Jihad

It was not very long ago that most people living in the western world did not know the meaning of "jihad". The word was not a part of our vocabularies, nor was it heard in normal conversation. But as in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" a great evil is stirring in our world today; a restless, hellish evil that desires to plunge the world into moral and spiritual darkness. "Jihad" is its slogan and battle cry. Those who take the word upon their lips and who allow it to shape their lives will be cut down at the end of the age when the Lord Jesus Christ slays the wicked with the breath of his mouth and the glory of his appearing. But between now and then they are a threat to be reckoned with, a blight upon the world, people who are themselves enslaved by the beastly powers of one whose ancient method is to masquerade as an angel of light.

Jihad means "holy war". In many ways it is an oxymoron: a complete contradiction of terms. There is no such thing as a "holy war" when it is waged by the fallen sons and daughters of Adam. Wars that are fought by unholy people always share in their unholiness. They are marked by violence, bloodshed and destruction. In spite of the rhetoric of those who promote such folly, the legacy of such conflict is always sad beyond comprehension. It is one thing when atheistic madmen unleash their fury upon the world. It is even more tragic when a whirlwind of depravity is perpetrated in the name of God. If there is one thing that the only true holy book teaches, it is that "the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires" (James 1:20). It is absolutely impossible for sinful human beings to bring about the kingdom of God by means of guns or bombs or executions or repressive laws or marches or sermons or anything else.

There is only one "holy war" that has ever been fought. And it is the war between the descendant of the serpent and the descendant of the woman (Genesis 3:15). It is a holy war that has spanned the ages, holy because it has not been fought by one who is unholy but by one who is thrice holy. God himself, in the person of his own dear Son, has chosen to save out of the fallen mass of humanity, a people of his very own. At great cost to himself he sent his Son to do what only he could do to reconcile God to us and us to God. The great battle in this holy war took place more than two thousand years ago on a hill outside Jerusalem. There, with no human help or support, the Son of Man, fought the definitive battle with the powers of sin and Satan. On the cross, Jesus, the crucified one, did what all the armies of unholy warriors could never do. He paid the price for the sins of his people and he secured their deliverance from every foul spirit and power of oppression. Of course, there would have been no victory and we would have no way of knowing about it, had he not risen from the dead. But as the inspired Scriptures testify, and as as secular history cannot deny, he rose triumphantly from the grave. He is the holy warrior! And he has triumphed. And he will reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet. His reign is gracious and glorious. He alone can bring lasting peace.

Jihad, as the word is used today, is always and in every place a monumental tragedy and disgrace. It is never pleasing to the true and living God. And it can never make the world a better place. There is only one holy warrior and one Savior of sinners. He is the only one that can deal with the real cause of human torment. Today, he continues to call people from all the nations to repent and follow him. Although he does not promise us an easy time in this life and we will never achieve total victory here and now, he does promise to be with us to the end, and when the eternal plan of the Father has been fulfilled in all of its details, he will unveil a new heavens and earth where righteousness will finally dwell forever. Yes, in the end righteousness will live on the earth; but we must never forget that it is a righteousness that has been secured for all who look for it, at the cross.

The Peril of Distraction

Continuing our thoughts on why so many turn back on their initial profession of faith, I wanted to focus in this post on the problem of distraction. Jesus speaks to this issue in the parable of the sower when he describes seed falling among thorns. He says these refer to "people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). If an inadequate view of the gospel, excessive parental pressure, and a failure to stress the need for responsible personal action contribute to the problem of falling away, so does the kind of distraction that Jesus warns about in this parable.

What new Christians do not always understand is that their conversion is only the beginning of the story. It is not a matter of trusting in Christ and then living happily ever after as it is often portrayed in popular evangelicalism. Coming to Christ is the first step. Then the battle begins to keep our eye on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, until Jesus returns at the end of the age, or God calls us home to be with himself.

Two particular distractions that Jesus mentions are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. Both are almost omnipresent in our world. Wherever we turn there are things to worry about. Hardly a day goes by when we do have something to worry about. Contrary to the opinion of some, not all worry is wrong. There is a genuine concern that we must have for ourselves and others if we are to fulfill our Christian responsibilities. But when worry keeps us from what is of primary importance, then we have a problem. That is what Jesus has in mind here. An inappropriate type of worry that saps our energy and redirects our focus so that we do not pursue the Lord as we should, and if not dealt with, will draw us away from him altogether.

