Archive for the ‘Scripture’ Category

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God Doesn’t Need Us!

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
To admit the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine Being. Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself…

So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity.

-A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy, p.52-53

Posted in Scripture, Theology, Tozer Tidbits | 1 Comment »

Wherein I vent in order to get some sleep

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Have you ever had so much on your mind that it is simply impossible to settle into a restful sleep? At this moment, it is 1:15am and I have so many unrelated thoughts swirling around in my head that I can barely think straight.

[Warning: the next paragraph is where I retch every last "issue" out of me. Feel free to skip it entirely.]

Attempts to “take my thoughts captive” are evading me. There are laundry and dishes to be done, groceries to buy, a field trip to prepare for and arrange carpooling for. And then there’s the landscaping guy who might be coming this week to do some major work, but he hasn’t returned any of our calls in the last week and a half. There are multiple responsibilities with the Bible study group I’m involved with including preparing dishes and table decorations for the end of the year bash, as well as my regular weekly duties dealing with childcare for the group. And then there’s the fiasco that occurred at church this morning: conflict with no immediate resolution, having to settle for being misunderstood, being told that asking questions is the same thing as complaining, all leading to less than ideal circumstances in which we will probably have to verbalize some things to church leadership we have been hesitant to verbalize.

Throughout all these thoughts, interwoven and set to music (because that’s about the only way that I can memorize them), has been flowing Scripture:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Phil. 4:6-7

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. -Hebrews 12:1-3

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose….What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:28, 31

Somehow, in the midst of this cacophonous symphony of thoughts and prayer and praise, I am directed back to the One who has grace for it all. The One who holds it all in His hand and is not threatened by my questions, but simply thanks me for bringing them to Him. The One who gently helps me release my death-grip on my day and gives me the gift of another one with the hope that I will give this one back to Him more completely, for His glory not mine.

…

Okay, it took me a while to get here (for those who keep track of such things, it’s now 2am). Thanks for listening. (Yawn.) I think I’ll be able to get a little sleep now…

Posted in Just Life, Scripture | 5 Comments »

On Idolatry

Thursday, March 6th, 2008
The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are not worthy of Him. -A.W. Tozer

I’ve been thinking about confronted with some ideas about idolatry lately. For a while I’ve been pondering the idea that how comfortable (bad word, but best I can come up with) I am with God has a lot to do with how comfortable I am being the one who is not in control. This control theme is not a new one for me – for an example of how this plays out in my life, see this post. I know I’m more comfortable being the one in the control seat. I just didn’t quite realize the extent to which I do the same thing with God. And I really didn’t realize that this control issue is at the root of almost everything I would call an idol in my life.

I came across this passage from Isaiah 44. I had read it before, but never quite caught the sarcasm dripping from Isaiah’s pen…

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

-Isaiah 44:9-20, emphasis mine

I love how Isaiah shows the detail the craftsmen put into their own creation – an act which only imitates the true Creator – contrasting with the simplicity of the statement of how primitively they use the same wood for such base tasks. They are choosing to worship (attribute worth to) something which can be used and manipulated with their own hands for their own purposes. Isaiah makes it all seem so assinine. The key is lack of knowledge and discernment, a sin which, unfortunately can be seen often in my life, and one that can easily blind me to my own folly.

Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah’s colorful language, the ’scarecrows in a cornfield’ (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user’s control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry.

- David F. Wells (found on the Thinklings banner today, again with my emphasis)

So today, I humbly confess that I am guilty of idolatry and also of a lack of discernment in identifying those idols in my life. I seek the God who thunders from Sinai and ask Him to help me find those things so that I can proceed as David did when he was confronted with his sin. May my heart cry these words in earnest to the only One worthy of my adoration.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

-Psalm 51:1-17

Posted in Scripture, Tozer Tidbits | 3 Comments »

Ten Random Things I’ve Been Thinking About

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

1. Heroes (the tv show) rocks my socks off. If only it weren’t quite so blood and guts gross. Brian has been waiting all summer for the first season to come out on DVD so that he can get me hooked on this show. It’s a good thing he’s watching them with me. He tells me when I can uncover my eyes. :D

2. Two-year-old boys are high maintenance. Period. If yours isn’t, give him a month or two. ;) They’re fun, but don’t take your eyes off them. And never leave salt shakers unattended and within reach of little fingers. Or jars of sprinkles.

