a letter of love and discipline

ben cole, who is the pastor at a church in arlington texas, sent this letter to inactive church members in hopes that they would return to fellowship with their local body.

i believe that if more of our churches (all?) would forsake their pride of numbers on the roll, pride of desiring to be thought of kindly over concern for the eternal destiny of souls, and teach their members the biblical standard of regenerate church membership, our churches would be more biblical and effective.

(HT: tom ascol)

This is the letter that went out two days ago to church members who have not been in active participation of our church ministries since Oct. 1, 2006. I publish it here with the hope that it might stimulate others to follow suit.

________________

February 27, 2007

Mr. and Mrs. XXX XXXXXX
PO Box 77777
Arlington, TX 76013

Dear XXX and XXXXXX:

Parkview Baptist Church continues to be a place where God’s people grow together in a mutual love for the Lord, for the Word of God, and for each other. As your pastor, I am especially concerned that all of our church members are experiencing the joys of salvation that accompany fellowship with those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ.

The Word of God teaches that the Lord’s people should not “forsake the assembly as is the custom of some” (Hebrews 10:25). Again and again in Scripture, those who have believed the Gospel are exhorted to persevere in their faith, knowing that their salvation is close at hand. (Matthew 24:13). Believers are admonished to show good works, demonstrating the power of the Lord to transform lives from selfish pursuits unto a life of service to God (Ephesians 4:11-20). We are to be a people who come together for worship and service with glad hearts, rejoicing that the Lord has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light (Psalm 122:1; 1 Peter 2:9).

With these truths in mind, I want to write you as your brother and friend to tell you how sorely you have been missed among the saints of God at Parkview Baptist Church. This Wednesday night, February 28, 2007, your church family is going to spend extra time in prayer for you, asking that the Lord would restore health of body and fervor of spirit to you that you may return to serving him faithfully.

Now it is possible that you have united with another church, and you are serving Christ with the fullness of grace that he supplies. If this is the case, we rejoice that you have found a family of faith with which to become more committed disciples of our Lord. In the event you have not been serving in a local church and supporting the work of our Lord’s ministry through that church, we at Parkview grieve over your lost enthusiasm for the Lord’s work.

The Scriptures are very bold about the spiritual dangers to believers who grow indifferrent to the Lord and his work (Revelation 3:15-16), and who depart from spiritual fellowship with his people (1 John 2:19). As your pastor, I am saddened that you may have grown discouraged in your faith, not finding strength and mercy to persevere through the trials that have distracted you from the glorious grace of our Lord and Savior. Perhaps this is my fault, that I have not been as faithful an under-shepherd to seek you and draw you back to the safe and loving fellowship of our Good Shepherd’s fold. To some degree, I hope this letter affirms my desire to see you grow in grace and commitment to follow the Lord by obedience to the gospel.

Parkview Baptist Church is committed to maintaining a healthy congregation that will not neglect each other’s spiritual discipline, or our own. For this reason, our church adopted a revised Constitution and Bylaws on October 1, 2006, which requires that the membership privileges of inactive members be suspended at the conclusion of six months without support of the church ministry through active worship participation or financial contribution. At the end of March 2007, six months will have passed since we adopted this provision of membership. Since that time, it has burdened our hearts that we have not enjoyed the fellowship we once knew with you.

If you have united with another church family, then please know that we are excited about the possibility of your serving Christ faithfully in that place. We would appreciate your letting us know so that we may rejoice with you in your continued faith and spiritual growth. If you have not united with another church family, but circumstances have arisen in your life that providentially hinder your active support of the ministry of Parkview Baptist Church, then we want to know about them so we can pray for you more specifically and earnestly.

If, instead, you have become lax in your spiritual growth, cold in your service to the Lord, and disinterested in joining God’s people for Sunday worship, then we sincerely hope to have the opportunity to visit with you about your Christian commitment before March 31, 2007, at which point your membership privileges at Parkview Baptist Church will be suspended.