The second thing he mentions is the deceitfulness of wealth. Riches are deceitful because they tricks us into thinking that if we have them, we need nothing else. They promises a better tomorrow if we will spend our time and energy chasing after them. But countless people can testify that wealth, in and of itself, does not solve problems. In fact, the more wealth we have, the more we have to look after and worry about.

Both the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth will choke the word of God if they are not rooted out of our lives. We must be ruthless in this ground clearing operation. Either they go or the word will prove unfruitful in our lives. In all of this we must not push the analogy too far. This is a parable, and we must not press all the details. The parable cannot be used to teach that people can be saved and then lost again. It does not say all that could be said about the power of the word itself and the Holy Spirit who lives in God's people. But having said that, Jesus is making an important point that we need to take seriously. Work is required. Not to earn salvation but to make our calling and election sure. In today's world this message must be communicated to those who would come after Christ, so as to insure as far as we can, that their faith is real.

The Plague of Hyper-Calvinism

My good friend, known in the comment section of my last post as "Odious Herodias", mentioned his own upbringing in hyper-calvinistic circles and the devastating impact of such teaching on the children. He said that "the fear of presumption so pervades that situation that children are almost inoculated against the gospel by the preaching/teaching. Kids grow up with a skewed understanding of human responsibility, terrified of God's sovereignty and often end up adopting a fatalistic attitude to their salvation".

His observation, born of experience, is sadly true. Hyper-calvinism is a blight. A horrendous distortion of the biblical message that leads to many spiritual problems if it is not exposed for the error it is by the proper application of the Scriptures. By "hyper-calvinism" I am referring to a rationalistic theological system that refuses to keep in balance what the Bible so plainly teaches about the sovereignty of God and the freedom and responsibility of human beings. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God to such a degree that the greatest sin becomes the sin of presuming that we can do anything when it comes to our approach to God. God is so sovereign that we must wait upon him to act. If he decides to save us, he will do so in his own good time. We are helpless in our sins. We must wait for him to act and come to us and give us spiritual life.

Often connected with hyper-calvinism is the belief that it is wrong to freely offer the gospel to sinners. According to their reading of Scripture, the gospel is for God's elect; a group of people known only to God. We have no business offering Christ to sinners until we are sure that they belong to that select group chosen before the creation of the world. To do otherwise is to be guilty of presumption. In this system the sovereignty of God and his election become the interpretive grid through which they read the Bible. Even when other texts challenge their lopsided theological vision, they just cannot see it; they are blinded by their own unbiblical assumptions and prejudices.

Ironically, although concern about committing the sin of presumption might sound like humility, in reality hyper-calvinism produces the worst kind of spiritual pride in those who are convinced they are elect as well as in those who are waiting for God's lightning to strike. No matter what the Bible says to them about their responsibility to seek the Lord while he may be found and to call upon him while he is near, they will not do it. When we are exhorted to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved, they refuse to do so, claiming that they cannot until God visits them in regeneration. And even though the Scriptures plainly tell them that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13), and Jesus says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29), they stubbornly refuse to obey the clear commands of God.

Lest anyone think that I do not believe in the absolute sovereignty of God; I do. God is sovereign over all things. He works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11). But the same Bible that teaches that God is sovereign also teaches with equal clarity that human beings are free moral agents who are completely responsible for their own actions. By free moral agents I mean that we do what we want to do. We are free to follow the dictates of our hearts. By responsible I mean that God will hold us accountable for our actions both good and bad.

But here is the rub. Any thinking person can see that there is an apparent problem. How can God be absolutely sovereign and we be free and responsible at the same time? Many conclude this is impossible and therefore proceed to modify either the biblical declaration of the sovereignty of God (i.e. Open Theism), or they reduce what the Bible teaches about the freedom and responsibility of human beings (i.e. Hyper-Calvinism). But we must not do either. We must let both stand as compatible truths that are taught in the Scriptures, even though we cannot fully understand how both can be true at the same time. Any departure from this joint declaration of biblical truth will have devastating practical implications on those who are subjected to it.

