The Beardsley Blog

Difference Between a Lecture and Sermon

2012-01-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

In general, I like the distinction Sean Lucas makes here:

When I'm doing a lecture--say for a Wednesday night Bible study--I feel a greater responsibility to account for the various details of the text. That's because a major goal in a lecture is information--in exposing the text, I'm trying to give people as much information as possible about the text so that they will understand it. While I would naturally do application as we go along, application is not the real focus of a lecture.

But when I'm preaching a sermon--especially for our Sunday morning services--I feel a profound responsibility to explain and apply the text in such a way as to stir people's affections and move them toward Christ. Whereas my major goal in lecturing is information, my major goal in preaching is transformation. And because this is the case, I don't feel the burden to give people as much information as possible; rather, I feel the burden to give people the information necessary about the text so that they will see the connections to their own lives and be moved to seek God in Christ as a result. Application is the major focus of the sermon.

Apostolic Tradition as Solution to Present Predicament

2011-06-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have to share a section of a book I am reading right now. Marcus Bockmuehl is the co-editor and also a contributor in the book Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclessiology. In his chapter on the epistle to the Hebrews there is a paragraph where he summarizes the problem that the author is addressing for his readers--listen carefully to the way Bochmuehl summarizes the way the author of Hebrews addresses the problem. In other words, where does he find the solution?

"The writer certainly looks back to the time of apostolic proclamation as foundational, and recalls the first fervour of his readers' faithfulness to Christ (6.10;10:32-34). Now, however, their faith has become tired and listless (5.11; 6.12), their eschatological hope and perseverance have become worn out and are giving way to doubts about God's promise (10.23, 35-36); some at least are in danger of abandoning the mutual encouragement of the Church (10.24-25) and even of discarding their faith and confidence altogether (10.35-39). The author's response to this problem involves no new doctrine, but instead recalls his readers to life-giving faith and hope in the Christ who is greater than the angels and whose atonement is better than the old covenant's sacrifices. His fundamental hermeneutical principle, in other words, is to find the solution to the readers' present predicament in a reapplication and interpretation of the apostolic tradition -- an approach which similarly characterizes other early Christian writings" (emphasis mine, p. 136).

If this is an accurate synopsis of the method used by the author of the letter to the Hebrews, a few observations can be made:

Pastors should not do less. That is, the apostolic message of Christ crucified and risen, the fulfillment of God's law given to Israel, is rich with resources meant to mend brokenness that appears remote and unrelated to the gospel. The apostolic tradition should, in other words, have priority in informing our philosophy of ministry.
Scripture is not a flat collection of proof-texts. Rather, Scripture is a collection of authoritative writings for the church that relate, in some way (e.g., foreshadows, narrates, interprets, etc.,), to the gospel of God's son. Hebrews is an example of this.
Historically, God revives his church through the rediscovery of this gospel as a result of the diligent study of the Scriptures. I'm thinking of the Reformation and the Great Awakenings in general.

Though these observations are short and somewhat sweeping in nature, they are simply the beginnings of my reflections on a profound paragraph penned by someone who knows more than I do.

The Next Chapter Begins. . . .

2011-05-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

{A Poem for my wife, Kelly Noel. Trinity Graduation 2011}

You were there, little Kelly, when I sensed God’s call
To spend myself waking men to God’s all;
Through all that I’ve faced, you’ve been by my side
Praying and loving, and making dark bright;
Broken yet happy your heart so contrite
You won’t let me quit the glorious fight.

I love you dear Kelly, you are my dear gem,
You’ve taught me how to be loved in my sin;
You dance and you laugh and you love all things good,
I am better with you, I’m better for good.
You are my family and you are my bride,
Six years and counting, a wonderful ride;
You name squirrels and smell flowers and love lemon cake
Each morning you read of God’s good for our sake;
You love drives and new things, people, and places
You help me to steward God’s glorious graces;
Your hair’s like a troll when you wake in the morning
You long for the day when there’ll be no more groaning
Or sin or sickness or sadness or death
Christ rose from the grave, our hope till’ last breath!

One chapter finished, the next one begins
O God grant us grace to trust you again,
With kids or with none let’s love others the same
Let’s boast in the safety of His holy name;
Don’t let us quit, fizzle, settle or coast
But let’s risk our lives for the greatest and most
Glorious cause that man could not dream
That we might not rest till the Gospel’s esteemed
And treasured and prized by masses of men
Broken and lost as we were once then
You opened our eyes to your risen Son
Your wrath was consumed by the death of that One;
We saw Him and sensed for the first time, so sweet,
God’s smiling face is all we’re destined to meet.
You saved us, you saved us, all glory to God!
You crushed all our foes with your humble rod!
You saved us, redeemed us and opened the door
To oceans and mountains of pleasures galore;
And on top of it all you gave me a wife
A gift not deserved one day of my life.

In that day, declares the Lord. . .

2011-03-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

There is hope for all the weary and afflicted and cast off. I really believe this is being fulfilled in the coming of Jesus:

"In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame, and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make a remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore." Micah 4:6-7

Brother, how are things in your heart?

2011-02-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

"The story is told that the once famous Professor Tholuck of Halle used to visit the rooms of his students and press them with the question, 'Brother, how are things in your heart?' How do things stand with you yourself?--not with your ears, not with your head, not with your forensic ability, not with your industriousness (although all that is also appropriate to being a theologian). In biblical terms the question is precisely, 'How are things with your heart?' It is a question very properly addressed to every young and old theologian!" (1)

Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992) 83.

God sent his son to make us sons

2010-12-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" Galatians 4:4

God sent forth his son. . .

to redeem those under the law
that we might receive adoption

Note that the word for adoption has the same root as the greek word for son. This leads me to think that one of the primary emphases Paul is making here is that Jesus was sent by the father fundamentally to bring us home to the father.

The Law, Luther, and Catechetical Learning

2010-10-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

The two early pillars of the reformation, Luther and Calvin, disagreed partially on the place and role of the law in the life of the Christian. The interesting thing about this is that it not only impacted their preaching, but it also impacted the structure of their theological education in the church. J.I. Packer and Gary Parret give a helpful explanation of their differences of understanding here and its implications for catechesis:

"Both of Calvin's catechisms chiefly featured expositions of the same three foundational items--the Decalogue, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer--together with teaching about the sacraments. With the second catechism, however, Calvin reversed Luther's order by treating the Commandments after the Creed. This shift reveals an important distinction in the theology of the two great reformers. For Luther, the first and fundamental use of the Law was to reveal to us our sinfulness. The Creed, on the other hand, represented an outline of the Gospel. Thus Luther's preferred catechetical order typifies the Law-Gospel paradigm that has been critical in Lutheran theology to this very day. Calvin shared with Luther in affirming humanity's full depravity and so also believed that the Law therefore functions as a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). But Calvin also believed that once the Gospel has raised us to new life, we, now indwelt by the Spirit of God, must walk in God's ways, which the negatives of the Decalogue implicitly indicate. The commands of God are thus not only evangelists pointing us to Christ. They are also guides to a God-pleasing Christian life. By placing the Decalogue after the Creed in his second catechism, Calvin revealed his emphasis on the so-called 'third use' of the Law" (*1)

Gary Parrett and J.I. Packer, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010) 64.

Preaching

2010-09-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's been an enormous privilege to preach at The Orchard EFC this summer and the last.

Trusting God or Something Else

2010-07-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

"When we fail to trust the real God, we do not escape trusting someone or something. Trust, like breathing, and indeed, like worship, is inevitable. It is not that some people trust, some worship, some breathe, and others do not. We cannot fail to trust God without turning our trust to something that becomes a new god for us."(1)

Dan B Allender Ph.D and Dan B Allender, The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse, New Edition. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2008), 25.

I want to feel the gospel please

2010-06-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Preached a sermon this last weekend on Philippians 1:27-2:4 and read this hymn/poem to close the sermon:

I want to feel the gospel please
blow mercies new and spirit breeze
Oh that I would look to Christ
Content to stand in any strife
forgive my sin and lift my face
i want to sing of saving grace

I hate my flesh, I want to burn
My heart is numb, I long, I yearn
To know him more and live to tell
The worth of Christ unparralleled
I want to cry and feel and shake
Thousands perish, so much at stake

Strengthen your church, Lord give her zeal
Bind all the broken and wounded heal,
Exalt the glories of your son,
Your servant Israel, the promised one,
Who did for me what I could not,
He raised me up from Adam's rot,
He called me brother, n' served me well,
By dying on the cross of hell,
He's raised above the earth and skies,
I am the apple in his eyes,

I will not watch him rise alone,
I’ll be with him next to his throne?
It cannot be, it isn't right
That I not perish in his sight,
But rise with him and with him be
Where he's been from eternity
White n' robed in radiant bright
Free and sovereign with pure delight

God of Gods and Lord of Lords
All history to you points forward
Till on that day when all will see
The measure of our treachery
Our mouths will stop, our knees will bend
You stooped to us in love to send
Your son, your only son, Jesus
You purposed for his blood to free us,
Redemption! Life! At what a cost!
All we called gain we now call loss!

Now we are here with heaven's hope,
Pilgrims, exiles, we strangers grope
To see you and stay close to you,
Called to believe all's been made new
To guard with care what's been entrusted,
The great kerygma unadjusted,
Too great a task for us to bear
Without your kind, unending care,
Help me Lord now with grit to fight,
This world is vain, empty and trite,
But you are full, and good, and real
Your promise to my soul appeal
Win us, wake us to your love,
steadfast, covenantal keeping love!
It never ends, it will not fade
It raises us up from the grave!

Typology

2010-06-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

Here is a great quote from Augustine, it puts into words why I am so excited about taking this typology class next semester: "Read the prophetic books without reference to Christ - what couldst thou find more tasteless and insipid? Find therein Christ, and what thou readest will not only prove agreeable, but will intoxicate thee" (Baker, 90).

'Two Testaments, One Bible' by David L. Baker

2010-06-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

"The Bible is not Holy Scripture because it fell from heaven but because it tells about Jesus Christ, the Son of God made flesh" (88).

Why Study Theology?

2010-05-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Study "not for the sake of attaining to faith by means of reason but that . . [you]. . . may be gladdened by understanding and meditating on those things that . . . [you]. . . believe."

Anselm, quoted by Migliore in Faith Seeking Understanding

Pray for the same things we exhort unconverted persons to strive for. . .

2010-04-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. . . " Colossians 2:6

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk. . . " 1 Peter 2:2

"Don't slack off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted persons to strive for, and a degree of which you have had in conversion. Thus pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight, that you may know your self and be brought to God's feet, and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart." Jonathan Edwards, Advice to Young Converts

The Hard Questions

2010-04-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post for a while about CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, WI. I was recently pleased to find some helpful resources on their website. Some of the folks at CrossWay who are also doctoral students at Trinity wrote some very brief articles attempting answers to difficult questions that many inside and (some) outside the faith wrestle with.

I handed out the article asking "Is the resurrection historically reliable?" to my LIFE group this last week in light of it being Easter weekend and all.

Is the Resurrection Historically Reliable

Here is a list of the different articles available to download as pdf's:

Do we have a free will?
How can there be truth that is true for everyone?
How could a good God allow suffering and evil?
Is the Bible reliable?
Is the resurrection historically reliable?
What about those who have never heard the gospel?
What do you say to the cult member at your door?

CrossWay Community Church's Statement of Faith on 'The Gospel'

2010-04-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

You can find it here on their website:

God’s Gracious Provision: The Gospel of Jesus Christ
We believe that from eternity past God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation. We believe that God will perfectly accomplish this purpose through the incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, resurrection, and victorious return of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ, being fully God from all eternity, became flesh, being born of the virgin Mary, and thus became fully human without relinquishing his full deity in the least. He lived a sinless life thus perfectly fulfilling, as a human, all the requirements of God’s law. He then voluntarily offered his life on the Cross in our place. Christ bore in our place the punishment due us for our sins. This is the heart of the gospel. By dying on the Cross for our sins Christ satisfied God’s justice and reconciled to God all those who believe. In his resurrection Christ was vindicated by the Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over us in death, and brought eternal life to all his people. We believe that this salvation from death into life is found in no place but Jesus Christ.
Man’s Response to the Gospel: Repentance and Faith
We believe man’s fall into sin rendered him spiritually dead and therefore completely unable to initiate any reconciliation with God and completely unable to contribute anything to his own salvation. However, God graciously initiates by regenerating human hearts enabling man to respond to God’s call to salvation with repentance and faith. In repentance we turn away from both our sin and any confidence we might have in our own goodness and in faith we entrust ourselves completely to Jesus Christ and what he has done on our behalf.
The Free Gift of God: Justification
We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and that when God’s grace is met by faith a person is justified—that is, his sins have been imputed to Christ and he is therefore completely forgiven, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him and he is thereby declared righteous and fully accepted by God. This justification simultaneously puts on glorious display the perfect justice and the great love of God.

Unlocking the Bible (UTB) Website

2010-03-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

The ministry resource for Pastor Colin Smith's ministry at The Orchard EFC, Unlocking the Bible, has recently launched a new website. Check it out!

Fall Crossway Catalog

2010-03-26T16:11:00.001-07:00

I am pretty excited for some of these books coming out this fall. Check out Crossway's new catalog.

HT: JT

Kyle Young Photography

2010-03-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

I used one of Kyle's photos at the top of my blog. It was hard picking which one to use so I thought I would post some of his others. They definitely make me miss the NW.

In the one below here you can see Mt. Rainier off in the distance.

"You will never prosper in your religious life in theological seminary until . . . "

2010-03-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

I would like to add a few other ingredients to this recipe for seminary success, but this quote from Warfield is helpful for starters. I will add a couple more afterward. Warfield says in his incredibly helpful essay, "The Religious Life of Theological Students":

"You will never prosper in your religious life in the theological seminary until your work in the theological seminary becomes itself to you a religious exercise out of which you draw everyday enlargement of heart, elevation of spirit, and adoring delight in your Maker and Savior."

I would add. . .

"You will never prosper in your religious life in the theological seminary until . . ."

God's love for you is untethered from your GPA
People become more valuable than papers (while recognizing that working hard on papers is also an act of love for people)
Going deep with the Christian community at seminary and your local church becomes essential (Warfield mentions something like this in his essay as well; specifically that seminary students ought to worship together weekly)
Worship, rather than academic prowess or numbers in ministry, is the source and goal of your studies
God's word is read, memorized and cherished more than your favorite theologians
The original languages become a wonderful opportunity and privilege rather than a hurdle on the way to graduation

Any other ideas?

The Character of God in the Incarnation

2010-03-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am reading Athanasius on the doctrine of the incarnation and noticed the similarity between a theme of his in chapter II and Romans 3:25-26.

