George Whitfield's Biography

I want this book and this book! Read Tim Challies review of them here. If any of you are feeling generous, you would make me a very happy Vinnie if you bought on of them for me. Father's Day is coming up, as well as the 4th of July, my birthday and then Christmas. Rachel...

Help with the Sabbath (or the Lord's Day)

I am confused about this Christian Sabbath thing. My thing is this (a few things): I think that it is pretty clear that the Ten Commandments are binding for Christians because of the way that the new testament uses them and assumes that they are binding on Christians. However, it seems that there is little or no evidence that the Lord's day is to be practiced as a sabbath. Yet, Christians are the new and true Israel and it is true that the New Testament requires that Christians meet on the first day of the week for corporate worship. Further, the law of God (which I believe is the ten commandments) is written on our hearts. I believe this because of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and passages like 2 Corinthians 3 (where the contrast is between the law being written on tablets of stone and on tablets of human hearts). The only thing that was written on tablets of stone by God was the ten commandments, not any other laws. The other laws under the Mosaic administration were written down by Moses. Further, Paul talks about the doers of the law being justified in Romans 2. The law, I believe, is talking about the ten commandments (Romans 2:21-23). Therefore, it must be biding on the Christian as a rule of life (the historic third use of the law as set out by Calvin). What confuses me most about this issue is that Mohler, Luther, Calvin, and Gill (just to name a few) don't believe in a Christian Sabbath. Rather, they believe in the observance of the Lord's day with the emphasis on the positive importance of the corporate gather together in worship, fellowship, and praying with God's people. The emphasis is not on resting. Therefore, they would not call it a Christian Sabbath. What makes this more confusing is that Mohler says it is emphatically not a Christian Sabbath and then he quotes the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM), which says this:
The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.

Mohler actually quoted this and still says that it is not a Christian Sabbath! I am confused. I'm even more confused because the BFM came from New Hampshire Confession which came from the 1689, which are both Sabbatarian. The New Hampshire Confession basically says the same thing, except the title is "The Christian Sabbath" instead of "The Lord's Day". It is almost like they want it to be called the Lord's Day but observed as a Sabbath...

Further, I have come to embrace the regulative principle of the Church, which is the opposite of the Anglican normative principle. The Anglicans say that, with regards to worship, anything that is commanded and anything that is not expressly forbidden is okay for the church to do in the activities of worship. The puritan regulative principle says that, for corporate worship, the tasks of the church, and the government of the church, only that which is either commanded or that which has Biblical precedence is true worship. Because it is God's house (or temple) He has the right to say what is and is not acceptable (1 Timothy 3:15). It is not the same as how I would do family worship or how I make many of the personal decisions I make. In our every day life we take the principles that we learn in God's word and apply them in the ways that we think best. Every situation is not addressed in scripture, but we can take the principles in God's word and apply them to those situations. Not so in the way that God's church is run because it is his place of special presence (Matthew 18:20). Much like God set out the specification of His temple in the OT, He has the right to determine how church is to be done. You get the point.

What does this have to do with the Sabbath? Well, if God is going to specify the way that worship is to be done, then would he not specify the day of worship?

Another thing I am wrestling with on this is the fact that the Bible does not trace the origins of the Sabbath back to the Mosaic Covenant but back to creation. Exodus 20 8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. Men like John Owen and Vos have argued that the Sabbath was a creation ordinance and, therefore, does not go away with the comng of the new covenant. According to them it is binding on all generations because it is part of the law written on the hearts (conscience) of all men from birth as Romans 1 and 2 set out.

Any help here? I am confused and need the help of my theologically-minded brothers.

Excellent Counseling Article!

Check out this great article about counseling (which has implications for the entire Christian life) here. A little controversial...

New Affections!

I got this excellent Thomas Chalmers quote from Piper's book, Future Grace:

"There are two ways in which a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world-either by a demonstration of the world's vanity, so that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment, so that the heart shall be prevailed upon not to resign an old affection, which shall have nothing to succeed it, but to exchange an old affection for a new one. My purpose it to show that from the constitution of our nature, the former method is altogether incompetent and ineffectual, and that the latter method will alone suffice for the rescue and recovery of the heart from the wrong affection that domineers over it."

