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This is a most amazing book. Rushdoony's "The Institutes of Biblical Law" I couldve used a roller highlighter. It is hard to read because I feel compelled to keep stopping and mark another sentence with the highlighter for future reference. This has happened with some articles by Otto Scott in the past but never with chunks of a book.
Another reason it is taking alot of time to advance through the book is, not because it is too cerebral or deep, but rather his comments make scripture snap out in 3D to where you see how things fit inside, a much larger context, then my usual Americana compartmentalized view allows.
I am at around page 123 and he is still working with a biblcal understanding of the 3rd commandment,using Gods name in vain. How it is the basis of oaths, promises,truth,the foundation of a society. Blasphemy.
I think this is a key. Rushdoony steps outside what my mind thinks the bible says, and instead keeps coming back to the Word and letting it, the word, define even the manner in which you examine the Word. Taking your presuppositions captive to the word of God.
I am not used to this. Things that seemed ecclectic in the Word are starting to flow with, and fit alongside the rest of the Word. Now what is ecclectic, is way too many of my former understandings that I used to have about scripture, or Christianity.
The Psalmist asks...who is this king of glory?
God say's... you thought I was all together like you:....psalm 50:21
This morning I read acts 5 Annanias and Sapphira and at v9 where Annanias is already dead and
Sapphira come in and Peter after letting her lie about the money says... "look the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out" V10 then immediately she fell down dead....
For the first time, I realized that Peter fortelling her death, announcing it, just doesnt seem like a Christiany, Jesusy, New Testament attitude as I have understood it.
Who is this king of glory?
Showing posts with label The Journey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Journey. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Transitional Times
We went deep into the evening discussing Gods word with some old believing friends last night. They made a comment "we have left....but we havent arrived..." It says it very well. In the days and years to come, there are gonna be many who will see that "this is not where we should be..." and those of us further down the road will need to remember that the word says, line upon line, precept upon precept, and will need to be patient.
In no way can we modify what God has declared to be or how he wants life lived, so that the gospel might be easier to swallow. Thats what put us in this cul-de-sac. We must be un-compromising in being a faithful witness to what Gods word instructs,to the standard, helping people to leave, (where they shouldnt be) but realizing that we have not arrived yet either.
In no way can we modify what God has declared to be or how he wants life lived, so that the gospel might be easier to swallow. Thats what put us in this cul-de-sac. We must be un-compromising in being a faithful witness to what Gods word instructs,to the standard, helping people to leave, (where they shouldnt be) but realizing that we have not arrived yet either.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
We Have Work To Do
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I submit, that right here, Paul's reference to "rightly dividing the word of truth," that he was specifically speaking of the Old Testament. The New Testament cannon was still 300 yrs from being recognized.
Of the New Testament writers God had Paul do the Lions share. Question..Of the New Testament writers who probably had the deepest most thorough understanding of the Old Testament?.....Coincidence?
Thankfully while much of the church has been picnicking quietly, waiting for the Lord's return, there have been some Christians who have been obediently applying God's word to all of Life.
If you have not taken the time to have gone through the string of Douglas Wilson columns I sent around then you are the poorer for it. I just love seeing God's principles held up to different areas of life! Yes!!!!!
This is not easy. This is work. Partly because we must disengage, foolish ways of seeing life that we were inculcated with. And partly because we are so not used to handling the Old Testament and New Testament Like a brace of revolvers.
Like the guy I sold a gun too. He had someone try to break into his house in the middle of the night. Having been woken by his wife with the panic stricken voice “that someone is trying to force open the sliding glass door” to their bedroom. He grabbed the gun and box of ammo and promptly scattered bullets all over the floor. So in the dark on his hands and knees he’s feeling around for the bullets and screaming out “you better go away or I will shoot you”. They left.
I do feel like that myself, I am frantically on the floor trying to gather together a coherent world view that now includes the Old Testament and as I’m picking up bullets I am noticing that these are “elephant” rounds…Lordy! These will do some damage Praise God!
There is a temptation for me to weary as I am making up for my disobedience. (yes that’s what I call it) just having to admit that I have misunderstood how wide , vast, and all encompassing the claims of Christ are to all of life is humbling to me and my flesh doesn’t like it. Rather than have to press myself, and wait before the lord and meditate on these things I have been constantly whispered at by the enemy “maybe we should not be sidetracked by this minor stuff and we should stay focused on the real work of the Lord”.
Its nothing like first claiming the moral high ground before I take a position as a slothful servant.
The world has enough Alfred E Neuman Christians , just enjoying fellowship while you wait for the bus,(what me worry?).
We must stay on our hands and knees, in prayer, in meditation, looking for the rest of our bullets. You will have to ignore the pagans running around claiming that, “this is neutral" and "its not relevant” and try to help the other believers who think that the claims of Christ are a little too loud…“Put on your earmuffs."
You should see the holes these things make.
As was spoken to the Ephesians in 3:17 so also we are commanded to... no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk in the futility of of their minds. He would not have warned them to no longer do it...if it wasnt possible for them to do it. Hey I did it for a long, long time and catch myself still doing it.
Col:1:16,17...all things were created through him and for him. and he is before all things,and in him all things consist ....that in all things he may have preeminence...
I submit, that right here, Paul's reference to "rightly dividing the word of truth," that he was specifically speaking of the Old Testament. The New Testament cannon was still 300 yrs from being recognized.
Of the New Testament writers God had Paul do the Lions share. Question..Of the New Testament writers who probably had the deepest most thorough understanding of the Old Testament?.....Coincidence?
Thankfully while much of the church has been picnicking quietly, waiting for the Lord's return, there have been some Christians who have been obediently applying God's word to all of Life.
If you have not taken the time to have gone through the string of Douglas Wilson columns I sent around then you are the poorer for it. I just love seeing God's principles held up to different areas of life! Yes!!!!!
This is not easy. This is work. Partly because we must disengage, foolish ways of seeing life that we were inculcated with. And partly because we are so not used to handling the Old Testament and New Testament Like a brace of revolvers.
Like the guy I sold a gun too. He had someone try to break into his house in the middle of the night. Having been woken by his wife with the panic stricken voice “that someone is trying to force open the sliding glass door” to their bedroom. He grabbed the gun and box of ammo and promptly scattered bullets all over the floor. So in the dark on his hands and knees he’s feeling around for the bullets and screaming out “you better go away or I will shoot you”. They left.
I do feel like that myself, I am frantically on the floor trying to gather together a coherent world view that now includes the Old Testament and as I’m picking up bullets I am noticing that these are “elephant” rounds…Lordy! These will do some damage Praise God!
There is a temptation for me to weary as I am making up for my disobedience. (yes that’s what I call it) just having to admit that I have misunderstood how wide , vast, and all encompassing the claims of Christ are to all of life is humbling to me and my flesh doesn’t like it. Rather than have to press myself, and wait before the lord and meditate on these things I have been constantly whispered at by the enemy “maybe we should not be sidetracked by this minor stuff and we should stay focused on the real work of the Lord”.
Its nothing like first claiming the moral high ground before I take a position as a slothful servant.
The world has enough Alfred E Neuman Christians , just enjoying fellowship while you wait for the bus,(what me worry?).
We must stay on our hands and knees, in prayer, in meditation, looking for the rest of our bullets. You will have to ignore the pagans running around claiming that, “this is neutral" and "its not relevant” and try to help the other believers who think that the claims of Christ are a little too loud…“Put on your earmuffs."
You should see the holes these things make.
As was spoken to the Ephesians in 3:17 so also we are commanded to... no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk in the futility of of their minds. He would not have warned them to no longer do it...if it wasnt possible for them to do it. Hey I did it for a long, long time and catch myself still doing it.
Col:1:16,17...all things were created through him and for him. and he is before all things,and in him all things consist ....that in all things he may have preeminence...
Sunday, February 10, 2008
We Have to Understand This
If God's own chosen people, his called out ones will not stand by his declaritive Word then we can not be surprised that so much of humanity says "any law except God's Law!" That is what the world says. I am ashamed to say, that it is so much of what modern evangelicalism says! Horrors!
Now maybe the modern church doesn't come out so much and say it. But Jesus wasn't kidding when he said "if your not with me, your against me." No neutral ground. Is he God or not? As God, does he have the right, authority, to decide what the basis for Law should be or not? How can we as finite men, have the chutspah to just brush aside God's Law on the basis that "we are an advanced society now"....Our arrogance is galactic in it's proportions.
