On Vacation

My family and I have been vacationing at my uncle's cabin on Seneca Lake (N.Y.) for the past week. Today we are departing to drive north to my in-law's home near Fort Drum, N.Y. I'm very glad we are visiting at this time of year. It is COLD here for most of November to April.

My blogging will be sparse for the next week or so. There is electricity where we are going, but the internet is slow. We'll be playing in the woods, the creek, and the garden.

Studying the Church in Acts 1-4

Over the next several weeks, I'm going to be studying through the books of Acts, I Corinthians, and Ephesians. The purpose of this is to look at what the biblical writers have to say about the church. In doing this, I'm going to attempt (as much as is possible) to set aside my own presuppositions, traditions, assumptions, etc., and really read what the text says.

I'm beginning in Acts 1-4. It would be an understatement to say that these chapters say much about the church. In fact, these chapters are foundational for our understanding of what God wants His church to look like. The reason for this is that these chapters show us the beginning of the church, the apostles' presence in the church, and the church in action. There may be more information about the church in these chapters than in any other 4-chapter segment of the scriptures.

As I've looked at these chapters, 8 characteristics of the Biblical church stand out. You may see more or less, but these are what jump off the pages at me. These act as a challenge for us today.


8 characteristics of the church in Acts 1-4:

1. Christ-centered - The church is clearly built on the person of Jesus Christ. He is the head and He is the focus. Assumed is the confession of Jesus as Lord. Peter's sermon in Acts 2 focuses on the work of Christ.

2. Holy Spirit-led - The church, after the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2, depends on the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all it does. Interestingly, although Peter speaks quite a bit, the church does not look primarily to him for direction.

3. United/Together - This passage repeatedly shows the early church as a united community of believers that enjoyed being together. Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37 make this abundantly clear. They were often together in presence and in attitude.

4. Prayer-focused - The church looked to God for direction. Acts 1:14 describes them as praying together after the ascension of Christ but before the coming of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 4:29-31, the church prays specifically for boldness. They looked to God for direction and provision.

5. Gospel-proclaiming - The church took Christ's commission seriously. They not only prayed for boldness, but also lived this out. We see in detail Peter's proclamation of the gospel in Acts 2:14-41.

6. Scripture-tied - We learn in Acts 2:42 that the church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. This teaching showed how Christ fulfilled the promises of the O.T. They were Hebrews waiting for a Messiah; the apostles demonstrated that Jesus is the promised-one.

7. Generous/Giving - It is clear from both Acts 2:45 and 4:32-35 that the early church gave freely of their possessions and made certain that no one in the group had need.

8. Simple - Acts 2:42, a foundational verse for understanding the early church, describes a group of believers who lived together in a simple way. As they gathered, they discussed the scriptures, prayed, fellowshipped, and celebrated the Lord's Supper. They are not described as doing many, many different things. It is simple as opposed to complex.


This description of the early church from Acts 1-4 challenges us today. Do we as local churches look like this? Since the apostles were a part of the early church, we can rightfully assume that they gave approval to how the church functioned.

What must we do today for our churches to look like this? Will we dare change to be like the early church? Do we have the courage to do so?

Friday Photos from the Falls

Yesterday our family visited Niagara Falls. Having grown up in western New York, I've been to the falls several times before. Regardless, I was still amazed by the beauty and power of God's creation. I was also pleasantly surprised by the permanent sign that greeted us as we walked across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada (see the second photo below). God is truly great and greatly to be praised!

Reflections from the Atlanta Airport

When you live in Savannah (GA), you know that all things go through Atlanta. There is even a joke that when the rapture occurs, we will get to Christ by first going through Atlanta.

Three days ago I had to go through the Atlanta Airport to get to New York State (I'm here on vacation with my family). My itinerary had me going Savannah-Atlanta-Rochester. As usual, Atlanta was a madhouse.

As I walked around the Atlanta airport, which is now the busiest in the world, several things came to mind. The first was how outrageously expensive the coffee was; I bought some anyway.

At a more profound level, several descriptors of life in this country were very clear in Atlanta. Here are 6 that stood out to me:

1. Diversity - What an amazingly pluralistic society we live in! It was exciting for me to see all the different races of people in the airport. As I was traveling down a very long escalator, I saw what seemed to be just about every major ethnic group in the world. This reminded me of what a creative and awesome God made all these different groups of people.

