Because He Lives

As I went to church this past Sunday, the praise team struck up an old hymn of the faith in a new way that I thought was incredible. The words to this song take me back to the old Southern Baptist hymns that I grew up with. The chorus to the song goes like this:



Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know, I know, He holds the future,

And life is worth the living just because He lives.



As I listened to those words again for the first time in years, I immediately thought back to memories of my dad singing this song. It was one of his favorites, and now I realize why it is one of mine. Let us examine the deep theology from Scripture that this song expresses.



My sole focus this time is just the simple phrase "because He lives". This expresses an unapologetic belief in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. So here is my question, how does Jesus being alive really apply to my life? First, as a believer, sometimes life is going to suck...plain and simple. And if it just ended there, life would be pretty depressing. Yet because I faith in a living Savior that is literally working history towards the redemption of all things, I can get up out of bed in the mornings with a hope and a purpose. My God got up from the dead, holds the things of tomorrow in His sovereign hands, and works all things for the good of those who love Him. Thus even when I am discouraged, I can live my life without fear as my constant companion. I can trust in the fact that God's providence may prove painful, but in the end, it always proves to be good. This was what was on my mind when I heard this hymn. Whether its I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, or All Creatures of our God and King, or Amazing Grace, or In Christ Alone, or Were You There When They Crucified My Lord; take time today to think over a hymn....maybe even hum it to yourself or to your savior. There is nothing wrong with praising God with songs new or old, and there is nothing wrong with them reminding us of why life is worth living.

Biblical Worldview

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." - C.S. Lewis Weight of Glory

Today's discussion: the Biblical Worldview. It's a buzzword in seminaries and used by philosophers of all flavors: both conservative and liberal. Worldviews. What is one you might ask, and you will probably receive a smattering of different answers, each one sounding somewhat similar, but also different. Personally, I have come to define a Biblical Worldview in the following way: Taking on the mind of Christ so as to use the God's self-revelation found in Scripture to shape one's perspective in all areas of life. But what exactly does this mean? It means that if we are true followers of Christ, then we must acknowledge that the Word of God, the Word of Him who created everything we have ever touched, tasted, or smelled, or seen, the Word of Him who is so comprehensive, so vast still speaks. In fact, the Word of God was there speaking at the beginning and will be there long after you and I are gone. Or as Isaiah put it," The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:8) Those of us that claim Christ must drink deeply the draughts of the Word and share the man we found inside of it.

A part of our new birth, our sanctification is the metamorphisis that we undergo as we change from an enemy of God into his child. This change involves a transformation, a reawakening, a bringing back to life, an unveiling. As Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 We are to "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewingof your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which good and acceptable and perfect." God literally changes our minds and thank goodness he does so!!!!! However, you and I have a responsibility to develop our understanding of how our faith applies to every aspect, every minute detail of our lives. What we read in a magazine or watch on tv, what we admire about an athlete, the way we speak to someone in an elevator, to how hard we work are all things that fall into the life that God has planned for us. We have a responsibility to know that Christ speaks to each of these situations. Sometimes, it may mean that we realize the Bible defines success differently than the world, and still other times, developing a Biblical worldview may help us to understand when someone is in desperate need of the saving love and atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul himself explains this importance when he states "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:2-4) For the believer, our veil has been removed, we see clearly now, yet the unbeliever does not share the same vision. The Devil has blinded so many with veils of the "I am my own God"isms that exist in today's culture, but by planely setting forth the truth, Christ can us poor wretches like us to deliver a message of mercy that shreds the veils of self-deification. Some no doubt think that discussions on worldviews and truth and the like are the realm of philosophers, and therefore do not apply to the simple Christian and his love for Jesus. But that is exactly wrong!!!!! Worldviews are important because the individuals perspective on things like who God is and what he did determine an eternal destiny that is as different as daylight (heaven) and dark (hell). We must develop the appropriate worldview (and learn about others so we can rightly understand them in light of Scripture) to rightly understand why we evangelize, why do we tell people about Christ. Some might say we must develop the mind of Christ so that we can have the ability to share our faith. Learning that the God of the universe has a message for everyone, that it applies to everything, and that Christ makes all the difference is a part of learning how to love God with all our minds. To state it as simply as I know how, a biblical Christian worldview takes all events and experiences and views it in light a sovereign God that is in control of every aspect of redemptive history. It is taking people, along with their problems, joys, experiences, emotions, needs, wants, dreams, sins, and together kneeling at the cross in worship of him who sacrificed so that we may live, so that we may see true reality.

