Posted by David Carroll
My friend Michael Earls commented on my last post and expressed appreciation for my respect for God. (Hi Micheal, good to hear from you!) I’ve been thinking about respect for God. First let me say that respect for God is a a rare thing in today’s world and I know Michael too respects God. So many people have no respect for God because they do not believe in Him. Or if they do believe in God, he is not occupying much place in their thoughts. So I really appreciate Michael noticing that and it is something everyone should take a step towards. But respect for God is not a final destination rather it is just a step or a move towards God. Although God is worthy of respect because respect has the meaning of being honored and esteemed, somehow respect does not rise to the level of adequately describing my attitude toward God.
What attitude then glorifies God? I’d like to say that I love God but even that sounds like too much like me giving something to Him. (I do love Him, I’m just trying to find the attitude that really glorifies God.) You see God is the source of everything; He is always the giver and never the receiver as if He needed anything from us. I might say and do in fact fear God because of his holy righteousness. That’s good and true too certainly in the sense that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. (Don’t you fear someone who could squash you in an instant and moreover knows all your secrets?) Let’s see, how about grateful…yes that works too because of God’s great mercy. Mercy is the part that keeps God from squashing me or making me pay for all those dirty dark secrets that only He and I know about.
But someone did pay. God paid. God absorbed the righteous wrath of God against my sin. Wait a minute. Did I say that right? God paid God’s penalty? Yes of course, Jesus Christ paid it all. And all the while God the Son was hanging on that cross suffering for my sake, it was God the Father in heaven pouring out his wrath. That way he is both just and the one who justifies. God’s wrath was spent not withdrawn.
How do I know all this is true? Of course I got it all out of the Bible. But God provided proof by raising Jesus from the dead. The ressurection is the proof that God is satisfied.
That’s why respect, love, fear, and gratefulness as attitudes toward God don’t seem enough. Oh they are necessary and right. I suppose gratefulness comes the closest because it describes my receiving instead of my giving. But when I talk about God and see His work in everything around me including in the budding forth of spring foliage and flowers, I am delighted. Delight, yes that’s the word. I am really delighted and soul-satisfied when I consider God. And I am not giving him anything in my delight rather I am soaking it all in: His love toward me, his mercy toward me, his goodness all around me, his magnificence in his creation.
He made me and he made you to delight in his glory!
Posted by David Carroll
I was out walking in the forest last week (March 23) and took this picture of a ridge and a ravine. The weather was delightful and you could tell the forest was waking up from it’s winter slumber.
Nine days later (yesterday April 1) I was walking the same trail and took a picture of the same ridge (below).
Now I was standing a litte further up in the second shot but you can tell it is the same location by examining the roots of some of the trees hugging the ridge.
The astonishing thing I’m sure you notice is the difference in green foliage. A little rain, a little warmth, longer days and the program kicks in to high gear. I say program because that is what it is, it does this every year automatically. Such astonishing beauty and unbelievable and complex innerworkings of sap rising and photosynthisis. I’m glad I got to see this as I ponder God’s unfathomable excellence in His design for life.
Psalm 8:1,3–4
O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
Posted by David Carroll
Jesus can heal the sick and he does it through a touch or just a word. I’ve been healed and I am convinced that it was by faith and through the prayers of God’s people. (I am overwhelmed with gratitude when I think of how many people were praying for me!) But there are those who would say that when people get healed they simply want to give God credit when actually time or medicine actually did the work. In my case, time and medicine certainly were the means of God’s grace, but it was a miracle how God revealed where the real problem was because I went through two surgeries fixing something that evidently was not the problem. Go here to read more about that. But that’s not the point of this post. Healing could be dismissed by naysayers as wishful thinking.
When Jesus and the disciples were out on the sea of Galilee during the storm about to be swamped by the waves, Jesus was sound asleep in the stern of the boat. (It takes a real peace of mind to sleep in a situation like that!) Anyway, the disciples who were scared to death, wake Jesus to inform him of their plight. After rebuking their little faith, he “rebuked” the storm by saying “Peace, be still.” And immediately there was total calm. Now you’d think these guys would be relieved by now, but the Bible records that now they were exceedingly afraid. Think about what they have just witnessed! A man stands up in a boat and commands vast amounts of energy and matter to stand still. That got their attention. In fact the Bible says they exclaimed “What manner of man is this!?” That’s the point: Jesus is no mere man. He is the God-Man. Jesus is not just the Son of God, he is God the Son. He is the Logos, the Word of God who spoke everything into existance.
Continuing with the series, you can listen to the audio of the second Sunday School lesson on Jesus Miracles from the book of Matthew here. (right click on the link and choose “save as” to download the mp3 file)
Posted by David Carroll
It has been a long time since I taught Sunday School and last weekend I got the chance to teach for several Sundays in a row. I was a bit anxious about teaching again after my hiatus but I have been praying about when I would start full time again. So this opportunity to teach as a substitute for a few weeks is really an answer to prayer. What is an answer to prayer if not a miracle? Speaking of miracles, that is what I am teaching on. Beginning in Matthew 8, Jesus performs a series of miracles mixed in with some teachings. I really like this section because there is so much action. Jesus is showing his muscle which is his complete authority over everything including human sickness, demons and even nature itself.
So in keeping with the podcasting I have done in the past, I am posting the audio of the first lesson on Jesus’ miracles here. Sorry about the recording quality, I inadvertantly set the mic switch on high gain boost so there are some pops in the audio.
Needless to say, I really am enjoying digging into God’s word and the discipline has been good for me. Thank you Lord!
Listen to the audio of the first lesson on Matthew Chapter 8.
Posted by David Carroll
Things around here have been a bit stressful, not bad, just a bit overwhelming when thinking about all that I need to get done over the next few months. Times like this can make you feel guilty for procrastinating which tends to make the stress even worse. It is important to have some times of refreshing during such a period, something that makes the worry melt away even for only a few hours.
I know two things that accomplish this. One is prayer. Prayer that admits your own fraility and inadequacies and lays your burdens on Jesus. It is not that the prayer itself makes you feel better although it certainly helps. Rather it is that prayer actually works. God answers prayer.
James 5:16 (NKJV)
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
The second thing that works is worship and fellowship. Go to church and love and be loved by the brethren. Sweet fellowship and worship can accomplish wonders for the weary and stressed out soul.
Psalm 84:1-2 (NKJV)
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Psalm 84:10-11 (NKJV)
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
I sat with dear friends from my old Sunday School class tonight and sang and worshiped and I could feel my worries melt away. That’s what I call times of refreshing. Jerry Vines preached the last of four Wednesday nights we call Awesome August. He preached on the importance of Church and my own experience of being refreshed totally underscored and validated the message.
Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
Johnny Hunt preached last Wednesday night. It was the next to last night Bethany was home before we took her back to Birmingham for her Junior year in college. Johnny is a dear friend and gifted preacher. Bethany was baptised by Johnny back in 1997. What a great message Johnny preached on perseverence as the proof of our faith. God has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness. Johnny preached on the following text.
2 Peter 1:1-11 (NKJV)
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You can listen to the mp3 here.
Posted by David Carroll
Time to reform my inner life, that is to form again into what it should be. I may look OK on the outside but that’s only because I can prop it up and build quick facades so that no one notices what’s behind. It’s time to work on the inner man. That means I might start to look like a “construction zone.” Like my body has been in tatters and I am now starting to exercise and make it stronger, healthier, my spiritual disciplines are in tatters too and I need to begin to exercise it and make it stronger, healthier. Just like the goal for my physical reformation is stamina, strength, and flexibility I could describe the goal for my spiritual being in the same way but that would be superficial and ignore the most important thing. Jesus is the focus of spiritual reformation; Christ-likeness is the goal.
