministering to the larger body of Christ in the area that you are serving in.

You may, or may not, have heard that 90% of the work of the local church is done by about 10% of the people. Well, it is so common that it is almost a cliché. However, this seems to be very true. Just imagine the impact that we could have on the world (not to mention the impact that it would have on all of our lives) if the other 90% did the same amount of gospel work that the other 10% are doing. If nothing else, I think that the body would be healthier and more eternally focused.

Happy Birthday

um...yesterday.

It was my wife's birthday yesterday. One thing that I have noticed about birthdays once you have kids is that there is no break for the parent on his/her birthday (at least while they're young like ours, but I assume that it just morphs into different forms of trouble and trials). Stephanie had a tough day with the boys yesterday, and it was all that I could do to try and ease the stress when I got off work. Having a vacation or a day off on your birthday is long gone for us.

All of the celebration and birthday fun aside, Stephanie is the love of my life, and she helps to make me the best version of myself. Thanks be to God for blessing me with a wonderful wife.

An Important Message for Evangelicals Concerning Roman Catholicism

About 1 year ago (sometime in May or June) I was given a sermon/lecture concerning Roman Catholicism focusing on the Pope and the Papacy. But before I talk a little bit more about this lecture, let me bring forward some of my background as it relates to this issue.

I grew up in a Christian home where we attended an Assemblies of God church. When I was in the eighth grade (or so), my parents decided to seek a better church for us to fellowship and worship in. Over the next two (or so) years we went to a few different churches, but I never felt comfortable with them. Finally, we settled in at a local church (LeMars Bible Church, called LBC), and my parents have been there ever since.

Over the course of my life, I have attended a Pentacostal church (Assemblies of God), a charismatic church (Cornerstone Faith Center - I never liked this church because even as a child I could sense the "ickiness" of the health and wealth gospel), a non-denominational Baptist-style church, and now I attend a very good fundamental Baptist church. I bring up this history for a few reasons.

First of all, my theological formation started out more on the Pentacostal and Arminian side and has developed (through study and agony) to be conservative, Baptist, and Calvinistic. So the first reason is to show the diversity of my exposure to various doctrines and traditions.

The second reason that I bring this up is that even though the various churches had different doctrines on Spiritual gifts, doctrines of the roles of men and women, different worship style, various preaching styles, and other issues, one thing remained consistent. These churches agreed on the essential truths of scripture - the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the inerrancy and infallibility and sufficiency of the Bible, and the message of salvation - the gospel.

The gospel message that I was given as a small child by Mrs. Sylvia Shultz is the same message that was proclaimed to me at LBC, at Ambassador Baptist Church, and it is the same one that I proclaim. Salvation is by grace alone through faith apart from works in Jesus Christ alone.

As a child (and now as an adult) I have had close friends and family members who were not Christians. Some of them professed to be Christians and even went to churches, some were basically irreligious. I also have and have had family and friends who are Roman Catholic. The gospel message that these people knew (and was established in their confirmation classes) was not the same gospel.

The gospel of Roman Catholicism is as different from the Biblical gospel as that of Mormonism in that they both are false, and they do not save. I say this not as a stick in the eye of a Catholic who might be reading this (although, that is unavoidably going to be the outcome). I say this to make plain that there is no fellowship of the faithful or believers that can exist in any real form between those who confess a biblical gospel and those who confess the doctrines of Rome.

There have been moves recently to reconcile the Protestants with the Catholics which many (on both sides) vehemently disagree with. For, even if traditional Roman Catholics disagree with my conclusion that their system is false (they charge Protestants with being false), they agree that our systems are so vastly different that there is no way to be acceptable to both Protestants and Catholics in any real theological sense.

With that background....

The lecture that I was presented was delivered by John MacArthur. He articulated, very well, in one message some of the very reasons why Catholicism and the true gospel message are not compatible. In fact, he opens his message by saying that if a Roman Catholic hears this message, they will surely be offended. But it is not the purpose of offending people or inculcating "anti-Catholic" sentiment that either he preached this message or that I talk about it here. It is to defend the gospel of Christ, defend Christ Himself, and to call out to those who are lost with the truth.

