Help!

The good news: I just got a $30 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and I can get any book I want. The bad news: I just got a $30 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and I can get any book I want. Now I have to make a decision! I need your help. I need suggestions. Let me narrow it down for you. I want something in the following categories:

1. Systematic theology
2. Historical theology / biography
3. Homiletics / pastoral theology

No Piper, no MacArhur, no Edwards, dead rather than living, puritan rather than anything else. You can see some other books that I have already ready here.

Ready...go!

The World's Remedy for Emptiness

I have been struggling lately with doubts, depressions and being down in the dumps. All those good d-words. When I struggle like this I usually seek counsel from men that I respect with regards to the soul's happiness and joy. At the top of the list, of course, is John Piper. When I don't Desire God is a big help in this regard. This time around I have picked up a book by Jeremiah Burroughs entitled, "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment." so far it has been good.

In contrast, I was listening to NPR this morning on the way to work. This was not good. The gentleman that was being interviewed was talking about how people tend to go through these cycles in their lives where they are happy and others where they are not so happy. There are typically "happy years" in a persons life. This is usually into the 20s. Then happiness usually gets progressively less and usually hits bottom sometime in the late 30s or into the 40s. Then there are usually more happy years as people get older. At this point the NPR interview brought up the concept of the "hedonic treadmill". This is the concept that says that we are constantly looking for something to make us happy. It may be the promotion or the pay raise. When we get the promotion or the pay raise, the new and the satisfaction eventually wear off and then we are onto something else to satisfy that longing. But we are never satisfied. The interviewer then asked what could be done to maintain a happier state and perhaps to defeat this "hedonic treadmill." The interviewee's answers were pretty pathetic. Here's what he suggested: (1) He said that one of the things that have been documented to help is that you not have a long commute to work every day. (2) Another thing that he suggested is that you have some flexibility in your work schedule. If you have varying hours at work this will help. (3) The last thing he mentioned was friends. He said that it really helps to have some close friendships where you spend time regularly with these friends.

This morning as I listened to this guy's advice I thought, "That's all you got?" "That is your answer to the problem of emptiness and depression?" Have a short drive to work, flexibility in work schedule, and have some close friends and this will help. However, I think what he was basically saying is, "There is no cure to this. All you can hope to do is alleviate some of the misery with a comfortable work environment and some friends." What a miserable worldview.

I suggest that the Christian alternative is better on so many levels and on so many plains. One verse, Psalm 16:11 - You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. There are no hedonic treadmills in heaven; there are only never-ending, soul-satisfying pleasures.

This kind of rhetoric only confirms what Augustine said in his Confessions. "our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee."

Justification and Sanctification

A friend of mine asked about the relationship between justification and sanctification. Here's how I responded. There is so much more that could be said since this is pretty much what the Christian life is all about.

"Hey, I've been thinking about this some lately. I was talking about it with Tyler the other night. In justification, we get two things. Both are suited perfectly to the needs of the sinner. The sinner is in the hole, so to speak. He/she has a bad record before God. Having lived a life that has "fallen short", we have done tons of bad things are exposed to the just wrath of God because of those sins. That's one problem - a sinful record. The other problem is the lack of righteousness. Even if we didn't have the bad record, we would then only be back at square one. We still wouldn't have the positive side - a righteousness. So the sinner stands condemend because he has sinned (the negative) and he lacks righteousness (the positive). This is the very bad news that makes the gospel very good news. Christ died to grant forgiveness for sins (the negative) and He lived the perfect life to grant the righteousness (the positive). When the sinner attaches himself to Christ by grace through faith, he/she is then counted to have lived Christ's perfect life of obedience. The Father also counts Christ to have lived the sinners wicked life. This is what happened at the cross - double imputation. John MacArthur once said in a sermon, "God treated Christ like He lived your life so that He could treat you like you lived His." Unbelievable! Except by grace, then it becomes believable. How does justification relate to sanctification. One will not happen without the other. Sanctification will not happen unless justification already has. Those who have been justified will be sanctified and will progressinvely become more Christlike. Conversely, it is impossible for justification to happen without sanctification. In other words, Christians will be sanctified. This is why the Bible can say things like these without teaching works-based salvation:

