A Life Worth Nothing

The Gospel

2011-06-15T07:45:00.003-04:00

The gospel has been rocking my world lately. Along with God's sovereignty and Him seeking His glory in all things, this has been the foundation of my life. The gospel changes everything. It doesn't just change my standing with God. It changes the way I live my life. It changes the way I view sin. It changes the way I talk about myself. It changes everything. Literally everything.

Since I have learned so much about the beauty and ramifications about the gospel in the past year, I'd like to just offer up the resources I've had to you all. I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm forgetting, so please post some as comments if you think of any.

A Gospel Primer for Christians by Milton Vincent
I just finished this book last week. It's short (about 70 pages) and just packed full. The opening is 31 reasons to preach the gospel to yourself every day. I will probably be reviewing those pages for however long God keeps me alive. Read this book.

How the Gospel Changes Us by Timothy Keller
This is not a book. It's really not even a sermon. It's more like a seminar that Keller did. Either Dayton Merrell or Matt Childers introduced me to this a couple years ago. Anyway, this was the beginning of gospel-centrality for me. If I could put two resources in your hands and be left at that, this and the Primer would be those two. Listen to it. It's only like an hour long.
*Along with that is this little paper "The Centrality of the Gospel"

The Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
This was a great book (another little one). Mahaney gives very practical ways to remind yourself of the gospel every day.

God is the Gospel by John Piper
I didn't even read this book. All I read was the introduction, but it has impacted my life in a way that I will probably never fully understand. I read the introduction to this book sitting in Barnes & Noble at the mall waiting on a friend. This was in the middle of my topsy-turby summer after my freshman year of college. Hearing that Piper talk about God as my final and ultimate reward answered questions that I had been wrestling with for months and months. Since I read that, everything has been colored by God as the all-satisfying reward of Christianity. [I plan to read the actual book as soon as my dad finishes.

What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert
In this book, Greg Gilbert showed me the simplicity of the gospel message and that in that simplicity, it's power is not lost. He also made some distinctions for me that I needed to hear.

The rest of these are great sermons that I have run into in the past year. They have shaped my view of the gospel and its effect on my life.

"Giving Thought to Gospel 'Math': Why Jesus + Nothing = Everything" by Tullian Tchividjian
"Intro to Galatians" by Mark Driscoll
"Getting Out (Exodus 14)" by Tim Keller
"Preaching the Gospel to the De-Churched" by Matt Chandler

There are obviously many other things I could have put on here that I just can't think of right now. I hope these help us never forget the gospel.

Love Wins

2011-05-26T23:02:00.001-04:00

Last night I finished Rob Bell's book Love Wins. I want to be honest with you all. It was a frustrating few days reading through that book. I'm still frustrated. I'm frustrated for a lot of reasons. Some I anticipated. Some I did not. Earlier today I sat down and started to write a review of the book. I stopped about a page in. I'm going to try something that I don't try very often. I'm going to keep my mouth shut. That doesn't mean I'm not going to talk about the book and what I think about it. I'm sure I will have many conversations in the days and weeks to come about it. But not here. Call me or email me if you'd like to talk about it. Really. Do that. I'd love to talk about it.

One thing I will do is offer up Kevin DeYoung's review to you: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

At first I felt a little ashamed to offer up someone else's opinion on this topic instead of my own. But honestly (I'm working on that) mine would be filled with bias, emotion, and frustration. I don't think those are bad things (except bias), but they typically don't make for well articulated points. There is some sanctification that needs to happen there. I'm praying for that. Not to mention, DeYoung is much more qualified to write a proper book review than I am.

I would like to say something about the frustration that I feel though. Yes the frustration comes from someone disagreeing with me. I know I have a problem with that. But as I read through the pages, I realized this frustration and anger (let's call it what it is) was coming from a much deeper place. As he made points and claims, my friends faces would pop into my head. I would think, "I'll bet that resonated with him" or "I know that is an area that he struggles too." My anger came from the realization that my friends, people I care about could be led astray by these things. What I kept thinking the entire time, especially during the chapter The Good News Is Better Than That, was that exact thing. I kept thinking, 'The gospel is so much better than this!' I hurt for my friends. I hurt for people who were brought up with some of the terrible misconceptions about the gospel that you can tell have influenced Rob Bell. But I want to plead with them not to come up with something and go with it just because it makes them feel better. Because the gospel is so much better than that. It's so much richer and more joy-giving than we could ever imagine.

I know I ranted. I do that. If you're reading this, I love you. It may not seem like it all the time, but I do. I stay up praying for you guys often. I pray that you wouldn't be led astray to some false picture of the gospel. That is still my prayer. That you would be grounded in the Word. That God would protect you. That's all. Read Kevin DeYoung's review. It's twenty pages, but it is well worth your time. He is a smart man who loves the Lord. And like me, he cares about what people are being taught. And read your Bible. It is the Word of Life.

Rob Bell

2011-02-27T23:11:00.003-05:00

This has been a big topic on my mind and amidst my conversation for the last two days, so I figured I'd go ahead and write something about it. Rob Bell is coming out with a new book called "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived." It doesn't come out until the end of March, but Bell and the publisher (HarperOne) have made a promo and written a blurb about it. Here is the promo video and then the blurb from the publisher.

"Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins." (from Amazon.com)

I'm not going to make a lot of comments about this. I plan on reading the book at some point. Hopefully soon after it comes out so I can open up some discussion on it. But this is just to let people know what is going on out there.

Here are two blog posts that I read yesterday from two men whom I very much respect:
Kevin DeYoung
Justin Taylor

I love you guys

Soli Deo gloria

Devotional Thoughts

2011-02-11T15:18:00.005-05:00

I realized yesterday that I haven't mentioned anything on here about my recent postings. On one of my last postings (the one about Systematic Theology I think), someone from a website called HolyCulture.net commented and asked me if I'd like to start writing for their website. After I realized it wasn't someone messing with me, I agreed to do it. I've written two devotionals for them now (I'm supposed to write one every two weeks but I kind of slacked in that first part of school). These are the links to them:
-Beginning in a Humble State
-Gospel Motivation

It's kind of a nice set up, because, like this blog, I can just write whatever has been on my mind as of late. Different though, is that people are reading it whom I have never met. So that is pretty cool. The website is pretty centered around the Christian Rap culture. And obviously most of my friends aren't running with that crew (although their are a few going strong). I pray that God can use this jar of clay to spread the treasure of His word (2 Corinthians 4:7). And hopefully Paul's words will ring true and show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to me.

For the people who do know me and haven't talked to me in forever, I'd like to update you because you probably won't see me for awhile. My summer plans have changed. I'm no longer coming home for the summer. Through a series of really cool events... actually just through Harrison Dell's word of mouth, I got offered an internship at Muskogee Church of Christ for the summer. I decided that it was an opportunity I just couldn't pass over. So, I'm going to spend twelve weeks of the summer working with the youth group in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I've very excited about it and would very much appreciate your prayers. So that's my short little update. Hopefully this weekend I will have time to comment on what I've been reading and learning lately.

Soli Deo gloria

Providence

2011-01-08T06:44:00.003-05:00

God is good. I think I give lip service to that a lot, but I don't really stop and dwell on it very much. He is watching over me, and He promises that He is causing all things to work together for my good (Romans 8:28). The reason I say this now is because of how He has shown His providential work over the last couple of days. As I told you, I'm reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. It's a great book. I love the content, and I love the thought process of systematic theology. But there are two prevalent dangers when reading something like this. I mentioned the first danger the other day. That is reducing the Bible to facts that we need to memorize and figure out. When we do that we miss the overall story of the Bible and how God has revealed Himself. The other danger may not be as obvious, but it is there I can promise you. It is the opportunity for pride to well up in me. I'm learning things that I have never known before. In that I am learning things that I know a lot of the people around me don't know. My human nature tells me that I am better than them because of that. I get things that no one else gets. That makes me better. God is good.

Like a dad watching his son inch closer to the cookie jar God has been watching over me. Two days ago I went to lunch with Mr. Webster. I didn't plan on it. I wasn't even going to leave the house all day. Abby forgot her lunch, so I took it to her. Lo and behold, my good friend didn't have anything to do the rest of the day so we went to lunch and hung out. Amidst the conversation he gave me two things that I want to tell you about. One very randomly came up, the other obviously had been on his mind. The first was a video of Voddie Baucham. Watch the video and then we can go on... Okay if you watched it, I don't even need to say anything. If you didn't, just know that there really couldn't be a more humbling nine-minute clip than that. The second thing was something I didn't expect. There really couldn't be anything more opposite of systematic theology than this. It's called The History of Redemption Video. This one is a little longer, so you don't have to watch it right now. Just click on "Watch the Sermon" when you want to. It is a walk through the Biblical story (using only Bible verses) to show God's story of redemption in a concise way. Very sobering. And a great reminder that I can't stop at understanding a bunch of facts about God. He's given us revelation about Him, not in the form of a math book, but a story.

Praise God for His providence in my life. Praise Him that He is watching over me and doing things that may seem very small but have a huge effect on me. I pray these things can have some effect on you too, and that you can see your Father working for your good.

Soli Deo gloria

P.S. I left a note in comment form on The Weight of Glory to clear up any confusion.

My Newfound Love for Systematic Theology

2011-01-06T09:32:00.014-05:00

"I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it." (Thirty bonus points for whoever gets that reference) I haven't been working at all on this break, so I've had nothing to do for the past three days. Since I'm always ticked that I don't have time to read, I've decided to redeem the time (Webster reference). I bought Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology book over the summer but have really only cracked it once. Now, I've decided to dive in.

That is where we meet my new love: Systematic Theology. Systematic Theology is exactly what it sounds like: a system of theology. Think really good topical preaching. Instead of going through the Bible (like I have been doing), it goes through different topics and looks at what the whole of Scripture has to say about that one topic. Obviously there's some overlap, but that brings me to why I love it so much. Working out theology systematically forces you to answer all the questions. Because you are looking at the whole of Scripture, you must look at all the Bible has to say at a particular topic. In that way, it protects us from reductionism. Reductionism (as Mark Driscoll explained it to me) is the fault of only looking something in view of part of Scripture. The one topic that he talked about a lot was not reducing Christ to only his deity or only his humanity. It really is cool because so many holes in my view of God are because I'm not looking at everything that the Bible has to say about him.

I will heed Driscoll's advice here. He warns against an overuse of systematic theology because it takes away from the story of the Bible. We lose the narrative of God's history of redemption when we only look at individual facts and truths about given topics. So I want to be sure that I am not putting too much emphasis on a book like this. However, that does not change the beautiful ability of systematic theology to give me a full view of Scripture. So I will continue to sing its praises while remembering that it cannot be the end of my study.

Another favorable aspect of this book (I'm sure it is done in other works of systematic theology, but this is my only reference point) is that it shows false views of certain topics and where they come from. An example is the chapter on creation, which I'm reading right now. After Grudem explained how God relates to his creation (namely that it shows His character and He declares it to be very good, but that He is distinct from it and rules over it), He explained materialism, pantheism, emanation, dualism, and deism, which are all false views of God's relation to creation that contradict the account of the Bible but have shown up over the years.

Now you might be asking yourself, "Why in the world do those things matter to me?" I'm glad you asked. (Another Webster reference) These are all views that not only non-Christians, but professing Christians have of God and how he relates to creation. Since they are all forms of reducing Scripture to just some of what it says, they all have Scriptural backing and evidence. Having a solid view of the truth along with a clear understanding of the lies that culture tells, gives us the ability to recognize those lies when they show up. I can't tell you how important this is. I have had so many instances that someone says something and I think to myself, "That doesn't sound right." But then they show me a Bible verse and say, "Look, it says it right there." Having a knowledge of where they are going to point gives us the ability to ask important questions. Not shove their faults in their face and yell at them, but ask good questions to make sure that we have a clear understanding. It is a way to love our brothers and sisters around us (as well as people who are apart from God). Because if God is totally and completely good, then a clearer understanding of Him increases the joy we have in him and the awesomeness and outrageousness (may not be words, don't care) of his love for us. The clearer we see him, the better he looks and the more we are blown away by him.

Anyway, that is my endorsement for systematic theology. And since I'm reading Wayne Grudem's book right now, I'll go ahead and advocate him too. I'm blown away at how humble this guy is in writing. He's so ready to show the other side of discussions and present evidence not only for what he believes but what other people believe as well. He mixes standing for explicit truth and having loving disagreement about some doctrine beautifully. It's been such an encouragement for me to be taught by someone like that. Also, he puts things in here that I don't think are the norm for this kind of book. At the end of each chapter he has application of what we have just learned and how that shows up in our lives and the way we understand the world. Then he has questions to ask ourselves about how these beliefs show up in the way we live our lives. And my favorite thing is that he ends with a hymn to meditate on what we just learned. I just love it.

So there it is, my full endorsement for Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I hope some of you will take my advice and dive into this study of God and His revelation to us. It has already increased my joy in knowing Him so much (and I'm only like two hundred pages into it). I'd love to be able to discuss some of these things with you guys.

Before I leave I'd like to leave you guys with some resources. Most of them are sermons from Passion but there are a few on here that deal with Holy Hip Hop (or Christian Rap). I'm going to put a few interviews on here as well as some Lyrical Theology to give you a taste of what I have come to love. (Yes this is basically just a post of me endorsing things.)

John Piper's message at Passion 2011: "Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy"
Quickly I need to say some words about this. Piper's message (like last year) is one that I believe is foundational. This was huge for me and really got to the bottom of a lot of things in my life. It also showed me a lot of what my life was like from the ages of 15 to 19. I had the goal of people thinking highly of me. Jesus became a way to get to that end. I was still at the bottom. Now Jesus has become the bottom of that joy. This probably won't make sense until you watch it. So watch and listen closely. This is very important stuff.
Here is the link to the audio of Piper's message at Desiring God

Unfortunately the videos from Passion are no longer up on the internet. Piper's is the only audio up for now.

Here are a few interviews about Holy Hip Hop:
John Piper interviewing Lecrae at Passion 2011
Thabiti Anyabwile on Holy Hip Hop
Lecrae's interview with the 700 club about his life and Christian Rap

Here are some examples of Lyrical Theology and the gospel being preached through rap:
Shai Linne preaching the gospel
Lecrae- Don't Waste Your Life
Flame- Joyful Noise
Timothy Brindle- Liberation
Trip Lee- Satisfaction

You can also look at other artists. These are some of the guys who I listen to: Lecrae, Trip Lee, shai linne, timothy brindle, Tedashii, Flame, and Dayton told me I need to start listening to PRO so I'll put him on here too.

I've just mixed Systematic Theology and Holy Hip Hop. Hopefully nobody freaks out on me. I hope you guys use these resources and they give you a greater picture of and pleasure in Jesus.

Soli Deo gloria

Passion

2011-01-03T17:48:00.002-05:00

364 days ago today I heard John Piper speak at Passion 2010. The message was "Is Jesus an Egomaniac?" That message laid the foundation for my life. Since that time I have listened to probably hundreds of sermons, read hundreds of articles, and read about ten books. But none of it makes any sense outside of God's passion for His own glory. I want to praise God for putting John Piper and the Passion conference in my life. He knew what he was doing when He got me to start talking to Heidi Tabor and Kaitlyn Schaefer in the student center about the Peace by Peace conference at Harding. That and a series of other events has led to a taking over of my life and a deep longing in me to see God glorified.

Tonight, John Piper will speak to another group of 18-25 year-olds. I assume He will bring some other form of the same message, with the underlying theme that God lives to see Himself glorified. Pray with me that hearts will be changed. Pray that hearts that are slaves of sin would become hearts that are slaves to righteousness. Pray that the Spirit of God would rest on people and save them from a life of worshipping things that will perish. Pray that, in His speaking, Dr. Piper would show the greatness of almighty God. Our God is jealous for the worship and allegiance that belongs to Him. Pray that tonight He would receive that from some who have held it back up to this point in their lives. And pray that collectively God would use this generation to proclaim His gospel. Pray that the name of Jesus would be lifted high among our brothers and sisters and that He would wake America up. I know this is a lot to ask for. But isn't it great to know that we worship a God who can deliver what we ask for, no matter how big it is?

If you want to watch tonight (or the two previous messages) go to the Passion live streaming web site. Dr. Piper's message should begin at about 7:45 ET. But check in early to experience some of the worship at Passion as well.

Soli Deo gloria

The Weight of Glory

2011-01-03T12:15:00.002-05:00

Greek has not received much application from me yet. I have only been learning the language for one semester and you should know that I'm not re-translating my own version of the Bible yet. However, one application that has been very helpful is the understanding of individual words. A lot of it has been understanding the different roots of words and their connections to other words (etymology). It turns out that many of the religious words that we use today were taken from everyday words in the Greek or Hebrew languages. Now I'm not at all saying that we shouldn't keep using them. I believe that words matter and some words that we use are so packed with meaning and particular connotations in the Bible that we should keep using them. I'm just suggesting that we work a little harder at explaining them.

Some examples that don't really have much significance are words like Bible (βιβλίον), which is the Greek word for book, and scripture (γραφή), which was just the Greek word for writing. Another example of something that sheds a little more light is the name Deuteronomy. The word δεύτερος (transliterated deuteros) is the Greek word for second, while νόμος (or nomos) is the general word for law. Therefore it helps to know that the title of Deuteronomy literally means second law. It gives you a better idea of what the book is trying to accomplish. (And it turns out that the book really is a repeat of most of what has been said in the Law up to that point.)

The most useful thing I have learned when it comes to this study of etymology is the meaning of the word "glory". Glory has taken on a lot of meanings and carries a lot of connotations now days. We flippantly say things like, "My goal in life is to glorify God." I do not think that is a bad goal. In fact, that is the goal of my life. But when we say important statements like that, I believe we should have some understanding of what we are saying. And at its most basic level, understanding comes in individual words. So knowing what it means to glorify would have a large impact on how this goal plays out in someone's life. So glory, in its original everyday use, meant weightiness or significance. Think about that for just a minute. When Paul says in Colossians 3 that we should do everything, whether in word or deed, to the glory of God the Father, he is talking about showing God's significance, showing His importance.

Now obviously glory does not mean that everywhere it shows up in the Bible. When we talk about our glorified bodies we do not mean our significant bodies. That is talking about renewed bodies and honestly I don't know where the connection between the two words. I'd have to study further to get that. But this understanding of what I am talking about should not be taken lightly. When we talk about glorifying God with our lives and with everything that we do, we are talking about showing, in every action, how significant and important He is. That makes sense to me. So by reading my Bible instead of watching TV, I am showing that God is important to me. By talking about Jesus regularly in conversation, I am showing that He is important. This isn't just something I say sometimes. He is legitimately significant in my life and much more important in the grand scheme of things than other things that I could be doing with my time, money, energy, and efforts. Think about all the applications of this that show up in everyday decisions.

I was just thinking about this and thought I would share it with you. I also have a resource that I want to share with you and it is a good one at that. It is Mark Driscoll's sermon series called Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe. In this series, Driscoll walks through the basic doctrine that we hold to as Christians. It is one of the most helpful series that I have ever listened to. A lot of what he says in here is foundational to my worldview. I listened to it last year so this is my second time through and it is rocking me again and also hammering home a lot of essential truths. Please, if you have any desire to listen to this, do it. He says a lot of things that are essential Christian beliefs that I had never heard before. Meaning I did not understand some things about Christianity that are basic and I should have known a long time ago. There are thirteen sermons, each of them being about an hour long. You can listen to these in two weeks without even changing anything about your day. Don't watch the 11 pm Sportscenter for the next two weeks and watch one of these each night instead. You may not know how well Kobe Bryant is playing, but you will know more about who God is and why we need salvation. Skip your daily watching of One Tree Hill and watch one of these. In two weeks you won't know what Chad Michael Murray has been up to, but honestly who the heck cares? I'm series, these truths will shape your life. Don't let what's on TBS tonight shape your worldview, let that be the function of the Word of God.

Well, I got on a little tangent there I guess. But oh well. Also, I have some things to say about Passion 2011, but I will leave those for later today. I love you all. I hope these things challenge you and that they somehow increase your hunger for Jesus.

Soli Deo gloria

A Christmas Reminder

2010-12-25T12:52:00.004-05:00

I got a good reminder this morning of the glories of Jesus's birth. The incarnation of Christ brought the almighty God into this world in a humble human state. I couldn't even hope to try to explain or understand everything that entails. But this morning I got a text from a friend that sent me to a place that reminds me of some of it. It was a reference in The Valley of Vision. This is what is on page 28:

The Gift Of Gifts

O Source of all good,

What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on
wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me
to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose (rest).
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, donkey, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child
to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much
that heaven can give me no more.

Gospel Grammar

2010-12-22T18:39:00.003-05:00

I came across this article today on Tullian Tchividjian's blog: The Grammar of The Gospel.

Mark Baur had mentioned this idea to me after he got back from the Desiring God conference in October. The thing that stuck out to him from Tullian's message was that "Imperatives-Indicatives=Impossibilities." This basically means that giving commands to do things, without understanding the truths behind those commands, makes carrying them out impossible. This shows up in churches all over the place. People try to preach commands of morality, missions, and evangelism but never see any results. The main problem, as far as I can see it, is that people do not understand the truths of the Gospel so they do not really understand why they would want to do these things.

In this short article, Tullian quotes Sinclair Ferguson putting this is a positive light. "In the gospel, the structure of the grammar is always indicative gives rise to imperative..." This is very helpful to know.

Edwards Sermon

2010-12-08T17:03:00.003-05:00

So I finished my first Jonathan Edwards sermon today. I'm hooked. It was fifteen pages long, and it just absolutely blew me away. I've listened to Piper, Driscoll, Chandler, and the rest of these guys for quite awhile now, and what I love about them is how God-glorifying they are. Now I see where they are fed. I don't really know how to put it into words but he understood things in scripture on a level that I can't even fathom. Anyway, there's no reason for me to keep going on about it. The point is that the sermon did four things for me:

1. It humbled me because of the amazing knowledge and understanding that this man had.
2. It humbled me because of the helpless, worthless, dependent picture of man that he draws out of God's Word.
3. It gave me a view of the Father, Son, and Spirit that is higher, fuller, and more magnificent than anything I've ever seen or felt before.
4. It gave me a deep love and joy found in God's sovereignty that I had not felt at this depth before.

But obviously the way that I feel about it can't really stir up your affections. So I found the sermon on the internet. And I'm going to post it on here just in case anyone wants to take the time to read it. The first section is a letter that preceded the sermon in my book. It was written as an advertisement for Edwards after these men heard this sermon in Boston. It's short so I figured I'd put it in here too. The next part is the sermon itself. I'm sure there will be some grammar errors in here just because it was on the internet. I tried to fix all the ones that I could see. Also, it was written in 1731 so the language is quite a bit different. I will try to define difficult words as they come up. Anyway, enjoy the sermon. I'd love to talk to you about it if you'd like. I hope it does for you what it has done for me.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER, RESPECTING THE FIRST SERMON

It was with no small difficulty that the author's youth and modesty were prevailed on to let him appear a preacher in our public lecture, and afterwards to give us a copy of his discourse, at the desire of divers ministers and others who heard it. But as we quickly found him a workman that needs not to be ashamed before his brethren, our satisfaction was the greater to see him pitching upon so noble a subject, and treating it with so much strength and clearness, as the judicious reader will perceive in the following composure: a subject which secures to God his great design in the work of fallen man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, which is evidently so laid out, as that the glory of the whole should return to him, the blessed ordainer, purchaser, and applier; a subject which enters deep into practical religion; without the belief of which, that must soon die in the hearts and lives of men.

For in proportion to the sense we have of our dependence on the sovereign God for all the good we want, will be our value for him, our trust in him, our fear to offend him, and our care to please him; as likewise our gratitude and love, our delight and praise, upon our sensible experience of his free benefits.

In short, it is the very soul of piety, to apprehend and own that all our springs are in him; the springs of our present grace and comfort, and of our future glory and blessedness; and that they all entirely flow through Christ, by the efficacious influence of the Holy Spirit. By these things saints live, and in all these things is the life of our spirits.

Such doctrines as these, which, by humbling the minds of men, prepare them for the exaltations of God, he has signally owned and prospered in the reformed world, and in our land especially, in the days of our forefathers; and we hope they will never grow unfashionable among us; for, we are well assured, if those which we call the doctrines of grace ever come to be contemned or disrelished, vital piety will proportionably languish and wear away; as these doctrines always sink in the esteem of men upon the decay of serious religion.

We cannot therefore but express our joy and thankfulness, that the great Head of the church is pleased still to raise up from among the children of his people, for the supply of his churches, those who assert and maintain these evangelical principles; and that our churches (notwithstanding all their degeneracies) have still a high value for such principles, and for those who publicly own and teach them.

And as we cannot but wish and pray that the college in the neighbouring colony (as well as our own) may be a fruitful mother of many such sons as the author, by the blessing of Heaven on the care of their present worthy rector; so we heartily rejoice in the special favour of Providence in bestowing such a rich gift on the happy church of Northampton, which has for so many lustres of years flourished under the influence of such pious doctrines, taught them in the excellent ministry of their late venerable pastor, whose gift and spirit, we hope, will long live and shine in this his grandson, to the end that they may abound yet more in all the lovely fruits of evangelical humility and thankfulness, to the glory of God.

To his blessing we commit them all, with this discourse, and every one that reads it; and are Your servants in the gospel,

T. PRINCE.

W. COOPER.

Boston, August 17, 1731.

GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN'S DEPENDENCE

A Sermon by Jonathan Edwards

[Preached on the Public Lecture in Boston, July 8, 1731; and published at the desire of several ministers and others in Boston who heard it. -- This was the first piece published by Mr. Edwards.]