You can listen to the message as it was played on the Way of the Master Radio program. It is divided up into two parts (the two portions of the show) by clicking below:

• Click Here for Part 1
• Click Here for Part 2

For my brothers and sisters who desire to reconcile with the Catholic Church, I hope that this will help articulate or clear up why there can be no "blurring" of the distinctions between Catholicism and true Christianity. For my friends and relatives inside of Roman Catholicism, I hope that God will open your eyes, show you the false system that you are in, and call you out of it.


Soli Deo Gloria - Solus Christus - Sola Fide - Sola Gratia - Sola Scriptura

on Ted Haggard and why being “above reproach” is so crucial…

I have previously written about the qualifications for elders and I have expressed my desire for adherence to the Scriptural standards and a plea for dealing decisively with moral failures from the pulpit. This issue resurfaced recently with the national news concerning the allegations of drug use and homosexual fornication, the confession of guilt, and then the removal from his pastoral office of Ted Haggard. Ted Haggard founded New Life Church, was noted as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals¹, and he had been New Life's senior pastor since its founding until recently when he was removed by the elders of the church.

He has been accused by a male prostitute of having an ongoing (multi-year) relationship that included his paying for sex and drugs on a fairly regular monthly basis. Ted initially seemed to respond to the accusations by saying, "The accusations that have been leveled against me are not all true, but enough of them are true that I have been appropriately and lovingly removed from ministry." In his letter to the church that he pastured that was read on Sunday 11/5/06 by Larry Stockstill who pastors Bethany World Prayer Center² in Louisiana, the “mother” church that planted New Life, Ted specified that he was guilty of sexual immorality.

I wanted to give some of the background for this story just to set it up for the purpose of thought and discussion concerning church eldership. I do not want to revel in the gross sin, but at the same time I feel that it is important to be clear on the situation and not hide the sin or try to cover the tracks of the sinner.

Before going any further, I need to say something very crucial. I believe that great violence has been done to the proclamation of the gospel because of the gross immorality committed by various men in the positions of leadership. This is certainly true for those in the evangelical community, and we don’t need to look far back from Mr. Haggard to find Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker and the relevant scandals and fallout for the gospel that resulted from their immorality. Unfortunately the unsaved do not see the important distinctions between some of these men and their ministries and others who are not associated with them. But the problem doesn’t just go across the lines inside of evangelicalism, they go beyond them.

For instance, I have been in conversations where the abuse accusations and scandals of priests in the Roman Catholic Church were used to bash and trash the gospel. Roman Catholics and I share nothing in common in our gospel messages other than some of the same words (but they mean very different things) but that does not stop Roman Catholic scandals being used against the gospel when I preach it and it probably doesn’t stop the use of Protestant scandals to go against the message of a Roman Catholic. So no matter how you slice it, whenever anyone who calls themselves a Christian (especially visible or high profile ones) are exposed for gross and immoral sin (like homosexuality, pedophilia, fornication, etc.), the gospel message is taken through the mud.

I also don’t want to rehash my arguments for why a pastor must be above reproach and why (biblically) I believe that once you go over the line, you are no longer fit to be an elder. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the person isn’t a Christian (they very well may be), but they no longer qualify to hold the office of an overseer. You can read my previous thoughts in the following articles:

• elders: qualifications and tasks (Tuesday, April 04, 2006)
• more thoughts on eldership (Saturday, April 15, 2006)
• A Refreshing Article on Leadership (Friday, July 28, 2006)

I took the time to listen to the recording of the service from Sunday 11/5/06 at New Life Church to hear Ted Haggard’s words about this whole situation firsthand (well, his letter read by Larry Stockstill), to hear any comments made about his future with the church, and to hear what message was preached during this time. My goal is not to critique the style of the service³ or various stated doctrinal differences that I have with the church that are important⁴ but I do want to look at what they proclaim to believe by what they say and do during this service. My concern now with this issue is two-fold, and I have two main questions in this situation:

1. Will Ted Haggard be restored to a pastoral role?
2. Is Ted Haggard a Christian?

Will Ted Haggard be restored to a pastoral role? Well, it seems overwhelmingly clear from the information provided to New Life Church that Ted Haggard was permanently removed from the office of senior pastor of that church. The word “permanent” or “permanently” was used more than a few times referring to his no longer serving as the senior pastor. There are two points about this process that I want to comment on. First, I am very happy and joyful that there was an accountability structure in place that took action and quickly, decisively, and lovingly removed Ted from his ministry. Listening to the recounting of what happened gave me some peace, and I believe that the process was very biblical and God honoring. Pastor Larry Stockstill began by reading the qualifications of an overseer from 1 Timothy 3 and some verses from the 5th chapter relating to overseers as well before reading the letters from the Haggards. All in all, I was very blessed to hear and see the desire by the other pastors and elders to be very biblical in how they moved forward in dealing with this situation.