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

According to this verse, we will not go to heaven if we are not sanctified. How do we reconciled this with Romans 5, which says that we are justified bny faith and Ephesians 2:8-9 which says that we are saved by grace through faith? It reconciles because those who are saved by grace through faith will also be sanctified. So there will be no Christians who are not sanctified. All real Christians will be progressively sanctified. This is consistent with other verses that seem to say the same thing. Compare Romans 8:13 and 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12. One of the questions is Tyler's catechism book, in speaking of the sinful heart that each of us has from birth, asks this question:
Can you go to heaven with this sinful nature?
Answer: No, my heart must be changed before I can be fit for heaven. Our hearts must be fit for heaven. My father in-law had a book in his study over Thanksgiving that was titled, "No holiness, no heaven." Good title! Piper says that the only sin that can be overcome is a forgiven sin. Thanks for the discussion."

Your thoughts?

The Best Humorous Calvinism Blog Ever!

Check out this post. You will be rolling if you have Calvinism-obsession tendencies as I do.

And yes, I am still alive. I just haven't made as much time to blog lately. Please forgive me!

The Glory of God and the "Starvation Response"

I am very out of shape. I am out of shape because of a lack of discipline and a love for food. Over the years, there have been times when I was actually in good shape. I used to lift weights quite a bit and I even ran. I have even had some times where I have studied a little regarding weight training and fitness, etc. One thing that I have learned (but haven't yet applied) is that "dieting" doesn't work. When I say "dieting" I mean cutting calories and eating less and less in order to lose weight. It doesn't work because of the way that God, in His wisdom, has designed us. I have been skimming a book entitled, "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle." Nice title, huh. Anyway, here's what the author, Tom Venuto, says about traditional low-carlorie diets:

"Most people are dead wrong in the way they diet to lose body fat. Almost every conventional diet program ever conceived has one thing in common: Extremely low calories. Nearly all of these low calorie diets produce weight loss in the beginning. The problem is, none of them work for long – it’s physiologically impossible to lose fat permanently by starving yourself. The human body is simply too
“smart” for this to ever work. When you starve the fat, you also starve the muscle. When you starve the muscle, you lose muscle along with the fat. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down and your body enters the “starvation mode.” When your body enters starvation mode, fat loss comes to a screeching halt as your body tries to conserve its energy. When the fat loss stops, you either give up (and gain back the fat you lost), or you grit your teeth and drop your calories (starve yourself) even more. If you drop your calories even more, your metabolism slows down even more. And if your metabolism slows down even more, fat loss comes to a screeching halt again. Eventually, you always end up throwing in the towel because you can’t keep dropping your calories forever. It’s a vicious cycle. You just can’t win the very-low-calorie-diet game."

Here are some quotes from others that are knowledgeable in this field:

"Dieting is not effective in controlling weight. You can get a temporary weight loss
with a diet, but each scheme ultimately gives way to weight gain, and subsequent losses become increasingly difficult. Worst of all, you get progressively fatter on less food. Dieting actually makes you fatter!”
-Dr. Lawrence Lamb, Author of "The Weighting Game: The truth about weight control.”

"Cutting calories backfires. The more you cut, the more your body fights to hold onto
its fat stores as reducing calories signals the “starvation response” where the body tries to “survive” and hold onto its calorie reservoir known as fat.”
- Chris Aceto, author of “Everything you need to know about fat loss.”

This has been my experience exactly. The thing that strikes me, though, is that hardly anyone understands this. How many people do we know that are on some sort of "diet" where they try to lose weight by eating less. I thought I would post this here because it is not only helpful to us, but more importantly, it glorifies God. God has designed the human body so that if we start to eat less then our body automaticlly "knows" that it needs to slow down it's metabolic rate in order to conserve the energy provided by the food that has been taken in prior to the reduction in caloric intake. It amazes me that many of these people that do understand it refuse to give the glory to God. Rather, it is some sort of evolutionary characteristic of the "fittest". Anyway, praise God for the "starvation response". Now that you have this important information, use it wisely.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. (Psalm 139:13-14)