As your pastor, please know that I am available to you if you would like to visit. I would cherish the opportunity to pray with you about God’s will for your life, and to encourage you in your spiritual walk. I hope to see you reconciled to a life of faithfulness and a service of rewarding obedience to Christ. Please know that I love you, and I am eagerly awaiting your reply to this letter of exhortation and encouragement.

In Christ,

BSC

small god, small worship

a lot of my reading lately has been in the area of theologies and practices of worship, and the expectations or assumptions of our culture of what worship is or should be.
here are two quotes i have come across in the past couple of weeks that, upon reading were both refreshing (because it needs to be said) and painful (because it is so true).

the first from cornelius plantiga jr.

if we know the characteristic sins of the age, we can geuess its foolish and fashionable assumptions – that morality is simply a matter of personal taste, that all silence needs to be filled up with human chatter or background music, that 760 percent of the american people are “victims”, that it is better to feel than to think, that rights are more important than responsibilities, that even for children the right to choose supercedes all other rights, that real liberty can be enjoyed without virtue, that self- reproach is for fogies, that god is a chum or even a gofer whose job is to make us rich or happy or religiously excited, that it is more satisfying to be envied than respected, that it is better for politicians and preachers to be cheerful than truthful, that christian worship fails unles it is fun.(1)

and from a.w. tozer

we have the breezy, self-confident christians with little affinity for christ and his cross. we have the joy-bell boys that can bounce out there and look as much like a game show host as possible. yet, they are doing it for jesus’ sake?! the hypocrites! they’re not doing it for jesus’ sake at all; they are doing it in their own carnal flesh and are using the church as a theater because they haven’t yet reached the place where the legitimate theater would take them. (2)

and

it is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. it is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend the meeting where the only attraction is god. one can only conclude that god’s professed children are bored with him for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games and refreshments.(3)

(1) cornelius plantiga jr., not the way it’s supposed to be: a breviary of sin (grand rapids:eerdmans,1995), 126 –127.; as quoted by d.a. carson in worship by the book (grand rapids:zondervan, 2002), 30.

(2)A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Worship and Entertainment: Selected Excerpts (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1997) 104-105.: as quoted by r. albert mohler in his convocation address at southern seminary The Whole Earth is Full of His Glory:The Recovery of Authentic Worship, January, 1998.
(3) Ibid. from tozer 120, 121.

a bone to pick with james cameron ...

a documentary by director james cameron, of "titanic" fame, will air the first week of march on the discovery channel.
the title? "the lost tomb of christ".
in the documentary, cameron suggests that he has found the tomb (bones included) of jesus and his family, including his mother, mary, and of course, his wife mary magdalene.

here we go again.

why didnt he name it "davinci code II, have you heard the one about..."?

you can read the press release here

in response, paul maier, author of a skeleton in god's closet, responds with why we should not fear that mr. cameron has found anything that would harm the claims of the christian faith. (HT: justin taylor)

Please, lose no sleep over the Talpiot “discoveries” for the following reasons, and here are the facts:.

1) Nothing is new here: scholars have known about the ossuaries ever since March of 1980. The general public learned when the BBC filmed a documentary on them in 1996. James Tabor’s book, The Jesus Dynasty, also made a big fuss over the Talpiot tombs more recently, and now James Cameron (The Titanic) and Simcha Jacobovici have climbed aboard the sensationalist bandwagon as well.


2) All the names – Yeshua, Joseph, Maria, Mariamene, Matia, Judah, and Jose -- are extremely frequent Jewish names for that time and place, and thus most scholars consider this merely coincidental, as they did from the start. One-quarter of Jewish women at that time, for example, were named Maria.

3) There is no reason whatever to equate “Mary Magdalene” with “Mariamene,”
as Jacobovici claims.

4) So what if her DNA is different from that of “Yeshua” ? That particular "Mariamme" (as it is usually spelled today) could indeed have been the wife of that particular “Yeshua.”