Going back to my stated concern about preventing spiritual falling away; parents, pastors and teachers not only need to impress upon would-be disciples the demands of following Jesus and do so in a way that does not involve putting words in their mouths in a well-meaning attempt to see them come to salvation, but they need to urge young and old alike to turn from their sins and trust exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to frankly recognize that we only know we are elect as we come in faith to Jesus Christ. There is no other way. No one is saved because they are part of a mythical "covenant of grace" between believers and their children. Neither are we to wait until God does something in us. We are always addressed as free and responsible persons and told to take action today. No one glorifies the sovereign God of the Bible who teaches one part of his truth at the expense of the rest. Nor are we humble seekers if we do not repent today and call upon the name of the Lord.

Excessive Parental Pressure

In this post I want to talk about another reason for the phenomenon I spoke about yesterday; that of making a profession of faith, then falling away for a significant period of time, before returning to the Lord and re-committing to him. Yesterday I spoke about an inadequate understanding of the gospel, today I would like to focus on excessive parental pressure.

One group of people who fall into this category are those who are raised in Christian homes. This usually means that they had Christian parents who prayed for them, taught them the Bible and took them to church. Sometimes it also includes the fact that they were sent to a Christian school. But whatever the precise nuance, these people were exposed to the gospel message very early in life. This also means that they are born into a family situation where their parents want them to become Christians more than anything else in the world.

Of course, having Christian parents is a great, great blessing! But in their loving concern and zeal for their children's eternal spiritual welfare, these same parents can make it difficult for their children to come to genuine faith in Christ. Parents must realize that young children want to please them and from time to time will say things about God and spiritual matters that parents must take with a grain of salt. Not that we should be dismissive of our children's thoughts and comments and unaware that God sometimes calls little children out of their native spiritual darkness into his marvelous light, but we need to be careful. If they say they believe in God and love Jesus and want to be his followers, we should not discourage them, but tell them to trust in him and to obey his word. But this is different from "baptizing" them as infants or as young children or even teens, or having them do "confession of faith", or pushing them forward as Christians before there is real, life-changing evidence that they have been born from above.

This is not to say that God cannot save young children and teens. He does! But prudent parents and pastors need to recognize that many who profess faith at this stage in their lives do not really know what they are talking about as is evident from their own testimonies when God finally brings them to himself. Far better to keep encouraging them to trust in Christ until they insist that they are Christians and on their own, from within, they make it clear that they want to follow Jesus. It is crucial that they understand at a level appropriate to their age, the demands of discipleship. And it is better to pray that Christ would be truly formed in them, rather than prematurely push them in a direction that they will reject as soon as they have the freedom to do so.

To be continued...

Thoughts On "Falling Away"

There is something that I have been thinking about for a while now that I want to talk about here on "Redeeming The Time". It is the very common phenomenon in the church circles in which I move to hear people who are giving their testimonies tell of how they made a profession of faith at one time in their past, and then they wandered away from the Lord, but now they have recommitted themselves to him and want to go on with him from this point forward. My concern in raising the issue is to try and understand why this happens so frequently and to think about what can be done to prevent this pattern from repeating itself.

When I stop and think about it, there are several reasons why it occurs in the first place.

First, is an inadequate understanding of the gospel. Sometimes this is the fault of the one doing the preaching, but more often than not, I have observed that it is a problem with those who are hearing the Word of God. For some reason they have trouble grasping the fact that Jesus is both Lord and Savior. He does not give us an option in this regard. It is not a flip-the-coin or take one-out-of-two proposition. He saves those who are spiritually dead as Lord and he rules over those whom he brings to himself as Savior. But no matter how clearly this is explained by preachers and teachers, myself included, this is not what people hear us saying. They seem to hear what they want to hear. They want forgiveness for their sins and the promise of eternal life, but they are not prepared to surrender themselves without reservation to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consequently, theirs is only a partial response to the gospel. They are like those described by Jesus in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) as seed sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root they last only for a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Notice the initial joyful response. They are thrilled with what they hear. But it does not last because they are not sufficiently grounded in Jesus.