Clash of the Theological Giants

The Bible wants us to have heroes. Hebrews 13:7-"Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." It has become pretty important to me to have some good heroes to "imitate". John Piper has helped me in this area. "It seems to me that the Christian leaders who come closest to being heroes are the ones who had great heroes." I think he's right. Piper got some advice to dig into the writings of one solid, Biblical, pastor to become conversant with that theologian's writings. Piper chose Edwards. Man am I glad! Can you imagine Piper without the influence of Edwards? About a year or so ago I started to consider (1) if I should do the same with a (preferably) dead theologian who would be good to really be discipled by. (In large measure I have already done this with the living, John Piper), (2) If I should do this with one of the great, dead theologians/pastors (they should be both), which one would I choose? Of course, Edwards was one of my top "contenders". However, as I have learned a little more I have started to consider another, namely, John Owen. At Piper's pastor's conference in 1994, he did a biological message on John Owen. Reading that message (and more recently listening to it on Piper's radio program) was enough to make one consider Owen as an equal with Edwards in many ways. Consider some of these things about Owen's life.

There have been many great theologians that have considered Owen to have been the most influential Christian writer in their lives. J.I. Packer, Roger Nicole, and Sinclair Ferguson, to name a few. At the time Piper did this conference he had invited six me as keynote speakers. The three men that I noted above were included in that group of six men. So that was just in a six year period of time. Who knows how many others would say the same? He has had 11 pastor's conferences since then. I suppose one might object by saying that a person may be a good writer without being much more than a writer. Granted, but I doubt that we could accuse Owen of that.

Owen was always essentially a pastor (from 1643 until his death in 1683). Piper comments, "...even when involved with administration at the University of Oxford and even when involved with the political events of his day. He was anything but a cloistered academic. All of his writing was done in the press of pastoral duties." In 1646 Owen was invited to speak to the Parliament. It was this message that catapulted him into political affairs for the next 14 years. Oliver Cromwell made him his chaplain and then (1651) appointed him to the Deanship at Christ Church College in Oxford and then the next year made him also the Vice-Chancellor. That wasn't very busy at all (Sarcasm). His duties included responsibility "for the services of worship because Christ Church was a cathedral as well as a college and he was the preacher. He was responsible for the choice of students, the appointment of chaplains, the provision of tutorial facilities, the administration of discipline, the oversight of property, the collection of rents and tithes, the gift of livings and the care of almsman and the church hospital. But his whole aim in all his duties Peter Toon says was 'to establish the whole life of the College on the Word of God.'" "In spite of all that administrative pressure and even hostility because of his commitment to godliness and to the Puritan cause, he was constantly studying and writing, probably late at night instead of sleeping." And study and write he did. Today, we have a 16-volume set of works in addition to the 7-volume set on Hebrews! Who in the world can write seven volumes on Hebrews? Well, John Owen and ... John Owen. Nor did he dabble on the surface of the subjects which he addressed. Andrew Thomsen said, Owen "makes you feel when he has reached the end of his subject, that he has also exhausted it." Name a theological subject and, for the most part, Owen not only touched on it but seemingly exhausted it.

Owen tried to help get John Bunyan out of prison and failed. Of course, if he hadn't failed then we probably wouldn't have the second-best selling book of all time - The pilgrim's Progress. Since Bunyan was a tinker, he didn't know anything about publishing. Owen did. He recommended his own publisher, Nathaniel Ponder. So Owen failed to get him out of jail, but succeeded in finding him a good publisher.

The main reason I would consider Owen as even close to Edwards is because of what I see that was most important to him and what motivated him in all the great things he was able to do. Some people may do a lot of good things for the wrong motives (like self-exaltation). From what little information we have about Owen (outside of his works), we can see that there were a few things that made him tick and really drove him.

In Owen's own words,

"I hope I may own in sincerity that my heart's desire unto God, and the chief design of my life ... are, that mortification and universal holiness may be promoted in my own and in the hearts and ways of others, to the glory of God, that so the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be adorned in all things."