The second point is not as positive as the first, though. It actually seemed, well, rather ominous that he was being permanently removed from his office as senior pastor, but a door seemed to be left open for future pastoral ministry. When speaking about the structure of Ted’s “ongoing restoration”, there were to be a few pastors, “who are going to serve as an oversight committee so that Pastor Ted receives full, long term, therapeutic restoration and one day can minister in the larger body of Christ with joy, with dignity, and with hope in his heart. And that is our goal.”⁵ I whole heartedly believe that every believer should serve the Body of Christ in some way, so Ted would be no exception to that. However, the repeated stressing that he was being removed from his position of senior pastor was glaring in not mentioning that he would not be a pastor at all. Some churches hold that a pastor can and should be restored to a pastoral position if he grows in faith and is seen to be changed from when he was guilty of the grievous act that made him step down. I do not believe that this is the correct biblical model, and I do not agree with any church that holds to this model of pastoral restoration.

I hold on to the hope that if or when Ted ever wants to be involved in ministry again that he will be obedient to the scriptures and not be a pastor, elder, or deacon.

Is Ted Haggard a Christian? The ultimate and final answer is that neither you nor I know for a fact – only God does.⁶ However, we are instructed to judge teachers and elders by their fruit. So, I want to look at the fruit of Ted Haggard’s life – both in his sinful actions and in how he responded to it when his sin was brought to light. First of all, let us look to the Word of God and what it says about the fruit of false teachers.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.

"Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'” – Matthew 7:15-23

“They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” – Titus 1:16

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;” – 2 Peter 2:1,2

“They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." - 2 Peter 2:13-22

Ted made it clear that all of the accusations made against him are not true, but some of them are true. However, when he was initially confronted by reporters after the accuser had gone public, he responded with flat denials of any fornication or drug use. In one recorded encounter with a reporter, Ted explained that he was going to the accuser for massages. Also, he said that he did in fact buy drugs, but threw them away and never used them.⁷ Although all of the facts are not in, one thing that seems to be clear is that Ted was lying to cover his tracks, and only told the truth when proof was presented. He initially denied knowing the accuser until voice mails were released. He also denied being unfaithful to his wife, but later admitted to being guilty of sexual immorality in his letter that was read to his congregation.

He also alluded to the fallout of the scandal and the “confusion caused by my inconsistent statements” in the same address to New Life Church. I found it disturbing that he seemed to be spinning how he’d spoken to the press by referring to his statements as “inconsistent” as opposed to calling them what they were: lies. This was only compounded by the various words that Ted wrote describing his actions:

• Dirt
• Horrible example
• Sexual immorality
• Problem (mentioned several times)
• There is a part of my life is repulsive and dark
• Over short periods of time I would enjoy victory (no mention of victory over sin or a specific “sin”, just victory)
• the darkness increased and finally dominated me
• did things contrary to everything I believe

The pastor who read the letter referred to Ted’s actions as a “default” on a few occasions and Ted himself never mentioned the word “sin” until very near the end of his letter when he said, “I am a sinner and I have fallen….” This “coming clean” continued a little bit when he said, “I am a deceiver and a liar”, but it is still concerning that the word sin was not brought up more. It seemed like both Ted and those who were speaking about this issue were unwilling to use the word sin.

Do we know if Ted Haggard is saved? No. Should we assume that he is saved? I think that based on his actions, we should not. It is possible that he needs regeneration instead of restoration. This is good news! One person made the comment that God is being gracious to Ted. Why? Because God is causing his sin to be brought to light now and giving him the opportunity to repent before God and be forgiven if, in fact, he is not saved.

“God’s not angry at Ted. He loves him. He’s wrapping His arms around him. He is determined (God is determined) to erase the sin that ruins our lives and He has provided everything that Pastor Ted needs for life and godliness. This is His nature, it is His character, it is His Plan. He reaches for us, He finds us, He will not let us go no matter what happens. Today salvation is working, forgiveness is available, and God is extremely faithful.”⁸

I agree with Ross Parsley that God isn’t angry with Ted if he has repented of his sin and placed his true and saving faith (that will be evident by his actions) in Christ. But if he has not done that, now or before, then God is most definitely not happy with him, and he is an enemy of God.