5) What in the world is the “Jesus Family” doing, having a burial plot in Jerusalem, of all places, the very city that crucified Jesus? Galilee was their home. In Galilee they could have had such a family plot, not Judea. Besides all of which, church tradition – and Eusebius – are unanimous in reporting that Mary died in Ephesus, where the apostle John, faithful to his commission from Jesus on the cross, had accompanied Mary.

6) If this were Jesus’ family burial, what is Matthew doing there – if indeed “Matia” is thus to be translated?

7) How come there is no tradition whatever – Christian, Jewish, or secular – that any part of the Holy Family was buried at Jerusalem?

8) Please note the extreme bias of the director and narrator, Simcha Jacobovici. The man is an Indiana-Jones-wannabe, who oversensationalizes anything he touches. You may have caught him on his TV special regarding The Exodus, in which the man “explained” just everything that still needed proving or explaining in the Exodus account in the Old Testament! It finally became ludicrous, and now he’s doing it again. – As for James Cameron, how do you follow The Titanic? Well, with an even more “titanic” story. He should have known better.

although we are in no danger of finding out information that discredits christianity, we must be prepared to put 1 peter 3:15 into action for those who would come to us with questions about jesus' wife or his corpse- both of which we know do not exist.

blaspheme christ, win a video!!

this video is a nightline broadcast of a campaign asking people to put a video of themselves on line blaspheming (in a mis-interpretation of mark 3:29) in order to geta free dvd.

from the website http://www.rationalresponders.com/

The Rational Response Squad is giving away 1001 DVDs
of The God Who Wasn't There, the hit documentary that
the Los Angeles Times calls "provocative -- to put it mildly."
There's only one catch: We want your soul.
It's simple. You record a short message damning
yourself to Hell, you upload it to YouTube, and then
the Rational Response Squad will send you a free
The God Who Wasn't There DVD. It's that easy.
INSTRUCTIONS:
You may damn yourself to Hell however you would like,
but somewhere in your video you must say this phrase:
"I deny the Holy Spirit."
Why? Because, according to Mark 3:29 in the Holy Bible,
"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never
be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." Jesus will forgive
you for just about anything, but he won't forgive you for
denying the existence of the Holy Spirit. Ever. This is
a one-way road you're taking here. Of course, how likely i
s it that there actually is a sky God who has a son who will
take you to Heaven if you don't insult a ghost? Isn't it just
as likely that there is a sky god who has a son who will take you
to Heaven only if you do insult a ghost? Sure, we just made up
that scheme, but it is as equally supported by evidence as the first one.
All we're saying is, you're taking chances either way. So why not get a free DVD?...

also...

Here are some great ideas to help you with your video:
Don't simply "deny the holy spirit." Give it your own personal touches.
Possibly add extra blasphemy or maybe even a background story
as to why you feel the way you do.

Record your video in a Church or outside of a Church.

Walk up to people on the streets exclaiming your joy that you deny the holy spirit, and how good it makes you feel inside!

Mention "My name is ______ and I'm from the Rational Response Squad."

Plug your own atheist website or project!

i wish i were making this up as a joke, but unfortunately, i am not.
the joy and smiles on the faces of the people in these videos breaks my heart.

how do we respond? in anger? by overloading their websites with venemous attacks and threats?

might i suggest that we respond in humility by
praying for those who openly mock the one true
and living god and his grace.
we can go further by taking seriously peter's
exhortation to be ready to have an answer for
the hope we have (1peter 3:15) and by recognizing
that we are called to share the gospel with everyone around us,
even the normal looking guy/girl next door
who may have grown up in church, but smiles and laughs
when proclaiming that they deny christ.

in addition...

(the following is an appendices i wrote for the article i posted last week)

How Should I Choose a Bible Translation?

