A Lesson Learned?

Do you think he learned his own lesson?

"Christian Archy" is in the Mail

Yesterday I ordered my copy of Christian Archy. I just received notice that it has been shipped.

I have been looking forward to this book by Dave Black for some time. His books always challenge me. Quite frankly, they often make me uncomfortable. However, since this is a good place to be as a Christian, I've ordered my copy of this book right away.

The publisher of this book says this about it, "In Christian Archy, Dr. David Alan Black examines the New Testament to find the truly radical and all-encompassing claims of God's kingdom. In doing so, he discovers that the character of this kingdom is widely different from what is commonly contemplated today. Its glory is revealed only through suffering — a point that Jesus' disciples, then and now, have been slow to understand. This truth has tremendous implications for church life. The kingdom of God is in no way imperialistic. It has no political ambitions. It conquers not by force but by love. It is this humble characteristic of the kingdom that is a stumbling block to so many today. Christ's claim to our total allegiance is one we seek to avoid at all costs. But there is only one way to victory and peace, and that way is the way of the Lamb."

Click here to order.

Goliath Beats David

Last night Goliath beat David. It is a sad story.

The New York Yankees (Goliath) and their $200 million payroll beat my beloved Philadelphia Phillies (David) in the World Series. The Yankees won four games to two.

The trouble is that the Yankees, like Goliath, represent all that is wrong with our world (I'll admit - this is a bit of an overstatement). The Phillies, meanwhile, are a likable group of players whose payroll is about %50 of New Yorks'.

It is hard to watch evil defeat good - especially when the good team is your favorite team (and has been for 35 years).

At least there is next year. Go Phillies!

Happily Ignorant about T.V.

I frequently hear people passionately discussing what is happening on the latest T.V. shows. They talk about the characters, the plot lines, and the relationships. They also try to figure out how they can fit the new shows into their already busy schedules.

I am thrilled to say that I am purposely completely ignorant about what is happening on T.V. Ever since we made the decision last spring to rid ourselves of T.V., we have felt freed from its clutches. We no longer find ourselves feeling like slaves to the scheduling folks at the networks.

Let me be clear: we do own a T.V. However, we have no cable subscription and don't even try to pick anything up through any sort of antennae (can you still even do that?). Instead, we have a number of movies and documentaries that we watch occasionally. We also check out films from the local library. This allows Alice and me to screen everything our kids watch. We no longer find ourselves feverishly diving for the remote control when something unexpected and inappropriate comes on the T.V.

As for the news, we check it out several times per day on the internet. So far we haven't missed out on anything substantial.

There is a saying that is sometimes true: "Ignorance is bliss." That's how we feel.

An additional bonus to all this is that we have more time to read and spend together as a family.

I strongly encourage you to get rid of you T.V. subscription. It may hurt a bit at first as you experience withdrawal, but you will never regret it.

Just Silly

The Abomination that is the Prosperity Gospel

I couldn't agree more. Thanks, Dr. Piper.

You Have Two Great Options

All followers of Jesus Christ have two great options each day. In fact, we deal with this issue every morning (whether we realize it or not).

We have the option of waking up and serving the Lord for another day. This is a great blessing.

The second option is even better. We don't wake up, but instead die and go to be with Christ. This is an infinitely greater blessing.

Paul makes this very clear in Philippians 1:21 when he writes simply, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (click here to read in context). In Paul's eyes, both life and death are great options. He can go on serving Christ which will mean more "fruitful labor" for him. However, his desire is to be with Jesus, which "is far better."

Paul understood, probably better than we do because we don't face persecution and death on a regular basis, that both life and death are wonderful possibilities. Neither is a negative. Both are only positive.

I'm not sure that we embrace life and death this way. We (I can speak for myself in particular) tend to be too comfortable in our materialism and lax in our service of Christ. We also don't spend enough time pondering the joy that awaits us in heaven with God.

Maybe we don't like to think about these options because we are not the ones in control of whether or not we wake up in the morning. We know that God is sovereign over life and death. He is the one who chooses which option we face today.

However, in light of the fact that God is both all-powerful and all-good, why shouldn't we completely trust Him with whether we live or die for another five minutes?

To put it simply, another day of life is a gift from God to serve Him fully. Death is an even greater gift - for we go directly to be be the perfect Three-in-One in heaven.

