Big Changes

It's official...

My blog has moved. For a whole host of reasons, it made sense to change the address of the blog. If you would like to continue reading this blog, you'll want to mosey on over to http://notourown2.blogspot.com/

You'll see a lot of the same things, some new things, and some different things. The layout is not finalized yet, so please excuse the mess until the renovations are complete. I hope you like it.

Oh yeah, and if you subscribe to this blog or have some sort of RSS feed set up, you can easily set that up again at the new location.

Cheers.

He is with us

"God’s people have no assurances that the dark experiences of life will be held at bay, much less that God will provide some sort of running commentary on the meaning of each day’s allotment of confusion, boredom, pain, or achievement. It is no great matter where we are, provided we see that the Lord has placed us there, and that He is with us." - John Newton

Great Cost

"The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it."


D.A. Carson, Matthew, EBC, pg. 328

The World Cup

Kevin DeYoung posted this video to his blog on Monday. It's classic!



Have I mentioned on here recently that I'm looking forward to the World Cup starting in a few days?

Joy!

Packing to move to another country is busy... something had to give. I decided it would be the blog. I stumbled across this extended quote from John Piper on joy, and I think you might find it helpful!


What the Bible Says About Joy:

1. Jesus’ aim in all He taught was the joy of His people (Jn. 15:11).
2. Joy is what God fills us with when we trust in Christ (Rom. 15:13).
3. The kingdom of God is joy (Rom. 14:17).
4. Joy is the fruit of God’s Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22).
5. Joy is the aim of everything the apostles did and wrote (2 Cor. 1:24).
6. Becoming a Christian is finding a joy that makes you willing to forsake everything (Mat. 13:44).
7. Joy is nourished and sustained by the word of God in the Bible (Ps. 19:8).
8. Joy will overtake all sorrow for those who trust Christ (Ps. 126:5; 30:5)
9. God Himself is our joy (Ps. 43:4; 16:11).
10. Joy in God outstrips all earthly joy (Ps. 4:7)
11. If your joy is in God, no one can take your joy from you (Jn. 16:22).
12. God calls all nations and peoples to join in the joy He offers to all who believe. No racism. No ethnocentrism (Ps. 67:4; Ps. 66:1).
13. The whole Christian message from beginning to end is good news of great joy (Lk. 2:10; Isa. 51:11).
14. When we meet Christ at His second coming we will enter into his indestructible joy (Mt. 25:23).

Desiring God - Sermon Title: "Quest: Joy! Found: Christ!"

Drinking Tea

Since we're moving to England in a few weeks, I figured I had better brush up on the types of tea cups/mugs that are out there. Thankfully, Nathan W. Bingham did the leg work for me on his blog and pointed out this amusing breakdown of available mug options...


Click here to see the mugs that are out there.

I think all my Star Wars friends out there would like this mug from the "Dark Side."

Sons of Korah

A few days ago, I was introduced to the band Sons of Korah. Their idea is old and yet new (this is generally a great combination!). They take the Psalms and set them to modern music. I haven't heard much, but I like what I've heard so far. You can check out Sons of Korah with me by clicking here and here.

HT: Nicholas T. Batzig

Radical

It's June 1st, and in a few days I hope to be a seminary graduate. Please be praying for our family's transition to the UK. I've mentioned it on this blog before, but in a few short weeks time I will begin serving as the assistant minister at Eythorne Baptist Church.


In other news I've been reading Radical by David Platt, and finding it a mixed bag. In some ways it is convicting, challenging, and edifying. In other ways it not quite as helpful. I appreciate very much Kevin DeYoung's review of the book. As usual, Kevin is balanced, loving, and well-articulated. You can find Kevin's review here.

Here is one of the challenging quotes from the book.

"In this book I want to show you that, with the best of intentions, we have actually turned away from Jesus. We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel he taught. Here we stand amid an American dream dominated by self-advancement, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency, by individualism, materialism, and universalism. Yet I want to show you our desperate need to revisit the words of Jesus, to listen to them, to believe them, and to obey them. We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel, because the cost of not doing so is great for our lives, our families, our churches, and the world around us" (pg. 19).

By the way, I got this copy of Radical as a free gift from Multnomah Books because I attended Band of Bloggers. Thanks Multnomah!

Think.

Lord willing, I don't plan to be in the US in October, but this does sound like a VERY helpful conference.



As a side note, if it seems like the blog has been a lot of short punches and videos the last few weeks, you would be right. I just today turned in my last MDiv assignment. Praise the Lord! I aim to get back to regular blogging quite soon...

Monday Video

This is hilarious and educational. Be careful, you may lose a million dollars!



Happy Memorial Day!

HT: Z

Whatever it Takes

As I am finishing up my last seminary assignment, I think this video is quite appropriate on multiple levels...



Can you believe I posted two hip hop songs in one week? Honestly, I can't believe it myself!

HT: Thabiti

Raising Purity Review

Awhile back I was mailed a complementary copy of Gerald Hiestand's new book Raising Purity: Helping Parents Understand the Bible's Perspective on Sex, Dating, and Relationships. I was asked to write a brief review and post it to my blog. Below is my brief (probably too brief!) review of the book. I'd love to respond to this important book in greater detail, but for now this review will have to suffice. I hope it's helpful for you!

