Josh,

As one of the former moderators for your message board (remember that old thing?), I know what a big deal it is for you to let some of these comments sit here.

And as a former SGM member (2 years at CCK, 2 years at Joppa), I want to impress upon you that those of us who have spoken publicly regarding our concerns with SGM… we’re not your Assyrians. We’re the donkeys to your Balaam.

You see, God has shown us the damage that you and other leaders are wreaking upon yourselves and your congregations. When we tried to bring this to you, it was received as sabotage—a rebellious attempt to divert you from your course—and the ‘rod of correction’ was brought down on us.

We were not in the habit of doing these things—of speaking in this way about these churches and leaders we truly loved—yet that was not taken into consideration when we refused to go down the path we were being lead. No, when that happened your focus was on your ‘crushed foot’, and the rod of correction was once more laid against our backs.

And for nearly all of us, this conflict came to a point where there was nowhere left to turn—we were being pushed toward a place we knew was wrong, but all you saw was our ‘prideful arrogance’ in refusing to go down that path. So once more we felt the sting of an ignorant rebuke.

And then, God gave us a voice.

God has used SGM Refuge and SGM Survivors to make you see what you could not—what you would not: this whole time, while you were being so diligent to ‘bring Godly church discipline’ to bear? We’ve been trying to save your life.

I and others certainly have scars from those beatings. Do not waste them. Please, do not rush through this time of repentance! There are quite literally thousands of God’s adopted sons and daughters who have been deeply wounded by the arrogance of SGM pastors. Not only do those former and current members need to see a vibrant repentance, but those pastors need you to set an example of Godly humility for them. Up until now their primary example has been C.J., and speaking as someone who was only ever a “rank-and-file” member? They have taken his example to heart—even the worst parts, the parts you thought you were successfully ‘covering’.

It breaks my heart to (even now) see messages from SGM pastors this past Sunday, calling for mercy toward C.J. but chastisement for those who have been hurt by his actions. Please—no more favoritism! Show as much mercy toward your critics as you wish to show toward C.J., and hold Mr. Mahaney’s feet to the fire just as much as wish to do with ours.

Though some have given up hope of those SGM pastors ever truly repenting, many (I daresay most of us) still cling to the hope that God will grant you all repentance (and, for many, reconciliation). I have to admit, I had almost given up hope. But (for the first time in nearly five years), when I listened to your message from this past Sunday I could actually begin to imagine that we might actually be reconciled this side of Eternity. I can’t think of an adequate way to express the hope that was awakened in my soul as I listened to your ‘humiliation’—it was like hearing a loved one’s seemingly terminal cancer had gone into remission!

You have our attention, Josh. But more than that, you have our full support. Don’t squander this opportunity! Let’s work together to really dig up that stone and get it out of the garden for good. Please believe me: your “Assyrians” don’t seek your destruction; we’ve been crying out to SAVE YOU from destruction. We gained nothing (and lost much) from doing so:

“The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” (Numbers 22:33)

So far, C.J. has only expressed the vague ‘repentance’ of King Saul. I pray it doesn’t end there. Your message on Sunday had more the heart of Josiah’s repentance, and this is far more encouraging. Thank you for taking this painful first step.

I wanted to take a few minutes and share my thoughts on a passage from the Bible that’s been on my radar lately:

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. — Ephesians 4:29, ESV

Y’know, I think there’s a world of difference between what Paul was thinking when he said this, and what people today tend to think when they read it.

This verse marks the last of four times in this epistle where Paul uses the same word (Gr. oikodome, but your translation probably says something like “good for building up,” or “edifying”). Even so, when I’ve heard pastors preach on this topic they’ve typically focused in on an understanding of the word that’s informed solely by the verse itself, and divorced from other passages where Paul’s usage could shed light on what he means by it. This sort of thing always bugs me: if pastors are trying to build a true understanding of what Paul’s telling us to do here, then at the very least they ought to point us to those previous instances of the word. Right?

Because let me tell ya… it certainly helps it all make sense!

Here’s all four appearances of oikodome as they’re translated in the ESV. I’ve bolded (emboldened?) the word we’re talking about, and pointed out what I see as the key takeaway point from each (well, the key for understanding what Paul’s getting at with this “edification” stuff, at least):

1. Ephesians 2:19-22
   So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

   What’s the goal? In Jesus, we are being “edified” into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

2. Ephesians 4:11-14
   And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

   The purpose of “the 5-fold ministry” is to get the rest of us to a place where we’re equipped/trained/able to “edify” each other until we all reach the point of mature, Christ-like unity.

3. Ephesians 4:15-16
   Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

   Here Paul starts connecting our words with this concept of “edification.” He describes something like a circuit, where loving words of truth lead to our growing up into Christ, which feeds back into our expressed love leading to more growth, etc.

4. Ephesians 4:25-32
   Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

   Now that we have the previous passages as context, we can see that when Paul talks about “building up,” he’s referring to talk that leads to increased spiritual growth and purity. (In a nutshell, “edifying speech” could also be called “sanctifying speech.”)

What concerns me is that, in the sermons I’ve heard addressing the topic of “edifying speech,” most pastors seem to have taken a cue from pop psychology, and changed this word’s meaning away from “sanctifying” and toward something akin to “affirming.” No longer is “edifying speech” about growing the body into greater Christ-likeness, but now it’s a tool we use to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, and avoid any unpleasantness we’d rather not deal with.

When we do this, priorities shift. Jesus being glorified by our increasingly pure reflection of Him? That’s no longer as important as making sure we only ever say things that give out brothers and sisters (and pastors) warm fuzzies.

That’s just messed up.

Now of course, we’re supposed to speak in love! And we’re to stash the bitterness and malice. But according to 4:25, Paul doesn’t think truth should be sacrificed on the altar of flattery.

So this passage doesn’t seem to say anything definitive against “sharing a bad report” (as I’ve heard some pastors seem to have recently implied). If you’re sharing such things it out of bitterness or malice, then it would be wrong to do so… for other reasons.

But if you’re sharing that “bad report” so that Jesus’ Bride can see it, be alarmed, and focus on those blemishes being cleaned… then in fact Paul encourages the behavior!

So in summary: Paul’s goal is for us to leave each other a little more like Jesus. Sometimes, that means we need to “share a bad report,” to staunch the flow of disease and call attention to some behavior that’s damaging the Body.

Even—no, especially—when that behavior is coming from those who presume to lead and teach. The Body of Christ is not built up when wolves are praised as wonderful leaders.

(This is the first in a series of rediscovered writings from one of my first web sites back in 1999. Some may have aged well, others… not so much. I’ll let you decide.)

This morning at the kitchen sink, I was hit with a revelation. Jesus is kind of like a dish rag. Hey, don’t give me that look. Let me explain before you flame me, okay?

A dish rag washes dishes that are caked with all sorts of nasty stuff like dried ketchup and crusty eggs. Likewise, when we ask for forgiveness, Jesus removes the sin from our lives and makes us sparkle like new.

Another parallel is in the cleaning method. The way a dish rag cleans dishes is by taking the food (if you want to call it that) and getting it stuck to itself. It’s common knowledge that the dish rag is the dirtiest, most germ-ridden item in the sink. The Bible says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) In other words, Jesus got dirty to make us clean. In his death on the cross, all of our sin was placed on Jesus. Matthew 27:46 says “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’–which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” If you’ve ever cleaned out a refrigerator and had to toss out things like chunky milk and something with fuzzy green stuff growing on it, you get the picture. We ain’t talkin’ ’bout no rotten egg. The stench of the sin placed on Jesus was so strong, God had to turn his face to keep from barfing.