I'm thankful for two great options. As I sit here, I'm thankful for another day of life. I look forward to the day when I get to partake of option two and be with Christ.

More Great Photos from Kenya

As I have mentioned before, my parents are serving this school year at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. As a bonus for them, the scenery where they are located is beautiful.

The photo to the left clearly shows some of the mountains and valleys near my parents. I have to admit a bit of jealousy since we live where everything is flat.

My parents just recently updated their blog with many new photos from their school and the area surrounding it. I encourage you to take a look. God has truly blessed Kenya with much natural beauty.

Excellent New Ligonier Website

Ligonier Ministries has posted a new website. After looking it over, I find it to be much more helpful than the previous one.

In particular, I like the "Learn" link that offers all sorts of options for reading and listening. The best part of this section (and the entire site) has to be the "Teacher Index." After clicking there, you can select from the writings of over 60 excellent teachers. Several of my personal favorites are included such as Alistair Begg, Jerry Bridges, D. A. Carson, Sinclair Ferguson, Richard Phillips, John Piper, R. C. Sproul, Joni Eareckson Tada, Bruce Ware, David Wells, and Ravi Zacharias.

Enjoy!

Happy Reformation Day!

Why We Celebrate October 31st

We like to celebrate on October 31st. It is a fun day to get together with friends. It is a great day for fellowship and food. It is enjoyable to talk about amazing things that have happened in the past - some of them scary things.

I'm not talking about Halloween (we don't celebrate it). I'm talking about Reformation Day.

Reformation Day is a celebration of what began in earnest on October 31st, 1517. On that day, the German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This was one of the first acts in the great Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation, while not perfect, was an attempt by various different people to return to the bible as the only authority for the Christian life. This flew in the face of the established traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther, for one, wanted to see reform within the Catholic Church. Despite his desires, he was cast out.

The Reformers taught us to look to the bible for what it means to be right with God. Luther rightly emphasized that we cannot be justified by our works. Instead, justification only comes through faith (which in itself is a gift of God).

Out of the Reformers' teachings came the "5 Solas of the Reformation." These are:

Sola Gratia – Grace Alone
Sola Fide – Faith Alone
Solus Christus – Christ Alone
Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone
Soli Deo Gloria – Glory of God Alone

We have much to celebrate on the 31st. Let's enjoy and live out these solas.

More Tech Funnies

Taking Blogging a Bit Too Far...

Looking to the wrong god

When our family served in India, we were constantly confronted with various forms of Hindu worship. The vast majority of the population in our city was Hindu. Additionally, many Indians trekked to our city to participate in elaborate Hindu religious rituals.

The sad part in watching the Hindus worship was that they were looking to the wrong god for help. The Hindu pantheon of gods offers many, many different gods to choose from. We know, however, that there is really only one God: the triune God of the bible.

I encourage you to actively try to get to know Indians in your neighborhood, workplace, etc. The majority are probably Hindu. Meet them. Get to know them. Love them. Share the hope of Christ with them.

To read more about Hindu worship in India and Christians who are trying to reach them with the good news, click here. What you will find is an interesting article about Hindus worshiping the false god Ganesh as part of a typical Hindu festival.

But for the grace of God, I would be right there worshiping Ganesh with them.

A Parking Space for Jesus

This is a silly photo of me in the historic district of Savannah, GA. I'm standing next to one of the many old, big church facilities in the city.

I asked my daughter, Caroline, to take this picture because of the ridiculous sign above my head. If you have ever visited Savannah, you know that finding a parking spot in the historic district can be very difficult. Apparently this church thinks their "senior pastor" is too important to have to search for a spot and then walk like everyone else. He gets a reserved spot right next to the church entrance.

If this church had its theology right, they would realize that they actually have reserved a spot for Jesus Himself. I'd like to think that this means that they are just really looking forward to the second coming. Unfortunately, they probably just don't understand who the "senior pastor" actually is.

When we look in the bible, we won't find the term "senior pastor" anywhere. However, when we look to the book of I Peter, we find the corresponding term "chief shepherd." The interesting thing about this is that the term "chief shepherd" is not used about any person other than the Lord Jesus Christ. I Peter 5:4 says, "And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." This obviously refers to Jesus. I encourage you to click here to read the verse in context.