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

As parents of 3 young children, the issue of training our children is ever before my wife and I, and our hope is that we are training them to love Christ, love His church, and love others. As our children have gotten older, we’ve found that the training “curriculum” has diversified. One issue that has come increasingly before us is how to train our children to glorify God in the area of sexual purity. To this end, Gerald Hiestand’s book Raising Purity is a welcome edition. This book is theologically meaty and practically helpful. I am better equipped to help my children honor God with their bodies after reading this book. As a case in point, chapters 3-6 are veritable gold mine of Biblical theology, pastoral wisdom, and practical help. The Biblical distinctions Hiestand draws between categories of relationships (our family, our neighbors, and our spouse) were helpful towards thinking about the place of sexual expression in a “dating” relationship. Sexual expression is Biblically forbidden with one's family and with one's neighbors, but it is commanded with our spouses. Why would be assume there is any place for sexual expression with our “neighbor?” We must be careful not to let “dating” become a relational category. Hiestand describes it this way: “Herein lies a potential for great danger, for when we invent our own categories of male/female relationships, we are focused to invent our own purity guidelines within those categories” (pg. 46). He’s right. To rightly understand the Biblical categories for relationships clarifies “pretty dramatically and gives an objective answer to the question ‘How far is too far?’” (pg. 48). This kind of helpful teaching runs rampant in this book, and it worth the time to read it. I do, though, have a few concerns over Hiestand’s theological underpinnings. He continually describes sex as a “picture of the gospel,” and I understand what he is getting at. Sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife is a picture of the intimate relationship Christ has with His church. Sex pictures our union with Christ that is absolutely essential to our justification. But our union with Christ is not the gospel; it is an implication of the gospel – an effect of the gospel. This may seem like theological semantics, but it is an important distinction. We want to proclaim the gospel (what Christ has accomplished - 1 Cor 15:3ff) to ourselves, our children, and to our neighbors. We want to then glory in the union we have with Christ as a result of the Spirit bringing us to repentance and faith in Christ upon hearing the gospel. It is this union that sex so gloriously pictures. The point is: sex doesn't picture the gospel because it doesn't cover the bases of God, man, sin, and Christ. BUT this does not change the teaching point Hiestand is making. We must elevate our view of sex as something sacred and gloriously significant.

The reader ought to be aware of these subtleties, and glean from this book the wealth of valuable teaching it puts forth. On the whole though (the above differences aside), I highly recommend this book, and we plan to use the Biblical principles Hiestand so clearly teaches as we seek to train our children to honor God with their bodies.

Kinda Big

There's kind of a big football (soccer) tournament beginning in a little under three weeks... are you ready?



It should be a lot of fun. Especially England v. US on June 12th. Who am I going to support?

Update: As as side note, I agree with Tim Challies' assessment of this advertisement. You can find it here.

Golimar! Monday!

This Monday morning video must include a shout out to my seminary brother... Jeremy Oliver. For better or worse, he sent this to me. Enjoy or get sick! You choose!



It's like Thriller but ALOT worse!

Shai Linne

Hip hop isn't usually my first choice musical style, but I REALLY like Shai Linne. I definitely like this kind of hip hop. Listen how he explains (rightly I believe) this thorny theological issue...



If you like Shai's music, you can hear more of it here.

HT: Nathan W. Bingham

Backwards and Forwards Living

"Thus, we are people who constantly look backward and forward as we live our stories in the present. The Bible shows us that we cannot live as mere "present tense" Christians. Our present moments are framed by God's past acts of redemption and by the glorious future he has planned" (1 Cor 2:9-10).

Michael Emlet, CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, pg. 60.

3 days

Together for the Gospel was a powerful 3 days. I praise the Lord for the opportunity to go, and the gracious wife who lovingly sent me!

T4G2010 - O Great God from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

What is the Bible about?

"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean."

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, pg. 14-15

Two More Weeks of Seminary

Every Monday morning deserves a good video...

This video is dedicated to my fellow intern here at Faith - Sacha Mendes.



He has encouraged all of us (more times than we can count) to "Don't Stop Believing." I don't think I'll be able to hear this song ever again without thinking of Sacha. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Radical

I received a copy of this book at Band of Bloggers. I was already challenged by the video about the book. I look forward to reading the book!

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

Greatness

"Consequently, if we try to make ourselves great, then we are actually reflecting our own egos in a greater and greater way. Wanting to reflect an idol of ourselves and to make ourselves appear greater leads to being made small because of judgment. But desiring to expand the glory of the true God and acknowledging his greatness by mirroring that glory and reflecting it back upon him leads to sharing in God's greatness and glory. Thus he is seen as the unique, massive, great One who inhabits the center of the entire created order."

G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship, pg. 297.

What is Doctrine?