One of the great dangers of this kind of spiritual predicament is that such people are often given a false sense of assurance by other well-meaning Christians. They are told that now that they have made their possession of faith they should never doubt their salvation. Doubt is treated as if it were the great sin and something that would only be inflicted on them by Satan himself.

The fact of the matter is that they need to be told to continue on in Jesus. The implications of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit need to be communicated to them. They need to be encouraged to grow in the Lord and helped in their walk with Jesus. During this time the genuineness of their profession will be revealed for what it is, or isn't!

I fear that this "falling away" is as common as it is because there is very little follow-up. Too many are left to fend for themselves. Too many assumptions are made about their spiritual well-being and what they actually believe about the Christian life. It is my growing conviction that taking time to probe a little deeper would go a long way to preventing some of these spiritual difficulties.

To be continued...

The Best Is Yet To Come

"Brother Lew" made an excellent point in the comments section of my last post. He writes: "I have heard it said that 'Life is hard and then you die,' but that is not what the Bible says and if the Holy Spirit would make such an expression I think it might be more like ' Life is hard and then you live.'" That is wonderfully true for the Christian.

Life is hard. There is no doubt about that. It is hard on all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam because of the curse of God which rests on us because of our share in the great rebellion against him. Christians and non-Christians alike know the sting of living in a fallen world. In spite of all we do we can never escape the sentence of death which claims us more and more the longer we live in this world. As decreed by God, death will one day sweep us away from all that we hold dear and bring us to stand before him. Whether we believe it does not change the reality. The Bible is absolutely clear at this point.

But life is hard for Christians in particular, as I wrote last time. We have our own unique struggles as the children of God as we try to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and live in a world that is really not our home. As the old song says: "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through, my treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue; the angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore." We are pilgims heading toward the Celestial City. On the way we have many enemies to face and obstacles to overcome. But we press on! Afterall, as yet another hymn puts is: "We are marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, we're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God!"

The promise of God is that when we arrive all our struggles and trials will be over. There we will enjoy the presence of our God in a way that transcends anything we have known in this life. We will see the Savior face to face. We will be reunited with loved ones and other believers who have gone before us. What a day it will be. Truly, it will be the time when we really start to live. When all the tears of this life are forgotten and we walk with God forever in unbroken fellowship. There is no hope like the Christian hope. It is pure not carnal. It is real not illusory. It is eternal not temporary. It is glorious not ho-hum. Yes, the best is yet to come! By far! This glorious reality is something that the Bible testifies to again and again from beginning to end. Here is one example for us to meditate on this Lord's Day.

"I consider that our present suffering are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:18-21).

Through Many Hardships

In Acts 14:22, we are told that the apostle Paul strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith by telling them that "we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." This past week I have been reflecting on these words. How true they are! And how honest Paul was to tell those who were new in the faith about the struggles that lay ahead. Today, in an effort to multiply disciples, and to present Jesus in the best possible light, preachers and teachers sometimes hide the demands of discipleship. But this is contrary to the ministry pattern of Paul and the Lord Jesus himself, who always confronted would-be followers with the difficulty of the narrow gate and road that leads to life. Soft-peddling the rigors of kingdom obedience does not help anyone. Better to realistically face what lies ahead and plead for grace and help!

Having said that, it is true that "through many hardships" we enter the kingdom of God. The hardships come in many different forms. There are the troubles associated with holiness; the constant struggle against the remnants of sin that try to enslave us all over again. The concern to glorify God in all that we say and do; something the world does not give much thought to at all. Some Christians experience isolation from family and friends because of their stand regarding righteousness. Others know weakness and live with physical pain which dogs their every step. Still others never seem to get ahead, they work hard but their dreams are not realized in this life. While others carry great burdens associated with their work and ministries in this world.