Now us sophisticated modern New Testament "brand" Christians won't say that. But that we will take Christ himself and use him to try and beat off his very own Law word causes me to shudder now as I think about it. I hope we have progressed to the point where we have left behind the unbiblical idea that just because were saved that we could never be found to be opposing God. On this point we should see ouselves standing next to Peter when Jesus turned on him and said "Get thee behind me Satan!" I don't believe that Peter was unsaved at that moment, just stupid, or human (istic).
We have been charged to disciple the nations. I am convinced now, that it is absolutely impossible to disciple anyone, as God defines it without using his Law as the basis, the beginning point for a view of life, for a worldview. Only he is worthy! Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty! I need my emergency sack cloth and ashes kit.
It is God's Law or it will be some flavor of Humanism. Is there any other perspective? Who wants to trade God's justice for anything else. Sinners want to, that's who, saved or not.
This is a major task before us today, to study God's Word and prepare ourselves to show how God has laid the basis for economics, law, justice, governments, church government, work, families, relationships, yes, even international relationships or he will raise up someone else to do it. He has declared his Lordship over each of these areas, over all of creation. "The earth is the Lords and everything in it" It is implicit that we as believers would be involved in all these different areas of life if we are to disciple the nations. There is no area of life wehre the Lordship of Christ comes up to and then stops. We need to "Get this" that we may first pass it on to our little ones. This is how we glorify God, by repeating back what the creator has already said about life, that as Christ did , we may only say what the Father says, only do what we see the Father do. This gives us the proper guidelines for applying dominion to all that we touch in life.
We must show how everyone (everyone!) is coming from a religous perspective, that everyone is advancing a faith that they believe is correct. As Christians, the word commands us to take every thought captive, it commands us that we need to be ready to tear down strongholds and every high thing that exalts themselves against the knowledge of God. The Law is part of the knowledge of God. His word warns us not to be taken captive by hollow human philosophies. Without the solid unchanging Law of God we as modern Christians will continue to be carried off all over the landscape. For Petes sake the girl scouts could take some parts of the church captive, thats how removed we have been from Gods Law.
Let me say, been there, done that. But as for me and my house, no more!
Now maybe the modern church doesn't come out so much and say it. But Jesus wasn't kidding when he said "if your not with me, your against me." No neutral ground. Is he God or not? As God, does he have the right, authority, to decide what the basis for Law should be or not? How can we as finite men, have the chutspah to just brush aside God's Law on the basis that "we are an advanced society now"....Our arrogance is galactic in it's proportions.
Now us sophisticated modern New Testament "brand" Christians won't say that. But that we will take Christ himself and use him to try and beat off his very own Law word causes me to shudder now as I think about it. I hope we have progressed to the point where we have left behind the unbiblical idea that just because were saved that we could never be found to be opposing God. On this point we should see ouselves standing next to Peter when Jesus turned on him and said "Get thee behind me Satan!" I don't believe that Peter was unsaved at that moment, just stupid, or human (istic).
We have been charged to disciple the nations. I am convinced now, that it is absolutely impossible to disciple anyone, as God defines it without using his Law as the basis, the beginning point for a view of life, for a worldview. Only he is worthy! Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty! I need my emergency sack cloth and ashes kit.
It is God's Law or it will be some flavor of Humanism. Is there any other perspective? Who wants to trade God's justice for anything else. Sinners want to, that's who, saved or not.
This is a major task before us today, to study God's Word and prepare ourselves to show how God has laid the basis for economics, law, justice, governments, church government, work, families, relationships, yes, even international relationships or he will raise up someone else to do it. He has declared his Lordship over each of these areas, over all of creation. "The earth is the Lords and everything in it" It is implicit that we as believers would be involved in all these different areas of life if we are to disciple the nations. There is no area of life wehre the Lordship of Christ comes up to and then stops. We need to "Get this" that we may first pass it on to our little ones. This is how we glorify God, by repeating back what the creator has already said about life, that as Christ did , we may only say what the Father says, only do what we see the Father do. This gives us the proper guidelines for applying dominion to all that we touch in life.
We must show how everyone (everyone!) is coming from a religous perspective, that everyone is advancing a faith that they believe is correct. As Christians, the word commands us to take every thought captive, it commands us that we need to be ready to tear down strongholds and every high thing that exalts themselves against the knowledge of God. The Law is part of the knowledge of God. His word warns us not to be taken captive by hollow human philosophies. Without the solid unchanging Law of God we as modern Christians will continue to be carried off all over the landscape. For Petes sake the girl scouts could take some parts of the church captive, thats how removed we have been from Gods Law.
Let me say, been there, done that. But as for me and my house, no more!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Your Making To Much Of This Worldview Stuff
From Feb 07
Question: Why should I care about worldviews, what difference does it make....
..... pick any situation and your response to it will be a response based on what you believe. (Not necessarily what's true) That's why God commands us to take every thought captive....And that's why we need all of the Word, the whole counsel of God...how else do we know if it's been taken captive to Christ. I sure cannot trust my heart, for "there is no good thing in me" and the "heart is desperately wicked" and "full of deceit."
The following is taken from the Center for Arizona Policy email update, talking about worldviews a couple of days ago.....(Less than 10% of Christians have a biblical worldview ! ouch!)
"Research by George Barna?s organization shows that only 9 percent of professing Christians actually see the world through a Biblical worldview. As a result, many of us are not making the difference in the world today as we are called to do by Scripture. Many of us have attended Bible studies and received solid Biblical teaching at church. However, we haven?t necessarily taken the time to look at life?s issues through a Biblical worldview perspective. Sometimes we need to take a step back and consider whether we are living the Christian Worldview in our everyday lives."
Question: Why should I care about worldviews, what difference does it make....
..... pick any situation and your response to it will be a response based on what you believe. (Not necessarily what's true) That's why God commands us to take every thought captive....And that's why we need all of the Word, the whole counsel of God...how else do we know if it's been taken captive to Christ. I sure cannot trust my heart, for "there is no good thing in me" and the "heart is desperately wicked" and "full of deceit."
The following is taken from the Center for Arizona Policy email update, talking about worldviews a couple of days ago.....(Less than 10% of Christians have a biblical worldview ! ouch!)
"Research by George Barna?s organization shows that only 9 percent of professing Christians actually see the world through a Biblical worldview. As a result, many of us are not making the difference in the world today as we are called to do by Scripture. Many of us have attended Bible studies and received solid Biblical teaching at church. However, we haven?t necessarily taken the time to look at life?s issues through a Biblical worldview perspective. Sometimes we need to take a step back and consider whether we are living the Christian Worldview in our everyday lives."
If Your Mother Says She Loves You Check It Out
We all can just take things for granted, this was from last Mar 07. So much of what I used to think was wrong. The if your mother says she loves you check it it came from Gary North. I believe it was a saying reporters would use.
"The word says God will write his law on our heart."
The Word does say that God will write his law on our hearts ....but If we believe that God has written his law on our hearts, or even in our minds, then why do we need to keep reading our Bibles? Why have our children reading their Bibles, won't God write it on their hearts too?....great, now I have more free time...
I had just assumed that this is how it is, I think, He's already done it, rather than going back to God's word to see if what is coming out of my heart and mouth lines up with his Word.
Now that would prove that he has done it! Or more accurately that he has done some of it...
We cannot assume that because were born again...that if we are comfortable with something ... (our hearts don't condem us)..that it must be okay with God,.... rather than looking to the only sure witness from Him (His word) to see if we have lined up with Him. When we read.... "We should treat others as we would be treated, for that sums up the Law and the Prophets..".. Do we go back to see ... "just what was it?".... that they, "the Law and the Prophets" have said ?" ...and am I lining up with it?
The Bereans searched the scripture to see if it was so... and it seems we are quick to check our standard "he bible" when it comes to what is being taught, which is good....but do we give our hearts and minds a free pass...if our reason for doing something, or believing something, is not founded on the word, than something other than the Word has smuggled its way into our hearts as the standard.
Sometimes it seems that things are just assumed to be the norm, "everyone thinks this way".....or.... we just notice that this seems to be how all the other Christians around us are living, but in doing so we make other believers the standard, not God's Word.
One last thought, we need to start asking people when they mention "the law"...what do you mean by that? I had no idea that the "law" meant precepts and statutes... so when someone says "do you think we need to follow the law?" We should ask ...which precepts and statutes are you talking about? We must use God's definitions for everything....Then we could say "No, we don't need to sacrifice a lamb anymore... we have a new covenant now. Or no, you cannot commit adultery and you shouldn't even look with lust at any women.
"The word says God will write his law on our heart."
The Word does say that God will write his law on our hearts ....but If we believe that God has written his law on our hearts, or even in our minds, then why do we need to keep reading our Bibles? Why have our children reading their Bibles, won't God write it on their hearts too?....great, now I have more free time...