"Doctrine can never take the place of Jesus himself, but we can't know him and relate to him in the right way without doctrine. This is because doctrine tells us not only what God has done but also what his actions mean to us... 'These two elements are always combined in the Christian message,' [J. Gresham] Machen continues. 'The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the meaning of the facts is doctrine. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried - that is history. He loved me and gave himself for me - this is doctrine.' Doctrine is the meaning of the story God is writing in the world. It's the explanation of what he's done and why he's done it and why it matters to you and me."

Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep, pg. 31.

The Will of God

"Most movements that spring up from the fertile soils of Christendom appeal, in one way or another, to the will of God. Few probe the will of God very deeply. God is for evangelism; therefore he is for the way we are proposing to do evangelism, and we invoke his will to sanction our methods. God is love; therefore he is against church discipline except in the most egregious cases (which either never arise, or, if they do, by the time they do they too are covered by the love of God), and we invoke God's will to sanction our determined niceness. God wants his people to be separate and holy; therefore we must withdraw into huddled isolationism and lob hateful barbs against all who disagree with us, and we invoke God's will to authorize our tearless harshness and ruthless condescension. These wretched pits are terribly easy to fall into. All it takes is resolution, and no more real interest in the will of God than what we need to sanction our preferences."

D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, Vol. 2, August 14.

Plumb its depths

“To speak of Christ’s love as ‘surpassing knowledge’ means that it is so great that one can never know it fully. We can never plumb its depths or comprehend its magnitude. No matter how much we know of the love of Christ, how fully we enter into His love for us, there is always more to know and experience.

And the implication, in the light of the following words, is that we cannot be as spiritually mature as we should be unless we are empowered by God to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ.”

–Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 264.

HT: Tolle Lege

Quotes, quotes and more quotes

Over the next three weeks, I am going to be working like crazy to finish my MDiv and finish out our support raising in preparations for our family's transition to England. During this time, be on the lookout for quotes on this blog of things I've been reading or have read recently. My hope is that these quotes will be an encouragement and a help to you. I plan to get back to regular posting in a few weeks.

Our quote today comes from Joshua Harris' helpful new book entitled Dug Down Deep.


"All the imagery God uses about salvation is designed to assure us how real his love for us is, how comprehensive his restoration of us is. So when we feel overwhelmed by guilt, God uses the legal language of the court and tells us that through Christ we're justified, declared completely righteous before Him (Romans 5:8-9). When we feel enslaved and unworthy, he uses the language of the marketplace and tells us that he has bought us, ransomed us from sin (1 Peter 1:18-19).

And God uses the language of adoption to encourage us in the hard, ongoing work of learning to obey and follow Jesus as we wait for his return. God doesn't just point back to his love in forgiving us and redeeming us in the past. He uses the language of the family to say, 'I love you right now. You have a relationship with me that isn't changed by your performance. I am your dad. You are my son. You are my daughter. Nothing can change that. I love you. I am always your Father.'"

2 for the Price of 1

Here's two Monday videos to get your week off to a good start...

Do you speak English?



Where's Rob? (This video is absolutely hilarious! - click the link below)

Find the video here.

I apologize in advance for brief bit of profanity in the second video.

Historic Biblical Counseling Coalition Summit

Reading the post below was tremendously encouraging! These are exciting days in the Biblical counseling world...

A Report on the Historic Biblical Counseling Coalition Summit

A Personal Note

I realize I don't put a lot of personal info on this blog, but I can't help but pass this along. As many of you know, my family will be transitioning to England this summer as I have been invited to serve as the assistant minister at Eythorne Baptist Church in Kent. It seems like there are a million interlocking pieces to the puzzle that God in His sovereign providence is bringing about. It is fun to see God show Himself to be our faithful provider - for our good and His glory.


It was especially fun yesterday afternoon to get an E-mail in my inbox that opened with the following line...

"Your application has been approved and the visa has been issued."

Praise the Lord.

Champions League

This is a beautiful highlight of last night's Spurs/Man City Match.



Come on you Spurs!

Faithful Plodders

I stumbled across this great quote on the Reformation 21 blog today.

It's originally from a Tabletalk article by Kevin DeYoung.

"My generation in particular is prone to radicalism without followthrough. We have dreams of changing the world, and the world should take notice accordingly. But we've not proved faithful in much of anything yet. We haven't held a steady job or raised godly kids or done our time in VBS or, in some cases, even moved off the parental dole. We want global change and expect a few more dollars to the ONE campaign or Habitat for Humanity chapter to just about wrap things up. What the church and the world needs, we imagine, is for us to be another Bono -- Christian, but more spiritual than religious and more into social justice than the church. As great as it is that Bono is using his fame for some noble purpose, I just don't believe that the happy future of the church, or the world for that matter, rests on our ability to raise up a million more Bonos (as at least one author suggests). With all due respect, what's harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the choir every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income?"

HT: Justin Taylor

The Heidelberg & the 10 Commandments

Many Christians wonder how the 10 commandments apply to them. That's a big question, and we aren't really going to address it right here right now. We do though want to think (with the Heidelberg) about a related question. The question we're pondering is: "Why would God give Israel the 10 commandments, if He knew they couldn't (and wouldn't) obey them?" Is God just a ogre, giving His creatures more heavy loads than they can carry?