To God alone be the Glory...

Father's Day

On this Father's day, give a listen to Dr. Adam Dooley's sermon on Father's day. His sermon is probably the best I have ever heard and reminded me what it means to have a wonderful dad. You can listen to it here, its entitled "Lessons from a Hurting Dad."

http://www.redbankbaptist.org/streaming.html

Freedom

Recently while answering questions in my Latin class about God's sovereignty, I related to my students that I firmly believe that God does foreknow, predestine, and foreordains whatever he wills to occur. I also believe that humans must have some sort of will in general so that we are held responsible for our own sin, although I am unsure how free it is. I think these concepts tend to frighten believers into thinking that if God predestines some to salvation, then humanity functions more like a puppet on a string with a puppetmaster pulling the strings. This does not sound like a real relationship, or so we would think. The question I posed to my students was how do we define our freedom biblically? Speaking directly about freedom, Paul says in Galatians 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another." This is one of many verses in the Bible that speak of our freedom to function as slaves of righteousness by serving God and others. Peter himself defines biblical freedom perfectly when he says "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, do use it as bondslaves of God." (1 Peter 2:16) Real freedom in Christ is not our ability to do whatever we want, it is our freedom to serve our creator in whatever way he deems best. If this is how we should define freedom, which is very unlike the rampant individualistic understanding of our era, then issues such as predestination can be seen from a different perspective. Instead of saying that reformed theology makes us appear to be puppets, we must recognize that the Bible teaches us that our freedom, our true being, is found in an absolute slavery to the will of a holy, righteous, infinite, and loving God. Freedom and slavery, at least in the mind of God, do not have to contradict. Our chains help us to acknowledge that we have never been in control and never will be. We exist to serve our master, and have been granted the most fulfilling freedom there is; not a freedom to serve the kingdoms of our own hearts, but to serve the kingdom of God.

Transition - The Bittersweet Part of Life

Let me be clear, I am not really afraid of change so much as I am afraid of change. By this statement, as logically inconsistent as it sounds, I mean that I really am excited about moving to Louisville soon and finishing my education. However, moving to Louisville means leaving a ministry that I have been blessed with and by for almost four years now. While recently reflecting on this change in my life, I must admit that I was struck by the sheer immensity of life that is comprized of transitions. First it was going to middle school, then the loss of my great-grandmother, then the interesting experience of high school, then came college and my call into ministry, then I met my wife, then I had a real job, then I had to leave it...you get the idea. All of us relate to change in different ways, but I wonder if the real issue is not a struggle to trust in the loving, just, sovereign set of hands that carved out the mountains and told the oceans where they could go. What has your transition been? Have you been called as a missionary? Have you lost a loved one? Have you found the love of your life? Are you starting a new job or education? These are some of the largest changes that people experience in life, and to be honest, down at the core of who I am, change is fearful...it is the unknown. To me, we all need reminding that God walks with us in a similar way to the way he walked with Adam, Enoch, Moses, Joshua, and all other men that walked the tough road of faith. All these men endured change and so we can too because God walks beside us. We must remember that we are placed in certain places at certain times to do the will of the one who died for us. Remember, he is always traveling on, always there to help us on the road of our lives, a road filled with change. While you read this Scripture, go to youtube.com and listen to "The Glorious Unseen" 's Close to Your Heart.