Yet another similarity is in what is washed. Have you ever washed a plate, and think you have déja vu, until you realize you really DID wash that plate before? That’s right. Even though you’ve cleaned the plate, it got dirty again. “Well, duh, Travis! You really WERE born yesterday, weren’t you!” Gimme a break. Jesus is like that, too. No, he doesn’t get déja vu. What I mean is that even when he’s forgiven all of our sin, we still mess up. That’s why 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

There is one difference, though. (Okay, maybe more than one, but it’s all you’re getting out of me.) After a while, a dish rag gets so worn from continuous cleaning that it has to be tossed out and replaced, but Romans 6:10 states that “The death he died, he died to sin once for all”. Jesus’ act of mercy covered the sins of every single human who ever lived and ever will live, and will never run out. There’s no ‘sin limit’, and there’s no sin so big that he can’t forgive. All that is needed is to ask. According to Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Y’know, I think I’ve had my head in the suds too long.

So he talked to his financial advisers, and decided, “I’ll max out my 401(k), flip some real estate, buy up a bunch of tech stocks and live off the dividends. I’ll be all set, and I can retire before I’m fifty! See the world… maybe spend a year or two relaxing in Paris. I’m set for life.”

But God had other ideas: that same week the economy tanked, taking all the man’s investments with it. He died over the weekend of a massive stress-induced heart attack.

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

So here’s the deal: don’t worry about “taking care of yourself.” God’s been taking care of the rest of the world for a while now, and frankly, he’s way better at it than you are. There’s all sorts of idiots scurrying around chasing after things they have no real control over.

Don’t be like them, they’re stupid.

Instead, chase after God’s kingdom and trust him to take care of that other stuff. He’s happy to do it, too! So don’t freak out; sell all of that crap you’ve been holding onto, then take that money and give it to people who are worse off than you. That’s how you chase after God’s kingdom, and it’s the only investment that’s a sure thing.

See, you’re like a manager who’s been put in charge of payroll: you’ve been given access to large sums of money, but don’t let that delude you into thinking the money’s for you, because it’s not. What would the boss say if he found out that while he was on vacation, that manager withheld everybody else’s paychecks and gave himself a hefty bonus? Do you think he’d even be given time to clear out his desk?

Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

It’s illuminating to read what church leaders wrote in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. So much corruption crept in when Rome took over the church that it’s otherwise difficult to sort what practices are actually rooted in the Apostles’ teachings.

If you have a few minutes, go read Alan’s posts. You may be surprised at how much church meetings have changed!

“They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food–but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations.” — Pliny the Younger

In more sixpencey words, “Sing a song to Jesus | and promise not to lie | then get together in a home | and eat some fresh-baked pie.” Sounds… simple, doesn’t it? Why doesn’t this sound anything like most Christians’ (in the Western world, at least) Sunday gatherings? Head on over to Alan Knox’s post on it to chime in on that particular discussion.

“…how is it that CJ Mahaney can make 5 references to his pride and arrogance in his blog, [and] that’s somehow celebrated as humility… [but Larry Tomczak] is confronted with observations of pride and arrogance, prayerfully considers these observations, repents of his sin, writes a letter to this effect that is distributed to the entire ministry, steps down from leadership, and submits to months of disciplinary consequences… [only to be considered] ‘disqualified’ to lead a church?

“I’m sorry. But this woman’s posts—more than any others (b/c she was obviously involved in this process)—has convinced me that Sovereign Grace is a cult.”

(comment by “SGM Casualty” on SGM Survivors)

This website is blowing the lid off of the corruption and poor leadership that’s been allowed to fester in Sovereign Grace Ministries, due to years of fear, control, and cultic tactics. It’s heartbreaking to hear some of the stories from former members; moreso to hear the ensuing silence from SGM leadership.

There’s nasty stuff in there, folks, but C.J. et al seem to want to just circle the wagons. Honestly? I think that’s worse than anything that’s being said over on the blog (and new message board).

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.“ — Ephesians 5:11 (ESV)

UPDATE: On Friday, March 14th, Eric Simmons spoke to the singles at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. You can download the MP3 of his talk, but what I find most interesting is this particular quote (beginning at the 13:49 mark):

I’m also concerned because at this point in time, we are at the pinnacle of the Information Age. You can in an instant find tons of information on any subject you want on Google. Do you realize that Google allows you to be one step away from a lot of heresies?

There are a lot of heretics out there with a lot of false teachings that have blogs. And it’s phenomenal to me in our age now, that what is represented on the Internet is now seen as fact, and authority, and truth! And the reality? Most of these guys who are writing blogs are 24-year-old guys living in their moms’ basement, sitting there in their underwear! That’s what they’re doing! They’ve got a robe on, and they’re just typing away. And they’re typing away their false teaching, which is honestly a bunch of garbage.

It’s out there! It’s just one click away.

I would humbly submit that this is nothing more than fear-based propaganda. (I would also like to point out that C.J. Mahaney, Josh Harris and Eric Simmons are all bloggers–Eric doubly so, as he also writes for the New Attitude blog.)

UPDATE #2: I seem to have driven the “Orthodoxy Underground” further underground, as can be attested by Google’s cached versions of these Blogger profiles. (Thanks to Elaine Hooton for pointing out that the blog was apparently taken down.) I don’t know much of anything about the blog (it was private; you had to be pre-approved by their admins just to read it), but apparently (according to Google) Thabiti Anyabwile, Justin Buzzard and Ricky Alcantar were all members of the blog. So why’d they delete the whole thing, just a few days after this matter came up?

UPDATE #3: Bugger. The Google Cache link doesn’t work anymore. Well, it just listed the Blogger profiles for Eric, Thabiti, Justin and Ricky (and showed them as linked to the Orthodoxy Underground site). Thanks to Dan for catching this one!

UPDATE #4: What do I mean by “cult”? Find out here.

But you’d never think that from looking at this picture.

[T]he king of Syria was greatly troubled… and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” — 2 Kings 6:11-15 (ESV)

Facing certain death, was Elisha’s servant asking a question, or rhetorically freaking out? The odds of two men fending off an entire army? Let’s just say they aren’t in the two men’s favor.

But you see, that’s the problem with people; we can spend so much time thinking about odds and chances that we begin to treat statistics as some sort of god, sovereignly dictating its omnipotent will.

It’s one thing to count the likely cost of a project before taking it on; it’s another matter entirely to run screaming when you see the estimate. Following the will of God often means choosing the seemingly foolish path because it’s the path God has called you to. God’s command trumps our understanding of wisdom, so the path we’re called to is the path in which God will bless us. We aren’t called to protect our lives and livelihood; we’re called to carry our crosses—to face our own “certain death”—because it’s in laying down our lives for His sake that we find true life.

[Elisha] said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. — 2 Kings 6:16-17 (ESV)

There’s all sorts of situations in life where we can lose heart. Me? In the last week I lost two pairs of dress pants (required for my job). A few days earlier I tore the inside handle off my car’s driver-side door, and at 215,000 miles and counting, it’s hard to tell whether the necessary repairs are really all that necessary. I’m committed to voting for a guy who—statistically speaking—is unelectable. And lest we forget, compared to gold the U.S. Dollar is only worth one quarter its value on 9/11; Bush’s multi-trillion-dollar “war” on terror is forcing us all into a slavery of debt, much as Pharaoh’s 7-year drought did to the Hebrews.

But… I’m not discouraged. Because God owes me nothing. Not a thing. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.” So whether it seems like He doing more giving or taking away, “blessed be the name of the LORD.”

I still say you should vote for Ron Paul, though.

“For God so loved the [universe], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the [universe] to condemn the [universe], but in order that the [universe] might be saved through him.” — John 3:16-17 (ESV)

And no, I’m not talking about universalism–that’s a whole different beast. What I’m talking about is this idea that’s grabbed me—that maybe John 3:16 has less to do with God loving “each individual person” and more with loving his entire creation and seeking its redemption. Like Paul told the believers in Corinth:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. — 1 Corinthians 8:19-24 (ESV)

The entire universe was “subjected to futility,” “its bondage to corruption”–that is, entropy–along with us, so that it will also be restored along with us! It is an unbiblical notion that God only sent Jesus to redeem people. When man sinned, the universe cracked under the weight of our guilt. Jesus has come, and is coming again to make all things new!