What does Christ-likeness look like? I think it looks like obedience on the outside. But that is not what it is on the inside. Obedience is the manifestation, what you see as a result, not what causes Christ-likeness. Obedience simply makes me look like the scribes and the Pharisees.
Matthew 5:20 (NKJV)
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, what does Christ-likeness look like on the inside? It looks like thoughts, affections, choices, rest, peace, desire, love and all that. But still, it is not the source. The Holy Spirit of God is the source and it is His work. That’s called grace. Grace is not so much like resting in a tub of warm water; it is more like standing under an invigorating waterfall. Grace is not so much what God has done for me but more what God is doing for me and continues to do for me. Piper calls that Future Grace.
So although I am to do all things He has commanded me, I must not forget that He is master over everything in heaven and He will be with me every step of the way. So when I decide to do a command He is right there with me and He has all the resources under his power.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Posted by David Carroll
1 Peter 1:2a (NKJV)
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
Paige Patterson, while preaching on this verse at Southeastern Seminary, said:
While it may be a healthy exercise to wrestle with the doctrines of election, sovereignty and free will, theological debate must not distract Christians from fulfilling the Great Commission.
If you're a more ardent advocate of Calvinism than you are of Jesus as an answer to men's souls—and the way you tell that is by what you talk about most—then you are out of step with the clear teachings of the Word of God.
Two thousand years we've been talking about this, it's the only reason you build cafeterias and coffeehouses on seminary campuses, and nobody has come up with an explanation that will satisfy anybody else. Under such conditions, is it not better to say, “God, in your greatness, you have done and thought and acted in ways too transcendent for me to embrace.”
Good advice. I need to talk less about why people get saved and start doing more of the how.
Romans 10:13-14 (NKJV)
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Posted by David Carroll
Historians David Bebbington, Mark Noll, and George Rawlyk have identified four characteristic marks of "evangelicalism":
- a stress on conversion,
- a focus on Christ's redeeming work as the core of biblical Christianity,
- an acknowledgment of the Bible as the supreme authority,
- an energetic and personal approach to social engagement and evangelism.
(from Chrisitianity Today)
Posted by David Carroll
Commenters on my previous post on Irresistible Grace raise a good question regarding salvation. Is man responsible or is God? Also, who is the originator of salvation, man or God? Anyway I’ll say up front that the answer in my opinion is that it is God who is both responsible from beginning to end and it is God who originates salvation. Now let’s see if I can be consistent with the idea that man has to make a choice without being compelled to do so irresistibly.
I see God as responsible for my salvation because I cannot find heaven without him. In fact I don’t even know of it’s existence without him. And now that I am aware of it and believe that he has secured it for me, I am still just along for the ride without anyway of getting myself to heaven without him.
I see God as the originator of salvation because it was his idea and not mine. He offered it first as a free gift which I could accept through faith. This was his design for such a transaction and not mine. But notice the requirement: my acceptance or rejection of that free gift. He decreed that I should glorify him by requiring my exercise of faith. My faith in him does not glorify me—I only love him because he first loved me. This is the synergism that glorifies God, not because man may choose rightly thereby completing the transaction but because the choice gives God glory, praise, honor and adoration from his creature whom He in turn makes happy in Him.
I will even say that the faith I have has come from him. How could it not? He is the creator! All I know is that God has somehow made man’s ability to make true free will choices compatible with his sovereignty. And we are called upon to make a choice to repent and have faith in God which has real consequences in both positively and negatively. That seems to me to be the emphasis of the Bible in all of its warnings (including Jesus’ pronouncement regarding blasphemy against the Holy Spirit). He wanted it that way because faith is the only thing that accords with grace and faith is what gives God glory.
Romans 4:16a (NKJV)
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace
Romans 4:20 (NKJV)
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God
There is a glorious mystery in all of this. One has to believe two apparently incompatible things simultaneously: 1) God is sovereign and knows everything past present and future. 2) man is created by God in His own image and thus has been given a free will with the responsibility to make a choice to trust in Him or not. This means God both knows the choice man will make and yet man must still make it freely. I cannot reconcile this and the Bible does not seem to worry one wit about helping me to do so.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
Posted by David Carroll
Irresistible grace is the fourth point of the five points of Calvinism. It means that according to God’s sovereignty, those whom he has chosen from before the foundation of the world will be subject to an irresistible call from God at some point in their lives and will exercise their faith in Him because of His working of grace in them apart from any movement of their own will. (I probably should look that up and get an exact definition but this is my understanding of it anyway.)
Let me say up front that I know and hear gladly many preachers who believe this doctrine including John Piper, John MacArthur, Al Mohler and many others. But I have a problem with irresistible grace.
First of all I find within myself the ability to resist and the ability to exercise my own free will to choose good or bad. When I came to Christ, I came under much duress within my own heart. I don’t believe I was being dragged but I certainly believe I was being wooed not out of fear but out of a desire. But it was a tremendous internal struggle of the will. So unless I am a deceived robot, then I find within myself immediate evidence to reject this doctrine. However, the Biblical support for this doctrine comes from such verses as:
John 6:37,39,44 (NKJV)
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
I believe the Bible is verbal and plenary (word for word and sufficient) inspired word of God. There is no way I would argue with the clear words of scripture, and even less with Jesus’ very own words. But do these words confirm the doctrine of irresistible grace? Not necessarily. Firstly they show a loving God who woos and draws people to Himself but this wooing and drawing is not necessarily irresistible. Secondly, they are compatible with a sovereign God who foreknows those will choose to come to Jesus. For the Calvinist however, God’s choosing is not based on foreknowledge but rather on his sovereign decree.
But there is a more pernicious problem I have with this doctrine of irresistible grace. That problem comes from Jesus warning regarding the unpardonable sin:
Matthew 12:31-32 (NKJV)
Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Those are strong words and regardless of exactly what “blasphemy against the Spirit” is, the consequences are undeniable. No forgiveness means no heaven which means eternal separation from God, otherwise known as hell.
Now, lest anyone start worrying about whether they have committed the unpardonable sin or not, I am told by almost every commentary I have read on this verse that if you are worried about it then you don’t need to be worried about it. In other words, the mere fact that you express concern over it means that you have not been guilty of it. This means that blasphemy against the spirit is spiteful and willful and therefore is not concerned in the least with such action.
The problem this verse presents to the doctrine of irresistible grace is that one word unpardonable. (I know that word is not in the verse but it is a convenient term for “will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come” which sounds even worse to me).
Follow me here. You must agree that the elect who will one day not be able to resist the drawing of God could not possibly commit an unpardonable sin. Why? Because they would not be elect if they did. So what does this say about those who are not elect, the ones who will certainly be able to resist God, which for the Calvinist is everybody else. If they are non-elect then they are by definition already unpardonable, regardless of what sin they will commit. So if the elect will find God’s grace irresistible, then why is Jesus even making such a stern and dire warning not to do something that cannot be done by one group and would not matter anyway to the other? It would make Jesus into a terrorist striking fear into people unnecessarily.
No doubt the staunch Calvinist has already thought out a way to reconcile this dilemma, but I have never heard it. And if it is similar to the way they redefine the “whosoever wills” then I probably won’t understand it anyway.
I believe in election because that is a clear doctrine in the Bible. The question is what is it based upon? Foreknowledge or sovereign decree. I’ll write some more about that later. So does that make me a four point Calvinist? No, because I have a problem with the idea of Limited Atonement too but I’ll write about that one some other time as well.