2. Secularism - All through the airport, there was absolutely no sign of God. It was completely secular. I suppose the one exception was the lame collection of "Inspirational" books in one store. If an alien suddenly appeared in the Atlanta Airport, he would have to conclude that no one in our society believes in any higher power.

3. Materialism/Wealth - Everything in the airport is insanely expensive. I bought some fruit for breakfast for $5.00! It was worth about $1.50. Most of the travelers were wearing the latest fashions and carrying in-style bags or backpacks. Of course, much of this is probably purchased on credit. Regardless, the wealth was palpable.

4. Technology - I'm still amazed by flight. I don't get it, but I'm glad it works. In the airport, everyone else seemed to be plugged into some sort of gadget before getting onto their plane. I may have been the only person there without either a Blackberry or i-Pod.

5. Busyness - Everyone was in a hurry regardless of whether or not their flight was leaving soon. They all seemed so serious, as if the fate of the world depended on their movements. Most of the folks almost appeared to need to be busy. I wonder if they ever relax.

6. Noise - There was sound everywhere. This went beyond basic conversations. CNN was everywhere in the background. Announcements blasted over the speakers. Various machines were buzzing/whirring here and there. There was no peace.


The Atlanta Airport served for me as a microcosm of our society in general. We live in an incredibly diverse culture that is increasingly secular and materialistic. We depend more and more on technology everyday. Everyone seems busy, and there is noise everywhere.

Many of the above factors serve as a barrier to the gospel. My hope is that we will not be discouraged by all this. People continue to have only one source of hope and good news. No matter how secular, materialistic, technologically-oriented, and busy people are, they still need one person: Jesus Christ.

Atlanta was a good reminder for me of our commission.

"Lee: The Last Years"

While in seminary, I had no time to read anything other than theology books. After seminary, due to what was ingrained in me, I just didn't bother to read anything other than theology books. Recently, I have found myself in a rut; this may sound a bit blasphemous, but I'm a bit tired of theology texts.

I realized that I need to mix up what I read a bit. My desire is to read more broadly, taking in books about history, literature, philosophy, politics, culture, etc. My desire in this is two-fold: first, I hope this broadens my ability to talk with unbelievers about more topics than I am currently able. Second, I hope this causes me to have more of a desire to jump back into theology texts.

I just completed reading my first non-theology book (it does contain discussion about Lee's Christian faith, but that is not the focus). I'm pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Lee: The Last Years. This book focuses on, appropriately, the last five years of Robert E. Lee's life. While our history books tend to forget Lee after his surrender at Appomattox, the reality is that he had a profound impact on our country from his surrender until his death five years later (in 1870).

Soon after the end of the Civil War, Lee was named president of Washington College (later renamed Washington and Lee University). During his time there, he not only acted as head of the university but also was one of the greatest forces for reuniting the country after the war. Knowing that many people, especially in the South, were looking to Lee for guidance in how to react to the Northern victory, Lee consistently advised obedience and service to the existing government.

Having grown up in the North, but now living in the South, my views on the Civil War are mixed. It is interesting to read a book that focuses on not only the war, but also the aftermath. I appreciate Robert E. Lee both in his convictions and his leadership.

Our country could certainly benefit from a leader like him today.

A Nation of Hindus?

Dr. Mohler discusses our country's continued slide toward pluralism/inclusivism. In the way most people pick-and-choose what they want to believe and are accepting of everything, we are becoming a nation that is more Hindu in belief than biblically Christian.

Primary and "Secondary" Doctrines?

Over at Reformation Theology (a blog I like), there is a recent post entitled Primary and Secondary Doctrines. I encourage you to read it here.

While I agree with most of what is written in the post, I have trouble with the post title itself. The author gives no definition of what a secondary doctrine is. He clearly believes that some beliefs are more important than others and suggests that some are worth dividing over while others are not. But why doesn't he define what a secondary doctrine is?

I submit that his post title should be Primary and Tertiary Doctrines. As I have written before, the bible makes it clear that there are some doctrines (gospel-centered) that we should divide over. We divide with unbelievers. There are also doctrines that we should discuss, but should not divide over.

The bible gives no evidence for what most people refer to as secondary doctrines. This term has come to mean doctrines that Christians divide over for church but not in fellowship in general.