With this kind of scenario some people might wonder if the Christian life is worth it. But the answer of Christians down through the ages, even to the present day, is yes. Knowing God the only way he can be truly known, in Jesus Christ, is certainly worth the troubles of this life. We are assured of that in the Bible and those who have gone before us testify to all-surpassing glory of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. They tell us following Christ is worth it all, come what may, because he is the treasure of treasures. This kind of conviction takes faith in the revelation of God. We must believe that God is and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Life is not easy. But through it all the Christian can know the companionship of the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we make our way through the wilderness. When I was a kid we used to sing a song in Sunday School that went like this: "My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow; my Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow." That is a simple yet important truth that we must not forget no matter how old we are.

Walking With God Through The Seasons of Life

Holiness continues to be an issue that Christians struggle with. At the most basic theological level this is true because we are not perfectly conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. While we have been forgiven and the Holy Spirit has come to live within, we are not all that we will be one day, when we see Christ face to face (1 John 3:2). In his great wisdom God has chosen to allow his people to struggle with their sins until we are called into his presence. This requires us to live by faith in the promises of God, to pray for protection and help in our time of need, and to vigorously put to death the deeds of the body. None of this is easy, as the mature Christian will testify to. It does not matter how old we are, or how long we have walked with the Lord, we must diligently attend to this part of our Christian lives until the very end of the race and the battle.

This morning in chapel here at TBS, Pastor Fred Sarjeant, from West Country Reformed Seminary, in the UK, challenged us all along these lines. Elaborating on Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”, he eloquently spoke about the different seasons of life and the challenges of walking with the Lord through each of them. As he spoke it became evident that he has absorbed the work of the Puritan John Flavel, 1630-1691, who has written extensively on matters of personal holiness and self-discipline. I found it so encouraging to be reminded that we will win this guerrilla war with the powers of darkness and the sin which once used to dominate our lives. Our sovereign Lord never abandons his people whom he has chosen and redeemed with the blood of his own dear Son. This precious knowledge should spur us on in our walk with God. Or, in the words of the apostle John: “all who have this hope in him (i.e. in Christ) purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Municipal Elections

With apologies to my wider readership, I wanted to express my frustration with the leadership and organization of the city of Hamilton where I live (yes, Ancaster is part of Hamilton). Hopefully, in the upcoming election there will bring a welcome change to the leadership of the city, although I am not convinced that our current electoral system identifies and encourages the best candidates to run at any political level, whether it be municipal, provincial or federal. The level of taxation in Hamilton is excessive and indicative of years of mismanagement by the current and former city council members. Taxes cannot keep going up and up when there is precious little to show for it in terms of improvements to the city as a whole. Someone, somewhere needs to be held accountable.

Then there is the Hamilton bus system. In a day when so many say they are concerned about the environment and when public transit is touted as a way to alleviate environmental stress, isn’t it time to design and operate public transit systems that actually work efficiently and get people where they want to go in a timely manner? I have two children who attend McMaster University just down the hill from Ancaster and although they have bus passes as part of their student fees, for all practical purposes the present bus system is next to useless. Sometimes it seems as though someone deliberately designed the system to be as inconvenient as possible. If that is the case, they succeeded!

From a Christian perspective, governments are a gift of God’s common grace that help to order the world in which we live. But this does not mean that they are beyond criticism or that we should not encourage them to do better. There are many talented people in public office and many more who have never run for any position. We need to pray that God would bring to responsible positions those who will do their best to make our cities and towns places where people want to live. We also need to manage our resources efficiently so that we can have some left over to help others and so that we ourselves might not have to become dependent on government in the future. Something to think about at election time.

More From The 2006 IBC

I am home now and unable to go in for the final sessions of the conference because of speaking commitments this weekend. But I wanted to report on Mark Dever's message on "Worship in the New Testament." Mark chose to expound Romans 12 as a key text that explains what NT worship is all about. He ably demonstrated that "worship" is not restricted to what is commonly thought of as worship today in many church circles. Worship according to the apostle Paul is a comprehensive category that embraces the entire life of the Christian. It is something that we do as those who have known the mercies of God in Jesus Christ. Accordingly Paul begins with what worship is and why we are to worship in Romans 12:1-2 before going on in the rest of the chapter to describe in detail how this works itself out in our lives. Mark's exposition set before us the big picture and helps us get at what is really important in debate (some would say "worship wars") that is going on all around us.