Posted by David Carroll
My daughter Bethany asked me the other day why the Apocrypha is not included in our Bibles (meaning our protestant Bibles since of course it is included in the Catholic Bible). My answer was not very deep but I told her that these books were written during the inter-testamental period in the 400 years of silence. The silence refers to a period of time when God was not speaking to prophets. The other part of my answer to her was that none of the apocryphal books were quoted as scripture in the New Testament. At that point I had exhausted my entire knowledge of the subject.
You know that children are growing up when they start asking questions that have answers.
John J. Plomp
I was not really satisfied with the extent of the answer I gave to her so today, I did a little investigating and learned a few things.
Did you know:
It is in the apocrypha that the Roman Catholics find their proof text for the doctrine for purgatory [2 Maccabees 12:46] which speaks of prayers for the dead.
The council of Trent in 1546 officially made these books part of the Canon of scripture.
That same council pronounced that anyone who did not recognize these books as scripture as anathema (removed from the body of Christ)
Hebrews 12 makes some allusions to some historical events that are documented in the apocrypha. (but there is not “it is written” or “thus says the Lord” type of language)
The early church fathers were not in agreement on the apocrypha, some such as Jerome completely denying their authority as scripture.
The apocryphal books were Jewish books and so would come under the authority of “God’s chosen people” who were given responsibility for the Old Testament scriptures. [Rom 3:2] “to them were committed the oracles of God.” Consequently it would not be the domain of the Church to determine the Old Testament canon. And in fact, these books were never “laid up in the temple” and the Jews did not consider them to be part of scripture included in the Law, Prophets and Writings.
Jesus spoke of all the prophets in:
Luke 11:50-51 (NKJV)
that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.
it is interesting to note that Abel and Zechariah are bookends for the Jewish scriptures. The order of of the Jewish books are from Genesis (first book) to 2 Chronicles (last book). In essence, Jesus is excluding any prophets that might have occurred after Zechariah.
The only reason given by Catholics for the inclusion of the Apocrypha is the infallible authority of the Roman Catholic Church magisterium to proclaim on such matters. This excludes and is against another reasons to reject the apocrypha including historical evidence of the early church, and even precludes any blatantly obvious historical errors that might be found in these books.
In fact the book of Judith which is an apocryphal book, claims that Nebuchadnezzar ruled from Nineveh which is by every historical and scholarly evidence completely untrue. Also this same book claims the second temple was rebuilt a century prior to when it actually was. Granted supposed contradictions and errors are just the sort of thing atheists use to discredit the Bible but none of the supposed errors atheists can come up with are unexplainable or could not be reconciled with further unknown information. The errors in Judith are so blatant as to be impossible to dismiss as only “apparent error.”
So as a protestant, what exactly is the criteria for knowing what is scripture? It is not the authority of the church but rather it is the book’s prophetiticy. That is is the book inspired by God to a prophet of God. We do not determine canon, God does. The way he does this is by speaking to his prophets. A prophet is a spokesperson for God. Now, God chooses his prophets but it is up to us to discover which books are prophetic. It is interesting that for all the books in our Bible, each book was immediately recognized for it’s prophetical content by the author’s contemporaries, not by someone centuries later.
The Jews had already discovered the Old Testament canon for us making that part easy. How was the New Testament canon discovered? My understanding is that the New Testament is written by first hand apostles of Jesus. In other words those who had direct contact with Jesus or were transcribing for those who did. These men were apostles and as such were confirmed by signs and wonders. They did miracles. And the epistles and gospels were passed around by the contemporary early believers as holy writ.
But really the New Testament Canon is another question for another day anyway. But that’s my short answer like I would have given my daughter Bethany if she asked the question. Perhaps I’ll investigate more later and write another post on the subject.
Posted by David Carroll
Wednesday, I was set free. Doc says I can go without the neck brace. Freedom is a wonderful thing but scary too I found out. I still walk around like I had the brace on and I am scared to turn my head too much. It’s weird, almost like I want to put it back on for comfort. Delaine tells me I snored last night too and I have not been snoring. I knew immediately what it was, my chin was being held up keeping my jaw from dropping which kept my mouth shut and kept me breathing through my nose. So now do I put it back on when I go to bed just to keep from snoring?
Ahh but I got to drive today…for the first time since driving to the hospital on Dec 13. (Except for that little emergency when Delaine got locked out of her car at Walgreens, about five minutes away, and I bravely drove to rescue her). Got my hair cut (great to visit with you Marilyn!), got Toby’s bath done, and picked up my prescription. And I finally have a few new twenty dollar bills in my billfold. I found out something interesting, if you can’t drive, you don’t need any cash. I’ve had the same single five dollar bill in my billfold since my surgery. Now I’m flush with cash! (It goes fast).
Toby and I went for another long walk whilst listening to Rush. I took the twin walking poles and really tried to kick up the pace a bit. Oh, and by the way, I asked Doc about how much exercising I could do and found out all that (light)weight lifting I’ve been doing was a bad thing (because the vertebra fusion is still trying to take). So no more weight lifting for another month. But I can do all the walking I want to, so I figured I could at least get the arms in on the act with the walking poles. Besides they make you feel like an Olympic cross country skier.
The main thing is the Lord is good and his word is sweet and I am grateful to his healing hand on my body.
Proverbs 3:7-8 (NKJV)
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
Speaking of being free from my neck brace, I have been freed from something else too. I have identified myself with Christ who died and was raised from the dead. So I reckon I am freed from sin’s power over me and one day I will even be freed from sin’s presence.
Romans 6:7-11 (NKJV)
For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posted by David Carroll
In the previous post, I talked about the requirement of salvation which cannot be earned or purchased. That requirement is faith. Faith includes and is evidenced by all sorts of things like obedience, childlike trust, and most of all desire to be delighted in Jesus Christ. But how does that faith come? First of all it is a gift from God but it comes through the mind by hearing the word of God preached. Someone must tell you the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom which is Jesus Christ who is the King. When you understand and receive that good news gladly and move toward it desiringly then you are exercising God’s requirement which may cost you but that cost is not a work, it is only more evidence of your faith.
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
That’s what I am going to do today is hear the word of God preached in a clear and understandable way. There will be singing and praise too. But it will all be focused on God and Christ. That’s what we call worship. Then after the word is preached there will be many who will feel desire and faith welling up in them and an invitation to come to Jesus will be given. As a Deacon I’ll go back and counsel with one of those who come and explain more of what is happening to them. And whether they are exercising faith for the first time or whether they are already believers, I’ll test them to see whether their faith is based on their trusting Christ and him alone. If it is not, I’ll go through another gospel presentation to give them one more chance to do that.
Posted by David Carroll
You cannot earn salvation from God. Why? Because He has already purchased it through the death of Jesus Christ, God the Son. God offers salvation freely to those who come and and receive it. But you cannot have it if you will not come.
Why does God not offer salvation for some sort of special offering or force us to earn it in some way. It is because God will not share his Glory with anyone. To earn or work is to be owed a debt or a wage. God has already fully paid the price.
But still there is a requirement. There are teachers who today say that all that is required is to believe in the gospel and that there is no cost to you. This is false teaching. It is true that you must believe and it is true that you cannot work for salvation thus you cannot earn it.
But there is a requirement and we might as well call it a cost but the cost is not to purchase or earn anything. The cost is to have a change in your thinking, a change of mind, a change in what you desire, a change in what you thirst for.
Revelation 22:17
Let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires to take the water of life without price.