I had just assumed that this is how it is, I think, He's already done it, rather than going back to God's word to see if what is coming out of my heart and mouth lines up with his Word.
Now that would prove that he has done it! Or more accurately that he has done some of it...
We cannot assume that because were born again...that if we are comfortable with something ... (our hearts don't condem us)..that it must be okay with God,.... rather than looking to the only sure witness from Him (His word) to see if we have lined up with Him. When we read.... "We should treat others as we would be treated, for that sums up the Law and the Prophets..".. Do we go back to see ... "just what was it?".... that they, "the Law and the Prophets" have said ?" ...and am I lining up with it?
The Bereans searched the scripture to see if it was so... and it seems we are quick to check our standard "he bible" when it comes to what is being taught, which is good....but do we give our hearts and minds a free pass...if our reason for doing something, or believing something, is not founded on the word, than something other than the Word has smuggled its way into our hearts as the standard.
Sometimes it seems that things are just assumed to be the norm, "everyone thinks this way".....or.... we just notice that this seems to be how all the other Christians around us are living, but in doing so we make other believers the standard, not God's Word.
One last thought, we need to start asking people when they mention "the law"...what do you mean by that? I had no idea that the "law" meant precepts and statutes... so when someone says "do you think we need to follow the law?" We should ask ...which precepts and statutes are you talking about? We must use God's definitions for everything....Then we could say "No, we don't need to sacrifice a lamb anymore... we have a new covenant now. Or no, you cannot commit adultery and you shouldn't even look with lust at any women.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Gods Law, The Only Sure Reference Point
Part and parcel of what has become modern Christianity is this notion/idea that we all can decide for ourselves, what and how to apply Scripture, and that we don't need what we call, God's Law, from the Old Testament. That we are given the right, that we are granted a license as part of being an independantly owned and operated Christian franchise....
Someone will tell me...."you need to read Romans 2:14, look at Romans 2:14 God said he will put it in our minds and in our hearts."...and I said..."so we don't have to read our Bibles anymore right?" ...they get a blank look and say ....Wellllll... nooooo.....
Along with this we could add, "then why do we need a pastor or anyone to teach us?"
Old world views die hard.
His Word, His commandments, His precepts, His statutes, His laws, His judgements......the only thing to fear is that He may get to really be LORD of our lives...are we ready for it?
Someone will tell me...."you need to read Romans 2:14, look at Romans 2:14 God said he will put it in our minds and in our hearts."...and I said..."so we don't have to read our Bibles anymore right?" ...they get a blank look and say ....Wellllll... nooooo.....
Along with this we could add, "then why do we need a pastor or anyone to teach us?"
Old world views die hard.
His Word, His commandments, His precepts, His statutes, His laws, His judgements......the only thing to fear is that He may get to really be LORD of our lives...are we ready for it?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Looking At The Word With New Eyes
More thoughts from Feb 07......
I keep asking who or which groups are even discussing the world views necessary to really see what is going on in the culture, I see that it is those peoples/groups that fear the LORD and honor His laws and statutes, that have eyes that see and ears that hear. The others don't even seem to be aware of the topics!??! All they see is that they have to get people saved.
But if we will not honor what God has plainly said to us in His Word...why should He then reveal to us the deeper things. The passage where Jesus says I speak to them in parables...otherwise they would repent...comes to mind, but not in a comforting way.
Mathew 5:17-19 I did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill.
This was great, I had just wrote the above and then stopped to read Matt 7 with the family....
I have just returned from our evening Bible reading, Matt chpt 7. My Bible has those little section titles like, "I never knew you" at the start of verse 21 and at verse 24 it says, "Build on the rock". I noticed tonight that those things break up how I look at the Word.
so when I read at 26 and 27 about whoever hears these these sayings of mine and does not do them is building on sand... and when the wind comes...etc. Tonight, God quickend to me verse 23 where he says, "Depart from me you who practice lawlessness." I always thought of this as "wicked","unsaved" people.
But tonight I thought of modern evangelicalism and now I can see that in so many ways we have been lawless, (without God's Law) very little direction (Discipleship) to show us how to live and think God's thoughts after him. Instead it was emphasised to follow the Spirit. I know I have mentioned how more than once that I said at my old church that it seemed like "every man is doing what is right in his own eyes."
As I think of how much carnage is happening in the modern church, divorces, heart ache over what direction the kids are going, the churches themselves more concerned for their buildings than the people, the culture kicking us around, etc, etc, etc....you name it and it is hard to show by its fruit those areas that are still standing and are not falling (fallen) down.... because the foundation is on sand rather than the God's Word/Law?.... v 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house: and it fell. and great was it's fall....
I can hear the crys from under the rubble of modern Christianity, "Our houses have not fallen down."
You will know a tree by it's fruit. I am just starting to taste God's goodness by honoring more and more of His Word/Law and in turn foreseeing that God is building a house (family's and generations going forward) that will be able to stand as the rains descend and the floods come....praise God!, I can see it happening.
Without a vision my people perish....
I keep asking who or which groups are even discussing the world views necessary to really see what is going on in the culture, I see that it is those peoples/groups that fear the LORD and honor His laws and statutes, that have eyes that see and ears that hear. The others don't even seem to be aware of the topics!??! All they see is that they have to get people saved.
But if we will not honor what God has plainly said to us in His Word...why should He then reveal to us the deeper things. The passage where Jesus says I speak to them in parables...otherwise they would repent...comes to mind, but not in a comforting way.
Mathew 5:17-19 I did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill.
This was great, I had just wrote the above and then stopped to read Matt 7 with the family....
I have just returned from our evening Bible reading, Matt chpt 7. My Bible has those little section titles like, "I never knew you" at the start of verse 21 and at verse 24 it says, "Build on the rock". I noticed tonight that those things break up how I look at the Word.
so when I read at 26 and 27 about whoever hears these these sayings of mine and does not do them is building on sand... and when the wind comes...etc. Tonight, God quickend to me verse 23 where he says, "Depart from me you who practice lawlessness." I always thought of this as "wicked","unsaved" people.
But tonight I thought of modern evangelicalism and now I can see that in so many ways we have been lawless, (without God's Law) very little direction (Discipleship) to show us how to live and think God's thoughts after him. Instead it was emphasised to follow the Spirit. I know I have mentioned how more than once that I said at my old church that it seemed like "every man is doing what is right in his own eyes."
As I think of how much carnage is happening in the modern church, divorces, heart ache over what direction the kids are going, the churches themselves more concerned for their buildings than the people, the culture kicking us around, etc, etc, etc....you name it and it is hard to show by its fruit those areas that are still standing and are not falling (fallen) down.... because the foundation is on sand rather than the God's Word/Law?.... v 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house: and it fell. and great was it's fall....
I can hear the crys from under the rubble of modern Christianity, "Our houses have not fallen down."
You will know a tree by it's fruit. I am just starting to taste God's goodness by honoring more and more of His Word/Law and in turn foreseeing that God is building a house (family's and generations going forward) that will be able to stand as the rains descend and the floods come....praise God!, I can see it happening.
Without a vision my people perish....
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Better...? Or Worse...?
This is a follow up from my February 07 musings Exegesis Has Not Been a Silver Bullet
When you go to the eye doctor and they switch lens settings they say better... or worse...I'm trying to clarify.
I'm doing a stinky job trying to get this point across. Maybe this will help. (I might just be digging a hole.) Don't get me wrong on exegesis, we must show it all from the Word. But if by our pre-suppositions we limit, corner and buttonhole the Word into how we already understand it, or fit it into doctrines we believe in, then we're still stuck here. I don't think we even realize that this is what we do.
It wasn't the exegetical method that got us where we're at with our funky thinking.
But we arrived here in spite of it.
We don't have to start all over on what we see in the Word, but the way we look at it must change. It will take intellectual honesty. Our pre-suppositional sock is inside out.
We have been trained by movies, schooling, children's books, books in general that we can understand and move about through life without seeing God as central to it all, without seeing how it is all connected back to Him. The sock is inside out.
The first commandment is the one that jumps out, we know the first commandment, but we don't understand the implications of it or see the enormity of how it should affect our thinking over any subject.
No one will argue that God should be on the throne for our lives. But it will be through practical examples that will expose what we have been doing. It will be through illustrations of everyday life, showing how to apply God's Word in manners that were not use to, that will flick on the switch to let people see, my sock is inside out.
Greg Koukl does it with Relativism, he shows how bankrupt it is by way of reason. Through simple illustrations and examples. And then shows how to think correctly, ultimately grounded in God's Word.
I think Bahnsen's Always Ready book is all about the first commandment as applied to our thinking.
