No More Tyranny

I was planning to blog about various tyrannies that we all face in life. These include tyranny of self, tyranny of the now, tyranny of temptation, tyranny of technology, and tyranny of wasted time.

I decided against pursuing this stream of thought because the entire tenor would be negative. I really want to get away from that most of the time (not all the time, as evidenced by the previous post on my blog).

There are many tyrannies in life. We tend to be very aware of these. There are also, especially for the Christian, many good things in life. One of those things is the opportunity to blog. I still find it amazing - probably because I'm technologically very much a novice.

Blogging is a blast. I encourage bloggers to keep blogging. For those of you who don't blog, why not give it a try? Most people have at least some decent things to say. Write about what you know, write frequently, and write creatively. We can all learn from one another.

I'm done blogging for tonight. Alice is making burgers and then we're going out for dessert. I'm blessed.

Multiple Mixings Making a Mess

According to the Pew Forum, many Americans mix and match multiple faiths (to read the entire report, click here).
The recent report says, "The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination -- even when they are not traveling or going to special events like weddings and funerals. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts."

This is troublesome to say the least. Let us remember that the God of the bible does not share His glory with another. He alone saves. He saves those who worship Him alone.

Acts 4:11-12, "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Help in the Flood

It wasn't Noah's flood, but it was bad enough.

Yesterday morning when I arrived at the church facility, I found our secretary and one of our deacons sweeping water out of a wing of the church. Apparently one of the toilets overflowed during the night (only clean water leaked - thank God for that).

The church office, my office, and several of the Sunday School rooms all had an inch or two of water in them. This quickly led to much sweeping and drying. Later in the day it morphed into tearing up carpet and plugging in blowers and dehumidifiers.

The biggest problem for me personally was that I had to move my books out of my office. Books are heavy. They don't like to be moved. I had to quickly figure out where to move them and how to get them there. After just a few hours in the watery office, my books were beginning to warp.

I found a place to move the books, but I dreaded moving them myself. That's when help arrived. A nice lady in our church family offered to help. She lifted and moved as many of the books as I did. It wasn't easy work. Additionally, she recently had some severe back and neck problems. Now that I think of it, I probably should have declined her offer to help just because of her health!

Nonetheless, her help was wonderful. I thank God for people who are willing and cheerful servants. This lady made the long day much more bearable.

I love the church - and I'm not talking about a building. I love the people God puts in our lives who show us the love of Christ. Selfless servanthood is about as close to being Christlike as we can get here on earth.

Positive-Bent Blogging

I just ran the A Pilgrim's Progress numbers for the past couple of months. In November and December, I have posted 85 times. Some of the posts have been extensive essays, while others have been little more than links to other blogs, webpages, etc.

Of the 85 posts, 56 of them lean toward the positive. In other words, they have a positive feel to them. The other 29 posts leaned toward the negative. This does not mean that I was being mean or nasty; it just means that the tone of those 29 posts was negative.

Those numbers are not quite where I think they need to be. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I want this blog to lean more heavily to the positive. There are plenty of other non-Christian writers out there with a lot of negative things to write about. If anyone has anything positive and substantial to say, it should be Christian bloggers.

This is not "pie-in-the-sky" naiveté. There are certainly some issues that need to be addressed that will necessarily (if we look at the issue or situation from a biblical perspective) have a negative tone. Whenever we deal with sin, for example, this happens.

My goal from this point forward is to have at least a 2-to-1 ratio of positive to negative blog posts. Since the beginning of November I've been just under this goal. I'm going to strive to move up a few percentage points.

Christian blogs should be edifying to Christian readers. They should be challenging to non-Christian readers. They should speak the truth in love to all. I believe this is done most effectively by presenting a largely positive blogging atmosphere.

My goal from here forward is more positive-bent blogging.

Good News on Coffee and Prostates

This is a sort of "double-bonus" for me. Since I like coffee a great deal and since prostate cancer runs wild amongst the males of my family, I was thrilled to read this.

Whew!

Watch and be thankful.

This is a good reminder to us that "chance," "luck," and "fate" do not exist. Anything good in life comes strictly from God in His amazing grace, mercy, and providence.

Info Not Surprising on Mainline Churches

The Barna Group has published new numbers on the status of mainline churches in the USA. Not surprisingly, the data does not look good for their future.