Notice that you must thirst for the water of life and you must come and desire it. All these are requirements. But notice that there is no price you could pay for this. It is free because the price has already been paid. The crucial element is desire for God and a coming to him. Then finally drinking the water of life in.
What is required is anything that gives God glory and what is not required is anything that gives you glory. That is why it is by grace through faith we are saved because this way God is glorified.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
The Bible in some verses say that you must repent and believe to be saved. But isn’t the repentance part a work?
Acts 3:19
Therefore repent and turn that your sins may be blotted out.
Repenting is not the same as works. It is a misunderstood word that most people think means to feel sorry for your sins. But the word means to have a change of heart or a change in the way you think about the world. It means to agree with the way God sees things. Is this not part of desiring God? Yes, it is one of the requirements that gives God glory. To not repent and think God’s thoughts after him, would make you a rebel in the kingdom.
There are a lot of requirements actually, becoming like a little child, taking up your cross and following him, obeying him, being born again. All of these things are in essence the same thing. They are the essence of faith in Jesus and trust in Him as Lord and Savior. They are all expressions of that desire for him to be satisfied in him for all that you need.
My notes from listening to a sermon entitled “Joy Recovered” by John Piper
Posted by David Carroll
I have been memorizing scripture for more than twelve years now on a regular basis. Most of the time it has been part of a small group accountability effort. I cannot overestimate the value of memorizing scripture for the impact it will have on your walk with God. It affects so many areas of the Christian life to have a verse ready for any situation, witnessing, counseling, meditation, encouragement and fighting sin.
I wrote a Pocket PC application to help me organize and practice the memorization process a number of years ago. And of course it still works like a charm. However, I rarely if ever carry it now since I use a Windows Mobile Smartphone which handles all of my email and contacts better than the Pocket PC did. But the SmartPhone interface is not conducive for scripture practice because of the keyboard and small screen.
So I had the idea of putting together a web-based version similar to my previous incarnations of the Verse Memorization program. I just have the basics of it working and there are a few bugs yet. The look and feel of it really need a lot of work but it is usable. Still to do are the ability to modify the categories and add new verses. But I have a huge database already of several hundred verses that should be enough to get me back started practicing them as a part of my daily disciplines.
You are welcome to give it a try yourself. Click on the “Verse” menu item above and you will be taken to an initial page of verses laid out in a table. There is a dropdown box to choose one of my own crazily organized categories to change the verses selected. Then find a verse you want to practice and click the “Practice” hyperlink. That will give you a modal dialog box with the rest of the instructions there. Words that start with “quotation marks” do not work like they are supposed to yet.
Update 2/6/2006 1:50PM : I fixed a couple of bugs and dressed up the look a bit.
Another Update 2/6/2006 11:59PM : I noticed the the instructions on the practice dialog page did not tell you that you could press the spacebar when ever you get stuck on a word. In fact pressing the spacebar will one word at a time complete the whole verse for you. I corrected the instructions.
Posted by David Carroll
I was listening to another Piper Sermon this morning and I knew I needed write this down and study it and make it part of my own understanding to share with others. I listen to Piper sermons devotionally because his words draw me to Christ in a tearful, making me love so much more, and that is such a good thing.
But there is more to the motivation for writing these particular notes. Piper is a Calvinist and I am maybe a three point Calvinist. So in the intramural debate between Christians on this subject we would be on opposite teams but at the same school. What I heard in this Sermon was a list of the Stages of progression to Eternal Life. And these stages necessarily include how a person gets Eternal Life in the first place. Everything he said, I could agree with completely even given my three point Calvinist stance. (I don't like using that term to describe me but it makes my point most plainly in this context.)
Stage 1. Eternal life is in Christ.
John 1:4
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 14:6
Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life."
If we are going to find Eternal Life, we must look to Christ and find it in Him.
Stage 2. Eternal life comes to us through the word of Christ.
John 6:68
(Peter talking to Jesus) "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life"
John 1:1,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us
We can only know about Eternal Life through the words of Christ, and what he taught.
Stage 3. In the hearing of the words of eternal life, God draws people to Christ.
John 6:44
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him
This is the wooing and drawing of God, without which no one would by nature choose Him.
John 5:40
But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Some will resist this wooing even though they have heard the words.
God must give you a measure of faith to be able to see Jesus and who He really is.
Is that regeneration, or we still talking about God's drawing, beckoning people?
Stage 4. We receive eternal life through believing in Christ.
When we hear the words of life, and use that measure of faith that God has given us to act on God's drawing power, and believe in Jesus, we receive him into our lives and with him we receive eternal life, because he is eternal life.
John 15:5 (NKJV)
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
It is the vine that has the sap of life which can course through the branches giving them life. If the branches are not attached to the vine, they are dead.
Stage 5. In believing we have eternal life NOW, not just in the future.
John 5:24 (NKJV)
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
This is not a future event but an event that occurs at the moment of hearing Jesus' Word and believing it. In the above verse, both words that speak of possessing eternal life and passing into life are present tense not future!
Stage 6. This eternal life is a personal relationship with God the Father and God the Son.
John 17:3 (NKJV)
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Eternal Life is not an insurance policy against death and hell. Eternal Life is all about knowing God and Jesus intimately. And that does not happen in an instant. It will take an eternity to know the fullness of God.
Stage 7. Eternal life is not interrupted at death.
John 11:25-26 (NKJV)
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Stage 8. Eternal life will be made complete when our bodies are raised from the dead and reunited with our spirits.
John 6:40 (NKJV)
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
There is a period of time when we will not have our new ressurected bodies if we die before the rapture. We will enjoy the presence of Christ in heaven in our spiritual bodies.
Romans 8:23 (NKJV)
Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
We will eagerly wait in heaven for that day when we are reunited with out perfected ressurected bodies.
Stage 9. Eternal life will last for ever and ever.
Have you ever worried about getting bored in heaven? Don't worry, it will take an eternity to discover all the beauty, majesty, wonder, and splendor of God and all that He is. And it will take an eternity to fully grasp the depth and height and width and breadth of God's Love.
Posted by David Carroll
I don’t want to pick on homosexuals for their particular sin. I have plenty of my own sins that although different, nonetheless make me a sinner. The big difference would be my remorse for my own sin since I do know that they are indeed sins. For the homosexual activist, their conduct is not sin. I think that is the big dividing line. After all, to repent means to have a change of mind toward agreement with God.
I’ve been blogging a post from time to time expressing my curiosity with the emerging church. Brian McLaren, the apparent senior leader for the emerging movement, writes in his own blog: (whole post here)
Frankly, many of us don't know what we should think about homosexuality. We've heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say "it seems good to the Holy Spirit and us." That alienates us from both the liberals and conservatives who seem to know exactly what we should think. Even if we are convinced that all homosexual behavior is always sinful, we still want to treat gay and lesbian people with more dignity, gentleness, and respect than our colleagues do. If we think that there may actually be a legitimate context for some homosexual relationships, we know that the biblical arguments are nuanced and multilayered, and the pastoral ramifications are staggeringly complex. We aren't sure if or where lines are to be drawn, nor do we know how to enforce with fairness whatever lines are drawn.
“No position has yet won our confidence?” what about the position of scripture which is clear as a bell. This sort of accommodation of current culture without speaking the truth in love seems to be false teaching to me.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Posted by David Carroll
I have been praying for my own healing, imploring, asking, claiming promises. I hurt and I ask for God to remove the hurt. I need and I ask God to supply the need. I want and I ask God to make me happy. I work and I ask God to make me successful. I share my faith with another and I ask God to give the increase. I hear about others who need prayer and I intercede for them.
