Peace: Objective & Subjective

Peace is an interesting word used in many ways today.  People work hard for peace around the world through the Peace Corps, through humanitarian aid projects, through being kind to one another, through helping the needy, all in an effort to spread this idea of peace.  But what is peace?  When most people (or Wikipedia) think of peace they think two things: a) Things that labor to remove insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political and religious radicalism, and acute racism and nationalism.  b) A long-haired, bandanna headed, man or woman, holding up two fingers with a large smile.  The Bible on the other hand defines peace in a very different way.

The word for peace means more than “peace” in the Bible.  In the Old Testament it is “shalom” and in the New Testament it is “eriene”.  Both of these words mean “fullness”, “wholeness”, or “complete-ness”.  Peace is more than the absence of conflict, it is a rest and wholeness that can only come from God through Christ.  The Bible also makes an interesting distinction about peace; you must come into the objective (outside yourself, factual) peace with God before you can experience the subjective (inside yourself) peace of God.

The objective peace with God is found in Romans 5:1, “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” A person only has peace with God when they come to faith in Christ, because Christ on the cross absorbed the wrath of God, fully satisfying it on our behalf.  Apart from faith in Christ, no one has peace with God because of sin and all remain under the curse and wrath of God.

The subjective peace of God is found in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Paul instructs us to pray, rather then being anxious, letting our concerns be made known to God.  When we do that, we experience a peace that words cannot, ever, describe.

The world has it wrong.  They are after subjective peace and will go to great lengths to try to find it.  In fact, many people have claimed that they have found true peace on their own.  But the Bible makes it clear, you cannot have the subjective peace OF God without first having the objective peace WITH God.  If the objective peace is not there, you will never enter into the rest and wholeness that comes from having the subjective peace of God.

When You Don’t Feel Like It, Take Heart

(Thanks to Jon Bloom who originally posted this on the Desiring God Blog)

Did you wake up not feeling like reading your Bible and praying?  How many times today have you had to battle not feeling like doing things you know would be good for you?  While it’s true that this is our indwelling sin that we must repent of and fight against, there’s more going on.  Think about this strange pattern that occurs over and over in just about every area of life:

Good food requires discipline to prepare and eat while junk food tends to be the most tasty, addictive, and convenient.
Keeping the body healthy and strong requires frequent deliberate discomfort while it only takes constant comfort to go to pot.
You have to make yourself pick up that nourishing theological book while watching a movie can feel so inviting.
You frequently have to force yourself to get to devotions and prayer while sleeping, reading the sports, and checking Facebook seems effortless.
To play beautiful music requires thousands of hours of tedious practice.
To excel in sports requires monotonous drills ad nauseum.
It takes years and years of schooling just to make certain opportunities possible.

This goes on and on.  The pattern is this: the greater joys are obtained through struggle and pain, while brief, unsatisfying, and often destructive joys are right at our fingertips.  Why is this?  Because, in great mercy, God is showing us everywhere, in things that are just shadows of heavenly things, that there is a great reward for those who struggle through (Hebrews 10:32-35).  He is reminding us repeatedly each day to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Each struggle is an invitation by God to follow in the footsteps of his Son, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).  Those who are spiritually blind only see futility in these things. But for those who have eyes to see, God has woven hope (faith in future grace) right into the futility of creation (Romans 8:20-21). Each struggle is a pointer saying, “Look! Look to the real Joy set before you!”  So when you don’t feel like doing what you know is best for you, take heart and don’t give in. Your Father is pointing you to the reward he has planned for all who endure to the end (Matthew 24:13).

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Should We Desire to be Comfortable?

I have realized lately that I have within me a desire to sit tight and be my own person and not get involved in the lives of others. There is also such a yearning in me to be comfortable and be around people that make me comfortable. Because of that desire I often feel that I do not want to be around anyone that makes me feel awkward or like a minority. Should I desire this? Should we? Should God keep me in a position that I only feel comfortable? Is it His will for me to live like that? No, this is a desire I must fight with all my might!