Read Romans 3:25-26:

Speaking of putting forward Jesus,

This was to show his [God's] righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now read Athanasius speaking about Jesus:

His part it was, and His alone, both to bring again the corruptible to incorruption and to maintain for the Father His consistency of character with all.

The Face of Fear

2010-03-09T16:22:00.000-08:00

We are studying 1 & 2 Samuel in our LIFE group this semester. Something in 1 Samuel 18 stuck out to me this last weekend. I was at a training event hosted by Peacemaker Ministries in St. Louis, MO that focused quite a bit on how to spot sinful 'heart issues' that contribute to conflict. I guess thinking along these lines at the conference helped me to notice something in Samuel that, to me, was kind of stunning. Fear manifests itself in a variety of ways. Though 18:8 says that Saul was also angry, it is said in 18:12,15, and 29 that fear was the dominant condition of Saul's heart. (This leads me to think that anger was actually one of the many symptoms of fear). 18:12 says that "Saul was afraid of David"; 18:15 says that "when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him"; and finally in 18:29 the writer of 1 Samuel says that now "Saul was even more afraid of David." After noticing the repetition of fear in the text I looked to see (1) how Saul responded because of it and (2) what his fear was rooted in.

(1) First, how did Saul's fear manifest itself?

Anger (18:8) - "Saul was very angry"
Jealousy (18:9) - "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?"
Violence (18:11) - Saul hurls his spear at David
Promotion (18:13) - Saul "made him a commander of a thousand"
Bribery (18:17) - "I will give [Merab] to you for a wife"
Lying/Deceit (18:19) - Merab was given to another when she should have been given to David
Objectifying valuable people (18:21) - Saul sees that his other daughter Michal loves David and determines, "Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." This is incredibly sad when you think about how unloving and thoughtless he was with his own daughter's heart. She became a pawn instead of his precious gift from the Lord.
Flattery (18:21) - Saul, the King of Israel, told David that he wanted him to be his son-in-law!
Setting up for failure (18:25)- Saul didn't want a bride price for his daughter Michal's hand in marriage, he only wanted 100 Philistine foreskins.
Religiosity (18:17)- When Saul promises Merab to David his pious request was, "Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles"
Duplicity (18:18) - underneath Saul's religiosity was this motive: "Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him."

Though some of these like deceit, setting up for failure, and duplicity can all somewhat be clumped into the same category, it's startling to see the variety of masks fear can wear. Fearful people don't always look like fearful people. This is one thing the Lord was definitely teaching me during this weekend away in St. Louis.

(2) The next question I asked 1 Samuel 18 was "why was Saul afraid?" or "what was Saul's fear rooted in?"- to word it differently.

1 Sam 18:12 says that "Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul." Fear, for Saul, was rooted in an awareness of God's displeasure. Just as the people of Israel rejected YHWH as their king, so also the Lord rejected Saul as king and chose another (15:26). The LORD even "regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel."

But what kind of favor was removed from Saul? In what sense had the Lord 'departed from Saul'? His response to his demotion makes it seem as though he was losing God's saving, life-giving favor? As though the Lord was no longer with him, at all! Was he losing God's saving, life-giving favor? No! The kingdom was also 'torn' from Saul's son Jonathan. But Jonathan believed in the Lord and honored the Lord's anointed (20:13)--this was a radically different reaction! Saul's response wasn't the only kind of response one could have to God's choosing of David. Either Saul always saw things this way or somewhere along the line he began to tie God's saving favor to his own success as Israel's king. When Saul was rejected as king he forgot that the LORD was still a God who is gracious and compassionate, abounding in steadfast love and forgiving iniquity, He was still the God who chose Israel out of all the nations and delivered them out of Pharoah's steel grip. But not for Saul. Saul only felt God's favor through the preservation of his kingship. The thought of losing that status as king among Israel created in Saul an irrational fear, a controlling fear. Saul was afraid that the Lord was not with him. I actually sympathize with Saul. I know how easy it is, even as a Christian, to demand that God's love for me be demonstrated in this or that way. Life has meaning if my ministry prospers, if my marriage thrives, if my health stays in tact, if I get to have children, if my children are safe, if my children are obedient, if my children are (fill in the blank).

Now, we know from Scripture that the greatest weapon for fear is in fact love. 1 John 4:18 says "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." The challenge, I think for me and for Saul, is to look in the right place for God's love.

I am so prone to re-word Romans 5:8 from something like "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" to "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, I am smart enough to get a PhD." Not in my head, but in my heart I am so quick to change 1 John 4:9 from "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world" to "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that Ryan Beardsley experiences a pain-free, temptation-free, highly-respected life." Come on, you do the same. Saul lost sight of the immovable favor of God revealed in his promise and seal of redemption. Jonathan didn't. Jonathan was able to entrust to God all his desires for regal prosperity and was able to honor the real King of Israel instead of the sinful wishes of his father.

Fear can show itself in anger, jealousy, violence, flattery, and even religious jargon (among other ways).

Three words of caution:

Pay attention to the heart! What is really going on inside of you or another who comes off as angry, jealous or even ridiculously confident? Fear doesn't always look like fear.
Remember where to look for God's favor! God has already proved the certainty of His tender care for you when he sent His son to Calvary. By faith in Christ we see, as Calvin has taught me over and over this year, God's shining countenance and fatherly kindness--secure, immovable, solid as a rock! God's perfect love casts out all fear! Only in Christ I can really say and sing and weep with inexpressible joy that "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (Psalm 23:5-6) [emphasis mine].

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast inJesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
- Stuart Townend

3. Don't be scared by fear's faces! I learned how easy it is this weekend to mistake the symptom for the sickness. Don't miss out on the opportunity to love your fearful neighbors and even your fearful enemies when they lash out on you in anger or when they appear untouchable in strength. Don't just analyze a person's behavior long enough to realize it is rooted in the unbelief of fear, pride or anxiety. Go a step further and love them with the gospel. Don't be put off by their wickedness, but have compassion on them as Jesus had on the shepherd-less people of Israel. I had a friend who modeled for me what this looks like--to not only see the hidden fear in the heart of a brother, but to move towards him in love. Don't be scared by fear's faces!

How and When Will All Israel Be Saved? A Theological/Missiological Conversation on Scripture, the End-Times, and Jewish Evangelism

2010-02-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

The audio and video of a recent Trinity debate is now online at the Henry Center media page. The scholars involved include Dr. Averbeck and Dr. VanGemeren from TEDS, Dr. Moo from Wheaton, and Dr. Glaser from Chosen People Ministries. Here is what the discussion tried to address:

In Romans 11 Paul makes the case that God has not cast off his people Israel, despite their rejection as a nation of Jesus, their Messiah. His final argument that God isn’t finished with Israel is that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:25-27). What did Paul mean and how will this come to pass? Who constitutes “Israel,” the biological seed of Abraham or his spiritual seed? Is the salvation in view spiritual, national, socio-economical, or all of these? Has this promise been fulfilled during the NT era by individual Jews and Gentiles turning to Christ and hence “filling up” the “all Israel?” Or is the promise to be fulfilled in the end-times at the return of Christ? If the latter, will only those biologically Jewish be saved, or will there also be a massive turning to Christ among the Gentiles? Whatever the answers to such questions, what are the implications for how Christians should understand the modern state of Israel? And, of most practical importance, how should one’s understanding of Rom 11:25-27 impact one’s attitudes toward and efforts in evangelizing Jews?

The Gospel Makes Givers

2010-02-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

The first phase of my internship at The Orchard was in the area of compassion ministries. It was a sobering season to focus on how the gospel is supposed to relate to and fuel care for the physically impoverished within the church and in our surrounding communities. Justin Taylor posted the following excerpt from a book called "A Gospel Primer for Christians" that gives some clear direction.

2009-2010 Theme

2010-02-24T14:54:00.000-08:00

I have never been one of those guys who always knows what God is teaching me at any given minute of the day. Looking back on the last 12 months, however, I can honesty say there has been a major theme that landed on my heart over and over. God has seemed to orchestrate not only what I have been dealing with personally but the people I have studied as well. I took a class on John Calvin last semester. Calvin can sometimes get a bad rap for being consumed with difficult doctrines like predestination. It's ironic that Calvin, out of all the dead theologians I have read, has by far helped me the most to understand and experience the present, fatherly kindness and love of God in Christ. I quoted this following passage out of Calvin's Romans commentary last semester. Then the other day I was listening to a sermon by Mike Bullmore on Matthew 12 and he quoted the same text. It was like I heard it for the first time. I have for a few years been convinced of the practical usefulness and necessity of the gospel, but have recently been convinced of this aspect of it.

When at first we taste the gospel, we indeed see God’s smiling countenance turned towards us, but at a distance: the more the knowledge of true religion grows in us, by coming as it were nearer, we behold God’s favor more clearly and more familiarly

This has been true in my life and has made all the difference. The reality of God's lavish kindness and commitment to me has increased my joy in worship, liberated me to love others better and has transformed the way I am learning to view myself. If you have ever wondered how God could ever love you if his son is always needed as a mediator, remember that it was God's plan and desire to send his son into the world. This happened, among other reasons, to demonstrate his love for us (Romans 5:8).

Boo yah!

2010-02-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Jes!

Oscar Cullmann (1902-1999)

2009-12-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the introduction and concluding observations for my paper just turned in for my class: History of New Testament Interpretation:

Introduction

Oscar Cullmann (1902-1999) has made a noticeable impact on 20th century New Testament theology. For better or for worse, his significance cannot be denied. In 1986 Cullmann’s Christ and Time was the second most influential book among members of the Institute for Biblical Research. Cullmann was raised in a German liberal tradition of Christianity. His childhood education only confirmed his fascination for liberal theology and “strengthened . . . [his] aversion to all orthodoxy.” He studied theology, classical philology and historical theology only to teach these at various posts throughout his academic career which was largely comprised of positions in Strasburg and Basel. In his Autobiographical Sketch he mentions the tremendous influence the likes of Schleiermacher had on him even as a secondary school student.
In what follows the origin, obstacles, and accomplishments of Oscar Cullmann will be sketched. The primary obstacles Cullmann faced will be described in the bulk of this paper as a fight against three different manifestations of presupposed Kantian philosophical strongholds. The study will conclude with an evaluation including an unmentioned critique and four grateful observations of his life and work.

. . .

Four Grateful Observations
Finally, four positive observations can and should be made about aspects of Cullmann’s hitherto eclipsed contributions.
First, though this paper has focused on the areas Cullmann parted company with Schweitzer, Barth and Bultmann, it should be remembered that these men also made some of the greatest influences on him as a thinker. Though Cullmann swam upstream for years in his dialogue with them and their followers, for him it remained a charitable dialogue with men whom he is unquestionably indebted to in other departments. Cullmann should be commended for his unwillingness to take refuge behind conservative barricades, but rather weathered the storm of constant liberal opposition.
Second, minus his possibly suspect emphasis on the titles of Jesus in The Christology of the New Testament, his primary correction to the ways of finding solutions to the Christological question was tremendous. As a true New Testament scholar, Cullmann was concerned to ask the text questions indigenous to its own concerns and interests. He acknowledged that the creeds of the third and fourth centuries shifted the focus away from a functional Christology to a more Hellenized ontological one. While affirming the value and accomplishment of the creeds’ appropriation of biblical truth into different and new cultural situations, Cullmann reminds Christians that ontological questions were not primarily being asked in the New Testament. Cullmann, with Barth, narrowed the gap between the economic and the immanent Trinity. We do not primarily know who Christ is by collecting clues indicating his ontological makeup; rather, we know the Christ of the Scriptures through his life and actions recorded in Scripture. Cullmann espoused a thoroughly functional Christology.
Third, one can’t read too much about Cullmann before his ecumenical engagement is made demonstrably clear. Cullmann made strategic steps toward expressing visible, basic Catholic-Protestant unity ‘in Christ.’ This was demonstrated through a collection that he instituted patterned after the collection Paul took in Rome for the Jerusalem church. Applause should be given him for the profitable dialogue that was sparked through his Roman Catholic connections, while never feeling the need to compromise on the subordination of church tradition to canonical Scripture.
Finally, Cullmann must be remembered as a churchman who believed that the Scriptures are best understood when they are read sympathetically; that is, with a willingness to see the world from their perspective before passing critique. He believed the Scriptures should be read by the church. He loathed the separation that had been created between the church and the university. He longed and labored for the day that the professor would subject himself to the authority of and give himself in service to the leadership of the local church. He saw the theologian’s role as a charismata given by God to protect and pass on the great tradition entrusted to the church.

Conclusion
Oscar Cullmann’s efforts in the theological enterprise were valiant and his flaws, though only one was mentioned here, were real. Nevertheless, any student of the Scriptures would do well by familiarizing themselves with the Cullmann corpus and its surrounding polemics.

Big Church, Small Church

2009-12-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

Over the last month or two I have been thinking and praying, for the first time, about a different direction for ministry after seminary. I have always thought that the best place to get experience would be at a big church under an experienced, godly, senior pastor. I could become an associate pastor and learn about ministry with kind of a safety net of support around me. After spending some time with a couple of my pastors about a month ago, I have been questioning whether the trajectory I was on was rooted more in wisdom or fear. Though there are many wise reasons to get hired on out of seminary on a big staff doing team ministry, I felt more and more that I need to check my motives. Tim Keller wrote a blog post that really captures the options I was considering. Here is part of his post. You can read the rest here.

Many young leaders perceive that the ideal first ministry position would be a position on the staff of a large church with an older, mature pastor to mentor them. The limits of this model are several. You can't teach a younger pastor much about things they aren't actually doing. And in a large church they aren't a) bearing the burden of being the main leader, b) leading a board of elders, c) fund-raising and bearing the final responsibility of having enough money to do ministry, d) and doing the gamut of counseling, shepherding, teaching, preaching. In a smaller church as a solo pastor you and only you visit the elderly, do all the weddings and funerals, sit by the bedside of every dying parishioner, do all the marriage counseling, suspend and excommunicate, work with musicians, craft and lead worship, speak at every men's retreat, women's retreat, and youth retreat, write all the Bible studies and often Sunday School curriculum, train all the small group leaders, speak at the nursing home, work with your diaconate as they try to help families out of poverty, evangelize and welcome new visitors to the church, train volunteers to do some (but not all) of all of the above tasks, and deal with the once-a-month relational or financial crisis in the church. No amount of mentoring can teach you what you learn from doing all those things

HT: Between Two Worlds

Favorite Pictures from Big Picture

2009-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

One blog that gets sent to my Google Reader every week is called Big Picture. They are amazing! Here are my five favorite from this past week. These are taken in Glacier National Park. Enjoy:

The Gospel according to Robin Hood?