A couple of entries ago I spoke of Don Whitney and asked that you pray for his battle with cancer of the colon. Keeping up with his blog, I was very encouraged that he was able to preach last Sunday night. I am asking in a similar way that I be able to teach this Wednesday night. In the meantime, I’ve down-loaded some of his sermons on his site to listen to.
One of the sermons I listened to was called “The Motive Needed for Answered Prayer.” I believe his message will have and already has had a profound impact on my prayer life. Using scripture to make his argument, he concludes that the chief motive for our praying to God for anything should be to glorify Him and His name. That means praying like this. Lord I am asking that you heal me of my current affliction so that your name might be glorified. But If your name would be more glorified by not healing me, then that is what I desire. That’s how Jesus prayed in his darkest moment in the garden of Gethsemane hours before he was tortured and crucified. But Jesus taught us to always be concerned with “Hallowing” God’s name first and foremost.
Psalm 37:3-4 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
This has always been one of my favorite memory verses but I never have tied that delighting myself in the Lord was in essence the same thing as wanting to see Him glorified. That is God’s highest motive and desire that He be glorified among the people.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us that "man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." For me, these two scriptures form the basis of statement. So how do I tie this in to a prayer life that desires God’s glory first and foremost above all my requests? I think Andrew Murray answers this well in his book “With Christ in the School of Prayer”
Desire for the glory of the Father is not something we can arouse and present to our Lord when we prepare ourselves to pray. Only when the whole life in all its parts is given up to God's glory can we really pray to Christ's glory, too. "Do all to the glory of God," and "Ask all to the glory of God." These twin commands are inseparable. Obedience to the former is the secret of grace for the latter. Living for the glory of God is the condition of the prayers that Jesus can answer.
Andrew Murray
Posted by David Carroll
Just added a new entry in the Devotional Section:
The Protoevangelium (First Gospel)
Posted by David Carroll
I am still catching up on my blog reading and just now found out that John Piper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will have a radical prostatectomy (complete removal of the prostate) in early February. Again, I find it uplifting spiritually as with Don Whitney below, to see the reaction of a particularly Godly man to such news. (HT: Justin Taylor)
Piper wrote a letter to his church of which I am only going to quote the second half which is the half that shows the sweet and Godly attitude of his complete trust in Christ.
This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.
For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?
God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”
So I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2) don’t let the church miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for your supremacy for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way
See, If you are like me, you are already smiling and uplifted in confidence in our Lord because of this man’s scripture saturated prayer.
I want to quote from a scripture he referred to only in a glancing way because it has an important impact on my present situation.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
I have been blogging about my affliction but I want you to know, it is light and it is just for a moment and everything else about this passage is true for me right now.
Posted by David Carroll
I have been reworking the devotion section of my site. As you may know, I started this Blog as a way of reading through the Bible in one year and staying accountable to my students for the commitment by blogging a devotional on something I read each day. I did 324 devotions that year so I fell a bit short but enough for a good start on an entire year's worth of bible devotions. So to complete the year, I need to do another 41 devotions. I've got the setup almost like I want it. So far there are place taker devotions titled "New Devotion" scattered throughout where I failed to post back in 2003. So I'll be working on New Devotions to fill in the gaps from time to time. My goal is to get far enough ahead so that someone could get started on reading the Bible through in a year (you don’t have to start on January 1)
So today I wrote the first devotion of the missing ones: A very good place to start. You can also click on the Reading Plan Button to see how that works too. It has a table of links that take you to Bible Gateway.com to present you with the four sections of scripture you are to read each day.
Later, I’ll post some more about how to use the devotion section or make it more intuitive at the same time.
Posted by David Carroll
Just a few Christmas season memories today. This is a video lesson I did last year and thought you might want to watch it if you have not yet seen it to learn about the scientific possibilities regarding the mystery of the Star. If you are interested in astronomy or history and how this can confirm the Biblical text, you might like this one. It’s a 43.5 mb Flash file, be patient and use your fulll screen to view.
Also, I recorded some short audio thoughts (1 min 48 secs) last year about the Star of Bethlehem.
Enjoy and God Bless
P.S.: my appetite came back today! I never thought taco soup could ever taste so good! Praise God!
Posted by David Carroll
Dallas Willard talks about three lights that form a sort of check and balance whether what we “hear” from God is true or not. They are:
- Circumstances
- Impressions of the Spirit
- Passages from the Bible
It is suggested that when these three point in the same direction, we can be assured it points to where God would have us go. This perhaps sounds too much like a formula or a gimmick which we would not expect to be so simple but let’s examine it.
First of all, there is no doubt you must have a working familiarity and a confidence in the recognition of these “lights.”
What if you read a passage from the Bible, and you felt a clear impression of the Holy Spirit you should do something but the circumstances in your life either would not allow for it or were in some way hindering it. I think this would be a clear indication that God would have you to wait.
What is the biblical test of authenticity? I believe that it must contain a clear confession of Jesus Christ as Lord
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NKJV)
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
1 John 4:2-3 (NKJV)
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
I know that I have prayed a number of times for God to either open or close doors to make it clear whether to proceed or stop. But how do you know who is opening and closing doors? Is it God or Satan or another person? So Scripture and inner promptings of the Spirit must be a part of the analysis of such door opening and closing.
I think the point is that these three lights do serve to correct each other and perhaps are useful to only that extent. At any rate, these three lights seem to reflect the very things that must go on in our decision making process which is still necessary even when hearing from God.
I posted about the Emerging Church the other day. Here is an interesting post, You Might Be Emerging If..., that is in a funny way accurately descriptive since it seems to appeal to the actual emergents themselves judging from the comments. I don’t get most of it but I still think it is a significant movement with the young generation.
Posted by David Carroll
Some people always have a hilariously funny story about stuff that happens to them. One such person is Phil Johnson. I read his blog and noticed a story about my beloved pastor Adrian Rogers. Although it’s funny from Phil’s perspective, it really illustrates the graciousness of Adrian Rogers. I laughed till I cried and then cried some more when I thought about Pastor Rogers.
I want to say something about the passing of Adrian Rogers. I had the highest respect for him, a great love for his preaching ministry, and a special appreciation for the courage and diligence he showed in resisting the erosion of confidence in the Scriptures in some SBC circles.
I also made a short personal connection with Dr. Rogers once.
This happened while I was working as acquisitions editor for Moody Press in 1982. I was still in my 20s, but my job at Moody gave me access to a number of well-known preachers and authors. Moody Press sent me to the ICBI convention in San Diego that year, because every major Moody Press author (as well as every person we ever dreamed of recruiting to be a Moody Press author) was there. My assignment was to get to know as many of them as possible and find out what they were interested in writing. (That conference was where I really got to know John MacArthur for the first time.)
Anyway, one morning during the conference, I had breakfast scheduled with Adrian Rogers. Just the two of us. To talk about books. I was in awe. It was hard not to be. Of course, his voice was the deepest, richest, most mellifluous voice ever. In person, he had the presence to match. He was poised, elegant, refined—the very picture of dignity. And he seemed genuinely interested in talking to me about writing.
I ordered grapefruit. I had so many restaurant-meetings lined up for three days solid that I would have preferred not to eat at all, but he was having breakfast, and it would have been impolite to sit there and do nothing besides talk business while watching him eat.
This was a pretty good grapefruit, with only a few seeds, and small ones. But about halfway through my grapefruit, at a point in the conversation where he was laying out a really interesting book idea, I took a bite of grapefruit that turned out to have a seed in it. If I were at home with Darlene, I would just get up, walk over, and spit the seed directly into the bin. (Or else take aim and spit the seed across the kitchen in the general direction of the bin.) But in this classy hotel restaurant with fabric napkins and fine silverware, sitting across a small table from Dr. Rogers, I wanted to be as well-mannered as possible.