And he said to them, “Go into all the [universe] and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” — Mark 16:15 (ESV)

And what has NASA done with the Hubble telescope? And what of all the many television and radio signals shooting off into the ether? Whether they intended to or not is beside the point; the gospel is being proclaimed by the whole creation and to the whole creation.

“And then the end will come.” The end where he says,

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.“

Just think about that for a minute: a day is coming when living a life apart from God… and tears… and death… and mourning… and crying… and pain will all be “former things.”

That’s a Sabbath rest worth getting excited about!

"The hallmark of an authentic evangelicalism is not the uncritical repetition of old traditions, but the willingness to submit every tradition, however ancient, to fresh Biblical scrutiny and, if necessary, reform" (John Stott, "Basic Stott," Christianity Today, Jan.8, 1996)

This quote was cited in The Problem With Preaching, a year-old article I just discovered. The author says this:

"Preaching" as it is practiced in churches today (& in the past) has little biblical basis—the "preaching" that occurs is extra-biblical (outside the bible). In the New Testament, preaching was always linked to preaching of the gospel or kingdom to those that are outside or on the edge of the kingdom—the Greek verbs used in the NT to portray preaching are found overwhelmingly in situations which are outside church meetings and evangelistic in nature. In contrast, in our churches today we "preach to the choir"—most people sitting in churches listening to sermons are Christians, and most have been there listening to sermons for many years—our preaching is actually teaching about Christianity to a predominantly Christian audience, week after week for the rest of their lives.

He lays out a pretty strong case for his stance, and I’d recommend y’all read this article—if for nothing else than to get a fresh perspective on something we typically take for granted in the Church.

See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah). — Colossians 2:8 (AMP)

I regularly refer to thoughts with which I do not necessarily agree. It is in dealing with those opposing thoughts and their implications (as well as the blind spots they reveal in our currently-held beliefs) that we truly learn–to do otherwise is to subject yourself as a captive of one man’s (or one group’s) “crude notions.” If you can’t handle reading anything that doesn’t echo what you already believe, then you either think you know everything (arrogance) or you have no desire for knowledge (foolishness). Either way, this blog will probably be nothing but an exercise in frustration for you.

That is all. Thank you.

It is a severe violation of the adult conscience to treat the saints as children under the over-lordship of elders. The ultimate effect of treating the saints as children is that they will either remain children in their understanding as they submit to bondage, or they will rebel. Elders exercise appropriate authority as fathers within their own households, but their role in the assembly is not as fathers and lords over children and servants, but as elder brothers in the faith and humble servants to the whole.

Source: Steve Atkerson, New Testament Church Leadership

Then the Elder continued, “What if a truly strong leader is one who is un-threatened enough to actually, honestly listen to the input of those around them, precisely because (a) they are secure in their identity in Christ, and (b) they know they need the voices of others to adequately hear what God is saying to the whole group? What if the ‘weak’ leader is really the one who insists on his or her own personal vision, and is too threatened to consider the voices of anyone else?”

“Maybe it takes more cajones to NOT insist on the leader’s ‘vision’, or ‘strategy’, and to trust that the Spirit speaks through the Body, hmm?”, he asked, gesturing with open hands.

Source: Robby Mac, Through The Looking-Glass

How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, the pastor hath a doctrine, and the minister of music hath psalms. Let all things be done unto edifying. If anyone besides the pastor hath a doctrine, let him not speak; let him hold his peace. Let him sit in the pew, and face the back of the neck of the person which sitteth ahead of him. Let the people keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith church tradition. But if they will learn anything, let them ask their pastor after the service, for it is a shame for a layman to speak in the church. For the pastor, he hath a seminary degree, and the layman, he hath not so lofty a degree. If any man desire to remain a church member in good standing, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is the command of the denominational headquarters. But if any man ignore this, he shall be promptly escorted out the door by the ushers. Wherefore brothers, covet not to speak in the church. Let all things be done decently and in the order in which it hath been written in the church bulletin.

How to Have a New Testament Church Meeting

Wilson covers all the major concerns of shaping boys into real men: laziness, sex, secret sin, courtship, girls, friends, fights, school work, and sports to name a few. Each section is written with that ‘serrated edge’ he is known for, so you need to read with a smile and not take offense if you are to gain from many of his good insights. —Paul W. Martin @ kerux noemata

Interestingly, Wilson notes that the abandonment of the Psalms in worship means that the church has discarded a songbook, that is throughly masculine in its lyrics, in favour of the effeminate hymns of the 19th and 20th century. The result being that the church is dominated by females as men are put off attending divine worship. The author also has lots of helpful advice on how parents should instruct their boys with regard to work, sports, education, friendship, sex, courtship, fighting, bearing firearms and the use of money; which, all in all, makes for a very stimulating read. —Daniel Ritchie @ Reformed Covenanter

This is a book on raising boys? Wow, I think I came away from reading Future Men with more instruction on raising myself! Not that it was necessarily Wilson’s aim, but his lessons are of the sort that I need to put them into practice myself before I can raise my own boy in them. This one is so insightful that I need to read it again; there’s just too much to soak up in the first reading!

We had a really nice Mother’s Day weekend this year! On Saturday, we bundled up the kids and a picnic lunch and moseyed on over to Spring Lake Park. We’d only ever been to the “lake” side of it before, so the open grass and the quiet creek were wonderful. (More photos at Flickr.)

On Sunday we decided to pass on message #2 of Chesapeake’s building fund series and instead visit a nearby congregation. (See, we’re really bad about driving 30 miles to attend Sunday services and not having a clue who the believers are within a 2-mile radius of our apartment.) Timonium UMC got the short straw, so we went over there and checked things out.

Wow.

It’s one thing for a church to think it’s okay for women to serve in pastoral roles… but I saw a number of appointed leaders in there yesterday morning, and not a single one was a man. (The men were either in deacon roles or just not there.) If that wasn’t enough of a shocker for me, they had the kids come up for a kiddie sermonette on Acts 16 where they were told that Lydia had her husband and kids baptized and pastored a church in her home. Needless to say, Katie got some of Papa Bear’s personal commentary on that passage at lunchtime. Maybe I’ll post my thoughts on it later, but suffice it to say, I think there was no small part of eisegesis in what was told to the kids.

The really nice part about visiting that church, though, is that we were back home by 11am (where we usually get back after 1pm). We couldn’t get over how much longer the day felt because of that, so we went driving around later, looking at houses for sale.

There is much in this book that is edifying. It helped me understand Mark Driscoll and showed how he grew a megachurch in a largely unchurched city in only eight years. He is clearly a passionate, focused man who is genuinely seeking hard after God. He has much to offer the church. I wonder, though, how long his message will be heard as long as it is wrapped in a sometimes vulgar, always sarcastic, package. It may endear him to some, but it will surely alienate him from far more. —Tim Challies @ Challies.com

Driscoll seems very reflective on the way his church runs. He writes about his epiphanies he has and how things in the church needs to change. He certainly is dynamic, not in his writing, probably in his speech, but more so in the way he kicks the church into movement. —Kevin @ Tension Treatises

After the firestorm that erupted among Godbloggers last year over some of the contents of this book, I’ve been following Mark Driscoll (and listening to his sermons via podcast). The guy who I used to know only as “Mark the Cussing Pastor” (thanks to Blue Like Jazz) is quite a character, but this book showed me just how much he’s gone through. This ain’t no spring chicken on the church growth scene; he’s perhaps been through fiercer battles than most small-town preachers will ever see. In and through all of that, he’s being forged into a pillar of the Church, mark my words.

And that’s what this book is all about: it’s an autobiographical take on Mark’s work with Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. He walks us through the good an bad times he’s experienced during his tenure there. I’d say not only is this book great for pastors looking for some inspiration or encouragement, but church members would do well to read this and understand just how rough it can be to pastor a church.

