Stopping to Think

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love..." 1 Peter 1:22a This verse strikes me. It catches me off-guard, and tells me something I do not expect. I am a Calvinist. About as Calvinist as they come, subscribing to all five points of the classic TULIP acrostic: Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints Which basically is a more complex way of saying that I believe salvation to be a work of God, not man, lest anyone boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, when it comes to thinking about purification, my mind typically thinks of the objective purifying we experience by being identified with Christ, our sin-bearer and righteousness-giver (2 Corinthians 5:21). He bore my sins in His body, therefore in the eyes of God they no longer are borne by me. Now, let's glance back at our opening verse. How does Peter say his readers have purified their souls? By obedience to the tr...

This is a little more journaly than I normal put up here, because I wrote it straight to me. Hope it's helpful . Yesterday was Sunday. My only day off of the week. Andie made breakfast, we went to church as a family. Surprisingly, both kids sat through the entirety of the sermon. That was a relief. Andie took them home during Sunday School, and I taught a class. Was filling in for another teacher, so I taught on the importance of the preached word, taking Romans 10:13-17 amd 1 Timothy 3:15-4:2 as my primary texts. Rest of the day was wholly unproductive. Took the family to Taco Johns, tried unsuccessfully to nap, then went to my mother-in-law's house (our normal destination on a Sunday afternoon). Spent the rest of the day watching football and a movie. It could have been a relaxing, enjoyable afternoon. Instead, I spent a good part of the time fretting over what I wasn't getting done. I have next week's Sunday School lesson to prep. I have two Absolute curriculu...

Some thoughts thought along the mail route today: I reflect often on the inclination of Christians-praying, church attending, Bible reading Christians-to desire something more from their Christian life than, well, what I just described. There is, it seems to me, a very pervasive attitude that says, "yes, praying, church, Bible reading. All well and good, but I want something more. I want God to speak to me personally." I want to address, not the sole cause of this, but a particular cause that I believe to be both large and overlooked. Let's start with some Bible. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhor...

I intend to be brief here. In recent days a young woman named Brittany Maynard has made headlines with her campaign for "death with dignity" laws, and for her moving to Oregon recently so that she might take advantage of theirs. Diagnosed with cancer at age 29, Brittany has decided to end her life on November 1st. Many people, including my fellow Christians, are distraught over this. Over her personal choice to end her life, and over the legality of doctors assisting her to do so in Oregon and four other states. That we have become a culture willing to celebrate self-murder, as it used to be called, is indeed very disturbing. I do not wish to argue those concerns, but rather applaud them. Exodus 20:13 is very succinct on this subject, "You shall not murder." We don't have the right to kill another person (we can discuss times of war and capital punishment another day). You also do not have a right to kill yourself. Why? Because our bodies do not fundamentally ...

1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. Paul says here that, in this life, we see dimly. Those of you who spend much time reading Christian books or blogs will doubtless come across an argument something like this: "because we can only see dimly, and as finite creatures could never fully know the infinite God, we shouldn't focus too much on trying to nail down what the Bible says or means; because by its own admission, we never will." What I want to encourage you with is this: if God had given us the tools (eg, the Bible, a rational mind, books and other resources from others who have studied) with which to make the mirror less dim in this life, we have no only the ability but the responsibility to make use of those means and to understand Him as well in this life as we possibly can. Don't be afraid to think really hard about God. He wants to be ...

A brief doctrine of words. Christians worship the Word (John 1:1), whom we know through His word (John 5:39). We are called to be His ambassadors, ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), a task which demands the use of words (Romans 10:14). Words matter. God has spoken to us in His Son (Hebrews 1:2), who, as we have already said, we come to know through the written pages of Scripture. This Scripture, and the knowledge it brings us of God in Christ, is sufficient to bring salvation, to teach us all we need to know in order to live God honoring lives, and to equip us for all He has called us to do (2 Timothy 3:15-17). We should then study this word. Its message is life giving and life enabling. We ought to endeavor to communicate its life-giving truth to others, verbally and through the written page. Words are foundational to our life as humans, image bearers of the God who spoke all life into existence (Genesis 1). But they bear special importance for those of us who ...

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:13-14 NIV Jesus' words in Matthew 19 are familiar to many of us. You have most likely heard a sermon, read a blog, or been encouraged by someone to be more childlike in your faith. This is, I think, a good thing. Jesus does tell us here that "to such as these" belong the kingdom of heaven. But what does that mean? Again, we are familiar with exhortations to such things as humility and simple faith. I have no desire to contradict those here, both are concepts taught many other places in Scripture. I wonder, however, if we miss something when we equate childlikeness only with humility and trusting faith. I am far from being a child expert, but I have been around a few during the co...