1 Corinthians 1:29, 30, 31

“That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Those Christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle, dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in great repute; as the apostle observes in the 22nd verse of this chapter, "The Greeks seek after wisdom." Corinth was not far from Athens, that had been for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in the world. The apostle therefore observes to them, how God by the gospel destroyed, and brought to nought, their wisdom. The learned Grecians, and their great philosophers, by all their wisdom did not know God, they were not able to find out the truth in divine things. But, after they had done their utmost to no effect, it pleased God at length to reveal himself by the gospel, which they accounted foolishness. He:

"chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are."

And the apostle informs them in the text why he thus did, That no flesh should glory in his presence, etc.- In which words may be observed:

1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption, viz. that man should not glory in himself, but alone in God; That no flesh should glory in his presence, --that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
{"viz." means namely}

2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz. by that absolute and immediate dependence which men have upon God in that work, for all their good. Inasmuch as,

• First, All the good that they have is in and through Christ; He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All the good of the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better distributed than into them; but Christ is each of them to us, and we have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is made of God unto us wisdom: in him are all the proper good and true excellency of the understanding. Wisdom was a thing that the Greeks admired; but Christ is the true light of the world; it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind. It is in and by Christ that we have righteousness: it is by being in him that we are justified, have our sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into God's favour. It is by Christ that we have sanctification: we have in him true excellency of heart as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent as well as imputed righteousness. It is by Christ that we have redemption, or the actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all happiness and glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ, who is God.

• Secondly, Another instance wherein our dependence on God for all our good appears, is this: That it is God that has given us Christ, that we might have these benefits through him; he of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, etc.

• Thirdly, It is of him that we are in Christ Jesus, and come to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto us. It is God that gives us faith whereby we close with Christ.

So that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person in the Trinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the Son of God, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We are dependent on the Father, who has given us Christ, and made him to be these things to us. We are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus; it is the Spirit of God that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him, and close with him.

DOCTRINE

"God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in it so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him." -- Here I propose to show, 1st, That there is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God for all their good. And, 2dly, That God hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.

I. There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God.

The nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed are in every thing directly, immediately, and entirely dependent on God: they are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.
{"contrivance"- the use of skill to create something or bring something about}

The several ways wherein the dependence of one being may be upon another for its good, and wherein the redeemed of Jesus Christ depend on God for all their good, are these, viz. That they have all their good of him, and that they have all through him, and that they have all in him: That he is the cause and original whence all their good comes, therein it is of him; and that he is the medium by which it is obtained and conveyed, therein they have it through him; and that he is the good itself given and conveyed, therein it is in him. Now those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do, in all these respects, very directly and entirely depend on God for their all.

First, The redeemed have all their good of God. God is the great author of it. He is the first cause of it; and not only so, but he is the only proper cause. It is of God that we have our Redeemer. It is God that has provided a Saviour for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in his person, as he is the only-begotten Son of God, but he is from God, as we are concerned in him, and in his office of Mediator. He is the gift of God to us: God chose and anointed him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world. And as it is God that gives, so it is God that accepts the Saviour. He gives the purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased.

It is of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him, and are united to him. It is of God that we receive faith to close with him, that we may have an interest in him. Eph. 2:8. "For by grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." It is of God that we actually receive all the benefits that Christ has purchased. It is God that pardons and justifies, and delivers from going down to hell; and into his favour the redeemed are received, when they are justified. So it is God that delivers from the dominion of sin, cleanses us from our filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the redeemed receive all their true excellency, wisdom, and holiness; and that two ways, viz. as the Holy Ghost by whom these things are immediately wrought is from God, proceeds from him, and is sent by him; and also as the Holy Ghost himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling the knowledge of God and divine things, a holy disposition and all grace, are conferred and upheld. And though means are made use of in conferring grace on men's souls, yet it is of God that we have these means of grace, and it is he that makes them effectual. It is of God that we have the Holy Scriptures; they are his word. It is of God that we have ordinances, and their efficacy depends on the immediate influence of his Spirit. The ministers of the gospel are sent of God, and all their sufficiency is of him.-- 2 Cor. 4:7. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Their success depends entirely and absolutely on the immediate blessing and influence of God.
{"confer"- to grant or bestow; "effectual"- effective}

1. The redeemed have all from the grace of God. It was of mere grace that God gave us his only-begotten Son. The grace is great in proportion to the excellency of what is given. The gift was infinitely precious, because it was of a person infinitely worthy, a person of infinite glory; and also because it was of a person infinitely near and dear to God. The grace is great in proportion to the benefit we have given us in him. The benefit is doubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from an infinite, because an eternal, misery, and do also receive eternal joy and glory. The grace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to whom it is given; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely ill of God's hands. The grace is great according to the manner of giving, or in proportion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by which a way is made for our having the gift. He gave him to dwell amongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our nature; and in the like though sinless infirmities. He gave him to us in a low and afflicted state; and not only so, but as slain, that he might be a feast for our souls.

The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was under no obligation to bestow. He might have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels. It was what we never did any thing to merit; it was given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It was from the love of God who saw no excellency in us to attract it; and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it. And it is from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such and such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to attribute it alone to the good pleasure of God's goodness, by which they are distinguished. He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have mercy.

Man hath now a greater dependence on the grace of God than he had before the fall. He depends on the free goodness of God for much more than he did then. Then he depended on God's goodness for conferring the reward of perfect obedience; for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that reward. But now we are dependent on the grace of God for much more; we stand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver us from hell and eternal wrath. Under the first covenant we depended on God's goodness to give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now; but we stand in need of God's free and sovereign grace to give us that righteousness; to pardon our sin, and release us from the guilt and infinite demerit of it.

And as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more now than under the first covenant, so we are dependent on a much greater, more free and wonderful goodness. We are now more dependent on God's arbitrary and sovereign good pleasure. We were in our first estate dependent on God for holiness. We had our original righteousness from him; but then holiness was not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now. Man was created holy, for it became God to create holy all his reasonable creatures. It would have been a disparagement to the holiness of God's nature, if he had made an intelligent creature unholy. But now when fallen man is made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace; God may for ever deny holiness to the fallen creature if he pleases, without any disparagement to any of his perfections.
{"disparage"- to regard or represent as being of little worth}

And we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of God, but our dependence is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and helplessness in ourselves is much more apparent in our fallen and undone state, than it was before we were either sinful or miserable. We are more apparently dependent on God for holiness, because we are first sinful, and utterly polluted, and afterward holy. So the production of the effect is sensible, and its derivation from God more obvious. If man was ever holy and always was so,it would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness necessarily, as an inseparable qualification of human nature. So we are more apparently dependent on free grace for the favour of God, for we are first justly the objects of his displeasure, and afterwards are received into favour. We are more apparently dependent on God for happiness, being first miserable, and afterwards happy. It is more apparently free and without merit in us, because we are actually without any kind of excellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature excellency. And we are not only without any true excellency, but are full of, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. All our good is more apparently from God, because we are first naked and wholly with- out any good, and afterwards enriched with all good.
{"odious"- repulsive}

2. We receive all from the power of God. Man's redemption is often spoken of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. The great power of God appears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin and misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. Eph. 1:19. "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power."----

We are dependent on God's power through every step of our redemption. We are dependent on the power of God to convert us, and give faith in Jesus Christ, and the new nature.

It is a work of creation:

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," (2 Cor. 5:17). "We are created in Christ Jesus," (Eph. 2:10).

The fallen creature cannot attain to true holiness, but by being created again. Eph. 4:24:

"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

It is a raising from the dead. Colos. 2:12-13:

"Wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."

Yea, it is a more glorious work of power than mere creation, or raising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is greater and more excellent. That holy and happy being, and spiritual life, which is produced in the work of conversion, is a far greater and more glorious effect, than mere being and life. And the state from whence the change is made -- a death in sin, a total corruption of nature, and depth of misery -- is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death or non-entity.

It is by God's power also that we are preserved in a state of grace. 1 Pet. 1:5. "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." As grace is at first from God, so it is continually from him, and is maintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun, as well as at first dawning, or sun-rising. -- Men are dependent on the power of God for every exercise of grace, and for carrying on that work in the heart, for subduing sin and corruption, increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good works. Man is dependent on divine power in bringing grace to its perfection, m making the soul completely amiable in Christ's glorious likeness, and filling of it with a satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising of the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed. These are the most glorious effects of the power of God, that are seen in the series of God's acts with respect to the creatures.

Man was dependent on the power of God in his first estate, but he is more dependent on his power now; he needs God's power to do more things for him, and depends on a more wonderful exercise of his power. It was an effect of the power of God to make man holy at the first: but more remarkably so now, because there is a great deal of opposition and difficulty in the way. It is a more glorious effect of power to make that holy that was so depraved, and under the dominion of sin, than to confer holiness on that which before had nothing of the contrary. It is a more glorious work of power to rescue a soul out of the hands of the devil, and from the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a state of salvation, than to confer holiness where there was no prepossession or opposition. Luke 11:21-22:

"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils."

So it is a more glorious work of power to uphold a soul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is brought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart resisting, and Satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been to have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing in man.-- Thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on God for all their good, as they have all of him.

Secondly, They are also dependent on God for all, as they have all through him. God is the medium of it, as well as the author and fountain of it. All we have, wisdom, the pardon of sin, deliverance from hell, acceptance into God's favour, grace and holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, is from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God; which Mediator we have an absolute dependence upon, as he through whom we receive all. So that here is another way wherein we have our dependence on God for all good. God not only gives us the Mediator, and accepts his mediation, and of his power and grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator; but he the Mediator is God.

Our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of God, the blessings are purchased of him, and God gives the purchaser; and not only so, but God is the purchaser. Yea God is both the purchaser and the price; for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings for us, by offering up himself as the price of our salvation. He purchased eternal life by the sacrifice of himself. Heb. 7:27. "He offered up himself." And 9:26. "He hath appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Indeed it was the human nature that was offered; but it was the same person with the divine, and therefore was an infinite price.

As we thus have our good through God, we have a dependence on him in a respect that man in his first estate had not. Man was to have eternal life then through his own righteousness; so that he had partly a dependence upon what was in himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which we have our good, as well as that from which we have it; and though man's righteousness that he then depended on was indeed from God, yet it was his own, it was inherent in himself; so that his dependence was not so immediately on God. But now the righteousness that we are dependent on is not in ourselves, but in God. We are saved through the righteousness of Christ: He is made unto us righteousness; and therefore is prophesied of, Jer. 23:6, under that name, "the Lord our righteousness." In that the righteousness we are justified by is the righteousness of Christ, it is the righteousness of God. 2 Cor.5:21. "That we might be made the righteousness of God in him." --Thus in redemption we have not only all things of God, but by and through him, 1 Cor. 8:6. "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

Thirdly, The redeemed have all their good in God. We not only have it of him, and through him, but it consists in him; he is all our good.-- The good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. By their objective good, I mean that extrinsic object, in the possession and enjoyment of which they are happy. Their inherent good is that excellency or pleasure which is in the soul itself. With respect to both of which the redeemed have all their good in God, or which is the same thing, God him- self is all their good.

1. The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the posses- sion and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their Life, their dwelling- place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honour and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the "river of the water of life " that runs, and "the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what shall be seen of God in them.
{"diadem"- a jeweled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty}

2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God. Inherent good is twofold; it is either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only derive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have spiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are made excellent by a communication of God's excellency. God puts his own beauty, i.e. his beautiful likeness, upon their souls. They are made partakers of the divine nature, or moral image of God, 2 Pet. 1:4. They are holy by being made partakers of God's holiness. Heb. 12:10. The saints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of God's holiness and joy, as the moon and planets are bright by the sun's light. The saint hath spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake with him and of him.

The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and his dwelling in them. They are not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in him as their principle. The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the soul. He, acting in, upon, and with the soul, becomes a fountain of true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and diffusion of itself. John 4:14:

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Compared with chap. 7:38-39:

"He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive."

The sum of what Christ has purchased for us, is that spring of water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living water spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings, which the redeemed shall receive in heaven, is that river of water of life that proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. 22:1. Which doubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water, explained, John 7:38-39, which is elsewhere called the "river of God's pleasures." Herein consists the fulness of good, which the saints receive of Christ. It is by partaking of the Holy Spirit, that they have communion with Christ in his fulness. God hath given the Spirit, not by measure unto him; and they do receive of his fulness, and grace for grace. This is the sum of the saints' inheritance; and there- fore that little of the Holy Ghost which believers have in this world, is said to be the earnest of their inheritance, 2 Cor. 1:22. "Who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." And chap. 5:5. "Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." And Eph. 1:13-14. "Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession."

The Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture as the same; as if the Spirit of God communicated to the soul, comprised all good things, Matt. 7:11. "How much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him?" In Luke it is, chap. 11:13. "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" This is the sum of the blessings that Christ died to procure, and the subject of gospel-promises. Gal. 3:13-14. "He was made a curse for us, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The Spirit of God is the great promise of the Father, Luke 24:49. "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you." The Spirit of God therefore is called "the Spirit of promise," Eph. 1:33. This promised thing Christ received, and had given into his hand, as soon as he had finished the work of our redemption, to bestow on all that he had redeemed; Acts 2:13. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye both see and hear." So that all the holiness and happiness of the redeemed is in God. It is in the communications, indwelling, and acting of the Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness is in the fruit, here and hereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.

Thus God has given us the Redeemer, and it is by him that our good is purchased. So God is the Redeemer and the price; and he also is the good purchased. So that all that we have is of God, and through him, and in him. Rom. 11:36. "For of him, and through him, and to him, or in him, are all things." The same in the Greek that is here rendered to him, is rendered in him, 1 Cor. 8:6.

II. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, viz. By there being so great and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him.

1. Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to notice and acknowledge God's perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the creature's dependence is on God's perfections, and the greater concern he has with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them. So much the greater concern any one has with and dependence upon the power and grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependence there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take notice of and acknowledge that. So much the greater and more absolute dependence we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe and own the divine glory of each of them. That which we are most concerned with, is surely most in the way of our observation and notice; and this kind of concern with any thing, viz. dependence, does especially tend to command and oblige the attention and observation. Those things that we are not much dependent upon, it is easy to neglect; but we can scarce do any other than mind that which we have a great dependence on. By reason of our so great dependence on God, and his perfections, and in so many respects, he and his glory are the more directly set in our view, which way soever we turn our eyes.

We have the greater occasion to take notice of God's all-sufficiency, when all our sufficiency is thus every way of him. We have the more occasion to contemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. Such a dependence on God demonstrates his all-sufficiency. So much as the dependence of the creature is on God, so much the greater does the creature's emptiness in himself appear; and so much the greater the creature's emptiness, so much the greater must the fulness of the Being be who supplies him. Our having all of God, shows the fulness of his power and grace; our having all through him, shows the fulness of his merit and worthiness; and our having all in him, demonstrates his fulness of beauty, love, and happiness. And the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on God, have not only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and acknowledge the glory and fulness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful should we be, if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory which we absolutely, immediately, and universally depend upon!

2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God's glory is considered comparatively, or as compared with the creature's. By the creature being thus wholly and universally dependent on God, it appears that the creature is nothing, and that God is all. Hereby it appears that God is infinitely above us; that God's strength, and wisdom, and holiness, are infinitely greater than ours. However great and glorious the creature apprehends God to be, yet if he be not sensible of the difference between God and him, so as to see that God's glory is great, compared with his own, he will not be disposed to give God the glory due to his name. If the creature in any respects sets himself upon a level with God, or exalts himself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend that great honour and profound respect may belong to God from those that are at a greater distance, he will not be so sensible of its being due from him. So much the more men exalt themselves, so much the less will they surely be disposed to exalt God. It is certainly what God aims at in the disposition of things in redemption, (if we allow the Scriptures to be a revelation of God's mind,) that God should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should appear all, and man nothing. It is God's declared design that others should not "glory in his presence;" which implies that it is his design to advance his own comparative glory. So much the more man "glories in God's presence," so much the less glory is ascribed to God.

3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute and universal a dependence on God, provision is made that God should have our whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. If we had our dependence partly on God, and partly on something else, man's respect would be divided to those different things on which he had dependence. Thus it would be if we depended on God only for a part of our good, and on ourselves, or some other being, for another part: or if we had our good only from God, and through another that was not God, and in something else distinct from both, our hearts would be divided between the good itself, and him from whom, and him through whom, we received it. But now there is no occasion for this, God being not only he from or of whom we have all good, but also through whom, and is that good itself, that we have from him and through him. So that whatsoever there is to attract our respect, the tendency is still directly towards God; all unites in him as the centre.

USE/APPLICATION

1. We may here observe the marvellous wisdom of God, in the work of redemption. God hath made man's emptiness and misery, his low, lost, and ruined state, into which he sunk by the fall, an occasion of the greater advancement of his own glory, as in other ways, so particularly in this, that there is now much more universal and apparent dependence of man on God. Though God be pleased to lift man out of that dismal abyss of sin and woe into which he was fallen, and exceedingly to exalt him in excellency and honour, and to a high pitch of glory and blessedness, yet the creature hath nothing in any respect to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs to God, all is in a mere, and most absolute, and divine dependence on the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And each person of the Trinity is equally glorified in this work: there is an absolute dependence of the creature on every one for all: all is of the Father, all through the Son, and all in the Holy Ghost. Thus God appears in the work of redemption as all in all. It is fit that he who is, and there is none else, should be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the all and the only, in this work.

2. Hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in any respect opposite to such an absolute and universal dependence on God, derogate from his glory, and thwart the design of our redemption. And such are those schemes that put the creature in God's stead, in any of the mentioned respects, that exalt man into the place of either Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, in any thing pertaining to our redemption. However they may allow of a dependence of the redeemed on God, yet they deny a dependence that is so absolute and universal. They own an entire dependence of God for some things, but not for others; they own that we depend on God for the gift and acceptance of a Redeemer, but deny so absolute a dependence on him for the obtaining of an interest in the Redeemer. They own an absolute dependence on the Father for giving his Son, and on the Son for working out redemption, but not so entire a dependence on the Holy Ghost for conversion, and a being in Christ, and so coming to a title to his benefits. They own a dependence on God for means of grace, but not absolutely for the benefit and success of those means; a partial dependence on the power of God, for obtaining and exercising holiness, but not a mere dependence on the arbitrary and sovereign grace of God. They own a dependence on the free grace of God for a reception into his favour, so far that it is without any proper merit, but not as it is without being attracted, or moved with any excellency. They own a partial dependence on Christ, as he through whom we have life, as having purchased new terms of life, but still hold that the righteousness through which we have life is inherent in ourselves, as it was under the first covenant. Now whatever scheme is inconsistent with our entire dependence on God for all, and of having all of him, through him, and in him, it is repugnant to the design and tenor of the gospel, and robs it of that which God accounts its lustre and glory.
{"stead"- place or role; "repugnant"- extremely distasteful, unacceptable; "tenor"- the general meaning, sense, or content of something}

3. Hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to have an interest in this redemption; for there is included in the nature of faith, a sensible acknowledgment of absolute dependence on God in this affair. It is very fit that it should be required of all, in order to their having the benefit of this redemption, that they should be sensible of, and acknowledge, their dependence on God for it. It is by this means that God hath contrived to glorify himself in redemption; and it is fit that he should at least have this glory of those that are the subjects of this redemption, and have the benefit of it.-- Faith is a sensibleness of what is real in the work of redemption; and the soul that believes doth entirely depend on God for all salvation, in its own sense and act. Faith abases men, and exalts God; it gives all the glory of redemption to him alone. It is necessary in order to saving faith, that man should be emptied of himself, be sensible that he is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Humility is a great ingredient of true faith: he that truly receives redemption, receives it as a little child, Mark 10:15. "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child, he shall not enter therein." It is the delight of a believing soul to abase itself and exalt God alone: that is the language of it, Psalm 115:1. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give glory."
{"abase"- behave in a way so as to belittle or degrade (someone)}

4. Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory of redemption. Let us endeavour to obtain, and increase in, a sensibleness of our great dependence on God, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and self-righteous disposition. Man is naturally exceeding prone to exalt himself, and depend on his own power or goodness; as though from himself he must expect happiness. He is prone to have respect to enjoyments alien from God and his Spirit, as those in which happiness is to be found. -- But this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone; as by trust and reliance, so by praise. Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord. Hath any man hope that he is converted, and sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true excellency and spiritual beauty? That his sins are forgiven, and he received into God's favour, and exalted to the honour and blessedness of being his child, and an heir of eternal life? Let him give God all the glory; who alone makes him to differ from the worst of men in this world, or the most miserable of the damned in hell. Hath any man much comfort and strong hope of eternal life, let not his hope lift him up, but dispose him the more to abase himself, to reflect on his own exceeding unworthiness of such a favour, and to exalt God alone. Is any man eminent in holiness, and abundant in good works, let him take nothing of the glory of it to himself, but ascribe it to him whose "workmanship we are, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
{"eminent"- [attribute] used to emphasize the presence of a positive quality}

Jonathan Edwards

2010-12-06T23:41:00.002-05:00

I was working desk today and decided I'd open up my Jonathan Edwards book just to get a look at it. I figured it couldn't take too long to read a sermon (the book is called Sermons of Jonathan Edwards) and it was easier to read a stand-alone sermon than start a book that I won't get back to for a few weeks. So I read the introduction and then started the first sermon. First of all, the sermons are a lot longer than I had anticipated. Secondly, they are also a lot better. I knew that Edwards was a brain, but I really had no idea it would be so packed. I can see why John Piper was so enthusiastic about his love for Edwards and the way he taught. It is amazingly God-glorifying. Anyway, here is a quote from his most famous book, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. I hope it is beneficial for you.

“I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine, by hearing the Word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. No one ever seeks salvation, no one ever cries for wisdom, no one ever wrestles with God, no one ever kneels in prayer or flees from sin, with a heart that remains unaffected. In a word, there is never any great achievement by the things of religion without a heart deeply affected by those things.”
Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections

Learning on the Road

2010-11-30T15:52:00.002-05:00

Okay I said that I would comment on the sermons that I listened to in the car over Thanksgiving break. So here they are. I'm sure that you can search the names of these on the internet. The first six are from various Desiring God conferences. I won't comment on all of them although all of them were very good.

Mark Driscoll "The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World"
Tim Keller "The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World"
D.A. Carson "The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World"
Francis Chan "Think Hard, Stay Humble: The Life of the Mind and the Peril of Pride"
Micahel Oh "Missions as Fasting: The Forsaking of Things Present for the Global Exaltation of Christ"
Mark Dever "Sex and the Single Man"
Ravi Zacharias "The Loss of Truth (Parts 1 & 2)"
Micahel Horton "American Spirituality"
John Piper "Single in Christ: A Name Better Than Sons and Daughters"

Several of these stuck with me. The first two (Driscoll and Keller) were fantastic. Both hit on a point that I have been thinking a lot about lately and that is contextualization of the gospel. I know that is a scary word for a lot of people just because of how often it is misused. Generally people think of changing the message of the gospel to make it sound relevant to someone. That is nothing short of heresy, and Paul says in Galatians 1 that people who do that will be accursed. I'm talking about two things. The first is the method in which you present the gospel. And the second is showing people their need for Christ and his gospel through the avenue of the culture that they are in. Keller's spoke very much to that second point and was extremely helpful. I would encourage any of you who have a couple hours to listen to both of these messages. Here is the link to the page from the 2006 conference.

Francis Chan and Michael Oh's messages were the first two that I listened to on the way back to school. Both men hit me very hard because of the love that they have for those without Christ. Michael Oh's parallel of fasting and missions was mind-blowing for me. Not just because of what I saw in missions but how I see that in so many other areas of life. The title presents it well. Chan is always someone that I have loved listening to because he appeals to so many people. He speaks very plainly and is very easy to understand. These are two that I will probably listen to many more times when I get the chance.

Ravi and Michael Horton had similar messages. I had forgotten how much I love Ravi Zacharias. His message went very well with the topic I've been hit with recently concerning the postmodern culture in which we live. His are both very short, but packed with things that will blow your mind. I catch myself laughing when I listen to him because he shows the ridiculousness of ridiculous things. Michael Horton was also very good, but after listening to Ravi's his was somewhat redundant.

Mark Dever and John Piper both had good talks that were relevant to me right now. Piper had an awesome exposition of Isaiah 56:3-5. It was about the joys of singleness that come from having spiritual children instead of fleshly children. It was very encouraging for me. Dever's was a tag-team thing with some other guys in his church. It was basically about dating and what they believe the Bible says about it. There was a lot that they covered and I am going to have to look into it with the extra resources they gave. It was ground-shaking for me. The way they presented dating/courtship was a way that I had never heard before and taken to an extent I had never heard anyone take it before. They had some great things to say about pre-marital physical intimacy though. It's worth listening to just for that.

So obviously there is still a lot for me to process. I thank God for the ability to learn from these great teachers though. And to learn as I drive no less. This is why I stopped praying for safety on the way to and from school. The deepest desire of my heart is not to get from one place to another without getting a scratch. The deepest desire of my heart is to know Christ more fully and experience the joy found in His presence. That's why I love road trips. Only three more weeks till the next one.

Self-Righteousness

2010-11-30T15:45:00.002-05:00

Tullian Tchividjian is a great preacher that I have just recently heard a lot about. He spoke at the Desiring God conference this year and is very much connected with The Gospel Coalition. I just read a blog post that he wrote about self-righteousness. It's a great article and made me realize that I am often self-righteous about not being self-righteous. Read the article to understand what I mean.

The Double-Reach of Self-Righteousness

Truth?

2010-11-28T15:27:00.004-05:00

I listened to some Ravi Zacharias on the way back to school this morning. He was talking about postmodernism and how truth is no longer fixed, but relative. In the discussion he quoted an English journalist named Steve Turner. It is really making a joke about relativism. It is funny but at the same time heartbreaking and even disturbing when you see what it leads to. I'll probably post some stuff later about all the great messages that I got to listen to, but I'll leave you with this for now.