The Heidelberg Catechism wrestles with these questions in Question # 115.

Q115: Why [assuming no one can keep the ten commandments], then does God so strictly enjoin upon us the ten commandments, since in this life no one can keep them?

A. First, that throughout our life we may more and more become aware of our sinful nature, and therefore seek more eagerly the forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ. Second, that we may be zealous for good deeds and constantly pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that He may more and more renew us after God's image, until after this life we reach the goal of perfection.

Why does God require His children to obey the 10 commandments... that we may know of our sinfulness. It wouldn't be a bad habit to everyday read the 10 commandments and meditate on how far we fall short of God's perfect standard. We were created display His glory in our lives, and the 10 commandments show us how we "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). We need the 10 commandments (and all of God's law) to show us our rebellion. Why does God require His children to obey the 10 commandments... that they may run to Him for forgiveness in Christ AND righteousness in Christ. The 10 commandments remind us that we can never match up to God's standard. We are never going to be righteous enough. We need an "alien" righteousness. We need a righteous substitute to take the wrath of God we deserve and in whom/through whom we too can be righteous (1 Cor 5:21). The 10 commandments point us to Jesus Christ - the perfect substitute. Lastly the 10 commandments drive us to beg God for the grace needed to pursue holiness. Christians ought to seek daily to be more conformed to the image of Christ. The 10 commandments give us a good summary of what Christlikeness looks like. Jesus always worshiped God alone. Jesus never worshiped idols. Jesus never took God's name in vain, etc. The commandments should cause the Christian to fervently pray for more grace, and then encourage the Christian to work hard to put off old habits of thinking and acting and put on new. The commandments remind us that we are to be "zealous for good works" (Titus 3:14).

Come on you Spurs

In 15 minutes the match of the season begins between Spurs and Manchester City. This match will like decide who will play in the Champions League next season. I don't think I need tell you which side I support. Come on you Spurs!

In case you're wondering, I don't actually get to watch the game. Homework beckons!

Evangelism Linebacker

One word: Wow.



Quote of the video: "When I see selfishness, it's my job to blow them up!"

HT: Sacha

Favorite Hymns vol. 1

Every once and awhile, I'm going to try to put up here some of our family's favorite hymns. If you've ever talked with me about music for corporate worship, you know of my love for hymns (don't worry, I like modern songs too... some of them.). BUT I really like hymns! And I like to sing the Psalms, but that is an issue for another post. Hymns just seem to have a depth of theological truth to them that is missing from many of our more modern songs for corporate worship. I hope these hymns encourage and challenge you. Track down the music, sing them in your church, sing them at home with your family, sing them as you drive to work, read them as a help to your devotions, sing them in the shower! Whatever! I trust they will be helpful for you.


One of our family's favorite hymns is "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" written by William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"). You can see his picture above. This song is a wonderful testimony to God's sovereign care of His children. He is sovereign over all things in our lives, even when we don't see it or feel like it. Cowper expresses this well.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

If you have a few minutes, read up on Cowper's personal history. The challenging circumstances he faced add another layer of personal interest to this hymn. Cowper battled much of his life with depressive tendencies, doubt, and fear. God used a close friendship with pastor John Newton (the writer of "Amazing Grace") as a real encouragement to Cowper.

The Church is "Otherworldly"

We continue again this week with some reflections on God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams by David Wells. If you missed our first post (somewhat of an introduction last week), click here.


In chapter 3, Wells goes to great lengths to think through and describe worldliness. He offers a definition that is both Biblical and practical. Amidst this discussion of worldliness and its impact on the church, Wells said the following...

"There is a clear line, then, between those who belong to Christ and those who do not, a line separating two very different ways of viewing self and world. If we stay with John, we can easily see how sharply he differentiates these two spiritual realms. Those who belong to the church have been born of God (1 John 3:1-3); those who belong to the world have not (1 John 4:4-6). The church belongs to Christ (1 John 3:7-10); the world belongs to Satan (1 John 5:19), its 'prince' (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). All that is of Christ endures forever; all that is of the world is transient, fading (1 John 2:17), and under God's judgment (1 John 4:17). Love for God, therefore, is utterly incompatible with the love of the world (1 John 2:15). Thus there is a profound sense in which the church as to be 'otherworldly.' It carries within itself a discernibly different view of life from what passes as normal and normative in society." (pg. 40-41).

This quote got be thinking a few things...
1) This sounds a lot like a talk I heard given at Together for the Gospel by Thabiti Anyabwile a few weeks back. I can't recommend this talk fervently enough. Watch the video below or track down the audio.

T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

2) I agree with Wells. The church (individually and collectively) should look different than the world - not in an uppity ("better than you") kind of way, but in a humble ("we want to be imitators of God" - Eph 5:1) kind of way. This gets me asking myself questions. Let's think about our lives and our churches for a minute... do our lives look different than our unsaved neighbors? Does our church body look different than the knitting or sky-diving club in our town. If so, how? Are they different in: our love for one another in the church, our desires, our use of our money, our use of our free time, our parenting, our sex, our work ethic, our aims in life, our (fill in the blank)? The answer is yes on all fronts. We must be careful to guard our hearts against worldliness. Wells is arguing that our churches can very easily become worldly in practice and in priorities. We must guard our churches against the poison of worldliness, and this starts by guarding our own lives.