When we desire to live in comfort only, we desire to not stretch our faith; we yearn to only live up to what we have gotten to presently and not move ahead. This is almost close to the phrase, “The safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will.” Was that what Paul experienced, or Jesus? They were in the middle of God’s will and they did not experience much safety, why? Because it is sometimes the will of God to let us struggle for a season and then bring us out. “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10) God wills and ordains all the seasons of our lives, (Ecc. 3:1-15), and to be perfectly honest, God will not always lead you to a place where you are in total comfort; He will lead you exactly where He wants you to be, for His purpose and plan. That is why God’s plan for you is so great! This is the true meaning of Jeremiah 29:11. It is the God of the universe declaring in your life His ways, that change us to be more like Himself, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” says the Lord, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God will not always lead you to the place that you feel you should be, or to the place that will be most comfortable to you, He will always lead you, to something that is much harder than you can ever imagine, or even think of, that is when He is pleases to make Himself look amazing through you, because He places you in a spot in which you cannot act or do anything apart from Himself! Jim Elliot once said exactly what needs to close this thought, “The closer men walk to God, the more they struggle.”

Faith, Hope, and Love in Paul’s Thinking

I recently wrote a paper investigating Paul’s connecting of Faith, Hope, and Love and would like to share an excerpt:

In Paul’s writings faith, hope, and love are keyed to the gospel.  In Paul’s epistles he explicitly links the gospel with love (Phil. 1:16, Col. 1:5), with faith (Rom 1:17, Gal. 3:8, Phil. 1:27, Col. 1:5, 1:23, I Thess. 3:2), and with hope (Col 1:5, 1:23).  In I Thess. 1:3 we see the fruit of the Christian life paired with the root of our Christian life found in the Gospel.  As in the common to Paul’s writings we see a gospel-based link between our union with Christ and our resultant Christian life.  Paul recognizes and teaches here that the Thessalonians work, labor, and endurance come from their faith, hope, and love, which in turn come from their being “in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  We see throughout Paul’s writing a connection between the imperatives, what we are to do as Christians, with the indicatives, what has been done for us as Christians.  In this manner Paul never detaches moral instruction from the gospel.  If in fact Paul wants us to think of the Christian life as being summarized as a life of faith, hope, and love he places these virtues squarely in the middle of their source and their resultant fruit, thus demonstrating the gospel message.

We see something similar happening in I Thess. 5:8. We see that only because we are “sons of the light” and “sons of the day” can we put on the breastplate of love and faith and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  Only because we have been brought into the age to come can we have faith, hope, and love, but since we do possess the breastplate of love and faith, and the hope of salvation as a helmet, Paul charges the Thessalonians to put them on.  He charges them to take advantages of what has been given to them in light of the gospel.

One of the most persuasive arguments for why Paul uses the virtues of faith, hope, and love to describe the whole of the Christian life is made by Emil Bruner.  Bruner focuses on how faith, hope, and love relate to the existential reality of how humans relate to time.  Every person lives in the past by way of our memory.  In fact the recording of history is something unique to humans, and not found in the existence of animals.  Every person lives in the future by what of expecting, hoping, planning, and fearing.  Once again, this ability to anticipate the future is something unique to humans.  Of course we also live each day in the present.  Since we as humans live in the past, in the future, and in the present we must now ask how we, as Christians, live in the past, in the future, and in the present, and that means how our relation to Jesus Christ affects our living in the past, the future, and the present.  The answer of the New Testament is precisely these three words: we live in the past by faith; we live in the future by hope; we live in the present by love.  That is the reason why each one of these three great words expresses the whole of our existence without competing with the others.[1]

For the Thessalonians it was especially important to draw out the three aspects of time in both instructing and encouraging them.  Paul here is telling the Thessalonians here to have faith, because God has chosen them (I Thess. 1:4).  We see Paul clarifying the future for the Thessalonians, increasing their hope by assuring them that their Christian loved ones who had passed on would live forever with Christ (I Thess. 5:10), and that at the second coming those who were still alive would be reunited with them (I Thess. 4:17).  We know that there was there was difficulty, even persecution in being a Christian in Thessalonica.  Paul employs a robust Christian world view in attempting to shepherd and care for this young, struggling flock in Thessalonica.  Here, in what is likely Paul’s first Epistle written, we get a glimpse into Paul’s world view.  We see Paul demonstrating that within Christian thought there should be a place for the past, the present, and the future.

As we follow Paul’s writing, especially in his more theological epistles, we see Paul teaching about redemptive history in order to build up faith.  In just two examples we see in Romans 4, and in Galatians chapters 3 and 4 where Paul looks to redemptive history, in the person of Abraham to point people to faith.  In fact, Paul’s looking back at the redemptive history of God’s people, from the Old Testament, right through the early New Testament period, is one of the main ways used by Paul to encourage God’s people to faith.  Paul would often show where the early church fit into God’s redemptive plan for history, reminding them that they were God’s chosen people (Col.3:12), Abraham’s seed (Gal. 3:29), and adopted as God’s sons (Eph. 1:5).

