“When men feed on the word, it is turned into a principle of life, spiritual strength, and growth within; which a taste of it only will not give. As food, when it is digested, turns into flesh and blood and spirits, so doth the word, and Christ therein, unto the souls of men spiritually. Hence Christ becometh “our life,” and “liveth in us,” as the efficient cause of our spiritual life, Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3; and we grow and increase by the word, 1 Pet. 2:2. A mere taste, though it may yield present refreshment, yet it communicates no abiding strength. Hence multitudes relish the word when it is preached, but never attain life, or strength, or growth by it.” (John Owen, The Works of John Owen vol. 7, 31)
Christianity
Family, Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Simple Faith of a 2 Year Old
At the end of our family worship we ask each of our children to prayer for something. We asked Claire if she would prayer for the children in Haiti. We explained that their houses were crushed and some of them don’t have any mommy or daddy.
Claire said, “I share my daddy; I share my mommy” (She’s only two, so the English is a bit broken).
Jenn and I looked at each other and were moved by her compassionate response. We asked her a second time to confirm that she would really want to share us: she did. What a simple solution, at least form her perspective!
In her prayer she continued to voice her desire to share her daddy with the children of Haiti. I must admit I was a little choked up at that point. We all finished our prayers and Jenn asked, “so, will we be adopting a child from Haiti?”
I said, “Who knows, I guess we’ll see.”
Well, that’s quite a prayer. It’s easy to discount her little prayer as just the naivety of a 2 year old who’s prayer is straight from the heart. She really wasn’t thinking about the difficulty of the thing she was asking. At the same time, the Bible calls Christians to do this very thing.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jas 1:27)
Perhaps this is one of the qualities of a child that makes them the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3-4).
Christianity, Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A Gleaning from Spurgeon’s Sermon: “The Root of the Matter”
The man who is sound in the faith, and who understands the higher and sublimer doctrines of divine revelation, will have wells of consolation which the less instructed cannot know. (Vol. 9: Spurgeon’s Sermons, “The Root of the Matter”)
an important doctrine for providing comforting assurance
Spurgeon goes onto to point to the doctrine of election as not essential, but is one such example of a doctrine which provides “wells of consolation” —I heartily agree. Yes, I’m a Calvinist like Spurgeon; I certainly don’t think it’s a test of faith, but I find it an important doctrine for providing comforting assurance for the believer and correcting errors in regards to the sovereignty and holiness of God.
Studying the “higher and sumblimer” doctrines are challenging, but I’ve found the reward to be so great that I have developed a bit of an addiction to digging deeper and discovering these treasures. Sometimes people may think that I’m just trying to be right all the time, or act like a know-it-all, but the reality is, I find “wells of consolation” and wish to share it with others.
Christianity, Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Manhattan Declaration attempts to join Christians together against abortion, in protection of traditional marriage, and for religious freedoms. But in reading the document I realized that I cannot sign it. The entire document has language that is troubling, but the following paragraph convinced me that I cannot sign it
We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesiastic differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty.
First, I don’t agree that everyone who signs this document is a Christian and some people teach things that I cannot approve of. With such people, I cannot agree that we are both proclaiming the same Gospel. For example, I took a look at the leaders who signed the document and can see that there are Catholics leaders signing this document. The Catholic church has problematic doctrine that adds the tradition of men and the sayings of popes to the Gospel. Protestant churches largely believe justification by faith in Christ alone is at the heart of the Gospel; while the Catholic church teaches that it’s not justification by faith alone, but there are sacraments and other traditions by which the church makes it possible for someone to reach heaven. I realize there are a variety of Catholics, who, despite the teachings of the Catholic church possess a genuine faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior; but I cannot sign a document proclaiming that I am in unity with the Catholic church’s gospel when I know that we are not.
Also, consider that there are false teachers in many denominations, Catholic and more, who lead people away from the truth and teach dangerous lies; how can I, in good conscience, sign this document and have my name permanently side-by-side with such people? It would be foolish for me to sign it.
Second, the declaration confuses the Gospel and is more likely to communicate a false understanding of the Gospel. Today we have the prosperity gospel, the social gospel, the universalism gospel. I can recall my own personal conversations with a Catholic teacher who clearly taught a false gospel. I do not agree that I stand side-by-side with the other signers proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The declaration also makes no mention of the contents of the Gospel. It briefly mentions it, immediately after a section talking about the social issues. This makes the Gospel seem more to do with social issues than with the Gospel of Jesus that was taught in the Bible. The Gospel in the Bible teaches that all have sinned and fallen short and are in need, not of social justice, but of forgiveness of sins. And the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has accomplished the forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross and that this forgiveness is a free gift from God for all who repent of their sins and believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour.
This declaration would be much better if it stuck with combating the social evils. I desire remedies to these social evils, but it is more important to take seriously the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and not confuse it by providing opportunities for it to be attached to false gospels. America is already confused enough about the Good News. Many professed Christians cannot give a correct answer to this essential truth of the Christian faith. It is of prominent importance to stand firm and proclaim the Gospel with clarity and without mixture, synthesis, or confusion.
John MacArthur also has an excellent response.
Christianity, Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I appreciate Sproul’s desire to stand firm on for the faith of the Gospel and his decision to say no to the Manhattan Declaration. I also appreciate Albert Mohler’s desire to recognize the importance of the Manhattan Declaration and the specific purpose it serves in fighting social evils. He said yes to the Manhattan Declaration, signed it and wrote about his decision. Two people I admire made completely opposite decisions and they both have excellent reasons for the decisions they made.
So was Sproul too critical about the language in the Manhattan Declaration? Was his concern for the compromise of the Gospel faith unwarranted? Was Albert Mohler too relaxed in his decision to sign this declaration? Did he fail to consider the compromises that were being made?
I guess it’s time for me to study this declaration from myself! If you haven’t please read the Manhattan Declaration and let me know what you decide and why. I’m planning to study it more carefully and decide for myself too.
Christianity, Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christians should be all over the Manhattan Declaration; it’s anti-abortion with traditional views of marriage and in defense of religious liberty. So why did one of our beloved Christian leaders decline to sign it?! Well, read on and be encouraged. Sproul is yet again a living example of standing firm for the faith of the gospel (Phil 1:27): The Manhattan Declaration: Why didn’t you sign it, R.C.?