In retrospect, it would have been wise simply to swallow the seed. What I tried to do was quietly, discreetly, put the spoon to my mouth, deposit the seed there, and then silently put it back on the edge of my plate. But this was a really sticky seed, and I couldn't get it off my lip. I tried to blow it softly onto the spoon, but it didn't budge. So I blew harder.
Much too hard, actually. The maneuver launched the seed, which bounced off my spoon, arced across the table, and stuck fast to Adrian Rogers' lapel. His dark blue tailored suit was now decorated with a rather conspicuous grapefruit seed.
Worse, he didn't seem to see it happen. He kept talking to me without missing a beat, as if the whole thing had utterly escaped his notice.
I quickly realized I was no longer hearing him. My attention was fixed on the grapefruit seed, which sat there like a large, grinning lapel pin—getting bigger the more I looked at it. I couldn't decide whether to mention it to him or let him start his day with a seed from my breakfast clinging to his suit, waiting until someone else pointed out to him that it was there. In every scenario I could imagine, he would be embarrassed to discover the grapefruit seed hanging from his lapel, and of course, he would immediately know where it must've come from.
But after a 90-second eternity, during a moment when he thought I had looked down at my note pad, he quickly flicked his wrist and brushed it off. He knew it was there all the time, but he said nothing about it, I presume because he was too gracious to embarrass me.
From that day on, every time I ever saw him or heard his voice on the radio, I have remembered the grapefruit-seed incident; his classy, gentle compassion; and the care he took not to notice my disastrous lapse of etiquette.
I know he was beloved by his people, and I completely understand why. He'll be missed.
I was laughing so hard when I got to the end I had to re-read the section about Dr. Rogers graciousness because my eyes were watering with laughter by the time I got there. The italics above are mine because I wanted you not to miss the part about Dr. Rogers’ graciousness.
Posted by David Carroll
There is a lot of buzz about the upcoming movie The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, and naturally there is a heightened interest in C.S. Lewis as a Christian apoligist with a wonderful storytelling ability. Andrew Hoffecker wrote a good article on this in the Reformation 21 » December feature.
God is more truly imagined than expressed, and He exists more truly than He is imagined.
– Augustine
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
– Sir Arthur Eddington
I think God delights in our imagination of Him. After all, Jesus used imaginative parables to illustrate truth in a way that allows it to be told without objection from the hearer. But our imagination can never fully comprehend His true majesty and glory.
God’s prescription for this is to stay focused on Jesus:
John 14:9 (NKJV)
He who has seen Me has seen the Father
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
I can do more than imagine, I can be Jesus’ disciple and follow Him.
Posted by David Carroll
I am still trying to figure out what the Emerging Church movement is. The few people I've asked at church about this, don’t seem to know much about it.. Most of the discussion seems to be occurring on the Internet. But I don’t think it is insignificant.
My take is that it is somewhat of a young, ecumenical, worship centered, slightly charismatic. The common denominator seems to be a suspicion of traditional church and a desire to have a more meaningful religious experience.
John Hammett, Professor at Southeastern Theological Seminary, presented a paper available here: An Ecclesiological Assessment of the Emerging Church Movement. Thanks to Justin Taylor for the link. There is also a more accessible resource written by emerging churchers here.
I am going to digress now on some related thoughts I have about this.
One of the earmarks of the young generation (X and Y generation) is the postmodern characteristic of asking “why” as opposed to just accepting a thing without challenge. I don’t think this is bad, a thing said to be truth is not true because it is said, but this can turn into an attitude that is annoying if it goes too far.
One of the ways modern people progress is by standing on achievements of prior generations. This is true scientifically and philosophically. However, you could argue that science progresses by proving prior assumptions wrong. Does this scientific method apply to religious thought? Only to a degree. The difference is that Christians have the Bible and if that book is Abo solute truth, a tenet of my faith anyway, then we always compare current thought against that standard. Science does not have anything like this. I think if the Emerging Church is careful to do this, regardless of how different from traditional church, it should be accepted with open arms.
For me then, the only question that remains is whether the movement accepts the Bible as the innerrant, inspired word of God. How do you find this out without a creedal statement?
Posted by David Carroll
There were a number of podcasts I had done last year (2004) up to about March of this year, that had broken links. Evidently they had been like that since last May when I did some reorganization on the server they were located on. The links are fixed now. Scroll down the list after clicking on this link to find them. Be forewarned, these files are located on my home server and the download speed for you will be a litte slower.
Posted by David Carroll
One of the most important things I've learned from John Piper is that we must always be on guard to worship the Giver, not the gifts--to love God, not simply what he has given us.
That's the point of this stanza from Anne R. Cousin's hym,
"The Sands of Time Are Sinking." The entire hymn was inspired by Samuel Rutherford's
Letters, and this stanza in particular was built upon Letters 21 and 168.
The Bride eyes not her garment, But her dear Bridegroom's face
I will not gaze at glory, But on my King of Grace—
Not at the crown He gifteth, But on His piercèd hand:—
The Lamb is all the glory Of Immanuel's land.
Posted by David Carroll
This article, Reformation 21 Online Magazine, A Preacher's Decalogue, has some good advice for preachers and teachers of the Bible. The points:
- Know your Bible better
- Be a man of prayer
- Done lose sight of Christ
- Be deeply trinitarian
- Use your imagination
Posted by David Carroll
Dr. Adrian Rogers, Founder of Love Worth Finding Ministries, Pastor Emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church and a gifted man of God passed away in to the presence of the Lord early this morning after battling cancer and double pneumonia.
I received the new birth under this man's ministry. My heart is heavy but also rejoicing for a job well done by this good and faithful servant. It was in 1980 that I finally came to truly understand the gospel. I had come close many times before, starting when I was 16 at a Billy Graham Crusade. It was the clarity, confidence and consistency of his preaching that finally reached by ears. Even though he was my Pastor I never got to know him personally. The church was too large and I came back to Memphis too late in his career to get close to him. I don't regret that; I have many men who are mentors to me.
Some will say "how sad" that Pastor Rogers and Joyce could not enjoy their retirement years together. But I know that Pastor would not want us to feel sad but to find comfort in God's grace which is sufficient for us beyond all that we could ever ask or desire. Pastor Rogers had been asking God for another 15 years of ministry but God's answer was "No, I am ready for you to come home."
My new Pastor, Steve Gaines is unquestionably God's chosen man for our church at this stage. He is truly an Elisha to Pastor Roger's Elijah. Thank You Lord for both of these men who are so used of You.
I will remember Pastor Rogers but I won't miss him really became his voice will continue to resonate until Christ comes for the rest of us.
Posted by David Carroll
I know I've made this point before in this series about "Hearing God" but I
need to revisit it again because it is so important and fundamental. Everything
we know about Jesus comes from the Bible. Most everything we know about the Holy
Spirit comes from the Bible. I say most because someone never having heard God's
word could still know his conscience is tugging him away from sin and that
certainly would be the Holy Spirit. Most everything we know about God comes from
the Bible. Again I say most because we can know His creative power by looking
around us.
Romans 1:20 (NKJV)
For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse,
So the reason I want to revisit this subject of Hearing God through the
scripture is because the written Word is central to knowing God and knowing
what He wants of us. Eagerly studying the word of God naturally and
practically leads a person to knowing Christ and wanting to be like Him.