I think this Reformation Theology post shows us just how ingrained the idea of primary, secondary, and tertiary doctrines is. Because the author assumes that all three exist, he does not even bother to define them.

Let's do all we can to ensure that our beliefs and practices line up with scripture, not with our assumptions.

The Gospel

Without the Bible, It's All Relative

We live in this strange postmodern society where everything seems to be relative. Truth, if it even exists, is up for grabs. One person's beliefs and opinions, no matter how outrageous, are seen as just as valid as anyone else's. In fact, the only thing you cannot do is say that one idea is better than another.

You know all this. We are surrounded by it every day.

So what do we do in light of this? As Christians, we look for a source of absolute truth. We know the source of that truth is the bible. Without a source of absolute truth, everything becomes relative. With a source of absolute truth, relativism is destroyed. What is right and what is wrong can be known. We can know God's truth because He has stated it clearly in the bible.

We know all this.

Just as a reminder about what the bible has to say about itself, here are a few verses:

Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." (ESV)

Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."

II Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

We Christians quickly say that the bible is true and authoritative. The interesting thing is that while we always say the bible is true, we often hesitate to say the bible is authoritative in all areas. Specifically, we certainly say the bible has authority where it commands, but we often shy away from saying the bible is authoritative in what it models for us.

Why is this? It must be because we do some things that are not modeled for us in the bible, but we want to keep doing them. This is the case in day-to-day living and in the gathering of the church.

The problem with this is that we, when we reject the biblical model, are creeping toward relativism in certain areas. How do we know if what we are doing as individuals or as a church is the right thing to do? What do we look to? If we have rejected the biblical model, then we have nowhere else to go. All ideas are up for grabs. There are no absolutes because we have rejected the absolute that was modeled for us in the bible.

The interesting thing in all this is that the bible says that we have been given all we need to live as God wants us to. In II Peter 1:3, Peter writes, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence" (emphasis mine). We have been given all things we need to know to please God.

What Peter is saying is that the bible is sufficient. We do not need anything else. We do not need to look anywhere else. We do not need to come up with ideas on our own.

When it comes to decision-making in life, we have two options: the bible or relativism. Which will we select?

With the absolute truth of scripture (commanded or modeled), we know exactly what to do. Without the bible, it's all relative.

Studying the Church in Acts, I Corinthians, and Ephesians

I've decided to do something that can be frightening and exhilarating at the same time: study the early church. While I do this, I'm going to do my best to let scripture speak for itself without me bringing my biases into what I read.

My purpose is to study what the scriptures have to say about the church in the books of Acts, I Corinthians, and Ephesians. I've selected these books because all three have much to say about the church.

I realize that what I currently believe about the church is a mix of biblical teachings and man-made traditions. I was reminded of this again today as I toured an extremely ornate Roman Catholic Church in Savannah, GA. The church building was absolutely filled with traditions that cannot be found anywhere in scripture. I think my beliefs are the same way.

So, I'll be studying through these three books for the next month or so. I plan to blog about some of what I find. I know I will be challenged.

Scripture, if correctly interpreted, is usually frightening and exhilarating. It confronts us where we are wrong and forces us to decide whether or not we will change to come in line with the bible.

I'm looking forward to this and am also a bit nervous about what I'll find.

The Battle for Christ Church Savannah

One of the reasons I love living in Savannah, GA is the history of the city. In particular, I enjoy walking the historic district (which we can be happy General Sherman did not burn when he captured the city for the Northern Aggressors during the U.S. Civil War).

The historic district is dotted with many beautiful buildings from the 1800's. There seem to be countless church buildings of various ages and architectural styles. Sadly, most of those churches are more building than real church now; most have given up on the gospel and have transformed into little more than social clubs.

One exception to this is Christ Church Savannah (pictured above). Christ Church is the "mother-church" of Georgia, having been founded in 1733. Both John Wesley and George Whitefield served at Christ Church. To read more on its history, click here.

Christ Church is in the middle of a battle. To put it simply, because they will not sacrifice the gospel message, they are in a battle for their building. Christ Church was formerly affiliated with the Episcopal Church USA. However, since the Episcopal Church has completely rejected the biblical gospel, Christ Church made the decision to leave the Episcopal Church and join with the Anglican Church in North America.

To read an interesting summary of the differences in beliefs between Orthodox Anglicans and the Episcopal Church, click here. One key difference is that Orthodox Anglicans believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, while the Episcopal Church does not.