I say all of this not to just dump on Ted Haggard. My true concern is for those who call themselves Christians all over the world. As a Christian, my life should reflect the fact that I am a new creation. When I sin, it should be a struggle as Paul describes of himself in Romans 7, but it shouldn’t be a planned rendezvous with a prostitute or a pornographic web site, or the intentional cheating on your taxes. Christians need to wake up and realize that there are those in our midst who claim to be Christians, but they are not (even if they think that they are). We need to use the law of God to evangelize unbelievers and we need to use the principles in Matthew 18 discipline and hopefully restore a brother or sister.

---

¹ http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050207/photoessay/11.html

² In no way do I endorse or agree with the ministries of either New Life Church or Bethany World Prayer Center. Actually, the more digging that I do (and I haven’t done much yet) the more wary and concerned I become over their doctrine.

³ It sounded more like a concert-style atmosphere with loud applause and whistling during the introductions of various pastors and elders than a reverent (or even somber or remorseful) church service.

⁴ It seems that there are women in positions of elders, and this was evident when the pastor who was about to read the letter from Mr. Haggard asked anyone who was an elder or “the husband or wife of an elder” to stand up and be recognized for the hard work that they had done recently. The “what we believe” page of their website seems very good on the gospel message, but it has elements of the health and wealth teaching too which I personally find to be somewhat cancerous in the modern church.

⁵ New Life Church Sunday Morning Service Podcast 11/5/06

⁶ I say that intentionally because Ted may not even really know. Some false teachers and many “Christians” think that they are saved, but they are deceived. So, only God and Ted (if he has a repentant heart, a brokenness over his sin – not being caught, and a true faith in Christ) know.

⁷ http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/03/haggard.allegations/index.html

⁸ Ross Parsley – acting senior pastor of New Life Church taken from the New Life Church Sunday Morning Service Podcast 11/5/06

"Hell is real and wrath is awful and Christ is glorious"

I was listening to John Piper recently and he was preaching about the exclusivity of the gospel and of Christ, something that all Christians should be passionate about. Actually, perhaps one of the ways to find out if someone truly understands the gospel is to proclaim the exclusivity of Christ and then deal with their reaction. If they hesitate and argue that there are other ways to God, then this person doesn’t understand the gospel and most likely isn’t saved. I say this, and it’s true, because the “Jesus” that saves someone alongside a Judaism that saves, a Hinduism that saves, or an Islam that saves is not the Jesus of the Bible and therefore he has no power to save that person…because he isn’t real!

The real Jesus, the only Jesus of the Bible, is exclusive in His saving work. He does it through Himself alone. Faith in any other system or faith in a Jesus who is not totally exclusive in Salvation is not saving faith.

“so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” - John 5:23

“Here’s a paraphrase of that: If you do not worship Jesus, you do not worship God. That sentence will get you killed in some countries today; and in this city it will get you scorned, big-time. Because there are tens of thousands of Jews and tens of thousands of Muslims, and none of them honor the Son. You see when you really say the text for what it says, we’re in trouble. Do we realize (this is a mission driven church!), do you realize how offensive missions is?

What is missions if worship is this: If you do not worship Jesus, you do not worship God! Call Him Elohim; call Him Adonai; call Him Allah; call Him Gott; call Him Deos; call Him God; call Him what you will. If you don’t worship Jesus, you don’t worship God.

He who does not honor the son, does not honor the Father. Or in 1 John 2:23, He who has the Son has the Father. He who has not the Son has not the Father. Jesus said it right out to the Pharisees who knew the whole Old Testament by heart and went to the temple worshiping every day. ‘They don’t know Him,’ He said. So what should we say today in Guinea? What should we say today in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Tunesia, Japan, North Korea, China, South Vietnam, Indonesia? What do we say? ‘Oh, you know God. You all know God. You’re all getting to Him in various ways.’ Well let’s just close up shop at Bethlehem if that’s what we’re going to say. What we’re going to say is ‘Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, and I would like to share the best news in the world with you because there is no other escape from the wrath of God. Trust His Son, Jesus, who died that you might live. And if you don’t trust Him, you perish.