I've seen the antithesis of this too, even in my own life. Disregarding the
daily use of the Bible leads a person away from Christ. I can readily think
of a number of individual people who, when I am around them, naturally draw
me to Christ. Thinking about why this is so, I can easily point to the fact
that they themselves are saturated in God's word, both devotionally and in
their conversation. So, it is self-evident that God's word is vital to a
close relationship with God.
Dallas Willard recommends reading the Bible with a submissive attitude.
He says:
Study as intelligently as possible, with all available means, but
never study merely to find the truth and especially not just to prove
something. Subordinate your desire to find the truth to your desire to
do it, to act it out!
That's the "how" part but regarding what to read, I know have used a "One
Year Bible Reading Plan" before but I know I read much of it without
absorbing it. On the other hand, I have struggled with the idea of just
beginning to read whatever text my finger happens to open to. It's all good,
right? Well, Willard has more good advice about "what" to read too.
We should begin with those parts of Scripture with which we have
some familiarity, such as Psalm 23, the Lord's Prayer, the Sermon on the
Mount, 1 Corinthians 13, or Romans 8.
Do not try to read a great deal at once...It is better in one year
to have ten good verses transferred into the substance of our lives than
to have every word of the Bible flash before our eyes...Do not hurry. Do
not dabble in spiritual things.
The goal is for the truth of God's word to become part of us. That is to
say, we need to assimilate the truth and to agree with it. Agreeing with the
truth that we know well and can easily repeat is what it means to have the
"mind of Christ." Willard gives five progressive steps as a process of
attaining this goal when dealing with God's word:
- information
- longing for it to be so
- affirmation that it must be so
- invocation to God to make it so
- appropriation by God's grace that it is so
Such use of God's word is a discipline. Ingrained habit and self-control
are the keys behind such discipline. Everyday, devote yourself to this kind
of exercise an you will find yourself being drawn close to God. Close enough
to Hear from God.
Posted by David Carroll
This is a fascinating progression. Two can communicate but still be at a distance from each other, even disagree. But when communication becomes intimate, two can progress to a state of communion. Agreement becomes natural, thoughts are shared, one finishes the others sentences. Still, there is the awareness of two distinct persons sharing a common purpose for a time. Union is the ultimate stage of two becoming one, where oneness comes from total commitment and unselfish love and a desire to know and please the other. In union, there is no notion of "mine" and "yours"; it is all "our". This is the meaning of "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Trust is the key to confidence in such a union with Christ. Think about the disciples with Jesus on the sea of Galilee during the storm in that boat being tossed about. Jesus was asleep and the disciples were afraid and woke him crying for him to save them. Jesus rebuked them for their little faith and then calmed the storm. Knowing who Jesus was, and knowing they were in the boat with him, what was there to worry about? Would Jesus go down and perish with them in the storm? Jesus could sleep because he had faith that nothing would happen to him apart from the Father's will. No worries. Apart from falling out of the boat, the disciples were as safe as Jesus was. They could have derived all of their faith from Jesus' faith. They did not need to rely on their own faith because Jesus was in the same boat with them. In a similar way, the one who is in union with Christ can derive all of his faith from Jesus...not only faith but love, power, and peace of mind. Is this not what is meant by "having the mind of Christ?"
1 Corinthians 2:16 (NKJV)
For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
If Christ is in me and I no longer depend upon myself, then I don't just share the same thoughts with Christ, His thoughts are my thoughts. This is the ultimate in communication. There is no more medium through which the communication must travel. There can be no error in transmission.
OK, I must admit, all that seems high and lofty and not practical at all. But you'd say the same thing about a marriage between two lovers so devoted to one another they might describe their union in the same terms. It is the necessity of total surrender to another that is the barrier to believing this can be true.
Willard presents some very practical techniques for progressing towards this union. I'll be studying those next.
Posted by David Carroll
I heard a message last night that I want to write down here as best I can.
Why all the devastation from Hurricane Katrina? Did God allow this? Did He cause this? What is the purpose? Why did He not stop it? He could have stopped it couldn't He? Why?
Asaph the psalmist is in anguish and records his despair in Psalm 77
Psalm 77:1-6 (NKJV)
1I cried out to God with my voice--To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me. 2In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. 3I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
4You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. 6I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.
Asaph could not sleep nor could he be comforted. He cried out to God and complained. He was overwhelmed. Think about Asaph's situation. Have you not been there? I have, and in the last three years it seems, quite often. Oh how those who have suffered this great disaster of Hurricane Katrina must be there too right now.
Asaph asked questions too. Listen to him in rapid fire fashion question God in despair.
Psalm 77:7-9 (NKJV)
Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? 8Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? 9Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
Think about these questions for a moment. Where is God in all this? Why is God not helping? Is this a judgment from God? You'll hear these same questions on talk shows in the media for the next days and weeks to come. Ministers will be called upon to give an answer. They will say things like, God did not want this to happen, he just can't control everything you know. You'll hear the athiest say with mocking disdain that this proves there is no God. You'll hear the skeptic say that if God were so great why could he not have stopped this. And if he could have stopped it he must not really care. So who will have the answer? Not just an answer that makes us feel good or let's God off the hook, but the truth. That's what we need isn't it?
Then Asaph searches his mind for something to console him and then remembers what God has done in the past which is recorded in the scriptures.
Psalm 77:10-15 (NKJV)
And I said, "This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 11I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. 13Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? 14You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. 15You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Think about that for a moment. Think about how God as acted in mighty ways in times past. Think about His great creation. Talk about these wonders with your friends. Who else can we turn to but God. He has the power of life and death; He is the Creator God. He is a savior of people. How do we know these things? Because his chosen people the Israelites, through whom he revealed Himself to the world, have written down a history of God's dealings with them. These are first hand accounts.
The next part of Asaph's psalm speaks of waters and clouds and thunder and lighting, speaking strangely appropriately of something that sounds much like a hurricane.
Psalm 77:16-19 (NKJV)
The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled. 17The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. 18The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. 19Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, And Your footsteps were not known.
We can't see how God is in control but the Bible says that He is. Jesus made the winds and the waves stand still with three words: "Peace, be still." Could God have stopped this hurricane? Certainly. Could God have caused this hurricane? Certainly.
To the one who says there is no God:
Psalm 14:1 (NKJV)
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
To the one who says God could not have done anything about this:
Job 36:26 (NKJV)
"Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.
To the one who says He must not really care:
Psalm 36:7-9 (NKJV)
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. 8They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. 9For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
So where is all the lovingkindness of God now? I can't give an answer to what is a mystery but perhaps I should ask "Why did this not happen to me?" After pondering that question for a while, think about how gracious God is to us who were saved from this disaster.
Luke 13:4-5 (NKJV)
Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
Truly God does things that we can't possibly understand.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
But we can trust God's word and what the truth is. God is great and God is good. Listen to Asaph's last verse Psalm 77
Psalm 77:20 (NKJV)
You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
God is going to use my hands and the hands of many to lead the despairing back, to help them find hope, to help them rebuild, and survive.
God is like a great surgeon working on a patient who only feels the pain of the knife and the difficulty of recovery from major surgery. But it is that great surgeon who is healing and helping even though the cure hurts.
Posted by David Carroll
God's word has the power to create life. He made the plants and plant life is able to respond in that realm to the soil, sunlight and rain. God created animal life and in that realm animals can do much more than plants. They can eat, hear, and mate with each other. Plants are oblivious to the animal realm and in that sense are dead to animal kind of life. Humans live in a yet higher realm in which we can understand abstract thought such as mathematics, poetry, art and all manner of communication. The animal is dead to this kind of life.