So let us preach and counsel, yes, against sin and wickedness but also for the beauty and excellence of God and all the he is for us in Christ. Let us emphasize the greatness of God over the futility of the world.

Waldron Posts Chapter 4!

Finally, Sam Waldron has posted Chapter 4 in his blog book in response to MacArthur's sermon at the Shepherd's Conference here.

Books I have Read

First I must qualify that I have not read ALL of each of these books. In other words, I have chosen to list the books that I have read either all the way through or most of the way through (I have a bad habit of starting new books before I finish the ones I am already reading). These are only the ones I can think of off the top of my head without giving it much thought:

Piper
Desiring God
When I Don't Desire God
God's Passion for His Glory
The Hidden Smile of God
Future Grace
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ
Legacy of Sovereign Joy
Don't Waste Your Life
Counted Righteous in Christ
The Supremacy of God in Preaching
God is the Gospel
The Innkeeper
A Hunger For God

Sam Waldron (my professor at MCTS)
Reformed Baptist Manifesto
End Times Made Simple
In Defense of Parity
Biblical Baptism
To Be Continued?
Who Runs the Church
We Must Obey God

John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus
The Murder of Jesus
Battle for the Beginning
Why One Way?
Fool's Gold
Successful Christian Parenting

Others
The Cross - Lloyd-Jones
The Cross Centered Life - Mahaney
Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God - Mahaney
God at Work - Veith
Mortification of Sin - Owen
The Doctrine of Repentance - Watson
The Mischief of Sin - Watson
Is God Really in Control - Bridges
Some of Systematic Theology - Grudem
An Eschatology for Laymen - Ladd
Religious Affections - Edwards
The Complete Husband - Priolo
Heart of Anger - Priolo
Shepherding a Child's Heart - Ted Tripp
Age of Opportunity - Paul Tripp
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Whitney
The Church - Clowny
Chose by God - Sproul
Grace Unknown - Sproul
The Sovereignty of God - Pink
Spurgeon Versus Hyper-Calvinism
Tell the Truth - Metzger
Today's Gospel - Authentic of Synthetic - Chantry
The Gospel According to Dispensationalism - Kimbro

That's all I can think of right now...

Historical Theology

After some of Greg Stancil’s posts on historic premillenialism, I am leaning toward historic premill as my view on the end times. A big part of that has to do with the wide acceptance of it in the early church. It also occurred to me (again) that historical theology can be very helpful in developing our own theology. Of course, we don’t come to our conclusions based solely on church history. For that would be a return to Roman Catholicism. Exegesis is our primary epistemological source. But it is an unwise overreaction to Rome to ignore church history in formulating our own system of theology. This got me thinking about some other areas that I have been wondering about and led me again to contemplate the role that Ten Commandments are to have in the Christian life, particularly, the fourth Commandment regarding the Sabbath Day. I asked the question, “What did the early church think about the Sabbath Day and how did it affect their practice?”. You can see for yourself in this article by Philip Schaff.

Sale at Westminster Bookstore

The CCEF (Christian Counseling and Education Foundation) books are on sale at the Westminster bookstore right now at half price!

Historic Premil

My friend, Greg Stancil, is posting some blogs about historic premil and how it compares to other eschatological systems here.

Living the Christian life

Mark Redfern posts this great James McDonald quote here.

Sam Waldron Continues His Response

Here, here and here, Waldron continues his response to MacArthur.

The Church is Very Important

In studying for my seminary class, it has struck me how little value and importance is placed upon the church (especially in its local expression) in today's evangelicalism. This doesn't quite square up with scripture pasages such as 1 Timothy 3:15:

"but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth."

-The church is the household of God
-The church is the church of the living God
-The church is the pillar and support of the truth

Let us treat it as such!

Sam Waldron Responds to MacArthur

Here is a link to the first of several posts in response to John MacArthur's opening address at the 2007 Shepherd's Conference.

The New Covenant and Boasting in the Cross - 2

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:20)

What is the New Covenant?

“The phrase “New Covenant” is used explicitly seven times in the New Testament. There are at least five more times in which clear allusions to it occur. This, however, does not adequately reveal the all-importance of the New Covenant in the Bible. The last 27 books of our Bibles are called the New Testament. This phrase is an alternate translation of the New Covenant. In one sense, the New Testament is the New Covenant. That is to say, the Scriptures of the New Testament are the scriptures of the New Covenant, just as the scriptures of the Old Testament are the scriptures of the Old Covenant. This in no way takes the Old Testament out of the hands of Christians. Just as the Old Testament has to do with the establishment and implications of the Old Covenant, so the New Testament has to do with the establishment and implications of the New Covenant.”