I think he could say that without fear of anyone calling him out as being hypocritical. As we have already established, he was a very public figure. David Clarkson was his pastoral assistant in the later years of Owen's ministry. He gave his funeral address. In it he said,

"A great light is fallen; one of eminancy for holiness, learning, parts and abilities; a pastor, a scholar, a divine of the first magnitude; holiness gave a divine lustre to his other accomplishments, it shined in his whole course, and was diffused through his whole conversation."

It may be a difficult and dangerous thing to try summing up Owen to one or two key themes. But, others have tried. Richard Daniels, who wrote in his dissertation on The Christology of John Owen said this:

"...there is one motif so important to John Owen, so often and so broadly cited by him, that the writer would go so far as to call it the focal point of Owen's theology, namely, the doctrine that in the gospel we behold, by the Christ-given Holy Spirit, the glory of God "in the face of Christ" and are thereby changed into his image." (92)

"...the knowledge of Christ was the all-surpassing object of Owen's desires, the center of his doctrinal system, and the end, means, and indispensable prerequisite for Christian theology." (516)

Here's how Owen said it in Meditations on the glory of Christ:

"The revelation ... of Christ ... deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations and our utmost diligence in them ... What better preparation can there be for [our future enjoyment of the glory of Christ] than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the revelation that is made in the Gospel."

Piper writes, "Richard Baxter...called Owen 'the great doer'. He lived in the public eye. He was involved in academic administration; he was in politics up to his ears; he was entangled with the leading military officers of the country; he was embroiled in controversies over all kinds of matters from the authenticity of the Hebrew vowel points and the Epistle to Ignatius to the national laws of toleration and the nature of justification; he was looked at by thousands of congregational independent ministers as their spokesman at the national level; he was all the while pastoring people-and don't forget, losing a child in death every three years."

Owen was a pastor who loved Jesus and wanted others to love Jesus more and more by seeing Him in the gospel. Owen knew that when people see Jesus by looking at Him through the lens of the gospel they are changed.

Back to my question about picking one main, dead theologian/pastor to delve into. I have some questions for you bloggers:

1. Should we do this? Is it wise to pick one main guy to do this with and really get to know that one guy's thoughts and system of theology, etc? Obviously it was good for Piper. God used Edwards in a major way in Piper's life. Since every man has weaknesses would it be more wise to be more well-rounded and to dabble in the writings of many of the great writers of Christian history? Or is it better to go really deep into one trustworthy source (which may be what Piper would argue)? Of course, this doesn't mean that you don't read other authors...

2. Edwards vs. Owen (hence the title of my blog). Much more is known about Edwards so I chose to give some info about Owen on the blog. Tell me your thoughts. Assuming it is healthy to delve into the writings of one great Christian writer, Owen or Edwards? Why? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for persevering such a long blog entry.

Saving Faith

William Guthrie, in "The Christian's Great Interest", says this about saving faith in Jesus Christ:

"In a word, whatsoever way [Jesus] may benefit poor man, He declares Himself able to do. And as He holdeth out Himself in the Scriptures, so faith does point towards Him. If He be a Bridegroom, faith will go out in a marriage relation; if He be a Father, faith pleadeth the man to be a child; if He be a Shepherd, faith pleads the man may be one of His sheep; if He be a Lord, faith calleth Him so, which none can do but by the Spirit of Jesus; if He be dead, and risen again for our justification, faith 'believeth God has raised Him' on that account. (Rom. 10: 9.) Wheresoever He be, there would faith be; and whatsoever He is, faith would be somewhat like Him."

In other words, to receive Christ is to believe in Him. To believe in Him is to receive all of Him, not just Christ as savior but also as Lord and treasure. If you really receive Christ, you receive all of Him - not parts of Him. You will receive Him in all of His offices. He is prophet, preist and king. Lord, savior, treasure. Whatever scripture declares Him to be, saving faith receives Him as such. Indeed, saving faith savors who He is and makes Christ all. As Piper has said, "Saving faith is being satisfied with God and all that He is for us in Jesus."