I admit, it's frustrating to me. I can see lots of times that we are standing on a hill that we shouldn't be on. And we didn't use the exegetical method to get us here. And no one wants to try and biblically defend the hill we're on. But rather than just repenting and walking off the hill to what is plainly a more biblical position it seems like we have to exegetically justify each step that we take down the hill. I'm gonna put down my shovel now. :)
Better?...or worse?....
When you go to the eye doctor and they switch lens settings they say better... or worse...I'm trying to clarify.
I'm doing a stinky job trying to get this point across. Maybe this will help. (I might just be digging a hole.) Don't get me wrong on exegesis, we must show it all from the Word. But if by our pre-suppositions we limit, corner and buttonhole the Word into how we already understand it, or fit it into doctrines we believe in, then we're still stuck here. I don't think we even realize that this is what we do.
It wasn't the exegetical method that got us where we're at with our funky thinking.
But we arrived here in spite of it.
We don't have to start all over on what we see in the Word, but the way we look at it must change. It will take intellectual honesty. Our pre-suppositional sock is inside out.
We have been trained by movies, schooling, children's books, books in general that we can understand and move about through life without seeing God as central to it all, without seeing how it is all connected back to Him. The sock is inside out.
The first commandment is the one that jumps out, we know the first commandment, but we don't understand the implications of it or see the enormity of how it should affect our thinking over any subject.
No one will argue that God should be on the throne for our lives. But it will be through practical examples that will expose what we have been doing. It will be through illustrations of everyday life, showing how to apply God's Word in manners that were not use to, that will flick on the switch to let people see, my sock is inside out.
Greg Koukl does it with Relativism, he shows how bankrupt it is by way of reason. Through simple illustrations and examples. And then shows how to think correctly, ultimately grounded in God's Word.
I think Bahnsen's Always Ready book is all about the first commandment as applied to our thinking.
I admit, it's frustrating to me. I can see lots of times that we are standing on a hill that we shouldn't be on. And we didn't use the exegetical method to get us here. And no one wants to try and biblically defend the hill we're on. But rather than just repenting and walking off the hill to what is plainly a more biblical position it seems like we have to exegetically justify each step that we take down the hill. I'm gonna put down my shovel now. :)
Better?...or worse?....
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Exegesis Has Not Been A Silver Bullet
From Feb 07...more ramblings
Some might be concerned that someone who just shows up at a family-intregrated church might mis-understand why or what we are doing and talking about and then "might miss-apply what was presented because it wasn't fully developed". This is already rampant throughout the Christian body as a whole. It is at the heart, one of the things that I try to address.. So like Voddie said regarding answering objections to the family-intregrated model "The current model works so well..." Aint, as Voddie would say.
We know that no matter how well you cover and lay out something, that we as sinful, saved human beings can still corrupt it. A train of biblical thought can begin from one Sunday and be added to for the following weeks, but if each week you must retrace all that you have established before, you will have a very hard time progressing to anything. Anyone can ask questions if they don't think something is kosher. But I do think that all trains of thought must be shown to be biblically based before you go on and not just taken for granted.
We have to see and understand the why we should do this, for future generations, and over what it should apply too, everything, while still building onto the starting point, that He is God and how honoring the first commandment should affect how we think, by giving examples. Boy, that last sentence. :P
Exegesis. With the wrong worldview we can exegesis from here till the cows come home and we can still totally miss what God wants done. 25, 50, 100yrs of what "we thought" was exegetical work has us with families segregated, youth groups, no multi-generational vision, a Christian body that is self-absorbed as individuals, and impotent as far as affecting the culture around us and for the most part swimming along with the culture, but regreting that these people are going to hell, and we wish they could be saved too.
At the Church, we are just starting to position ourselves to change how we think, and then apply it to the culture of our homes. We must first stop and rethink how we think! We must first define what thinking God's thoughts after Him looks like, sounds like, etc. We will have to define it by His Word, At this point in time it's more of just trying to get people to say... wait a minute.... You have to first be convinced that something is amiss and needs to be changed. Like convincing someone first that they need to be saved.
Greg Bahnsen spends a whole book actually spelling some of these concepts out. Their was no one passage from the Word that he could use to do it either but rather he had to weave the common thread together. Some people will need to read a book like that, others won't, but rather will be able to just say "oh, I get it" and move forward.
We moved to the family-intregrated model church but did we bring almost all of the same mindsets as everyone else had around us from the places we left? I am barely beginning to grasp this myself but I can see it enough to help others see that we need to stop and go hmmm.....
Some might be concerned that someone who just shows up at a family-intregrated church might mis-understand why or what we are doing and talking about and then "might miss-apply what was presented because it wasn't fully developed". This is already rampant throughout the Christian body as a whole. It is at the heart, one of the things that I try to address.. So like Voddie said regarding answering objections to the family-intregrated model "The current model works so well..." Aint, as Voddie would say.
We know that no matter how well you cover and lay out something, that we as sinful, saved human beings can still corrupt it. A train of biblical thought can begin from one Sunday and be added to for the following weeks, but if each week you must retrace all that you have established before, you will have a very hard time progressing to anything. Anyone can ask questions if they don't think something is kosher. But I do think that all trains of thought must be shown to be biblically based before you go on and not just taken for granted.
We have to see and understand the why we should do this, for future generations, and over what it should apply too, everything, while still building onto the starting point, that He is God and how honoring the first commandment should affect how we think, by giving examples. Boy, that last sentence. :P
Exegesis. With the wrong worldview we can exegesis from here till the cows come home and we can still totally miss what God wants done. 25, 50, 100yrs of what "we thought" was exegetical work has us with families segregated, youth groups, no multi-generational vision, a Christian body that is self-absorbed as individuals, and impotent as far as affecting the culture around us and for the most part swimming along with the culture, but regreting that these people are going to hell, and we wish they could be saved too.
At the Church, we are just starting to position ourselves to change how we think, and then apply it to the culture of our homes. We must first stop and rethink how we think! We must first define what thinking God's thoughts after Him looks like, sounds like, etc. We will have to define it by His Word, At this point in time it's more of just trying to get people to say... wait a minute.... You have to first be convinced that something is amiss and needs to be changed. Like convincing someone first that they need to be saved.
Greg Bahnsen spends a whole book actually spelling some of these concepts out. Their was no one passage from the Word that he could use to do it either but rather he had to weave the common thread together. Some people will need to read a book like that, others won't, but rather will be able to just say "oh, I get it" and move forward.
We moved to the family-intregrated model church but did we bring almost all of the same mindsets as everyone else had around us from the places we left? I am barely beginning to grasp this myself but I can see it enough to help others see that we need to stop and go hmmm.....
Send Our Kids To The Jehovah's Witness School?
These are some misc thoughts from Feb 07....
Just finished "By What Standard" By Rushdoony, an analysis of the philosophy of Cornelius Van Till, I only had to skip 2 different chapters as I was lost as to what was being talked about.
I use a yellow high lighter,in chapter 5, I was wishing that the high lighter was available in a roller version. I can say without a doubt that by reading Rushdoony, my vision of God just keeps expanding, he keeps knocking down my phony ideas that try to keep God as less than He is.
These following thoughts are not from the book but have been on my mind. By phony ideas, I mean my old man worldview that was the result of an education system which impressed upon me a worldview that all of life can be understood and experienced apart from God. What absolute evil of the first order.
As the guy said on Kevin Swansons show..."Christians would never send their kids to a Jehovah's Witness school or an Islamic school" Everyone thinks that schools are neutral. But because we Christians have forgotten our heritage and have developed such a taste for humanistic ideas that we didn't even recognize that the schools had become houses of worship for the religion of humanism. We couldn't see that they were desecrating the first commandment. Right in front of us.
Luke 16:... for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
So, we who have fled the schools, do we still drink deep from the same system of humanism that is the heart and soul of modern entertainment, the handmaiden, the logical outgrowth of our education system.
Entertainment. We need to be watching out for those false worldviews that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. It's only a "G" movie, you know. There's nothing like buying tickets and popcorn so the enemy can work on us. Ouch! We need to be men of understanding and come to grip with the fact that the kingdoms of this world are at war with the Kingdom of our God, and us by extention. Fool us once shame on you, fool us a 1000 times and we need serious help. We need to refuse to expose ourselves and our families.
Luke 16:15...for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Just finished "By What Standard" By Rushdoony, an analysis of the philosophy of Cornelius Van Till, I only had to skip 2 different chapters as I was lost as to what was being talked about.
I use a yellow high lighter,in chapter 5, I was wishing that the high lighter was available in a roller version. I can say without a doubt that by reading Rushdoony, my vision of God just keeps expanding, he keeps knocking down my phony ideas that try to keep God as less than He is.