Here we see that Christ is linking His death with the New Covenant as He is instituting one of the two sacraments of the church - the Lord’s supper. I said all that to say this. The New Covenant is very important for Christians to understand and appreciate. The whole New Testament , in a sense, has to do with the New Covenant. The most important event in the history of the world, Christ’s shedding of His blood on the cross is linked to the New Covenant. This is very important to grasp. So let’s get into it. What is the New Covenant?

-The New Covenant is the fulfillment of promises made in the Old Testament – Jeremiah 31:31-34; 32:40; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Isaiah 54:10; 55:3; 59:21; 61:8; Hosea 2:18-23; Malachi 3:1-4

-It is contrasted with the Old Covenant – Jeremiah 31:32; Exodus 19:1-8; Exodus 24:6-8

The Old Covenant here, then, is the Mosaic Covenant with all the institutions of worship annexed to it (Hebrews 9:1-3). This covenant is going to be different than the Mosaic Covenant.

We will talk more about the specific provisions of the new covenant next time as well as how the New and Old Covenants are different. This week I want to move on to Christ’s next phrase in Luke 22:20, “in my blood.” This is the new covenant in my blood. What does He mean here?

The New Covenant and Boasting in the Cross

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:20)

How much do you value the blood of Christ? Do you ever just stop in the middle of your day and say, “Thank you Lord, for the blood of Christ”? I don’t typically do that. It is my conviction that one of the reasons why I don’t is because I don’t understand the value of the cross of Christ and how much his shed blood truly accomplished for me. One of the things I don’t think many Christians understand is how the blood of Christ and the new covenant relate. This passage connects these two things - the blood of Christ and the new covenant. What I would like to do in the next few posts is just expound upon Christ’s phrase here in the latter part of this verse, “the new covenant in My blood”. This verse that we read over so often and so quickly is full of meaning and implications for the Christian life. I would like concentrate on what those meanings and implications are for our lives. I think this will help us appreciate the blood of Christ more fully. It is important to appreciate the blood of Christ because that is what makes us more Christlike and less worldly. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)

God Should be Central in all of Life

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

I couldn't help but think of the very obvious and intended application for parents in these verses. One of the main implications that struck me was the fact that Biblical Christianity and Biblical parenting are not compartmentalized. You should not have the Bible as your guide and the topic of discussion only in Sunday school and at church. Here the Bible is to be the topic "when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." We should be teaching our children, not only at set times for catechism and family devotions but also in the milieu of life. They should know that the word of God and the God of the word are relevant and supreme in all realms of life, not just at church on Sunday.

A Poem for Your Birthday

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" is the question people regularly ask children. We, as parents, have the advantage of life experience to answer this question. Many parents would answer the question differently if they could answer if for their children. As Christian parents, we should answer differently than parents that are not Christians. What the world wants for their children and what Christians want for their children should be noticeably different. The world may want things like wealth, fame, power, reputation, etc. A biblical vision for what we want for our children should look quite different. I asked myself what I want for my oldest child and it turned into a poem. This poem is my feeble attempt to put into words my mission for my firstborn son:


Tyler, When You Grow Up

When you grow up,
I want you to show yourself a man

When you grow up,
I want you to show mercy as much as you can

When you grow up,
I want you to love God and hate sin

When you grow up,
I want you to fear God and not men

When you grow up,
I want you to know your God and know yourself

When you grow up,
I want you to lead and love your wife

When you grow up,
I want you to train your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord

When you grow up,
I want you to be a doer of the word

When you grow up,
I want you to speak truth boldly and without fear

When you grow up,
I want you to know that your home is not here

When you grow up,
I want you to find your joy in God and store up treasure in heaven

When you grow up,
I want you to be a passionate man

When you grow up,
I want you to cherish doctrine

When you grow up,
I want you to exalt Christ’s name and avoid self-glorification

When you grow up,
I want you to do risk-taking acts of love

When you grow up,
I want you to set your mind on things above

When you grow up,
I want you to love others enough to say what they don’t like

When you grow up,
I want you to save your life by losing your life

When you grow up,
I want you to deserve nothing in your own mind

When you grow up,
I want you to be genuinely kind

And when you grow up, son, I want you to know,
That wherever your earthly father is, your heavenly father is with you wherever you go

BACK FROM THE DEAD!