Tyler - For Your Birthday

I'm no poet. I'm just a dad who is pretty sappy sometimes. I get choked up thinking about my kids growing up. My son, Tyler, is turning six years old tomorrow. Because I am so sappy, I wrote a poem for my son on his sixth birthday. Here it is. As far as poetry goes, it's pretty pathetic. Anyway, here it is:

Little guy, just writing this makes me tear up.
You're six years old and growing up.
Yesterday we brought you home,
Tomorrow we know that you'll be grown.

I felt the need to write you, son.
You need to know when all's said and done
That your dad loves you more than you'll know
And that his hope is that one day you'll grow
To be a joyful man who loves
His family and God above
All earthly joys and treasures here;
That no man's worthy of your fear.

Someday, I pray, you'll love your wife
And use the word that's like a knife
To lead your family in the way
Of holiness and learn to pray
Like Jesus did - the One who hid
The word and fought the Devil with
What He had stored up in His heart.
Tyler, our God has made you smart.
So use your mind to glorify
The maker of the earth and sky.

Don't waste you life on things that rust,
Nor build up all your hope and trust
On shadows that don't satisfy
But on Jesus who gives true life.

You're like your dad in many ways.
I used to hope it was a phase,
But in six years it's gotten worse.
It's nothing that we can reverse.
So maybe I can help you to
Avoid some things that I still do.

There's still some time to spend with you.
And when we're done I want you to
Be sure your dad loves you so much
That he's in awe that God gave such
A precious gift of love to Him.

I hope there'll be more words to come
From me to you if God gives some.
For now, another year's gone by.
Happy birthday, my little guy!

A little humor

I suppose it's time I do something a little more lighthearted on my blog, lest everyone think that I am always serious. I do have a tendency to be a little too serious, but I will tell you one comical story about my five year old son, Tyler. The other day while my wife was in the DC area visiting family, my wife (Rachel) took my 2 year old daughter (Anna) to the restroom. After a few minutes Tyler started to wonder what was taking so long, so he asked his grandmother what was going on. She said, "I think Anna is having some bowel problems." Tyler was silent for a second and then he said, "She's having problems with A,E,I,O,U?". My wife's homeschooling has really paid off...

Calvinism and its Implications

I have talked to some people that have been around many Calvinists in their lifetime that have obviously been bad examples. I recently had a conversation with someone about this issue. He said that he noticed that all Calvinists think that the doctrines of grace is the most important thing in the Christian faith - the cardinal doctrine by which all Christians should be judged. According to this guy, we think that what people believe about Calvinism is what is most important. Is that true? Do Calvinists think Calvinism is more important than it really is? Is Calvinism important? Does it affect a lot of other things in the Christian faith? He said that the Calvinistic people that he has known have exhibited arrogance, intellectualism, lack of joy, lack of love and lack of evangelism. Do they? I have many thoughts on this, but here are my questions for you guys:

-Tell me how important the doctrines of grace really are and why?
-What are the practical implications of these doctrines?
-Do they affect a lot of what the Christian faith is about?
-Why are there so many arrogant Calvinists?
-Give me some examples of Calvinists who are not / were not arrogant.
-Give me some examples of Calvinists that are not / were not unloving.
-Give me some examples of Calvinists that are / were evangelistic.
-What about joy and Calvinism? Should the two go together?

I think I have lobbed you guys some softballs here. You should have plenty to work with. You guys are going to write a booklet for me. Don't worry. I'll give you credit.

It really concerns me that this is the view (at least of one person I know) of Calvinism to which people hold. I love these doctrines, find them to be thoroughly Biblical, and think they are very important. If you believe the same, tell me why and help me defend these precious doctrines. If you don't, tell me why.

Like Finding a New Toy!

My good friend Mark Redfern showed me how to do some new tricks - nothing that is very difficult (even for an accountant). I now have the ability to do links and pictures. I thought I would use my new skills to put some pictures and links on here. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about some of the books that have infulenced me most. Perhaps you want to steer clear. :)

Desiring God
When I Don't Desire God
God's Passion for His Glory
The Supremacy of God in preaching
Future Grace
Counted Righteous in Christ
The Sovereignty of God
Shepherding a Child's Heart
Mortification of Sin
The Religious Affections
Today's Gospel
Tell the Truth
The Cross-Centered Life