100 posts

[By the way, this is my 100th post since beginning this blog. I've had a lot of fun, and it's been quite helpful for me. I hope it has been for you. Melbourne!]

Monday Video

Apparently, Melbourne (properly pronounced mell-behrn) is the place to be! I'll let you watch the video below and make the determination for yourself.



... it's where you feel aliiiiive!

Holding 4th

Spurs pulled out the win yesterday against Bolton. This holds them in 4th place in the league. If you're just joining us, being in the top 4 in the league is a BIG deal. The top 4 play in the Champions League (the competition for the best club team in Europe) next year. Spurs are 1 point up on Manchester City (the 5th place team), and the teams play at Man City on Wednesday night.

Watch Spurs beat Bolton below.



You won't see many goals as pretty as Tom Huddlestone's against Bolton.

The Heidelberg and an Important Question

One of my favorite questions from the Heidelberg Catechism is Question 60. Here's how it goes...


Q60: How are you righteous before God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.

I believe question 60 of the Heidelberg to be one of the most important questions we can ever ask. Let's make it more personal, "How can I be righteous before God?" In order to have a right relationship with a perfectly righteous God you HAVE to be perfectly righteous. Anything but perfect righteousness justly results in hell. Therefore, since "no one is righteous, not even one" (Rom 3:10-12), we are all doomed to eternal torment. Point being, the stakes are pretty high regarding this question of righteousness.

I ask the question again: "How can I be righteous before God?"

Have you ever thought about the fact that the forgiveness of sins on its own is incomplete? We must have our sins forgiven, and we also must be righteous before God. Praise God, our gracious God has made a way for us to have our sins forgiven and for us to be righteous... in Jesus Christ.

Read the answer to Question 60 (above) one more time. Very tenderly and Biblically the writers of the catechism explain how we can stand righteous before God. All of His righteousness can be ours in so far as we are united to Him by faith. We are justified because of a righteousness that is not our own.

I like the pastoral way Kevin DeYoung discusses the answer to this question in his book The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. He says, "There is nothing we contribute to our salvation except sin, no merit we bring but Christ's and nothing necessary for justification except for faith alone" (pg. 117). He is right on target, and he goes on to warn us a bit more. DeYoung says, "Finally, with all this talk about the necessity of faith, the Catechism explains that faith is only an instrumental cause of our salvation. In other words, faith is not what God finds acceptable in us. In fact, strictly speaking, faith itself does not justify... It is the object of our faith that matters... Believe in Christ with all your heart, but don't put your faith in faith. Your experience of trusting Christ will ebb and flow. So be sure to rest in Jesus Christ and not your faith in Him. He alone is the one who died for our sakes and was raised for our justification. Believe this, and you too will be saved." (pg. 117)

Amen and amen.

Together for the Gospel Finale

Two weeks ago today, I was at the second day of the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. It was a fantastic two and a half days of discussing the gospel, listening to the gospel, preaching the gospel, singing the gospel, and meditating on the gospel. And I feel like we just scratched the surface... The Apostle John seems to have felt the same way, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Such is the good news about the Savior!

Last week, I posted some of my favorite quotes from the conference, if you missed that, you can find it here. Instead of talking about which session was my favorite, I just want to mention a few take-aways from the conference. I want to answer the question: "What themes/concepts most helped me?" Here are just a few:

1) Were it not for the imputed righteousness of Christ to my account, I'd have no hope. I'd be doomed to hell. This is my justification - as I am in Jesus, Jesus' righteousness by the grace of God is mine. I praise God for the glorious truth of 2 Corinthians 5:21 - “God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” John Piper at T4G put it this way, "By trusting Christ alone, we are united to him. And because we are “in him,” what he is counts for us, his righteousness, his morality, his devoutness. (See Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:28; 4:4-6; 5:18-19; 10:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 2:16)." Praise God for the imputed righteousness of Christ! T4G helped me to think upon this glorious truth, revel in it, and think about its hopeful implications for my life.
2) We ought to love our local churches. I left T4G thankful for T4G and thankful for conferences in general, but I left T4G excited to get back to my local church. I am so thankful for the body of believers that God has placed me in. We're imperfect (I'm a part of the church!), but God is being glorified in our imperfect church because His people are gathering to worship His name, to live their lives caring for and encouraging one another, and to share the good news of Christ with our friends and neighbors together. We are living lives "that don't make sense" in order to display the character of God.
3) Jesus is building His church around the world. I saw Matthew 16:18 ("I will build my church") in part at T4G. I saw a glimpse, in the brothers gathered, of the global church. A couple times during the singing portions of the conference, I would stop and just look around. I probably seemed weird to the brothers sitting around me, but, for me, it was a moment of praising the Savior by reflecting on heaven and the endless "worship service" that will go on there. 7,000 redeemed voices raised was a glorious thing, but I can't even begin to imagine the glory and honor that will be directed towards the Savior on that day. I can't wait! Until then, Jesus is building His church, drawing men and women unto Himself as a display of His glory in this sin-cursed world. It's a treat to, by God's grace, be a small part of this work.