Now both Christ Church and the Episcopal Church want the historic building in Savannah. The situation is in court and, unfortunately, will be decided by a secular judge.

I must admit that I have mixed emotions about this whole thing. Part of me says that it is just a building so it is no big deal. They would probably be better off meeting in homes anyway. That would certainly be more biblical.

Another part of me really appreciates the stand that Christ Church has taken for the gospel and against creeping theological liberalism. Because of that, I would like for the church to be able to remain located in Savannah's historic district. Despite all its church buildings, the historic district in Savannah is actually very un-churched. Christ Church is one of the few voices for the good news of Christ in historic Savannah.

Please pray that God will intervene in this situation on behalf of Christ Church. God will do what He deems is right; He always does.

Excellent (and Free!) Resources

This is not a joke. I've been thrilled by the excellent and free (yes, free) resources I have received from Mount Zion Bible Church/Chapel Library. This is a ministry based out of Pensacola, FL.

The website says this of their ministry, "Sending Christ-centered messages from prior centuries worldwide to humble the pride of man, to exalt the grace of God in salvation, and to promote real holiness in heart and life."

They offer tracts and pamphlets written by many of the great theologians from previous years. These include Bonar, Bunyan, Calvin, Edwards, Flavel, Hodge, Lloyd-Jones, Luther, McCheyne, Newton, Owen, Pink, Ryle, Spurgeon, Whitefield, and others.

To learn more about this free literature, click here.

To learn about how to receive (for free) the quarterly digest entitled Free Grace Broadcaster, click here.

Followers Envy

Proverbs 14:30, "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones."

James 3:16, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

I have been blogging for a while now and have 9 followers. My parents have been blogging for less than a month and, at last count, have 36 followers. If I add in my running blog followers, I have a total of 11 (and some of these are repeats so my total is actually less than 11).

How should I deal with this? Do I have "followers envy"? Maybe the picture below sums up my struggles.

Persecution Continues in India

The persecution of Christians in India is nothing new. However, in the Indian state of Orissa the persecution has been particularly intense for the past year. This continues as we near the one year anniversary of the spark (the death of a Hindu leader that was falsely blamed on Christians) of these troubles.

Let us remember our Christian brothers and sisters overseas who are suffering for the cause of Christ. Hebrews 13:3, "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them -- those who are mistreated -- since you yourselves are in the body also."

To read more about the persecution sin Orissa, click here.

Self-Focused Verse Searches

As I was perusing BibleGateway.com, I came across a link entitled The 100
most-read Bible verses at BibleGateway.com. I was curious, so I took a look.

What I found disturbed me. The reason: the top four verses are all self-focused. What I mean is that these four verses (which are great in context) are often pulled out of context to show what God can do for us. This implies to me that Christians are spending too much time thinking about God's gifts, and not enough time thinking about the glory of God Himself.

The top four verses are John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, and Philippians 4:13.

Sigh.

God certainly does much good for us as His children. It seems that we would want to spend more time thinking about His greatness, splendor, and majesty than we would the things He can do for us.

This is just a symptom of the man-centered, self-focused society in which we live. It even affects Christians as they search for bible verses.

First Impressions of Kenya

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my parents are not wasting their lives - or retirements. Instead they are teaching at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya for the next year (the photo to the left is of my parents, but it was taken in Alaska).

My parents have a blog where they will be updating their situation and discussing what it is like to live and serve in a place that is so different from the USA. My mother recently blogged about their first impressions of living overseas. The poverty in Kenya stands out. My mother wrote,"Kenya is nearing the end of the rainy season but there has been practically none! Along the drive from Nairobi to Kijabe we could see where people had attempted to plant gardens wherever possible (even in what we would call ditches along the road). But to no avail. It was too dry for most crops (mainly corn and potatoes) to grow at all."

If you are interested in reading more about their adventures overseas, click here.

Nice Embed Function

The more time I spend at BibleGateway.com, the more I like it.

One recent addition to this site has made it even more useful. The new Embed Passage function allows for easy posting of the biblical text straight into blogs, etc. The best part for me is that I can now embed the original languages into this blog (before I go any farther I feel I must admit that my knowledge of N.T. Greek is adequate, but my knowledge of the original Hebrew is, well, not good/poor/terrible).