3. There is nothing sweeter than a child singing Bible memory verses. Especially when they can’t quite pronounce all the words correctly.

4. There are simply too many pieces of paper in my house. I was reminded yesterday, though, that organization is not an indication of a person’s intelligence. As a matter of fact, the opposite could be true. Seriously.

5. I think I want this book. (HT: The Christian Mind)

6. Solomon prayed a great prayer in 1 Kings 8 when he dedicated the temple. I especially like this part where he prays that the temple and God’s presence in it will draw foreigners to call out to God. I read it remembering that God now makes me (and you!) his temple. What an amazing thought – that He is making Himself known and even drawing others to Himself through His dwelling in us. Gives one paws pause.

7. I must have one of the most patient husbands in the world. I’m awfully glad that my simple-mindedness doesn’t make him run away screaming. Most days he doesn’t even mind that I treat him as my own personal computer geek guru.

8. When more than one person tells you long involved stories that include hardships and culminate in God’s grace in the midst of it, does it ever make you wonder what exactly God is preparing you for through those folks’ testimonies? I’m not afraid of what’s coming, but I’m just saying…

9. High School Musical 2 is so much fun. A6 just had a birthday and she received the cd. I can’t seem to get the songs out of my head. Even S2 loves them. Maybe I should be doing something to counter-act the overdose of girl drama he’s receiving on a daily basis. Then again, maybe all of this will just make him a good husband one day. :D

10. Posts like this are hard to know when to end. I could keep going, but I’ll be surprised if any of this really interests many of you. I was just kind of feeling bad for not posting in eons and this was the easiest way to organize my thoughts. Obviously, I might need professional help. ;)

Posted in Family, Just Life, Scripture | 7 Comments »

No better place to be

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

My lovely wife read this at church last week. Emphasis is mine – I think you’ll notice a theme.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:3-14)

Posted in Scripture | 2 Comments »

And what about fools?

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

I think it’s interesting that we(i.e. Evangelicals) use the following verses as support that God commands spanking as a means of disciplining our children :

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs 13:24

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Proverbs 22:15

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. Proverbs 23:13-14

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Proverbs 29:15

Yet these verses don’t get near the press :

On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. Proverbs 10:13

By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them. Proverbs 14:3

A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. Proverbs 18:6

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. Proverbs 26:3

Is there some criteria I’m not aware of which make the former set more applicable than the latter?

Posted in Scripture, Theology | 15 Comments »

Views on Scripture – Part 2

Monday, March 5th, 2007

I ended my last post asking how one moves away from the mindset engendered by the CofC hermeneutic. For me, it all started to unravel on the issue of instrumental music. The are two main passages that are used to support the view that God does not want instrumental music in worship :

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5:17-21)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col 3:16)

You can probably see where this is going. The passages above say sing, and nothing else. Since scripture elsewhere is silent on the topic of using instruments then we have no authorization to use them. Anything else would be “adding to” the word of God.

Let me step back and say that in the CofC we really like to argue. Setting up debates with local Baptists, atheists, etc. was par for the course. I remember growing up in Sunday School learning how to debate Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, and others on why their doctrine was wrong. If you keep in mind that salvation is dependent on knowing the right things then it makes a little more sense. Suffice to say that the CofC considers themselves very reasonable and logical.

My bent is towards the rational side anyway so all this seemed perfectly natural – and I liked it. But in the end this emphasis on being logical is what started my journey away from the CofC. And the first stop was the prohibition on instrumental music(IM). There were just too many inconsistencies that I couldn’t reconcile. I won’t go through them all but here are two :

  • IM is not allowed but song books, pitch pipes, PA systems, etc are. Now the CofC will try to make a distinction between aids(hymnals) and additions(pianos). But in the end I think it’s a false distinction. The addition of any of these things does not prevent singing from happening.
  • There are other, clearer commands that get ignored – “Greet each other with a holy kiss”, “…not with braided hair or gold”. With the CofC emphasis on “speaking where the Bible speaks” it seems odd that stuff like this is left out. While the case for forbidding IM is really an argument from silence.

And from there other doctrines start to get questioned – “Why can we meet on Wednesdays when only the first day of the week is authorized?” And the biggie – “Is Baptism really essential for salvation?”. Which leads to – “Are there other Christians besides us?”