There is an even higher kind of life that we as humans were meant to have--Eternal life. This is the realm in which we hear and communicate with God. God is eternal and to communicate with Him in that realm we must have an eternal kind of life. But since Adam we have been dead to this kind of life. How can we regain it? To enter any life you must be born into it.
John 3:3 (NKJV)
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The life creating power of God's word is what makes this new birth possible. Willard says "Without this birth we cannot recognize God's workings: we do not possess the appropriate faculties and equipment. We are like kittens trying to contemplate a sonnet."
1 Peter 1:23 (NKJV)
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever
Posted by David Carroll
Don't think that God's "still small voice" is weak because it is still or small. This same voice created everything, all matter, energy and time and organized it all into the magnificent universe and the marvelous living chemistry of cellular life. How else would he have done it? He is not matter but spirit.
John 4:24 (NKJV)
God is Spirit
John 6:63 (NKJV)
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Words are God's power and we have been made in His image and so when he gave us the ability to speak, He gave us a bit of that same power.
Proverbs 15:4 (NKJV)
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
My words can harm another person in terrible ways but my words can also build another person up.
If I invent anything or imagine a computer program that will perform some helpful task and then I take those thoughts and express them in words organized in a careful way then I have created something from shear thought and words. No matter how much material I had to push around or how much energy I had to expend, the fact is that the end product would not have exited apart from the original thought. When I speak it is the expression of the mind. In this sense all expressions of my mind are my "words" just as all expressions of God's mind are the "words" of God.
The ancient philosophers spoke of the "prime mover." It was an argument for the existence of God. The fact that things are in motion means that there has been a chain of events in which things are moved by a mover which itself was moved by a prior mover and so on. To avoid an infinite regression, there must be an unmoved mover or the first mover, itself unmoved; this prime mover is God. But how did He do it? He did not touch the thing because that implies a physical action of the mover contacting the moved. Since God is spirit, there is no contact. It was idea, thought, the mind of God, in essence the word of God which did the moving.
Willard speaks of our ability to have a thought and an immediate action. I am thinking as I type this sentence but I am not aware at all of how my fingers tap the keyboard. They just do; I think and they move.
Psalm 33:9 (NKJV)
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
Posted by David Carroll
The greater the faith, the easier it is to exercise it. Think about that. With great faith, there is no need to bother with worry; your great faith keeps you from having to. With great faith, it is easy to believe. I am not talking about great leaps of faith. No a great faith must be in something that is dependable and sure. Does this not describe God?
Weak faith is hard. There is doubt and struggle. It seems as if you have to bolster it with determination and mustering. Who wants that?
Willard reminds us of the story about the Centurion who went to Jesus to ask him to heal his servant who was near death with sickness. Jesus was ready to go to his house to heal the servant when the Centurion spoke like this:
Luke 7:6-8 (NKJV)
Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Jesus marveled at this man's faith saying verse 9 "I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
Why did Jesus consider this man's faith as great? It was because of the ease with which he believed that Jesus could heal from a distance by just speaking a word.
Of course, Willard's point is to point out the power of words and how that relates to the better desire to hear words from God and not just receive visions. Words created the universe. Words can build up and words can destroy. Because of the power of words, "that still small voice" of God is what we want to hear.
Posted by David Carroll
Dreams and visions can be interpreted in many different ways and Willard concludes that for this reason that these forms of communication are inferior to the “voice” of the Lord. There has some scriptural evidence for this in the following passage:
Numbers 12:6-8 (NKJV)
Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.
Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Now the context for this occasion was the jealousy of Moses’ sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron who wanted to hear from God the same way Moses did. Notice what God says about superiority of plain sayings versus dark sayings. If the message is muddled and unclear, it is not from God. If you hear God’s “still small voice,” it will be clear and articulate, you will have no doubt about the meaning. This will be the mark of a mature, conversational relationship with God.
Then what is the purpose of dreams and visions which may not be clear and precise in their meanings? Of course, not all dreams or visions are from the Lord. I suppose some might result from that late-night, fast-food meal you scarfed down right before going to bed. But God says he speaks in dreams and visions and we conclude that where the message is obscure that God is still communicating something. Think about what can occur from having such dreams and visions. I could be struck with fear or motivated to seek and investigate or even to slow down and listen more closely. Certainly these results can be the purpose of God’s working in the life of an immature believer or even an unbeliever. I can think of several unbelieving kings in the Bible whom God gave dreams and motivated them to cease from doing harm to God’s people.
Willard concludes that the “more spectacular is the less mature.” With maturity in the Lord comes that “still small voice.” Why should that be? It is only with maturity that the child of God can be entrusted with the more complete knowledge of the holy.
Posted by David Carroll
All this talk of hearing God could be dangerous. After all, it is possible to be mistaken yet convinced that God is telling you something. I have heard a number of "prophets" in Christian circles who had a message from God for the church. But the message somehow seemed out of character. Typically, this urgent message from an determined individual would emphasize one doctrine or particular phrase from scripture out of context and out of proportion from other balancing doctrines. Of course, this is exactly how cults get started.
So on the subject of hearing God as it relates to individuals, I think we are talking about a personal message for that person's edification or conviction of sin or of guidance. I think it can be a word for others as well but it will always be consistent with God's revealed word and the message transmitted to others in this way will be personal to these others as well.
But a leader in the church should never discourage one from hearing from God. The express purpose of Jesus leaving us the Holy Spirit was for such individual communication. Helping others to hear from God is a wonderful thing. Willard writes of Abraham helping his servant in this way:
How wonderful that Abraham could assure his puzzled servant that God was guiding him back to the city of Nahor to find a wife for Issac! How wonderful that the servant could come to an utterly new understanding of God because he did experience guidance and was indeed guided into knowledge of guidance itself!
Here are the first few verses of that chapter but go read the rest of this story, it will thrill you to see how the servant worked with God who guided him.
Genesis 24:1-7 (NKJV)
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?"
6 But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
So the upshot is that we need to help others to hear from God too. This is not a privilege which should be held close because it is too dangerous to be used by the masses. No, every child of God should expect to hear from Him.
Posted by David Carroll
God speaks to us in many ways but Willard maintains that it is through our own thoughts and feelings that God speaks most. In this way, God utilizes our own faculties of understanding and emotions. The thoughts I think are my own thoughts but they might originate in the mind of God. I am trying to imagine how I can distinguish such thoughts from God. I think that I must first be a clean vessel, in tune with God's word, and ready to obey his will whatever it may be. Surely then God can quietly slip in to my mind and speak in that still, small voice.
1 Kings 19:11-12 (NKJV)
Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Perhaps I should believe that if God speaks that it should be in great dramatic fashion commensurate with God's nature. These pictures that are painted in the natural world of God's creation depict the attributes of God much like you might see part of an artist's personality in his paintings. These things show his power and might but is that a complete picture of God? He is more than power and might.
I remember being in a meeting once with a number of managers and the CEO of the organization. The managers all spoke with confidence, each one trying to upstage the next. When the CEO spoke, I was struck with the manner of his speaking; he spoke in a very quiet and calm tone. The remarkable thing is that the entire room became very still and silent while he was speaking. You could tell that everybody in the room was leaning towards this CEO so as to not miss a word he spoke. The group Point of Grace sang a song entitled "Speak a little softer so I can hear you." Isn't that just like God to cause us to be still so that we can hear Him? Why should he compete with the din and noise of this world?
Help me Father to find those quiet places during the day where I can listen to Your "still, small voice."
Posted by David Carroll
God may speak to me but I might not understand the message. I must understand more about Him before I understand what He might say. The wonderful news is that if I seek to understand him he has promised to enlighten me.
Proverbs 2:3-5