Now, I would not be giving the whole T4G story if I failed to mention the books I was given. Praise God for these guys' desire to serve pastors (and seminarians like me!). I left with 33 free books between T4G and the Band of Bloggers pre-conference. On his blog, Justin Taylor lists out all the books given away at T4G. You can find that here.

Here's a pic of all the books given away at T4G...


And the books given away at Band of Bloggers (they are listed here)...


I'm looking forward to working my way through these books in the coming months.

All in all, I praise God for T4G. It was a tremendously encouraging and profitable 2.5 days!

God in the Wasteland

A few weeks back I started reading through David Wells' God in the Wasteland. God in the Wasteland is the 2nd book in a series of 4 books that thoughtfully and carefully think through the relationship between the church and the larger culture. Back around Christmastime I finished the masterful first book in the series - No Place for Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? If I get a chance, I'll go back and summarize some of Wells' arguments from the first book. But over the next few weeks I'll be passing along helpful snippets from God in the Wasteland.


Wells speaks much about the detrimental shift in the wider Evangelical church in the last few decades away from theology - he argues as the church has gotten way too comfortable with modernistic philosophy both in theory and in practice. Some of these ideas will be clarified as we work through some helpful quotes in the next few weeks, but for now think through the quote below with me...

"One of many fresh studies [referring to a study conducted a few years back in the one of the larger Presbyterian denominations], it suggests that the best predictor of whether baby boomers will stay in the church or leave is the relative presence of orthodox belief. Among the subjects of the study, those who believed in the uniqueness of Christ's salvation were almost invariably in the church, and those who did not had dropped out. Furthermore, the study found that the presence of Christian orthodoxy alone was sufficient 'to impell people to commit their time and other resources to a distinctively Christian regime of witness and obedience in the company of other believers'" (pg. 22-23).

Think about this for a minute with me. One of the best predictors of whether someone will stay in church or not is whether that church collectively knows, teaches, and lives in light of historic, Biblical beliefs. Let's phrase this another way, churches that make the gospel clear and call their people to live lives obedient to God's Word don't have to stress about church growth. Wells goes on to point out that where the gospel (by which I mean the entirety of the historic Christian faith) is clear, people are willing to radically commit their time and resources to sharing the gospel and seeking to become more like Christ. Now, you may be saying, what in the world does this have to do with me? I'm glad you asked. Here are some practical tips:

1) Make sure you are reading God's Word daily. You need to discipline yourself (even when you don't feel like it) to grow in your knowledge of God and His gospel by reading His Word. God is building His church in and through your life as you participate actively in your local church. Spending regular time in God's Word is a must.
2) You need to talk about the gospel and its implications with others in your church family. When you are at church do you talk about theology and how it should impact how you live? Do you have people in your church who ask you tough questions about your growth in holiness? Do you ask others about their growth in holiness? Do you encourage the practice of corrective church discipline in your church? We must be intentional about Gospel-centered relationships in our churches. It is loving to tenderly confront sin in one anothers' lives. We can be so blind to our sin. We need help from one another as we seek to grow in godliness.
3) Do you spend time in your homes talking with your spouse, your children, your roommates, etc. talking about the gospel? If you don't know where to start, pick up a copy of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, and let it guide your discussion. Or go to the Two Ways to Live website, and let each section guide your discussion. Talk about these truths, sing about these truths, and then pray together about these truths... together.

You could add a hundred more things to this list...

The point is that at the center of the historic Christian faith are beliefs about who God is, who we are, and what God has done and will do. We need to think/discuss these things, and then offer our lives up to our gracious God as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1). We don't need to fret over church growth strategies. We need to keep Biblical doctrine and Biblical living at the center.

Monday Morning Video

This is a movie chase scene at its very best. Jason Bourne has nothing on this guy. Watch and be... mesmerized. It's almost too unbelievable to be true.

I couldn't help myself

Kevin DeYoung postd this to his blog a few weeks back, and I couldn't help but post it here as well. Just for the record: I love Apple. In fact, I'm writing this post from a Mac (just in case you might question my loyalties).

7 miles

I've been away from the blog for a few days, as I have been taking care of matters a bit more important than a blog. I plan to ramp it back up soon, but in the meantime, here is a sermon jam by Matt Chandler.



HT: Tim Challies

My, how times have changed...

Here's your Monday morning video for this week:



Apparently, doctors used to be pretty particular about their cigarettes!

HT: Ray Ortlund

Spurs beat Chelsea

Let's just say, it is a great WEEK to be a Spurs supporter. This is only the third time Spurs beat Chelsea in 40 or so previous games. Incredible. Come on you Spurs!


Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea
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T4G wrap up

It was a real privilege to attend Together for the Gospel the last 3 days. There is much I could say about the conference - it was a tremendous encouragement to hear great teaching, sing our Savior's praise with 7,000 other brothers, spend extended time with a group of guys from our church, and get 32 free books (between the conference and Band of Bloggers pre-conference). Praise the Lord for the opportunity and a wife gracious enough to carry the load at home and send me to Louisville.