That made some people very angry here a few weeks ago. And it will make them more angry in the years to come because pluralism is going to get more and more the norm. Tolerance will become the law, and anybody who not only refuses to act in a tolerant way but speak in a tolerant way will be accused of hate mongering which leads to violence which puts you in jail.

So just decide, you can jump ship right now if you want to be a pluralist and say that ‘all religions are equal and we’re all on our way to God through various “saviours,”’ because when the pressure comes, you’re going to jump ship, if that’s your mind. You may as well jump now, and keep the church more pure. How many of you are spending your life doing something that counts. [There are] a lot of students in this room, you haven’t made up your mind yet, and I want to say [this] to even those who have made up their mind: If your job is letting you down in terms of significance… change it! There are ten thousand jobs available that are significant. Now, I don’t think that everybody should be a missionary, I’ve made that plain. But if you’re job makes you feel useless – day in and day out – change it! Come on, take some risk with your life, for goodness sake. You only have a few seconds left on this earth. And you students, you aren’t stuck anywhere yet. Dream a dream that counts, don’t dream about the American dream. Don’t dream about the house in the suburbs and the wife and the kids and the cars and the computers and the retirement and the vacations and all the accruements of refrigeration and electricity and heat and 911. Dream a real dream! Because Hell is real and wrath is awful and Christ is glorious. And one soul saved, as C.S. Lewis said, is worth more than the preservation of every classic that has ever been written.”¹

---

¹ “Much More Shall We Be Saved By His Life” a sermon by John Piper originally delivered on December 12, 1999 on Romans 5:9-11.

All Hallows Eve

My wife and I have a fairly new tradition that we began one year ago today. It was last year on October 31st that I was thinking about what my family would do on Halloween. When I grew up, we didn’t go Trick-or-Treating but we turned off all of the lights viewable from outside, went into our basement, and played games or had a family movie night.

Now that I have a family of my own, I was not sure about what we should do, but I am pretty convinced that I do not want my children (when they are old enough) participating in the American Halloween experience. So, I was perplexed. I didn’t want to have a meaningless tradition; I wanted it to be significant. I thought that it would be fun to play games or watch a movie, but I didn’t know what games or movies would be beneficial or relevant to Halloween.

I came across a movie that was both historically relevant to October 31st as well as being spiritually focused. I was introduced to the 2003 production "Luther" when hearing audio sound bites from the diet of Worms taken from this film (you can read about my thoughts from the day after in my article, "A quick thought about the Word of God"). It was Luther’s passionate and pointed response to the pointed question looking for a recant on his writings and teachings that made me want to understand more about this time in history, the man, and his declaration of faith. The quote, a dramatic portrayal of what Luther is reported to have said at the diet of Worms, that moved me was this:

“Since Your Majesty and Your Lordships desire a simple reply... I will answer. Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason... and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves... my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe.

I cannot... and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door to the Wittenberg church. I visited this church in the summer 1998 while in Europe on our “Reformation” College Choir tour with my college choir. I only wish that I had a fuller appreciation of the work that was done and the courage that it took to do this act and back it up when I was there. It would have been a much more moving experience.


Soli Deo Gloria


If you click on the picture of the choir, you'll see a larger version that is "active" and will show you the names of the individual that your mouse is pointing at. Also, if you click on the “Reformation” College Choir tour link, you will be able to listen to a few of the songs...if you're so inclined.

Jedi or no Jedi

Martin Luther - Thelogian. Reformer. Author. Preacher. Jedi?

Faith Alone - a Truly Biblical Doctrine

I have always maintained that people are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. It is true that I did not make this explicitly clear in a recent comment on another blog, and for that I do apologize. However, if you look at my comments on posts on this blog (or any other for that matter), you will see that I affirm the truth that man is saved by grace through faith (apart from works) in Christ whole-heartedly.

An objection to the doctrine of sola fide and sola scriptura was raised in this way, “Show me one verse in the Bible that says we are saved by "Faith alone" or that the "Bible Alone" is the sole rule of faith.”¹ I answered it (or began to, anyway), in a comment that preceded his when I said, “While the exact phrase ‘faith alone’ appears only in James regarding false faith….”² But in case this was missed, I will try again.