The only down side to this is that only some English translations can be embedded. I assume this is for copyright reasons.

Nevertheless - first I'll embed Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew and then several English translations. Then I'll embed John 1:1 in Greek followed by several English translations.

¹ בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (בראשית 1:1, The Westminster Leningrad Codex)

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, New King James Version)

¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, King James Version)

¹In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth -- (Genesis 1:1, Young's Literal Translation)

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, American Standard Version)



¹εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος

(ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:1, 1550 Stephanus New Testament)

¹εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος

(ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:1, 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament)

¹εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος

(ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:1, 1894 Scrivener New Testament)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, New King James Version)

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, King James Version)

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; (John 1:1, Young's Literal Translation)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, American Standard Version)

My Church

The first place the church is mentioned in the bible is Matthew 16:18. In this familiar exchange between Jesus and Peter, Jesus says the following (in Greek and then English translations):

"καγω δε σοι λεγω οτι συ ει πετρος και επι ταυτη τη πετρα οικοδομησω μου την εκκλησιαν και πυλαι αδου ου κατισχυσουσιν αυτης."

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (ESV)

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (NASB)

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (NKJV)

I find it interesting and informative that in this first place in scripture where we hear of the church, Jesus refers to it as, "My church." In the original Greek, the word for "my" is emphasized.

It is clear that Jesus is making a point. He does not say, "the church." He explicitly tells Peter that He will build His own church. The wording of Christ indicates ownership, rulership, and sovereignty. To put it bluntly, it tells us that Jesus gets to say what His church should believe and what His church should do.

Far too often I catch myself saying, "the church." In fact, I should be saying, "Christ's church," or "Jesus' church." That would be much more biblical. When I say, "the church," it is as if I am implying that the one in charge does not matter. Too often we in the evangelical church act as if the church is run by the people. I sometimes hear folks say that the church is a democracy.

The church is not a democracy. The church is Christ's church and is therefore ruled by King Jesus. The church is rightfully a theocracy, with Jesus as the head. He is the ultimate benevolent dictator.

When we correctly view the church as belonging to Jesus, then we will look to Jesus for direction is all we believe and do. I wonder what the church would look like if we looked to Christ for direction in all things.

What do you think?

"The Ultimate Proof of Creation"

I am a young-earth creationist because I believe this is what the bible teaches. Because of this, I am a big supporter of Answers in Genesis.

Dr. Jason Lisle, of AiG, has written a book that I enjoyed very much and found very helpful. The text, entitled The Ultimate Proof of Creation, is an apologetic work that focuses on why a young-earth creation position is the only reasonable and logical position to hold. Lisle debunks both atheistic/materialistic/evolutionary positions and various Christian positions that do not believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2, such as theistic evolution.

Three aspects of this book stood out to me as memorable:

First, Lisle proposes that "the ultimate proof of creation is that if biblical creation were not true, we could not know anything." I found his thesis to be convincing. I'll let you read the book to find out more about it.

Second, Lisle suggests a two-fold strategy, based on Proverbs 26:4-5, for answering people who hold to unbiblical presuppositions. As creationists, we are not to agree with the faulty assumptions of those who are unscriptural, but are to show the illogical endpoints that their assumptions would lead to.

Third, Lisle states that when giving a reason for the faith, there are basically two positions: the "evidence first" approach and the "bible first" approach. The author indicates that we must take a "bible first" approach. If we set the bible to the side, we give up our primary evidence for a young earth.

It is this last point that has had the most impact on me. In the past, I have had a tendency to argue for God's existence and God's creation from the scientific evidence. Quite simply, I left out the bible. From now on, I'm going to speak from the bible first when discussing the existence of God and a literal young earth creation. Of course, I'll mention scientific evidence, but the bible will come first.

The reason for this, as Lisle states, is that the bible is the only objective source of information we have. All scientific evidence can be interpreted in multiple ways. While the bible is absolute, scientific evidence is relative.

Even if you don't plan to buy this book, it is fun to read a few of the reviews on Amazon.com. Not surprisingly, the book was either reviewed very favorably or very negatively. It all depends on the worldview the person has.

Excellent Reformed Books Website

ReformedBooks.net is an excellent site if you are looking for, well, Reformed books. Check it out and enjoy.

This site is a ministry of Monergism.com.