This is what happens when churches ignore the bible and cave-in on the gospel message.

My Ten Favorite Blogs - #1

#1 - Dave Black Online

(Dave is probably not going to be thrilled about being #1.)

First, a little background: in the fall of 2005 I took a Greek class (exegesis of the book of Mark) from Dr. Black. During that class, I came to respect him a great deal. He genuinely cares about his students - both their academic knowledge and spiritual growth.

I like his blog because (in no particular order):

-He has an amazing wife who is suffering gracefully with cancer (I know he will agree with me about this.)

-He is a real farmer.

-He believes in the importance of missionary work and lives this out by going to Ethiopia a few times per year.

-He admires Robert E. Lee.

-He blogs about a wide range of topics.

-He was born in Hawaii.

-He strives to live out his Christian faith and blogs about this.

-He and his wife write excellent essays.

-He holds to biblical ecclesiology.

-He blogs frequently.

-He did his doctoral work in Switzerland (in German!).

-He posts cool photos.

-He is a constitutionalist.

-He writes lots of good books.

-He believes adolescence is a myth.

-He is a first-rate Greek scholar but remains humble.

A Word for Sunday - and Every Day

Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (ESV)

Answered Prayer Never Violates Scripture

According to Fox News, "The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elected a lesbian as assistant bishop Saturday, the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship, which is already deeply fractured over the first...The Rev. Mary Glasspool of Baltimore needs approval from a majority of national church leaders before she can be consecrated as assistant bishop in the Los Angeles diocese." Click here to read the full article. The BBC has also weighed in here.

The above situation is tragic but not surprising. The Episcopal Church made a clear decision to ignore the bible several years ago.

What is fascinating and sad about this article is that we read about people who discuss prayer as it relates to this situation. The article says, "Jim Naughton of The Chicago Consultation, a group of Episcopal and Anglican clergy and lay people who advocate on behalf of gays and lesbians, called Glasspool's election a liberation. 'We've been around this issue for 30 years,' said Naughton, an adviser to the Episcopal bishop of Washington. 'It's unreasonable to expect us to refrain from acting on the very prayerful conclusions (emphasis mine) that we've reached, especially when we think there are issues of justice involved.'"

Mr. Naughton says that his group has reached very prayerful conclusions. I do not doubt Mr. Naughton's sincerity. However, his conclusions are false.

God has spoken on this issue. Homosexuality/lesbianism is a sin. The bible makes this clear on numerous occasions (see here). God does not answer prayer in a manner that violates what He has already said. Since God is perfect, He does not change His mind.

God has made it clear in scripture that one man and one woman, and only one man and one woman, are to be involved in intimate, marriage relationships (see here). Anything else is sin.

It is clear that Mr. Naughton and his group made a decision long ago that homosexuality and lesbianism are acceptable lifestyles. They now pray, but already have their minds made up. This leads them to the conclusion that they already have made.

We can be certain that God did not tell these folks that Rev. Glasspool's lifestyle is acceptable. God also did not say that Rev. Glasspool should be made an assistant bishop. We can be certain of this for several reasons: no one living in open sin should be in church leadership, women should not even be pastors, and the "assistant bishop" position as it stands within the Episcopal church is unbiblical.

It is informative that no one in favor of Rev. Glasspool's position ever makes mention of the bible.

So what can we learn from this story?

-People often pray to reach their own conclusions.

-God never answers prayer in a manner that violates His word.

-We need to be careful as we pray. In humility, let's be certain that on other issues we do not come to "prayerful conclusions" that violate scripture.

This Doesn't Seem Like a Good Idea

Do we really need a "Battle of the Faiths"? With all the religiously-instigated violence in the world, the last thing we need is sporting events (especially boxing) capitalizing on deep-seated hatred.

I have a different idea: instead of hitting each other, how about we sit down and talk around a meal?

Some of the Most Important Verses in the Bible

Philippians 2:1-11 (ESV) says the following:

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Our culture is not one that champions humility. Pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness reign supreme.

When we strive for and live lives of humility, we look far different than the world. This is when we look most like Jesus Christ. The above verses show us this. Philippians 2:3-4 instructs us to humbly look out for the interests of others before ourselves. These are very important verses for the Christian life.

We must be careful, however, not to sever 2:3-4 from 2:5-11. If we separate these passages and only teach 2:3-4, then we run the risk of teaching moralism. We are danger of suggesting that we must live lives of humility under our own power and ability.