2009-11-27T16:41:00.000-08:00

While taking a break from my Calvin paper, I watched a few Youtube movie trailers scheduled to come out in the next year. Russell Crowe is starring in a new rendition of Robin Hood directed by Ridley Scott and expected to be released sometime in 2010. Watch this interview of him explaining the movie.

What stuck out to me was the reason he has been fascinated with the story ever since he was five years old. He says that the 'core thing' about the movie that has attracted him is the idea "that there is some guy out there who will go and work on behalf of the people who can't do something for themselves" (at about the 1:35 min mark). The core thing about all that matters in life is that God, in sending His son to become like us, has willingly worked on behalf of people like me who can not help ourselves. On the cross, He who knew no sin became sin in order to work a righteousness for me that I could have never earned. I am reminded that there is something absolutely glorious about the gospel. I am reminded that I was created for it.

All I could think of was that Mr. Crowe spoke better than he knew. Just like when the unbelieving high priest in John 11:40 advocated for Jesus' death by saying "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people , not that the whole nation should perish." John comments that in saying this Caiaphas unwittingly proclaimed the heart of the gospel. If all things were created through and for Christ (Colossians 1:16), its not surprising that people would see sparks of the gospel story everywhere. This, I would argue, is why Russell Crowe continues to be drawn to acting in movies that communicate these larger than life messages. Isn't that why you are drawn into them also?

For a great essay on another movie that Crowe has done with "echoes of eternity" (to paraphrase a line from the movie), pick up Everyday Theology. Chapter Six is entitled, "Swords, Sandals, and Saviors: Visions of Hope in Ridley Scott's Gladiator."

Baptism: An Outward Expression of an Inward Confession?

2009-11-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

I heard that phrase a lot as a teenager to describe the significance of Christian baptism. Calvin doesn't want to deny this aspect of baptism, but He does want to be clear that this is not the 'chief thing' about baptism. To paraphrase him, its not just that in baptism you are communicating to the world that you are a Christian and that you are united to Christ and that your sins are forgiven, it is more fundamentally the case that God is communicating to us in baptism the certainty of the promises it signifies. Baptism is a gift from God designed to nourish our souls by calling us to lift our eyes to the promises of forgiveness and resurrection life that are symbolized in this most precious sacrament. In his 1541 French Translation of the 1539 edition of the Institutes he says:

". . . it is intended by God to be a sign and mark of our purification, or, better, He sends baptism to us as a message by which He declares, confirms, and assures us that all our sins have been remitted, covered, abolished, and wiped out so that they will never come into His sight or be remembered by Him and will never be imputed to us by Him. For He wants all those who have believed to be baptized in remission of their sins (Matt. 28.19; Acts 2.38). That is why those who have dared to write that baptism is only a mark and sign by which we make known our religion before peole, the way a soldier wears the uniform of his prince to avow himself to belong to the prince--those people have not considered what is the chief thing in baptism, which is that we should receive it with the promise that all who have believed and been baptized will be saved (Mk. 16.16)"

On Baptism

2009-11-21T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have recently been thinking through the topic of baptism and am planning on posting my thoughts at present on the issue. There are a minority of people out there who believe that baptism is instrumental in salvation; that is, salvation depends on whether or not one has been baptized or not. I would like to address this belief and for the sake of my own theological understanding, locate baptism in its proper sacramental position. This will be a helpful exercise for me and, I hope, beneficial to others as well. The semester is coming to a close so I don't know when I will get a chance to post my thoughts on baptism in a full or coherent fashion . . . hopefully soon. In the mean time, I thought I would post this quote from Calvin on baptism as a start. It is from his section on the Sacraments in the first edition of his Institutes [translated by Battles]:

". . . we are to receive baptism with this promise: 'He who believes and is baptized will be saved' [Mark 16:16]. In this sense we are to understand what Paul has written: that the church 'has been sanctified' by Christ, the bridegroom, and 'cleansed with the washing of water in the Word of life' [Eph. 5:26]. And another passage: 'He saved us . . . in virtue of his own mercy, through the washing of regeneration and of renewal in the Holy Spirit' [Titus 3:5]. And by Peter: 'Baptism saves us' [1 Peter 3:21]. For Paul did not mean to signify that our cleansing and salving are accomplished by water intervening, or that water itself the instrument to cleanse, regenerate, and renew; nor that here is the cause of salvation, but only that in this sacrament are received the knowledge of such gifts. This the words themselves explain clearly enough. For Paul joins together the Word of life and the baptism of water, as if he said: 'Through the gospel a message of our cleansing and sanctification is brought to us; through such baptism the message is sealed.' And Peter immediately adds that this baptism is not a removal of filth from the flesh but a good conscience before God [1 Peter 3:21], which is from faith."

Faith is the foundation on which hope leans

2009-11-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

"Thus faith believes God to be truthful; hope waits for him to show his truth at the right occasion. Faith believes God to be our Father; hope waits for him always to act as such toward us. Faith believes eternal life has been given us; hope waits for it sometime to be revealed. Faith is the foundation on which hope leans. Hope nourishes faith and sustains it. For as no one can expect from God anything unless he has previously believed God's promises, so on the other hand ought our weak faith in patiently hoping and waiting to be sustained and heartened, lest it wearily fall."

- John Calvin, 1536 Institutes, Chapter 2, C

Psalm 136 Meditation, part 3

2009-11-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

3. Learn to see God's steadfast love in what he will do.

Learn to see God’s enduring goodness in His promise to finish what he started in you. Let's read vss 17-22. There were foreign peoples occupying the land of Israel who did not want to give it up. Our text says they were great kings! The twelve who went to spy out the land reported that there were giants in it! But God (according to our text): “struck them down” and “he killed mighty kings” and “gave their land as a heritage”! God finished what he began! Some of you look at the prospect of a life of faith and tremble. You see giants and kings that will not give up what has been promised to you. These could be kings who rule with fear, unbelief, loneliness, lust, pride, or even anger. They seem too great to ever be conquered! Would you lift your eyes up to the hills with me and remember that those who are with you are greater than those who are with them! Israel was paralyzed at the prospect of facing their enemies. Their enemies hated them. Listen, your enemies hate you too. All that is opposed to God and His son's gospel is opposed to you entering into the good that God has for you. But God struck down the great kings, he killed them all and he gave their land as Israel's great inheritance! God saved them from Egypt, and he saved them into the promised land. Likewise, God saved you from His wrath and Satan's accusations, and he will bring you safely home to himself. The kings who oppose you will be slain! Learning to hope in God's promised deliverance creates a thankfulness that will sustain you through the darkest valley. hether it be temptation or trials, learn to see God's steadfast love in what he will do; specifically, look to his promise to finish in you what he began! (Phil 1:6).

God-thanking people are those who labor to remind themselves of what God has done, is doing and will ultimately do.

Psalm 136 Mediation, part 2

2009-11-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

2. Learn to see God's steadfast love in what he is doing

Namely, we see God’s steady love in his daily preserving presence. Let's read vs 16 now, “[Give thanks. . . ] to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever.” When the people of Israel were rescued from Egypt, they were in a peculiar situation. They were already delivered from their slave master Pharoah, but they were not quite delivered into their own land yet. They were in a land in between. They longed for rest. They knew what they had been saved from, but didn't know what they had been saved into. In fact, They often felt like they hadn't been saved at all! They wondered if that whole red sea thing was just a big joke at their expense. Were they just delusional? No. They were in the wilderness, as are many of you! You don't feel the presence of God. You go without the benefits your unbelieving friends have of worldly pleasures, unpricked consciences and a sense of inclusion. Listen to verse 16: "God led his people through the wilderness". God led his people through the wilderness. Not just into the wilderness, through it. And he will lead you through this wilderness also! Learn to see God's steadfast love in his preserving presence: He will lead you through the wilderness. He led them, why not you? He gave them food from heaven and refreshed them with unknown springs of water in the desert He provided for them in the wilderness, and he is providing for you. Many, not all, of the people of Israel died in the wilderness because of unbelief? They grumbled instead of giving thanks! "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction" (1 Cor 10:11). "Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest" (Hebrews 4:1-3). Cultivating a life of God-directed thankfulness comes by learning to see God's steady love in his preserving presence! I so often miss this: How many times have I asked my wife how much sweeter an unexpected blessing of God's providence would have been if I would have actually been waiting for it, trusting him for it? Learn to see God's steadfast love in what he is doing and you will become a thankful person.

Psalm 136 Meditation, part 1

2009-11-20T15:17:00.000-08:00

1. Learn to see God's steadfast love in what he has done

B. Creation

Read from vss 4-9 in our text. Romans 1:19-23 says that

“although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

Giving thanks is serious business. Notice that if it doesn't happen its the last thing that goes before the slide into futility. When you look at creation, learn to see and appreciate the glory of God's handiwork and care everywhere. Calvin says it this way:

"Yet, in the first place, wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory. You cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe, in its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness." (Calvin,Institutes, 52).

Have you ever wondered why the universe is so vast and seemingly limitless? Have you ever wondered why God would make earth such a small speck in one galaxy of the billions that there are? Some conclude from this that humanity was accidental or that God could not exist. Did you know that God says in Jeremiah 31 that "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done"? When you see that vast reaches of creation, does it remind you of God's steady and enduring love for you? The reason you can't measure the heavens is because you cannot measure God's kindness and mercy shown to you in Christ! So, (a) thanksgiving erupts when we begin to see the steadfast love of God on display in creation

B. Salvation
In verses 10-15 of Psalm 136 we hear how God struck down the firstborn of Egypt in judgment, brought Israel out of slavery with a strong and outstretched arm, miraculously parted the Red sea so that dry ground appeared, made Israel pass through the waters and overthrew pharoah and his minions in the red sea. God saved Israel in such a way that his power and glory would be known in all the earth! Did you know that the deliverance God worked for Israel is only a whisper, a shadow of the salvation he worked for you and I in Jesus Christ! On the mount of transfiguration in Luke 9 Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah about his departure, literally his EXODUS! In Jesus' death and resurrection God struck down the pride of sin, brought the people of God out of slavery to the fear of death, miraculously parted the sea of God's judgment and curse over mankind, made us one with his holy and righteous son, and overthrew Satan and all his minions by triumphing over them in resurrection life on the third day.Listen to how the Psalm goes: “Give thanks to the Lord. . . who brought Israel out . . . for his steadfast love endures forever!” Learning to see the kindness and love of God in the greatest EXODUS from slavery of all is the way to become someone characterized by God-ward thankfulness! Paul prayed in Ephesians three that the church, you and I, would have power to grasp the multi-dimensional, multi-layered, multi-faceted, mind-surpassing love of Christ seen on the cross. O that God would give the young adults at this church that kind of power. We would be a thankful people, a happy people!

So, the first way to become a thankful person is by dwelling on what God has done in creation and in our salvation.

Why We Celebrate the Incarnation # 2 & 3

2009-11-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." 1 John 4:9

2. The love of God was revealed in the incarnation.

3. The son was sent into the world so that we might live through him.

Why We Celebrate the Incarnation # 1

2009-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

"The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8

Psalm 136 Meditation, Introduction

2009-11-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

I gave a short mediation on Christian thankfulness out of Psalm 136 last Friday at a worship night at church. I will post the meditation in four or five parts. Here is the introduction:

-----------------------------

For many of us thankfulness is not something that comes naturally. Some of you maybe have never had a particularly optimistic demeanor or personality. Others of you may have been forced to be thankful when you were not or when you should not have been. Well, we are approaching thanksgiving and the text we are reading tonight is all about a call given to the people of God past, present and future to give thanks. The psalm we are looking at tonight is book-ended with a command to 'Give thanks to the Lord'! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The beautiful thing about our passage is that it does not just tell us to give thanks, but it also tells us how or why to give thanks. I love this--not because I am extraordinarily analytical. Something about seeing the reason or the connection or the significance seems to excite me. So I hope it does you also!

Now, lets look at our text and ask the question together: How do I cultivate a life of perpetual thanksgiving to God? There are three answers our text gives. They all include learning to see God's love (hence the refrain). Thankful people are grounded in love, they are confident in God's shining favor seen in the face of Jesus through every trial and triumph. Do you give thanks in all circumstances? How blind are you to God's love? Can you see it? Thankfulness is like an eye exam that tests your ability to see the unshakable love of God. Where do you look? Again, three places. How do I cultivate a life of perpetual thanksgiving to God? Learn to see God’s steadfast love in what He (1) has done, (2) is doing and (3) will do.

A Word of Encouragement

2009-11-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

Acts 13:13-42 (ESV)

Listen to it here

"Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath."

New Shane and Shane CD

2009-11-08T18:01:00.001-08:00

Its called 'Everything is Different'. I really like what they are doing. As I get to know the songs better I will post lyrics of select songs. Buy it!

Why we need the Gospel

2009-11-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

Give Thanks to the Lord!

2009-11-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Funerals

2009-11-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege this last Saturday to observe two of my pastors officiate and preach at a funeral. This, strangely, was one of the high points of my internship. The time I got to spend with both the pastors on the way to and from the funeral was invaluable. They shared with me how their interactions with and knowledge of the family did and did not shape what they shared. I watched how to navigate through the complexities present at a funeral. I listened to Pastor Colin transition from an exposition of heaven to a passionate and pastoral exhortation to all those present to come to Christ and 'wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb'. I listened to Pastor Ted warmly and clearly share the Christian hope of the resurrection symbolized in the burial of the body. They both managed to encourage and console the family while at the same time present a vivid rendition of the gospel to those who may never have heard it before. The greatest part about the day with them was leaving with a more defined sense of calling to pastoral ministry. I left feeling strengthened and eager to step out in dependence on God, to lead. I haven't done a funeral of my own yet, but O' that I may so live and so eat God's word and so stand on all the promises we have in the gospel that I would be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have when the day comes. May God raise up courageous and bold and winsome men to help people die in a way that the glory of God's love is put on display--and how good it would be to be one of them.

Soli Deo Gloria

Bernard of Clairvaux

2009-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

What follows is the manuscript I used to give a message to the seniors at our church in a class called New Commandment. Let me know what you think about it. I am not entirely advocating everything he says, but am commending it for consideration. . .