We also see throughout Paul’s writings an expansion in the teaching of hope for the future in terms of eschatology.  Probably one of the best examples of this teaching is found in Romans chapter 8.  This chapter begins by talking about living in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Holy himself is part of the fulfillment of eschatology.  The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was promised in Joel 2:28.  Joel links this pouring out of the Holy Spirit with the “day of the Lord.” The fact that the Holy Spirit is present in the life of the Christian is evidence that the age to come is here.  The second half of Romans chapter 8 is forward looking.  Paul teaches that present day struggles are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18), and that we are guaranteed of a future glorification (Rom. 8:30).

In Paul’s epistles, probably the most common theme regarding how to live, from day-to-day, demonstrating love in our present day activities is through his constant reminders that as Christians we are in union with Christ.  In Romans chapters 6 we see the subject of how to deal with daily sin.  Do we continue to sin so that grace may abound?  By no means!  Paul points out that through our union with Christ we were crucified to sin.  Through Christ’s resurrection, we too were raised to new life in him.  Paul makes clear that we stand guiltless before God through our union with Christ (Rom. 5, I Cor. 15).

Paul’s most famous teaching on love, found in I Cor.13 is sandwiched between I Cor. 12, where Paul teaches that as Christians we are all united to Christ as one body and I Cor. 15 where Paul makes explicit the teaching of our union with Christ in his crucifixion and resurrection.  I Cor. 13:13 is interesting in itself.  In this verse we have faith and hope appear out of nowhere in a chapter all about love.  It seems as though Paul is reminding us that love does not stand alone in the Christian life.  We will not love in the present for very long without looking back in faith, and looking forward with hope.  It will be difficult for us to live in recognition of our union in Christ, if we are not reminded of how God has mercifully and graciously placed us within redemptive history.  It will also be difficult for us to live as though we are united to Christ if we are not encouraged in the eschatological hope of glory.  The fact that Paul placed love as the greatest of the three could well be light of the contingency of the Corinthian situation, in which it was love that was most lacking.  Another possibility is the fact that only love is eternal.  In the new heavens and the new earth there will no longer be hope for a future glorification, neither will there be a faith in the unseen.  For in that day all will be made right, and we will see Jesus face-to-face.  Only love will remain.

Implications for Viewing the Christian Life in Terms of Faith, Hope, and Love Today

If we believe the Christian life to be summarized as living by faith in what God has done for us in redemptive history, by placing hope in our eschatological glorification, which has already begun in part, and by loving God and others out of recognition of our union with Christ we gather some valuable implications for our Christian lives today.

As with most tensions within the Christian life, there is an opportunity for imbalance.  If these three virtues of faith, hope, and love are three vital components of the Christian life, then there will be an ever-present tendency to focus on one to the detriment of the other two.  Paul is teaching us that a healthy Christian worldview and a healthy Christian life will focus on all three aspects.  Within our sanctification we will not try to focus on what we can do now, without looking back at what has been done for us, and looking forward to our future glory.  In our prayer life we will pray not only for the fulfillment of immediate needs, but will also include a praise of God for his past and future provisions.  When we partake of the Lord’s Supper we will do so in remembrance of how Christ’s body was broken and how his blood was poured out (Luke 22:19, I Cor. 11:24-25), we will do so in anticipation of the future wedding supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9), and we will do so as a reminder that just as the bread and the wine become one with our body, so are we one in our union with Christ.

These are just a few of many potential examples of how thinking in terms of faith, hope, and love, in terms of past, present, and future, in terms of redemptive history, eschatology, and union with Christ can impact our Christian life.  Paul wanted to shepherd his young flock in Thessalonica.  We see Paul speaking to different congregations in different ways.  For the Corinthians who were failing to show love for one another, he emphasized love.  For the Thessalonians who needed encouragement in the face of struggles he emphasize hope.  Importantly, Paul doesn’t fail to mention the other facets of the Christian life.  Paul preached a robust gospel, emphasizing all facets of the Christian life, realizing that by human nature we tend to emphasize one or two facets to the detriment of the others.  We also should take to heart this need for a balanced Christian life, balancing on the fulcrum of Christ to whom all Scriptures point.

