I’m sure you didn’t forget, but just in case you did…

Tomorrow is my 33rd birthday. I am noting this here at Ikonograph as a sort of amnesty for all of you who have failed to note this day on your calendars, so that you can go out and get me presents, and I’ll never know that you pretty much forgot.

You’re all welcome, by the way.

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Enjoy it while it lasts.

Had a great time with the kids and the Irish Calvinist and his ilk last night out at Rosenblatt Stadium. We coached the kids up on what to expect whet the fireworks started., and they did pretty well. It was funny watching Madison, my 3-year-old daughter take it all in. She screamed through pretty much the whole thing. Some of it was genuine, and some of it was just old fashioned what-you’re-supposed-to-do. It was cute. My 18-month-old, Caleb, was a bit freaked out but settle in quickly. This morning he was still recounting the “boom BOOM”. It was cute.

The 4th of July is a worthy subject for Christian blogging because of what a unique country the US is for Christianity. I mean this in terms of the freedom we have to worship, and the social context created by that freedom.

Here in the US we have complete freedom to worship without government interference. We can express our beliefs on the the street corner without being arrested. We can print and read whatever books we desire. Our churches enjoy tax-exempt status. All of this is a good thing, and worthy of thanksgiving in prayer.

There is another side of this: I believe that in time these things are coming to an end. Already we see the foundation being laid for restricting the expression of the true Christian faith. The post-modern thinking of this world is tolerant of everything BUT Christian intolerance. I believe we are on the way to seeing the proclamation of the gospel considered hate speech. I believe that Christianity will eventually become the “odd man out” in our pluralistic future.

Post-modernism has robbed society of it’s ability to establish any moral absolutes. Only twenty or so years ago, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder, now we see states pushing for the recognition of same-sex marriages. It is not so inconceivable that some day soon we will be scratching our heads wondering how we can say that pedophilia is wrong. Christianity will be at the wrong end of this slippery speech.

This is all in accord with what Paul warned Timothy about:

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” (2 Tim 3:1-5)

I do love this country. God HAS used this nation to curb evil in the world, per Romans 13:3-5. The freedoms we enjoy as Christians are unique in history, but it will not last forever. Take advantage of them while you can.

Have a happy and safe 4th!

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Fish out of water!

I had the rare privilege of playing Mr. Mom. My wife, Amy, went down sick with some kind of flu, and I had an unexpected day home from work, spending the entire day in my work get-up. On top of this we had our house painted yesterday. The house needed paint badly, having many flat out bald spots. Amy was sick enough that she didn’t get out to see the new paint till nearly 5pm.

Whenever I end up watching the kids all day, I remember that Michael Keaton movie ( Mr. Mom). There’s a scene where he’s starting to lose it, doing some home repairs. His friend stops by to find him messing with the electricity, putting in a new outlet. His friend asks “What are you putting in there, 120 volt?” to which Keaton replies “You know, 120, 121, whatever it takes.”

That’s me with the kids. I love ’em. We had fun. Things went smoothly. But there’s a reason why mommies stay at home and daddies go out to “get the monies” as we say in our house. My wife is just more skillful at these kinds of things, and it goes beyond repetition and experience. I can handle a day or so here and there, but to handle it day in and day out requires something extra: God’s gifting for domestic sanity.

Today I’m going to go get the monies.

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You give what you get.

It’s good to be busy in ministry. Without looking, I’m not even sure how longs it’s been since I blogged last. My intent is to post at least twice a week, but this last week pretty much blew right by me. The week was capped by pulling an all-nighter Friday into Saturday for a high school youth event. The challenge was on to see who was of stern enough stuff to last the whole night. Only I and a few other students made it. Needless to say, I paid the price Saturday.

Had a great conversation today with a customer who takes care of cleaning a local church. Long story short, she told me she was leaving her church because she disagreed with the church’s community outreach. Whether or not they even preach the gospel aside, she was upset (amongst other things) that some people had taken advantage of her help and the church was willing to keep helping them. The church further said that she had “too much self-esteem”, probably because she was still fairly bent out of shape about getting jammed. They are likely at least right about that.