Some people have complained about how Driscoll talks about some things in the book, but honestly? I consider the transparency in here a breath of fresh air – it’s a level of authenticity rarely reached by clergy, who all too often seem to prefer erring on the side of hypocrisy. I mean, the way I see it discretion is just plain way overdone among pastors these days. (It’s worse than the upper management in large corporations, where every little statement has to be scrutinized by a team of lawyers before it’s released to the public.) Driscoll just isn’t afraid of the potential backlash for telling it like it really is, and I respect him for that.

If not, the trouble could be some clingy sin that’s got you tangled up. But maybe not; maybe the problem is something that isn’t sin, but is still holding you back.

• What are you lugging around that’s slowing you down?
• What are you letting distract you from your life’s calling?
• Why won’t you let it go?

These are questions I’m asking myself. I can get so wrapped up in fun distractions that aren’t sin, or even in Godly endeavors that I haven’t been called to do, that I just don’t do what I’m here for. But you know what? There is a “great cloud of witnesses”—a stadium full of those who have gone before us—who surround us. They’ve accomplished what we’re being called to accomplish. It can be done.

So this weekend, let’s take a look at the race we’re running, and consider what may need to be laid aside so that we can run the race marked out for us. Not the race we’d prefer to run, because we’re to look to the Author and Perfecter of our faith—Jesus, who endured the pain and shame of his race, and did it for what he knew was coming when he crossed the finish line.

Let’s drop the distractions, and look at Christ instead. Let’s stop puttering around the track, and run with endurance.

• On the Highlighting of Many Books…
  If our possessions really belong to God, then why are we marking up “our” books? Do you mark up library books?
• The Cross Centered Life: Not Just for the Wealthy!
  Two in-print books are repackaged as if they were a single, new one… and who knows how many people were hoodwinked in the process?
• Cognitive Dissonance: Money and the Church
  The United States’ welfare system could be eliminated solely by Christians providing reasonable levels of financial assistance to those in need. But instead, let’s get some plasma TV screens for our church building’s lobby… we want to be relevant, don’tcha know!
• Silver and Gold ARE Money…
  The “dollar bill,” however, is not. It’s simply a promise to pay issued by an organization which is in the red by trillions. Think they’ll make good on that IOU anytime soon?
• 2007: Time To Circle The Wagons?
  Is that recession I smell? Possibly.
• What Does the Bible Say About the Tithe?
  Hint: It’s not what most pastors and radio teachers are telling you…

And now there’s this verse that says integrity and character are more important than a house, stock portfolio or retirement account. And that’s true. The lie would be if you said a poor man is better than a rich man, period. No, the point of this proverb is the same point Jesus made: namely, pursue holiness no matter the cost.

But are we really willing to do that?

Externally-Motivated (EM) Christianity sees the Kingdom of God existing in systems and institutions “erected by God” or by Christians faithful to God. The essence of what it means to be a Christian dwells in hallowed monolithic icons, largely existing outside the believer. We see the expression of EM Christianity whenever we encounter Christian groups and individuals seeking to preserve or defend some aspect of the truth they see encapsulated in a system, institution, or organization.

Internally-Motivated Christianity, in sharp contrast, invests little time and energy in externalities. Its hope is not in systems and institutions because it understands that those succumb to entropic forces. To the IM Christian, the Kingdom of God cannot rest on externalities prone to decay.

He’s got me thinking… again. It all seems so clear, and what he’s saying seems to meld with other things I’ve been harping on of late. It seems to match up with different things God’s put in front of me.

At the same time, I’ve seen his description of “Internally-Motivated Christianity” used by people who would otherwise solidly fall into what Dan would consider the “EM Christianity” camp. Those sorts of folks simply use explanations like “the Kingdom of God cannot rest on externalities prone to decay” to bolster their own pet projects that are supposedly “really” worth their time and energy… but are just more institutions and organizations with varying degrees of a “Christian” veneer.

For instance: Jesus said, “on this rock I will build my [ekklesia], and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV). Here Jesus is speaking from a universal, eternal perspective, saying that Satan won’t win his war against the Church because the Church is being built on the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (v.16). However, time and again I’ve heard pastors claim that Jesus is saying something more like, “the gates of hell shall not get in the way of our particular congregation at this particular moment in history.” In other words, they take Jesus’ declaration that Satan will never win the war and warp it into a claim that Satan will never get a good shot in edgewise. (Tell that to the house churches in China.)

So with that disclaimer having been said, I heartily recommend Dan’s post and suggest you read it, think over it, and join the discussions in his comments section!

I still love that bride of mine, too.

The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.

— Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

Well, I tried. Just couldn’t come up with anything to post today, folks. Let’s try again tomorrow.

Mr. Hart inspired me in my childhood years, providing an example of what could be done by an artist who loved Jesus; showing us how to serve “in the world” while remaining a faithful witness. I hope that those who follow will live up to his legacy, and continue in it for future generations.

This is not another song about the mountains, except about how hard they are to move. Have you ever stood before them like a mustard seed who’s waiting for some proof? I say faith is a burden: it’s a weight to bear; it’s brave and bittersweet, and hope is hard to hold to. Lord, I believe, only help my unbelief till there’s no more faith; no more hope. I’ll see your face and Lord, I’ll know—I’ll sing your praise and let them go—’cause only love remains.

— Andrew Peterson, No More Faith (Clear To Venus, 2001).

As wonderful as this life can be sometimes, nothing could possibly compare to the day that’s coming. More than anything, my heart cries out:

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, the sky, not the grave, is our goal. Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord! Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul! And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend…

And sometimes, I want that Day so badly that I can’t sing the last line: “Even so, it is well with my soul.” Because sometimes it’s not well with my soul “even so” (that is, even if the Lord doesn’t “haste the day”). I want sin to be gone; I want to stand face-to-face with my lord and my God in that city he’s been preparing. I’m weary of the pain and disappointment and disease and death that sin has subjected this world to. I want to see everything finally brought into utter subjection to Jesus, the Christ.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

— Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)

Yesterday we celebrated God’s triumph over Satan, Death and Hell. His victory was total, but it is not yet utter. And so we praise and work and wait and hope, until “…the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” — 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 (ESV). But until then…

Give us faith to be strong, give us strength to be faithful; this life is not long, but it’s hard. Give us grace to go on, make us willing and able; Lord, give us faith to be strong.

— Andrew Peterson, Faith To Be Strong (Carried Along, 2000).

And from the sound of the album (you can stream the whole album at theRingingBell.com) this is Derek’s most energetic album ever. That’s a good thing! My one gripe with the guy’s previous albums is that they’re just too darned slow!

Too bad I don’t have $20 to spend right now.

Heaven is our home where we’ll reign forever
Shining like the sun with our King forever
Every sorrow gone we’ll rejoice forever
Heaven is our home
— Kathryn Scott, Heaven Is Our Home

It’s a catchy tune, but this just ain’t so. Heaven isn’t our home… at least, it’s not “our home where we’ll reign forever.”

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” — Revelation 21:1-4 (ESV)

If we die before Christ returns, we will spend a time in Heaven with him… but our eternal home is on Earth. God will bring the celestial “City of Peace” down to earth, and make his home here with us. Isn’t that amazing?! He will pitch his tent among us, and never again take it down! Never again will ichabod (“the Spirit has departed”) be uttered! God has decreed that he will humble himself to live among us on Earth for eternity.

I hope that mind-blowing thought lets a little bit of Sunday spill into your Monday.

Dean Rankine is one of my Aussie buddies and a productive member of the “Christian comics” underground. He just released a nice li’l comic story: Tough Love. (It’s two pages—click on the first image to read the second.)

In this corner, hailing from his 13.2-acre farm in the Buckeye State, it’s Dan Edelen!

The Bible provides some basis for making distinctions between wrong and right, while the Spirit fills in the particulars. This is life in the Spirit, and it requires us to know His voice when He speaks to us in our day to day existence. …I can’t read the Bible and not see the mystical. As noted in the passage that starts this post, the Apostle Paul himself thought nothing of mystical experiences, such as being caught up in a heavenly realm where inexpressible realities can be glimpsed. Paul goes so far as to boast about the man who experienced this (likely Paul, as most commentators note).