The bible does refer to some leaders within the church as elders/overseers/pastors. However, none of these are ever referred to as a "chief shepherd." Why is this? The reason is simple. The chief shepherd is the one who rules and governs. He is in charge. Human pastors are not given these duties.

Since the church belongs to Christ, He is the one and only chief shepherd. Jesus is the only senior pastor of the church.

It looks like Christ has a parking space the next time He comes to Savannah.

Raced. Finished. Didn't Collapse.

I'm happy to say that the 10-K went relatively well this evening.

I had a few minor goals going into the race: 1) finish, 2) don't stop to walk or collapse, 3) complete the 10-K is less than 50 minutes, and 4) have a good time. I'm pleased to say that all these things happened.

I will admit that there was one point during the 4th or 5th mile when I really wanted to stop and walk. That's when I literally began praying to God for strength. He got me to the finish.

One additional point of interest came near the 5-mile marker. As I was running along, I realized that there was a snake in the middle of the path in front of me. About a second later, I recognized the two-foot-long snake as a Copperhead. By that point I was almost on top of the serpent. Not knowing what to do, I simply ran past it a few feet from its mouth. The snake, frankly, seemed bored with my presence.

In the end, it went well. Tonight showed me that I am getting older and still need to drop several pounds. It also reminded me that God gives us strength even during the less important things in life - like a 10-K.

G.R.A.C.E. for Whom?

I very much enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek post about grace and how different religious groups view it.

Racing Today

The day has finally arrived.

After several months of jogging/running/training, I will run in my first race later today. To be completely accurate, this is my first race in nearly five years. That race was a marathon; this one is only a 10K.

The entire reason I got back into racing in the first place was to provide motivation to run. Over the years I have, like many of us, gradually packed on extra pounds. The trigger for this came one day when a lady who hadn't seen me in a while said, "You've put on a few pounds since the last time I saw you." That was it.

Since early June I have been trying to get back into shape. I've dropped a few pounds (not as many as I would have liked) and feel much better. Today is a sort of day-of-reckoning. I'm going into the race with low expectations, simply hoping to finish and feel good while doing it. I'm mentally prepared to see the high school participants leave me in the dust.

I'll update you after the race.

I Love My Reader's Greek New Testament

I'll admit up front that I am no expert in New Testament Greek. In fact, if I was an expert I would not be so excited about the new bible I just purchased.

A Readers' Greek New Testament - 2nd Edition is perfect for people like me who have a decent but not great knowledge of New Testament Greek. I have known about this particular Greek text for a while, but for some unknown reason never bought one. Well, I saw it today in a bookstore and decided to take the plunge (interestingly, right beside this book sat A Readers' Hebrew Bible. My Hebrew ability is, sad to say, too poor to even bother).

As soon as I opened this Greek text, I knew I had made the right choice. The reason for this is simple: this bible displays and explains in English (at the bottom of each page) all of the Greek words that occur fewer than 30 times in the New Testament. So, if your Greek knowledge is limited like mine, the words that you don't know are right there in front of you. I'm thrilled to not have to spend time searching through a dictionary/lexicon.

I clearly recall something my Greek professor said early on in my first Greek class. He compared reading the New Testament in English to watching black-and-white T.V. He then said reading it in Greek is like watching T.V. in high-definition color on a flat screen. I don't know if I would go that far, but I see what he is saying.

Martin Luther said, "And let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the (original) languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained."

If you have basic knowledge of Greek but are no expert, I highly encourage you to buy this book.

Chosen People Ministries

I'm excited that Stephen Fenchel of Chosen People Ministries will be with our church family this coming Sunday Morning.

Chosen People Ministries is a Christian organization which reaches out primarily to Jewish communities here in the USA and overseas.

Stephen Fenchel is the unique combination of being Jewish, Christian, and Southern Baptist. While he is with us, he will be discussing the Fall Feasts of Israel (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles). I'll admit that my understanding of both Trumpets and Tabernacles is limited. Because of that, I am really looking forward to this Sunday.

If you cannot be with us, then please visit the Chosen People website for an explanation of the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles.

If you happen to be in the Savannah, GA area and want to gather with us, please do.