When I was asked to speak for this class, though I was excited by the privilege and responsibility, I didn’t know what to speak on. I am taking a class on the history of Christian interpreters. We are not only looking at major figures in Christendom’s history but how they understood the bible, what they saw to be important, what they presupposed when they approached this text. You can approach this text with certain commitments, for better or for worse. Sometimes these commitments come from secular philosophies. Other times our commitments we bring to the text actually come from the text. This is the way it ought to be, I am becoming more convinced. This is how the Bible makes more and more sense. We don’t check at the door the knowledge of God and his world that we learn from Genesis when we deal with Jeremiah. So, I am in the class and I am reading up on Bernard of Clairvaux and am struck by his treatise On Loving God. As a Christian, I find that one of the things that increase my joy in the gospel is finding out how Christians, long before I was ever a twinkle in my mother’s eye, knew better and loved greater the things that I am only now coming across. As G.K. Chesterton wrote in his book Orthodoxy, “I am the man who with the utmost daring discovered what had been discovered before.” This morning I would like to look with you at the topic of true religion, of saving faith, of genuine love for God through the eyes of a man who lived almost 1,000 years before you and I did. What can we learn from Bernard? Was he right about everything he said?

Some things to stay attentive to as we dive into Bernard is the primacy of his view of God and his commitment to the importance of our love for God. Born in into a family of French nobility in 1090, Bernard decided to leave all the wealth of this world and follow God into the monastery when he was 22yrs old. Bernard became a mystic, and because of this you will see a strong focus on the experience of loving God. He was a monk who lived in a time where scholasticism was the air he breathed, so we also see a care for God’s word and a desire to interpret faithfully. Now, Bernard had some questionable features, for sure. To name a few, so that we know we are dealing with a fellow sinner, (1) he supported the crusades against the Turks; (2) he is known for his devotion to Mary which helped set a precedent in Catholicism that we would be kind to say is less than biblical; (3) he also interpreted the Bible with a heavy use of allegory- a method many in our time would and do properly frown on. In my limited study of church history it baffles me and then humbles me to think that some of the greatest Christian leaders have had moral blind spots that from our perspective are quite hideous. How could John Calvin be involved in, though in a somewhat limited way, the burning of heretics at the stake? How could Jonathon Edwards, who is in such agreement with Bernard on some issues we will look at today, endorse slavery? This ought to humble us and cause us to search our hearts. We must not throw out the good with the bad, for if we did we could learn from none!

The main aspect from his treatise that I would like to discuss this morning is what he called the ‘four degrees of love’ that can be experienced in your and my life. Bernard believed that what characterized the spiritual condition that we as humans live in more than anything is two things: the object of our love and the motive for our love. Loving God was all-important to Bernard. We can see this from a famous hymn he wrote called O Sacred Head Now Wounded. Discussing this will not only clarify your understanding of salvation itself but will, I hope, give many of us new fuel and direction in our pursuit of sanctification.

The first degree of love is the heart condition of an unbelieving person.

Lets pause for a moment and notice with me that Bernard is assuming that faith includes an affective or moral component. I happen to be in agreement with him. But let’s be clear what we are saying. He is not saying that love is the same thing as faith. We are not justified by love but by faith alone. But this is worth thinking through. What kind of faith is saving faith? What separates our belief in the one God from the demons’? Is it merely a degree of certainty? As though we really, really believe in God instead of just kind of believing in him like the demons. Well, I think it includes a kind of certainty that Jesus died and was raised again, but its more. The demons believe that Jesus died and rose again, but they hate it! John Calvin would want to say that the defining characteristic of saving faith believes not only that Jesus died and rose again but also trusting that redemption in Jesus was for you!—to accept it as such; to lean on it. Calvin seems to stay clear of mentioning explicitly the affective component of faith because he is being cautious to distinguish faith that justifies from what the Roman Catholic Church of his day contended for: namely, that deeds of love justify us before God. Here is where Bernard and even Jonathan Edwards take it a step further than Calvin—and I think they are right to do so. Bernard says,

But the believing soul longs and faints for God; she rests sweetly in the contemplation of Him. She glories in the reproach of the Cross, until the glory of His face shall be revealed. Like the Bride, the dove of Christ, that is covered with silver wings (Ps. 68.13), white with innocence and purity, she reposes in the thought of Thine abundant kindness, Lord Jesus; and above all she longs for that day when in the joyful splendor of Thy saints, gleaming with the radiance of the Beatific Vision, her feathers shall be like gold, resplendent with the joy of Thy countenance.

So Bernard seems to be right in saying that faith includes more than just certainty in God’s existence or in Jesus’ vicarious death, it involves a delight in it. We don’t just believe that God’s abundant kindness is for us in Christ, we repose in it, we relish it. What once seemed foolish now seems like wisdom and righteousness. Edwards says the difference between saving faith and demonic faith is like the difference between someone who knows propositionally that honey is sweet and the one who has actually enjoyed the sweet savor of honey. This makes sense of passages like 2 Timothy 4:7-8 and Ephesians 1: 18 and Ezekiel 36:26.

According to Bernard what characterizes an unbeliever the most is love of self. The object is self and the motive is a selfish one. He says,

At first, man loves himself for his own sake. That is the flesh, which can appreciate nothing beyond itself.

In this stage of love we are blind not only to God but blind to who we are. We don’t see God as glorious and we don’t discern the dignity of who we have been created to be. Bernard would also add that because we don’t see our God-given dignity—having been created higher than beasts—we also don’t live in line with that knowledge. Having the wisdom to recognize the high honor of humanity includes recognizing all that we have been given, every capacity we have to function as humans has been given by God. And we squander these gifts when we don’t recognize them as such.

The second stage of love, according to Bernard is when a person begins to come under a conviction of their absolute dependence. They recognize that they are given light to see, food to eat and air to breath. Everything they need to live and to exist is a gift. In stage two, the object of love changes but the motive stays the same. The object of love, according to Bernard, moves away from self and onto God. Here the person begins to recognize that God exists and that God expects righteousness from us. He or she recognizes their utter contingency and God’s transcendence. They begin to devote themselves to God and religion so as to benefit from it. This is what to do, so they think, to rid themselves of guilt, to get out of hell, to do as they ought. This, so they think will make them happy. While loving God, the person in this stage is doing it merely for reasons of the flesh. God is a means to an end.

. . . he perceives that he cannot exist by himself, and so begins by faith to seek after God, and to love Him as something necessary to his own welfare. That is the second degree, to love God, not for God’s sake, but selfishly.

Bernard argues that in this stage only fear and self-interest motivate the person. He makes it very clear that these cannot convert the soul—only charity can.

Now comes the transition to the third degrees of love.

But when he has learned to worship God and to seek Him aright, meditating on God, reading God’s Word, praying and obeying His commandments, he comes gradually to know what God is, and finds Him altogether lovely. . .

For Bernard, this makes all the difference in the Christian life! How wonderful a thing this is! How many have began to follow God, become moral, develop faith, and while committing themselves to the rigors of religiosity, they are blown out of the water by the grandeur of God’s glory!

So, having tasted and seen how gracious the Lord is (Ps. 34.8), he advances to the third degree, when he loves God, not merely as his benefactor but as God.

In this degree of love, God remains the object of affection but the motive changes. The reward for loving God is no longer something temporary and other than God, but it is God himself. Bernard is emphatic on this point. This is the degree of love that ought to characterize Christians.

Whosoever praises God for His essential goodness, and not merely because of the benefits He has bestowed, does really love God for God’s sake, and not selfishly

God is the reward. This is the goal of Christianity for this life. We have just finished hearing him say that charity is the thing that causes conversion, not fear or self interest. We have also heard him say that the transition from the second to the third degree of love is gradual. I would like to argue that this degree of love is the degree that signals regeneration, real salvation in the soul. It’s hard to say for sure what he means, Bernard is not dogmatic here. His purpose for this treatise is not the same as, say, Jonathan Edwards Religious Affections. Edwards aim was to separate the chaff from the wheat of pure religion, saving faith. This was in response to the many attacks after the great awakenings that the whole movement was just a bunch of commotion—just enthusiasm. These attacks were usually in response to wild and disorderly excesses used by pastors and lay people to force or fake powerful effusions of the Holy Spirit. Edwards would have none of this. He had to challenge it!

Now pastor Colin just preached on regeneration and he emphasized that it is not a gradual process, it is the instantaneous work of God in us whereby we become new creations. Bernard, I think, is only saying that from our perspective this transition from the second to the third degree of love is gradual. I would imagine that though many of you would affirm that God’s regenerating work is immediate, you would also testify from your own experience that you couldn’t pinpoint the exact date you began to love God for his own sake. That’s the way it was for me, there were some serious turning points for me, but it was a real process from my vantage point.

If we were to stop for a moment and say, okay we know the transition from the second to the third degree of love is significant, we think we are talking about what distinguishes conversion, but how does this happen. How does one go from loving God for the sake of self to love God for God’s sake?

He addresses this question, for according to Bernard, God is . . .

. . . the efficient cause as the final object of our love. He gives the occasion for love, He creates the affection, He brings the desire to good effect. He is such that love to Him is a natural due; and so hope in Him is natural, since our present love would be vain did we not hope to love Him perfectly some day. Our love is prepared and rewarded by His. He loves us first, out of His great tenderness; then we are bound to repay Him with love; and we are permitted to cherish exultant hopes in Him. . .

In these words we hear Bernard giving us two answers. First we hear him say that God is the efficient cause of the third degree of love. God is the one who saves us. He gives all credit and glory to God alone for such a gift of restoration. He thoroughly believes that “from Him and through Him and to Him are all things!” Now, ‘how’ can be answered in at least two ways. The first is cause, the second is manor. Bernard just said that God is the cause of our love for him, now, how did God cause and prepare us?

Our love is prepared and rewarded by His. He loves us first, out of His great tenderness; then we are bound to repay Him with love; and we are permitted to cherish exultant hopes in Him. . .

Bernard says that God’s love and great tenderness revealed in the gospel of His son is the very thing that elicits our love for Him. God causes and prepares our love by a vivid and breathtaking display of His own.

Before moving on to the fourth degree, let’s take a look at some of the practical implications of these last points for two areas of the Christian life: sanctification and evangelism.

First, sanctification. How does this understanding of loving God aid us in our sanctification? Have you ever felt discouraged or even scared by the lack of warmth and zeal you sense in your heart to God? Bernard struggled with this. He long to have greater and greater affection for God, but too often he was plagued by indifference and worldly desires.

As a Life Group leader and a pastor for young adults here at the Orchard, I get people talking to me about this quite often. “Ryan, my love for God was white-hot those first years, but now it’s just waning, I feel dry and parched. What do I do?” What would you say? What kind of wood do you put in the furnace of your love for God?

Bernard’s answer is an abiding and stayed contemplation of God’s marvelous compassion shown on the cross. He asks,

What could result from the contemplation of compassion so marvelous and so undeserved, favor so free and so well attested, kindness so unexpected, clemency so unconquerable, grace so amazing except that the soul should withdraw from all sinful affections, reject all that is inconsistent with God’s love, and yield herself wholly to heavenly things?

Bernard reminds us that unlike the heathen who have some reasons to acknowledge their need to grow in love for God, we have more. Therefore, he says,

So it behooves us, if we would have Christ for a frequent guest, to fill our hearts with faithful meditations on the mercy He showed in dying for us, and on His mighty power in rising again from the dead.

They love all the more, because they know themselves to be loved so exceedingly. . .

How does this help us with temptation?

For it is meet that those who are not satisfied by the present should be sustained by the thought of the future, and that the contemplation of eternal happiness should solace those who scorn to drink from the river of transitory joys

Second, evangelism: How should the third degree of love, having God as the object and the reward/motive, change the way we share the gospel with people we care about?

According to Bernard, we don’t offer them something more or other or beyond God. It is ridiculous to think of offering someone eternal life and speak of God as though he is only the means to that end!

Listen to him,

For instance no one would hire a hungry man to eat, or a thirsty man to drink, or a mother to nurse her own child. Who would think of bribing a farmer to dress his own vineyard, or to dig about his orchard, or to rebuild his house? So, all the more, one who loves God truly asks no other recompense than God Himself; for if he should demand anything else it would be the prize that he loved and not God.

Or. . .

If you should see a starving man standing with mouth open to the wind, inhaling draughts of air as if in hope of gratifying his hunger, you would think him lunatic. But it is no less foolish to imagine that the soul can be satisfied with worldly things which only inflate it without feeding it.

So, lets not offer people worldly things which can only inflate them without feeding them. Offering someone anything other than all God is for them in Jesus is like offering to pay a hungry man to eat, he doesn’t want your money, he wants food. Offer him the thing he needs. Don’t make the thing he really needs the lever to get what he doesn’t need.

Is God our ticket that we leave at the gate to enter the city with streets of gold? God is Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Will we walk past God in heaven to enjoy healthy bodies and restored relationships apart from Him? No! All of these good gifts in heaven will be springboards into greater a delight in God! So, when we share the gospel with people, we must lay before them the unseen, eternal, all-satisfying God as their all in all—not the stuff he gives!

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God!” 1 Peter 3:18

Now, lets move on to the fourth and final degree of love. Bernard thinks that the fourth degree is mainly reserved for heaven. Listen to his description of the transition from the 3rd to the 4th degree.

Speaking of the 3rd degree to begin with:

Surely he must remain long in this state; and I know not whether it would be possible to make further progress in this life to that fourth degree and perfect condition wherein man loves himself solely for God’s sake. Let any who have attained so far bear record; I confess it seems beyond my powers. Doubtless it will be reached when the good and faithful servant shall have entered into the joy of his Lord (Matt. 25.21)

Here we see the object of love now shift to self, yet our motive remains the same. What does he mean by this? It sounds potentially disastrous doesn’t it? It may help to remember that Bernard wanted to emphasize in the 1st degree of love where we love self for the sake of self that the problem is in large measure that we can no longer see ourselves rightly. We don’t see ourselves as made in God’s image. We don’t see ourselves, every gift and ability we have, as given by a kindly creator. What he is saying is that now in the 4th degree of love, this fallen and sinful perspective of self is reversed! Wonderfully reversed!

Let’s listen to him,

In the first creation He gave me myself; but in His new creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self that I had lost. Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself. But what have I to offer Him for the gift of Himself? Could I multiply myself a thousand-fold and then give Him all, what would that be in comparison with God?

What do you think about this? It’s clear, to be sure, from the narrow and broader context that Bernard is not saying the essence of heaven will be a focus on self. That would be a tragic misreading. No, he is saying that we will for the first time begin to see ourselves aright!

Here he makes himself crystal clear. . .

Here indeed is appeasement without weariness: here never-quenched thirst for knowledge, without distress; here eternal and infinite desire which knows no want; here, finally, is that sober inebriation which comes not from drinking new wine but from enjoying God (Acts 2.13). The fourth degree of love is attained for ever when we love God only and supremely, when we do not even love ourselves except for God’s sake; so that He Himself is the reward of them that love Him, the everlasting reward of an everlasting love

Now this is the degree of love that really jarred me. I have come to realize in these last years that I have grown a bit out of kilter in my passion to maintain a God-centered outlook on everything. This is language we use quite a bit in the church. We are God-centered, Gospel-centered people—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So here is how I got out of kilter. I began to see myself only as a sinful wretch that God couldn’t bare to look at unless his merciful son twisted his arm to do so. This is an exaggeration for sure, but not an incredible one. I didn’t understand that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). I felt like I had to stand behind Christ, not in Him. I didn’t realize, at least subconsciously and practically, that there was never a moment since before the foundation of the world was laid that God did not have his love set on my. He purposed, before the world was made, to lavish me with indescribable depths of mercy and grace and kindness in His son.