The prophet Isaiah had a vision of God, the Holy One’s train filling the temple. He saw angels and they symbolically purged his sin with a touch of coal to the lips. Ezekiel glimpsed his famous wheel within a wheel. John fell prostrate before an angelic messenger who delivered a vision of the end of all things. Jacob’s ladder. Abraham entertaining three visitors. The inner sanctum of disciples witnessing Jesus’s transfiguration.

The Bible overflows with the mystical. So how is mysticism bad?

And in this corner, the Pastor of Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN… John Piper!

What’s sad is that it really does give the impression that extra-biblical communication with God is surpassingly wonderful and faith-deepening. All the while, the supremely-glorious communication of the living God which personally and powerfully and transformingly explodes in the receptive heart through the Bible everyday is passed over in silence…. I grieve at what is being communicated here. The great need of our time is for people to experience the living reality of God by hearing his word personally and transformingly in Scripture. Something is incredibly wrong when the words we hear outside Scripture are more powerful and more affecting to us than the inspired word of God.

I have to say that, without discounting the Bible’s importance at all, I have to kinda side with Dan on this one. I can have a very deep relationship with my wife through letter-writing when we’re apart, but if she never speaks to me when we’re in person (but rather simply points to appropriate passages in her letters)? Well, unless she’s mute, that’s going to put a strain in the relationship.

Especially if I know from her own testimony in her letters that she’s spoken audibly to others.

For instance… does a publisher like Crossway use some special “Holy Spirit Ink” when printing copies of a Bible? No, of course not. The characters on the page are not themselves the Living Word of God. They are words inspired by God, but without the Holy Spirit speaking to us (audibly or not), confirming what we’re reading as Good and True and “that which is come from the Father,” the printed letters do nothing to us. It is not the “Biblical communication” (that is, the printed page) which speaks to our hearts, but rather the “extra-biblical communication” (that is, the testimony of the Holy Spirit) which makes the scriptures powerful and affecting.

These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:25-26, ESV)

I would say that the Holy Spirit’s “extra-biblical” confirmation of the Scriptures is the primary method he uses (at least in Western culture today), but that selfsame testimony will not allow us to pretend that God is silent apart from the Canon, because as Dan points out in his post, the Canon itself tells us many times that God speaks to men and women apart from the written Scriptures.

[UPDATE: It seems my pastor's wife likes what Dr. Piper has to say. What am I missing here?]

[UPDATE 2: Zoanna (below) said, "I think I’ll do a post, since this comment could go on for a while." Well, she did! ]

[UPDATE 3: Laurie posted again to clarify. Cool!]

[UPDATE 4: John Piper's blog has been updated with a clarification of sorts. (HT: Adrian Warnock)]

For instance, one thing that constantly trips up modern-day Christians is that we fail to remember that the Law given to Moses did not merely outline a religious system… it was a constitution establishing a nation’s government. Thus, we need not only to discern which laws were sacrificial in nature (as Christians, we hold that Jesus Christ is our atonement and makes all other sacrifices—and thus all laws requiring sacrifices—moot), but also whether certain laws were governmental or sacramental in nature. While this may be a simple process with the laws of a “secular” nation, it can get difficult when you’re dealing with a theocracy.

My studies keep drawing me to the same conclusion: God’s eternal Law of Love compels us to serve the poor, but the tithe laws were a form of taxation, and served as the welfare system for Ancient Israel. Thus, these laws only apply to those under the Old Covenant living in geographical Israel.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (which I wrote about recently) provides the framework for all God-glorifying giving, and serves as the “spirit of the law” regarding money, possessions and neighbors:

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye [be evil toward] your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be [evil] when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

The tithes, while a sacrifice to the LORD, were arranged in such a way as to serve as the particular fulfillment of this command with regards to the Levites (as God forbade them from owning land, cf. Deut. 18:1-8), as well as other poor in the Israelites’ midst (Deut. 14:22-29). Additionally, not only here but also in Nehemiah’s time (after two months of working daily with wood, stone, etc. to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem), the reinstated tithe consisted solely of agricultural produce (Neh. 10:35-39).

Now when you begin to question the tithe, the knee-jerk response you often get is a quote from The Most Overused Tithe Verse In The Bible: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.” Congratulations, you have now been labeled a God-robber! However, this is neither faithful exegesis nor Biblical correction. It’s simply propaganda and browbeating. To show you that this is the case, let me share the entire passage with you, and pay attention to what I emphasize:

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:8-12, ESV)

Let me make it perfectly clear: the tithes were never about collecting money for the Temple. Tithing was the means by which a food bank was kept for the poor and needy in Israel.

There is only one passage in all of Scripture which speaks of money in relation to the tithe: Deuteronomy 14:22-29. However, the money is never actually given to the Levite. Rather, it is used only as a convenient form of transport for those who must travel a long distance. Once the tither arrives at Jerusalem, he is commanded to convert the money back into food, strong drink (beer), etc. and to consume these items with the Levite, sojourner, fatherless and widow (that is, those without such provision). And you know what? Jesus mentioned something much like this in Luke’s gospel:

[Jesus] said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14, ESV)

Never, all in Scripture, is a tithe used to pay building and maintenance expenses for a meeting-house or clergy. The tithe is food, and it’s used to feed people—period. Freewill offerings (and/or perhaps a modern-day equivalent to Nehemiah’s “temple tax”) are the only Biblically-approved source of income from which such things as Equipment Upgrades, Insurance, Janitorial Services, Payroll Expenses, Repairs and Maintenance, Utilities, Mortgages, etc. are to be paid.

In contrast to the Old Covenant system, Paul set aside any pastoral “right” to live off the ministry and instead worked additional jobs to provide for his own expenses. He reasoned that he stood to gain no heavenly reward from “simply” preaching the Gospel (1 Cor. 9:15) and must go out of his way to make it a completely free gift if he were to receive anything from the Father because of his work. However, if Paul were simply a “New Covenant priest” he would have been leading the churches into sin by causing them to break God’s Law which required a community to feed its Levites (again, Deut. 18:1-8). Thus, we can infer that Paul did not believe these laws were binding for ministers of the Gospel.

That being the case, a Christian pastor ought not presume to live off of the tithes of his people. If a tithe is requested of the congregation, then Biblically it needs to be food, and it needs to be distributed to people who need food. (Which is to say, faithful application of the tithe laws requires the establishment of a congregational food bank.) Beyond that, there is no Biblical requirement to “lay [any] money at the [pastors'] feet.” (It is certainly encouraged as the decent thing to do for a chap who has given his whole lives to serving you and yours spiritually… but it’s not required.) In and 4, the money laid at the apostles’ feet was “distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:32-35). Likewise, the money collected on Paul’s behalf from the Church in Macedonia, Achaia, and Corinth was going directly to feed the Christians in Jerusalem who were suffering through a famine—not to line his personal “chariot fund.” And of course a meeting-house is nice, but depleting a collected tithe to fund it—or even to keep it lit and climate-controlled—is unbiblical.

So if I don’t think the tithe applies to us today, does that mean I can get away with not giving anything? God forbid! On the contrary, I believe Christians are to “sell [their] possessions, and give to the needy” (Luke 12:33), but are not bound by a 10-33% annual tithe to modern-day Levites per se. The sacrificial system is no longer binding, but I am still bound by the perfect Law of Love: specifically, to “love [my] neighbor as [myself],” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, etc.) and thus to “remember the poor” (Gal. 2:10), “open wide [my] hand to [my] brother, to the needy and to the poor, in [my] land” (Deut. 15:11), “bear with the failings of the weak, and not… please [myself]“ (Rom. 15:1-3, cf. vv. 25-27), and to “contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13) “that there may be fairness” (2 Corinthians 8:13-15). Sometimes fairness means giving 1%, sometimes 99%.