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[1] Emil Bruner. Faith, Hope, and Love (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1956): 12-13

More Than Food

J.V. Fesko tells of his God glorifying method of seeing all meals and foods:

The next time you sit down to eat a meal, stop, and think about the theological significance of what you are doing. Have you ever applied the full weight of our biblical worldview to the practice of eating? Ken Myers, the host of the Mars Hill Audio Journal, draws attention to the fact that the consumption of food is packed with theological significance. Think about it, God could have made us like the plants of the field—we would simply stand out in the sun for a period of time and photosynthetically collect the energy we need. Instead, God made us so that we must consume food. Moreover, God could have made our appetite for food much like that of an animal—simply consume whatever is at hand regardless of the taste. Instead, when we eat we often employ all of the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. God gave us the ability to enjoy the created order through our ability to eat food. This, however, is not the only theological aspect of food.

Read the rest here.

Awkwardness, Jim Gilbert, and Jonathan Edwards

After graduating college, I began working for a PCA church in Atlanta as the intern.  Things were going well during the honeymoon period at the church, but after the new-ness of having me around wore off, people slowly started to see the real me.  That’s when they saw it; I am awkward.  My awkwardness became such an issue, that every Sunday it seemed to grow, and I became keenly aware of my lack of confidence in social skills.

So, what did I do?  I asked certain friends of mine I trusted about my awkwardness and some said that I was just being humble.  Were they right?  I needed more counsel, so I called my spiritual Father Jim Gilbert.  Jim told me something very different.  He directed me to 1 John 4:18 which says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involved punishment, and the one who fears has not been perfected in love.” In directing me to this verse, Jim asked me some probing questions.  ”Why do you feel afraid?  What makes you self-aware?  Why do you lose your confidence around certain people?”  I answered every question by saying, “I am fearful of how I look to them”, or “I am worried about how they perceive me.”  Jim knew what was wrong, and I did too.  It was not humility that was causing my awkwardness, but pride and selfishness.

After this discovery, Jim gave me a quote from Jonathan Edwards that has been in my head ever since.  “There are no other principles which human nature is under the influence of, that will ever make men conscientious, but one of these two, fear or love… and therefore God has wisely ordained that these two opposite principles of fear and love should rise and fall, like the two opposite scales of a balance.  Fear is cast out by the Spirit of God no other way than by the prevailing of love, nor is fear ever maintained but when love is asleep.”

That was it, my fear was being maintained because I was not loving the people around me!  What did I do?  What was the solution to my awkwardness?  I tried to love the people more, and slowly this quote proved to be true.

My Dog Taught Me Today

In our house we have a spiral staircase which goes up to a loft that overlooks our family room.  Our desk and library is in the loft, so as you can imagine, I am up there a lot.  I have dog too.  If I do not take him up there with me when I go, he will sit at the bottom of the spiral staircase and wine.  So I carry him up the stairs so he can sit up there with me.  This is where the lesson comes in.  Everytime I come down the stairs, I have to pick up our dog and carry him down.  When I reach for him to pick him up, he squirms everytime, stiffens up, and tries to get out of my hands because he is afraid.  He does this all the way down until I let him go on the downstairs floor.

What did this teach me?  I am too much like my dog and so are you!  When God, purposefully, puts us in places and situations in our lives that we are not used to, we fight him during those times; just as my dog fights me down the stairs.  But as I take my dog down the stairs I try to comfort him by saying “I got you, don’t worry boy.”  I’m not sure if it works or not, but that is my natural reaction.  Can you picture God saying the same thing to you as you fight Him during a hard place in your life?  ”I got you Adam, don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.  TRUST ME.”

If you are currently in a hard place, or an easy place, I want to encourage you.  Don’t fight Him, you can trust Him, He will never let you out of His hands.

Chernobyl Today and Our Own Hearts

On April 26, 1986 Chernobyl’s nuclear plant #4 exploded, causing massive amounts of radiation to overflow into the streets.  The city and all its inhabitants were evacuated in three days.  That was a little more than 20 years ago, and the streets and buildings of Chernobyl are now in ruins.  Why?  It has been neglected.  Looking at this picture makes me think of how quickly something can become a ruin.  It does not take thousands of years, it only takes a few years of neglect.  Our own hearts are too often very much like modern-day Chernobyl.  At one time they may have been booming with life, and even pretty to look at.  But now some of us see this picture and know that our hearts are in ruins.  Is there hope for Chernobyl today?  I don’t know.  Is there hope for our hearts?  I do know that there is hope for our hearts.  Even if they are in ruins, Jesus can still come in and make it His home.  Where is your heart today?  Is it in ruins, or is it a booming metropolis?  Whatever the condition, Proverbs 4 speaks to all of us.  “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Music that Comforts the Soul