I never want to talk internal church politics with my customers. There’s way to much lack of information to scratch that iceberg. I usually just address the person in question. Regarding my customer, I saw the issue as lack of forgiveness. This is how I advised her:

1. In the context of the church, Jesus instructs us to forgive as often as the offender will repent (Matt 18:22)
2. There is a pattern for confronting sin (Matt 18:15-22) that culminates in the offender being put out of the church when the elders determine a pattern of unrepented sin.
3. The elders of the church (which her church has, rare as that may be) protect their flock from abuses by putting s0-called-brethren out of the church.
4. Outside the church, we are never TAKEN advantage of because we GIVE our advantage whenever we minister. We expect sometimes to be lied to and used, so long as the gospel is proclaimed, our work is done.

I began to explain that Jesus says in John 10 that the Good Shepherd (Christ) is willing to sacrifice all for the sheep, whereas the hired hand (false teachers, false professions of Christianity) flee when danger threatens. I was using this to say that Christ was willing to die in order to serve us, so we should not be deterred by the evils of some who we would try to help.

She literally cut me off and said “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” and walked inside, ending our visit.

Immediately Matt 18:21-35 came to mind. The lesson of this parable is that when professing Christians refuse to forgive, it results in a stiff trial. God has forgiven you more than you can ever know, and so refusal to forgive is a grave offense to Him. There will be consequences. Sadly, unrepented unforgiveness is an indicator that one’s sins have not been forgiven at all.

Forgiveness is a serious thing. Bitterness can dissolve even families like acid. Examine your heart, that you will not live with the bone crunching weight of unresolved anger. And ulitimately, consider yourselves worthy of nothing but death, let alon the praise and adulation of everyone. Consider is a privilege to give yourself as a servant, washing the feet of many as your Master did. True spiritual greatness is found in lowliness, not in keeping score.

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Pyromaniacs and Spiderman 3

For everyone who has ever shuddered at every attempt to claim popular culture in the name of Christianity, here’s an excellent post by Dan Phillips over at Pyromanics. It reminds me of all those “The Gospel in the…” (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, whatever) books that fill religious bookstores with every blockbuster movie.

CLICK THE LINK!

::Pyromaniacs

I saw Spiderman 3 recently, btw, and liked it very much.

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Providence: Not just a city in Rhode Island any more.

Some more thoughts in the wake of the recent discussion of all matter charismatic.

Well it wasn’t much of a wake, really. Not really any complaints, come to think of it. Mostly snorts of agreement and a few words of confirmation. How dull. Shall we try to stir the pot again?

I think we all know that pot-stirring ain’t my soup, but it does happen. And in the realm of charismatic goings-on, feelings can get hurt very easily. Everything is based on experience, so when you question the authenticity of their claims, you call them either liars or fools. Neither is bound to get you appreciated.

Herein lies another complaint of mine: Since everything is based on experience and personal validation, the major problem for me is that their claims become unfalsifiable. They are the arbiters of truth. You-don’t-know-because-you-weren’t-there-and-you- aren’t-me When one person holds all the cards, we have a problem. This is a completely unreliable way to know the truth. That is why we look to the OBJECTIVE Word of God which is revealed from OUTSIDE of us for the truth.

Secondly I would like to harp on the charismatic preoccupation with the miraculous. Be it speaking in tongues, healings, prophecies, oral fillings turning to gold, appearances by angels, Jesus, or even God Himself, there is a clear and unhealthy emphasis on the supernatural. Charismatic evangelists have bragfests on TBN all the time about their miraculous conquests.

Allow me to pop a hole in that balloon.

I am VASTLY more impressed with the providence of God than the miracles of God. Now is not the time to discuss cessation of the miraculous gifts, but we can all agree that God has acted miraculously all across Bible history. For example, in Isaiah 38, God causes the sun to go backward. Ask any scientist and they will tell you that this should be a universe-shaking event. Yet, I am more impressed that today the Irish Calvinist needed to borrow my lawnmower (yes, my lawnmower) and providentially I had offered an extra mower somewhere else but was unable to be accepted. It suddenly occurred to my wife that the Irish Calvinist could use to just keep it. So I gave it to him. He was happy, we were all happy.

Physical signs of inter-male appreciation and gratitude were nearly exchanged!

When God works miracles, He simply suspends the rules that He has put in place (Heb 1:3) and does something different. When He’s done, He sets it all back in motion.God’s providence is impossibly complex, lie a living machine with countless moving parts, all synchronized from eternity past.