If I had to pick one that has had the biggest influence on me, I think it would have to be a combination of God's Passion for His Glory, followed by Desiring God, followed by When I Don't Desire God. God's Passion for His Glory expounds on the foundational Biblical truth that God's glory is the ultimate end of eveything. Desiring God expounds on this truth and expands to show that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. When I Don't Desire God helps you apply the truths taught in Desiring God to your life. Once you see that the affections are not optional, it is devastating. Once you see that you don't have what we are commanded to have, namely, joy in God Himself, it is devastating. The book, When I Don't Desire God gives practical steps as to how to fight for joy in God. These three books together have shaped my theology more than any others. These books give a big-picture, foundational understanding of what the Bible is really all about.

Blogging is fun.

Connecting Two Blogs

I got a lot of feedback and wisdom from people on the last post regarding productivity organizations. I appreciate the help. Tonight I read the latest post on another guy's blog. I don't know how to do links or any of that yet, but his post was a simple, yet profound statement about our existence - 50 words that tell us why we were created. It inspired me to think more about my existence and to get more serious about this question: am I fulfilling the purpose of my life? All 50 of the words that he used were synonyms for proclaiming Him / magnifying Him / glorifying Him / enjoying Him, etc. How do the two blogs relate? Well, an organization like the ones we talked about on the previous post (as a result of God's common grace) can help one formulate mission statements, goals, fulfilling responsibilities, etc. If we are guided by scripture then we understand what the ultimate purpose for everything is, namely, spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ (or however you like to say it). Perhaps we could use more focus on being better stewards of God's time (redeeming the time) by reading some of this material or taking some of these classes. Or perhaps we would be more comfortable reading from someone in the Biblical counseling realm who has formulated some similar tools. James C. Petty has written a book entitled "Step By Step" and a smaller booklet entitled, "Priorities: Mastering Time Management." Both are in the "resources for changing lives" series. (this would be another good spot for some links and/or pictures of the book/booklet. If any of you want to offer some advice on how to do some of these techy things - I'm an accountant and we are usually behind on technology.) If any of you out there have not spent significant time formulating a mission statement, goals for your life, and/or resolutions, I strongly recommend that you do so. The same goes for churches and other organizations. Jonathan Edwards is one great example of a Christian who did this. I think he was a teenager (at least for part of the writing of his 70 resolutions). Two great things to keep in mind for a mission statement/resolutions/goals, etc:

1)What Edwards wrote at the beginning of his resolutions:

"BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE."

2)Keep in mind is that we must regaulrly review them to see how we are doing. Again, Edwards is helpful here:

"Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week."

You could write the best mission statement known to man and never look at it again. This is not God-honoring. This is not redeeming the time. It is like being a hearer of the word and not a doer. I pray that we would be good stewards over this precious gift of time that we have been given. May God grant you resolve to glorify Him!

Productivity Organizations

I read a post on Justin Taylor's blog today regarding his friend (the director of radio and internet at Desiring God), Matt Perman. Perman was mentioned on the blog of productivity expert David Allen. In the blog, Allen quoted Perman's email that he had sent to him about the benefits of taking Mr. Allen's Minneapolis RoadMap seminar. Here it is:

"And thank you for the great work that you do. Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything have been paradigm-shaping books for me and several others I work with. It is so freeing to have a clear enough view of things that I can choose my work, rather than have it choose me. The GTD system has also taught our organization how to hold together our sometimes competing values of creativity and execution. In fact, the vision I now have for my department is: creativity, quickly executed."

Here is my question for you guys/gals: Is there anything wrong with Christians taking these types of courses (like Mr. Allen's or Franklin Covey's) to improve productivity and/or time management, etc? Some of you may think that this is a silly question to even ask because it seems like there is obviously no problem with it. I tentatively agree with you, but I just want to solidify my foundational thinking on this. The reason I even ask the question is because of two things:

1. Before I became a Christian I was really into the whole Franklin Covey thing - really into it. It was almost like a religion (I think it was an idol). It is something that you can get so wrapped up in that you find your happiness and satisfaction in "Getting things done". The problem is, what if you don't get things done? So when I became a Christian I think I shied away from it for fear of it becoming an idol. This may be unbalanced (I think it is), but you can help me with that.