My morning devotion was to good to not share with you today, so here it is:

1 Samuel 16:23 says, “So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.”

Chris Robins comments:

There is a notion in our culture that music can tame the savage in us – that there is something soothing that calms even the wild beast.  I don’t really know if it is true, but I don’t think that is what the passage is saying.  Think about it.  What would David be singing?  He was a songwriter, and a rather prolific one.  We have his songbook – the Book of Psalms.  So what rescued Saul from the torture and manic fury of a demon riding his conscience night and day?  It was those Psalms, the songs and lyrics of a man in love with his God, full of praise, repentance, and love.  It is the Word that calmed Saul’s heart – the Word of God.  I would make much of this for your own heart and life.  Christian music has its place in the life of the Christian, especially when it is the Scripture itself in music.  Use it, and use it wisely.  Find what you like in devotional music and listen to it.  Even better, sing to yourself.  Don’t be distracted by the folks who tell you not to listen to music of the world.  That is not forbidden.  But be wise, because evil spirits are real.  Be in the Word, memorize the Word, soak in the Word.  Take in the Word of God like it was cereal in the morning, a sandwich at lunch, and pasta at dinner.  The Word set to music can do all of this.  And when evil comes it will not stay very long.  Within earshot of David’s songs not a demon can linger to bother the children of God.

Where I Go in Uncertain Times

When (not if) I begin to feel uncertain about what God is up to in my life, or things begin to fall apart, there are a four solid places I go to find comfort.

-Isaiah 55:8-9, “”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.  ”For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” I go here because I need to know that what is currently happening is a wise plan of God, and it is a good one.  Out of all the infinite possibilities that could be taking place right now, why is this happening?  Because God chose it, and because God chose it, He will sustain me through it.

-Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you shall glorify Me.” I go here to get simple facts I can hold on to.  Often I will be in the “day of trouble” and when I am, God will be glorified by rescuing me out of it.  That is, if I call to Him.  In this I need to remember that God will rescue according to His ways and plans, not mine.  (Isaiah 55:8-9)  His plan to rescue me is higher than mine, and better than mine.  Why do I need to remember that?  Because God’s rescuing may be not to rescue me from harm, but to give me peace amidst the trouble.

-Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” I go here to get reminded that whatever happens in my life, God is in control of.  And not only that, whatever God chooses to bring about in my life, it is the best possible way to my best possible good.

-John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” I go here lastly, because I need to know that the only way I can get through this current trouble, is to remember Jesus.  I will have trouble in this world, that is promised, but take heart my troubled soul!  Rest in Jesus!  He will sustain you, He knows what your going through (Heb. 4:15).  He is not to far away to help (Psalm 139).

“You Have Not Been This Way Before.”

Just before the people of Israel crossed into the promise land Joshua told them this, “When you see the ark…do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not been this way before.” (Joshua 3:3-4)  Israel was going into a land that they had never traveled before.  This probably caused much fear in them as well as joy.  Joy because they were finally going into the land of promise, and fear because ahead of them was utterly unknown.

How could Joshua and Israel be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6-9) while going into the unknown?  Moses’ words were still fresh on their minds from his last word to them (Deuteronomy).  In Deut. 31:6,8 Moses encouraged them “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the One who goes with you.  He will not fail you nor forsake you…The Lord is the One who goes ahead of you; He will be with you.  He will not fail you nor forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.” Moses knew that the unknown was coming, and encouraged them that God is the One who goes ahead of them.

How great was this for Israel and how great is this for us today!  Many times in life we find ourselves at the Jordan, looking into the vast unknown, wondering what is there, what is waiting for us.  Be encouraged, do not fear or tremble, the LORD is the One who goes before you, He will not fail you nor forsake you.  Jesus said something similar, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  Take heart, the Lord is with you always, and the Lord has already gone before you, all we have to do, is follow His footsteps.

“My god is a god of love.”

As someone who believes in biblical orthodox reformed Christianity, I often run across people who are convinced that the God of Christianity is the god that they worship and believe in. When the truth is that they have created a false image of God in their heads, based on the bad theology that they have either been taught or have interpreted from their own cultural perspective. I hear statements such as: “Jesus loves everyone equally”, “My god would never send people to hell”, “The god I know is kind and gentle, he would never hurt innocent people”, “My god is a god of love”, etc.

Sadly, these couldn’t be further from the truth of Holy Scripture. What is so dangerous about them is that they are halve truths, but completely false. People in their ignorance and immaturity of scripture have created these idols to worship. Even more sad, is that this idolatry leads to more disobedience and idolatry in material things. The level of deciet deepens with every false conclusion made about the God of the bible on man’s part. Satan knows what he is doing, so beware.