When we teach 2:3-4 in connection with 2:5-11, then we rightly show that our very ability to live humbly is based on the gospel itself. We can only display humility because of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, which is discussed so beautifully in the Christ Hymn of 2:5-11. Only because of Christ's work can we care about the needs of others before ourselves.

Jesus is our model in 2:5-11. He is also our salvation in 2:5-11.

Let's display humility in all we do, understanding that it is only because the the gospel of grace that we can do so.

This is a Good Idea - and I'm a Witness to It

The city of New Delhi, India has begun a campaign to keep its people from publicly urinating. Having lived in India for four months, I can say that this measure is needed desperately. I witnessed far too much public "relief" during our time in South Asia. Let's hope it works.

My Ten Favorite Blogs - #2

#2 - Albert Mohler

I respect Dr. Albert Mohler because of his stand for the truth of the scriptures and for his excellent leadership as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has taken SBTS from the verge of theological liberalism to solid Christian orthodoxy. As a bonus, he is a Calvinist.

I don't read Dr. Mohler's blog for the above reasons. I read his blog because it is, quite simply, the best blog on the interaction between culture and Christianity.

Dr. Mohler somehow finds time to research and write about moral/ethical issues that face us all. In particular, Dr. Mohler focuses upon what the bible has to say about these issues. Most of the time, he discusses topics where the secular culture has moved in one direction while the church must stand in the other.

For example, Dr. Mohler has recently posted about embryonic stem cell research, religious liberty and Islam, gender issues, dogs in worship, fertility and economics, unhappy feminists, parents obeying children, the symbolism and offense of the cross, and moralism and the gospel.

Dr. Mohler is the most talented "Christian cultural exegete" that I have ever read. He is my source of news on the secular culture. He also keeps me up-to-date on where the church stands on various issues.

I enjoy Dr. Mohler's consistency and unfailing adherence to scriptural authority. If you want to know what is happening and how we - as Christians - should respond, then read this blog.

Another Questionable Bible...

This, according to Fox News. I have to admit that this "project" doesn't feel right to me. The artwork, as described in this report, clearly has an agenda.

Regardless, I'd like to see what just the hand-written word looks like.

Shameless Promotion (It's for My Daughter)

My daughter Caroline is an aspiring photographer.

She has put together a very nice 2010 calendar of her floral photos. I've seen it and it is excellent.

Click here to take a look.

My Ten Favorite Blogs - #3

#3 - Between Two Worlds

Justin Taylor is amazing. He must be plugged directly into the internet for the majority of the day. That's the only way to explain how he manages to post so much.

J.T.'s blog is different from most. The reason for this is that he primarily links to all sorts of things that are going on in the evangelical world (and beyond). Keeping an eye on his blog is something like watching a news feed on the world of Christianity.

Between Two Worlds is the best high-quantity blog out there. Another benefit is that Taylor discusses a wide variety of topics. As a bonus, he is Reformed.

I have to admit that J.T. posts so much that I don't read the majority of what he writes. It's best to think of this blog as a helpful resource that keeps you up-to-date on what is occurring in the Christian world. You won't find many long articles here, but you will know what is going on.

Don't Mess with This Bible

(I have no idea who these people are; I just like the photo.)

Stop Staring

Wow and sigh.

A Nice Surprise

My phone rang at about 9:45 this morning. That was not the surprise.

A woman on the other end asked me if I could lead a bible study with a group of senior citizens this morning. That was the surprise.

I was a bit intimidated because I did not have much time to prepare, I barely knew where I was going, and I had never met any of the people before. Even the lady who called me (she works at the local senior center) was someone I didn't know. She had found out about me from another pastor.

It turned out to be a great experience. I decided to speak about what I'll be preaching about this Sunday: God's plan for His Servant (Jesus Christ) to be a light of salvation to the end of the earth. The seniors were receptive, kind, and fun. We had a good discussion of various issues related to the gospel and missions. I very much enjoyed talking about our time living in India.

The seniors' love for Jesus was palpable. We left our denominational differences at the door and enjoyed talking about how wonderful Jesus is. He was the focus of our encouraging conversation.

I thank the Lord for this surprise. I didn't expect it, and I certainly didn't deserve it.

Seniors are an often overlooked treasure in our church families.