I'll probably be offering a few more thoughts on the conference in the coming days, but for now, here are a few quotes that stood out from the various teaching segments. Enjoy!

Mark Dever
"The Christian life is personal but it is certainly not private!"
"The church is a group of people who leverage our lives to 'not make sense.' In order to display the character of God... the church is called to display evangelism."

R.C. Sproul
"We go to great lengths to improve the gospel... to say, 'God can give you purpose for you life' is not the gospel!"
"The Gospel has definite content: Who Jesus is and what He has done."
"Don't improve the Gospel, it's not your Gospel, it's God's! A synthetic gospel is no Gospel."

Al Mohler
"We believe that God spoke words through rotten-toothed desert tribesman... and we're going to preach it! Hear now the Word of the Lord!"
"Eventually our postmodern critics will run out of doctrines to deny."

Thabiti Anyabwile
"There's not one square inch of all of creation where Christ doesn't say, 'Mine!'"
"There's an antithesis between the Gospel and the world. We try to manipulate/change the world, but it manipulates back. Secular does not equal safe."
"The church is multi-ethnic but not multi-cultural. We have one culture, and it is none of our native cultures."

John MacArthur
"We often think we have to overcome the sinner's resistance, but the wonder of the Gospel is that you sow the seed, you go to bed, and it grows!"
"When I preach, I never preach to the will or the emotions. I preach to the mind - I want them to understand the truth."

John Piper
"No matter how righteous you are, or how moral you are, or how religious you are, or whether God has produced all that in you or you have produced that in yourself, do not trust in anything that is in you, or that you do, as the basis of your justification before God... Trust in Christ—his blood and righteousness—as the sole basis of your justification."
"Never forget that all your good attitudes, all your good intentions, and all your good works will serve at the judgment not as the ground of your acceptance, but only as the public fruit and evidence and confirmation that you were indeed born again, and that you did have faith, and that you were united to Christ, who is your sole justifying righteousness."
"Give Christ all his glory in the work of salvation, not just half of it. Half is the work of pardoning sin by becoming our wrath-absorbing punishment. But the other half is the work of providing our perfection by fulfilling everything that God required of us, and then imputing it to us. Don’t rob the Lord of half his glory in bringing you to God. Christ is our pardon. Christ is our perfection."

Ligon Duncan
"The fathers help us to understand how to read the Bible... they help us to read the Bible better. But they aren't our infallible guides - scripture is."
"Heresies caused the fathers to get it right. When they have to fight, they get it right."

C.J. Mahaney
"Never assume those in your church has exhausted their need for the gospel, their obedience to the gospel, and their growth in understanding the story."
"The pastor doesn't get his message from his people, but he does get his message with his people."
"When faith for your people is replaced with frustration with your people, you are in trouble."
"When one godly older pastor was asked what his goals were for the next year, he replied by saying, 'I'm going to keep on doing the same thing I've been doing for the last 15 years.'"

North London Derby

The implications of last night's North London Derby are fantastic...
Arsenal is out of contention for the Premier League title.

AND

Spurs are still in the hunt for the 4th Champions League spot.

Have I mentioned that it's a great day to be a Spurs supporter?

Spurs beat Arsenal

If Sunday was a tough day to be a Spurs supporter, today couldn't get any better! It'd be hard to find a better or more meaningful goal than Danny Rose's goal in the 10th minute. Enjoy!


Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
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Spurs defeated arch-rival Arsenal for the first time in the Premier League since 1999. It's a good day to be a Spurs supporter.

Together for the Gospel

If all has gone as planned, I am attending the last day of the Together for the Gospel conference today. Here's a great video slideshow from T4G back in 2008.



And here's the promo video for this year's T4G. Enjoy!



I hope to give updates on this year's T4G ASAP.

DeYoung (& the Heidelberg) on Particular Redemption

A few weeks back, Kevin DeYoung had this great post on a portion of the Heidelberg Catechism. It's actually a snippet from his newly released book - The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. This post fits nicely in our on-going discussion of the Heidelberg Catechism.


The topic of particular redemption can be a sticky (and divisive!) one for many. DeYoung's thoughts are balanced and helpful. I, for one, agree with him. The post is below.

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

The doctrine of particular redemption is worth talking about because it gets to the heart of the gospel. Should we say “Christ died so that sinners might come to him”? Or, “Christ died for sinners”? There’s a big difference. Did Christ’s work on the cross make it possible for sinners to come to God? Or did Christ’s work on the cross actually reconcile sinners to God? In other words, does the death of Jesus Christ make us save-able or does it make us saved? If the atonement is not particularly and only for the sheep, then either we have universalism–Christ died in everyone’s place and therefore everyone is saved–or we have something less than full substitution. If Jesus died for every person on the planet then we no longer mean that he died in place of sinners, taking upon himself our shame, our sins, and our rebellion so that we have the death of death in the death of Christ. Rather, we mean that when Jesus died he made it possible to come to him if we will do our part and come to him. But this is only half a gospel. Certainly, we need to come to Christ in faith. But faith is not the last work that finally makes us saved. Faith is trusting that Jesus has in fact died in our place and bore the curse for us—effectually, particularly, and perfectly.