The exact phrase “faith alone” occurs only once, and it's in the book of James, and he says that faith without works is useless. And as for a verse that uses “Bible alone”, well the word Bible is not in the Bible so that is an easy one. But we do not get our vocabulary from just the Bible, nor do we, necessarily, get our doctrine out of “word for word” phrases in the Bible We (I) look at the whole of Scripture to see what it says about any one subject, and then we try as best as we can to articulate that as stated in a doctrine. Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura are two such articulations of doctrine. You also know that I affirm that salvation is in Christ alone, but the phrase “Christ alone” is not found anywhere in the Bible (except in the NLT which is less than a word for word translation). But you would not disagree (I hope) that salvation is, in fact, in Jesus Christ alone. It is not reckless, wrong, or ridiculous to use the statements that came out of the reformation to articulate the true gospel message.

In further dealing with the “trump card” of James 2:20 that seems to be played with no care of how recklessly it is wielded, we must go back and first understand (as Christ taught) that you can sum up the law and the prophets into two commandments:

1. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.


2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Therefore we know that there is no work that can be considered to be “good” that doesn’t fall into either of these two categories. Any deed, whether it is circumcision, baptism, walking an aisle, signing a card, or any other action, does not save us. It does not bring us into a relationship with Christ nor does that action reconcile us to the Father. Therefore, when we are exhorted that we are saved apart from works of the law (Romans 3:20, 27-28; Galatians 2:16), apart from works (Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Timothy 1:9), not of deeds done in righteousness (Titus 3:5) but we are saved by faith (Romans 3:22-31;4:5-16; 5:1,2; 9:30-33 Galatians 3:8-14, 22-26; Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Timothy 3:15), it is by faith to the exclusion of anything else that our new relationship (being born again or born from above and being Justified) with God begins.

Obedience to the commands of God (good works) comes as a result of faith (Romans 1:5; Galatians 5:6, 22-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Timothy 1:4-5; Hebrews 11) and being evident, they (the fruit of good works), validate our claim of faith (James 2). True faith brings other things with it and produces love and good works (1 Corinthians 13:2; 2 Corinthians 10:15). Therefore, for whatever reason God decided to do this, faith (by the grace of God) is the instrument that God has chosen to use to connect sinful man with the righteousness of Christ.

The statement “works are not a prerequisite to justification but a natural consequence of it.”³ was made by Jeff S (an Episcopalian in transition to Catholicism), and Danny (my Catholic theology student friend) agreed with Jeff S’s summary of the Catholic understanding of faith and works by saying, “And Jeff S. has summed it up splendidly!”¹

That statement affirms what I believe. All good works – every single one – are the out flowing of someone who has been Justified by God. This is the truth that I have been articulating all along. The grace of God works through men to produce faith in Christ – and that man is saved. This saved man will now go about performing good deeds, but all deeds done are the result of salvation, the do not assist with the attaining or the maintaining of it.

Baptism is not some ritual that makes us born from above or cleanses us from original sin and brings us into fellowship with God. It cannot since “works are not a prerequisite to justification but a natural consequence of it.”⁵

But if you still believe that baptism (water baptism as performed by sprinkling, dunking, etc) is either (a) a prerequisite of justification, or (b) the first step in someone’s spiritual life (forgive me, I do not know the correct Catholic ‘lingo’ to for baptismal regeneration) then we – most definitely – do not agree on how man is saved. And if Jeff S. or Danny believes that baptism fits either of these two above criteria, then they disagree with themselves.

Baptism is, at least, a deed done in righteousness whether it is understood to be the beginning of one’s spiritual life or one of the first acts of obedience by that person who has been saved. But baptism cannot play a role in our actual salvation, because it is a deed. We all should be baptized, I totally affirm and agree that all Christians should be baptized, but as seen by the thief on the cross; water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation.

I trust that opponents to this affirmation of faith will take the time to read the texts that I cited which begin, at least, to articulate this doctrine. The only thing more compelling than the shear number of the texts that articulate or refer to the truth that man is saved by grace alone through faith alone (“alone” meaning that faith is apart from any works) are the texts themselves in how powerfully clear they are.

---

¹ Comment by Danny Garland Jr. 10.28.06 - 10:07 pm

² Comment by EJ 10.28.06 - 3:31 pm

³ Comment by Jeff S. 10.28.06 - 10:33 pm

⁴ Comment by Danny Garland Jr. 10.28.06 - 11:09 pm

⁵ Comment by Jeff S. 10.28.06 - 10:33 pm