Creed
by Steve Turner

We believe in Marx, Freud and Darwin
We believe everything is okay
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and
after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is okay.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes
UFO's and bent spoons.
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha,
Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher, though we think
His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same-
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation,
sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then it's
compulsory heaven for all,
except perhaps
Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

We believe in Masters and Johnson
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and
bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors.
And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that
is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth,
except the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.

If Chance be
the father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky
and when you hear:

State of Emergency!

Sniper Kills Ten!

Troops on Rampage!

Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man worshipping his maker.

The Valley of Vision

2010-11-19T01:42:00.002-05:00

I read this prayer in The Valley of Vision today and was just blown away by it. Since is was so good I figured I would relay it to anyone who wants to hear it. And it was too long for facebook, so this seemed to be the best place. This book is great by the way. It is a book of Puritan prayers from men like John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon. It has been a great encouragement and challenge to me. I hope it is to you as well.

The title of this prayer is Regeneration

O God of the highest heaven,

Occupy the throne of my heart,

take full possession and reign supreme,

lay low every rebel lust,

let no vile passion resist thy holy war;

manifest thy mighty power,

and make me thine for ever.

Thou art worthy to be

praised with my every breath,

loved with my every faculty of soul,

served with my every act of life.

Thou hast loved me, espoused me, received me,

purchased, washed, favoured, clothed,

adorned me,

when I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted.

I was dead in iniquities,

having no eyes to see thee,

no ears to hear thee,

no taste to relish thy joys,

no intelligence to know thee;

But thy Spirit has quickened me,

has brought me into a new world as a

new creature,

has given me spiritual perception,

has opened to me thy Word as light, guide,

solace, joy.

Thy presence is to me a treasure of unending peace;

No provocation can part me from thy sympathy,

for thou hast drawn me with cords of love,

and dost forgive me daily, hourly.

O help me then to walk worthy of thy love,

of my hopes, and my vocation.

Keep me, for I cannot keep myself;

Protect me that no evil befall me;

Let me lay aside every sin admired of many;

Help me to walk by thy side, lean on thy arm,

hold converse with thee,

That henceforth I may be salt of the earth

and a blessing to all.

It's Been Awhile

2010-11-14T23:23:00.002-05:00

I realize that this is the least creative title you have seen. Just bear with me. I'm a bit rusty.

My good friend Joe encouraged me to write some things on here again. So I figured I would oblige him and give a quick update. There are many things that have been going on with me lately. Most relationship things are too personal to post all over the internet so I'll leave those out. Just know that God, in His grace, has given me many close friendships this semester that have served many purposes. I hope that have all served to exalt His name in some way. Other things that have been going on include my new church home, my reading of the Word, my reading of other books, and life experiences that always lead me to Christ and a realization of His greatness and exclusivity as the source of all good things.

My new church is great. It is called Fellowship Bible Church. I have not been able to be nearly as involved as I would have liked, although next semester looks like it's going to bring some good things. I plan on being involved with the youth and hopefully a community group in the spring. Those are still up in the air, but definitely on my mind. The preaching pastor, Doug Grimes, is great. He does a great job of preaching the truth and not avoiding things that are not very fun to talk about (like Hell when going through the sermon on the mount). More than anything though, I have loved being able to go there with many of my Harding friends. It has opened up a lot of good dialogue about things that matter.

My reading of the Word has been awesome (I think Mr. Webster would even approve of the use of that word here). Part of the reason that it has been so great is that most of what I am reading is new to me. I have not had a lot of experience reading the letters and honestly I believe that when I did before, I did not have ears to hear. I feel like my doctrine is shaped and new things are formed with every book that I read. It has become much more of a study than a read-through like it was in the Old Testament and the gospel accounts. I have been writing so much about what I am processing and I still feel like I am skimming. But the themes that I have heard people talk about have been so evident. Just one piece that I will share is the pre-eminence of the gospel in Paul's writings. He just keeps going back to it. My favorite examples are Ephesians 2 and Titus 3. Go read them if you get the chance and just bask in the grace that Christ has given us. (I am in Hebrews right now if you are wondering.)

When I say the other books I am reading, I am specifically talking about Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I haven't spent very much time in there at all but the few hours I've gotten have been well worth it. Obviously something that I am very interested in is the sovereignty of God in the world. Chapter 16 of Grudem's book was extremely helpful in hashing out what Scripture had to say about that. It hit me at a time where that comfort was just like God wrapping me up in His arms and reminding me that His wants to do good for me. Much of that encouragement came through promises in Jeremiah 32 and the beginning of Matthew 7 as well. I look forward to the break when I might be able to get to the chapter on the doctrine of election and maybe the doctrine of sin.

The other book that I have been reading is The Valley of Vision. It is a book of Puritan prayers. It is absolutely ridiculous. The writers articulate so well and just have an amazingly high view of God and low (realistic) view of themselves. It is amazing to see and so necessary to be reminded of.

That is about all I have for now. I have to get back to the cookie making. Hopefully I will be updating this more often now. Definitely over Christmas break. Thank you to anyone reading this. I'll leave you with this as a charge.

Knowing Scripture

2010-08-11T20:35:00.002-04:00

I just finished a book this morning so I figured I would tell you guys about it. The book was Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul. The first thing that I would tell you is that I highly recommend the book. It's short (only 125 pages). It's an easy read. And it's extremely helpful.

Obviously the book is about the Bible. Sproul wrote it for laymen (people who aren't pastors) as an introduction to interpreting the Bible. The first two chapters are basically about why we should want to study the Bible. He quickly defends inerrancy and authority, shooting down common oppositions to them as he goes. He talks about Martin Luther and the fight to give the Bible to common people. But mostly he talks about the benefits (many of which are given in Scripture itself like, in 2 Timothy 3:14-17).

Those chapters were great for me to hear because they reminded me of the reason that I am engaged in studying my Bible. The next two chapters are the ones that blew my top off though. Chapter 3 was "Hermeneutics: The Science of Interpretation" and chapter 4 was "Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation." Even in a short, introductory book these concepts hit me over the head. Even in chapter 3 he talked about things that I had heard and though of before, though I didn't fully understand. He gave the three basic rules of Hermeneutics: The analogy of faith, interpreting the Bible literally, and the Gramatico-Historical method. Short explanations. Analogy of faith is that Scripture interprets Scripture. Meaning that the Bible does not contradict itself and the best resource we have for understanding something we read is the rest of Scripture. Interpreting the Bible literally is not what it sounds like. It means that we interpret things based on their literary structure, meaning we would read and understand poetry much different than we would historical books. The Gramatico-Historical method focuses on what the text was originally supposed to mean, zeroing in on the history, culture, people, and grammar of the time and place that it was written.

So that was a helpful chapter, but chapter 4 was the meat of this book. Sproul laid out ten basic rules to remember while interpreting the Bible on my own. I'll list them and give short (hopefully) descriptions. But know that these are not enough. If you really want to understand them, which I think is a wise thing to do, just get the book. It's only like ten bucks.

Rule 1: The Bible is to be read like any other book

Now don't read too much into this one. He doesn't mean that it is like any other book. He is simply saying that we should treat it as magical. Meanings don't change with time. A verb is always a verb and a noun is always a noun, just like in a regular book.

Rule 2: Read the Bible existentially

Again, this one could be easily misinterpreted. He does not mean existentialism the way it is thought of today (taking words of the Bible out of context and giving them subjective meaning). What he means is that we have passion and personal interest as we read the Scriptures. He suggests "crawling into the skin" of the characters. Not reading as a textbook that is not applicable and only good for gaining intellect.

Rule 3: Historical narratives are to be interpreted by the didactic

Firstly, the term didactic means to teach. This is one that I grossly overlooked in my reading of the Bible this year. I drew way too many inferences from the records of what people did. They are obviously still Scripture and should be read that way, but the story of David is not a lesson on fleeing from sexual sin. It is simply the story of David. I should base what I am being taught on the books that are meant to teach me how to live, mainly the epistles. (I know this one is hard to understand. I am not explaining it well but I get it in my mind. It is a really important one. Basically the point is not to just take examples of how God deals with people and how people live and create a theology and way of living based off of that.)

Rule 4: The implicit is to be interpreted by the explicit

This one is pretty simple. I can't jump to conclusions just based off of inferences. The example he gave is when people always say that Jesus could walk through walls after the resurrection because it doesn't mention them unlocking and opening the door for him in the upper room. That would be inferring something without it being implicitly stated. Sproul is just saying to be careful with those, and most of all to realize that something that is stated explicitly (obviously, directly) somewhere always overrides something that I am basically just guessing on.

Rule 5: Determine carefully the meaning of words

This one is the one that blew me away. It sounds easy and obvious. But the examples he gave were so good. He talked both about recognizing what words mean when we read them instead of just assuming we know (like with the word glory) and also about words with multiple meanings. Most words have multiple meanings so I can't always assume that a word means one thing. He gave the example of how "justified" is used in Romans (right standing with God) as opposed to James (to demonstrate or vindicate). This is one that I truly cannot describe to you. I'm sure you get the gist of it but the examples are really what gave it weight for me.

Rule 6: Note the presence of parallelisms in the Bible

Parallelism is when two or more lines or clauses are set with each other and correspond in some way. There are synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic parallelisms. I can't get into all of that but basically recognize that it is the kind of thing that comes up in the Psalms and Proverbs all the time (not only there but those have many examples) where the writer says things in a similar way. I just suck at explaining this one, but I'm not going to keep trying. Just read the book.

Rule 7: Note the difference between proverb and law

This is something that may seem easy but people often confuse them. A proverb has to do with wisdom and is not a mandate. Distinguishing between that and commands is important. Otherwise I will become legalistic, imposing my preferences on other people.

Rule 8: Observe the difference between the spirit and the letter of the law

This is also good to remember. There are two ways to screw this up. One is that I obey the letter of the law without obeying the spirit (or intent) of it, and the other is that I think that I am getting the intent of the law while shunning the letter or explicit rule.

Rule 9: Be careful with parables

He gave some tips in here like not assuming that every parable is an analogy. The funny thing about this is that he says parables are really hard to understand, but people act all the time like they are simple. Going to parables before didactic (teaching) passages of Scripture is not a good idea even though it is done all the time. We should search for the meaning in the parables, but not put all are eggs in one basket, which is essentially our best guess.

Rule 10: Be careful with predictive prophecy

There two big errors on opposite ends here. One is acting like none of the predictive prophecy is literal. The other is acting like all of it is literal. Sproul's point is that we shouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions. Take your time and be careful.

These rules helped me a lot in realizing how much more I need to learn. The theme of all of them was care. You saw that word and the thought of noticing and distinguishing a lot. I think the biggest thing I took away is that while the Bible is readable and should be read, we shouldn't do it lightly and carelessly. We have a great responsibility in reading and interpreting God's words.

Again, really good book. Obviously this isn't the only book that outlines these ideas. I'm sure there are many more. This is just the first one that I heard about. The reason I would recommend it is because of the examples and application that R.C. Sproul uses. He's a very smart man that knows how to break things down to their core and that showed in the way he wrote this book.

Soli Deo gloria

Being a Man

2010-08-09T05:45:00.003-04:00

Well it's been a while since I posted anything so I'll update you on some of what I am learning. I'm through 2 Corinthians now and all ready to start Galatians. I think that things will move pretty fast for awhile since each of the next eight books is only six chapters or less. There are a lot of things just popping up that I see and I'm like, "Hmm, I never knew that." But like I said I want to allow Scripture to interpret Scripture so I'll hold off any huge theological blanket statements until I get the whole of it.

I went to Michigan this weekend and decided that I didn't want to lug all my Bible study stuff since I would only be there for two nights. So I took the opportunity to start "Knowing Scripture" by R.C. Sproul. I got it to read next to my Principles of Biblical Interpretation class this Fall. I figured R.C. was a good resource to have going in to check things against. So far the book is great. I haven't gotten into the science of interpretation yet, but the first couple chapters are basically about why I should study the Bible. It was very convicting. The man loves the Bible and knows a ton about it. I wish everyone I know could read that first chapter because in it he basically smashes all excuses for not studying the Bible. Great stuff.

Also, I have gotten to listen to a bunch of sermons lately because of the rain (I don't work when it rains). I have been listening to Mark Driscoll's series "Religion Saves & 9 Other Misconceptions." That has been really good. He explained Predestination in one of them and I just listened to the one on grace. Really good stuff.

But more to my point is that I have been listening to a lot of Matt Chandler. Matt Chandler is the preaching pastor at The Village Church in Dallas, Texas. I know I have mentioned him on here before, but the reason I love listening to him is because of where he is. Dallas has been called the center of the Evangelical world, or in other terms, the buckle of the Bible Belt. Chandler is always distinguishing between the Gospel and religion. He's always knocking down ideas that come up in the church that are unbiblical. He's very heavy on doctrine and is not shy about how important a right view of God is. I listened to his series on the Church (1/10/09 - 2/21/09) and have been jumping in and out of his Bible Study class called Dwell Deep. But the one the that really hit me recently is the one I listened to in the car on my way home from Michigan. He did a three sermon series on The Role of Men (8/12/07 - 8/26/07). In it he did an amazing job of defining what God's intention was for men. He brought up a lot of things that I had never thought about. Super good stuff. I would beg any of the guys reading this to listen to these sermons. It's definitely worth the two hours or so of listening. But even more than that, I would beg the girls to listen to it. He does a great job of defining a Godly man. And a great job of what kind of man is fit to lead a woman of God. Anyway, I just thought I'd pass that along to you all. I hope you enjoy it.

Soli Deo gloria

Together for the Gospel

2010-08-01T10:05:00.004-04:00

I just kind of discovered the Together for the Gospel conferences. I was looking at something on David Platt and it lead me to their website. I think I had heard of it before from Childers or something but I had never really looked at it. It's a great resource of great men who speak the Word of God. I just watched the John MacArthur message and then started in on the R.C. Sproul one (have a dictionary close by if you are going to listen to him). Anyway I just figured I'd throw another resource your way. Many of us will be heading to school in the next couple weeks so this could just be some nice edification for the road.

Soli Deo gloria

P.S. I've also added The Resurgence blog and the 9 Marks blog on my blog list. Just a couple more resources for learning.

Taking a Break

2010-07-31T09:10:00.002-04:00

Well obviously I don't have my notes on Romans up yet. I was talking to a friend on Thursday and I don't think that I am going to do them. Don't get me wrong. I loved Romans and gleaned some really good and important things from it. But there are some reasons that I am not going to put up notes on the epistles.

The big reason is that none of the epistles are stand-alone theology books. Paul, Peter, James, John, etc. are writing to specific people in specific times about specific topics. The danger is in taking a book like Romans and saying "There is Christian doctrine." It's not. And so there are some blanket statements that I read in Romans that I think should have the context of the rest of the New Testament before I consider them correct doctrine.

Concerning the specific topics, when these letters were written they were a lot of the time to correct false beliefs of the church that they were written to. For example in Romans the Jews were trying to put their Jewish laws and traditions on the new Gentile Christians. Therefore, Paul emphasizes our freedom from the law and the fact that the law is to show our sin. But I know that in James, he is dealing with people who are sluggards and are not obeying what Jesus commanded. So James emphasizes works that are brought about by the Spirit. My point is that it could be very dangerous for me to take one letter of the New Testament on it's own without the context of the others. So I'm not going to do that.

So I'm not sure how I am going to write notes on here. I may do something at the end where I write down really important things that I learned from the letters to the churches. We'll see. I'm going through them slowly and methodically so it may be awhile before I finish them. But I would encourage the people who read this to go back and read through these letters (basically Romans-Jude). Even if you have been a Christian for 40 years, there are so things in here that are really emphasized that I don't hear talked about too often. And I think it's important to understand them. But who cares what I think. God thinks it's important to understand them, otherwise why would he put them in the Bible.

That actually makes me think of a conversation I was having with my dad last night. I just got Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology book. It's basically a big book that has the basics of nearly every doctrine discussed and explained in it. So I was thumbing through it and talking about it with my dad. I found it interesting that the first section of the book is not the doctrine of God; it is the doctrine of God's Word. As we thought about it that made a lot of sense. If God's Word is not reliable, then the rest of it really doesn't matter. If you don't believe the Scripture, then there is really no reason to read it or try to come up with a belief about God from it. The reason for that is that the Bible believes itself to be true. From Genesis through the end (I've seen it even if I haven't read all of it through) the Bible is written as the Word of God and that is what everyone accepts it as. I've already talked about how Jesus believed that the Scriptures were historically accurate by His references back to Jonah and David and Noah. He talks about them like they were real historical figures. So if they aren't real, then I don't trust Jesus because He was wrong about them.

Here's my point. There are two things that the Bible can be. 1) It can be a book that is not true. 2) It can be a book that is true. If it is not true than it has no purpose besides reading for fun and maybe for some purpose of understanding ancient literature. It's basically of no importance. But if it is true, than it can be taken as nothing less than the words of the Creator of the Universe given to us. And it is of eternal and infinite importance. So the only thing that the Bible cannot be, is kind of important. It is either the most important tangible thing that we have because it reveals who God is or it is of no importance. But it cannot be kind of important.

Just a little rant that my dad and I were having last night. I think that is very important for me to remember though. Everything that I believe stands on the legitimacy of the Bible. If that falls, everything else falls with it.

Soli Deo gloria

Acts

2010-07-22T15:02:00.003-04:00

Okay first off, Acts is a narrative. It's very much like one of the historical books in the Old Testament. But it is a narrative dealing primarily with the Church and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. And that is where we'll start.

Acts is about God. Like every other book in this Bible (yes I'm including Leviticus), Acts is about God. Acts is particularly about the work of the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, after Jesus's ascension into heaven. Now I want to point something out. This is not new. The Holy Spirit didn't magically show up in Acts for the first time in history. We've talked about Him throughout the Bible so far, but more specifically, we talked about His presence in the book of Luke (if you didn't know, Luke and Acts were essentially written as a part 1 and part two of the same story, written by Luke). At the same time, this is an amazing fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, given by Jesus in John 14.

So here is the work of the Spirit in Acts. First, the Holy Spirit is the origin of Scripture (1:16; 3:18; 4:25; 28:25). This isn't a new thing when we read it in 2 Timothy 3:16 or in 2 Peter 1:20-21. Obviously they knew that the writings of the Old Testament writers (Acts mentions Isaiah, David, and "all the prophets"). Next, God's Spirit causes people to speak in tongues (2:4; 10:46; 19:6). The Spirit gives the apostles the power for many signs and wonders (2:43; 5:12; 6:8; 8:6,13b; 13:9-11; 14:3; 15:12; 16:18; 28:3-6), including healing people (3:7; 5:16b; 8:7; 9:40; 14:9-10; 19:11-12; 28:8-9). Also, the Holy Spirit gives boldness to preach the gospel (4:8,31,33; 6:10), speaks directly to people (8:29; 10:19-20; 11:12; 13:2; 15:28-29; 16:6-7; 20:23; 21:4), and prophesies (11:28; 21:9,11). There are a couple more things like comfort that are mentioned a few times. But for the most part, these are the works of the Holy Spirit in Acts. I'm not going to finish this with a disclaimer like: "but He doesn't work like this anymore" because it doesn't say anything like that. After I finish through the Bible I'm sure I will look at some commentaries on this, but until then, I am just relaying what is said. I know that I have never healed someone, spoken in tongues, cast out a demon, prophesied, or heard the Lord audibly talk to me, but I'm not going to say that it doesn't happen just because it hasn't happened to me. That would be ridiculous and nearsighted.

Now I want to talk about my favorite part in Acts, the way Paul preaches the gospel. Only a few times does it actually show him preaching. Much of the time, he is found reasoning with people and proving to them, through the Scriptures, that Jesus is the Christ (18:4,19; 19:8-9). I think that is so cool. He is sitting down there reasoning with these people and discussing things with them.

There are many other things in Acts concerning the church and what they looked like. Often the apostles are shown "preaching and teaching the word of God." Acts 20:17-38 is one of the most emotionally moving things that I have read in the Bible to this point. He is talking to the Ephesian elders and telling them that he probably won't ever see them again. He's giving them instruction about how to conduct themselves and the church. At the end of it they all knelt down to pray together and it says there was much weeping.

Anyway, there is a lot of good stuff in here but it is in little chunks since it is a narrative. I just wanted to give you the main point of what I thought Acts was giving and I believe that it is the work of the Spirit of the Lord. The rest of the things talked about in here (circumcision, salvation by grace alone, election, elders and deacons) will be discussed in the letters so I know I can discuss it in more detail with you there.

Soli Deo gloria

John

2010-07-20T10:34:00.003-04:00

John is going to be very difficult to talk about. The reason is that John writes the reasons for Jesus doing almost every thing that He did. It's very theologically packed. I mean there are libraries full of books written on one or two sentences in John (I know I've used that one before, but it fits). So I could sit here and break down each section and talk about all these really important things that Jesus said and did and the reason that He said and did them. But I'm not going to do that. Firstly, because it would take really long. And secondly, because I really don't know what most of them mean. So you will get the large themes of John along with some things that I am working through and trying to iron out.

Disclaimer: I am talking about some things in here that are hotly debated topics. I am prayerfully talking about them in humility. I don't pretend to know everything that the Bible says. By God's grace (not of my own work) I am starting to understand some things by reading through them. But I am only trying to present to you what God says in His Word. So again, I pray that this can be done in humility.

The most important theme of John is that Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Messiah. John hits this point over and over and over again to the extent that he is hammering it into our heads. He uses Jesus's own claims (1:51; 3:31; 4:25-26; 5:18,27; 6:27,35,41,48,51; 8:12,18,28,58; 9:35-37; 10:11,14,24-25,30,36,38; 11:4,25; 12:23; 13:31; 14:8-11,20; 17:5) along with the claims of the people around Him (1:1,14,29,34,36,4145,49; 4:42; 6:14,69; 7:26,40-41; 10:33; 11:27; 12:13; 19:7; 20:31) to prove this. If you'll read these, you'll notice that a lot of them are Jesus referring to Himself as "the Son of Man." The reason that is a claim to be the Messiah is because He is reaching back to the prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14. Daniel says that the Messiah is "one like a son of man." So when Jesus calls Himself this, all of the Jews would know that He is claiming to be the Messiah. (I heard that first from Phill Knuth and checked it in my sister's ESV Study Bible in John 1:51 and it seems to be very reliable.) Also, a lot of them are "I am" statements (e.g. "I am the bread of life, I am the vine, I am the good shepherd," etc.). All of these are referring back to Exodus 3:13-14 when Yahweh tells Moses that His name is "I am." The people knew what He was saying when He said this. John 8:58 is the best example of this. As soon as He said "I am" they picked up rocks to stone Him. Also throughout the book, but especially in John 10:33 and 19:7, you will notice that Jesus was not arrested and killed because He was doing good things; It was for claiming deity. That is the point that John is hammering home in this entire book.

Next is what keeps coming up about believing and eternal life. Obviously John 3:16 is the well-know example, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." That's not the only place that it is found (1:12; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40,47; 8:24; 12:36,46; 16:27; 20:31). So all over the place He is telling us that by believing in Him, we inherit eternal life. But we have to take a broader look at this. Because he says similar statements all throughout the book. In John 3:36, John equates "believing in the Son" to obeying the Son. ("Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.") This does not look at all like John is contrasting the two. He believes that they mean the same thing. In John 6, Jesus keeps saying that whoever believes has eternal life (40,47). Then He says, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (6:54)." And in verse 57 and 58, "so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me... Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." (He says this right after He calls Himself the bread of life). Again in 8:51 Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." In 10:9 He says, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture." In 14:15 Jesus says again, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." and then goes on to promise the Holy Spirit to those who love Him. Then just read John 14:21-24 because it describes who loves Jesus. Again in 15:10 He says, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." And in verse 14, "You are my friends if you do what I command." And then the last one is in 17:3 as He's praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

These are the statements Jesus makes in John about eternal life. I'm not saying I know what these mean because I don't. All I am saying is that I grew up basically believing that John 3:16 was the only verse in the Bible that Jesus talked about eternal life. At the same time, I don't believe that Jesus contradicts Himself. So the only logical thing that I can come up with is that believing Jesus, obeying Jesus, abiding in Jesus, and loving Jesus are all the same thing. That's all I've got. I'm not trying to rock the boat. I just want to follow God's Word and not come up with things on my own.

The next large theme is the theme of the elect. It runs all the way through the book. In John 1:12-13 He says, "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God." In 5:21 Jesus says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." Just read John 6:22-71. It is worth the read and is very important to read it in that context. Notice especially verses 37, 44, 63, and 65 (notice that people are offended at this teaching [v 61] and after that "many of his disciples turned back and no longer waked with him [v 66]). In John 8:47 Jesus says this to the Pharisees right after He tells them the devil is their father, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." Chapter 10 talks all about Jesus being the good shepherd and keeps talking about His flock and that some are apart of His flock and some aren't. Just read the chapter. It's important to read it all in context. In 12:39-40 Jesus quotes Isaiah when he talks about God blinding their eyes and hardening their hearts lest they understand and turn and be healed. In 14:17, when Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit, He says, "... even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." In 15:15-16 Jesus says "... for all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you..." (Just a note: I see how that could be debated that He is only talking to the disciples. I'm not hanging my hat on that, I'm just trying to present everything in the book that has that kind of language. Again the same thing could be said in 15:19) In the High Priestly prayer in chapter 17, three times Jesus talks to the Father about those who the Father gave Him out of the world (verses 6,9,24). Verse 9 says, "I am praying for them (referring back to verse 6, whatever that may mean). I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." And that is the last that we hear from John on this topic.