2. I am a little leary of taking my cues about how I live my life from non-Christians. As someone with convictions about the sufficiency of scripture and the power of a nouthetic model of counseling as opposed to psychology sprinkled with Bible talk, it scares me a little to take courses like these and allow people with no Biblical foundation to counsel me as to how to live my life.

That being said, I have some other thoughts as to why this would not be a bad idea. Instead of me including my thoughts, I would like to allow you folks to help balance me out and point out where my thinking may be wrong in this regard. I'm hoping to get some good responses on this one. Perhaps you have benefited from these types of courses and would like to share why you wouldn't hesitate to read and/or practice some of the things that they teach. Talk to me...

Glorifying God Through Joy

I preached a message on Romans 15 a few months ago. Following are some of the thoughts that came out of that study. As I honed in on what I determined to be the key verse of that text, 15:7 - "Therefore, receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God", it caused me to ask what receiving one another for the glory of God meant there. In order to answer that question I was forced to look at Romans 14 because this context is the key to understanding what “receiving one another” means here. In looking back at chapter 14 I realized that it is a Christian liberty issue. The stronger and weaker brothers both have an obligation to one another. As I was thinking further about what the second half of the verse meant, “to the glory of God”, it became evident to me that this text was a perfect example of the Biblical idea of Christian hedonism. Here I see in several places in this passage (Romans 14:1-15:13) the idea of the glory of God and the joy of His people so intermingled that it is hard to determine which is which. Of course, I think, and believe it can be argued on the basis of this text, that those two ends are actually one. Romans 15:7b-13 would be one argument and very forceful used by itself. But the force of the argument (that God’s passion for His glory and my desire to be satisfied are not at odds, but are actually one and the same goal) is increased even more when you consider the context of Romans 14, dealing with eating meat offered to idols, drinking wine, and observing certain days and its parallel with 1 Corinthians 10:23-31. Paul is talking about the same thing in this passage, namely, eating meat offered to idols. The phrase that caught me was Romans 14:16-17. "Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." In other words, the main thing in Christianity is not rules and regulations about what we should be eating or drinking it is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." That sounds like joy to me. Christianity is about joy. This made me think back to 1 Corinthians 10:31. What does that say, in the context of the exact same issue? "Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." So it is not about eating or drinking, but about glorifying God. I do not think that it is a stretch to say that these are parallel passages, especially in light of the obvious contextual similarities (they are dealing with the exact same issue). If they are parallel, then you could use these terms interchangeably and make this statement about these verses: They are saying the same thing, namely, that Christianity is not about making rules regarding what can and cannot be eaten or what can and cannot be drank. Christianity is about glorifying God through righteousness, joy, and peace. Christianity is about being happy in God because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Even if one were not convinced as I am about this parallel and the consequent connection I have made, Romans 15:7b-13 are pretty convincing verses in themselves. Praise God that my longing for happiness is not at odds with His passion for His own glory. What a freeing truth! Oh Lord, help me live for your glory by fighting for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit!

God-centered Repentance

In reading Thomas Watson's "The Doctrine of Repentance" today, the God-centeredness of the puritans, and particularly of Thomas Watson jumped out at me again. Watson (as with all the puritans) had such a beautiful way of getting to the heart into the thoughts and motives. This book reminds me of Owen's "Mortification of Sin" in the way that he wields the sword to cut through to the heart like a great surgeon of the soul. Watson shows that God is the ultimate motivation to true repentance and I saw that in a major way today. In talking about sorrow over sin (one essential element of true repentance), Watson talks about the reason for sorrowing over sin. These two quotes were very convicting and Biblical:

"Question 2: But how great must sorrow for sin be in all?
Answer: It must be as great as for any worldly loss. "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10) Sorrow for sin must surpass worldly sorrow. We must grieve more for offending God that for the loss of dear relations. Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. (Isaiah 22:12): this was for sin. But in the case of the burial of the dead we find God prohibiting tears and baldness (Jeremiah 22:10; 16:6), to intimate that sorrow for sin must exceed sorrow at the grave; and with good reason, for in the burial of the dead it is only a friend who departs, but in sin God departs."