John Calvin in his Institutes actually quotes Augustine to get his point across,

God’s love is incomprehensible and unchangeable. For it was not after we were reconciled to him through the blood of his Son that he began to love us. Rather, he has loved us before the world was created, that we also might be his sons along with hi only-begotten Son—before we became anything at all. The fact that we were reconciled through Christ’s death must not be understood as if his Son reconciled us to him that he might now begin to love those whom he had hated. Rather, we have already been reconciled to him who loves us, with whom we were enemies on account of sin.

I can barely believe this! Here is where this 4th degree becomes important. When God says he loves you and sent his son to die for you, and you live like you aren’t worth a thing, that is called ‘unbelief’! Its sin. How many Christians hurt themselves with sinful behaviors because all they can see in the cross is God’s begrudging pardon rather than his inestimable eternal love for them?

The only thing I disagree with Bernard with respect to the 4th degree is the notion that it is almost wholly reserved for the life to come. In its fullness, yes, both love for God and self will only be consummated at Jesus’ return.

But I think this is so important for right now. How are you, Christians, supposed to see yourselves? If you are in Christ you must see yourselves as loved, adopted, provided for, safe, valuable, and secure in God’s favor. No one can snatch you out of the firm hand of His Fatherly love. And you must do all this in such a way that makes you repose in Him, glory in the cross, exult in his plan of redemption. You must love yourself for the sake of His glory.

"from faith for faith" -Romans 1:17

2009-11-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

“When at first we taste the gospel, we indeed see God’s smiling countenance turned towards us, but at a distance: the more the knowledge of true religion grows in us, by coming as it were nearer, we behold God’s favor more clearly and more familiarly.”

Jesus came to 'fulfill' the law and the prophets

2009-09-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

What follows is an excerpt (slightly modified) from a small paper I turned in this last week on John Chrysostom. I was telling a friend of mine today at church how much I enjoyed studying him and he encouraged me to post my thoughts on my blog. So here it is . . .

John Chrysostom (347-407 CE) was a man of notable influence. The ‘Golden Tongue’ was born in Antioch where he served as both deacon and presbyter and died exiled from Constantinople, where he served the church as bishop. Though almost two millennia separate him from the 21st century Christian, he nevertheless has something to say to us. He was a pastor, scholar, reformer, rhetorician, and a monastic (in lifestyle). He inherited the Origenian legacy mediated through Diodore of Tarsus of biblical fidelity and precision. With that said, he is also esteemed as the best example of the Antiochene school of approach to the Bible. He has been read and appreciated in literally every age of Christendom, including his own.

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says that he came not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to ‘fulfill’ them. In what follows, lets look at Chrysostom’s exegesis by contrasting his approach to this important passage with the exegesis of an admirer of his, Geneva’s John Calvin.
What did Jesus mean when he said he had come to ‘fulfill’ the law and the prophets? This question has challenged not a few interpreters of Scripture. Though much of John Calvin’s theological system addressed the relationship between the Old and New Testament, in his commentary on Matthew 5:17 he describes only two ways that Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets.

Calvin
First, when Christ says he came to fulfill the law, according to Calvin, he meant that through his life, teaching, death and resurrection the old covenant was ‘confirmed and ratified.’ Far from abrogating it, the gospel is in agreement with the law.

Second, the way Christ confirmed and ratified the law was by making its meaning plain. In other words, redemption in Christ ‘gave substance to the shadows’ of the law. When the mysterious purposes of the law and the prophets were revealed in the gospel, the meaning and the intent of the law was actually established. Calvin quotes Jeremiah 31:33-34 to ground his argument. In this text regarding the new covenant God promises that the law will be written on the hearts of His people.

Chrysostom
Is Calvin in agreement with Chrysostom’s assessment of the law’s fulfillment in Christ? According to Chrysostom, Christ fulfilled the law in three senses.

First, Christ fulfilled what was promised and predicted in the law. Here he means that everything in the OT that promised fulfillment in the messiah both referred to Christ and was fulfilled in his actions (including his speech). Though Calvin would definitely agree with this in general, he does not mention it in his comments on Matthew 5:17. Interestingly, Chrysostom limits the predictive fulfillment of the law in Christ to the literal, not taking into account the typological sense. He focused on the birth of Christ fulfilling the predictive prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 rather than Christ being the ultimate antitype of the sacrificial system, for example.

The second sense of fulfillment is in two parts: (A) Christ fulfilled the law in that he kept it perfectly. There was no sin found in him. He fulfilled all righteousness. And also (B) in that it is granted to his people to keep the law through faith in Him. Chrysostom leans heavily on Romans 8:3-4 here, where Paul says that through faith “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.” Those who follow Christ are given power to keep the meaning and goal of the law through faith in him and by the life-giving Spirit.

The third sense Christ fulfilled the law was by elucidating it. According to him, this is the most likely meaning intended in Matthew 5. Jesus works to make sure it is clear that his teaching is not in contradiction to the law and the prophets, but ‘a drawing out, and filling up of them.’

This seems to be what Calvin is referring to by giving ‘substance to the shadows.’ The difference is that Calvin both elaborates on this point, making it a major emphasis in book II of his Institutes, and he subordinates it to the confirmation of the law. That is, in Calvin’s view, the elucidation or revealing of the law in the gospel serves the purpose of confirming, establishing and ratifying it. It functions instrumentally. Though nuanced a bit, Calvin aligns himself with Chrysostom’s interpretive heritage with respect to this rich biblical theme: the law’s fulfillment in Christ.

John Chrysostom was admired by Geneva’s reformer and deserves the same from us. Both his hermeneutical commitments and his manner of life are worthy of emulation, even over1500 years later! I continually have to guard myself against the assumption that new equals intelligent and old equals ignorant. Both Chrysostom and Calvin had masterful and profound understandings of how the testaments hang together.

The Guardianship of Hope

2009-09-16T12:51:00.001-07:00

I have really done a poor job of keeping up on this blog, and for that I am sorry. For now, I will post a passage from Calvin's Institutes. It is worded so well. So many helpful themes are weaved into this. In the middle of describing how the law is not abolished or abrogated in the gospel, he lays out in what sense the promises of the law have been fulfilled both in Christ and in us.

Enjoy. . .

"I just declared that Christ left unfinished nothing of the sum total of our salvation. But it is wrong to assume from this that we already possess the benefits imparted by him - as if that statement of Paul's, that 'our salvation is hidden in hope' [col. 3:3] were false! I admit, indeed, that in believing Christ we at once pass from death into life. But at the same time we must remember that saying of John's: although we know that 'we are the children of God, it does not yet appear. . . until we shall become like him, when we shall see him as he is' [1 John 3:2]. Although, therefore, Christ offers us in the gospel a present fullness of spiritual benefits, the enjoyment thereof ever lies hidden under the guardianship of hope, until, having put off corruptible flesh, we be transfigured in the glory of him who goes before us. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit bids us rely upon the promises . . . We enjoy Christ only as we embrace Christ clad in his own promises. Thus it comes to pass that he indeed dwells in our hearts [cf. Eph. 3:17], and yet: "We are absent from him. For we walk by faith, not by sight [2 Cor 5:5-7]. Now these two things agree rather well with each other: we possess in Christ all that pertains to the perfection of heavenly life, and yet faith is the vision of good things not seen [cf. Hebrews 11:1]. "

Kel's First Birthday Party (of the month)

2009-06-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the pictures from Kel's birthday party last night. It was fairly last minute and informal, but we had a great time--which is interesting. . . since all we had was spaghetti, one hampster in a ball, and one glitter-filled bouncy-ball to keep us entertained! More than enough! I will post more pics later-

The Gospel Coalition

2009-05-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the schedule from The Gospel Coalition 2009 conference. I just sent out a newsletter saying that I would post a link to the audio/video of these messages, so here it is! The two workshops I went to were by Joshua Harris and C.J. Mahaney. If you are wondering where to start or thinking you will only have time to listen to a couple of messages, here are a few that I found to be particularly helpful:

Listen to the messages by. . .
Tim Keller
John Piper at the conference and at the Thursday night 'pastor as scholar' event.
Joshua Harris
C.J. Mahaney
Panel Discussion
Ligon Duncan

If you finish those, just keep going!

I can relate

2009-05-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

Samuel Hopkins, an aspiring preacher, lived in Jonathan Edwards home after he finished his time at Yale. I laughed out loud at Starbucks when I read what he wrote in his journal one day:

"Sunday, July 24, 1743. Heard Mr. Edwards preach all day. I have been very dull and senseless; much discouraged about preaching. Hearing Mr. Edwards makes me ashamed of myself. . ."

Fleming's Warfield

2009-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I opened up my 1948 copy of B.B. Warfield's Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. It has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. I think I got it either from my pastor back home in Tacoma or from a used bookstore in Portland, OR. I'm not quite sure. So, I open it up and I see that there is a name hand-written right inside the cover with a date next to it. It read, "Peter S. Fleming, 1949." The name sounded very familiar to me. Then I remembered that there might have been a Pete Fleming among the five missionaries slain in Ecuador in 1955. I was introduced to Jim Elliot through the biography written of him by Elizabeth Elliot, his wife, called Shadow of the Almighty. I remember reading about Pete being one of Jim's friends. I wasn't totally sure though. I needed to know if the Pete Fleming I was thinking of had a middle name that started with an 'S'. So of course, I googled him. Here is what Wikipedia says about him:

"Peter Sillence Fleming (1928-1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca. Early Life Fleming was born in Seattle, Washington. He was taught the Bible from an early age, but claimed he was not a Christian until he was 13 years old after hearing the testimony of a blind evangelist. During his late teens and early twenties, Fleming was known for his knowledge of Scripture and spiritual maturity. In high school, Fleming earned letters in basketball and golf. He was also a good student, graduating at the top of his class. In 1946, Fleming enrolled at the University of Washington as a philosophy student. He was very driven in college, working part-time and dedicating much time to prayer and Bible study, as well as keeping up on his classes. He was also elected president of the University Christian Fellowship. He went on for his master's degree, which he received in 1951. Fleming met Jim Elliot during a series of conferences and mountain climbing expeditions arranged by a Christian organization. They became good friends and at one time spent six weeks preaching across the country together. Elliot had a great deal of influence on Fleming and was largely responsible for his becoming a missionary and for his breaking off of his engagement with Olive Ainslie, a childhood friend. Ecuador Fleming went to Ecuador in 1952 as a part of a two-man team with Jim Elliot. After serving on the mission field for a while, Elliot changed his mind about celibacy and got married. Shortly afterwards, Fleming proposed to Olive in a letter, and they were married in 1954. In September 1955, Fleming joined with Elliot and three other missionaries in Operation Auca, an attempt to reach the Waodani Indians with the Gospel. He was the last member of the team to join, largely because of concerns of his wife. They had only been married 18 months when all five of the team were attacked by a group of Waodani warriors and Fleming was killed along with the other missionaries. A search party found Fleming's body floating in the Curaray River. His body was identified by a red woven belt he was wearing. According to reports, Fleming was speared by Kimo, a man who later became one of the first Huaorani converts to Christianity."

Pete is in the middle of this picture to the left with Jim Elliot to his right. Assuming that this book realy was Pete Fleming's, its pretty incredible knowing that just six years after buying Warfield's classic on the inerrancy of the Bible, he laid down his life for the gospel in South America. O that God would use my time at seminary, my reading theology, my learning dead languages, to put a living passion in me for the glory of His name and an ache to spread His fame in word and deed. I thank God for those missionaries and the impact they had on me when I was a new Christian. They were serious about following Jesus. The were serious about loving people by doing whatever it took to get the gospel of God's son to them-- even if it meant their very lives. Jim Elliot was right when he wrote in his journal, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Incorporated in Christ

2009-04-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

"Here and now believers of the new age continued to live in mortal bodies, but inwardly they already enjoyed a foretaste of the coming resurrection life - eternal life - because they were united by faith to the risen Christ, incorporated in him. This incorporation was effected by the Spirit of Christ whom they had received, and by his power the life of the risen Christ was already imparted to all his people. In baptism, indeed, they had died with Christ and been buried and raised with him; at his advent they would share his manifested glory, but by the indwelling Spirit they were able to anticipate the hope of glory and live in the good of it." (F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, 304-305)

Why Read the Bible?

2009-01-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

"God's children need to be very serious about this. Just as they feel that without God's Spirit they have no true light, so they know that the Word is the means by which the light of the Spirit comes. They recognise no other Spirit than the one who lived and spoke in the apostles - the Spirit by whose authority they are invited to listen to the Word every day"
(John Calvin, Institutes, book 1, part 2, chapter 9).

Dreams and Shadows. . .

2009-01-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

So, I was procrastinating from doing some reading for school tonight by reading some books for leisure. I picked up a book I probably read when I was 21 yrs old. . . FIVE years ago! Time has really flown by. The book is by Henry Scougal and it is called The Life Of God In The Soul Of Man. I picked it up at the first Desiring God conference I went to back in 2004 (which I believe was on Jonathan Edwards). Anyway, I wasn't reading it as much as browsing through different sections that I had marked up and then came across a really terrific section. This is one of the many sections that are fantastic. Though the book is small, it was one of the first books of a more serious and theological tone that captured my attention. I remember reading it on my way up to Vancouver Island with the Sandbergs. I remember sitting by the fire in the Hamp's house being carried away in worship by some of the new things I was learning about God and His creation in this book.

Here is a section that stuck out to me and I thought would be worth sharing to others. Scougal encourages his reader to fix his mind on the divine truths of religion--which was basically urging him to fix his mind on the reality and purposes of God in the Gospel. Read carefully,

"We must therefore endeavour to work up our minds to a serious belief and full persuasion of divine truths, unto a sense and feeling of spiritual things: our thoughts must dwell upon them, till we be both convinced of them, and deeply affected with them. Let us urge forward our spirits, and make them approach the invisible world, and fix our minds upon immaterial things, till we clearly perceive that these are no dreams; nay, that all things are dreams and shadows besides them" (page 116).

Wow! Lord, help us to so dwell on your word and on all that you accomplished through your Son, testified in Scripture, until it becomes real to us. May everything else be as a dream compared to the reality of you and your kingdom! Wake us Lord, daily, from the sleep, the dreamland of unbelief and casual Christianity. "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (Psalm 119:18). May we fix our eyes on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God until everything else pales in comparison to glory and weight of Jesus.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace."

-Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

To Washington and back again

2009-01-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

We have returned from our week home in WA. It was so wonderful to see friends and family. One of the main reasons for going home at this time was to see my best friend Eli and her husband Ben with their daughter Ava. They have been living in China and have come home for a short amount of time since Eli was pregnant. Ry and i both had some sweet time with them and finally the day before we headed back, Eli gave birth to Miren Taylor!

My grandpa and grandma Black flew up for a quick weekend, we had a lot of fun with them as usual. Ryan preached at our home church on Sunday and did a terrific job. We went out to dinner several time with Ryan's dad, and Ry was able to go over and spend time with his grandma while i was with my sister one day. The time i got to spend with Haley was really wonderful. She is getting older and becoming this sweet godly women who is confident in who she is in the Lord and can be so silly and fun. My brother spent a lot of time at the fire station helping with all the flooding in Orting, but i still felt like i got a good amount of time with him too. Ry really enjoyed hanging out with his buddies and brother too. The last night of our time there we had an open house so we could hug as many people as possible. It was a great time. Monica and i spent the entire after noon making brownies and cupcakes and my mom is a great hostess.

We did so much it is hard to recall. All in all we had a wonderful time and i wasn't even close to being ready to come back to this -9 degree weather! Here we are back to the daily grind, Ryan still on crutches, we're praying for a clean and quick healing process so he can get back on two feet. Thanks for reading this and caring about the details of our lives.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! Here we are in 2009- yahoo. Ryan and i have had a wonderful winter break. The day after Christmas Ryan's mom and brother flew in from WA. Justin was here for a few days, we had a great time with him (he's quite the practical joker). We celebrated Debbie's birthday with her on the first. Debbie unfortunatley leaves tomorrow.

HOWEVER, Ryan and I get to fly home on Wednesday! I can harldy wait. We are looking forward to my grandparents flying up from CA to see us, spending time with the fam, and my best friend in the whole world Eli and her husband are home from China to give birth to their second daughter. A week is not nearly enough time to be home, i'm already sad to come back and we haven't even left yet.

Ryans is recovering from his knee surgery from a week and a half ago now. He is to the point of loathing crutches, but is being patient. We are all set up for the VIP style of traveling with his handicap i.e., somebody to cart us to our gate, early boarding, first off the plane ect. ect.. He is looking forward to his next Dr. appt to hear how things are coming along.

....still celebrating Christmas

2008-12-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Here in the Beardsley home we are still celebrating. I've decided I'm going to post every once in a while as well to give you a peek into our everyday selves along side of the things that Ry is learning.
We had a wonderful Illinois-white-Christmas. Ry picked out a fabulous little tree for our home when Tony and Jen were here early December and all decorations are in there places. We have a cozy little fire and a beautiful winter wonderland outside our window(until you go out there and experience the fr-fr-frigged-ness). This year we were given a wonderful advent book Come Thou Long Expected Jesus written by a number of great men, that we read through the month longing and looking forward to the day. It is a book we would highly recommend and know we will cherish for years to come.

With Ryan having his knee surgery a week prior we've kept things pretty low key....and loved it. Christmas morning we spent together starting with advent reading and prayer. Opened the gifts for eachother and breakfast. We spent lunch with our friends Doug and Natalie Hankins and their friend Micah. Natalie made a great roast and i made a casserole and great desserts. After the feast we met up with our other friends the Preussler's for a movie. We are so very thankful for our friends here.

Christmas eve the Stanghelle's long expected son Luke arrived!! After a long pregnancy and a really long labor, he's finally here. Today we are cleaning up and preparing for Ryan's mom and brother to come to town! We're very excited to have them and are down to counting the hours and minutes!!

It really is the most wonderful time of the year. Now we're anticipating flying home in January to see our families in WA!

Why Did God Give Adam and Eve Gospel?

2008-12-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

C.H. Spurgeon, in a book called Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life, imagines what God's rationale most likely was for speaking about the woman's seed the way he did when pronouncing a curse on the serpent. God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed."

God does not just come out and explicitly pronounce a gospel of mercy and peace to Adam and Eve. He does it, as Spurgeon says, obliquely. He isn't even addressing Adam and Even, he is speaking to the serpent. What God says isn't explicitly good news; in fact, it is explicitly bad news for the serpent. It is a curse! Why does God announce the protoevangelion (first-gospel) this way? Why obliquely? Here is what Spurgeon thinks God meant to communicate by offering hope to Adam and Eve through cursing the Serpent the way he did,

"Not for your sakes do I this, O fallen man and woman, nor for the sake of your descendants, but for My own name and honor's sake, that it be not profaned among the fallen spirits who look down upon the scene."

Spurgeon comments on this imaginary divine rationale, "All this would be very humbling but yet consolatory to our parents if they thought of it, seeing that the divine sovereignty and glory afford us a stronger foundation of hope than human merit, even if merit can be supposed to exist." (see page 42)

Generous Kingdom People

2008-12-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a great chance to win some books worth reading or giving away to people you care about! To learn more about it go to the Kingdom People blog by clicking here!

HT: JT

when I saw this I laughed

2008-11-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know where I got this picture from but it is saved on my computer. I laugh every time I look at it. I thought you should too. Note the different reactions of those on deck for their shot--varying from terror to mocking laughter.

Personally, I don't like needles. I usually faint when people poke me with them. Nevertheless, this picture makes me laugh.

Together for the Gospel Live

2008-11-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts about going to T4G last spring was the times of worship through song before and after each session. 5,000 men + Bob Kauflin + piano + great hymns. As soon as I got back from the conference I emailed the T4G website asking whether or not the worship times were recorded. Just recently I found it was recorded and are going to be available in the middle of December! You can go to Sovereign Grace's website to pre-order the cd and download three free songs from the album. The album is called Together for the Gospel Live, and has the following songs:
1. A Mighty Fortress is our God
2. It is well with my soul
3. How Firm a Foundation
4. Oh the Deep, Deep Love
5.Come, Thou Fount of Every
6.How Deep the Father's Love for Us
7. How Sweet and Aweful is the. . .
8. My Hope is Built on Nothing Less
9. I will Glory in My Redeemer
10. Arise, My Soul, Arise
11. The Power of The Cross
12. My Song is Love Unknown
13. And Can It Be That I Should Gain
14. There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood
15. Before the Throne of God Above
16. In Christ Alone
17. A Thousand Tongues (Free Mp3)
18. Jesus Paid it All (Free Mp3)
19. All Hail the Power (Free Mp3)

This is the description for the cd,

Together for the Gospel (T4G) began as a friendship among four pastors: Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler. In April 2008, more than 5,000 people, mostly pastors, gathered at the T4G conference to hear God’s Word and sing the praises of the Savior. This CD contains those times of singing, accompanied by Bob Kauflin on an acoustic piano. As you listen, we pray you’ll be freshly drawn to worship the One who “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pe 3:18 ESV).

Long Awaited Christmas Albums!

2008-11-13T19:49:00.001-08:00

Shane & Shane and Fernando Ortega each came out with Christmas albums! I have been hoping for quite some time that they both would put together this type of material. It just so happened that I randomly came across both of them in one night!

Shane & Shane's album is called Glory in the Highest. For songs you are unfamiliar with of their's on this album and others, it is helpful to have their lyrics in front of you. For all their strengths, they don't annunciate incredibly well.

It includes the following songs:

1. O Holy Night
2. O Come O Come Emmanuel

3. Away In A Manger
4. Its Beginning to look alot like Christmas

5. Born To Die (original)
6. Silent Night

7. White Christmas
8. Holiday
9. Glory in the Highest
10. O Come let us adore him

Fernando Ortega's album is called Christmas Songs (appropriately. . .)

It includes the following songs:

1. Come, Thou long expected Jesus

2. Carol of the Birds

3. Joy to the World

4. Go tell it on the mountain

5. What child is this?

6. Bring a torch, Jeanette Isabella

7. O little town of Bethlehem

8. Let all mortal flesh

9. Angels we have heard on high

10. Jesus, King of angels

"Until we believe that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for"

2008-11-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

Wow! two posts in a row on Piper's messages. I promise to mix it up from here on out.

This morning I listened to the first sermon that I ever heard by John Piper called, "Prayer, the Work of Missions". I heard it when I was 20 years old. The message was given by him at the ACMC annual meeting in Denver, CO in 1988. God used this message in conjuction with other influences at the time to turn my life absolutely upside down.

Though others may have introduced some of the concepts that were in this message before, this is definately the first time it made sense- it clicked. For instance: (1) the place of prayer in the advancement of the gospel, (2) the sovereignty of God in salvation and (3) in the fulfillment of missions; (4) every aspect of life including time, money, resources and relationships are handled differently if one has a war-time mindset. Just as everything changes during war-time in a country, so does a Christian's life change when he realizes that the kingdom of God is advancing, and the violent take it by force (Mat 11:12). O' how grateful to God I am for this message, because of what I learned about Him through it. This message turned me away from an anti-intelectual, just love Jesus, kind of Christianity. I became interested in theology and its relationship to my life. I had hope that God could not only forgive the guilt of my sin, but free me (sovereignly) from the power of sin. Since this has turned into a little bit of a autobiographical moment, I will say that this message was the catalyst for theological education and a fervancy in absolute devotion to Jesus.

I came across it through a discipleship program I was going through led by Craig Black called 'Top Gun Ministries'. Piper's message on prayer was given to us to listen to during the third week of the nine month program. Here are some key points of the message:

1. Life is a war (to maintain faith and get to heaven)
2. Prayer wields the weapons of warfare (the word of God and its promises)
3. God is sovereign:
a. to save dead sinners, to grant repentance and faith
b. and therefore the victory in the cause of Christ is sure
4. So we can pray with confidence!

Listen to the message!

Knowing God and Enjoying God

2008-10-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

I listened to a really helpful address by John Piper yesturday that was posted on Andy Naselli's blog. Piper was addressing about a 1,000 scholars at the Evangelical Theological Society in 1998. I think it is relevant for everyone! If you want to listen to it, as well as a message by D.A. Carson, and get a better description of their topics, go to Andy's blog.

My parents were HERE!!

2008-10-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

they were actually here!!! my mom and dad, Craig and Lyn Black, came to visit us at our home. We had a wonderful time. We did a ton of stuff, and only scratched the surface of fun things to do in chicago. we loved the shopping- saks, tiffany's, neiman marcus, nordstroms, american girl store, and the list goes on for an entire magnificant mile!! we also saw the movie Fireproof, and the documentary Call and Response (crazy truth about slavery and human trafficing globally today). If you know the Black family you wont be surprized we went out to breakfast everyday covering every breakfast joint for a 10 mile radius of our house. We also accomplished our mission of finding a new table and chairs (see the pics around the table). i so loved having my mom and dad to hug - i'm sure they were all hugged and snuggled out by the time they left.... impossible. Our time was only refreshing and encouraging and flew by so fast!!!! Today is in fact my mothers 50th birthday!! most importantly she has had me exactly half of her life. (just kidding, not important, but true) Alas, they have returned to our beloved home town of Puyallup and left us in IL cold and alone. we'll make it, i'm only crying sporadically and ryan is doing his best to keep me smiling.

Some pics from our time with Craig and Lyn

2008-10-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

On the edge of Lake Michigan in Glencoe
Lyn and I around our new table!
Sweet italiano restaurant which we ate at the night before they left- this place had the same chef for 40+ years! It was great!
Father and daughter. . .

I wonder if Kelly liked it when her parents were here. . .

2008-10-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Cup

2008-10-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

I had the privelage of leading the cup aspect of communion this past Saturday and Sunday at church. What a joy it was! (The campus pastor adminstered the bread and let me do the cup.)The joy was almost entirely in the preparation and meditation that went into what to say and not say in one minute of time. What is essential and what isn't?

A few weeks ago I was in my class on Luke-Acts and the professor was lecturing on the passage in the beginning of Luke 4 where Jesus is tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Dr. Pao's comments were incredibly helpful. Maybe later I will find the time to type out Dr. Pao's argument on the text with all of its implications that I have been chewing on, but for now I will only say that his lecture was influentual in my thinking about the cup along the lines of Israel's exodus from Egypt. With that said, here is the gist (sp?) of what I shared this weekend:

The Christian life can be difficult. Psalm 106 says that Israel sinned in the wilderness because they did not remember how God rescued them from Egypt. They did not remember God's mighty works. Similar to the Israelites, we also are tempted to bow down and worship all kinds of pathetic idols, test God by accusing him of evil, and grumble over our seemingly meager circumstances. Therefore we must remember not Israel's exodus from Egypt (as was customary for the Passover feast), but rather we must remember the greater exodus that the former pointed to: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the perfect, faithful, obedient Son of God.

When we take this cup we remember Him who, like Israel, was tempted in the wilderness, but did not sin; who in fact was tempted like us in every way, yet without sinning.

We remember and glory in the new covenant promises purchased by the shed blood of Jesus: forgiveness of sins, persevering obedience, a knowledge of God and new affections for Him!

We remember that it was not with perishable gold and silver that we were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to us from our forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

We remember Jesus Christ when we take this cup; and in so doing we proclaim his death until he comes!

Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

2008-09-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

I spent some time meditating on God before diving into studies and used the words of the classic hymn I have recently come to love as a springboard. I have been fascinated with God's electing and adopting love made possible through the perfect life and death of Jesus Christ.

In an attempt to express my recognition of God's love in the sending of His Son I wrote an additional verse for this hymn, Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. The first three are original verses and the 4th is mine in italics:

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast unmeasured, boundless, free,
rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me,
underneath me, all around me
is the current of Your love,
leading onward, leading homeward
to Your glorious rest above.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore,
how he came to pay our ransom
through the saving cross He bore;
how He watches o'er His loved ones,
those He died to make His own,
how for them He's interceding,
pleading now before the throne.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
far surpasses all the rest,
it's an ocean full of blessing
in the midst of every test.
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
mighty Saviour, precious friend,
You will bring us home to glory,
where Your love will never end.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
tremble here and stray to none;
though we wander and reject him
God still crushed his only Son!
Who could fathom? Stand in wonder
God would stoop to die for me
only in the love of Jesus
can the Father's heart be seen.

Dunes Daze

2008-08-31T00:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Kel and I along with other leaders and students who went to these gigantic dunes for a weekend on the shore of Lake Michigan in Sawyer, MI.