Obviously I'm trying to be very careful with these Scriptures. The reason is that I realize it is very much against today's culture and against our instinct to believe these things (that the Father chooses who are His and who aren't). What I am trying to do is put all of the Scripture in front of you that talks about this and not just try to give my opinion. I have the advantage of being able to read all of this in context, so I would beg all of you to go back and read it in context. I am not trying to push my agenda. I am trying to be true to the words that God has given us about Himself. At the same time, I have no problem discussing it with anyone, so feel free to shoot me an email or something.

the next big thing is the promise of the Holy Spirit in chapters 14, 15, and 16. I want to point out two things. The first is that Jesus calls the Spirit, "the Helper." I don't know what exactly that means, I just find it interesting. The second thing is that in 16:7, Jesus says that it is to our advantage for Him to leave because that means the Spirit will come. That is amazing. Next is something that I know I have to mention because it jumped out at me. It is in John 14:12, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works that these will he do, because I am going to the Father." I just find that interesting because I don't know what He is talking about. I know that later in the New Testament Paul talks about healing and gifts like that, but we have pretty much done away with those. We say that they aren't for this culture or time or something. But when Jesus says "whoever believes in me" I assume that that means all times. Like I said, I don't know that this means. I'm just trying to put it all on the table.

Well that's it. Yes I realize that was a lot. John is a very full book. I hope that if nothing else this challenged you to look at the Word and see what it says instead of just assuming that we all know what it says. And I can honestly say that I don't know what most of this means. I'm praying for enlightenment from the Spirit and praying that He gives me understanding, but I don't understand it all. So I am praying that He continues to give me understanding and continues to sanctify me into Christ's image. Now onto the rest of the New Testament.

Soli Deo gloria

I Purpose to Be Absolutely His

2010-07-17T13:34:00.003-04:00

"I claim no right to myself - no right to this understanding, this will, these affections that are in me; neither do I have any right to this body or its members - no right to this tongue, to these hands, feet, ears, or eyes. I have given myself clear away and not retained anything of my own. I have been to God this morning and told Him I have given myself wholly to Him. I have given every power, so that for the future I claim no right to myself in any respect. I have expressly promised Him, for by His grace I will not fail. I take Him as my whole portion and felicity (happiness), looking upon nothing else as any part of my happiness. His law is the constant rule of my obedience. I will fight with all my might against the world, the flesh, and the devil to the end of my life. I will adhere to the faith of the Gospel, however hazardous and difficult the profession and practice of it may be. I receive the blessed Spirit as my Teacher, Sanctifier, and only Comforter, and cherish all admonitions to enlighten, purify, confirm, comfort, and assist me. This I have done. I pray God, for the sake of others, to look upon this as a self-dedication, and receive me as His own. Henceforth, I am not to act in any respect as my own. I shall act as my own if I ever make use of any of my powers to do anything that is not to the glory of God, or to fail to make the glorifying of Him my whole and entire business. If I murmur in the least at afflictions; if I am in any way uncharitable; if I revenge my own case; if I do anything purely to please myself, or omit anything because it is a great denial; if I trust to myself; if I take any praise for any good which Christ does by me; or if I am in any way proud, I shall act as my own and not God's. I purpose to be absolutely His." -Jonathan Edwards

Luke

2010-07-17T09:00:00.006-04:00

First and foremost, I want to make it clear that Luke is about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to fulfill the Scriptures (24:44-47). This is slammed into our heads throughout the book, and Luke always comes back to it (9:21-22; 18:31-32; 24:7). And when Jesus talks about proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God (4:43; 9:2,60; 16:16), I believe that He is the good news that He is talking about (11:20; 17:21). I say all of that because I have a lot of things to say about Luke. They are about what Jesus stresses in the things that He says to His disciples and to the crowds, but know that what He stresses more than anything is that He is the Messiah and He came to proclaim His gospel.

In order to hit that point home a little bit, I'd like to share something that I learned this week. I had been making sure to underline any point in the gospels that Jesus or someone else claimed that He was the Messiah or the Son of God. Then as I was sitting, listening to one of my friends teach a class at church, he brought up this point. Jesus keeps referring to Himself as "the Son of Man." In fact, He calls Himself by that name like 80 times in the gospel accounts. I didn't catch this, but He is referring back to Daniel 7:13-14 (that's not just a guess my friend had, it's well-known apparently). This is a prophecy about the Messiah in which Daniel calls the Ancient of Days "one like a son of man." Apparently this would have been obvious to the people of that day, especially people like the Pharisees would studied every prophecy there ever was about the Messiah. So every time that Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, He is claiming to them that He is the Messiah.

Now, let's talks about the themes that come out in what Jesus says in Luke. There are many things that keep being referred to, but there are two in particular that just jump out and I want to talk about a little. The first is the theme that has run through the Bible of God working through the weak and poor (We've talked about this before and referenced Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2, go back and look at the third paragraph in my notes on 1 Samuel). This theme is hammered into our heads in Luke. This makes sense because Luke was a Gentile. Actually, he was the only known Gentile to write a book of the Bible. Some of the places that he emphasizes this are 2:10,32; 4:25-29; 7:9; 17:16b; 20:16-17; 21:24. And those are just the passages that talk about the Gentiles. It seems that every single healing was done to someone that society deemed as worthless (lepers, women, widows, blind, cripples, children, poor). And that is only the half of it. He doesn't stop at lifting up the weak; He puts down the strong. The Pharisees are His main opposition throughout the book, and they are probably the most well thought of people in the Jewish community. The Parable of the Banquet is another perfect example, along with the good Samaritan, the rich man and Lazarus, and the rich young ruler of how Jesus puts down people who would be considered good.

Here is my point. The things that Jesus was saying were not intuitive. They were completely unprecedented. That is why all of these sayings are met with awe and bewilderment. The rich were the good people and the poor were not. It would have never occurred to them that God did not think the same way. Did you see the disciples' reaction to the rich young ruler? They couldn't believe it. If the rich can't get into heaven then who can? Jesus continually says these things like "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (14:11)" and "For he who is least among you all is the one who will be great (9:48b)." He says this all the time to His disciples. This is weird. And I don't just mean it was weird then; it is just as weird today, if not more so. This is weird even among our Christian culture. Even in the "selfless things" I do, they are normally so that people will think well of me and lift me up. I am looking to exalt myself. Jesus is telling us things that are FOOLISH in our minds. People do not think this way. And He says it over and over and over again. To wrap it up, the way that Jesus taught us to view ourselves is completely radical and life-altering. It is impossible to tack Him on and have no change, and it is impossible to be a disciple of Jesus and not look profoundly different than the rest of the world.

The next stress that Jesus has is found in Luke 9:23-26, 57-62, and 14:25-33. This is not talked about very much. We don't like it because it sounds like a works based salvation. Either that or we just don't want to hear it because it would mess some things up for us. Here are the passages:

•And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

•As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

•Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Just think about those things that God just said for a minute. I'm not sure about you, but those are not what I see in my life. I haven't given up everything. And we are so quick to say "Well He didn't actually mean you have to give it up. You just have to be willing to give it up." I don't think that's what He's saying. And I don't think that because it's not what He said. He said right there in verse 33 of Luke 14, "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be my disciple." I have to give it all up. I'm not saying that I have to get rid of all of my stuff, but I have to give it all up. It is not mine anymore. Later in the Bible Paul calls us slaves quite a bit. A slave does not own anything. He takes care of some things, but they belong to his Master. And again we want to say, "No I can keep my stuff, I just have to be willing to give it up." Well that may be true, but I can promise you right now that I have not renounced what I have. Because if I had given it all up to Jesus, I wouldn't buy the things that I buy. I wouldn't spend my time doing the things that I spend my time doing. I wouldn't spend most of my energy trying to attain comfort. Just think about that for a little bit. I know it has been heavy on my mind for the past few days. Pray about it. I'm not offering up any answers to questions. I have plenty of my own questions to answer. The thing that we have to ask is this: Is He worth it? Because this is not a price paid for the gift. It is a reaction that must take place because we have been given a gift that we could not buy. Jesus tells us to look at Him and decide if He is worth it. So is He?

It's kind of hard to transition from that, but I'll just keep going. The other themes from Matthew and Mark are upheld in Luke. Old Testament Scripture is all over the place. Jesus makes it obvious (and even rejoices) that we cannot understand His Gospel unless the Father allows us to (10:21-22).

Something that is different than the other gospel accounts is the emphasis on the Holy Spirit. He is especially prevalent towards the beginning of the book. It is obvious that Jesus lived His life on earth in the power of the Spirit (4:14) which I had not thought about much.

One other thing that is important to note is that Jesus points something out after His resurrection that is vital. On the road to Emmaus (24:25-27) and then when He appears to His disciples (24:44-45), He points out to them that all of the Scriptures (Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms) are about Him. All of it points to Jesus. That is very important. And it's becoming more and more obvious to me as I read.

That's all I have. Obviously Luke was a pretty eye-opening book for me. There were some things that I have seen, but I just didn't notice until now. Obviously the three passages about the cost of discipleship dominated a lot of my feelings on Luke. Since I have read this stuff, I started to look at some of David Platt's sermons because I know he talked about Luke 9:57-62 in that sermon that Dayton sent me. So I found this series that he preached a couple years ago. I've listened to two of them now. He's hitting very good points. I'd recommend that you listen to them, because He explains these things way better than I can. I hope that this challenges you. And I want it to encourage you but I want to be careful about that. I want it to point you toward Christ. The last thing I want to do is encourage people to keep living the way they are living if it doesn't line up with Scripture. So I pray that this points you toward Yahweh.

Soli Deo gloria

Mark

2010-07-14T15:52:00.002-04:00

Mark is very different from Matthew in how it is written, but tells the same story and emphasizes the same things for the most part. Mark is extremely concise (only 16 chapters whereas Matthew has 28). The reason for this is probably connected to when they were written. Mark was the first of the gospel accounts (written in about 65 A.D.). So it makes sense that it would be the most to-the-point of the three synoptic (general summary; Matthew, Mark, Luke) gospels. There is a sense of urgency to Mark's story. Forty-one times he begins a sentence with "and immediately." The way that he writes makes everything seem like it is connected.

Mark begins with the most important thing in the book: the book is about Jesus, who is the Son of God (1:1). And right away he shows that prophecy of scripture is being fulfilled. He jumps right into Jesus's ministry as opposed to Matthew or Luke who give a lot of background first.

The biggest thing that I saw in Mark is that everything seemed to center around Jesus suffering, death, and resurrection. Three times He tells His disciples that these things have to happen (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34), and every time they just don't understand (8:32; 9:32; 10:35-37). And after each time of them not getting it, Jesus talks to either them or the large crowds about having to follow after His humility and suffering (8:34-38; 9:33-37; 10:35-45).

Obviously there are other things in here but those are the things that stuck out to me after reading both Mark and Matthew. I have a few questions for people who have studied these things. First, what is up with the signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24 and Mark 13)? Have these things happened yet? A lot of it seems to not line up in the way that I am looking at it. I just really don't get it. (Yes Jr I am asking you if you know anything about it.) Next is the ending in Mark. I have no idea how trusting I should be of the last twelve verses in brackets in Mark. How much of a question is there regarding that ending? Just a few questions that I was unsure about and I'm sure will come up later on.

Next is Luke. This is the format the rest of the gospel accounts will probably take now, me contrasting what I saw and just noting new things. The themes of fulfilling OT scripture, God using the weak to confound the strong, and God being the one who allows us to come to Him were all still in Mark. I just was looking for different things. I am guessing that I will find a few in Luke since it is so long. And I know that there will be a lot in John because it is so different.

Soli Deo gloria

Matthew

2010-07-11T18:19:00.002-04:00

Wow. I could not have prepared myself for the reading of the first gospel. Reading it in light of the entire Old Testament made it so much different than any other time that I have read it. So amazing. Reading the suffering of Jesus in chapter 27 was one of the most emotional things I have ever done. But I will just go through as best I can and hit on some things that stuck out to me. I think that will be the best way of doing this since most of you have heard the story of Jesus over and over again in your life. And honestly me summing up the whole thing wouldn't do it a lick of justice.

The most noticeable thing for me in the entire book was how hard Jesus's teachings are to understand. I could study those for years on end and still never get them. (But I still plan on doing just that.) They are just not things that are common sense type things. The wording in them just seemed to be so difficult to understand. Ones that were really hard for me to follow were 9:14-17; 10:34-39; 12:22-32; 22:1-14. Those were just some that I read and I was like "What the heck does that have to do with anything?" I'm sure more study and prayer will help though. And possibly seeing them in the other gospels will be beneficial too.

The next thing that I noticed was the amazing connections to the Old Testament that both Matthew and Jesus had. Ten times Matthew says "This was to fulfill what was written" and then quotes an Old Testament text (1:22; 2:6,15,17; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 27:9). And eighteen times Jesus quotes the Old Testament (4:4,7,10; 11:10; 13:14-15; 15:4,8-9; 19:5, 18-19; 21:13,16,42; 22:32,37,44; 23:39; 26:31; 27:46). What may mean even more is how he refers to the Old Testament characters. I have heard it said many times that the stories of Jonah and Noah may or may not be historically accurate. And most people say it doesn't really matter whether they are or not. Well I'd say that it matters because Jesus obviously believed them to be true. He spoke of Jonah (12:38-41; 16:4), Solomon (12:42), Daniel (24:15), and Noah (24:37-39) as if they were historical fact and it doesn't even seem debatable. My point is that Jesus believed the Old Testament account to be factual and He put an amazing amount of stock in it.

A theme that is picked up from the entire Old Testament is the theme of Yahweh using the weak or lowly to confound the strong or self-righteous (this is found most explicitly in Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2). Jesus goes to the children, the tax collectors, the sick, the poor, the diseased, even the Gentiles (15:21-28). These are the people He chooses to reveal the kingdom to. Not the intellectual Pharisees or to the upper class. He again (like always) is using the foolish to confound the wise.

This next note was something that I did not expect, but it was very obvious from the reading. The theme of Ezekiel 11:19-20 and 36:26-27 is carried on here to the fullest extent. In both of those passages it is obvious that the work is done by Yahweh. He changes the hearts of stone to hearts of flesh so that the people may be obedient to His ways. That is continued in Matthew. The places where it is seen are 11:25-27; 13:11; 16:17; 19:11; 20:1-16 [esp. v 15]; 22:14. Notice that God gives understanding to whomever He chooses. I know that not very many people like this. Jesus knew that this was an offensive teaching (John 6:60-61). I am not trying to push an agenda. I am telling you what is on the pages in front of me and trying to relay God's Word to the people around me.

The last big thing to stick out to me was the offense for which Jesus was actually crucified. It is very plain in Matthew 26:65 that the charge against Jesus was blasphemy. He claimed that He was Yahweh. That is why the Pharisees hated Him. Not because He was more popular. Not because He taught true brotherhood. Not because He was a good teacher. Jesus Christ was killed because He believed Himself to be Yahweh. There is no way of getting around that and I know for a fact that this shows up way more in John's gospel.

This is all that I have for you. I know it is a bit different than the notes on the minor prophets and the other books of the Old Testament. I can't promise that I will stick to this style. I probably will at least in the gospels but we will see. As I have said before, this is meant to challenge you. Don't just sit back and think that everything is hunky dory and you've got it all figured out (or even that you've got it figured out that you don't need to have everything figured out). Open up your Bible and read it. This is what we base our entire Christian faith and all our beliefs about God on. It's important.

Soli Deo gloria

How the Gospel Changes Us

2010-07-10T22:50:00.003-04:00

I just listened to the Timothy Keller sermon "How the Gospel Changes Us" again. If I could recommend one sermon to a believer, it would be that sermon (granted I haven't heard a whole ton of sermons). It is so extremely important to get. I am still processing and probably need to listen to it again in the morning. But please sit down for an hour or so sometime this week (probably Sunday because that is most people's least stressful day) and listen to this sermon. Take notes. It'll be much easier to follow and remember that way.

Also, there is a section at the end (from the 44:50 mark to about 50:30) where Keller talks about a concept that Jonathan Edwards wrote about in a book called "The Nature of True Virtue." The concept is common virtue vs. true virtue. It is amazingly obvious to your mind once he explains it. I took a page of notes on that section alone. In fact, I would suggest that common virtue is what is most often taught in churches and Christian circles. It was awesome for me to hear it and like I said I am still processing it and will be for a long time.

I hope that has intrigued you enough to listen to this. Seriously, an hour out of your day to blow your mind and see your motivations for doing things in a whole new light. I think that is worth it.

Also, if you want to keep digging into this topic, a friend of mine gave me an article that Keller wrote titled "The Centrality of the Gospel." I haven't read all of it yet, but I plan on diving into it tomorrow if I have time. Thanks for listening. As always I hope this points you to Christ and His surpassing worth.

Soli Deo gloria (Glory to God alone)

The Intertestamental Period

2010-07-07T20:17:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm done with the Old Testament. Wow. What a crazy trip through. Most of those things, probably the vast majority, were things that I have never read. It is pretty cool to know that I have read it all now. At the same time, I know that I want to read it again. There were a lot of things that I read and I knew that I didn't have the time I wanted to really look into (Daniel for example), and also there were times that I just wasn't awake enough as I read stuff and I knew it. But I do want to go back to a lot of that at some point.

Even in my deficiencies, the illumination of the Holy Spirit was amazing. I understood some things that I have no reason to understand. I remembered things that I don't even remember learning (connections between certain passages and concepts in the New and Old Testaments). I'm sure it will take awhile to really sink in but I have learned so much in the past five months.

Now I am moving on. I'll start Matthew tomorrow morning. And I can't tell you how excited I am. I got giddy with a sentence or two talking about the coming of the Messiah in the prophets. Now I get to read four books in a row that are about Christ through and through. Pray for me as I read. Pray that the Spirit would keep me focused and give me an understanding that is beyond my human mind.

Now a little housekeeping. I'm not sure exactly how I will put up notes on the New Testament books. If I note every little thing I will have twenty pages to put up here for each gospel. I think what I will do is note key themes. I can't give a summary of every parable but maybe a theme in the parables as a whole. The smaller books might come out a bit differently. Honestly, I don't know what exactly will happen. Matthew will tell me a lot about how everything will look in my notes. So just roll with me on this one for awhile.

Thank you for all of the encouragement that all of you have given me over the past several months. It really is encouraging to hear how many of you have been encouraged by my notes on this site. It's also very humbling when I think about how much grace God has shed on me. I don't deserve this. None of this encouragement is from me. It's a gift from God. Amazing. I continue to praise Him for the amazing things that He keeps teaching me through His Word.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Also just a little note. Don't be afraid to ask me about why I do things. I don't mind at all. I want people to. I know that some people are confused as to why I keep writing Yahweh in place of the LORD. The reason is that in Exodus 3:15, in the story of Moses and the burning bush, my footnotes say that the times when "the LORD" is used it stands for the divine name YHWH, which is connected to the verb "to be" in verse 14. So it is a name. I think a big reason that I depersonalize God is that I see Him just called God or the Lord. Well this is His name. Yahweh. It continually reminds me of that covenant God of Abraham and Moses and David. So that's why I do it. Again, just ask me about anything else. I don't explain things well all the time.

Malachi

2010-07-07T18:21:00.002-04:00

Malachi centers around the question of Yahweh's love for Israel. This is spelled out in the second verse of chapter 1. I noticed right away that God's answer as to how He loves Israel is the verse quoted in Romans 9, "I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated." I just like to read this side of those Old Testament quotes. Anyway, it seems as if Israel asks Yahweh "How have you loved us?" and it opens the door to Yahweh telling them how terrible a job they have done of loving Him (the core of everything about Israel's relationship with Yahweh, Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

So in verse 6 of chapter 1, Yahweh asks them, "If I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?" He goes on to tell them all the ways that they have failed at loving Him. Their offerings are polluted, blind, lame, and sick (remember all the emphasis in Leviticus on sacrifices being unblemished?). When talking to the priests in chapter 2, He points back to Levi, the father of the priests. He says that Levi "feared Him and stood in awe of His name." Basically Yahweh is telling the priests that they were set aside for a purpose and they are doing a terrible job.

In chapter 2 verse 10, Malachi begins to speak instead of Yahweh directly. He attacks Judah's disobedience of the covenant all the way back to Moses. They have taken foreign wives and ignored their own (2:11,16). Verse 17 now brings up something very interesting and something completely relevant to today. I'll just read it.

"You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, 'How have we wearied Him?' By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He delights in them.' Or by asking, 'Where is the God of justice?'"

Does that sound familiar. How many people in the world will say that we're all good in God's sight. Everyone is okay. That it is self-righteous and exclusive to say that you need Jesus to not experience God's wrath. If you haven't heard this you haven't been listening. This is a huge thing. No one wants to acknowledge that we cannot be okay with God. And the next question is ironic considering the first statement. "Where is the God of justice?" We have two ends of the spectrum here and they almost always end up being the same people. People will say that we are all okay with God and then scream for Him to be fair when someone else gets something we think we deserve or we get pain in our lives. These people are operating under the assumption that they are deserving of something other than the wrath of God. That would be just. That is what our evil has earned us. Okay rant over. Sorry I got into a little there.

The next part is another awesome promise of the Messiah. First John the Baptist is promised and then Christ. Here He is called "the messenger of the covenant." Interesting considering all the breaking of the covenant that is coming out in this book. Malachi calls Him a refiner's fire, who will purify the sons of Levi. The end of chapter 3 is another dispute between Yahweh and Israel. Yahweh is upset because the people are withholding their tithe. He is upset because it is showing a lack of trust in Him (3:10). He even challenges them to test Him on whether or not He will bless them.

And finally in chapter 4, it is the coming of Yahweh. This is not talking about this first coming of Christ, but His second coming in wrath against "the arrogant and evildoers." He gives hope to those "who fear His name" by telling them that they will tread down the wicked under the soles of their feet. The last three verses are a call to remember the law of Moses and then a prophecy that Elijah will return before the day that Yahweh comes. We know this now to be John the Baptist.

Well, I am done with the Old Testament. I'm going to write something about it in just a bit and then maybe a look into what will happen in my reading of the New Testament. Again, I hope that this is cause enough for some of you to read the things that I am reading.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Zechariah

2010-07-07T05:34:00.002-04:00

Zechariah was a long book. Well I guess fourteen chapters is long when all the rest of them have been two and three lately. This book is again about the rebuilding of the temple.

The first six verses are a call to return to Yahweh (because their fathers had refused to). The cool part is that they did repent (v 6). The next six chapters (1-6) describe eight visions that Yahweh gives to Zechariah, all of which are then interpreted by an angel of Yahweh (1:9). The first vision (1:7-17) tells that Yahweh is returning to Jerusalem, therefore the people should not rest but rebuild His temple. In the second (1:18-21), God says that He will use nations to terrify the nations who came against Judah. The third vision (2:1-13) is of a man with a measuring stick in Jerusalem. It is basically about how prosperous the city will be, so much so that it cannot be measured. The next vision is very cool. It is a picture of the new high priest in dirty clothes, but Yahweh takes away his iniquity (3:4) and gives him pure clothes. And in verse 8, the coming of Christ, the Branch, is promised.

The fifth vision (4:1-14) is also pretty amazing. It is meant to encourage Zerubbabel. In 4:6, Yahweh acknowledges that this (the rebuilding of the temple) can't be done by the might or power of human hands, "but by His Spirit." And He promises that to Zerubbabel. Vision six banishes evil from Judah. The seventh vision banishes wickedness from Judah and kind of cleverly sends it to Babylon (where they were banished before). And the horses come up again in the eighth vision, patrolling the earth.

Chapters 7 and 8 talk about the real reason for fasting. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 talk about the coming of Christ, the king, the cornerstone, the shepherd. And in 11:6 He even talks about how He will be slaughtered. Chapters 12 and 13 also talk about the death of Messiah (12:10 and 13:7). And then chapter 14 talks about the final triumph of Yahweh.

Zechariah is a very interesting book. Again, it deals with the rebuilding of Yahweh's temple in Jerusalem. The promise of the coming Messiah is so awesome to see here though. I'm only one book away. I'm glad I don't have to wait 400 years like they did.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Haggai

2010-07-05T11:49:00.002-04:00

Haggai is pretty cool because it deals with Deuteronomy 28. The books starts out with Yahweh telling His people that they need to rebuild the temple. They stopped the rebuilding to build their own houses, but almost twenty years had passed since then and they still had not rebuilt the temple. What's intriguing is that God connects it to their terrible "luck" lately. They have had sown much and harvested little. They never have enough. God tells them to "consider their ways." Basically in 5-6 and 9-11 God is telling them that He has been cursing their work because they have not rebuilt His temple. This is one of the curses for disobedience in Deuteronomy 28.

What happens next is crazy and it is the only time I have seen it in these minor prophets. The people obey. Zerubbabel and the rest of the people obey Haggai's word and fear Yahweh (1:12). And by God's grace (1:14) they began to work.

At the start of chapter 2, it gives a picture that the old people are disappointed. They saw the temple that Solomon build and this one pales in comparison. But God addresses the problem. He tells them to be strong, according to the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. Then He promises that the latter glory of this temple will be greater than that of the former (2:9). That latter temple that He is referring to is Jesus. That's what it seems like to me though. I suppose it could mean the temple that Ezekiel had visions of that is still to come, but Jesus's words in Matthew 12 make me think that He means Himself to be that temple.

Chapter 2:10-19 is a cool passage because it is showing Yahweh turning back His curse from them. And then verses 20-23 are words to Zerubbabel promising that he (meaning Jesus) will be Yahweh's signet ring. We can assume that He is not meaning Zerubbabel directly, but his line, which is the line of David.