"We usually weep for the loss of some great good; by sin we have lost the favour of God. If Micah did so for the loss of a false god, saying, 'Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more?' (Judges 18:24) then well may we weep for our sins which have taken away the true God from us."

May we share the same radical, God-centeredness in all our dealings with sin. Oh, for more puritans today!

God Comforts the Depressed

Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more. (2 Corinthians 7:4-7)

Sovereignty is at the forefront of my mind because of the Desiring God conference. I was reading Tim Challies live blog from the conference. It is always the big controversial thing to talk about God being sovereign over calamity (a sweet truth that I would never deny). Sometimes we Calvinists have a tendency to focus so much on God being in control of bad, that I wonder if we forget to praise Him for the good things that happen. This text proves that Paul thinks of God as being in control of blessings. In fact, Paul says that "God...comforted us by the coming of Titus; and...also by the comfort with which he was comforted in [them]." So, in Paul's mind, it was not Titus that comforted them but God that used Titus to comfort them. God was the one who providentially comforted them through Titus. I think this is a lesson in the way that we should talk about good things happening to us in our lives. The fact is, people don't talk like this today. Christians rarely talk this way! We would do well to follow Paul's example to give credit (glory) where credit (glory) us due! God is sovereign. If a blessing comes to you, it didn't come from Karma or because "what goes around comes around". It came from God. Let's start reflecting a Biblical vocabulary when good things happen. We calvinists affirm the sovereignty of God in suffering. Let us not forget to praise God and reflect with our speech to others that "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17) This is a strange way of speaking in today's entitled, Godless, man-centered, affluent America.

Dangerous Duty

I am brand new to the blogosphere - just a couple hours old, in fact. As I was thinking of a name for my blog, "Dangerous Duty" came to mind because of John Piper's little book entitled, "The Dangerous Duty of Delight". A dangerous duty it is indeed! A difficult duty it is! For a wretched, nasty sinner like me to delight in God as the Bible commands is impossible! We all need grace to fight the fight of faith, to be given eyes to see the beauty of Christ. This fight is not for the timid and it is not for those with a light, trivial, fun view of the Christian life. The Christian life is war! We should be blood-earnest and serious about delighting in God more than life on this earth. For the stakes are eternal.

Love the Truth

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)

From this passage and others, we see that saving faith involves more than a mere assent to the truth. It involves a change in the affections. Paul says in v.10 that they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. One might think that Paul is going against the doctrine of justification by faith alone that he develops so fully in Romans. I can almost hear the objections: “Wait a minute, Paul. You said that we just had to believe the truth, not love it!” However, I think Paul would respond with v.12 and say that believing the truth and loving the truth are the same. True saving faith includes a change in affections, not just assent. You can make the connection in this text between receiving “… the love of the truth” (v.10) and “…believe the truth” (v.12). You can also make a connection between “…believe what is false” (v.11) and “…(take) pleasure in wickedness”. There is no middle ground you either “take pleasure in wickedness” or you "love...the truth”. Which is just like saying you either believe what is false or believe the truth.

Accursed from Christ!

Romans 9:3 – “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh…” Notice what Paul really puts the emphasis on for the worst possible outcome of one’s life – being accursed from Christ. Not burning in hell, as horrid as that would be! The absolute worst thing that could happen to a person would be eternal separation from Christ, which, Paul explains at the end of chapter 8, can’t happen to a true believer. The emphasis and the horror of going to hell is not the torture that surely occurs there, but the separation from Christ. As one puritan put it, “If I were to die and go to heaven only to find that Jesus wasn’t there, that would surely be hell to me.” Paul would say it the same way. “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Why is dying gain to Paul? “…to depart and be with Christ…is far better.” (Philippians 1:21; 23) For Paul (and for all real Christians), heaven is not great because of the streets of gold and the reunion with Aunt Betsy. Those things are great, but the greatest thing about heaven and eternal life is that Christ is there and we can have perfect fellowship with Him there. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is so magnificent because it enables us to know God in Christ. Being damned to hell is exceedingly horrible because by it we experience eternal separation from fellowship with Christ.