This is Skip on the left and Josh on the right. Skip goes to Moody and Josh to Trinity undergrad. I have had a great time getting to know these guys in ministry this summer.
Camping, fire, and meat never get old!
This is a game they called 'Bag-o's', they take these boards on every youth trip and have them set up every week for youth group. You throw the bags at the boards and try to make it in the hole. I was not thrilled with it at first, but it does grow on you.

Colossians

2008-08-31T00:26:00.000-07:00

I had the privelage of translating through Colossians last spring in my Greek Exegesis course at Trinity. I also preached on Colossians 2:1-15 at my home church in WA last summer before I came to Trinity. But in neither of these instances of studying Colossians did I come across N.T. Wright's small commentary on Colossians. Michael Bird quoted a section from Wright on his blog Euangelion, which I read last week, and I have not been able to stop thinking about it. I think it so poignantly highlights what Paul is doing rhetorically with this pivotal section of his letter. So here it is in its entirety as Dr. Bird posted it, enjoy:

"The 'rulers and authorities' of Rome and of Israel - as Caird points out, the best government and the highest religion of the world of that time had ever known - conspired to place Jesus on the cross. These powers, angry at his challenge to their sovereignty, stripped him naked, held him up to public contempt, and celebrated a triumph over him. In one of his most dramatic statements of the paradox of the cross, and one moreover which shows in what physical detail Paul could envisage the horrible death Jesus had died, he declares that, on the contrary, on the cross God was stripping them naked, was holding them to public contempt, and leading them in his own triumphal procession - in Christ, the crucified Messiah. When the 'powers' had done their worst, crucifying the lord of glory incognito on the charge of blasphemy and rebellion, they have overreached themselves. He, neither blasphemer nor rebel, was in fact their rightful sovereign. They thereby exposed themselves for what they were - usurpers of the authority which was properly his. The cross therefore becomes the source of hope for all who had been held captive under their rule, enslaved in fear and mutual suspicion. Christ breaks the last hold that the 'powers' had over his people, by dying on their behalf. He now welcomes them into a new family in which the ways of the old world - its behaviour, its distinctions of race and class and sex, its blind obedience to the 'forces' of politics and economics, prejudice and superstition - have become quite simply out of date, a ragged and defeated rabble." (Colossian, pp. 116-17)

The New Home

2008-08-30T23:41:00.000-07:00

Home may be misleading. It is a condo rented out as an apartment. But it is our new home. After moving out of our molded infested rental house, we are happy to be in a place that is smaller, cleaner, and overseen by a responsible and attentive landlord. Kel and I spent the last two weeks, ever since we knew for sure we were going to move out, packing all of our stuff into boxes and stacking them in the garage. This may seem normal to you, but it is kind of a new phenomenon for us. I think our last few moves have been way too last minute and chaotic. This is probably common sense to most, but it took me a few rounds to figure out that it goes the smoothest if everything is boxed up and ready to go by the time the truck gets here--instead of making a thousand trips with armfuls of awkward misc items.

After I arrived home with the U-Haul truck to start loading, I was grateful to have some close friends meet me at my house to help move. Thank you to everyone who helped! We are all moved in and now only need to finish unpacking and setting up. It is exciting to watch the way Kelly so naturally and skillfully takes initiative to find new places for things in our fresh environment--a kind of nesting, I think.

One last thing to say about a long day that may cause some laughter, if you know Kelly. After everyone left and I snuck back down to the bottom floor to decontruct my bookcase that wouldn't fit up the three flights of narrow stairs, I called Kel down to help me move the hunky piece of Ikea furniture. Now, Kelly was very tired, but as always very willing to help out--especially if it means doing things together. After she helped me turn over the book case, she took a few small pieces upstairs. Seconds later I hear slow mopey steps slowly coming down the stairs. She got down to the bottom and said, 'the door is locked!' Large crocodile tears started welling up in her eyes. You see, it was 12:30 at night, and it was the first night in our new apartment. We had neither keys to get in our house nor keys to drive our car someone to crash for the night. Plus, there was a large disassembled piece of furniture blocking the stairway. The only reason I didn't start crying also is because it felt easier to laugh due to the state of exhausted dilerium I was in. And also probably because someone needed to console my tired and overwhelmed little wife.

After a few minutes of me laughing in unbelief and Kelly almost losing it completely, I told her to go double check and make sure it the door wasn't just stuck. After she walked up the stairs I heard a quick descending pitter patter that ending in Kelly landing in my view with a big smile on her face, 'It's open!' Now we were both laughing. I am so glad we didn't have to sleep in the stairwell or on the grass our first night in our new apartment.

Thanks to any who prayed for us after hearing of our housing situation in the newsletter.

P.S. Our new place has a fireplace, something I am really exciting to have during the upcoming Chicago winter!

Ryan

Any decent Christian talk on the radio?

2008-07-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

I wanted to plug Dr. Mohler's radio broadcast because I have gained much from it. It is on five days a week. He addresses issues from an evangelical Christian perspective that are current in the church, nation and the world. I listened to a show of his today about the absence of men in the church. A week ago, I listened to a show on the law to pass same-sex unions in the state of California. I don't know about you, but I am generally dissatisfied with much of (not all) Christian radio due to the excess of 'fluff'. If you share that same frustration, you may find Dr. Mohler more theologically challenging, intellectually compentent, and refreshingly bold. You can read his bio, blog and more info about the radio program here. I have subscribed to his radio program on itunes so I can put it on my ipod and listen to it whenever I want. Check it out. For you in Washington reading this, he is on the radio during the work week at 3pm on AM 1590 and at 12am on AM 820 (if you are awake!).

Washington Highlights

2008-07-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I am eager to start a three-week course tomorrow on Hebrew Exegesis. I am getting butterflies in my stomach. It is actually a similar feeling to the one I would get before a basketball game in high school. It is the kind of feeling that anticipates impending doom and knows that only adrenalin and mercy will carry you to a triumph. Kelly starts Starbucks and Cosmo school again also on Monday. We thought that it would be appropriate for us to share a little bit more than the four pictures (below) from our trip home. We had a great time , I must say to begin with. What follows is a list of many of our favorite moments, but not all of course.

In no particular order, except maybe somewhat chronologically:

1. I built a fire pit with Spencer in his back yard. That combined with a trip to get some Teriyaki made a great afternoon.
2. Craig's (Kelly's Dad) 50th birthday party!
3. Famous Daves with all of Kelly's extended family
3b. Sleeping outside underneath a canopy with all the guys before Craig's party, even though Spaulding went home to his warm bed as soon as we all fell asleep.
4. Lunch with Grandma at Watson's Cafe
5. Day at Ocean Shores with my Mom, brother Justin and his girlfriend
6. Breakfast with the Christensen's
7. Kelly went out to Thai food with her grandparents
8. We saw the incredible Hulk with my Mom and brother
9. Kelly went Skiing on American lake for the first time behind my Dad's boat
10. Kelly rode on the back of my Dad's new Harley.
11. We hiked Rattlesnake mountain with Mark Hjelmervick and his girlfriend Cindy. Then he treated us to a gourmet dinner and dessert!
12. Lunch with Steve Ridgway on the water front.
13. Kelly went to a Will Ridgway's wedding.
14. Swedish pancakes at the Paulsen's
15. The huge privelage of driving Freddy around town, Corey Christensen's burly Toyota pickup. I had to make sure my wedding ring was visable because it is a bonafied babe magnet fa' sho!
16. A day trip to the Carbon River on Mt. Rainier near the God-made waterslides with Tonty.
17. Saturday night bbq with Tony, Jen, Karl, Dawn, Stones, Youngs, etc. . .
18. Family dinner at my Mom's house our last Sunday night.
19. Coffee with Jolen and his girlfriend Laura our last night home (we like her!)
20. Dinner at the Sandberg's: Memerable trip there with the Christensens and wonderful conversation with Pastor Mike after dinner about theology, Jesus, etc. . .
21. Hamburgers with the Hilliards, Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Spenny and Haley at the Black's.
22. Raquetball with Craig and Brad.
23. Steak and Ice Cream with my Dad while watching child hood videos.
24. (belongs at beginning) Tony's Birthday party.
25. Walking on the Waterfront with Craig and Haley before lunch at Taco Del Mar.

I know I am missing a lot, but I am still very impressed we could actually fit so much in. Thank you to everyone at home for being so wonderfully welcoming and accomodating. Kelly and I really felt like we haven't been gone at all. We love you all and miss you more than we can say.

Some adventures from WA

2008-06-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from some day trips kel and I took while we were home. I will post more later.
My brother, Justin and I, skim boarding at Ocean Shores
At the ocean being goofy
On top of Rattlesnake mountain in North Bend, WA
We hiked up to the top with my Mark "Yelmy" and his girlfriend, Cindy.

Well Put

2008-06-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Dr. Cole just quoted John Stott from his book The Cross of Christ,

"the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man" (page 160).

A quick update

2008-06-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

Since our last newsletter there are a couple new things happening.

We are actually in the process of moving right now to Arlington Heights. We will be doing it slowly by carloads during the week and then we will rent a moving truck to move the bigger furniture this Saturday.

I am taking a course this week at Trinity called Systematic Theology II. It is taught by Dr. Graham Cole. The class is from 8am to 4:30pm each day (but there are quite a few breaks and the last hour and a half is comprised of office hours).

Kelly is resituating her schedules at cosmotology school and Starbucks in order to finish cosmotology school by February or May of 2009. Please pray that she is able to both speed things up and maintain her sanity and rest. By the way, she is really doing well in her program as far as marks and grades go! Praise the Lord!

Concerning ministry at church, about a week after I sent the newsletter out, I was asked to help out in the high school youth ministry this summer instead of working in compassion ministries. The current high school pastor, Dave Cleland, is leaving in August to plant a church in Georgia. They asked me to fill in for him at the different points that he is reasonably preoccupied with planning for the big move next fall. My task will be to teach various Bible studies and to oversee two college-aged interns who will be doing the bulk of the ministry planning and execution. Please pray for the youth ministry at our church, specifically that God would save and sanctify students this summer. Pray that God would guard the church from divisiveness over the hiring of a new youth pastor who will most likely implement change.

Spiritual Leadership

2008-05-19T08:15:00.001-07:00

I am reading this book that I have had for years but have never opened before called Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. So far it is really good! I have to paste this blurb that he quotes from Samuel Brengle about the road to spiritual authority and leadership.

"It it not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. This is a great price, but it must be paid by the leader who would not be merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell" (page 19).

May God grant that many here at Trinity, including myself, and many of those reading this at home be encouraged and strengthened to seek his face in such a radical fashion.

Psalm 111

2008-05-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Edwards on Humility

2008-05-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

This quote is simple but profound--and very convicting! When you are serving someone by doing something very common or mundane (e.g., sweeping floors, moving chairs, cleaning dishes, etc., ) and you take note of how low you have stooped to serve him/her, then you are not exhibiting humility at all. If your act of service seems like a humble act to you, it is not. Edwards says it best,

"For some great man to stoop to loose the latchet of the shoes of another great man, his equal, or to wash his feet, would be taken notice of as an act of abasement in him; and he, being sensible of his own dignity, would look upon it so himself. But if a poor slave is seen stooping to unloose the shoes of a great prince, nobody will take any notice of this as any act of humiliation in him, or token of any great degree of humility: not would the slave himself, unless he be horribly proud and ridiculously conceited of himself: and if after he had done it, he should, in his talk and behaviour, show that he thought his abasement great in it, and had his mind much upon it as an evidence of his being very humble; would not everybody cry out upon him, 'Who do you think yourself to be, that you should think this that you have done such a deep humiliation?' This would make it plain to a demonstration that this slave was swollen with a high degree of pride and vanity of mind, as much as if he declared in plain terms, 'I think myself to be some great one.' And the matter is no less plain and certain when worthless, vile, and loathsome worms of the dust put a similar construction on their acts of abasement before God, and think it a token of great humility in them that they acknowledge themselves to be so mean and unworthy, and behave themselves as those that are so inferior. The very reason why such outward acts and such inward exercises look like great abasement in such an one, is because he has a high conceit of himself. Whereas, if he thought of himself more justly, these things would appear nothing to him, and his humility in them worthy of no regard. He would rather be astonished at his pride, that one so infinitely despicable and vile is brought no lower before God" (Religious Affections, 258-259).

If you like reading quotes like these from Edwards but would not attempt to work through his book yourself because of the cumbersome English, then try this book by Sam Storms. It is a modern interpretation of the Edwards' Religious Affections.

Neither Poverty nor Riches

2008-04-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

As an intern for Compassion Ministries at our church, I have been excited to take this opportunity to formulate a more robust understanding of the church's responsibility concerning money, poverty and the local community. I have started by reading a book written by Dr. Craig Blomberg called Neither Poverty and Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions. After surveying the canon of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, here are some of the conclusions he makes:

“. . . if the poor turn to God, the church is responsible to help them improve their material lot. Christians ought to care in some way for all the needy of the world, but they have a particular obligation to care for their own. The substantial majority of the passages we have surveyed deal with the Israelites’ relationships with fellow Israelites or with Christians ministering to the needs of brothers or sisters in the Lord. Still, the recurring obligation of Israel to the alien in the Old Testament, God’s judgment against the ‘nations’ for their mistreatment of the poor, and the distinctively Christian commands to the church in the New Testament to love its enemies all remind us that our obligation does not stop with those who are our spiritual kin. In short, we dare not elevate a theology of material possessions to as central a role in Scripture as salvation itself. God’s foremost desire for his fallen world is reconciliation: humans reconciled first of all to God, then to each other and ultimately to the entire cosmos” (246).

Regarding whether or not God gives preferential treatment or shows partiality to the poor, consider Dr. Blomberg’s comments:

“No ungodly poor people are ever exalted as models for emulation. No godly rich people, who are generous and compassionate in the use of their wealth, are ever condemned. But in a remarkable number of instances throughout history, poverty and piety have been found hand in hand, as have wealth and godlessness. There is no inherent connection between the items in either pair, just recurring trends. The rich are not necessarily wicked, but frequently surplus goods have led people to imagine that their material resources can secure their futures so that the ignore God, from whom alone comes any true security” (246).

Providentially, right after I began reading the book, I was informed that Dr. Blomberg was scheduled to speak at Trinity on the 9th and 10th of April. I heard him on the 10th but missed his lecture on the 9th. I think I will be able to access the audio for these two messages as a Trinity student on the web. As to whether or not I am able or allowed to then post them here for you, I will inquire.