It is pretty awesome to see these images of Christ given way back, over 500 years before He came.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Zephaniah

2010-07-05T10:15:00.002-04:00

Zephaniah seemed pretty straight forward to me. The How to Read the Bible book said that it was very confusing but it seemed okay to me. The basic plot is judgment against both Judah and the surrounding nations. Now Fee and Stuart said that the opening lines of the book are meant to be hyperbole, but in light of the rest of the judgments, it doesn't seem that way to me. At the same time, I realize that I am reading this for the first time and they both have Ph D's in study of the Bible. So just to let you know, the experts don't take these first lines literally.

The first few lines echo the pronouncement of the flood in Genesis 6. God says He will "utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth." The oracles against Judah goes to verse 6. After that "the day of Yahweh" is described with respect to Jerusalem through the end of chapter 1. Chapter 2 begins with a plea for Judah to repent so that Yahweh might not put His wrath on them (2:1-3). The rest of the chapter is oracles against the nations (Philistines, Moabites and Ammonites, Cushites, and Assyrians). Then the oracle against Jerusalem comes in 3:1-8. There are three things to point out in this section. First, is that a remnant from Judah will be blessed (2:7,9b). Second is what Judah will be judged for (3:1-4). And third is that Yahweh again pleas for them to repent, but it is obvious that they refuse (3:7).

The end of the book is the hope that is regular in most of these prophetic books by now. Judah will be judged, but a remnant will be saved. The language of verse 9 reminds me of Ezekiel 36:26-27. "I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of Yahweh and serve Him with one accord." It is so awesome to see that. And it is also important to remember that His changing of our speech (or hearts in Ezekiel) is what allows us to call on His name. Oh the amazing grace of our God.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Habakkuk

2010-07-05T09:02:00.002-04:00

Habakkuk asks the question that everyone wants to know the answer to, just as much today as they did back then: "Why do the wicked prosper?" Habakkuk knows Yahweh's character. He asks Him how long He will hold off His justice and how long the law will be paralyzed (1:2-4). God's answer is not a satisfactory one in Habakkuk's eyes. He says that Babylon will exact His judgment on the surrounding nations (1:6). To Habakkuk, this is not helping anything. God is just using a wicked nation to take out other nations that are more righteous than them (1:13). Yahweh's next answer comes in 2:2-5. He tells Habakkuk to wait. He knows that it seems slow (2:3), but justice will surely come. Babylon will be judged for their evil. And He tells Habakkuk something very important- Paul even uses this phrase in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38- "The righteous shall live by faith."

That seems to be the summary of Yahweh's answer to Habakkuk. I know that it is hard and it seems like justice will never be served, but be patient. It will come. The righteous will trust in Me and have faith that I will do what I said I will do.

The rest of chapter 2 is a woe to Babylon. It's interesting that none of this has happened yet though. God just told Habakkuk that He would use Babylon later in His judgment on surrounding nations, then He proclaims His judgment on Babylon for the things they did in that judgment. Well they haven't done it yet. I don't know. I just thought that was interesting.

Finally, Habakkuk ends with a psalm to Yahweh. He remembers Yahweh's faithfulness in the exodus from Egypt. And the end of the book is so awesome. I'll just write it out.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor the fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in Yahweh;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength;

He makes my feet like deer's;

He makes me tread on my high places.

This is so awesome. Habakkuk says that even when things are not going well, even when I am not being "blessed," I will take joy in the God of my salvation. That is awesome.

Habakkuk again, does not follow the general pattern of the other prophets. This is more of a dialogue between him and Yahweh than it is an oracle. But it's very important because, as I mentioned at the beginning, this question is asked even today. The answer is hard to handle but comforting as well, wait on Yahweh.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Nahum

2010-07-05T08:25:00.002-04:00

Well I'm glad to say that Nahum was a lot easier to understand than Micah. It was only three chapters so that was nice. But it's very interesting because it is an oracle against Nineveh, the same Nineveh that repented when Jonah prophesied against them. This is a later time than Jonah, so apparently they didn't stick to that change of heart.

Anyway, Nahum is an oracle against Nineveh as it says in the opening line. What comes after that though is very interesting. There is no word from Yahweh right off the bat. Verses 2-10 are just a general overview of Yahweh's character. It's very cool to see. It's like Nahum takes a minute to tell Nineveh (which I assume here means all of Assyria) and Judah what kind of god they are dealing with here. Go through and read 1:2-10 if you get a chance.

After that introduction comes the oracle against Ninveh. Nahum jumps back and forth though, between pronouncing destruction for Nineveh and deliverance for Judah, which will both happen in the same act. That is important because of what God promised Abraham in that first covenant for Israel, that He would curse anyone who cursed Israel (Genesis 12:3). Chapter 2 then begins the description of Assyria's destruction. It describes a "scatterer" who will be the destroyer. We know this to be Babylon. So this also goes back and forth between Babylon's army and Assyria's. Assyria's is in disarray (2:5-7). And then quite a bit of chapter 3 is Nahum mocking the Assyrians.

This is important because it is one of the oracles that fulfills Genesis 12:3 and it also shows that Yahweh is lord over all the nations of the earth.

Micah

2010-07-05T07:07:00.003-04:00

As I write this I want you to know that I have been having a really hard time in the minor prophets. They are hard to follow. It seems like they jump all over the place and switch topics and people so quickly. In reality I realize that these oracles are probably years apart and they are not as compact and all over the place as they look to me. But they have still been difficult to follow. So my summaries for all of these are probably not the best. I'm trying to make sure I pick up on things that jump out, but I don't always do that. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I'm not flying through these.

The theme of Micah seems to be social injustice. The people are oppressing the poor and Yahweh's reaction to it is pretty major (1:8-9). So because of their sins (1:5,13; 3:4; 6:7,13,16; 7:9,13), Yahweh will pour out His wrath on them. The people who are singled out are the leaders and the prophets (chapter 3). And this is what I mean about the confusion. In the midst of all of this, suddenly Micah starts talking about Christ. In chapter 4, he talks about how Christ will come and many will come to Him for His teaching. He says the law and the word of Yahweh will come forth from Jerusalem (4:2). He also says that Jesus will be the one who judges the nations. The beginning of chapter 5 talks about how Jesus will be born in Bethlehem and then how Israel's adversaries will be punished. But then in chapter 6 he goes back to Yahweh's indictment of Israel, this time in the form of a courtroom scene. So then there is more destruction and more wrath. Then the last few verses are a praise of God's character (7:18-20).

Yes, I know that this didn't clear anything up for you. It didn't clear anything up for me either. Basically the only thing I got from this chapter was what it said about the coming of the Messiah. Hopefully the next few books aren't this hard to piece together. Let me know if any of you understand it any better. I may just be out of it this morning.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Grace

2010-07-01T16:11:00.003-04:00

So I have to admit something. I've kind of been cheating. It's not real cheating. It's just that I am doing a Bible study with a few of my friends this summer and we are going through Ephesians. So I'm reading Ephesians... before I am even in the New Testament in my reading. So I feel a little out of whack. But I am also pretty pumped. I read chapters 1 and 2 the other night and then talked about them with the guys. Those chapters absolutely blew my mind. Don't just take my word on this one though. Read them for yourself. I'm never seen (or at least seen and had my eyes opened to) grace being screamed so loud in my life. The pages are just overflowing with grace, grace, grace. Everything that Paul talks about in that opening paragraph is said to be for the purpose of praising Yahweh's grace. That is amazing when you consider all the things that are talked about there. And then 2:1-10 made me cringe, but then quickly made me praise God for the truth of His Word and the power of His grace. It gives a picture of what we all once were (2:1-3), and then there is that amazing transition "But God..." I would argue that in this context that might be the most beautiful phrase in all of the Bible (I'm not actually going to argue with you about it though). "But God made us alive together with Christ..." Oh how beautiful that is. And there is God (through Paul's words) reminding us that this is not because of anything we did. It is by grace that we have been saved. It is a gift from God. Oh what a great and wonderful gift. Even while using "great" and "wonderful" I am realizing that there is not an adjective that exists that can properly describe this gift Yahweh has given me. Just bask in His grace today. Read Ephesians and bask in the awesomeness of His saving grace.

Jonah

2010-06-28T05:04:00.004-04:00

Alright, it's finally time for Jonah. I read this on like Wednesday of last week so I've had time to contemplate it. The more I think about it, the more I like it, but at the same time the more I hate it. I'll explain.

Overview first. Jonah is not like the other prophets. The book is a four-chapter narrative, not an oracle. The story is of the prophet Jonah's disobedience to God. The reason he is disobedient is the kicker. He is mad because he knows that Yahweh will save Nineveh and he doesn't want Him too (4:1-2). So chapter 4 is God discussing that problem with Jonah. Just read the book. It takes like ten minutes. It's worth the ten minutes. Then come back and read this because you'll have the proper context. Don't say, "Oh I remember it from Sunday school." It's different than they told you in Sunday school, trust me. Just go read it.

Okay, here is what I picked up in Jonah- Grace. Grace of the most amazing kind. There are two opposite ends of the spectrum here. Nineveh is the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire was one of the most brutal, terrible empires in the history of the world. This is a quote from the wikipedia page on how they would deal with rebels.

"Ashurnasirpal II paints a descriptive picture when he later describes how he dealt with the rebels; they were flayed, impaled, beheaded (first if they were lucky), burnt alive, eyes ripped out, fingers, noses and ears cut off."

So that is the background. Nasty, monstrous people who's brutality was most often directed toward Israel. This is the people that God wanted Jonah to announce judgment on. And in the end, they all repented (even the king and the animals! 3:6-8). And God relented of the disaster that He said He would do to them (3:10). That is amazing grace. They did not deserve anything. In fact, if anyone deserved the wrath of God it was them. But He relented.

Next is grace that maybe hits a little closer to home- grace for the self-righteous. Jonah right here is the epitome of self-righteousness. The man is a prophet of God. He leads the biggest revival in the history of the world. This would have been like someone going into Nazi Germany and preaching to Hitler and all the people of Berlin... and all of them repenting. That is not an exaggeration. This is by far the most amazing revival recorded so far in the Bible. And Jonah is mad! He's mad because he doesn't think that these people deserve God's grace. And you know what? He's right. They don't at all. They deserve His righteous wrath. But what Jonah has lost sight of is that he deserves God's wrath just as much as the Ninevites. This is not my opinion. This is a statement of fact- we all deserve nothing but the wrath of God for all of eternity. That is why self-righteousness is so utterly ridiculous.

Okay now here comes the grace. Jonah blatantly sins against God. In fact, this could be shown as the definition of sin. God tells Jonah to go one way and he turns to run in the other direction. But here is the grace- God chases him (1:4). It got me to thinking. I listened to a couple things this weekend in the car. Some were about Jonah, some weren't. But I started to connect some dots. God always does the chasing. ALWAYS. I can't think of a time where someone actually seeks after God first in the Old Testament so far. God is the one who goes after people and it is never of any merit of theirs. Adam (Genesis 3:9), Noah (Genesis 6:8, By the way this may look like merit for Noah in verse 9 but it isn't. Notice the order of these verses 5-6 then 8 then 9, Noah's righteousness was given to him by God's grace.), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4), Moses (Exodus 3:1-6), all of the judges, Samuel (1 Samuel 3:4), David (1 Samuel 16:11-13), Isaiah, Jeremiah, every single one of the prophets. The point is God chases after people, even the extremely self-righteous. Not because of something they earned, but because He is God. This is grace. Unmerited favor. This is the beauty of Jonah. God's grace is for the extremely wicked who know they are extremely wicked and also for the extremely wicked who are haughty and think they are righteous.

That was the overwhelming theme of Jonah. There are more to be sure. We could talk about chapter 4 for hours on end. Jonah is overflowing with conversation grabbers. He got swallowed by a fish for three days! How could you not talk about that for awhile at least? He caused a bunch of pagan sailors to praise Yahweh, fear Him, and offer sacrifices to Him (1:14-16). This could be a very long conversation. But the theme at the forefront of this book seems to be grace. So I'll leave you with that. I hope this was good for you to hear. I hope it challenged you to read God's Word. That is what I want to happen from you reading this.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Obadiah

2010-06-28T04:57:00.002-04:00

Obadiah is simply an oracle against Edom. Remember that Edom is the nation that descended from Esau, so they are in a sense the opposite of Israel (Jacob). God is punishing them for taking advantage of Judah during the Babylonian conquest (10-14). It's weird because in 6-9, he talks like the judgment of them is past tense. Then in 12-14, he is telling them not to do things to Jacob that they have seemingly just done, future tense. So that was just kind of weird. Again we're back to the day of Yahweh (15), which will include judgment for all the nations, not just Israel. This is a reminder that God is the ruler of every nation.

Edification on I-65

2010-06-27T21:02:00.005-04:00

Well I went to Nashville this past weekend to visit some friends. Actually I just went expecting to see the Bens, Ryans, and Lauren, but like fifteen more people were at Lipscomb for Impact (don't ask, I still don't really know what it is). It was a good trip though and it was good to be around Harding friends again.

One thing that I love about road trips is the opportunity for a lot of learning. I was in the car for about fourteen hours total and got to listen to a lot of stuff. So I'm going to relay some of that to you because it was all very good.

The first thing I listened to was a new album that I bought the day that I left. It's the new album by Lamp Mode Recordings titled "The Church." The album features some names that were very familiar to me like Trip Lee, Shai Linne, and Flame. And also some names that I have heard but haven't really listened to a lot: Hazakim, Tedashii, Evangel, Stephen the Levite, and God's Servant. Anyway, all the songs had to do with the Church. It was so good. I learn so much from hearing those guys "preach." Seriously. I know that Yoder and Dayton are still the only friends of mine that can handle Christian rap, but at least get on there and look at some of the lyrics when you get a chance. I haven't seen anywhere that they are out yet but I'm sure you can find them somewhere. (Two songs that were awesome for me to listen to were "Expositional Preaching" by Shai Linne and "Conversion" by Trip Lee)

The next thing I listened to was a sermon by R.W. Glenn on Jonah. It was fantastic and was great for me after just reading Jonah. I will talk more about it when I give my notes on my reading of Jonah.

Next was the kicker. This is something that I wasn't planning on at all and it just blew me away. I heard some stuff on that CD about defining what the Church believes. When I heard that I remembered seeing something that looked like that on my Mars Hill podcast. So I went looking for it. Sure enough I found a series that Mark Driscoll did a couple years ago called Doctrine. So I started listening to this series. Amazing. Imagine a church defining what they believe to the congregation. This wasn't like, "Okay let's look at justification or election." It was "This is what we believe about God." "This is what we believe about the Bible." "This is what we believe about mankind." Now maybe churches actually do this. I just haven't been there when they do it. But Driscoll started with defining God and went from there. It's a thirteen part series which I have only listened to six of. But it is so good. Even if you don't completely agree with everything that he says, it causes you to ask yourself why you agree or disagree. Most people would have no idea why they agree or disagree. I am working towards having a reason for why I believe what I believe.

So anyway, that was my weekend. Good fellowship with friends. Good fellowship with God. And good edification from Christian rappers and preachers.

Amos

2010-06-24T07:37:00.003-04:00

Amos was apparently the first of these prophets. Verse 1 says he was around in the time of Jeroboam and Uzziah which would put him as a contemporary with Hosea and slightly earlier than Isaiah (Isaiah started his prophecy in the year Uzziah died [Isaiah 6:1]). The point is that it is very obvious there is not a lot of precedence for someone speaking as the mouthpiece of God. Forty-three times in this nine chapter book, Amos tells the people who is speaking by saying "thus says Yahweh" or "this is what Yahweh showed me" or finishing something with "declares Yahweh." He keeps reminding the people that these things are from God, not Him. Actually in chapter 7, Amos has to defend himself against Amaziah the priest. To his charges Amos says, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'" So that was a huge theme in this book.

The background is that things are going very well for Israel and Judah right now. So when Amos starts speaking I am sure it is a surprise to them. They think they are doing well. It seems like God/Amos even kind of toys with them a little bit. He tells them He's going to punish Damascus, then Gaza, then Tyre, then Edom, then the Ammonites, then Moab, and you can just picture everyone in Israel agreeing and being super happy about this. "Yeah those people should be judged for what they've done." Then Amos turns and looks at them, and tells them the judgments that are coming to Judah and to Israel. Boom.

The issue seems to be the problem of social justice. The people have no problem sacrificing in the temple and tithing and all those religious things, but they are selling people for things (2:6), and disregarding the poor, turning away the afflicted, etc. So God is going to judge them. So all the way through chapter 8 is this telling of judgment that is coming to these people. In chapter 5, there is a call to "seek God and live" (5:4). At the end of chapter 7 is the instance that I talked about with Jeroboam's priest confronting Amos. And finally in chapter 9 there is restoration. He will restore the fortunes of Israel "in that day."

Amos is another one of these minor prophets. They seem to all be telling the same story even though they are at different times in history. They are all judgment, but they end with restoration at the end of days. A promise of the coming day when Christ will redeem all things. I'm enjoying reading these books. They are things that I have never gotten in and read before. I've just heard about them. They are normally a lot different than I have heard. So read them. Be encouraged by learning more about our God.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Joel

2010-06-24T07:18:00.003-04:00

Joel is similar to the pattern of the other prophets. The format of it is something like this. Yahweh promises judgment on Judah by a swarm of locusts (1:2-12). Then, He calls for repentance because "the day of Yahweh is near" (1:13-14). Next Joel describes the day of Yahweh (2:1-11). And again there is a call to return to Yahweh so He may relent from this disaster (2:12-17). In 2:18 the tone switches. "Yahweh became jealous for His land and had pity on His people." So all the way through verse 27 He tells them all the ways that He will bless them (note that these things are all in future tense). Now in verses 28 and 29 God does something amazing. Like in Ezekiel 36 He promises to give them His Holy Spirit, "even on male and female servants" (the lowest of the people). Next comes a brief description of the day of Yahweh, followed by this, "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved." That is amazing. I think this is one of the few times I have heard something along those lines in the Old Testament. Then chapter 3 is God's judgment on the surrounding nations for their violence to the people of Judah.

I know this was short. I just wanted to give a brief summary of what was said. These are very short books so go ahead and read them as I go along.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Hosea

2010-06-22T06:32:00.002-04:00

People had me fooled by what they told me about Hosea. I always hear people say, "Oh Hosea is my favorite book. It is just such an awesome picture of God's unconditional love for us." So I was thinking, 'Okay this is going to be cool. I've been hearing all this judgment. It'll be a nice change of pace to just hear some good news.' Not so. The whole book is about God's judgment on Israel because they are unfaithful and unrepentant.

Chapter 1 is the story of Hosea buying Gomer out of prostitution like I always have heard. Then Gomer has kids. The first one is named Jezereel, because God will "break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezereel" (1-4-5). The next child is named No Mercy, because God will have no mercy on Israel (1:6). The next child is named Not My People, because Israel are not His people, and He is not their God (1:9). Then chapter 2 talks about Israel's unfaithfulness and the punishment they will receive because of it. But there is a glimmer of future hope in God's mercy at the end of the chapter (2:14-23). Chapter 3 returns to Hosea and Gomer. Hosea buys back Gomer and says that it is a picture of the time Israel will be without Yahweh but they will return to seek Him (3:5). Then the rough part comes. Chapters 4-10 is God pronouncing the coming judgment of Israel for the transgressing of His covenant (8:1). I thought that chapter 11 would return back to the topic of God's mercy and love for Israel because of the heading. It doesn't until the last few verses. It shows that Yahweh has this great and awesome love for Israel, but they keep running from Him. Chapters 12 and 13 return to the relentless judgment that is coming to Israel. Finally, chapter 14 is a plea to return to Yahweh. It seems like God is begging them to turn from these worthless idols and come back to Him. Hosea then ends with a proverb:

"Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know theml for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but the transgressors stumble in them."

I hope this didn't sound cynical (I'm saying that realizing that it did). I just want to get the point across that these prophetic books are not the stories we heard in Sunday school when we were little. They are all pronouncing judgment for the sins of Israel, Judah, and then nations of the world. This paves the way for the coming of Christ. Those people knew how detestable their sin was to God. He had told them with every prophet that He sent to them. They knew what the punishment was for the things that they had done. Anyway, just stick with me on that. I'm sure it will come up another time or two as I finish the Old Testament. I hope this made you think and hopefully made you get into the text as well.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Preaching Christ Jesus as Lord

2010-06-19T21:01:00.004-04:00

I listened to this sermon today at work. "The Joy of Preaching the Gospel of God" So good. I expected some good stuff about how telling the gospel to others causes joy. And I know Ken Jones from the White Horse Inn radio show, so I figured I'd check him out. What I got was an awesome hour of breaking down what we should preach (it was at a pastor's conference). The answer is astounding. It shouldn't be but it is. Especially in contrast to the way it is normally done. This isn't just for preachers. It's for anyone who wants to preach the gospel, which should be all Christians. Great stuff. I highly recommend it. It's worth the hour of listening.

Daniel

2010-06-19T07:33:00.002-04:00

Daniel is not what I expected. I remember all the sunday school stories that came out of it. So first off, I figured it would be a long book since I'd always heard so many things from it. No so. It's only twelve chapters. Secondly, I had no idea that there were a bunch of prophetic visions in here. So I was a bit surprised. But I liked the book a lot. It was a pleasant surprise.

Chapters 1-6 of Daniel consist of six stories about Daniel during the Babylonian, and then Persian, captivity. The stories told are Daniel and his friends refusing to defile themselves with the kings food as young men, Daniel interprets Nebuchanezzar's first dream, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, Daniel interprets Neduchanezzar's second dream, the hand writing on the wall for Belshazzar, and Daniel and the lion's den.

All the stories are different but they seem to come in two different forms. The first form is Daniel or his friends being faithful to God to show His glory (chapters 1, 3, and 6). Chapters 3 and 6 result in the king praising Yahweh because of the faithfulness of His servants and then His saving power for them (3:28; 4:1-3; 6:25-27). The second form is Daniel interpreting something that tells the kind of God's control (chapters 2, 4, and 5). These stories continually show that God is in control over the kingdoms of men and especially who rules them (2:21, 37-38; 4:17, 25, 32; 5: 21). All of these stories have the same purpose, shown by the reaction to each one. That purpose is for the name of the Lord to be praised.

Now it looks like later in life Daniel was given these prophetic visions. To tell you the truth these were amazingly confusing. My mind was barely working in chapters 11 and 12 because I just had no clue what was going on. But it was very encouraging because I can see that these are extremely detailed visions. Especially the last one which has no pictures of beasts or animals or anything. It is plainly talking about kings and people. I actually recognized some of this stuff from history class. It seemed obvious to me that the goat in chapter 8 and the Greek king in 11:3-4 has to be Alexander the Great. It's a Greek king who has powerful wrath and dies when his power becomes its greatest (8:7-8, 21). Then his kingdom is divided among four (8:8, 22) but "not to his posterity" (11:4). I don't know this stuff, but that one jumped out at me. Anyway, I would love to come back to this stuff with a history book next to me and see what comes of it. The stuff in chapters 11 and 12 is so detailed that I think it would be really cool to look at. But for now I must move on to Hosea.

I really did enjoy Daniel. Now I am into the minor prophets and I don't think I have a book over fifteen chapters the rest of the way. I'm really looking forward to these last twelve books because I love reading books that are compact. They are forced to get to the point because there is not a lot there. Anyway, I hope that this peaked your interest a little in Daniel. I sure didn't know this stuff was in there so maybe some of you didn't either. As always I hope this challenges you to get into the Word more and see what God has given to us.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Ezekiel

2010-06-17T06:31:00.007-04:00

Yes I realize that it has been awhile since I have posted notes on a book. I have been busy with the reading of Ezekiel... and the World Cup. Seriously though, Ezekiel is a really hard book to stay with. He provides so many details of everything. It was great though. I love those details. Honestly, this might be my favorite book that I have read so far. That may seem weird after you see some of the things that are in it, but the clarity of God's purpose and the promise of the future are just so awesome to see.

Okay, first a brief synopsis. Ezekiel is somewhat of a contemporary of Jeremiah. Their timelines overlap just a little bit and they are speaking to basically the same crowd about the same stuff. They are very very different though. Ezekiel is apart of the first group brought into exile in Babylon (1:1). The book begins about five years before the destruction of Jerusalem (contrast 1:2 and 24:1). So for the first twenty-four books, he is prophesying to Jerusalem about what is to come. Then as the siege on the city is happening, he prophesies against the nations surrounding Judah who are gloating over their destruction (chapters 25-32). Next come the prophecies of hope and Yahweh's return to His people, Israel (33-39). Then the final nine chapters (40-48) are Ezekiel's visions of the new temple. Okay, so that is the timeline of what is happening. It's hard to follow but those dates really help.

There is too much to explain in detail about this book, but I will try to compact it as much as I can. Chapters 1-3 are the calling of Ezekiel and they are pretty amazing. He sees a vision of the throne of God (1:4-28). Then the Spirit enters into him and God calls him to be a watchman for Israel. A couple quick notes: #1. Every time Ezekiel sees the glory of Yahweh, he falls flat on his face and the Spirit has to lift him up and set him back on his feet. #2. God continually refers to Ezekiel as "son of man" throughout the book.

In chapter 4, Ezekiel is told to symbolize the punishment God will bring to Judah and Israel. First, he has him draw the siege of Jerusalem on a brick. Then, he has him lie on his left side for 390 days (to symbolize the number of years of Israel's punishment) and then his right side for 40 days (to symbolize the number of years of Judah's punishment). Next, God tells him to only eat bread during this time. And He tells him to prepare the bread on human dung (4:12)! Ezekiel gets God to change it to cow's dung but still. And He also has him shave his head and face and divide the hair onto scales. I didn't quite get that part.

Real quick: go back and read what I just wrote in the last paragraph. Those things are ridiculous! And Ezekiel does them! Crazy stuff.