I ask you which is more impressive, that God could make a cancerous tumor disappear, or that all of your good works have been written beforehand from eternity past (Eph 2:10)? The answer is obvious.

Every hair on your head is numbered. The length of you life is determined by Him. He raises up political powers and then brings them to their knees. He has counted the stars and calls them by name. Nothing escapes His control. This is what is truly amazing.

The charismatic will object that he agrees with this, but he should listen to his own church service. The celebration of the miraculous blots out the sun compared to God’s providence.

Just as charismatics subvert the sufficiency of Scripture with their prophecies and dependence on subjective signs for God’s leading, their emphasis on God’s ability to briefly change the rules of the universe distracts from the far more incredible things He does all the time, every day. Far from exalting the work of God, it is cheapened.

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Will someone PLEASE acknowledge the elephant?

As a salesman, I listen to a lot of radio. It’s the only thing I can do in the car without going crazy (besides work, anyway). Mostly I tune in to sport talk. I know way more about hockey and baseball than I want to. Occasionally an issue comes up that bring the topic of ethics and morality into sports talk. I get some of this from the other stations I tune in to as well. Inevitably the participants go round and round about whatever there is, and ultimately they leave the question unresolved, whatever that question is.

This week I heard a lot of comment, drawing from the Virginia Tech massacre. In the immediate wake of the killings, many people began to blame the university for failing to shut down the campus after the first two murders. People questioned the level of campus securty after bomb threats the week before. People questioned the motivation of the shooter. Now we see that the shooter had a very troubled past, and had even been detained for mental health purposes. Shouldn’t this have been preventable at many levels?

Rightly many hosts commented, this is the price we pay for living in the nation with the most freedom in the world. There is just no way to stop this kind of thing from happening again. Too many people, too many guns, too many places packed with people. So what do we do?

As with 9/11, mirrored in the current season of “24,” the security we desire comes at a great cost of freedom. We are willing to pay this price in the short term, but we lose patience quickly, especially when our own freedom is curtailed, so we try our best to find balance.

The problem is unresolved.

The great equation of crime vs. free society cannot be balanced because on of the most important elements of the equation is being ignored. It is like the proverbial “elephant” in the room. It is the nature of man.

In a word: “sin”

The true nature of man is clearly presented in the Bible:

“as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”
“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
“WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;
“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”
“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.” (Romans 3:10-18)

Because nobody will acknowledge that man is fallen, sinful, selfish, nobody can come up with a solution. If man is good, he simply needs to be shown the right way and he will correct himself. this is the assumption of psychology, and really it is the assumption of pretty well the whole human race. The assumption would indicate that the race is spiraling in on utopia. If human nature is good, then eventually we will get to where we want to be.

But sin takes advantage of liberty. It rears its murderous head and forces us to be increasingly violent in order to control it. As the Judeo-Christian background of this county loses sway on the people’s conscience, everything that has been brooding inside us for two centuries is coming out with alarming results. The only way we can be protected from each other’s sin is isolation. It’s that bad.

This is why Christians, with respect to the efforts of human government (which God installs as a force to curtail sin, Rom 13:4), look forward to the time where this wrestling match between human conscience and human nature will end:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16)

Jesus Christ will return to put an end to sin, and ultimately put an end to death (Rev 21:4). We live on earth as strangers in a strange land (1 Pet 1:1). by God grace we can have sanity because we know hw things fit together, not being subjected to futile thinking like the unsaved. Acknowledge the elephant, and the equation adds up.

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Fruit is good.

I’m going on a skiing trip with the senior in our high school ministry, plus a few others, over the next four days. I don’t want any of you who depend on Ikonograph for solace and sanity to get too lonely, so I’ll post a few thoughts for you to chew on while I’m gone.

1.) Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?

2.) If you fall asleep praying, do you have to say “Amen” when you wake up for your prayers to work?

3.) If you believe that a professing Christian can be saved yet bear no fruit, should the pastor let them out of the water when they are baptized?

4.) Salvation that costs nothing is worth nothing.

5.) If a Christian honors God and nobody is looking, does it make a sound?

6.) If a professing Christian only does good in the sight of others, does God hear it?