I am still alive. Just been pretty busy. Here is something I was thinking about today:

"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)
This verse is full of theology. Yes, that bad word “theology”. It is all about God. It is not man-centered. In fact, it is bringing out the point that man is not to be admired, but that man, unlike God, is sinful and therefore he lies. It also brings out the fact that man is weak and lacking knowledge and wisdom and, therefore, changes his mind about things. It is a thoroughly God-centered verse. It shows that God is true and never lies. It shows that God is omniscient and, therefore has unlimited knowledge of the past present and future in all places. Therefore, He never makes a decision based on a limited amount of knowledge, only to learn that His decision was based on wrong assumptions. That has never happened. It never will. He doesn’t change his mind. He never says that He will do one thing only to decide against it later. He never tells us He will do one thing and decides to do another. He never promises not to do something only to turn around and do it anyway. That has never happened.

The argument I have heard is that theology is not practical or relevant. Therefore, we must find preaching that is practical and nitty gritty. This theology stuff is not relevant and it has nothing to do with how we live our lives. This verse, which is very theological, has immense practical implications and is a testimony to the fact that the argument outlined above is shortsighted. This argument is a perfect reflection that shows how pragmatic, impatient and lazy our culture has become (including most who fill the pews of our churches every Sunday). All one needs to do is ask the question:

“Why does the fact that God never changes His mind and never lies matter to us?”

I answer with another question: What if we really believed that God would never lie and that he never changed his mind?

You guys tell me the implications of such a wonderful truth…

To Teach, or not to Teach

One thing I have been puzzled about is the tension between James 3:1 and Hebrews 5:12

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12)

Well at first glance it seems that these two texts are contradicting one another. One says that not many should not aspire to teaching because there will be a stricter judgement. The other says that one thing that naturally comes with maturity is to be teachers. These people weren't ready to be teachers because of their spiritual immaturity, but they should have been teaching. So how do these fit together? The Greek word will not help. It is the same Greek word used in both verses. I will let you guys help me on this one too. I know there are some exegetical geniuses out there that read my blog, so let er rip!

Why memorize scripture?

This is from a devotional I prepared for our youth group. One of my resolutions is to memorize the fighter verses (used by John Piper @ Desiring God and Bethlehem Baptist church in Minneapolis) for the year 2006. If you following this program, you will have memorized one strategicly chosen passage of scripture each week to help you fight the fight of faith. It is my goal to do this. Here are some motivations for so doing:


1. To know specifics about God
2. To know specifics about His commands (1 John 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6)
3. To know the promises of God (2 Peter 1:1-4)
4. To be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2)
5. To avoid sinning against God (Psalm 119:9-11; Luke 4:1-13)
6. To be strong in times of adversity (Psalm 1:1-3)
7. To be a Christian sage (Proverbs 22:17-21)
Definition for sage: One venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom.
8. To become what you think about (Proverbs 23:7)
9. To learn, support, and defend sound doctrines of the Christian faith
10. To promote Biblical prayers

Different types of verses to memorize:
a. Verses that tell about the attributes of God ("The Lord is gracious, slow to anger," etc.)
b. Verses that tell about the positive commands (i.e. "You shall love your neighbor...")
c. Verses that tell about the negative commands (i.e. "You shall have no other gods before Me")
d. Verses that aren't commands, but that help you be wise and live life and avoid pitfalls (Proverbs)
e. Verses that tell about the promises of God (i.e. "I will remember their sins no more")
f. Verses that teach solid doctrine and help us understand the gospel and our salvation (i.e. "By grace you have been saved through faith")
g. Verses that are models for good prayers (i.e. the Lord's prayer, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3, etc.)

It is good for us to memorize all these different categories of scriptures in order to have our minds transformed into the mind of Christ. This, with the Holy Spirit's help will cause us to begin to not only think the way Christ thinks but also to feel the way He feels about things. We will begin to hate sin, love people, and most of all love God more and more. Let's resolve to memorize more scripture in 2006!