The next nineteen chapters are prophecies to the people of Judah of their coming destruction. I am just going to try to hit some important points. The first and most important thing in the entire book is said over and over and over again. Actually this phrase occurs in some form 71 times in the book, "Then they will know that I am the LORD." Everything is about showing His glory to Israel and to the nations. That is so clear in this book that I don't know how it could ever be missed. If you don't get anything else, get this: Yahweh's clear goal throughout scripture (especially obvious in Ezekiel) is to show the world how great and glorious He is. That comes up everywhere and I cannot wait to see it shown in the New Testament.

Okay back to the notes from chapters 5-23. Chapter 5 verse 13 gave me chills when I read it. Yahweh just told Ezekiel the horrible things that he will do to Jerusalem and then said this, "Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD- that I have spoken in my jealousy- when I spend my fury upon them." Satisfy myself? God's wrath is satisfying to Him. He also says this in 16:42, 21:17 and 24:13. But I want to contrast that with a couple things that I think are very important. They come in chapter 18 verses 23 and 32. Verse 32 says, "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the LORD GOD; so turn, and live." Verse 23 is very similar. So there is this contrast here. God is satisfied in the destruction of Jerusalem and the surrounding nations, but He says that He has no pleasure in the death of anyone. I am not saying I have this figured out at all. I don't and probably never will. God is far too big for me to ever understand. But I do have a theory. It is obvious that God does not like killing people, but He is also just and righteous in His nature. So in order to satisfy His justice and righteousness, He must do something that He does not necessarily like. That is confusing and brings up all kinds of questions but I think that is what I am seeing here. (Help from people who know and have studied this stuff is appreciated.)

The next thing is the abominations that Yahweh reminds His people of. The reason for all of this destruction is their iniquity. It is their fault. That is very important to keep in mind.

Chapters 8 and 9 are amazingly scary. I have never heard that before. Not something they tell you in Sunday school class. But it's important. Read it if you have time.

There is hope in chapter 11. Verses 14-25 are kind of pointing toward the hope of chapters 33-39. Verses 19-20 are just awesome. I'll talk more about those in that section though.

Chapter 20 is the one that just blew me away. God reminds Israel of their rebellious history with Him. He goes all the way back to Egypt. But the amazing part is the reason that He gives for the way He dealt with them. He says in every case that He "acted for His name's sake, that it may not be profaned in the sight of the nations." All of this He did for His glory. In 20:44 He even says that it was not according to their evil ways and corrupt deeds, but for His name. So He did not show them mercy for their sake but for His own. This is all over the place. Look in the Psalms. David knows this. He says that God leads him in the path of righteousness "for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). God is all about His glory and proving it to us. Remember that. I am seeing it everywhere.

Chapter 23 is also a passage that you won't hear in Sunday school class. It portrays Samaria and Jerusalem as two sisters who are both whores. It is a disgusting picture of the sin that God sees in them. It is something that is not pretty, but is necessary to understand how repulsive our sin is to God.

Now in 25-32 Ezekiel prophesies against the surrounding nations. There is a lot of wrath and anger, always because of the iniquities of the nation, usually pride. A line that comes up a lot in this section is "I am the LORD; I have spoken." Which seems to be like Him saying, "I said I'll do it; so I'll do it." Also good to note is that God is using other nations to exact His vengeance (26:3 He will bring up many nations against Tyre, 26:7 He will bring Nebuchadnezzar against Tyre, 30:10 He will use the hand of Nebuchadnezzar to put an end to Egypt's wealth, 30:24 He will strengthen the arm of the kind of Babylon and put His sword in the king's hand). He is using the nations like chess pieces. I know it is not a very popular thing to say, but the image here is that God causing nations to war against other nations and win or lose, simply for His purposes.

Chapter 33 brings hope. First Ezekiel is restored as Israel's watchman. Next in chapter 34, Israel's shepherds (kings) will be judged for their awful job of caring for their people. But Yahweh promises that He will be the new shepherd and will care for His people. Chapter 35 is a prophecy against Edom for there arrogance against Israel and the fact that they stood by and did nothing while Israel's blood was being shed (35:5-6). Chapter 36:1-15 then gives a prophecy about the mountains of Israel and the joy and abundance that will be brought back to them.

Chapter 36 verses 16 through 38 and then all of chapter 37 is the passage that made me rejoice yet gave me the most trouble. I know that it says that it is for Israel. But it seems so predictive of what Christ did for His bride. I don't know what indicators would be to tell which it is. Hopefully I learn that in my Principles of Biblical Interpretation class in the Fall. But it is just so awesome to read this. I urge you to read it. Note especially two things: #1. All of this goes back to God's glory. It is everywhere in this but especially in 36:22-23. #2. Yahweh does for us what we cannot do for ourselves (36:26-27). We cannot take away our heart of stone so He does it for us and then gives us His Spirit. And in chapter 37, the dry bones cannot bring themselves to life. They can't do it so God does it for them. Now whether these are meant to be Christians or the Israelites after the return from exile, God is still doing for them what they cannot do.

Chapter 38 and 39 also seem very eschatological (referring to the "last days"). Yahweh brings His judgment against the nations. He speaks of mighty earthquakes that bring the mountains down and raining hailstones of sulfur and fire. I don't think that has happened yet so I can only assume that He is not talking about the nations that Israel is dealing with at that time.

Finally, chapters 40-48 are Ezekiel's vision of the new temple. It is filled with a bunch of measurements of things that I have never heard of (jambs?). But it is important to read. If nothing else, there is one amazingly important thing in here. It comes in chapter 43, the presence of Yahweh returns to the people! And then the last line makes it known: "And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There."

Well, Ezekiel was amazing. So much packed in and so much to sort through. I know that I am not a Bible scholar. Even if I was I could not hope to understand all of this. I very well could have gotten some of this wrong. But I am excited to learn more about the Lord of the nations and unpack all the splendor of His glory. I pray along the way that He gives me His grace and His Spirit that I need to understand His Word. I am enjoying His Word. Please pray that that joy continues. I want to find pleasure in knowing my God better. I hope that this in some way challenged you or put some questions in your mind. As always, discussion is welcome.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

P.S. I have started to put links on a lot of my references. It goes to Biblegateway.com which a website that Mr. Webster showed me at Blackhawk. I just wanted to say that it is not at all meant to take things out of context. I always wish that you would read the whole book, even the whole Bible with me so we can discuss issues with the same context in mind. But I realize that is rarely going to happen. So I've just put those up for an easy way for you to look at the text. I hope it helps.

Sermons from Passion

2010-06-09T13:14:00.002-04:00

I am kind of on this sermon thing. I think that it is beneficial to hear the whole sermon instead of just some clip of it (which I'm not discounting, they can also be very beneficial). But I wanted to make something clear. These are not substitutes for the truth of the Word of God. These are commentaries on the Truth. They are not the Truth. Just like books and commentaries. They should never be read or listened to on their own. Go to the Word for the Truth. Go to these things to help you understand what you have already read. Trust me I know that it is easier to just listen to someone try to explain it instead of reading it. But it is not God's Word. It is man's interpretation. Okay, rant over.

With that said, I'd like to direct you toward another sermon. It has brought a lot of things to life for me as I have read them in the Old Testament. I can't wait to get to the part that he talks about in Romans 3. Anyway, this is John Piper's message from Passion 2010, "Is Jesus an Egomaniac?"

Also, here it is written out if that would make it easier to follow along for you.

Sanctification

2010-06-09T00:28:00.003-04:00

I know that a lot of you might not like my fetish with Christian rap. That's okay. I can understand that. I have no ill feelings towards you. Music has a lot to do with taste. But just humor me by reading the lyrics to this Timothy Brindle song. I shout for joy when I hear the truth of these words.

Sanctification

by Timothy Brindle (featuring Shai Linne)

(Verse 1: timothy)
Who can resurrect your soul? A smart man can't/
But Christ will to conduct a heart transplant/
I'm livin' proof of this spiritual maintanance/
I'm now revering His patience and fearing His greatness/
-See all believers have truly died ourselves,/
Cuz when Christ died we were crucified as well/
--So our old body of sin can be done away with/
What a great gift, He's begun the face lift/
And just as Jesus rose from the dead- we too walk in a newness of life/
In Union With Christ!/
In the past my master was sin, it attracted my skin/
But I no longer have to give in!/
His word told me He'd change me with His might/
So I could be holy and blameless in His sight/
I was first regarded as that jerk He pardoned/
But I'm confident He'll finish the work He started/
Modestly, in all honesty Christ lived flawlessly/
He's the Molder- I'm His pottery/
He set me apart-- from the sons of destruction/
He's perfecting my heart- it's under construction/

Chorus:
Praise God if He washed your weary soul/
Then you're a trophy of grace- a walking miracle/
Bless the LORD if you're a saint that is saved, then/
You're being changed by His sanctification (repeat )

(Verse 2: timothy)
Christ doesn't just save us for forgiveness of sins/
He takes us to shape us into an image of Him/
Because Christ fulfilled the Law, when we were doomed with Satan/
Believers get His righteousness from imputation/
So there's no condemnation for His consecrated/
I know the process stated seems complicated/
But it's the Holy Spirit's keen medication/
All by His washing and regeneration/
He takes worms and maggots and turns their habits/
I once cursed with madness I now serve with gladness/
Tell me, who else can take vessels of strife/
And then transform them into stencils of Christ?/
Who else can take these random goons/
And then breathe life into abandoned tombs? (NOBODY!!!)/
Christ came to die, His price claimed this guy/
His grace will save, plus His might sanctifies/
As His workmanship my crew cares to please Him/
Dude there's a reason, it's fruit bearing season/
We receive the win, He gave His life for this/
We'd been freed from sin, we're slaves of righteousness/

Chorus:
Praise God if He washed your weary soul/
Then you're a trophy of grace- a walking miracle/
Bless the LORD if you're a saint that is saved, then/
You're being changed by His sanctification (repeat )

(Verse 3: Shai linne)
Through faith (in Christ) everything that happened to Him happened to me/
I happy to see His majesty adapting me gradually/
-I'm fabric, He's weavin' me into His kingdom's tapestry/
Imagine me spittin' systematic theology practically/
I'm askin' thee question that impacted me on a major level:/
'How can a Holy Righteous God save a rebel?'/
The mystery is priceless, His decree is like this:/
Through Christ He makes the wicked positionally righteous!/
No longer targets of His curses/
He takes deceivers makes'em believers/
Then sets them apart for His purpose/
Not only just the reverends/
We need to know this brethren/
The road that get's to heaven/
Goes through Romans 6:11/
Acknowledging that's true what's already occured/
Christ died to sin-me too, the Lord said in His Word/
In Jesus we rest/
We've been freed from the mess/
By the Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the flesh/
I know my place/
That's why I write my name in lower case/
The more I grow in His grace/
The more He shows me His face/
I praise Him and thank Him, through His working I get to have this?/
My sanctification's more certain then death and taxes!/

Chorus:
Praise God if He washed your weary soul/
Then you're a trophy of grace- a walking miracle/
Bless the LORD if you're a saint that is saved, then/
You're being changed by His sanctification (repeat )

bridge: He bore our sins in His body on the Cross, so we might die to sin and live to righteousness!

Lamentations

2010-06-08T10:07:00.004-04:00

The name gives it away. This book is Jerusalem and her people lamenting over the fall of their city and nation. The things that are happening are terrible. Cannibalism is mentioned twice (2:20; 4:10) and women are being raped in the streets (5:11). That is just a picture of what Jerusalem looks like for the people still there after Babylon overtook them. But this lament about the state of things is always brought back to one thing- God. It is obvious that this is all from Him. Babylon is not the cause of their destruction, God is (1:5,12,14; 2:2,8,17; 4:11,16). And it was their sins that brought on the anger of the Yahweh (1:5; 4:13). There is a ray of hope found in the Yahweh's character in chapter three (v 22-26). Also, one very interesting note is that in 3:33 it says Yahweh "does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of man." This makes it sound like His hands are tied. Like He is forced into wrath by His justice and Israel breaking the covenant. Also note verses 3:38-39. One last thing that I noticed was that at the end of every chapter, they turn their focus to another nation. Since they have suffered for their sins, they want God to be "fair" and cause their enemies to suffer for their own sins.

P.S. You might have noticed that I am writing "Yahweh" in the place of "LORD." The reason is that Lord and LORD mean two different things (according to my ESV footnotes). Any time you see LORD in the Bible it is referring to the name that the Israelites used for Him, Yahweh. I figured I should start clarifying. I think it is important, and it kind of makes God sound more like a being than a thing. Plus it's easier than having to change the font every time to write LORD.

Sermons

2010-06-06T16:05:00.002-04:00

Now that I've informed you that I will be suggesting sermons, I'll go ahead and do it. How bout two?

The first is by David Platt. He is the Pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. Platt also recently wrote a book called "Radical." Dayton is reading it and told me to put it on my list. The message I am posting was given earlier this year at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, "The Cost of Following Jesus."

The next one is from Timothy Keller. Keller is the Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and author of books like "The Reason for God" and "Prodigal God." The message is from a seminar he gave, it's called "How the Gospel Changes Us."

Catching Up

2010-06-06T13:05:00.002-04:00

Well obviously it has been awhile since I have written on here. There has been a lot going on in my life lately. I got back from Chile on Tuesday. It is good to just be back here with my family. Something I didn't expect though was how much I miss being around people my age. So that has been an adjustment. I started my construction job on Thursday, which I didn't really expect to start for a week or two. And there has been a lot of other stuff that it would be pointless to talk about.

I just finished Jeremiah this morning. Yes it did take me a month to finish one book. At the start of this thing I decided that I didn't want to ever spend more than a week in one book because I felt like I would lose the flow of what was going on and much of the big picture stuff. I was right. I am completely lost in Jeremiah still. I didn't even take notes on most of it. Add that to the fact that it has to be one of the hardest books to understand in the Bible (all that prophecy stuff) and I just had a time of it. As bad as it sounds, I am really looking forward to getting past Ezekiel. There is just something in me that really enjoys reading a book where I can see the end. It helps me pay attention to detail much more. And after Ezekiel, I've got a lot of small books all the way until Matthew. But because of all that stuff, I'm not going to write out notes on Jeremiah. I'm sorry. It's disappointing to me that I read the whole thing and didn't even pay enough attention to know what it was talking about, besides a lot of wrath. But I think I would be incomplete and probably wrong in most of my observations if I were to do them. So yeah, I'm just moving on to Lamentations.

On another note, I'm asking for your prayers. I have been very discouraged these last few days. I don't know why. I talked to Dayton about it and he is right when he says that somewhere I am not fully believing the Gospel. That is where all of my problems come from (see Timothy Keller's seminar message "How the Gospel Changes Us"). I think that I am failing to believe that God will sustain me. I am putting a lot of value into what other people think of me. That is wrong. I know it's wrong. But it is hard to wiggle free from it. I'm praying about it. So I just ask that you would be praying for me as well. Pray that I would trust God completely.

One more note. Since we are now in summer, my guess is that most people have a little more time (maybe true, maybe not). So I am going to take it easy on the youtube clips and short tidbits. While they are great because they make us think about things, we need more. We need explanations of those truths from the word. So I'll be posting a lot more full-length sermons. Just a heads up. And I'll also post some of my readings that I am going to do with the guys in my Bible study this summer. I'm super excited about that. Honestly I don't think I have ever sat down and studied a book of the Bible like we are planning on doing. I can't wait. (Ephesians I think)

Thank you for all your prayers and especially your patience in waiting on me and my laziness. I hope that you are in some way encouraged and challenged by some of this. Keep seeking God.

Mitchell

Paul Washer

2010-05-26T14:36:00.002-04:00

I just found this guy on youtube not too long ago. His sermons have really opened my eyes to a lot of truth of the scriptures. Here are a few clips of them.

Matt Chandler... again

2010-05-09T21:52:00.002-04:00

I know that I keep posting Matt Chandler videos, but I am just blown away by the man's passion for what he is talking about. He is speaking from the Bible belt to people who all love Jesus, have all been baptized, all go to church three times a week and know the old hymns and all that. They play the part really well. But then he throws the gospel at them. This video pointed a lot of things out in churches that I have been in and schools that I have been in. The gospel is assumed. The character of Christ is assumed. Those are bad things to assume. I don't want to ever take the knowledge of those things for granted. I want to learn them over and over and over and over again. Anyway, here is Matt Chandler talking about the de-churched.

Francis Chan- The Pleasure of God

2010-05-09T08:34:00.002-04:00

Francis Chan hits it right on the head in this sermon. I can't wait to listen to the series now. Nothing is greater than knowing God. I can attest to that. I lose sight of it sometimes, but now I know that He is greater than anything that this world has to offer.

Isaiah

2010-05-06T22:32:00.004-04:00

Well I finished Isaiah. Actually I finished it on the plane on the way home from Easter Island. I got a lot of great time in the Word while we were there. It helps when you don't have to be anywhere until 10 am. But it was a good time and I loved not having to spread Isaiah out over two weeks.

That said, Isaiah was very difficult to understand. I feel like I got the overall message of it, and I got the simple obvious truths that just jumped out every once in awhile. But the midway stuff was difficult. I didn't always get why the nations were being judged or who was doing the talking or who was being talked about. That may be just not focusing enough or it may be that it is just a confusing book and I need to spend some more time studying it. But now I will focus on the overall biblical story that Isaiah plays a large part in and the little awesome things that I noticed.

In general terms, Isaiah describes a fallen, depraved world and the coming of the needed Redeemer. Those are very general terms. A lot of Isaiah is him giving oracles from God about the judgment of Israel and the Nations. Then in chapter 49, and especially 53, a Redeemer that will save them from their definite destruction is introduced. We know this Redeemer to be Jesus. The description given in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is absolutely amazing. What an awesome savior Christ is! There is also a lot of talk about Zion, the new heavens and the new earth.

Now for the small things that speak amazingly large volumes about the character of our God. The biggest thing in here is the glory of God. It is EVERYWHERE! Every part about judgment, redemption, sin and anything and everything else is followed with God's glory being the foundation. It is literally everywhere. My Bible is covered in orchid colored pencil. God's purpose is to make His greatness known. I have seen that over and over and over again. I have a few places that this is obvious.

-We were created for His glory (43:6-7)

-Our transgressions are blotted out for His Name's sake (43:25)

-He formed His chosen people so they would declare His praise (43:21)

-He defers His anger for the sake of His praise (48:9)

-He refined Israel in the furnace of Babylonian affliction for His own sake (48:10-11)

ALL of it is for His glory!

Now some notes on God's control. This is not going to go away. Unless I see a verse that says, "I'm going to change the way I have acted in all of history up until this point," this is the way it is.

-The first way that God shows His control in Isaiah comes in 14:24,27. "The Lord of hosts has sworn: 'As I have planned, so it shall be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand...' For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" If God plans to do something, it is done. Plain and simple.

-Another way is that He controls the nations like He is playing Risk (9:11; 10:5,13,15; 13:17). He uses them to exact His judgment on other nations and to show His glory in His wrath on them. -This next one is something to think about for awhile. It's not easy to swallow, but it's in their so I am going to say it. It's Isaiah 44:18, "They know not, nor do they discern, for He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand." This is God doing this. Very weird and very counter-everything I have ever been told.

-In 45 verse 7 I read this, "I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord, who does all these things." I remember having learned somewhere along the road that God has nothing to do with bad things. That was all outside of Him. That is not true. God created the good and the bad. He created the light and the darkness. Sin was not an accident. Trouble didn't jump on to the scene in the garden and freak God out. He created these things. He purposed them. He is in control. I need not worry.

-Chapter 53 shows that God was in control during Christ's death as well. "It was the will of the Lord to crush Him."(53:10) "Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see light and be satisfied." (53:11) This is amazing. Christ was satisfied in His death. Even though His soul was in anguish, He was satisfied. Oh I love this stuff!

-63:17 is heavy, like 44:18 was. "Oh Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?" This is big. The people are openly acknowledging that God is the one making them wander and God is the one hardening their hearts. Again, I don't know how all of this works, but I know that it works. It is in here plain as day.

-One similar to those two is 6:10. This is the Lord telling Isaiah what to say, "Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." God is saying that he is making it so they cannot understand these things, because if they did, they would turn and be healed. What? He is making sure that they don't turn from their ways and become healed? I don't know God's ways. I can't. But I do trust Him.

Now there is a very interesting passage in here about our state as humans. It is Isaiah 64:6, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." The literal translation of that "polluted garment" is something along the lines of dirty menstrual rags. Our righteous deeds! He says the things we do that are good are like bloody menstrual rags to Him. That is how lost and depraved we are. This is sick. That is what we look like to God when we are at our best. All of us. Notice that at the beginning. We have ALL become like one who is unclean. This is every single one of us.

I realize that this again is a lot. So read it. Don't just take what I say and go, "Okay that sounds good" or "I don't agree with that. What an idiot." Read it. Know the truth backwards and forwards. This is God's Word to us. If you do want to read some of Isaiah and just want a piece of it. Let me suggest chapter 59. It is awesome and it is what I am talking about tomorrow in chapel. I hope this is encouraging and challenging to you.

P.S. I just kind of realized that there is a whole lot in here. It seems all jumbled and is not very organized. Take it in strides. I am trying to do that. The Bible is hitting me with a lot of it at once but I am trying to take it slowly so that I don't get overwhelmed. Please pray for me in that and pray for that as you read through God's Word.

The Word of LIFE!

2010-05-01T03:08:00.005-04:00

I'm off to Easter Island in about two hours. I'll be gone for four days and probably won't have internet access. I can't wait to have some time in Isaiah while I am there. Six hour plane rides help move reading along nicely.

While I am gone please dwell on this video. I keep harping on the importance of scripture and I just want to remind you all why. It's the Word of God. It is the only thing we have that we know is absolutely true. For me to not read God's Word is for me to say, "I know you have written this for me God, but I don't really care what you have to say." Not reading this Word, leads to things that you do not want. It leads to you basing your beliefs off of feelings instead of facts. When you are left to nothing but your emotions, you start thinking, "Yeah that sounds good. I bet God is like that." Then those things quickly become what you believe and what you base your life around. That is not Christianity. That is Idolatry. You are worshiping something that you've made up in your mind and not the One, True God of Scripture. So read your Bibles. Read the truth of the Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). So watch this video. Get a reminder of how awesome and important God's Word is. It is not optional as a Christian.

Also, here is Francis Chan's message at Passion 2010. This is the

message that God used to bring me to His Word. My friend Mark Baur

and I had a long talk after this message and both decided that we were

not giving God's Word the attention and time it deserved. How great

that realization has been! My life has been changed by this Word.

Francis Chan at Passion 2010

Matt Chandler

2010-05-01T03:06:00.003-04:00

Just saw this. Awesome truth.

All in All

2010-04-30T05:39:00.001-04:00

I love good hymns. There really aren't that many that I look at and say, that is an awesome truth, but this song is one of them. Just figured I'd share it with you.

All in All

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising up again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Sex

2010-04-28T22:09:00.002-04:00

Yes the title of this post is sex. This has been a huge topic of conversation in my life as of late. We are talking about it in our Christian home class, we are talking about it in our health ed class, and I just read Song of Solomon. To be honest I have been disappointed with most of the discussion on the topic. I think we have fallen so short of a Biblical perspective on sex. I had a long conversation about all of it tonight with some friends. All of it has made me think back to a teaching that I heard on God and sex by Matt Chandler. I heard this a few months ago on The Village podcast. He gave such a great Biblical picture of not only sex but relationships in general. I'm going to post the link to this lesson.

The Village Church: Studies & Seminars

The message is titled "God and Sex" and was taught on 10.16.09 (It's like halfway down the page). You can download it by right-clicking on the icon on the right, or just listen to it by clicking the icon.

Before any of you listen to this I need some disclaimers. This is an extremely blunt message. Not just kind of... extremely! He does a question and answer session and goes in to all kinds of different things about sex and relationships in general. It is definitely for mature audiences only. (I doubt that I have many ten-year-old readers or anything, I'm just saying) Another thing is that it is almost two hours long. There is an hour of him teaching and then an hour of question and answer. While it is long, it is definitely worth your time. The last disclaimer has to do with the beginning of the message. He starts off with some hypotheses about the first few chapters of Genesis (chapter 3 if I remember right). He says some things about God charging man with cultivating the earth. I didn't get a bunch of it. I'm still processing some of it and trying to figure out if I believe it. The point is that I don't think these have much effect on the message that follows. So just don't get freaked out and turn the thing off.

I think this is a very good, Godly, Biblical picture of marriage and sex. I hope it is helpful for any of you who choose to listen to it. Anyone who wants can message me about it. I think I'll listen to it again on the plane to Easter Island on Saturday.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

The Prosperity Gospel

2010-04-25T08:47:00.002-04:00

I know that I have put this up before, but it is worth watching again... and again and again and again. Here's John Piper on the prosperity gospel.

Song of Solomon

2010-04-24T06:29:00.002-04:00

Well that was an interesting book. Seriously though, it was very good. There was a lot of good stuff in there about God's intended desire between a husband and wife. That is what jumped out more than anything to me. The desire that the two characters had for each other. There was some graphic imagery in there that I expected from what I'd heard, but really not that much. The book was filled with the two expressing their longing and desire for one another and then their descriptions of each other's body (which I'm sure would make a lot more sense if I lived in a time and place where gazelles and ewes were more prevalent).

It was a good read though. It's a good reminder that sex is not the crap that I have to turn away from on TV all the time. It's not the beer billboards and advertisements everywhere I look. Those are perversions of what sex really is, and it is a gift from God. It is a part of the relationship between a husband and wife. It is not bad. It is good and is a good part of that relationship. Since I am neither married nor an expert on the subject, I am going to stop there. I do appreciate hearing a clear, Biblical view of a man and woman's desire for each other.