If I step back and assess all that I heard yesterday about worship it appears to me that when we talk the totality of the biblical revelation as it reaches its climax in Jesus Christ, we see that worship is transformed from being something that is strictly personal and religious, into something that is very practical and touches every part of our lives. It seems to me that one of the obvious implications of such a position is that what individual congregations do when they come together on the Lord's Day and other occasions depends on the unique makeup of the congregation and the gifts and abilities God has given them. This is not to suggest that anything goes. The Bible clearly gives us various elements that are to be a part of our corporate gatherings. But the Bible does not legislate details. There is room for individual expression from church to church. The danger of hearing how the experts "do worship" (a regrettable expression) and how they think it should be done is that a new orthodoxy can be laid down that goes beyond anything legislated in the Bible.

Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. It is very valuable to hear the thoughts of others. To see what they are doing and why. To study how Christians in the past have wrestled with these issues and the conclusions they have or have not reached. It is good to think about what we are doing and to be aware of the constant possibility of doing what we are doing simply because that is how it has always been done. But when we get to the heart of things, given the way the New Testament fulfills the Old on so many levels, we must allow room for our Christian brothers and sisters to praise and worship God within the boundaries of Scripture. In these last days, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has gone out into all the nations. Our response to that gospel, which afterall is what worship is all about, it as colored and varied as the glory of God revealed in the natural realm. As we hear the Word, sing, pray, give, love, serve, and all the other things that are presented to us in the Scriptures we do so in a way that individually and corporately expresses the infinite glory and yet the personal immanence of the God who has told us to approach him each day as "Our Father in heaven." While many questions remain, and there is still lots to think about, if we grasp this much we are on the right track.

International Baptist Conference 2006

Well I have never tried "live blogging" but since there is a break in the action here and I have access to a computer I thought I would report on what has happened thus far. The theme of this year's conference is "Worship" and so far today we heard a messages on "What is Worship?" by Joe Boot, "Worship in the Psalms" by Dr. David Barker, and "Choosing Congregational Music for Worship" by Roger Bergs. All the sessions have been stimulating and helpful and have reminded us of the significance of worship in the life of the Christian and the Christian church. While we are all aware that there is much confusion in this area, we have been reminded of the need to return to the Scriptures to discover what it means to worship God in spirit and truth.

One thing that has struck me in the whole discussion up to this point is the importance of biblical theology. The tendency to read the Scriptures a-historically while only paying lip service to the redemptive-historical structures that are built into the Scriptures results in some of the bizarre and all too common ideas that float around the evangelical church today. The balance between form and freedom, simplicity and profundity, and an awareness of sins alongside deep new covenant joy is illusive even when pursued with the best of intentions.

Another thing that has come up more than once is the rising biblical illiteracy in our day. Too many people who are sitting in church (not to mention those outside of it) just do not know the main contours of the biblical story. This means that we need to be concerned about proclaiming the truth at every point, whether it be in the sermon, prayer or song. Worship is something that is going to go on forever when in the new heavens and earth, the redeemed of the Lord, joyfully glorify him and enjoy him forever. What we do now should help get us ready for that great day.

More Television Sets Than People

Continuing along the lines of my last post, the Associated Press reports that the number of television sets in the typical American home actually outnumber the people. Apparently, TV sets number 2.73 per home while people only number 2.55! Now there are many reasons for this development including changes to the TV set itself which makes it easier to have them in different rooms of the house. So instead of having just one or two big television sets in a living room or family room, now there are smaller, thinner ones in kitchens, bedrooms and in other places in the house. Not only do people have more television sets, but they are on more than 8 hours a day in the average home with the average individual's viewing time being 4 hours and 35 minutes a day. Clearly this is a phenomenon with far-reaching social implications. And when you add to the television the array of other electronic devices such as Ipods, and Mp3 players, video games and personal computers, we have a society that has less and less time to sit and be still. To think. To meditate on what is important.

Down through the years, some Christians have responded to new technology by trying to avoid it altogether. But this is rarely successful and almost impossible in 21st century western countries. Electronic devices are everywhere and rather than running and trying to hide we would do much better to think along another line.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul talks about demolishing arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. It is my conviction that we need to do something similar with regard to the television and other forms of technology. We need to use them to serve and glorify the Lord rather than being mastered by them. This is not easy. It requires careful planning and self-discipline. It is all too easy to be seduced by the world when we think we are different from it. But I believe it is possible to use these devices to further the kingdom of God and to lay them aside when they get in the way of our walk with God and meaningful interaction with other people.

