Saturday, April 28, 2007

In GOD I Trust: Sorry Bounty Hunter Dog

Lately I've been seeing quite a bit of advertising for Duane Chapman, the Bounty Hunter, also known as "Dog." The advertising pitch/line is "In Dog We Trust."

Now, I'm not really too terribly offended by this (maybe I should be), and it's not causing me to foam at the mouth and scream, "heresy" or "blasphemy" (maybe it is both, and I should be screaming this), but it's obviously affected me enough to blog it, and contradict this message.

Not intending to cast aspersions upon Dog (this advertising is most likely the idea of A&E), I do declare and affirm that it is in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and Him alone, that I place my trust, my life, my all! For it is in Him that I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28), and it is upon Him that I cast my cares, for He cares for me (I Pet. 5:7; Ps. 55:22). I trust in Jesus Christ! I trust in the one, true God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Jerry, You Callin' Me a Heretic?

**Update 5/15/07
I join my heart and prayers with those mourning the death, but celebrating the Life Everlasting, of the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Death has no victory, no sting, for the chosen child of God. (1 Cor. 15:55) I rejoice that though now absent from the body, he is now present with Christ, Coram Deo! (2 Cor. 5:8)**

So, Jerry, you callin' me a heretic? (said in my best Robert DeNiro impersonation)

Jerry Falwell, April 13, 2007, Liberty University Chapel:

"We are not into particular love or limited atonement. As a matter of fact we consider it heresy."

Heresy, eh? Hmmm. That's interesting. If my memory serves be, wasn't it the Prince of Preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon who said, "Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else." (A Defense of Calvinism) Why yes, yes it was! And Spurgeon is further bolstered by the teachings of Jonathan Edwards, John Bunyan, John Owen, George Whitefield, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Piper, Al Mohler, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Ligon Duncan, Wayne Grudem, Sinclair Ferguson, and, oh yeah, Scripture (Eph. 1, Rom. 9)!!

So, let's see here . . . Jerry... Spurgeon? Jerry... Edwards? Jerry... Scipture?

I think I'll go with the latter. Sorry, Jerry.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Humble Worship: Because God Has Grasped Us

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you." (I Chronicles 29: 10-14, ESV)

Recently, our pastor taught on I Chron. 29:10-14, and King David’s recognition of, and glorying in, God’s complete sovereignty and Lordship over all – a recognition of which should lead us to humble worship. He spoke of David’s “theologically driven” prayer. That as David was seeking to honor and glorify God, his theology was affecting his heart; and, as a result, it was because of his theology that David gave generously and worshiped passionately. And so should it be with us – that the result of our theology should be the promotion and lifestyle of humility.

So, what should be the result of our commitment to, belief in, and teaching of the truth of God’s sovereignty? Well, looking at David, it wasn’t to gather a team together and raise the banner of Reformed Theology and declare, “We’re right, and you’re wrong!” Rather, the Doctrine of God – of His sovereignty – should put our face to the ground, and we should say, “You rule, You reign, You are king, and all glory is Yours and Yours alone!"

Our pastor went on to say something that hit me rather hard:

“It’s the ultimate tragedy that anyone who believes in the sovereignty of God would argue it and draw attention to themselves such that it’s ‘glory to me, I’m right, you’re wrong, I got the truth and you don’t.’ It’s an absurd reality to be arrogant about having a Biblical view of sovereignty. Those that have a Biblical view of sovereignty (which I believe is Reformed Theology) should be lowly and meek and humble in their grasp of truth. Because God has grasped us.”

He concluded this portion of his message by noting that a proper recognition of God’s rulership over all has practical applications about our stewardship, our speech and our worship of God. Looking at David, his theology was not just in his head, but was in his heart, his emotions, his passion, and in how he responded to God. David’s vision, as should be ours, was God-saturated. So, when God is big, glorious, majestic, holy and exalted in our lives, how can we possibly exalt or glorify ourselves?!

Good question, and good stuff, pastor!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Christ is Risen Indeed: Our Conquering King!

Blessed Resurrection All!

I join with each of you as we celebrate Christ's accomplished work on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave!

I am eternally thankful to Jesus Christ for His boundless love that conquered and forgave my boundless sin; that it was that love that led Him to the tree; where, by His shed blood, my name is now in the Lamb’s Book of Life! It's that Amazing Love that we recognize and celebrate today!

Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?!

Amen!

Friday, April 06, 2007

Easter: The True Rolling Stone

*Reposted for Easter 2007. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Every Easter my mind goes back through the years and I hear Don Francisco singing He's Alive , recounting what Peter must have felt with the news of Christ's resurrection just bursting from the inside of his very soul, saying, "the stone's been rolled away and now His body isn't there. He's Alive!"

And the 2nd Chapter of Acts and the classic Easter Song, in which they timelessly proclaimed, "Here the bells ringing, They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead. . . The angel up on the tombstone, said 'He has risen, just as He said!'"

And, of course, Dallas Holm's own classic, Rise Again. I remember the first time I heard it - it gave me chills (still does)! I will never forget the lyrics that spoke of Christ saying, Laugh at me, Mock my name, Bury me, but very soon I will be free, because "Death can't keep me in the ground."

Right in line with Dallas Holm is the POWERFUL oration of the late Dr. S.M. Lockeridge of San Diego, CA, who spoke of His King (watch this video!) during a sermon in 1976, saying of Christ, "Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him. That's my King." Here's the full text. This is a MUST watch and read!

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

This weekend, may each of us join the universal chorus of His people, past and present, and sing, Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?!

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the first, the only, the true roller of the stone! Amen.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

And The Angels Were Singing?

Singing angels? Well, actually, it's more than just that. It's the claim that there are audio recordings of the alleged voices and sounds of angels singing along with humans during worship services.

So here's my question: What are we, as Christians (i.e., the church) to do with this? And what should be our response?

Should we ask,

"What does the Bible say about this; about what we should do with this, respond to this, answer and address this?"

or should it be more along the lines of,

"It shouldn't matter if angels were present and singing along with humans. Rather, the real significance is that these recordings are of the people of God, worshiping God."

What should we say? What should be our response to this? Is any response necessary, or needed? Tell us what you think.