Isaiah is next so it will probably be awhile before I post any notes again. Pray for me if you think of it because I already know two things about Isaiah: it is packed with awesome truths about Christ and what He accomplished, and it is ridiculously hard to follow and understand. I'll be praying a lot to ask that God reveals His Word to me the way he intended it in the next several days. Thanks for the encouragement that I get from all of you.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

P.S. Check out my comment for the Ecclesiastes post. I had some friends help me out a bit.

Ecclesiastes

2010-04-23T07:18:00.002-04:00

This probably doesn't surprise many of you, but I didn't really understand Ecclesiastes. A lot of the things that the Preacher (Qoheleth) said were really good. He talks about the vanity of life and how we are all a vapor. He also talk about the vanity of wisdom and how it basically makes you realize just how bad things are (1:18). He talks about the vanity of self-indulgence (2:1-11), which is a lot of very true stuff.

But then he says things that I just don't get. The thing that he says the most in the book is that you should eat and drink and find enjoyment in your toil (2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7). That just sounds really weird to me. I may be misinterpreting this. Maybe he means that God has given us things to enjoy and we need to stop worrying if they matter and just enjoy them. That could be it, but I doubt it. It seems like the author is just the most depressed, cynical person in the world. He hits the nail on the head a couple of times with the fear of the Lord (7:18; 8:12; 12:13).

Like I said, I don't really know what to think of what the Preacher is saying. I accept what he says about realizing how vain everything in life is, but don't think I accept his reaction to that (eat and drink and take joy in your toil).

There are some verses in here that I think are very important though. I have seen similar verses in other books so far but none so obvious to the reader. Ecclesiastes 8:11 and 9:3. 8:11b says, "the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil." And 9:3b says, "Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead." I think these are two very clear pictures of total depravity. Man is sinful; man is evil. It's not that everyone is born good and then may mess up or may not. It's not that people are generally good, but there are just some bad ones interspersed. Men are evil. I've seen this many times in the poetic writings so far. All men have sinned. Not one is righteous. I am a firm believer that every single one of us is in desperate need of a savior. Until we realize just how awful, evil, and worthless we are, I don't think we realize just how great God's gift is. That's just something I saw in here and thought I should mention.

Song of Solomon is next so that's going to be interesting. Ecclesiastes is one of those books that I will probably get a commentary for and read alongside that once I finish the Bible through (along with Esther and Psalms so far). If anyone has any advice on Ecclesiastes feel free to send me a message or something. I know that Joe really likes this book so I'd love to hear some advice on it. Thanks guys. Be encouraged and challenged.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Proverbs

2010-04-21T17:37:00.004-04:00

Okay now for the good stuff. While I was gone I got to finish Proverbs. We had a lot of really early mornings so it was hard to find time to read, but I did get a lot of time in those last few days in Cusco.

I took a class last semester at Harding called Israelite Poetry. The class mostly centered around Proverbs and I can tell you that I learned more in those seven or eight days reading Proverbs than I did in that entire class. That just speaks to the power of the Holy Spirit revealing scripture when and how He pleases.

The biggest thing that I learned is what Proverbs is not. I always thought that it was a list of sayings that taught you how to gain wisdom and how not to be foolish, but it doesn't read that way at all. The only times in the book that the writer speaks about something that brings wisdom are when he talks about the fear of the Lord and knowledge of the Holy One (1:7; 9:10; 16:6). All the other parts of the book are merely saying what wise men and foolish men look like. That opens up so much more. Now it isn't a how-to book. It's a picture of what your life should look like inside the context of fearing the Lord. It showed me that everything matters. Not just reading my Bible and talking about God, but things as small as being diligent in my work and raising my kids right are important. It makes sense too. God should be glorified in everything I do, even the smallest things (1 Corinthians 10:31). This is the picture of a Christian. One who looks more and more like Christ so that His Name is praised. That's what I saw in Proverbs.

With that said, Proverbs says a whole lot about the character of God. The thing that absolutely jumped out at me was His control. This might be the most telling book when it comes to God's control. 2:6; 3:9-10; 9:11; 10:3, 27; 16:3-4, 9, 11, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1, 30-31; 30:5. All of those are amazing truths about God's sovereignty and control, the ones I want to focus on are 16:3-4, 33; 19:21 and 21:1. These things just blow my mind that they are so blatant here in this book.

First 16:3-4, "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." This ends all debate about Romans 9. In Romans 9 Paul asks all these rhetorical questions about whether God creates some men for destruction. All the arguments I have heard are that Paul never definitely says "yes" to any of these things. Well guess what? The writer of Proverbs definitely says it. "The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." If you believe that the Bible is true it is very hard for you to get around this passage. God creates men for the purpose of destroying them with His wrath. Plain as day.

Now 16:33, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." God controls physics to do what He wants. Is this really that hard to believe? The Creator of our universe and all of its rules, bends them when He pleases so that His purposes are upheld. He decides what comes up when dice are rolled. That is amazing! Again, there is no way of getting around this. It makes me think of Acts 2, when they cast lots to see who the new twelfth disciple should be. I always thought that was weird, but when you have the knowledge that God decides how the dice fall, it is pretty easy to put that decision in His hands.

19:21, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." Wow. Again. A man will decide that he is going to do something, but if God doesn't want it to happen, it's not going to happen. I'm not sure how much more clear you can get. God is in control over what happens. I'm not trying to argue just for argument's sake. I think this matters. It matters to me what my God is like.

21:1, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever He will." Now this takes all of this a step farther. Before this everything was outside of us, but this has to do with our desires and thoughts. The heart of a king is controlled by the Lord. This is obvious. I'm sure most of you know that in the Hebrew culture (and many other ancient cultures from what I've heard) the heart was the center of everything. There's a reason you don't hear much about the brain in the Old Testament. They believed that everything flowed out from the heart. Not only was it the physical center of your body, but the emotional and intellectual center as well. So if God is holding that in His hand, he is pretty much in control is He not? Again, I am just reading this off the page and trying to put it in simple terms. God directs the hearts of people like a stream. Our desires go where He wants them to go.

All of this is very good. It is good because it is God and we know that He is good. I don't understand all of it, and I probably never will. But I care. I care because I love God and the more I learn about Him, the more I love Him. I am very confused by people who say that doctrine is not important to them because they love God and that's all they care about. A lot of people tell me they are relational people so they have trouble reading the Bible. They'd rather just pray. Let's put this is human terms for a minute.

God: "Let me tell you about this great thing that I did for my people."

Me: "No I'm really not interested. Here I'll just tell you everything I want to be better about my life."

God: "Do you want to know some of the things that make me happy and give me joy?"

Me: "No not really. That would probably take up too much of my time. Here I'll just tell you all my problems for today."

God: "I've got some directions for the way that I want you to live. Will you listen to them?"

Me: "No. Some people might get mad at me for misreading what you say so I just don't want to hear it."

That's what it sounds like to me when people say they don't care about those things that divide. I do care. I care because I love God. I love everything about Him and it makes me happy to learn more about Him. So while you might not agree with the things that I believe about God's character, don't tell me that you don't think that it matters. God's personality, His likes and dislikes, the history of what He has done, they all matter.

There are a lot of other great things in Proverbs. As I said before the fear of the Lord is all over. Joy is everywhere and things that make God and other people happy. There is even some emphasis on scripture and some talk of God's wrath. The most obvious thing though was God's control. That's why I expounded on it so much. Read Proverbs. It's not too long and it's not really hard to follow. There are a few verses that I just didn't understand what they were trying to say. Hopefully some of my work on Greek and Hebrew (obviously Hebrew for Proverbs) will help clarify some of those things. But for now, read and pray that God reveals His Word to you. It all comes from Him. Proverbs 2:6, "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." I hope this was encouraging and challenging. I love you guys. Message me if you want to talk. I can't wait to start Ecclesiastes tomorrow.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Peru

2010-04-21T17:09:00.002-04:00

Well this is the part of the blog that I think I like the least, but a lot of people told me they'd like to hear about the stuff that I am doing so I'll go for it.

If you aren't aware, I just spent the last 10 days in Peru. To begin the trip, we flew in to Lima, the capital city. From there we took a smaller plane in to Iquitos (the largest city in the world that is not accessible by road- pop. 400,000). Iquitos was a very weird city, but I liked it. It's right on one of the tributaries into the Amazon and it's just kind of crazy. There are barely any cars. Everyone drives motorcycles around. Even the taxis are just motorcycles with a wagon on them. We were only there for a night though. The next day we got up early and hopped on a boat. We went about 30 minutes downstream to a place called Monkey Island. It is pretty much what it sounds like. A big island with monkeys all over it. We played around with these monkeys for about 20 minutes and then got back on the boat for a three hour trip upstream. After a very long three hours, we arrived at the lodge. It was basically just the frames for a bunch of rooms, up on stilts, covered in mosquito netting. No electricity; no air conditioning. It was kind of crazy but really cool. I can remember two hours during those three days when I was not dripping sweat. That's when it was raining. It was so hot and humid.

When we were there we did all kinds of things. We hiked around some, spent a lot of time on boats, saw a lot of really cool things. The coolest animals we saw were pink dolphins, tarantulas, cayman, piranas, sloths, all kinds of monkeys, and all kinds of birds. So it was pretty fun and pretty cool. The weirdest thing there was our schedule. We were all in bed by ten every night because it was so dark out and we were all up by about five thirty. I liked it a lot. I kind of wish it was always like that, but Thomas Edison kind of ruined that whole thing.

So on Wednesday morning, the 14th, we left the Amazon. We flew from Iquitos to Cusco. In Cusco we jumped straight on a bus that took us to Ollantitambo, a small town with a lot of Incan architecture still standing. We spent the night there and boarded a train the next day for Aguas Calientes (yes that means hot water). We checked into our hotel in Aguas Calientes and got on a bus that took us up to Machu Picchu. After a short guided tour, we were free to roam around Machu Picchu. We had a blast taking pictures and looking at everything up there. The architecture is so cool. I can't believe how advanced the things that they did were. They have these terraces, which I'm sure you have seen in the pictures, that go quite a ways down the mountain. They were supporting walls that solidified the base of the city. Amazing stuff.

The next day was another day at Machu Picchu. We were on our own this day and we took advantage. Ten of us guys decided that we were going to man up and do everything we could that day. We climbed Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, and hiked to the Sun Gate and the Inca Bridge. Eight hours worth of hiking and let me tell you it was hard. So much fun though. I've never climbed a mountain and it is wearing. Fun though. It rained the whole time so we didn't get to see all the famous views, but it was fun nonetheless.

The next three days were spent in Cusco. It was a pretty relaxing time. Pretty much the only thing we did while we were there was shop at the market. We did a lot of bargaining and trying to get things real cheap. It was fun and I got some cool things.

That's basically the trip. Sorry that I didn't give a whole lot of details. It's hard to piece it all together now that I'm back. It was a good trip though and I enjoyed being there with the people that I was with. Look on my facebook page for the pictures. There are plenty of them.

The Psalms

2010-04-09T06:43:00.003-04:00

This is going to be a very rough look at the Psalms. Part of the reason for that is I stretched my reading out over about five weeks, and the other part is that I was very confused by a lot of what I read. But by God's grace I will give you a look at what I read.

I loved the Psalms. There were so many great and awesome things that I read about God's control, election, the fear of the Lord, but especially His glory and our joy. So much about His glory and our joy and the intermingling of the two. But honestly, I expected that. I have heard a lot of the Psalms before. I knew that Psalm 63 was one of my favorite pictures of true desire for God in the Bible. I knew that Psalm 73:25-26 said exactly what I've been striving for and even starting to feel lately. I knew that Psalm 119 was really long and about God's law. I had anticipated some of these things to a point (I was however blown away by a lot of things that I read that I wasn't exactly expecting. I'll talk about those in a minute though.) But there were really a lot of confusing chapters in this book that I just wasn't expecting. And for the most part, I just kind of read them and kept going because I didn't get them. The problem is I didn't write them down. So I know the chapters about God not being there, and begging for God's vengeance, and other things kind of similar to that confused me. But I don't really know which ones they are. Remember, I said this was going to be a rough look.

But my joy in my reading far outweighed my confusion. I do believe there is importance in those chapters that I didn't understand. They are just as much the Word of the Lord as the gospels are. But for now I am going to continue. Chapters like Psalm 145 just make my mouth water. It is so awesome to see the praise of God being lifted up so much. Psalm 107 is this back and forth of these little stories with praise to God at the end of each one. Very good to see. There were many verses that I just smiled and nodded when I read. Most of them were verses about hating evil. (101:3-4; 119:53, 127-8, 139:21-2) There are a lot of other verses that I loved in the Psalms that just stuck out to me so much. Psalms about rejoicing (119:74) and Psalms about God's control (115:3), Psalms about understanding (119:98-104) and the Lord's joy (116:15).

What I saw the most in this book though was the intermingling of God's glory and our joy. This is what I have learned from God via John Piper in the last few months. The apex of our joy is extolling God's glory. It is our nature. Our joy is completed in the praising of the things that we love. So praising God and his greatness is not just to make Him feel better about Himself (a ludicrous thought). It is God telling us over and over again to praise His glory because He knows what brings happiness. I have never been happier in my life than when I stood in Phillips arena next to Mark Baur, Tyler Samuel, Kaitlyn Schaefer, Heidi Tabor, Caroline Damron, and 20,000 other college students singing praise to my Savior. I promise you. No time in my life has even come close to that joy. The things that I read in the Psalms are true. When the Psalmist couples singing praises to God with joy and pleasure, he is not trying to fool us. This is not some ploy by God to get people to talk good about Him and satisfy His ego. It is the greatest joy this is. I am not just saying this from reading these words. I am saying this from experiencing that joy. I can't explain it. It's weird. It's like you are in the middle of it and you start thinking, "Why am I so happy? This seems weird. No one is looking at me or talking about me. I am not being made much of. I shouldn't be this happy. I thought it was all about me and feeling good about myself." Then after thinking all those things you start to realize something. It is not all about me. Not only is it all about me, but some of my worst feelings in life are when people compliment me. Because I know that I do not deserve their compliments. I could go on for pages and pages, but I won't. I'll leave my summary with this. Psalm 111:2 "Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." This is the reason that I am studying the Bible. I delight in knowing the works of the Lord.

I hope this was encouraging and challenging. That's is always my aim, pointing you toward God. Not because I get bonus points for referrals. I point you to God because the joy that you gain in Christ makes my joy complete. I am happy knowing that you are happy with something that lasts and satisfies.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

A Long Absence

2010-04-08T20:25:00.002-04:00

I will try to get up a summary of the Psalms tomorrow morning. I should finish it by then. But seeing as how things don't always work out like I think they will, I'll leave you with a little update on life.

My reading has been awesome lately. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I've enjoyed my mornings learning about God so much lately. Keep the prayers coming though. Since Peru is coming up it will throw off my schedule again and there's always a problem with time on trips. I'm looking forward to reading Proverbs in the wee hours of the morning in the Amazon though, with no electricity. That should be something else.

That kind of brings up my Peru trip. I'm sure I've told some of you, but for those who don't know, I won't have any internet access while I'm in Peru. We were told we shouldn't bring our laptops so I'm not going to. It will be a nice feeling but at the same time I am going to miss the communication that I have with so many people. Example: I've never gone more than two days without talking to my mom and dad. This will be twelve. Super weird. On the bright side, it should make for some good opportunities to get closer to some of the people that I'm here with. Since no one is going to have contact with anyone else we will kind of be forced together. I hope anyway. I've spent a lot of time in the past week studying, and while it's necessary and I like it, it is still taking away from some time building relationships. I shouldn't have that distraction in Peru. With that in mind, please just pray for me. Pray that I wake up and focus on the Word of God. Proverbs is not light stuff. I'm going to need to be awake for that stuff. I love it, but at the same time my flesh is weak. Also, pray for me along with the rest of my group. Pray that this isn't just another week of seeing cool stuff for us. Pray that it all points to Christ and that we come back with a greater love for and understanding of Him. I know that is probably a lot to ask, but I know that God can do immeasurably more than all I can ask or imagine.

I'm excited to finish the Psalms and get into a few of the smaller books just to get that big picture focus of the story of God in redemptive history back. The Psalms have been great but extremely long. I'm ready to start in on the books to come. Thank you again for all the prayers and encouragement. By the time I get back, hopefully I have been taught some things that will encourage and challenge you too. Love you guys.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Psalm 119

2010-04-05T06:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I got to Psalm 119 in my reading. I had kind of been looking forward to this chapter for awhile. All I knew about it was that it is the longest chapter in the Bible and that it has to do with God's law. I think I heard Mr. Webster reference it one time. What I got was a lot more than a long chapter.

If you haven't read Psalm 119 go read it sometime today. It is well worth the 15-20 minutes that it would take (it shouldn't take less than that). The book is an acrostic, which means that each section has a heading which is one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and they go in order. The verses under each heading all being with that Hebrew letter. Kind of cool, but not at all the reason that I like the chapter.

From beginning to end the writer echoes so many things that I have been feeling lately: "Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (v. 24)" "Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it as my reward. (v. 33)" "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! (36)" "I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. (47)" "This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (50)" And just all over the place I see these verses of praise to God that I just want to echo.

There's more though. The writer talks about feelings that I have been having and have no really been sure about. Just listen and you'll understand what I mean: "Hot indignation (anger provoked by something perceived as unfair or unrighteous) seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. (53)" "Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (104)" "I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. (131)" "My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. (136)"

I have noticed a lot lately that I want to do the right thing. It's this weird feeling of hating sin. I feel like Paul so often now in Romans 7 when he talks about doing what he does not want to do and not doing what he so desperately wants to do. God has shown me the joy of His law. I heard Mr. Webster say one time that obedience to God's law requires no blessing because obedience is a blessing in itself. That is so true. I rejoice in the law of God because in it I see His love for me. It is good not to lie. It is good not to hate people. It is good not to lust. I'm not saying that I have these things purged from my life because I don't. But my hatred for them is growing deeper and deeper thanks to the grace of my Father.

Along with that come the tears. The tears come from seeing other people disregard His statutes and do what they want to do. The tears and pain aren't because people are choosing pleasure over God. I've tried to get this point across time and time again. The tears come because I'm watching people that I love play in a mud puddle while I'm sitting over here in the ocean of God's joy. I used to play in that puddle. I thought it was fun. But then I got to the ocean and I see what I was playing in. Do you get what I am saying? Infinite joy is offered to us in the person of Christ and fellowship with Him. After I experience that, I never want to go back to my sin again. That is what Psalm 119 is saying. The writer is rejoicing in the life that God and His Word and His law bring. It is a life that is truly fulfilling. So when I step outside of that pleasure again, or when I see someone else living outside that pleasure, it hurts. It hurts so bad that I'm confused. I don't know how to show them (or even sometimes show myself) how great this life is. I guess all I can do is enjoy it. "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

I know this was all over the place... again. I don't really have a whole lot of time to collect my thoughts here. When I do they go in my journal. Thank you all for reading this and encouraging me so often. I'm praying for a lot of you. Please keep praying for me here. Pray that God shows me how my enjoyment of Him should manifest while I'm here. Thanks again.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

John 6

2010-04-03T22:11:00.003-04:00

One of the spanish pastors read from John 6:22-71 a couple weeks ago. I couldn't understand him so I have no idea what he was saying about it. But I haven't been able to stop reading it since then. Read it. I'm not going to comment on it. I'm just going to ask you to read it. Here I'll just post it verses 22-71

John 6:22-71

²²On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" ²⁶Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." ²⁸Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" ²⁹Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." ³⁰So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" ³²Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." ³⁴They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." ⁴²They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" ⁴³Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." ⁵⁹Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life;^{CQ)" style=" line-height: 0.5em; ">(} the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." ⁷¹He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Encouragement and Truth from C.S. Lewis

2010-03-31T10:24:00.002-04:00

First, I had a great time of reading in the Psalms this morning. Thank you for your prayers, please continue them. I just wanted to send you all a word of encouragement from C.S. Lewis. I guess it's more of an awesome truth than encouragement. Read it carefully and see if you notice the way of thinking that he is talking about. This is from his book "The Weight of Glory"

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

A Little Housekeeping

2010-03-30T17:36:00.003-04:00

I realized that I haven't given you all a lot of information on my Bible reading lately. Since I was updating you so frequently at home, I figured I should give an explanation about why I've been so lax. There are many reasons.

The first and biggest reason is that I haven't been reading as much as I did at home. Not only do I not have that time I night that I normally spent reading, but I haven't even been waking up early enough to get a big chunk out of the Psalms. By the time I am up and around (which means fully awake with my Yerba Mate tea in my hand) I've only got about half an hour before I've got to start getting ready for classes. So my biggest request is that you would pray for me. Please pray that God gives me energy and focus. I'm under this impression that God doesn't have control over the natural process of my body. He has control over every little inch of the universe, but not the biological process in my body. If you can't tell I'm being sarcastic. That's a ridiculous thought. If God chooses to change the makeup of my body so that I can function of less sleep, you can bet it's going to happen. Jesus fasted from food for forty days in the desert. That is physically impossible. Just a thought. So pray that I trust God to sustain me.

The other reason is because I spend my free time in other parts of scripture. I've been in churches where they speak Spanish for the past few weeks so the only thing I can understand is the books of the Bible and the verses. So I just sit there and read and study that. Man there is some awesome stuff in the New Testament. That should be motivation enough to keep reading. Just so that I get to the awesome truths in the Gospels and Paul's letters.

I'm not going to give anymore reasons for fear of sounding like I'm making excuses. That is the last thing that I want to do. The blame lies with me. I just wanted to let you all know that I need prayer. I need prayer everyday because I can't even get through a day without the grace's of the Lord, but specifically right now I need prayer for this. Energy and focus, especially in the mornings. I miss the face-to-face conversations that I get to have with a lot of you. I look forward to seeing you again when I get back home, or to school, or wherever we may meet. Thank you for the encouragement that you have all been to me.

One more quick thing. Don't expect immediate results. I'm only on chapter 68 of Psalms so I've got a ways to go. I might give a little midway update in the next few days though.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Chapel

2010-03-29T06:07:00.004-04:00

I'm speaking in our HULA chapel today on Mark 8:34-38, 10:28-31, Psalm 4:6-7, 16:11, Matthew 28:20b and Christ as the glorious reward of our salvation. I feel like I'm prepared, but I always get nervous when I speak about something so awesome. I have no business speaking from God's Word, but He's allowed me to once again. Pray that the words that I speak are not my words at all but the words of the Holy Spirit. And pray that my name is not lifted up but that the name of Christ is lifted up. I speak at about 9 am our time which is 8 am eastern time. You centralers probably won't be up by then, but don't worry. I don't think the creator of time is bound by it. Love you all.

Also I have a Spanish test today over a lot of stuff. If you pray for that, pray for grace not justice.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

The Gospel Saves from Morality

2010-03-26T21:01:00.003-04:00

I just stumbled upon this on Matt Childers's blog. Great video that was awesome to hear.

I know it's cut off, but just listen.

Patagonia and the Perfect Planner

2010-03-20T00:52:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting up in a cabin in Bariloche, Argentina right now. It's like 2 am and I'm just answering some emails and getting back to some friends. I figured I would give you all a quick update on what is going on with me. We've spent the last nine days all over the southern part of South America, referred to as Patagonia. We have seen mountains, glaciers, volcanos, lakes, rivers, penguins, guanacos (a llama type thing), ostriches, and so much more. I can't even come close to explaining it so just look at the pictures I put up on facebook. They should be up by Tuesday. Anyway, it has just been unreal. So many awesome things that just scream the glory and greatness of Yahweh.

Sadly, I have slacked on my reading. I am only to about Psalms 42 (the beginning of book II) right now. The schedule has been all over the place (terrible excuse) and honestly I have just not been forcing myself to read, which is stupid. All of you who have been saved by the grace of God and experienced the joy of reading His word will know what I'm talking about. I always feel like I get to a point where I have to force myself to read it, which is stupid because I know that my joy comes from reading His word and being in His presence. It should never be a forced thing, but it so often is. Anyway, going back to Viña should help that a lot. I like routine and I'm just excited to get back into one.

Another big thing that has happened in my life over the last couple of days is that I was beauxed by Zeta Rho, my sister club. For those of you who don't go to Harding with me, it would take way too long to try to explain the club process to you and you still wouldn't get it. Basically, a girls club honored me by asking me to be apart of their club (that makes it sound a little weird but I'm cool with that). One of the awesome things about that is that Mark Baur and Tyler Samuel, two of my good friends that went to the Passion conference with me, also got beauxed. I told Mark that I am just super excited because this is just another opportunity to praise the greatness of our God around more people and show that He is our treasure and nothing else. So that's an exciting thing.

In all this madness that is happening in Chile, I have gotten to have some good, God-centered conversations with a few friends. I miss that talks that I had with T Payne and the Bens. I miss being able to go over to Mr. Webster's and just talk about the glory of God being shown in all of our lives or just text Dayton and talk about the awesome theology that we have both been working through. I miss walking next door to Mark's room and discussing ways that we can better lift up the name of Christ in our lives. I miss sitting down with my parents and working through what each of us believes and why. I miss those things. That is what I love, but at the same time, I know God is working to glorify Himself in what is happening here on this trip. Even if sometimes I feel like I am getting nowhere in my talks with my friends, God is working it for good. He is working for His name to be glorified even when I fall short. That is so comforting to me. I am learning to rely on Christ for my joy and satisfaction a lot right now because honestly I can't get it from anywhere else. There is not a whole lot of encouragement in my relationship with my savior outside of God's Word itself. That has actually been comforting.