Luke 24:28-32 (New American Standard Bible)
28And they approached the village where they were going, and (A)He acted as though He were going farther.
29But they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them.
30When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and (B)blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
31Then their (C)eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He (D)was explaining the Scriptures to us?"

Why We Suffer

Recently I have been teaching the story of Job to my students in Bible II. Again I am impressed with the sheer amount of tough theology that exists inside this story. The question that this text asks is how do we suffer? This texts pushes us to ask how far we trust God? My personal favorite verse from Job would be in chapter two where Job speaks to his wife and rhetorically asks "Shall we accept the good from God and not adversity?" So many times in life, whether its September 11th in the United States or whether its a September 11th in your heart, we all have to suffer. Many of us shout to the heavens, is this fair? What have we done to deserve this? Here the esteemed theologian Clint Eastwood gives us some guidance "Deserves has got nothing to do with it." I wonder sometimes if God ever wants to shout back "Do you really trust in who I am?" I do not mean to sound callous because, believe me, though not as bad as some, I have had to suffer. But...I think there is a great deal of comfort in knowing that God is in absolute control of everything. Without this sovereign God, all life would literally be suffering as Buddhism states. Job, though he lost everything in his life, understood in a dramatic way what it meant to trust in God. He had hard times, he questioned God, was reproved by God, but never lost his faith. We suffer the heartaches of life, and we have something to learn from Job. If we really say we trust Christ, if he is really in control, then there is a purpose behind everything we suffer. Maybe our suffering is to teach us a lesson, maybe its to hammer us out on the anvil of righteousness, or maybe, and this really just occurred to me, our suffering could be a witness to those in this world that see suffering as just some random thing that happens and the best we can hope for is to not be too unlucky. Either way, may we all have the depth of faith, the depth of relationship to rend our mantles, cover ourselves with ashes, and worship God when we suffer because we hope in a God that is all-powerful, all-purposeful, all just, and all loving. Amen.

Response to Newsweek Article: "Our Mutual Joy"

In a recent issue of Newsweek magazine, Lisa Miller's article Our Mutual Joy makes the case that Scripture, instead of arguing against homosexuality and gay marriage, actually argues drastically for it. For the article, here is the link http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653 . Now, while Miller does make some very pointed arguments in this article, upon further examination, most of her points come from either the misinterpretation of Scripture to fit her own particular agenda she is bringing to the text, or she is quoting a part of the Bible completely out of context. Therefore, in this post, I will atttempt to address some of her points and demonstrate how they are unashamedly flawed.

Speaking about the biblical model of marriage in a negative light, Miller states "The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments - especially family." Clearly, Miller has missed the biblical Jesus I know. Jesus preached an indifference to material wealth, not an indifference to the people that make up the children of God. For example, in Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus does not preach an indifference to family but an expansion of the common model. According to Jesus himself, family can be defined as someone who does the will of His Father in heaven. Therefore, Christ was very much interested in family. In fact, he died for the children of God. For Miller to say that Jesus preached an indifference to people is the height of folly and bad hermeneutics.

Demonstrating the modern understanding of marriage, Miller also relates that "...no sensible modern person wants marriage - theirs or anyone else's - to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes." Now, you may be shocked, but for the most part, I agree with what Miller is saying. Our current culture does not want to be confronted with the facts that marriage requires fidelity, committment, and it might actually take some work. However, if we were not such selfish beings, Ephesians 5 or even the Trinity itself give beautiful frameworks for how marriage should function. The Bible teaches that marriage is a covenant, a promise before God between two people. Yes, women should submit, but if you look at the text in Ephesians, the burden of proof for a good marriage rests upon the men. We are to love our wives like Christ. What a huge standard!!!!! This teaches that we should value the people in this world. To contemplate anything else, is just not biblical. If you guys want me to respond to more, let me know.