But the most ironic thing about my tithe law studies is that some of those who are being commanded to “tithe” (give 10% of your gross income) to “the church” (really meaning “the pastors”) are actually poor enough that the pastors are required by God’s Word to be tithing to them.

So in conclusion: Christians are commanded to give to the poor and needy in our midst, but we are not bound by tithe laws. However, even if one were convinced that Christians must tithe, a faithful reading of Scripture insists the tithe be used to feed the poor. It is wholly foreign to the Word of God to use a tithe on buildings, utilities, vacations, insurance or even clothing.

in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them. — Psalm 139:16

A few weeks ago, a childhood friend died in a car accident on his way to work on a construction project for his church. Just this week, some other friends had a miscarriage. Meanwhile, my great-grandmother just celebrated her 100th birthday. All of them love Jesus, all of them seek to serve and honor him. At times it can seem like there’s no rhyme or reason to such things, but the Bible paints a different picture:

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. — John 11:5-6

[Jesus said,] “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” — John 11:5-6

Few of us know by what death we will glorify God, but we can be assured of this: everything happens for God’s glory. No matter how tragic, no matter how seemingly untimely, every death brings glory to God in some way. We can catch glimpses of this now, but we may never know the full story until this chapter of life is over. For instance: the couple who miscarried? God is already using them to minister to the people around them. The faith and trust they exhibit as they walk through this trial is strengthening the faith of the believers in their midst. And that’s just this week—only God knows how much fruit will be harvested from this one event.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28

It’s enough to make a Christian look forward to the day of his death—the thought that my final act on this earth will bring God glory! What an encouragement!

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess—if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ — Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (ESV)

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. See, Chesapeake Community Church has just started a series of sermons on 1 John. I wasn’t there on Sunday (this cold’s been pretty nasty), but I did have John Piper’s message from January 7th, also on 1 John (2:12-14, to be specific) playing as I drove to and from this men’s meeting. There was also a discussion with Jonno in the comments on my “Prepare To Meet Your Maker” post… Anyway, I definitely had 1 John on my mind as I was going into this. Now, the reason I mention 1 John is that in that letter, the Apostle says something very interesting:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. — 1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is such that we have an advocate, even if we sin after having first received mercy! The reason this was giving me a eureka! moment is because this is the exact same sort of thing being said in the Deuteronomy passage! Look at it again, specifically verses 4-5 and 7-8:

“But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess—if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. [...] If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”

Do you see it? Do you see it? There is at least an implication that as Israel’s financial prosperity in the Promised Land is tied to their lawkeeping, their poverty will be due to sin… yet they are commanded to lend whatever is needed to the seeming backslider, even if there’s no chance he can pay them back. In fact, according to verse 9, if you don’t open wide your hand to give the presumed “sinner” whatever he needs, you’re guilty of sin! What a beautiful illustration of Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount:

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you… so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [...] You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. — Matthew 5:42, 45, 48 (ESV)

So brothers and sisters, I urge you: do not sin against God and your neighbor in an effort to “avoid foolish investments”! He is no wise steward who ignores the master’s stewardship instructions. Rather, look upon the mercy and kindness of God—who pours out common grace upon all, regardless of merit (that’s what grace is)—and open wide your hand to the poor in your midst, even if you think his poverty is the result of his sin.

UPDATE: It figures that someone like Doug Wilson would have beaten me to this by a few weeks—and he said it better than I did, to boot! :p

Rodney Stark and other sociologists tell us there were 10 values of early Christians that stood in stark (no pun intended) contrast to the pluralistic pagan culture of Rome. Let’s prayferfully think through these values and match them to the witness of our own churches. Do we see the city existing for us or do we see our church and our lives existing for the city? (David Fairchild, 10 Marks of the Early Church)

This is an interesting post! What I want to know is this: which of the 10 values listed in the post are exemplified in your local church… and why aren’t the others? (HT: JollyBlogger.)

I believe when we encounter the Lord in this way we should do the following:

• Confess any known sin.
• Ask the Spirit to search our hearts for hidden sin.
• Confess hidden sin when He reveals it.
• Praise Him for revealing sin in our lives.
• Praise Him for who He is.
• Ask Him to prepare us for what we might receive from Him.
• Ask Him to fill us with Himself, His gifts, and His direction.
• Thank Him for meeting those needs.
• Ask Him to transform our lives so that we are better able to serve him, so we leave the church with a greater revelation of Him to share with the community of faith and those still outside the flock.
• Thank Him and praise Him again.

I think if we take these ten steps in the presence of the Lord, He’ll bless us so much more than if we simply bask in Him then leave unchanged after the encounter.

(Source: “When the Spirit Falls,” Cerulean Sanctum)

…and now Scott Morgan:

Like my laptop, the issue is my internal compatibility with Him. Periodically, I need to run some diagnostic questions to check and see if there’s any interference. I ask questions like these…

• What are my motives right now?
• Have I confessed known sin in my life?
• Am I operating out of fear?
• What am I thinking about? Is it true and right and good?
• Am I trusting God in this situation?
• Am I obeying what I know God wants me to do?

This is what King David was dealing with when he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24, NIV).

Thankfully, our prayer connection can be reestablished when we draw near to God.

(Source: “Connectivity Troubles,” Scott’s Bible Blog)

And they both used unordered lists. That’s the creepiest thing about it.

“This verse stands at the head of a long exposition by Paul on Spirit-directed family life (Ephesians 5:22-6:4).”

First off (and hopefully this is the most nit-picky I’ll get in this post), slaves were part of the family back then, too, so I’d say it’s safe to assume that Paul’s still expounding on Ephesians 5:21 until he reaches 6:9. So that was a typo, right?

“Traditionally, preachers told only wives that they had to submit to their husbands. If I understand the relationship between verse 21 and those following, then all Christians are to submit to one another—not just the wives, but also husbands, children, and parents.”

Just as a father does not submit to his child in the same manner in which the child is to submit to the father (and likewise with slaves and their masters), it seems a bit dishonest to imply that husbands are to submit to their wives as wives are called to submit to their husbands.

Which you didn’t, of course. You said, “How does a Christian husband submit to his wife and children? By refusing to sit and watch passively, and by taking responsibility for their welfare both physically and spiritually.”

However, I would like to suggest that this is in no way submitting to the wife and children in question. Here’s Crosswalk.com’s NT Lexicon entry for the word hupotasso (translated “submit”):

1. to arrange under, to subordinate
2. to subject, put in subjection
3. to subject one’s self, obey
4. to submit to one’s control
5. to yield to one’s admonition or advice
6. to obey, be subject

A Greek military term meaning “to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader.” In non-military use, it was “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.”

So this is quite literally a call for Christians to “fall in.” Basically what we’re being told is to get in line—to willingly position ourselves in a proper relationship to one another—out of reverence for Christ. The wife, child and slave are not the husband’s, father’s or master’s commanding officers, so he cannot “fall in under them” as the word implies when speaking of “mutual submission.” To hupotasso to someone under your command, according to the definitions above, is entirely nonsensical. OTOH, to hupotasso in relation to one another makes perfect sense. That is to say, Paul is calling all Christians to submit to God’s defined order of things. Thus, we are being called not to “submit to one another” per se, but to take our God-ordained places in relation to one another.

What is noteworthy here is not that Paul is commanding “mutual hupotasso,” which is a silly notion. No, what is noteworthy is what is not said to wives. Contrast the command in v.22 for wives to “fall in line” with the commands for children and slaves: referring to Crosswalk.com’s lexicon again, this is what hupakouo (translated “obey”) means:

1. to listen, to harken
   of one who on the knock at the door comes to listen who it is, (the duty of a porter)
2. to harken to a command
   to obey, be obedient to, submit to

Children (and slaves) are told to hang on their father’s (and master’s) every word, and to obey immediately and completely. Wives, however, are given a far less “strict” command. They are simply told to accept their “proper position” with regard to their husbands, allowing their husbands to oversee their Spiritual growth.