The remedy, (there’s only one) pray that God would lead you out of darkness and into the light, all the while resting in the assurance of His promise that He has made to us in His Word. And then, get under solid biblical teaching that does not compromise the truth of scripture.

Worship Leaders…Read this!

   If you are or have ever led worship in any capacity, you really need to take a moment, read, and ponder the words of a fellow worship leader.

   I have had the extreme honor and pleasure to have been a participant and leader for many diverse worship services throughout my life. In the mix of all the positive worship experiences, I have endured some very painful and downright man-centered services. Not because of style or song selection, but because of the comments and attitude of the worship leader(s). What gives us, worship leaders, the right to speak out before, during, or after a worship service that has little or nothing to do with Worship? Let me describe to you a situation:

There you are at the beginning, end or somewhere in the midst of a worship service, and the worship leader pauses to say a word(s) to the congregation that has little or nothing to do with worship. This usually occurs inbetween songs, often a guitar is playing softly, the lights are dimmed low, and here comes a irrelevant word from the worship leader. The people are distracted and the spirit of worship is quenched, because no one knows what the leader is talking about.

     What!?! Come on fellas, what are we thinking? As I had one person tell me long ago, “Lead the people in worship, don’t hinder them with your words.” His words were a little more colorful than that, but his meaning was this. Our responsibility is to lead the people to the throne, NOT to distract them with rambling emotions or thoughtless words. Do you distract God’s people from worshipping with your words? Do you talk a lot to the congregation during a worship set? Do you fill pauses in the music with your own words? Do you, and don’t know it???    

Consider, Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries definition of worship leaders:

“An effective corporate worship leader, aided and led by the Holy Spirit,
skillfully combines biblical truth with music
to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ,
thereby motivating the gathered church
to join him in proclaiming and cherishing the truth about God
and seeking to live all of life for the glory of God.”

   Bob’s definition ends perfectly, for the glory of God(period). That’s it! If you lead worship, you really should consider this definition and what that last line states. And, consider what you are doing in your worship services!

Bottom-Line: Shut-up and Sing!

TULIP #2 Unconditional Election

God unconditionally and “sovereignly” elects who will be saved and this election has nothing to do with anything the sinner does, including exercising faith in the gospel. Consider the words of the Westminster Confession: “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting life and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. … The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.” John Calvin expressed the doctrine of unconditional election in these words: “Predestination we call the decree of God, by which He has determined in Himself, what He would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny: but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, chap. 21). Calvin emphasized his belief in sovereign reprobation as follows: “[God] devotes to destruction whom he pleases … they are predestinated to eternal death without any demerit of their own, merely by his sovereign will. … he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name by glorified in their destruction. … God chooses whom he will as his children … while he rejects and reprobates others” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, chap. 23).

 

Bottom Line: Because of humankind’s total inability to come to salvation on our own, we must be called out of our deadness into life. That can only happen when the father chooses those whom He wills(John 6:44). This choosing/election only happens within the mind of God, that’s what makes it unconditional. It is a work of God!

I Turned 5 Years Old Last Night

“God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the world began…”  (2 Timothy 1:9)

Last night, 5 years ago, I met Jesus for the first time.  As I think back on that moment one thing comes to mind that brings great comfort to me.  I did not know anything about the sovereignty of God, or man’s will, or predestination; all I knew was that I needed to get out from under my sin and flee to the cross.  What is so astonishing now is that I can know how I got to be where I am today.  I can answer the questions: why did I become a Christian that night?  Why did I flee to Jesus?  Why did I feel that my sin was going to crush me one day?  Why did my friend Jim Gilbert share the gospel with me?  Why did I listen to him?  Why did I accept what he said as God’s Truth?  All of these can be answered by this verse.  It says that before the world was made, God, in His purpose, called me and saved me, not by what I had did, but through grace that comes through His Son, Jesus Christ.  I now know why I am who I am today.  I now know why I believe in Jesus today.  All of these questions are answered in the asoutnding fact that God chose me before I chose Him.  I know that if I love Him today, it is because He loved me first.  This gives me great encouragement because I know that I did not conjure up my own salvation in my mind.  Rather, it was the work of God that He had ordained before the foundation of the world, coming to pass in the present time!  Because God began my faith Him, I trust that He will finish it, and take me home to Him one day.  Praise God, that He has shown me why I am who I am today!