7.) “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

8.) A Christian is one being made into the likeness of Christ. It is as though God the Father has comission a scupture of His Son for His Son. Christ sits as the model for the work, and the Holy Spirit serves as the artisan. What does the sculpture of your life say about:

a.) the Holy Spirit (the artist)?

b.) the Son (the object being reproduced)?

c.) the Father (who comissions the work)?

Yes, those questions are a bit random, but a theme emerges. Christians should consider their public and private testimonies as a test of salvation (Matt 12:33). When we claim Christianity and yet our lives are a trainwreck, hidden or otherwise, we mock God and insult His work. Agreement with the gospel is the beginning, but if beief is unaccompanied byfruit, the assurance should be lacking.

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Are you hot or not?

Allow me to introduce Ikonograph’s first guest blogger, Michael Beatty. Michael is a dedicated member of the high school ministry which I direct, and he is marked by a passionate concern for the holiness of other professing Christians. As a fellow believer who has a desire to serve others through exhortation, we agreed that guest appearances here at Ikonograph would be a great way to do this. I hope that many of you share Michael’s zeal for God’s glory.

:: ::

“I recently sat down to a holiday dinner at the house of a relative, anticipating a delicious holiday meal complete with all of the trimmings. To my great surprise and utter disgust the meal was tepid; the things that were supposed to be cold, were not and the things supposed to be hot were not. Due to propriety I consumed a polite portion of the meal but immediately pushed my plate away when I had taken enough to be polite. This reaction is extremely mitigated compared to God’s reaction (which is not dictated by man’s propriety) towards those who claim the name of Christ yet their lack of fire for His name reveals their true spiritual condition, that they are not saved.

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3:16-17)

These verses were written to the church at Laodicea, an area known for dirty, tepid water. The Laodiceans were neither cold, openly rejecting Christ, nor hot, filled with spiritual zeal. Instead its members were lukewarm hypocrites professing to know Christ, but not truly belonging to Him. These self-deceived hypocrites sickened Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

A believer should be on fire for Christ and His word. The life of a believer should be characterized by the daily pursuit of God’s wisdom and knowledge revealed in His word. God’s wisdom is better than anything that can be attained through the world’s faculty (since they are all corrupt, unless characterized by the pursuit of Christ and His gospel).

Another area where Christ should be visible in the believer is through the service given by the believer to the body, ultimately to Christ, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). This service should be scrutinized by the believer to check the motives behind the offered service. Is it for the further promulgation of God’s glory or is it for selfish gain? Evangelizing and proclaiming God’s word to the lost should be a primary concern, “And Jesus came up 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 the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). The grammar used in the Great Commission is not passive but is in the present tense commanding believers to spread the gospel, i.e. evangelize. If these are not in character with your life, I urge you to check your spiritual pulse to see if you are alive in Christ and not still dead in your sins, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:1-2). If the Holy Spirit does not reside in your members as He does in the believer, the ruler of this earth/prince of the air (Satan) manipulates you. Therefore repent and turn to Christ and His gospel in light of the cross and His act of Justification by which we are cleansed.

Many of us have been blessed to have been born into a Christian home, watched Christian movies, eaten Christian themed food, listened to Christian music, played Christian games, gone to church, and assumed that these things indicated that you were a Christian as well since you partook of so many Christian things. Things are not an indicator of belief but rather our actions are the litmus test for our belief or lack thereof.

Some food for thought:

• Do you yearn to read God’s word and to pray?
• Does your speech and thought life coincide with God’s word?
• Is it edifying?
• Are you serving others?
• Do you disregard benefits to self and serve for the furtherance of Christ’s glory?

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Pyromaniacs unite! or separate! or whatever!

I’ve always enjoyed the blogging of Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs. He tends to write and speak about subjects that interest me, such as church history and what I’ll call “grand scheme” church issues.

I actually had a chance to meet Phil at the 2004 Shepherd’s Conference. He had just lectured about the problems of the fundamentalist movement; how it was more about dividing over false teaching than it was about uniting for the sake of upholding doctrine/ I suggested that he do a lecture for the conference on the issue of separation. Perhaps he listened more than I knew…..

Anyway, yes, I did just take credit for the following post (forgive me, Phil).

Pyromaniacs

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