While fathers and slavemasters are first warned against harshness (perhaps because of the potential for abuse that arises when an Apostle tells someone to hupakouo without stipulation), Paul begins his instruction to husbands with a positive command: “love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, …that she might be holy and without blemish.” Husbands literally have a sacred duty to husband their wives; that is, they are to nurture their wives not only (or even primarily) physically, but far moreso Spiritually—that is, with an eye toward their sanctification and ultimate conformity to Christ.

Speaking of “mutual submission” misses the point. Paul isn’t saying, “can’t we all just get along?” He’s giving marching orders to an army that’s about to see battle. They don’t just need “the whole armor of God [to] be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” (6:11) they also need to learn to fight him like a well-trained unit. That’s why he says “Finally…” in 6:10: he’s not ending the letter, he’s ending the application portion he began way back in 4:17: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”

The Christian life is a war, and we need a sober, Spirit-filled, full-on pursuit of Jesus Christ if we’re going toexperience victory. That means we need to drop our petty squabbles, trying to do our own thing, demanding our “rights” selfishly pulling rank on those under our leadership. Rather, we must together “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

One thing which you’re likely to see more of around here is talk about money. I don’t have high hopes for American in ’07 — at least, not its economy. I’ll probably touch on that to some extent over the coming months; in doing so, I want to focus specifically on how Christian generosity (both to those within and without the Church) ought to look in light of the “impending doom” of an economic recession or depression. (Hint: if you want to cheat, read Acts 11:27-30 and 2 Corinthians 8:13-14.) As I work on those and some other posts I’ve got in the hopper, here’s a few financial articles to keep you busy:

January 1

• Can the United States weather a housing recession?
  Five years ago, the U.S. economy went through a recession that did virtually no damage to the housing market. In 2007, the question is whether the economy can emerge unscathed from a housing recession.

January 2

• 2007 economic forecast: Dollar decline, recession
  Analysts cite increasing foreign aversion to U.S. currency, see continue gold rise
• Major Media Ignore the Obvious: Dollar Decline and Recession
  The stated reason for a pre-emptive strike on Ahmadinejad’s regime, if it happens this year, will be Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of the UN Security Council. The real reason will be Ahmadinejad’s decision to do business in euros instead of dollars.

January 8

• If the bulls are wrong about 2007, your portfolio is in trouble
  Folks, there are too many bulls and too few bears among America’s economists. Brave bulls? More like sheep, playing it safe, herding together around long-term averages. Their loyalty is to the big companies and banks who sign their paychecks. They have to be bullish. Reality scares customers away. And yet, any respectable contrarian will tell you that too many bulls is always a bearish signal. And we sure had a ton of bulls ringing in the New Year.

January 9

• World economic growth will slow in 2007
  “When the United States sneezes the rest of the world gets a cold,” says Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, “a U.S. recession is already hitting – the odds that the U.S. will slide into recession have risen from 50 percent to 70 percent, the world will indeed catch a cold.”
• New job regression: Growth slower under Bush than under Clinton, Reagan
  Baby boomers – a huge block of workers – poured into the work force in the 1980s and were rising through the ranks in the 1990s. That’s not the case now as boomers face retirement, and there are fewer young people to take their places.
• Knowing Which Way the Wind Blows
  What continues to bug me is that we Christians aren’t doing anything to prepare for the economic bottom falling out of America. From what the car rags say, Ford and GM (who were smarting for certain last December even with their employee pricing ruse) sold a grand total of three cars between the two companies this December. And China’s set to introduce its first car line in America. If China starts dumping cheap cars here, you can bet that it won’t only kick Ford and GM in the shins, it will force every car company in the world to ramp up building plants in China in order to compete. That means they won’t be building more here. Few of us understand how much of our shaky economy depends on car manufacturers. The Church sure doesn’t.

BTW, much of my thinking in this area has been spurred on by Dan Edelen. If you want to know where I’m coming from, read his blog. (Shoot, read his blog regardless!)

Protestant Reformer John Calvin, unbounded by the petty restrictions of time and space, has traveled through time engage in kung fu combat with a mutated plum, one grotesquely transformed by FDA-approved mutational drugs.

So what am I talking about? Well, I downloaded Webb’s Mockingbird album for free and gave it a listen… and it’s downright freaky how much the two of us think alike. I mean, really: each and every song tackles some issue I’ve been wrestling with at one point or another over the past five years. It’s crazy! Maybe we’re both prophets.

So anyway… get your own free copy of the album at freederekwebb.com—and don’t worry, the link will stay on the site for a long time, thanks to the “tower” banner over on the sidebar.

(UPDATE: freederekwebb.com is down now, and the free downloads are no more. It was fun while it lasted, but you can still purchase Mockingbird, which I recommend.)

Just kidding.

(Thanks to the Jollyblogger for pointing this one out. Your timing is impeccable, sir!)

Now that I’ve got your attention… [listen]

(Source: SermonIndex.net)

Or is it?

Jamie Cosley’s just completed work on his newest Christian comic book, More Than Sparrows and gave us some details on how his faith inspired this project.

Cosley said the goal was to write a “Job like” story that could also be an “exercise in forgiveness.” He said, “More Than Sparrows is a love story. It’s about the importance of one man’s vows. It’s about never giving up, even when you want to.”

If your local shop doesn’t have Jamie Cosley’s More Than Sparrows on their shelves, knock ‘em upside the head and tell ‘em to order it! Like NOW!

Here, I’ll even give you the Diamond ordering info for the book: MAY062970 MORE THAN SPARROWS GN $4.95 (SRP). So now you have absolutely no excuse whatsoever keeping you from getting this thing in your hands.

What are you waiting for? Go, go, GO! Get the book! It’s all over The PULSE! What, do you need a comic shop to call? Just plug your ZIP into the CSLS search box over on the right and get cracking!

A little while back, I made a lens about DesiringGod and John Piper… could y’all check it out and let me know what’s missing? I can’t help but think I’m overlooking something that might be downright obvious to someone else…

Thanks!

The House of Degenhart » You May Be Right…

When ill-behaved children lose an argument, they say “SO WHAT!” or “Oh yeah? Well you’ve got a big nose!” Grown-ups say, “You may be right, but in the grand scheme of things your solution would represent a misallocaiton of resources.” Christian grown-ups say, “Yeah, but what’s really important is telling people about Jesus.” You know Jesus – he’s apparently the guy that doesn’t really care about the truth very much, or how people live their lives, so long as people sing happy clappy songs about him and don’t judge each other.

Pyromaniacs: How to deal with posts you don’t like—and the flip side

I’ve noticed a pan-internetal phenomenon you’ll all recognize. It’s how different people deal differently with posts, articles, essays they don’t like. (Now, I suppose I have to add “and pictures.“)

You can not like a post for many reasons, reasons which will vary in part due to the post’s content, and in part due to where you are, spiritually, intellectually, temperamentally, and time-wise (schedualically?).

Maybe the post in question is really stupid. Maybe it’s palpably wrong. Maybe it’s wrong and stupid.

JOLLYBLOGGER: Fathers do not exasperate your children

“Do not be harsh with your children but be gentle.” So this writer does not exhort fathers to exercise their authority. Instead, he presupposes that authority and then sets the bounds for its use. He also presupposes that children are not just property over whom the father has legal rights. They are owed dignity as human beings in their own right.

Challies Dot Com: The Tyranny of Quiet Time

Johnson wrote about something I had only recently realized myself. “That half hour every morning of Scriptural study and prayer is not actually commanded in the Bible.” Imagine that. He goes on to say, “As a theologian, I can remind us that to bind the conscience where Scripture leaves freedom is a very, very serious crime. It’s legalism rearing its ugly little head again. We’ve become legalistic about a legalistic command. This is serious.” We have somehow allowed our quiet time, in its length, depth or consistency, to become the measure of our relationship with God. But “your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.” So what, then, does Scripture command? It commands that the Word of God be constantly upon our hearts. We are to pray, to read the Scripture and to meditate upon it, but we are to do so from a joyful desire, and not mere performance-based duty. We are to do so throughout our whole lives, and not merely for a few minutes each morning. Like Johnson, I came to realize that the “goal isn’t that we pray and read the Bible less, but that we do so more–and with a free and needy heart.”