* Should be based on the best available and most realiable Greek and Hebrew manuscripts.
* Based on the latest (most accurate) knowledge of language and culture.
* Maintains a healthy balance of accuracy and understandability. (1)
* Remains dignified. (no irreverancy for content or in presentation)
* Avoids bias

(1) Formal Equivalancy - a word for word translation (i.e. New King James, New American Standard, English Standard Version)

Dynamic Equivalancy - a thought by thought translation (i.e. New International Version, New Living Translation)

Paraphrase – A translation based on a “how I would say it” approach not usually dependent on original languages. (i.e., "The Message")

Recommended versions for Bible Study:
New American Standard
English Standard Version
Holman Christian Standard


How Do I Read the Bible?

· The starting point is NOT “What does this verse mean to *me *?” Avoid this type of interpretation in your own Bible study and from others.
· Know the literary genre (poetry, wisdom literature, hyperbole, parable, personal correspondance, apocalyptic, etc.) Each genre has its own rules of interpretation.
· Who was the author?
· Who was he writing to?
· Why was he writing this? What is the point the author wanted his original audience to receive?
· Seek out what implications for your life come from what the text means.
· Always remember the context of the passage.

Recommended Resource: (click titles for links)
A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible: Playing by the Rules. Robert Stein. Baker, 1997.

According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. Graeme Goldsworthy. Intervarsity Press, 2002.

authority continued... (part 3)

(part 3 of 3)

FROM HEBREW AND GREEK MANUSCRIPTS TO MODERN ENGLISH

The following is a brief outline of the history of the English Bible.

· 315 A.D. - Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament

· 405 – Jerome translates the Latin Bible (Vulgate)
The Bible of the “common people” took shape in the form of wood carvings, stain glass windows, etc.

· 1382 – 1st English translation by John Wycliffe (handwritten)

· 1414 – Capital Punishment is declared for reading Scripture in one’s native tongue. In 1428, Wycliffe’s bones were dug up and burned

· 1454 – printing press invented

· 1526 – William Tyndale published first printed New Testament

· 1530’s – Martin Luther works on German Bible

· 1535 - William Coverdale prints first full English Bible, burned at the stake in 1536

· 1560 – Geneva Bible : first Bible in America, used by Pilgrims and the Puritans, also by Shakespeare

· 1611 – King James the 1st broke away from Catholic Church to get a divorce, started Anglican church and printed their own Bible, the King James Version.
(many errors are made, revised many times)

· 1881 – English Revised edition

· 1901 – The American Standard

· 1952 – Revised Standard Version

· 1963 – New American Standard

· 1978 – New International Version

· 1982 – New King James Version

· 1989 – New Revised Standard Version

· 2001 – English Standard Version

· 2004 – Holman Christian Standard Version

As Americans, the fact that we have our own Bibles, and for many of us,
multiple copies, should give us pause. People were killed for trying to give
a copy of the Bible to people in their own language.
It is a blessing, not a right, that we have God's word in our own language. It is to our detriment and our shame if we do not read it, learn it, and obey it.

authority continued (part 2 of 3)

[part 2 of 3 , see previous post]

“The Book”

What we refer to, as “the Bible” are the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. Those books are:

Old Testament:
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges
Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel
Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah
Haggai Zechariah Malachi

New Testament:
Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter
1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

The Bible is divided into two sections known as The Old Testament
and The New Testament. “Testament” is just another word for “Covenant”.
Thus, the Old Testament is the account and record of God and His people
during the Time of the Old Covenant (Adam and Eve to Abraham up until
approximately 400 years before the birth of Christ), and the New
Testament covers the life, death, and ressurection of Christ, through
the ministry of the Apostles.