These following thoughts are not from the book but have been on my mind. By phony ideas, I mean my old man worldview that was the result of an education system which impressed upon me a worldview that all of life can be understood and experienced apart from God. What absolute evil of the first order.
As the guy said on Kevin Swansons show..."Christians would never send their kids to a Jehovah's Witness school or an Islamic school" Everyone thinks that schools are neutral. But because we Christians have forgotten our heritage and have developed such a taste for humanistic ideas that we didn't even recognize that the schools had become houses of worship for the religion of humanism. We couldn't see that they were desecrating the first commandment. Right in front of us.
Luke 16:... for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
So, we who have fled the schools, do we still drink deep from the same system of humanism that is the heart and soul of modern entertainment, the handmaiden, the logical outgrowth of our education system.
Entertainment. We need to be watching out for those false worldviews that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. It's only a "G" movie, you know. There's nothing like buying tickets and popcorn so the enemy can work on us. Ouch! We need to be men of understanding and come to grip with the fact that the kingdoms of this world are at war with the Kingdom of our God, and us by extention. Fool us once shame on you, fool us a 1000 times and we need serious help. We need to refuse to expose ourselves and our families.
Luke 16:15...for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Enjoying My New Vision
From January 2007
Prior to a year ago everything I saw in the Bible was about man, how does God want to bless us, definately I saw it as man-centered.
So much so that even now as I read some portions of scripture it is still hard to see them with my new eyes. I was so wet. Now I am forcing myself to think, "Does this honor God and His Word or accomodate man and his flesh." I am getting rid of books around my house where I can see that they where man pleasing at there center,"having a form of Godliness but denying the power there of."
I can read and hear new sources and do this very easily now, but I have seen the scriptures for so long through the wrong grid that it can be so much harder with them. :(
But now...does it honor God? does it magnify God? does it glorify God? or does it accomodate man's flesh? All of man's problems stem from him being a sinner.
Prior to a year ago everything I saw in the Bible was about man, how does God want to bless us, definately I saw it as man-centered.
So much so that even now as I read some portions of scripture it is still hard to see them with my new eyes. I was so wet. Now I am forcing myself to think, "Does this honor God and His Word or accomodate man and his flesh." I am getting rid of books around my house where I can see that they where man pleasing at there center,"having a form of Godliness but denying the power there of."
I can read and hear new sources and do this very easily now, but I have seen the scriptures for so long through the wrong grid that it can be so much harder with them. :(
But now...does it honor God? does it magnify God? does it glorify God? or does it accomodate man's flesh? All of man's problems stem from him being a sinner.
Working the Playdough
A question I recieved last January 2007....Someone wanting to make sure I was being guided by God's word...that's a good thing.
" How is it that you know what is good and profitable?.. eventually we must start somewhere with in the scripture. That starting place has a pre-supposition behind. By some means you are deciding what is good and profitable through the scriptures. There is a question that we who study the scriptures for life and godliness, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, must ask. Are my means of deciding what is good and accurate in line with the scriptures themselves? The point is that God himself is not silent on how we should understand the scriptures."
I would respond such that these are my basic pre-suppositions...
Gen 1:1 ...in the beginning God...(he made it all, it's all his)
Ex 20:2 ...I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Eygpt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
Deut 8:3 ...man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedth out of the mouth of the Lord...
Isaiah 45: ...I, the Lord, speak the truth, I decalre what is right...
John 14:6 ...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...
2 Cor 10:5 ...bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience to Christ..
Eph 4:14 ...that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men...
Eph 4:17 ... that you should no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk in the futility of their mind...
Col 1:16 ...all things were created through him and for him. 17 and he is before all things and in him all things consist.
Co l2:8 ...beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.
I would say these are starting to undergird my thinking, my starting points.
As I read or listen to anything, I am trying to look for "what is the standard?","who says?", does this honor God or man? My pre-supposition is that all things were created through Him and for Him and He is before all things and in Him all things consist...so there is no neutral ground, all thinking must be brought into obedience to Christ. And by the written word has God chosen to reveal himself to us.. so it is in the written word that I will find the "mind of Christ". This is my measuring stick for what I read and hear.
I read Greg Bahnsen's book Always Ready, it's all about pre-suppostions, whatever it is it better be grounded from God's Word. I'm starting to see how God's Word applies to everything now.
The pieces are fitting together for me now, the secular/spiritual wall is being dismembered. Man cannot, no matter how hard he tries, isolate some area and say, "God has nothing to do with this." It's a world view.
" How is it that you know what is good and profitable?.. eventually we must start somewhere with in the scripture. That starting place has a pre-supposition behind. By some means you are deciding what is good and profitable through the scriptures. There is a question that we who study the scriptures for life and godliness, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, must ask. Are my means of deciding what is good and accurate in line with the scriptures themselves? The point is that God himself is not silent on how we should understand the scriptures."
I would respond such that these are my basic pre-suppositions...
Gen 1:1 ...in the beginning God...(he made it all, it's all his)
Ex 20:2 ...I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Eygpt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
Deut 8:3 ...man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedth out of the mouth of the Lord...
Isaiah 45: ...I, the Lord, speak the truth, I decalre what is right...
John 14:6 ...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...
2 Cor 10:5 ...bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience to Christ..
Eph 4:14 ...that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men...
Eph 4:17 ... that you should no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk in the futility of their mind...
Col 1:16 ...all things were created through him and for him. 17 and he is before all things and in him all things consist.
Co l2:8 ...beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.
I would say these are starting to undergird my thinking, my starting points.
As I read or listen to anything, I am trying to look for "what is the standard?","who says?", does this honor God or man? My pre-supposition is that all things were created through Him and for Him and He is before all things and in Him all things consist...so there is no neutral ground, all thinking must be brought into obedience to Christ. And by the written word has God chosen to reveal himself to us.. so it is in the written word that I will find the "mind of Christ". This is my measuring stick for what I read and hear.
I read Greg Bahnsen's book Always Ready, it's all about pre-suppostions, whatever it is it better be grounded from God's Word. I'm starting to see how God's Word applies to everything now.
The pieces are fitting together for me now, the secular/spiritual wall is being dismembered. Man cannot, no matter how hard he tries, isolate some area and say, "God has nothing to do with this." It's a world view.
Thinking it Through
Some of my thoughts from last January 2007
I use to be pre-mil, now I don't have a clue. Mostly because I now see how much of what I had was just shallow man-centered application of God's word. Live like Jesus is returning today, plan like he won't be back for a thousand years. I'm grabbing and applying what is good and profitable and I dont care about whos camp it's coming from.
I keep playing around with these "mindsets, doctrines" from God's
word, dispensational, reconstruction, reforming. What are the worldviews that result from these..."do they prepare you to take the enemies gates"..."do they leave you just defending your position"..."do they lend you to taking every thought captive to Christ or to a belief system, position"..."which ones call you to renew your mind and how you act or do they allow you to be static"...do any lead you to "conformity to man and man's ways or to conformity to God's word."
Can I whack the enemy over the head with it? Does it glorify God?The stuff I've been enjoying has helped me to see the stitches on the "fast" balls that the world is throwing at my family and fellow believers and I am hitting them out of the park with God's principles. In the light of God's word they don't even seem fast anymore. In the past, they would just hit me in the head. I was suffering for Jesus.
I use to be pre-mil, now I don't have a clue. Mostly because I now see how much of what I had was just shallow man-centered application of God's word. Live like Jesus is returning today, plan like he won't be back for a thousand years. I'm grabbing and applying what is good and profitable and I dont care about whos camp it's coming from.
I keep playing around with these "mindsets, doctrines" from God's
word, dispensational, reconstruction, reforming. What are the worldviews that result from these..."do they prepare you to take the enemies gates"..."do they leave you just defending your position"..."do they lend you to taking every thought captive to Christ or to a belief system, position"..."which ones call you to renew your mind and how you act or do they allow you to be static"...do any lead you to "conformity to man and man's ways or to conformity to God's word."
Can I whack the enemy over the head with it? Does it glorify God?The stuff I've been enjoying has helped me to see the stitches on the "fast" balls that the world is throwing at my family and fellow believers and I am hitting them out of the park with God's principles. In the light of God's word they don't even seem fast anymore. In the past, they would just hit me in the head. I was suffering for Jesus.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
All of a sudden so much of what use to be fuzzy is coming into focus. I feel like I have been holding my Bible sideways for all these years.
Better late than never. From last January...we had just had the baby and my wife spent lots of time feeding the baby....
Great, Great resource those guys at Stand to Reason, I purchased and downloaded some mp3 from them...these are worldview, nuts and bolts how to understand and be able to explain to others...
Evil, Suffering, and the Goodness of God download the mp3, cheap.