Reformed people talk of “limited” atonement not because they have an interest in limiting power of the cross, but in order to safeguard the central affirmation of the gospel that Christ is a Redeemer who really redeems. “We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ,” Spurgeon observed, “because we say that Christ has not made a satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved.” But, Spurgeon argues, it is the view of the atonement which says no one in particular was saved at the cross that actually limits Christ’s death. “We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.”

I belabor this point not to belittle Arminian brothers and sisters, but to give Jesus Christ his full glory. Christ does not come to us merely saying, “I’ve done my part. I laid down my life for everyone because I have saving love for everyone in the whole world. Now, if you would only believe and come to me I can save you.” Instead he says to us, “I was pierced for your transgressions. I was crushed for your iniquities (Isa. 53:5). I have purchased with my blood men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9). I myself bore your sins in my body on the tree, so that you might infallibly die to sins and assuredly live for righteousness. For my wounds did not merely make healing available. They healed you (1 Peter 2:24).”

“Amazing love!” a great Arminian once wrote. “How can it be that you, my Lord, should die for me?!” Praise be to our Good Shepherd who didn’t just make our salvation possible, but sustained the anger of God in body and soul, shouldered the curse, and laid down his life for the sheep.

[By the way, if all has gone according to plan, I'm at T4G right now, and I got DeYoung's book for free at Band of Bloggers. Status report to follow.]

Owen on the Holy Spirit

I just finished reading John Owen's Communion with God. For a couple my previous posts on Communion with God, click here, here, here, and here. Oh yeah, here and here too! For a whole host of reasons it was a tremendously helpful book, but one reason sticks out particularly. In this work, Owen walks through what it looks like to commune with each of the three persons of the Godhead. What does it look like to have fellowship with the Father, fellowship with the Son, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Owen has a great discussion on this very topic, and I profited from it greatly.


Here's a snippet of his discussion on the Saints' fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

"'Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you' (John 16:7). So the Lord Christ would have us know this great truth, that the presence of the Holy Spirit with believers as Comforter and helper, sent by him as promised, is better and more profitable to believers than his bodily presence can ever be, now that he has made the one sacrifice for sin which he came into the world to offer." (pg. 168-169).

Have you ever thought about this? At the present moment, having the Holy Spirit dwell in believers is better and more profitable for believers than having the resurrected Lord Jesus here in person. Meditate on that for a minute. Sometimes we struggle to believe this, and we think (wrongly), if Jesus were just here in person, "things" would be better. Certainly, "things" would be better if Jesus were here in person! (And I eagerly anticipate His bodily return in glory!) BUT at the present time, having the indwelling Holy Spirit to bring to mind the words and promises of Christ (John 14:26), to glorify Christ (John 16:4), to pour the love of God in our hearts (Rom 5:5), to bear witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Rom 8:16), and to seal us (Eph 1:13, 4:30) is exactly what we need. Amen.

[By the way, right now I'm on my way to T4G.]

Practice Take 2

Monday mornings are always a good time for a funny video. A couple of Mondays ago, I posted Allen Iverson's infamous "practice" press conference. If you've not seen that one yet, you need to click here. After you've done that, you are ready to enjoy the video below!

Name that Church Building

I forgot to mention, whoever can name that church building below *may* win a prize. I'll narrow it down for you... it's somewhere in the British Isles, and the name of it rhymes with "Myles." Happy Googling!

Divine Mercies

If you've never read, Valley of Vision: a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, you may want to give it a look. I know I've recommended it on here before.


Here's a sampling of one of my favorite portions called "Divine Mercies." Do your soul a favor and read it slowly...

"I thank thee for personal mercies,
measure of health, preservation of body,
comforts of house and home, sufficiency of food and clothing,
continuance of mental powers,
my family, their mutual help and support,
the delights of domestic harmony and peace,
the seats now filled that might have been vacant,
my country, church, Bible, faith.
But, O, how I mourn my sin, ingratitude, vileness,
the days that add to my guilt,
the scenes that witness my offending tongue;
All things in heaven, earth, around, within, without, condemn me -
the sun which sees my misdeeds,
the darkness which is light to thee,
the cruel accuser who justly charges me,
the good angels who have been provoked to leave me,
the countenance which scans my secret sins,
thy righteous law, thy holy Word,
my sin-soiled conscience, my private and public life, my neighbors, myself-
all write dark things against me.

I deny them not, frame no excuses, but confess, 'Father, I have sinned.'
Yet still I live, and fly repenting to thy outstretched arms;
thou wilt not cast me off, for Jesus brings me near,
thou wilt not condemn me, for he died in my stead,
thou wilt not mark my mountains of sin, for he levelled all,
and his beauty covers my deformities.
O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging to his cross,
hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side."

Yes, it is ALL just that good! I find these prayers help me to pray better. I trust they will be a help to you as well.