One thing you’ll notice is that I’m still approaching scripture from a slice and dice perspective – though I’m trying to do it consistently. There’s that nasty little thing called context that I’ll talk about next time.

Posted in Church, Scripture | 1 Comment »

Views on Scripture – Part 1

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

Growing up in the CofC gives you a peculiar view of scripture. Besides learning all the different reasons the Baptists down the road were going to Hell, I was also learning how to apply the two major rules for Biblical interpretation :

Silence of the Scriptures – “We speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent”. The gist of this is that in regards to what the church practices, we only do what the New Testament says to do. We have no right to do anything which is not specifically mentioned.

and

CENI or Command, Example, and Necessary Inference – This hermeneutic expresses the pattern by which the Bible authoritatively communicates God’s will. Essentially, any command, any example, or any logical inference is binding on the conscience of the believer.

This may sound innocuous on the surface but what it leads to is using Eph 5:19 as “proof” that instrumental music is verboten or using 1 Cor 16:1-2 as incontrovertible evidence that we are required to gather on every Sunday.

Here’s something from Rubel Shelly that may shed some more light on how this works :

Authority is established by example. Consider the observance of the Lord’s Supper. The Scripture records the command of Jesus to the effect that his followers must remember him by eating the Lord’s Supper. (I Cor. 11:24-25). But the commandment does not instruct us as to when this memorial is to be observed. We learn of the time of its observance from an examination of the actions of the earliest Christians. Their example serves to instruct us. Acts 20:7 is the first New Testament passage to specify a day on which the church gathered to eat the supper. If the day of this observance was unimportant, why did Luke take the trouble to mention it? Furthermore, his Greek construction (with the definite article) implies habitual action. Therefore this was a regular assembly, the stated purpose of which was to eat the Lord’s Supper. There can be no reasonable doubt that this passage definitely links the Lord’s Supper to the Lord’s Day. From this example of the early church we have divine authority for Sunday observance of the Lord’s Supper and for Sunday observance only. We have no authority to observe this memorial on Tuesday night or daily. Our authority is for Sunday observance and to go beyond what is authorized is to commit sin.

What this approach does is make the Bible into a kind of divine concordance that we are required to cross-reference in order to figure out the correct pattern to follow. It minimizes, if not destroys, the contextual backdrop of any particular passage. In fact, context can be as granular as one word – linking words like “truth” or “light” across multiple passages to create doctrine that was never there. And perhaps most onerous, the scripture becomes about me and what I need to do rather than about God and what He has done through his Son.

So what causes someone to break out of this mindset? I’ll save that for next time.

Note : The quote from Rubel Shelly is from 1972. I’m almost positive he’s changed his position since then.

Posted in Church, Scripture | 12 Comments »

How well do you know the words of Christ?

Thursday, January 18th, 2007

Take this quiz to find out. (Warning: the advanced quiz is quite difficult!) Post your scores in the comments if you’re brave/brazen enough.

(HT: Bill, at The Thinklings)

Posted in Scripture | 9 Comments »

Walking the Line

Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

So the other day at Bible Study, I heard a lecture on the “rich young ruler” from Mark 10…

17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Several things I had heard before were discussed, and then the friend of mine who was lecturing asked two questions: Why was this guy so concerned with where the line is? Why do we always want to know where the line is?

Those questions stuck with me because when I’m honest with myself, I know that part of me lives for the line. You know, the self-serving fallen part that’s in me. The part that asks, “What’s the least I can do and still be ‘in’?” The part that wants black and white answers to each and every question. The part that wants to be noticed (and honored) when I put my left toe over the line, when the slightest part of me does something that is, for once, not self-seeking. The legalistic part that wants to compare my faith against the faith of others. The part that feels as if I must do something, anything, to earn His grace and I desperately need to know if I’m doing enough.

And there it is. The underlying assumption that there exists a point at which I – at which anyone – can do “enough.” Christ’s work at the cross is enough. Period. It’s already been done. Anything I can come up with to offer Him is only mine to give because He first gave it to me. Ultimately, what He desires of me is to faith in Him alone, throw myself entirely over the line (after all, it exists only in my mind), and fall into the waiting arms of Jesus. Paul says it better than I ever could:

4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
~2 Cor. 3:5-6

Posted in Scripture, Theology | 3 Comments »

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