$13 for 2 cds and study notes or 4.99 for the same thing in mp3 with pdf study notes Moral Relativism and Monkey Morality...plus then there's no shipping! And I got it that night, whoopee! Relativism, Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air Outstanding talk. When you realize that you will have to listen to it about 4 to 5 times you will then say it was beyond cheap.
Beth is devourering everything in the house, I had no idea how many hours you spend breastfeeding a child, now I can grasp it, she's heard everything we have on mp3, the entire History of the World, 60 talks, the whole Uniting Church and Family Conference, multiple times on some of them. It has spurred me on to convert some other tape sets to mp3, she figures 240 feedings in a month, possible 40 minutes a shot at least, that's 4-5 lectures a day, she might have heard about 50 of the Kevin Swanson daily radio shows 20-25 minutes each. She's gonna have trouble lifting her head off the pillow. The $20 for the mp3 player was one of the best purchases ever, She's feeding the baby and her mind. The Stand to Reason stuff..she's halfway through Rushdoony's History of the World, she's like a locust and the baby's not even a month old.... We didn't even think to start using it at first. God said children are a blessing!
Great, Great resource those guys at Stand to Reason, I purchased and downloaded some mp3 from them...these are worldview, nuts and bolts how to understand and be able to explain to others...
Evil, Suffering, and the Goodness of God download the mp3, cheap.
$13 for 2 cds and study notes or 4.99 for the same thing in mp3 with pdf study notes Moral Relativism and Monkey Morality...plus then there's no shipping! And I got it that night, whoopee! Relativism, Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air Outstanding talk. When you realize that you will have to listen to it about 4 to 5 times you will then say it was beyond cheap.
Beth is devourering everything in the house, I had no idea how many hours you spend breastfeeding a child, now I can grasp it, she's heard everything we have on mp3, the entire History of the World, 60 talks, the whole Uniting Church and Family Conference, multiple times on some of them. It has spurred me on to convert some other tape sets to mp3, she figures 240 feedings in a month, possible 40 minutes a shot at least, that's 4-5 lectures a day, she might have heard about 50 of the Kevin Swanson daily radio shows 20-25 minutes each. She's gonna have trouble lifting her head off the pillow. The $20 for the mp3 player was one of the best purchases ever, She's feeding the baby and her mind. The Stand to Reason stuff..she's halfway through Rushdoony's History of the World, she's like a locust and the baby's not even a month old.... We didn't even think to start using it at first. God said children are a blessing!
If they do not have a Christian worldview, they will inevitably just take the dominant view of the culture they live in.
I think that because we Christians cannot articulate (or should I say accept) how God's precepts can show us right from wrong on those areas not specifically labeled/mentioned from scripture that we are too often silent. The word unsure/confused comes to mind. Any area where we are silent, the world will rush in and fill in the blanks for us, stating that everyone should decide for themselves, just don't hurt anyone else.
Nowadays it's also the church that says this.
It's like we have been in captivity, like the Israelites, for so long that we have no clue of how the church and Christians in the past wouldn't hesitate to say something is evil, that something is sin. There was a period recently, last 50 years where some still did this, but it was by rote, without being able to explain why something was wrong by the light of God's word. We had the law but had lost the undrstanding, God's heart behind it.. So it looked wooden and the world would portray it that way.
From last December, an article from the Rick Pearcy...
"Christian" TV vs. Christian Thinking
By Rick Pearcey
Steve Turner is a British author and journalist. His book Imagine was published in 2001, and his latest work, The Gospel According to the Beatles, was published in August. The following is from an interview with Infuze magazine.
"Why Worldview? "Christians often develop a Christian view of, say, prayer and scripture but don't think of having a Christian view of the normal stuff of everyday life. If they do not have a Christian worldview, they will inevitably just take the dominant view of the culture they live in. In the West, this tends to be some form of humanistic materialism."...
* Why Christ Died: "He didn't die to make us religious, but to make us human. In our fallen state, we lack the completeness of our humanity. The monastic tradition makes the mistake of thinking that God is best pleased with us when we cut ourselves off from the world, deny ourselves pleasure, refrain from marriage and devote ourselves totally to religious activities. This almost assumes that God made a mistake in putting us in a world of pleasure, culture, art, nature, work, companionship, etc."...
Read more>>
Nowadays it's also the church that says this.
It's like we have been in captivity, like the Israelites, for so long that we have no clue of how the church and Christians in the past wouldn't hesitate to say something is evil, that something is sin. There was a period recently, last 50 years where some still did this, but it was by rote, without being able to explain why something was wrong by the light of God's word. We had the law but had lost the undrstanding, God's heart behind it.. So it looked wooden and the world would portray it that way.
From last December, an article from the Rick Pearcy...
"Christian" TV vs. Christian Thinking
By Rick Pearcey
Steve Turner is a British author and journalist. His book Imagine was published in 2001, and his latest work, The Gospel According to the Beatles, was published in August. The following is from an interview with Infuze magazine.
"Why Worldview? "Christians often develop a Christian view of, say, prayer and scripture but don't think of having a Christian view of the normal stuff of everyday life. If they do not have a Christian worldview, they will inevitably just take the dominant view of the culture they live in. In the West, this tends to be some form of humanistic materialism."...
* Why Christ Died: "He didn't die to make us religious, but to make us human. In our fallen state, we lack the completeness of our humanity. The monastic tradition makes the mistake of thinking that God is best pleased with us when we cut ourselves off from the world, deny ourselves pleasure, refrain from marriage and devote ourselves totally to religious activities. This almost assumes that God made a mistake in putting us in a world of pleasure, culture, art, nature, work, companionship, etc."...
Read more>>
Sunday, September 9, 2007
When Will this Guy Talk About the Important Spiritual Stuff?
Last December, I was really enjoying Kevin Swanson's archives from his Generations show.
As Gary Demar quotes Kenny Rogers "I just stopped in to see what condition my condition was in." This group has developed a test to help people find out whether they have a...
"biblical theism worldview" (bible scholars, Doug Phillips, Rushdoony etc)
"moderate Christian worldview" (this is where I wish most elders & pastors are at, but I wouldn't bet on it)
"secular humanist worldview" (this is where most Christian kids are at, and their parents)
"socialist worldview" (normal college professors are here, I think)
Now this just runs counter-intuitive to the normal christian mindset. The Word promises we will be made like "Him" , and we will! ...... ultimately....but maybe not until after we are dead. What has left the deepest mark on you in this life? What worldviews have you been exposed to the most?
Has knowledge about God and His Word changed you to see life through biblical eyes or are we saved and still operating by mostly humanisistic mindsets. How many areas of life do we see on the same terms as most of the unsaved? Remember, most peoples worldviews are well on their way to being formed by the time they are thirteen.
After you got saved did anyone show you how to critically examine all of lifes presuppositions that you had accumalated during your formative years? Yeah, me neither. Stop and think...what had the most influence on you up to about 13 yrs old. For me it was Govt schooling, my friends,TVand movies. Yes my parents too,but they were in sync with the culture too, so looking back at what really influenced me....
This is a net result of christians reducing Gods work to that of personal revival. Revivalism for our personal life rather than reformation and restoration. If you dont remember the focus of christianity changing,dont feel bad, its been going on for 150yrs.
These guys have tracked the slippage from the last 15 years torwards a more secular worldview. Were talking about in the church.
Oh go give a listen before you have a fit.
We wont go to the Dr. if we dont think were sick.
part 1 of 2 part interview with Kevin Swanson
This is for part 2 and the of the interview, very good, or scary ...depends on how you look at it.
The website for Nehemiah Institute where you can take the world view test is here.
As Gary Demar quotes Kenny Rogers "I just stopped in to see what condition my condition was in." This group has developed a test to help people find out whether they have a...
"biblical theism worldview" (bible scholars, Doug Phillips, Rushdoony etc)
"moderate Christian worldview" (this is where I wish most elders & pastors are at, but I wouldn't bet on it)
"secular humanist worldview" (this is where most Christian kids are at, and their parents)
"socialist worldview" (normal college professors are here, I think)
Now this just runs counter-intuitive to the normal christian mindset. The Word promises we will be made like "Him" , and we will! ...... ultimately....but maybe not until after we are dead. What has left the deepest mark on you in this life? What worldviews have you been exposed to the most?
Has knowledge about God and His Word changed you to see life through biblical eyes or are we saved and still operating by mostly humanisistic mindsets. How many areas of life do we see on the same terms as most of the unsaved? Remember, most peoples worldviews are well on their way to being formed by the time they are thirteen.