What should concern us more than anything else is the uncritical adoption of what this world has to offer. We must not be tossed back and forth by new technologies any more than we should allow ourselves to be blown around by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:14-15). Christians need to take what this world has to offer, cleanse it, and present it back to God. May God give us wisdom to know how to do this without doing harm to ourselves or others.

"Welcome To Esso" and Other Background Noise

I don't know if it has happened to you, but when I stop at my local Esso station, after the banking information has been verified and I press the grade selection button, I am "treated" to very annoying advertising that appears complete with audio on a screen above the pump! I would not mind (as much) if I could shut it off, but the fact that I have no choice but to listen or turn around and face in the other direction, is maddening in the extreme. More and more it seems that there are fewer and fewer public places where one can go without being subjected to somebody trying to sell you something. Now I am all for free enterprise, but this strikes me as a ridiculous invasion of privacy. Someone needs to tell the companies and the advertising executives who represent them that people do not exist merely as buying and selling entities!

But beyond the frustration of having to endure unwanted sales pitches, there is a more important issue. In our society is it more and more difficult to find "quiet" places where we can be left alone to think! This is not a good thing for anyone. Human beings were made to think God's thoughts after him not to run from serious reflection and meditation. Today, with all of the electronic devices that people have they can fill their ears with noise from morning till night so that they do not hear the "still small voice" of God. The book of Psalms begins with a description of the "blessed" as those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the Lord and mediate on his law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers (1:1-3).

In our world we need to make time to spend with God. We need to learn the discipline of reading and listening to the word of God as that word comes to us in the Scriptures. By saying this I do not mean to imply that we can only do this if we are alone in the countryside somewhere. It is possible to commune with God in all kinds of places, provided we deliberately turn our minds and hearts toward him. Esso television monitors do not make that task any easier. But with a little discipline and creativity we can find a way around these and whatever other obstacles get in our way!

Let God Be True And Every Man A Liar

I recently came upon an interesting series of quotations. They apparently come from various experts who did not really know what they were talking about when they spoke. For instance, the Western Union internal memo in 1876 which reads: "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Or the wisdom of physicist Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society in 1895: "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." Or Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre who said: "Aeroplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." These represent just a few of the gaffes that have been made by those who did not understand what they were saying and could not see what would happen in the future.

This kind of shortsightedness is a good reminder of the limitations of human knowledge. We are finite creatures who are dependent on God for everything. The Bible indicates that this dependency extends to life, breath and everything else. We might not like to admit it, but it is true. We know nothing with absolute certainty. Our knowledge is never absolute or exhaustive. To have that kind of knowledge we would either have to be God, or we would have to explore the entire universe and discover and analyze all the facts that make up reality. Because we are not divine nor capable of discovering all there is to know, our knowledge is at best localized, fragmentary and in need of constant revision as more information becomes available. This explains why each successive generation can look back at the previous one and wonder how they could be so blind in certain areas where we now know so much more!

Some in our day do not believe that there is any escape from this epistemological dilemma. They think we are bound to relativity and limited to telling our own stories that attempt to explain reality from our point of view. But the Bible gives us another option. It presents us with God who is all-knowing and who is able to communicate with us as human beings. He alleviates our need to collect and analyze all the facts of the universe. If we are willing to listen to him and accept his word we can know the truth even though our understanding is never exhaustive. This does not mean that all of our interpretations of the Scriptures are accurate and do not need revision. Scripture must interpret Scripture, since only God's word can explain his revelation to us. But our claim is that if we interpret the Scriptures properly we can know what God wants us to know. We can be wise when it comes to salvation and we can know how to live so as to glorify him.