Alright, this was a lot. There should be more to come next week since I will have much more access to the internet and my planned alone time with the Creator of the Universe. Until then, I love you all and can't wait to talk to you and testify to the Gospel of God's grace again. Be praying that my actions make God look great and not me.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Chile and Early Psalms

2010-03-11T07:35:00.002-05:00

I figured I would give you all a little update on what is going on and how I'm doing. First on the agenda is that I arrived safely in Chile. Our flight got into Santiago at about 7:30 am local time (We're two hours ahead of EST here). From there we drove the hour to Viña del Mar. The city is a bit different than I would have expected. It's just not what you see in America. Without sounding like an arrogant American (which I know I still do), it just looks crappy. Like buildings and houses and stuff. They just aren't clean and crisp looking. The majority of stuff looks like it's falling apart. In spite of that (it was just a bit of a culture awareness thing for me), I love it here. Our apartments are beautiful. They are so huge and nice and just ridiculous. I live in an apartment with 7 other guys, 5 of which I've been friends with for awhile now. If you want to see the view from our balcony, look at my facebook profile. Gorgeous. But yeah, that's about it. I love it here. And it's also great just being around friends again. I already have so many here that I like and know pretty well. I'm excited to get to know them a lot better on this trip.

So that's the update on what's happened so far. Now here's the crazy part. We're leaving today. Because of the delay, we missed a week of classes, but the trips are still going on as scheduled. So our 12 day trip to Patagonia (the bottom of South America) starts today at noon. We'll be going to three main places. I doubt you care about what cities they are so I'll just tell you that we'll be spending part of our time in Torres del Paine National Park and part of it in Bariloche, Argentina. I'm pretty pumped about some of God's beauty that we are going to see. Even though I love Ft. Wayne, we don't really have mountains (unless you count the rock quarry on the way to the airport). So I really just can't wait for this. It does mean though, that I probably won't have internet access for those 12 days. So there won't be any updates for awhile. When I get back, I'll post all my updates on the Psalms and give you a brief overview of what went down in Patagonia. Plus you can always look at my facebook pictures.

Now for the Psalms. I finally got started this morning. It was great to finally be able to sit down and just open up the Word of the Lord again. I got through 20 chapters, but I'm not going to give you a full summary of them. There is something worth saying now though. There is so much joy! It has just flown off the page at me, how much joy David talks about in his writings. My two favorite were Psalm 4:6-7 and 16:11. Psalms 4:6-7 says this. "There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!" You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." And then Psalm 16:11 says this, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Those are just awesome reminders of where pleasure and joy is found. It's not found in the blessings of God, the "fun" things in life (like what I am doing right now). Joy comes from being in the presence of the Lord. He is what gives me satisfaction and makes me truly happy, not His gifts. I love that so much. It is so great to know that there is no greater pleasure than praising my God. I love how that truth is so blatantly stated in 16:11.

That's pretty much all I've got. Hopefully I'll be done with the Psalms by the time I get back. I'm not going to rush through them though because I'm very excited about reading them. Anyway, I'll talk to you again in a couple weeks. Chao.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Leaving

2010-03-08T13:25:00.002-05:00

I think that I am finally leaving. I'm supposed to be flying out of Fort Wayne at around 2:30 tomorrow and getting to Atlanta at about 4:30. From there we take the ten hour (+ or -) flight to Santiago. I think the airport there is in good shape, but honestly I haven't checked. We will be there for about 24 hours and then leave on our first trip. This one is to Patagonia, the southern tip of the continent. I'll be down there until March 22nd. Then it's back to Viña for classes. We'll be taking three other major trips to Peru, Easter Island, and the Atacama Desert in that order. I don't know if I'll have internet access on those trips so these updates might be scarce.

What I am going to try to do is update on things that I'm doing and things that I'm learning all at the same time. It'll be tough for me just because I already feel like I won't have enough time in the day. I might just not sleep there. Maybe. My reading time will probably be limited to the mornings. I plan on waking up early to read and pray. I know that I'll want to read instead of hanging out sometimes, but the majority of people have told me I need to take in this experience as much as I can. We'll see about that.

Since this past week has been very hectic and at the same time not routine, I haven't done any reading in the Psalms. I know, I'm just as (probably more) disappointed than you. I'm hoping to read some on the flight but that time might be set aside to catching up with friends. The good thing about that is when they ask what I've been doing the last three months I can just pull out my Bible and start talking. The best thing about talking about reading or talking about Christ and His greatness is that it's pleasing. It's not always fun and it's not always easy. I've had many talks with people that frustrate me to no end and I leave either upset, annoyed, or sad. But I always leaved with a feeling of pleasure. I don't know, maybe I am using the wrong word because those sound like they contradict. But there's this sense of satisfaction that I get from talking about Christ. So whether the person I'm talking to agrees, disagrees or even worse, doesn't care, I am satisfied because I am not wasting my time. No time spent praising the grace and power of the Lord is wasted.

So in the end I'd just ask for your prayers. First I will ask you to pray for me to stay away from some things. Pray that I make war on my sin on this trip. That any feelings of arrogance, lust, hatred, annoyance, depression, or whatever else will be my enemy on this trip and that I would constantly be on guard against them. Also, pray for the things that I want to do. Whether I am having a conversation, speaking in chapel, climbing a mountain, sitting and reading, or even going to class, pray that I will do it all to the glory of God. That I would give him the fullest and most accurate praise of His grace that I can. Obviously you don't have to pray for me. I know all of you out there have things that you need prayer for. Not might need prayer. You do. Every one of us needs prayer just to get through the day by God's grace. So I'll be praying for those of you who I know as well. I'll miss you guys.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Recources

2010-03-08T12:07:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if I have mentioned White Horse Inn yet, but I am going to mention it now. White Horse Inn is a radio show that is headed up by Dr. Michael Horton. The show brings together four very different men. Horton is a professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Westminster Seminary California and author of books such as Christless Christianity and Putting Amazing back into Grace. Dr. Rod Rosenbladt is a professor in theology at Concordia University in Irvine, California and an ordained Lutheran minister. Ken Jones is the pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church in Compton, California. Kim Riddlebarger is the Pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, California. These four men come together and basically talk about theology and the church. This is there statement on their website of what brings them together despite their differences:

Like its original namesake, the new White Horse Inn is not a church and our hosts don't agree on every detail of theology (even important topics like the sacraments and election, etc.). Instead, what unites the hosts and everyone involved in White Horse Inn is a concern for churches that are God-centered rather than human-centered, Christ-focused rather than distracted by secondary concerns, gospel-driven rather than driven by programs and moralistic platitudes. The hosts believe that the solas of the Reformation [see FAQs on website] are both the message and the means for the renewal of the church in our time.

I just love listening to these guys because they are all so grounded in what being a Christian is. They disagree on many issues, like I do with a lot of my friends, but they still have the basic foundation that they love Christ and His Gospel.

Their second most recent show (Feb. 28th) was titled "Grounded in the Gospel." In it they talked to two authors of a book by the same title. The discussion centered around instruction in the Gospel (what they referred to a catechesis). I listened to it on the way down to Harding, and it was so good. I just thought that I would share it with all of you.

There is a link to the White Horse Inn website on the side of this page. If you click here you can go straight to the downloading section of their shows (it doesn't cost). There is also a place to subscribe to their podcast on the home page of their website (right under the audio player).

All for His glory,

Mitchell

I'm Nothing But a Sinner... Saved by Grace

2010-03-06T20:00:00.003-05:00

On the way home from Harding, I was thinking about how the trip went and what I learned. Just to let you know, the trip was great. I had some good conversations with good friends and really got to know one or two people that I didn't know very well before. But as I was thinking about it, I realized something by some of the ways people interacted with me and spoke to me. I realized that in all places of my life (Harding, Blackhawk, my own home) there is this image of me that is squeaky clean. There is this choir boy image that people have of me that makes them not surprised when I bring up God or the Bible in conversation. "Of course he cares about God, he's a good kid." So I wanted to make some things clear and I hope they are clear by the end of this.

(When I thought about doing this, I wondered if it would be weird for the people that read it and if they would look at me differently. The answer is yes, it would be weird and they will look at me differently. That's the point.)

I want you to know that I am a sinner. I have violent thoughts towards people I disagree with on a daily basis. For years I have been back and forth with lust, pornography and masturbation. I have arrogant feelings when I get around certain people, and I feel like I'm better than them because of the things that I don't do. I get angry very easily and say demeaning and hurtful things to people. I'm lazy and sit around doing nothing productive for hours. I am selfish and will look for the best for myself in every situation no matter who it hurts. I want to make my name and my image look good, and I blatantly lie and do things that will make people think a certain way about me. If you are sitting there and thinking, 'Oh big deal. He doesn't get drunk or do drugs or any of the big stuff.' I want you to know something. Every day, from when I open my eyes in the morning to when I lay down at night, I fall short of the glory of the Lord. Constantly. It doesn't matter if I make my treasure drugs or my image; I am making it something other than God. So you should see that I am trash. I am a sinner to the fullest degree.

But the good news is that I am saved. Now listen carefully because I want you to hear why. I am not saved because I don't do drugs. I am not saved because I don't party and have sex. I am not saved because I love people and like to do good things for those in need. I am not saved because I like to read my Bible. I am not saved because I've been baptized. I am not saved because I confessed in front of my church that Jesus is Lord. I am not saved because I do "Christian" things. I am saved by the perfect and awesome grace of God and only the grace of God. I have done nothing to save myself. Christ saved me. So I have no reason to boast.

Because of God's amazing grace, I can happily say that I hate my sin. I agonize all the time over the instances where I fall short of His glory. He has given me that hatred for things that are not Him. I can happily say that I love that I was baptized and brought remembrance of the death and resurrection of Christ. I can happily say that I love to read the Bible and confess that Jesus is Lord to people and praise His awesome saving grace. I can happily say all of this was given to me by Christ and His awesome grace. None of it is my own doing. That is why I have no reason to boast. IT IS NOT OF ME!

I hope this cleared up any thoughts of me. I am not squeaky clean and I am not a choir boy. I am an adopted child of God by His grace alone. I have no reason to boast in myself, but I will boast of Christ as loud and as often as I can until the day that I die.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Excitement

2010-03-01T08:42:00.002-05:00

Well the tone of this post might be a little different than my last. After discussion with a few wise minds, I am not more encouraged than frustrated. I had a conversation with a few friends the other night about Job and my confusion with the flow of the Old Testament at this point. One friend told me he would be extremely worried if I got done reading through the Bible one time and said, "I get it." That kind of put things into perspective for me. How arrogant of me to assume that after about four months I was going to understand God. I think this was the point of the book of Job. All of Job's friends (even Job at points) presumed to understand God. That was the reason for the Lord's rampage at the end of the book (I think). So now, as weird as it seems, it is encouraging and exciting to know that I worship a God that I cannot understand. That won't keep me from trying to understand Him more, but it will keep me from drawing too many absolute conclusions.

Now I'd like to make something clear, because I can just hear some of you out there licking your chops. This does not mean that there is no reason to decide what you believe because we can't understand it anyway. If that was the case than there would be no reason to have the Bible, churches, or even Christianity. If that is your view then I'm sorry but you just aren't paying attention. It excites me to know that Paul is so confident. In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul urges the Corinthians to imitate him. He's so confident in what he believes that he puts himself up as someone to be a model. So I am not telling you that I am one of those "there is no absolute truth, truth is what you make it" people. There is absolute truth and His name is Yahweh. He tells us about it in His true written word, the Holy Bible. Sorry, rant.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know the encouragement that I got and hope that it is encouraging to you too in you are in a similar place. If any of you haven't heard yet (my grandma called me this morning to ask me about it hahaha) there was a huge earthquake in Chile on Friday night. The epicenter was about 370 miles south of Vina del Mar, where I am staying. There was a lot of damage in the capital of Santiago and apparently a lot of bridges and roads are down. We are still going though. We have been in contact with our directors down there and for now everything is still a go. I'll be flying out of Fort Wayne tomorrow at like 2:30 pm. After we all meet up in Atlanta we will leave for Santiago at about 8 pm and arrive sometime Wednesday morning, about 8 am if everything goes as planned. That is my first official Chile update. I'm sure there are more to come. Please be praying for me and the group. I'm very excited about the opportunities that we have to bond and grow closer to each other and Christ. There are some great chances for good, God-exalting conversations and hopefully an awakening for us all of just how awesome out the Lord really is. Next time I write I will probably be in a different country. Chao.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Frustration/Confusion

2010-02-25T16:38:00.003-05:00

This is my frustration. Two main things. I will start first with what I learned in Job.

I know that more clarity should come from reading, but I am just telling you where I am at right now. I promised to be honest. Here it is. It was convicting to hear Elihu speak because I know that I sound an awful lot like him. Acting like I am smarter than guys 40 and 50 years older than me. I do believe that God reveals things to the foolish (young) to confound the wise (old), but it is also obvious that arrogance is something that God hates. Honestly I struggle with that. I often feel like it is wrong of me to keep my mouth shut and let people go on thinking something that I don't think is true. So I don't know how the balance works with proclaiming the truth of Christ and not acting like I know everything. I do try to go to people humbly, because I know that anything I know is only by the grace of God. None of it is my own doing. But at the same time I know that I am acting like I am right and the person I'm talking to is wrong. Where is the balance?

The other thing that has been really frustrating is how I expected the Bible to work out. When I read the Law, it seemed to promise the retribution principal- God gives good to those who obey and He gives bad to those who disobey. I was fine with that because I figured that it all changed when Jesus came. My expectation was that His only promise was that He will be with us to the end of the age. Obviously that is better than any of His blessings. That's what I expected and I anticipated the glorious truth in that. The problem is that it's not working that way. First I saw David and now Job. Both rejoiced when bad things happen to them because they still had God. David rejoices in God and says that He is his strength. And God all but shot down the retribution principal about 20 books before I expected Him to. What's up with that? What does this mean for his promises at the end of Deuteronomy. Has he already negated blessings as a form of reward and put Himself in that position? I was talking to some friends about that the other day and I just don't get it. Unless I just passed over it without knowing, I don't remember God changing His promises of blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 28.

I'm not really looking for an answer. I'm just letting you all know what I'm feeling. Not that you would care, it's just sometimes comforting for someone to be in the same spot as you and maybe some of you are where I am. If any of you wise friends out there have some light to shed on any of this please do. You don't have to post it on here. You can facebook message me if you want. Thanks for listening to me, and if you think about it please be praying for that whole arrogance thing. I'm about to be around a lot of friends who are pretty good at calling me out on it and I don't want that to taint any good that God might say through me.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Job

2010-02-25T16:02:00.003-05:00

Yes, I finally finished Job. I know it took awhile, but give me a break. It's a hard book and I'm leaving the country in less than a week. With that said, Job was very good. Good in a way that I did not expect. I will recap what happened in the book and then say what I think about it a little bit. And then probably in another post I will tell you why I am so confused right now. But first Job.

I'm sure most of you have heard the narrative part of this story. It's very popular and people like to use it all the time to make them feel okay about their suffering. The story starts out by telling about Job, a man in the land of Uz. The first descriptions of Job are that he is upright and blameless, he feared God and turned away from evil. That's a pretty lofty description. Next the writer talks about Job's wealth. This isn't going to be word for word so don't expect it to be. Next comes the famous scene with the Lord and Satan (or the Adversary). Now I'm not going to sit here and act like I know if this is really Satan or not. All I know is that one of the most well-versed Hebrew scholars in the country told my class that the Hebrew was actually "the satân" and that simply means the adversary. So there ya go.

Nevertheless, they basically make a bet about why Job fears God. God says it is because he is righteous; satan says it is just because of God's blessings. So God allows satan to take all his things from him and eventually plague him with sickness. Then there is this whole scene of Job talking to his three friends (and one young man who comes in at the end) about whether or not Job actually sinned to receive this pain.

Those are all good things and everyone talks about them, but what hit me was the theology in question. There are two main questions on the table that they all go back in forth with. The first is the obvious one that everyone remembers from Job: does God cause evil to happen to the righteous? The answer is obviously yes. In chapter 1, verse 21 Job says, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Immediately after that in verse 22 the writer says, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." There is your answer right there. Job said that God caused this pain. The Holy Spirit-inspired author of the text immediately says that Job doesn't sin by saying this and also does not charge God with wrong. Which means that it is not wrong of God to cause pain. Something else that becomes obvious through this is God's control over circumstances. In here it is obvious that Satan or the satân or whoever, causes these things to happen. Job says that God caused them. Obviously something is off. But no. The writer says that Job is right in saying this. Therefore, satan causing it is the same thing as God causing it. This situation is very similar to the census of David in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. Whether he is Satan or just a servant of God who causes havoc, God has control over him.

The second question is the much more interesting one to me, because obviously it is the question that God is concerned with. He doesn't answer the other question. In God's whole loud yelling and challenging in chapters 38-41, He never gives Job and his friends the answer to their question. The question he answers arises in chapter 28. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (Job 28:12)" The writer answers the question just a few verses later by saying this, "And He (God) said to the man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28)'" This is the answer to the question of where is wisdom found. In God's speech He doesn't tell Job whether or not he sinned. He asks him if he has any wisdom or understanding. He shows him the things of God and says, "I will question you, and you make it known to me. (Job 38:2)" It's interesting that God's answer to where wisdom and understanding are found are the exact descriptions He gives for Job in chapter one.

That is what jumped off the pages to me in this book though. That God was more concerned with them thinking that they were wise then the question that they were debating. If you read the dialogue, you will notice the arrogance with which all of them talk. Especially Elihu, the young man that comes in at the end. There is so much pride in everything that they say. It was actually really convicting. Honestly, I totally felt like I sound like Elihu so much. That I would come in and rebuke the old men and say that wisdom is given by the Spirit, not in age. It was extremely convicting. I will talk about this more in my next post but it just kind of adds to the confusion.

The last thing I want to say is very important. In chapter 42, the Lord rebukes Job's friends. This is what he says to them, "you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. (Job 42:8)" This is very important because a lot of what they say sounds right. The book I was reading said there is just enough truth in it to be dangerous. That is so true. Most of it sounds good, but it is not to be taken as theology. The dialogue is inspired and I believe it is true, but the content of the dialogue is not. God clearly states that so be careful when reading it. I know this is probably not the best description of Job that you have ever heard, but that's because I am a 20 year old college student, not a scholar. As much as was possible I tried to rely only on God's grace for the understanding of the story. The Fee and Stewart book was just to understand what was going on. I haven't watched the videos yet JR, but I plan to. I hope this was somehow encouraging, but mostly I hope it challenged you. Don't just read Job 1-2 and chapter 42. It's not the whole book. The middle matters. That's all. I love you all.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

P.S. Besides the content of the book I have to say this. That was some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read in my life. It really was something else. Try reading it out loud. You get the flow of the poetry a lot more.

Young People

2010-02-20T13:01:00.004-05:00

This was a good thing to watch again on the day that I turn twenty. I realized that I'm still very young. It was also good to think of Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12 and how stupid he was to ignore the advice of older men. So on my birthday I'm remembering two important things. 1) I can glorify God just as much at 20 as I can at 60. 2) Don't be an idiot and forget that I've only 20 years of experiences when some of the people around me have two and three times that. I hope those things help you remember that too. All for His glory.

1 Kings 12:6-15

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.

⁷ They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

Esther... what the heck?

2010-02-18T21:47:00.003-05:00

I am totally confused by the book of Esther. God's name is not mentioned one time in the whole book. The whole thing is just about the Jews being saved from destruction. The point seems to continue to be the Lord's people being a holy and chosen race (just like His anger against them for polluting their race by intermarrying with foreigners), but I just don't understand why no credit goes to God. Maybe it was written by a non-Jew just as a record of history. Maybe the Lord wanted to show that He is still in control even when it is not acknowledged. Maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Nevertheless, this is a book that I really want to take a closer look at and read some commentaries on when I finish my reading. For now though, onto Job. A quick note about Job. I have tried to read Job before and have absolutely no idea what is going on the whole time. So I'm going to be using "How to read the Bible: Book by Book" by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart. It's a very good book that gives some background and some reading advice. I may also have to use a translation other than the ESV that tries to give things in a simpler way. Possibly the New Living Translation. I'll let you know when I write the notes on it. It could be awhile though. It's a tough book.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Nehemiah

2010-02-18T10:21:00.005-05:00

I don't have to work again today. Bittersweet. I don't have to stand in the cold and get to stay inside and read most of the day, but I also don't get paid. So that part kind of stinks. Big plus though, I got to read Nehemiah.

Nehemiah is right on the heals of Ezra and I actually read that they were originally one book (like Luke and Acts) and weren't separated until well into the Christian church. But, like I said, it follows up on the same story line as Ezra. The people of Judah are still in exile, but a group has come back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple because God put it in the heart of Cyrus to do it (Ezra 1:1). Now Nehemiah is governor of Jerusalem and the rebuilding process is continuing. They finish building the wall and all live in the city by the end of the book, which continues the theme that God has a passion for rebuilding what showed His glory. Now for a few notes.

There are quite a few good bits and pieces in Nehemiah. The first comes in chapter one, verse eleven, in Nehemiah's prayer. He calls the people "your servants who delight to fear your name." That is weird. I've understood that fearing the Lord is good, but I haven't really thought about being delighted by fear. I don't quite understand it, but it's there. Hopefully it comes up more later on so I can better understand it. The fear of the Lord comes up a few more times. In 5:15, Nehemiah says he didn't take the governor's portion of food or act as a lord over the people "because of the fear of God."

There are more instances in this book where God not only shows His control over physical things, but in the thoughts of people.

"And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me (2:8)."

"... what my God had put in my heart to do... (2:12)"

"Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and... (7:5)"

This subject is very weird to me, because if we just listen to the things that people flippantly say in the most basic, five-year-old prayers, this truth of God being in control would be obvious. Example: "Please help us to be safe on this trip." I am blatantly asking God to keep bad things from happening to me on this trip. He will do that in one of two ways. Either something will happen that could be harmful to me (a car comes flying through a red light to T-bone me) and God physically changes the circumstances and either moves my car, moves their car, pushes my brakes to stop my car, makes their car bounce off of mine or fly over mine, etc. Either He does that, or He intervenes in the decision-making of other drivers to keep the situation from ever occurring (when they person would normally not look up to see the light, God puts something in their mind that makes them look up and stop their car at the red light). These are the only two options when I ask God to keep me safe on the road. Most of the time we don't expect or ever believe that He does the first. Therefore, He must be changing the thoughts of people because of our prayers. If you say, "God doesn't actually have to intervene to keep me safe," then why in the world are you praying? If you believe that there is no actual effect to you asking God to keep you safe on the road then why do you even do it? For piece of mind? To make yourself feel better? Why would you feel any better if you don't believe that God is doing anything to help you? This is the most basic petition that anyone could bring before God and it screams, in the petition itself, that God is in control over all of creation. In Nehemiah 9:6 it says, "You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you." God does not merely make everything and sit back to watch how it unfolds. He preserves all of it.

Chapter 5 is Nehemiah dealing with the oppression of the poor. He rebukes the people who are charging interest to the poor and putting them out of their homes. Now, most of you (along with me) are probably saying the same thing we do when we talk about the poor today. "It's their own fault. If we don't make them pay for bad money management and laziness, we are just compounding the problem and they will never learn." This one is my personal favorite (not because I hear people say it all the time, but because I say it), "Well God would provide for them if they were following Him." Well guess what? Nehemiah (God's servant) doesn't say any of that. He makes all of them give property back to the poor people. Then he says, "So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied (5:13)." Basically, '"God, anyone who doesn't return the property back to the poor, make them become poor and lose all their stuff. "And all the assembly said, 'Amen' and praised the Lord (5:13)." Did you catch that? Not just the poor people praised Him. All of them. It seems like these people get happy and praise the Lord at weird times. Like, at times that I would probably be mad.

Now, chapters eight and nine are really cool. Ezra gets up and reads the Law to all the people after they finish and dedicate the wall. First, there are some things that I need to note. He's not reading James and Ephesians and all these short, compact books full of theology and ways to live. He's reading the Law. You know, like Leviticus and Numbers. The people are standing in the courts, listening to Ezra read the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant! To you and me this is boring stuff. It says that he read from the Law "from early morning until midday. (8:3)" Not only do they stand there and listen to it "attentively" (8:3), but the people are weeping as he reads (8:9). Ezra has to comfort them and tell them not to grieve "for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (8:10)" Then these people keep rejoicing as they are hearing the Law "because they understood the words that were declared to them. (8:12)" Not because they liked what they heard. Do we understand this? The Law is the biggest burden anyone could ever hear in their life and these people are rejoicing because they understand it. Their reaction to all of this is they start confessing their sins and praising the Lord.

Then Ezra goes into this long prayer/praise of God, basically recapping every thing God has done for Israel all the way back to Abram. As he's reminding God and the people of all these things, he keeps praising God for them. For His "steadfast love" through it all. He finishes it off by stating their current situation: in slavery to another nation. So all of this leads up to 9:38-10:39 (which apparently is just chapter 10 in the Hebrew Bible). They make a covenant with the Lord to "walk in God's law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord (literally, Yahweh our Lord) and His rules and His statutes. (10:29)" So their response to all this crap that has happened is not asking God to make things better. Their response is to tell Him "we're going to follow you now." Wow!

After this, there seems to be a little break. It looks like Nehemiah goes back into the service of King Artaxerxes for awhile. When he comes back to Jerusalem, everything is a mess. Some guy is living in the temple; they stopped giving the Levites their portions; people were working and buying and selling on the Sabbath; they intermarried with other nations again. But Nehemiah fixes it all and restores order back to Jerusalem.

We've got to go back to the intermarriage thing again though. First, listen to what he says to them when he hears about their repeated sin of intermarriage. "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him kind over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women? (13:26-27)" He pretty much says "Even the great Solomon was caused to sin by foreign women. Do you really think we should listen to you?" Now hear what Nehemiah did when he heard of this. He went out and found them "and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. (13:25)" I wonder if this is a big issue in God's eyes.

That's it for Nehemiah. Yes, I realize that the summary I wrote is longer than the book itself, but it's a good book. I hope this encourages you, but it seems like Nehemiah brings about more challenge than encouragement.

All for His glory,

Mitchell