After you got saved did anyone show you how to critically examine all of lifes presuppositions that you had accumalated during your formative years? Yeah, me neither. Stop and think...what had the most influence on you up to about 13 yrs old. For me it was Govt schooling, my friends,TVand movies. Yes my parents too,but they were in sync with the culture too, so looking back at what really influenced me....
This is a net result of christians reducing Gods work to that of personal revival. Revivalism for our personal life rather than reformation and restoration. If you dont remember the focus of christianity changing,dont feel bad, its been going on for 150yrs.
These guys have tracked the slippage from the last 15 years torwards a more secular worldview. Were talking about in the church.
Oh go give a listen before you have a fit.
We wont go to the Dr. if we dont think were sick.
part 1 of 2 part interview with Kevin Swanson
This is for part 2 and the of the interview, very good, or scary ...depends on how you look at it.
The website for Nehemiah Institute where you can take the world view test is here.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Journey Comes Together
Last December things jelled as God was finally able to get me to see that there is no such thing as sacred and secular. That God expected His son Jesus to be Lord over.... everything! It was an earthquake for my spiritual life as I realized that "all of my life" was supposed to be a spiritual life. Instead of just, you know, the "spiritual" parts. That everything has a spiritual basis that it is tied to, no neutral ground, no spare atoms, no unknown thoughts, no subject of life that God didn't require to be brought to the cross in subjection to Jesus. Who knew?
Here, I wrote down what I was seeing for the first time as a cohesive viewpoint. A worldview that started tying together my fragmented pieces of life. I felt like I was changing from a cardboard cutout to a real 3 dimensional Christian.
Because of it, tonight (last Dec.) I had the family look at Col 1:16-17 for by Him all things were created...visible and invisible...all things were created through and for Him.... and in Him all things consist.
Kayla asks what's invisible, which turns into a naming game, gravity, air, time, space, thoughts, reason, logic, love, numbers, atoms.... and "in Him all things consist," for Him and through Him.
Hosea 6:3 Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
A) As Doug would say, "does a fish know he's wet?" We are so use to everything being fudgable, relative, and why not, it's the world view we have been constantly exposed to our whole lives. Can we recognize this world view to stand against it, or do we, without even knowing it continue to feed it with our choices of what we put in front of us and our families.
Jesus is Lord. We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, our strength, our minds, our entire being. Having acknowledged this, are there any areas of life where God's word doesn't apply? God either sets the standard or man does. Is there any other alternative?
Any and all areas of human endeavor should be approached and brought into submission to Christ. We must look at everything in the light of God's Word.
B) If these are just my thoughts, who cares. But if we can discern God's thoughts after him, then out of obedience we should yield our wills to His. Does He want us to use His standard for every area of life. Or must we feel convicted about it? Does God ever tell us that our hearts should be the standard for obedience? I know Jiminy Cricket said, "let your conscious be your guide." Our God said, "I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt...you shall have no other Gods before me.."
C) At any point where we let our hearts decide what we must obey from God's Word, at that point our hearts have become an idol. They, in effect, are higher than God's Word. Does God present his wisdom to us as "optional wisdom". Does God's Word illuminate his "preferences" for us or does his word show how he wants us to approach every area of life taking every thought captive to obedience to Him?
D) I know that some people hold to a view that if it isn't expressly spoken of in the Word then we must let people decide for themselves. That it's "not binding" on us. (I hope I am not creating any straw-men here, if so, my bad) I still haven't found this in God's Word. In effect, this lets us take huge areas of life and lets us set the standard. Understand, I am not talking about areas like infant baptism where two sides both use God's Word and come to 2 different conclusions, they are both trying to submit to God's Word.
E) He does not ask us to take every thought captive to what we think but rather "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ". I submit that God would not ask us to do something that is impossible. Jesus said, "he who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. "Matt 12:30. God's Word says that there is no neutral ground.
Things are either brought into submission to his definitions and order or they are in rebellion to their Maker. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
F) God's Word is full of examples where His people ignore His commands and are then spoken of as ever listening but not hearing etc, where God's own people no longer can see clearly what is happening around them, or even what God's Word is telling them, because they see God's Word through their or other mens presuppositions. God walked among them and they knew it not.
G) Until recently I didn't even know that this is how I operated. I now realize the deepest mark that public school and and its accomplice, pop-culture, had impressed on me was a reality in my mind that God (if he was there) was irrelevant to most of life, that we as people can spend most of our time functioning in every day "normalcy" without need of God's Word for most simple decisions in life. That faith is personal, a heart matter. I now realize that this is a world view full of religious implications. It does subtle violence to the first commandment.
H) After writing the above I sat down and was just reviewing the book "Always Ready" which had been gone from me for sometime, borrowed by different people. I "just" turned to chp 10 and 11 by
"accident".. and will now basicly submit what Bahnsen articlulates so well...
"God clearly reveals himself in every fact of the created order, it is utterly impossible that there should be any neutral ground, any territory or facet of reality where man is not confronted with the claims of God, any area of knowledge where the theological issue is inconsequential...
God declares whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine (Ps 24:1)...man is commanded to do everything to God's glory (1Cor 10:31)...everything we do whether in word or deed comes under his command(Col 3:17)...even the use of reason or our minds must be according to God's direction and for his glory (1Pet 4:11)...unto him we must be holy (1Pet 1:15)...therefore the God who created all, rules over all (Ps 103:9)...no one can serve 2 masters... (Matt 6:24).
We must not think that ..our mind is the final court of appeal in all matters of knowledge. That ourself is to be the reference point for all interpretation of facts.."
I) This is all said to establish first in our minds, That God's Word does direct us to discern the mind of Christ about everything, that God doesn't invite us to see if we feel "convicted" but rather to be obedient and honor His judgements, His standards to "not my will, but thy will." "Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement because he willingly walked by human precept." Hosea 5:11
J) This will also set itself against the Opra standard of "judge not lest ye be judged" or as Jesus also said "...my judgement is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me. John 5:30
So using a Biblical worldview, we can try to determine Godly understanding, and then direction for our lives about movies, art, books, school cirriculum, music...
Here, I wrote down what I was seeing for the first time as a cohesive viewpoint. A worldview that started tying together my fragmented pieces of life. I felt like I was changing from a cardboard cutout to a real 3 dimensional Christian.
Because of it, tonight (last Dec.) I had the family look at Col 1:16-17 for by Him all things were created...visible and invisible...all things were created through and for Him.... and in Him all things consist.
Kayla asks what's invisible, which turns into a naming game, gravity, air, time, space, thoughts, reason, logic, love, numbers, atoms.... and "in Him all things consist," for Him and through Him.
Hosea 6:3 Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
A) As Doug would say, "does a fish know he's wet?" We are so use to everything being fudgable, relative, and why not, it's the world view we have been constantly exposed to our whole lives. Can we recognize this world view to stand against it, or do we, without even knowing it continue to feed it with our choices of what we put in front of us and our families.
Jesus is Lord. We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, our strength, our minds, our entire being. Having acknowledged this, are there any areas of life where God's word doesn't apply? God either sets the standard or man does. Is there any other alternative?
Any and all areas of human endeavor should be approached and brought into submission to Christ. We must look at everything in the light of God's Word.
B) If these are just my thoughts, who cares. But if we can discern God's thoughts after him, then out of obedience we should yield our wills to His. Does He want us to use His standard for every area of life. Or must we feel convicted about it? Does God ever tell us that our hearts should be the standard for obedience? I know Jiminy Cricket said, "let your conscious be your guide." Our God said, "I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt...you shall have no other Gods before me.."
C) At any point where we let our hearts decide what we must obey from God's Word, at that point our hearts have become an idol. They, in effect, are higher than God's Word. Does God present his wisdom to us as "optional wisdom". Does God's Word illuminate his "preferences" for us or does his word show how he wants us to approach every area of life taking every thought captive to obedience to Him?
D) I know that some people hold to a view that if it isn't expressly spoken of in the Word then we must let people decide for themselves. That it's "not binding" on us. (I hope I am not creating any straw-men here, if so, my bad) I still haven't found this in God's Word. In effect, this lets us take huge areas of life and lets us set the standard. Understand, I am not talking about areas like infant baptism where two sides both use God's Word and come to 2 different conclusions, they are both trying to submit to God's Word.
E) He does not ask us to take every thought captive to what we think but rather "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ". I submit that God would not ask us to do something that is impossible. Jesus said, "he who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. "Matt 12:30. God's Word says that there is no neutral ground.
Things are either brought into submission to his definitions and order or they are in rebellion to their Maker. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
F) God's Word is full of examples where His people ignore His commands and are then spoken of as ever listening but not hearing etc, where God's own people no longer can see clearly what is happening around them, or even what God's Word is telling them, because they see God's Word through their or other mens presuppositions. God walked among them and they knew it not.