More Jonathan Edwards

2008-04-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

This section of Religious Affections is too good not to post:
(read slowly)

"But that is the nature of true grace and spiritual light, that it opens to a person's view the infinite reason there is that he should be holy in a high degree. And the more grace he has, and the more this is opened to view, the greater sense he has of the infinite excellency and glory of the divine Being, and of the infinite dignity of the person of Christ, and the boundless length and breadth and depth and height of the love of Christ to sinners. And as grace increases, the field opens more and more to a distant view, until the soul is swallowed up with the vastness of the object, and the person is astonished to think how much it becomes him to love this God and this glorious Redeemer that has so loved man, and how little he does love. And so the more he apprehends, the more the smallness of his grace and love appears strange and wonderful: and therefore he is more ready to think that others are beyond him. For, wondering at the littleness of his own grace, he can scarcely believe that so strange a thing happens to other saints. It is amazing to him that one that is really a child of God, and that has actually received the saving benefits of that unspeakable love of Christ, should love no more: and he is apt to look upon it as a thing peculiar to himself, a strange and exempt instance; for he sees only the outside of other Christians, be he sees his own inside."
(249-250).

Fighting Fire with Fire

2008-04-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

One thing is for sure. This year at seminary has been daunting. One aspect of Trinity that I am particularly grateful for is the call to arms I often recieve when I come to my Greek exegesis course. My professor reminds us regularly of the importance of working hard to be competent in the original languages. The goal of all our efforts is not to be able to flex our brains in front of common folk; rather, the goal is world engagement. In my last class my prof read an article entitled 'Islam's Public Enemy # 1' as his devotional thought and reminded us again why we are here. It was a breath of fresh air and a kick in the backside at the same time. Botros, a Christian ministering to Muslims in the Middle East, does the hard work of boldly confronting Muslims with often avoided peculiarities from their own holy scriptures while at the same time displaying genuine concern and love for them. Botros's passion and method are described:

"Botros's motive is not to incite the West against Islam, promote 'Israeli interests,' or 'demonize' Muslims, but to draw Muslims away from the dead legalism of sharia to the spirituality of Christianity. Many Western critics fail to appreciate that, to disempower radical Islam, something theocentric and spiritually satisfying - not secularism, democracy, capitalism, materialism, feminism, etc.- must be offered in its place. The truths of one religion can only be challenged and supplanted by the truths of another. And so Father Zakaria Botros has been fighting fire with fire."

We were reminded by our professor that the purpose of our time at Trinity is to acquire a theocentric and spiritually satisfying alternative to the major ideological and religous systems vying for the worlds allegiance.

Read the whole article here. I recommend it!

A Prayer

2008-03-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

I was asked to speak at church when I was home this Easter weekend. I asked if I could pray instead of just updating the church on how Kelly and I are doing. I wanted to prepare a prayer of exultation. Here it is, with a few minor changes:

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? There is none like you! Your glorious perfections and divine power have been and are displayed in your creation. Lord, we see your raw might and beauty displayed everywhere from the majestic peaks cascading out from Mt. Rainier to the delicate cherry blossoms coming to bloom. Lord, the heavens declare your glory! You have been so kind to us, day after day, week after week, generation after generation--you provide for us. You give us family, friends, jobs, clothing to wear, food to eat, buildings for shelter, and oxygen to breath. But we have not acknowledged your kindness. We have preferred your gifts over you. We have exchanged the glory that comes from the immortal and all-satisfying God for images that resemble your creation. We have preferred independence over reliance on you. We have stiff-armed the all-sufficient God of the universe. But you have given more mercy. Not only have you caused the sun to rise on a land filled with people who reject you day after day, but you have sent your son into this world to bear the disdain not only that your creatures have for their maker, but also the disdain that almighty God has for sin. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2.4-10). Lord, you have taken away our judgments! You have, through the death and resurrection of your son, reconciled us to you, transferred us out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of your beloved son, made us your children, children of Abraham, called us to yourself, redeemed us from the empty and futile ways handed down to us from our forefathers, and called us out of darkness to enjoy the exceeding brightness and heat of your marvelous light. You have, sinful as we are, through the resurrection of your son, declared us righteous, not guilty! You have healed our diseases, you have forgiven our sins, you have given newness of life! And all this Lord, not because you owed us, but so that until the end of the ages we might, with one voice, declare, Worthy is the lamb who was slain, to recieve honor and glory and wisdom and power and blessing. Great is the Son! Great is the RISEN Son! Amen

Wednesdays and Fridays

2008-03-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my cubicle at church, I know. . . its a little bare. I have yet to put any pictures up to make it more welcoming or friendly:
These are some of the guys I work with: Josh Griswold (on the left) got hired with me as intern for our multi-site pastor. David Lovi is the guy in the middle, he is the associate pastor for evangelism. The guy on the far right is Tom Hutchison, "Hutch." He is my boss, the pastor of Compassion Ministries. His office is downstairs, he is just up talking with us about Calvinism vs. Arminianism and our view of the sacraments (typical Friday afternoon shop talk. . . ha!).
As you can see on the paper pasted on our window, our office space has been affectionately named 'The Fishbowl.' Our four cubicles were placed in what was once a extra hall space. For whatever reason, it was constructed with large glass windows that comprise major sections of our walls. When people pass by in the hallway, they look at us and often point. We feel like fish in a fishbowl.

First hair cuts at home!

2008-03-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Kelly's first female cut, her close, close friend Jess Lerner who lives right next to us
Kel's first male cut was on my buddy Brooks
Everyone was happy, nobody died, minimal blood spilt . . .

A warning to theological students

2008-03-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

“It is possible that a man might know how to interpret all the types, parables, enigmas, and allegories in the Bible, and not have one beam of spiritual light in his mind; because he may not have the least degree of that spiritual sense of the holy beauty of divine things which has been spoken of, and may see nothing of this kind of glory in anything contained in any of these mysteries, or any other part of the Scripture” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, 204).

What does it mean to understand Scripture rightly?

2008-03-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

“Spiritually to understand the Scripture is to have the eyes of the mind opened, to behold the wonderful spiritual excellency of the glorious things contained in the true meaning of it, and that always were contained in it, ever since it was written; to behold the amiable and bright manifestations of the divine perfections, and of the excellency and suffiency of Christ, and the excellency and suitableness of the way of salvation by Christ, and the spiritual glory of the precepts and promises of the Scripture, etc., which things are, and always were, in the Bible, and would have been seen before if it had not been for blindness, without having any new sense added, ” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, 206).

Jonathan Edwards Quote

2008-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

"The first foundation of the delight a true saint has in Christ is His own perfection; and the first foundation of the delight he has in Christ, is His own beauty; He appears in Himself the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely. The way of salvation by Christ is a delightful way to him, for the sweet and admirable manifestations of the divine perfections in it: the holy doctrines of the gospel, by which God is exalted and man abased, holiness honoured and promoted, sin greatly disgraced and discouraged, and free and sovereign love manifested, are glorious doctrines in his eyes, and sweet to his taste, prior to any conception of his interest in these things. Indeed, the saints rejoice in their interest in God, and that Christ is theirs, and so they have great reason, but this is not the first spring of their joy. They first rejoice in God as glorious and excellent in Himself, and then secondarily rejoice in the fact that so glorious a God is theirs." (Religious Affections, 176).

Personal Update

2008-02-21T21:32:00.000-08:00

-Since our last newsletter I have started my second semester at TEDS. My professors are all very godly men and for that I am grateful.

-My brother, Justin, flew out to visit us in the beginning of January before this Spring semester started. We had a great time catching up with Justin. It was a much needed dose of family.

-Our friend Mark Hjelmervick visited us towards the end of January also. He discipled me when I was in high school and he was Kel’s choir instructor for a while.

-Just this last weekend Jes Steinberg, one of our friends from California, also stayed with us. Her and Kelly spent quite a few hours on Saturday and Sunday making cards with their crafty little box of scrapbook materials.

-It has been cold. Painfully cold. I miss Washington state-cold! We have had an altogether inappropriate amount of precipitation in the form of snow.

-On the brighter side, Kelly is doing great in school. She got a 98% on her cosmetology ‘basics’ exam. Now she is cutting hair on real human victums! ha

-Work at Starbucks for her is going well also. We both have really grown to love her fellow employees (Partners in Starbucks lingo)
there. One of them even invited us over to watch the Superbowl at his bachelor pad. It was fun!
-Since I am now on staff at our church I was invited to attend a conference in Louisville this April called Together for the Gospel. Some of my favorite Christian speakers will be preaching on the centrality of the gospel! You can research it at: http://www.t4g.org/

Why Pray?

2008-02-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

One thing is for sure, God is known and experienced through prayer. Prayer shows the person praying to be needy and God as strong. As the pressures of life have increased for us over the last month and a half, prayer has increasingly taken center-stage. In turn, the idea of prayer has been on my mind. What is it? Why do we do it? Although I know answers to these questions, I have come to realize that there is always more complexity and richness to be gleaned from the Bible about these kinds of issues.

Then, as I was reading 2 Corinthians, the following phrase stuck out to me. Paul says, “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessings granted us through the prayers of many” (1:11). In this instance, why does Paul ask them to pray for him? It is not primarily to receive the aid that will come through prayer. Look closely. He requests their prayers “so that many will give thanks.” This is incredible! Paul seems to care most about God being thanked!- which is nothing short of God being seen as the only source, and giver, and the fountain of everything!!! Even Paul’s motive for prayer (asking for things from God) is not about him, it is all about God!

I have been encouraged to bring more of my concerns and needs to God so that God would be thanked. . . a lot! Kelly and I have asked ourselves, and now we ask you also, “Is a passion to see God thanked your primary motive to pray?” May it be so!

MINISTRY UPDATE

2008-02-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Greetings all! I have been officially introduced to the church congregation as an intern under our Compassion Ministries Pastor, Tom Hutchison. I help “Hutch” oversee a variety of ministries that aim to help people recover from chemical and relational addictions, heal from severed relationships caused by death or divorce, and learn to ‘present themselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life’ (Rom 6:13).

I also spend quite a bit of time each week interviewing those who come in—often off the street—asking for food, shelter, or rental assistance. We call this ‘Community Care.’ I evaluate their requests, pray with them, discern what is the best way to love them and then offer them both immediate assistance relating to their physical needs and eternal help—by sharing the gospel with them.

On Thursday nights I assist a ministry that uses our church facility to run a program that busses over 150 inner-city students in to build relationships and teach the Bible to them. Many of these kids are coming from incredibly unstable, drug-addicted, poverty-stricken families.

This internship has challenged me to refine my view of the the church’s role in loving the unlovable, weak and margnalized in our communities.

JES VS. CHICAGO; JES 1 - CHICAGO 0

2008-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Our good friend Jes Steinberg visited us this weekend from Concord, CA. Kelly will add some comments to this post soon. As you can tell from the pics, we had a great time with her!

The Expulsive Power of a New Affection

2008-02-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Read this blog post with a link to a sermon by Thomas Chalmers on how to fight against worldly temptations of all kinds. The Apostle Peter urges his Christian readers in his first letter "to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11). Therefore, this is an important-even urgent- topic and the sermon by Chalmers is helpful in my pursuit to be satisfied in all that God is for me in Christ.

Great Sermon!

2008-01-30T15:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a sermon about the importance of the gospel for the Christian's daily life by John Piper.

Did Moses Know Jesus?

2008-01-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

Jeff Jacobson, a good friend of mine, sent me the following discussion between Graeme Goldsworthy and Paul Blackham on the Trinity in the Old Testament. The articles concern whether or not the Old Testament saints like Abraham, Moses and David knew God the same way that we do--through Jesus.

Here is a taste:

Blackham asks,

Did David know Christ? Yes, that is precisely Peter’s point when he exegetes Psalm 16 on the Day of Pentecost. David knowingly looked ahead and wrote not about himself but about the resurrection of Christ. Isn’t this also the point of Jesus’ challenge to the teachers of the law in Luke 20:41-44? David calls Christ his Lord in Psalm 110 – how can he do that if he didn’t know Christ?
Goldsworthy responds, (sorry, the formatting here is a bit screwy)
I think that there is a tendency to ignore or to downplay the significance of the OT text in its own context. I was a bit concerned about the way you dealt with Psalm 16 and almost immediately jumped straight over to it being a Psalm by Christ and about Christ, and had nothing to say about David. I think that’s a danger that we all face in wanting to get from the OT to Christ.
And further on he says. . .
I think there’s a certain (you won’t misunderstand me Paul if I say this) exegetical authoritarianism. What I mean by that is that it seems to me that when a text is open to some questions as to what actually it is saying, in what you’ve written here in your studies and also in your sermons you don’t allow the possibility for it to say something other than what really supports your position.
You can read Blackham's first entry here.
You can read Goldsworthy's response here.
You can read there question and answers to one another here.

Ryan Hanks?

2008-01-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

It might seem strange and very non-theological, but I am compelled to post. I was introduced to our church this past Sunday as one of the new interns. I stood up and explained a little bit about myself, what I will be doing as an intern, and why I am excited to be serving at Arlington Heights. After the first of three services I made my way downstairs to the gym service, where Kelly was singing, to touch base with her. On my way down, the first person that greeted me did not congradulate me on the position or even welcome me to the church. Instead, he said "I came in late and saw you up on the stage. I thought I was looking at Tom Hanks. Has anyone ever told you that you look like him?" I smiled sheepishly telling him that it has indeed happened before. Then he was off on his way.

Random strangers have come up to me either telling me I look like Mr. Hanks, aksing me if I am related to him, or even confessing that they confused me with him (as though there is not a 20+ year age difference!).

So, I want to get to the bottom of it. On the right side of the screen I created a place for you to vote. Do I or do I not resemble Tom Hanks?

Yelmy

2008-01-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

Our good friend, Mark Hjelmervick (Yelmy in my cell phone), stayed with us Thursday and Friday night (24th and 25th). I met him my senior year of high school. Mark has made a major impact on my life. I was discipled by Mark starting that year I met him along with a group of guys I was going to school with.

I am thankful for Mark because he has always made an effort to spend time with me even after he moved away from Washington (because he graduated from PLU). He visited me when I was up in Bellingham for my freshman year at WWU. He invited me into his home in California while he was teaching choir at a high school. He flew in to Washington to be in my wedding. He took a train up to Minneapolis when Kelly and I first moved to Minnesota, and then again, I believe, a year later. And much more. . .

All that to say, he has been intentional about keeping a relationship with me (and Kelly) when it would have been easy and justifiable to just wait for our paths to cross again. The result of this has not just been the maintaince of our friendship. It has been that and more. Every time Mark has made the effort to stay with us I have been encouraged and strengthened in the faith.

I am not as good at keeping relationships like Mark has been with me. But Mark has modeled it for me and I want to be better at it with those God has put in my life to love and encourage. Mark is one of the most genuine and authentic Christians I have come across. There is much more that I could say about Mark, but this seemed best to share right now.

Mark is now an associate pastor at Cascade Covenant Church in North Bend Washington. He got his MDiv from North Park theological seminary in Chicago, IL.