The experts are sometimes wrong. The Scriptures are never wrong. Human interpreters may err. But if we approach the Bible with reverence and prayer and with a desire to really want to learn what God has for us, we can know the truth that sets us free. Here is something else to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Well, it is that time of the year again in Canada, time when Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. This year I thought it would be good to reflect on all that God has done. The problem that we often run into is that there are so many things going on in our world and in our lives that we can sometimes forget all that the Lord has done and is doing. In the New Testament, lack of thankfulness is a sin and marks people who do not know God, especially in the last days of redemptive history (2 Timothy 3:2). Whereas twice in Colossians (3:15; 4:2) and once in Hebrews (12:28) Christians are told to be thankful, which in the latter passage is linked to worshiping God with reverence and awe. Thankfulness is not an option for Christians. We are to rejoice in the works of God and thank him daily for his many mercies.

Theologians like to distinguish between common and special grace. Common grace being that grace of God that is universally experienced by human beings. The sun that shines, the rain that falls, health, strength, food, drink, families, work, governments and even police and military forces that help to maintain law and order when they are functioning properly. All of these things and many more come from the hand of God. This does not mean that the world is a perfect place, nor does it mean that these blessings are experienced equally by all. The truth of the matter is that we have forfeited our right to any grace and mercy. The amazing thing is not that trouble happens, but that we experience any goodness and happiness at all. God is more than kind to us as sinful creatures who have turned their backs on him in so many ways. The fact is, that we have so much to be thankful for, more than we will ever know. And certainly enough to leave us without excuse if we do not call upon the name of the Lord and worship him.

Beyond common grace, Christian believers experience special grace. This is the grace which works in us to bring us out of our darkness and into the light of God's presence. It is the grace which we first experience when we are made alive in Christ Jesus so that we see our lost condition and we ask him for mercy. This same grace fills us with the Holy Spirit and keeps us walking in the way that we should go in spite of many obstacles and discouragements. How thankful we should be that God does not abandon us to ourselves. That he continues to work in us and with us and he brings other people across our paths who can help us in the walk of faith. We should thank the Lord for Christian brothers and sisters who stand and work with us in the kingdom of God. And we should thank him that in the end he will win the battle. No matter how it appears at the moment, God is working out all things according to his all-wise plan and when he has done what he set out to do he will send his Son, our Savior, from heaven to take us home to be with himself.

This Thanksgiving I am going to take Psalm 146 and use it to help me in giving thanks to God.

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them --
he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoner free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.

God's Glory and Grace

There is one other thing I wanted to mention before leaving 2 Timothy, and that is the way Paul brings his letter to a close. Among the warnings and greetings that Paul leaves with Timothy are two statements that summarize Paul's life and ministry. In verse 18 he writes: "To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen". Then at the very end he concludes with the prayer: "The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all" (v.22).

Taken together, these two tell us many things about the great apostle. First, he was a man who lived for God's glory. From the time his life was transformed by the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, to his last days on earth which he spent incarcerated in a Roman dungeon, Paul was a man who was consumed with the glory of God. His mind and heart had been enlightened and he saw Jesus as the fulfillment of all the promises made to Israel. He was passionate about God. He wanted people everywhere to love and worship him as they came to know his great salvation. And he knew that this life was only the beginning. He knew that we have only begun to experience all that God has for us as the heirs of salvation. The best is yet to come! For all eternity, we will glorify the triune God.

Second, Paul was a man who understood God's grace. He had learned from experience, not just theological deduction, that salvation is by grace from first to last. And this is what he wants Timothy to know and to walk in all the days of his life. Grace opens our eyes to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Grace keeps us going in the heart of the battle when the struggle is most intense. Grace holds us fast when we wonder whether we will ever see the finishline. Everytime I hear the hymn "Amazing Grace" I am reminded of the centrality of grace to biblical Christianity. This is not to say that grace is all that there is. Grace always producing in us a desire to do the will of God and live in a way that is pleasing to God. But grace is certainly a fundamental aspect of the gospel. As Newton wrote in the second verse of his great hymn: "T'was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed." But as wonderful as the grace of God is in the beginning, Newton understood that would always be something that would cause us to marvel. The last verse of his hymn reads: "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun".

If we keep the glory and the grace of God before our eyes, we will not go astray. We will do what God calls us to do as long as he calls us to do it and we will enjoy his personal fellowship and great salvation along the way.