G) Until recently I didn't even know that this is how I operated. I now realize the deepest mark that public school and and its accomplice, pop-culture, had impressed on me was a reality in my mind that God (if he was there) was irrelevant to most of life, that we as people can spend most of our time functioning in every day "normalcy" without need of God's Word for most simple decisions in life. That faith is personal, a heart matter. I now realize that this is a world view full of religious implications. It does subtle violence to the first commandment.
H) After writing the above I sat down and was just reviewing the book "Always Ready" which had been gone from me for sometime, borrowed by different people. I "just" turned to chp 10 and 11 by
"accident".. and will now basicly submit what Bahnsen articlulates so well...
"God clearly reveals himself in every fact of the created order, it is utterly impossible that there should be any neutral ground, any territory or facet of reality where man is not confronted with the claims of God, any area of knowledge where the theological issue is inconsequential...
God declares whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine (Ps 24:1)...man is commanded to do everything to God's glory (1Cor 10:31)...everything we do whether in word or deed comes under his command(Col 3:17)...even the use of reason or our minds must be according to God's direction and for his glory (1Pet 4:11)...unto him we must be holy (1Pet 1:15)...therefore the God who created all, rules over all (Ps 103:9)...no one can serve 2 masters... (Matt 6:24).
We must not think that ..our mind is the final court of appeal in all matters of knowledge. That ourself is to be the reference point for all interpretation of facts.."
I) This is all said to establish first in our minds, That God's Word does direct us to discern the mind of Christ about everything, that God doesn't invite us to see if we feel "convicted" but rather to be obedient and honor His judgements, His standards to "not my will, but thy will." "Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement because he willingly walked by human precept." Hosea 5:11
J) This will also set itself against the Opra standard of "judge not lest ye be judged" or as Jesus also said "...my judgement is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me. John 5:30
So using a Biblical worldview, we can try to determine Godly understanding, and then direction for our lives about movies, art, books, school cirriculum, music...
Sunday, September 2, 2007
He is Lord Over Everything!
This is a follow up to an earlier posting...
I’ve been thinking about this statement, Doug Wilson makes on his column that I posted on my blog last night, and it just kills me the more I think about it....
This is what Jesus is assuming in His reply to the Pharisees. When He says, "at the beginning" it was this way, He is not expecting His questioners to say something like, "But that was then, this is now." When He says, "from the beginning," He is talking about something that was established in the first chapter, and was intended to remain that way until the last chapter. That something was the reality of a man leaving his father and mother, taking a wife, and becoming one with her. This practice was to pervade all history— indeed, without it, there would be no history...
I keep trying to picture someone telling Jesus to his face, he who was the Word made flesh, "but that's Old Testament"..... I don’t know why it seems funny to me. But it cracks me up. I don’t think anyone would really do it. Conversly, I guess we would be shocked to hear Jesus qouteing the Old Testament at all if he was walking amidst us in the flesh. I think we would just assume that of course he would be talking about New Testament stuff, because the New Testament is what we should be about. Maybe it's just me, but for most of my evangelical life it does seem like it was New Testament top 40, all the hits, all the time. Now this was because Jesus' life and death and resurection changed so much, but it didn’t change everything. In many ways it allowed everything to takes its proper place back in creation.
So with Jesus we can get the proper revelation and understanding concerning the Old Testament. But I don’t think that it is guaranteed that we will get it right. But I believe on the whole most modern Christians just take it as a given, that we do understand as we should. "We are saved, you know."
If you misunderstand the purpose for the OT, and then apply Jesus to it, you can still miss what Jesus /God wants understood. Our presuppositions could get in the way.
So as I was thinking about all that and this morning as I was listening to Ken Myers talking with Nigel Cameron about bio ethics. IE, biblically how should our faith affect how we view what is happening in the science labs these days.
He is pointing out that killing someone made in the image of God is one thing but to then think that we will just start designing people after our own image is worse. We would try to take the place of the Creator.
Now Nigel was pointing out that it is pietism in the church that has caused the church to over exaggerate some aspects of theology of redemption to where we can drop the ball or even miss other things we should be thinking about.
He quoted someone who said, "That evangelicals tend to behave as if God used to be in the creation business, but retired to go into full time Christian service"
That if we think that Jesus has superceded everything else, then everything else becomes moot.
Now that does describe how my Christian walk used to be! That's how we can miss so much from the OT. That's why Ken Ham has had to criss-cross the country and build a huge museum so that Christians will look at the book of Genesis again to see what is really in there. In effect "Christianity" has become just another subset in the culture, rather than the only frame work through which life can be understood. This is another aspect of that being "so wet" issue. The problem isn’t that the culture sees us this way, it's that we Christians see it this way! I know I am still struggling with this. AAAAHHHHH!
Ken and Nigel discuss a little of how we have painted ourselves into a corner, this was from a bonus, free sample, at Ken's "Mars Hill" website, only about 15 minutes long, but very informative about us. His perspective on how we have incorrectly approached the abortion topic was also eye-opening. I very much like Mr. Camerons "we had better come from the bible" approach.
Mars Hill
It's volume 81 on their free page.
I’ve been thinking about this statement, Doug Wilson makes on his column that I posted on my blog last night, and it just kills me the more I think about it....
This is what Jesus is assuming in His reply to the Pharisees. When He says, "at the beginning" it was this way, He is not expecting His questioners to say something like, "But that was then, this is now." When He says, "from the beginning," He is talking about something that was established in the first chapter, and was intended to remain that way until the last chapter. That something was the reality of a man leaving his father and mother, taking a wife, and becoming one with her. This practice was to pervade all history— indeed, without it, there would be no history...
I keep trying to picture someone telling Jesus to his face, he who was the Word made flesh, "but that's Old Testament"..... I don’t know why it seems funny to me. But it cracks me up. I don’t think anyone would really do it. Conversly, I guess we would be shocked to hear Jesus qouteing the Old Testament at all if he was walking amidst us in the flesh. I think we would just assume that of course he would be talking about New Testament stuff, because the New Testament is what we should be about. Maybe it's just me, but for most of my evangelical life it does seem like it was New Testament top 40, all the hits, all the time. Now this was because Jesus' life and death and resurection changed so much, but it didn’t change everything. In many ways it allowed everything to takes its proper place back in creation.
So with Jesus we can get the proper revelation and understanding concerning the Old Testament. But I don’t think that it is guaranteed that we will get it right. But I believe on the whole most modern Christians just take it as a given, that we do understand as we should. "We are saved, you know."
If you misunderstand the purpose for the OT, and then apply Jesus to it, you can still miss what Jesus /God wants understood. Our presuppositions could get in the way.
So as I was thinking about all that and this morning as I was listening to Ken Myers talking with Nigel Cameron about bio ethics. IE, biblically how should our faith affect how we view what is happening in the science labs these days.
He is pointing out that killing someone made in the image of God is one thing but to then think that we will just start designing people after our own image is worse. We would try to take the place of the Creator.
Now Nigel was pointing out that it is pietism in the church that has caused the church to over exaggerate some aspects of theology of redemption to where we can drop the ball or even miss other things we should be thinking about.
He quoted someone who said, "That evangelicals tend to behave as if God used to be in the creation business, but retired to go into full time Christian service"
That if we think that Jesus has superceded everything else, then everything else becomes moot.
Now that does describe how my Christian walk used to be! That's how we can miss so much from the OT. That's why Ken Ham has had to criss-cross the country and build a huge museum so that Christians will look at the book of Genesis again to see what is really in there. In effect "Christianity" has become just another subset in the culture, rather than the only frame work through which life can be understood. This is another aspect of that being "so wet" issue. The problem isn’t that the culture sees us this way, it's that we Christians see it this way! I know I am still struggling with this. AAAAHHHHH!
Ken and Nigel discuss a little of how we have painted ourselves into a corner, this was from a bonus, free sample, at Ken's "Mars Hill" website, only about 15 minutes long, but very informative about us. His perspective on how we have incorrectly approached the abortion topic was also eye-opening. I very much like Mr. Camerons "we had better come from the bible" approach.
Mars Hill
It's volume 81 on their free page.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
More Walking
I was looking for what the Word says about Old and New Testament, From Dec 06
I really like John 5:45-47 " ...for Moses wrote about me...if you do not believe his writings, how can you believe my words."
Jesus doesn't pre-empt the writings of Moses. "For Moses wrote about me."
Luke 24:27 "He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
I really like John 5:45-47 " ...for Moses wrote about me...if you do not believe his writings, how can you believe my words."
Jesus doesn't pre-empt the writings of Moses. "For Moses wrote about me."
Luke 24:27 "He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
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