So do not allow quiet time to become performance. View it as a chance to grow in grace. Begin with an expression of your dependency upon God’s grace, and end with an affirmation of His grace. Acknowledge that you have no right to approach God directly, but can approach Him only through the work of His Son. Focus on the gospel as the message of grace that both saves and sustains. And allow quiet time to become a gift of worship you present to God, and a gift of grace you receive from Him.

Adrian used the phrase “if you break one Commandment, you break them all”. Apparently God has a zero tolerance policy where sin is concerned. One strike and you’re out. It is the proverbial “no win” situation. Except, that is, if you accept Christ, then it becomes a no lose situation.

To me this sounds like the proverbial “gift horse”, the one that you shouldn’t look in the mouth. Yet I can’t help but look it in the mouth, because of that other proverb about gifts: “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is”. I would say that this guilt-free promise of salvation is the quintessential “too good to be true” idea. Yet who am I to pooh-pooh such an offer. This isn’t a TV ad, it is supposedly coming from God himself. What do I have to lose, right?

[snip]

But if I were to argue against Adrian’s position above, derived from Romans 8, that only a turn to Christ in the spirit will bring salvation, from a Biblical standpoint, I would invoke Matthew 31-46:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

If good works held no influence on salvation, then this passage makes no sense. Clearly Jesus is telling his followers here to look for him “in the flesh”, not in the spirit. Those of his followers who looked to him but not to the opportunities to help their fellow man, even if it means taking their eyes off of him, will not be saved. Jesus is not making a distinction between the spirit and the flesh, but is saying that the two are one.

Well met! I like how you think, Mister Duck!

As to the “break one, break ‘em all” bit, that comes straight out of the Epistle of James, chapter 2:

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.”

And while we Christians love to play Scriptural soundbites, doing so usually requires ignoring the context (ironically, Adrian just posted something along these lines). In this particular passage, James is saying that it does no good to say you’re righteous because you follow your “pet commandments” if you’re ignoring the parts of the Law you don’t think are worth your time and effort. (In this particular case, James’ audience thought they were pretty tight with God because they were obeying Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” — only problem was, they only did that if their neighbor was filthy-stinkin’ rich.)

James isn’t saying that the same degree of eternal punishment awaits the serial shoplifter and the serial rapist. He’s saying that neither one can claim to be a Law-abiding citizen, and neither one respects the Lawgiver.

And that, perhaps, ties into your frustration with the “get-out-of-Hell-free card” mindset. People who have been saved from God’s wrath and set free from the power of sin will at times still sin; the difference is that they love the Lawgiver, and the Lawgiver Himself has established an unbreakable covenant that He will purify them of all unlawfullness — not just as a matter of propitiation (transferring their guilt to Jesus Christ), but He will really and truly conform them into Righteous people.

But the question must be asked, “is righteousness primarily adherence to an external code, or your motive(s) for adhering to that code?” A person can begrudgingly obey when there’s no conceivable alternative (much like your postmortem dangling-over-the-pit-of-Hell illustration), but that doesn’t mean they find any beauty or delight in who or what they’re obeying. The Scriptures draw a distinction between the two, and call one “righteousness” and the other “legalism.” The external Law is good, but ineffective on its own. Only when our hearts are rewired to obey the Law because of our love for the Lawgiver will we be considered righteous by Jesus’, James’ and Paul’s standard.

Nice one, ScottyB!

• Throwing Mark Driscoll Under the Bus (JollyBlogger)
• Driscoll-gate – Scandal or Witch Hunt? (Adrian Warnock)
• Bruised Reeds, Smoldering Wicks (Dan Edelen)

All three are thoughtful, grace-filled approaches to the issue.

Personally, I don’t really go for the cussing, but I think there’s far more serious issues being glossed over in the Church, and I really don’t see anything wrong with Driscoll’s (quoted) advice. I think that was probably far more helpful to the guy than any soft-spoken (read: girly) response could have been. I mean, there’s gentleness… and then there’s being a pansy. I think we need to treat men like men, and sometimes that means sounding “harsh.”

New Attitude is back, and they’re blogging live from the conference! I think that’s just cool. (HT: Adrian Warnock.) It looks like a pretty nice conference; I guess I’ll have to get the session CDs once they’re made available.

In addition to the official blog, Carolyn McCulley, Jenn Romanski and Brent Thomas are liveblogging the event.

However, in a shocking turn of events, it was revealed to attendees that C.J. Mahaney stepped down as senior pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD in order to prepare for his starring role in next season’s new sci-fi series, Stargate: T4G. Mahaney will reprise his role as Jean Luc Picard, a 24th century starship captain sent 300 years in the past to lead a 21st century ragtag special ops crew into the Delta Quadrant to prevent the rise of an alien race known as the Borg. (And if you don’t believe me, ask Agnax, whose post I discovered while typing this!)

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” — Proverbs 18:17 (ESV)

If you’re entirely convinced that the MSM properly covered the “10 Commandments standoff” in 2003, you ought to hear the other side of the story. Contrary to the straw-man the news outlets potrayed, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s goal was the acknowledgment of a higher authority than the courts… and the courts didn’t like that.

What we had in ’03 was the result of our idolatry of man: howling and gnashing his teeth when he’s told that he is not God. All claims of “tolerance” aside, there is one thing fallen man simply cannot tolerate: submission to the authority of God. This was shown to be the case when the U.S. Supreme Court said that a state courthouse could not display the Ten Commandments in such a way as to imply that it had any greater authority than any other set of ancient laws or codes.

So Help Me God is an autobiography, and as such it provides an overview of Fmr. Justice Moore’s life, his priorities, his goals, and his God. Not only that, but (citing numerous historical documents) Moore builds a strong case for the Founding Fathers seeing “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” as the basis of all law. If such is the case, then the sort of tolerance which denies the superiority of God’s revealed law is, in its very nature, unlawful.

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’ When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.” — Acts 5:27-33 (ESV)

Moore was removed from office for refusing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion. Perhaps it’s time to learn why he chose to do that. And may Jesus Christ be honored by this Hananiah’s refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

I spend too much time complaining and whining, and talking about how I know so much better than certain others. I need to knock it off, because it’s arrogant, judgmental, and downright annoying when people do that. Sure, a man needs to point out when someone’s leading people astray — but people stop listening when that’s all you do, and then what’s the point? Besides, if others’ foul-ups are the only foul-ups you talk about, it’s a sign that you may think yourself above reproach… and that’s just dumb.

So I’m on a mission now! For the rest of this month (as a trial run of sorts), I’ll be talking about things in two specific ways: how I’m screwing up, and how others are doing well. (Emphasis will be on the latter, both because there’s more people to choose from and because I still don’t like talking about my own foibles.)

How about you? Is there anything (anything besides the typical SPAMvertisements, of course) that you would commend to me and the others here? Any book that’s wowed you? Any article or sermon that’s challenged you? Any person in your life who’s a model of selfless service? Go ahead and share!

1. If you’re not talking about Jesus, you’re wrong.
2. If you define a sin in such a way that it can’t possibly apply to you, you’re wrong.
3. If your doctrine leads you to cut yourself off from everyone but like 9 others, you’re wrong.
4. If your theology excuses you from doing something God commanded, you’re wrong.
5. If you believe in a way that allows you to inflict or ignore others’ suffering, you’re wrong.
6. If you’re talking about how thankful you are that you’re better than those jerks, you’re wrong.
7. If your case relies entirely on citation of authority, you’re wrong.
8. If you can’t defend your belief without lying about what it is, you’re wrong.
9. If you say you believe something and qualify the hell out of it, you’re wrong.
10. If your version of the Gospel isn’t actually good news, you’re wrong.

(HT: iMonk.)