The Old Testament

The Old Testament (“tanak”, formed by taking the first letter of each section; “torah”, “neviim”, and “kethuvim”) was originally written in Hebrew, with some sections in Aramaic. The “torah” or books of the law were written by Moses around 1400 B.C. The law is made up of the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The books of the prophets or “neviim, were finished around 430 B.C., with Malachi. The “writings”, the poetry and wisdom literature known as the “kethuvim”, round out the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, the Old Testament is often referred to by Jesus and the apostles as “the law and the prophets”, “the writings”, or “as Moses said” (the law).
(Matt 23:1-3; Luke 16:28-31; Luke 24:25, 44 for just a small sample)

The Old Testament as we have it has been recognized as complete and authoritative from as early as 170 A.D. John Piper, in his Bethlehem Institute seminar Why We Believe in the Bible, quotes Melito, Bishop of Sardis:

When I came to the east and reached the place where
these things were preached and done, and learnt
accurately the books of the Old Testament, I set
down the facts and sent them to you. These are
their names: five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus,
Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua the son of
Nun, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kingdoms, two books
of Chronicles, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of
Solomon and his Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of
Songs, Job, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, the
Twelve in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra.
(Cited in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.26.14)[i]

The order that Christians follow in our Old Testament is the order of the early Greek translation called the Septuagint (“LXX”), translated about 250 B.C.

So what were the criteria for counting certain writings Scripture and not others? In summary, the following were essentials:
· Anything revealed by God and recorded by Moses
· Books written by true Prophets (as defined by Deuteronomy 18)
· Writings that were consistent with the character of God
· Books received and used by the congregation of the people of Israel.

These sacred writings were carefully copied and preserved by Jewish scribes. In 1947, fragments of every Old Testament book but Esther were found in caves in Qumran dating as far back as the 3rd century B.C.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Originally written in Greek, with some Aramaic, the books of the New Testament are:
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation


Why these books? F.F. Bruce puts it best when he writes:

What is particularly important to notice is that the New Testament
canon was not demarcated by the arbitrary decree of any Church
Council. When at last a Church Council – the Synod of Hippo in
AD 393 – listed the 27 books of the New Testament, it did
not confer upon them any authority which they did not already
possess, but simply recorded their previously established
canonicity.
(The Books and the Parchments, pp. 112-113.)[ii]

This is an important point to make and so bears repeating. The Church did not arbitrarily decide what was scripture and what was not. Rather, they took the collections of writings that they had and simply recognized what already possessed authority. Authority was derived from:
· having been written by an Apostle or a close associate of an apostle
(Luke with Paul and mark with Peter)
· having been in continuous use by the Church
· having unity/agreement with the rest of Scripture

While there are no original copies of these documents, consider this:

There are 5, 300 known copies and fragments in the original Greek,
nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000A.D. Homer’s Iliad, one
of the most famous literary works of Western civilization has 643 copies
of manuscript support. Within those, there are 764 lines of text that are
disputed as to the accuracy, whereas there are only 40 lines in all of the
New Testament that are disputed, none of which would compromise a
major doctrine of Scripture.[iii]
In fact, many people are unaware that each of William Shakespeare’s
37 plays (written in the 1600’s) have gaps in the surviving manuscripts,
forcing scholars to “fill in the blanks”. This pales in textual comparison
with the over 5,300 copies and fragments of the New Testament that,
together, assure us that nothing is lost. In fact, all of the New Testament
except eleven verses can be reconstructed from the writings of the early
church fathers in the second and third centuries.[iv]

With these things in mind, not to mention the wealth of internal
testimony of Scripture, we can be sure that the Scriptures we have have
been kept from dilution or error.
It is important to note that these 66 books are the only ones
recognized by the Early Church as authoritative. Some other
religions or denominations may include other books collected
under the title “Apocrypha”, or have additional authoritative
books or manuals such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints’ (the cult known as the Mormons) Book of Mormon,
Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. Also made
popular by the recent Davinci Code book and movie of the same name,
the Gnostic gospels have been getting a lot of attention. These books
are not Scripture and are not binding as the word of God. To explore
these other writings and discuss why they are not Scripture is a worthy
task, but beyond the scope of this present article.

(final installment next...)


vi Why We Believe the Bible: The Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of the Bible A Seminar for The Bethlehem Institute, John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700. p.11
[ii] Ibid, 16
[iii] Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Moody, Chicago, 1986, p.367.
[iv] Ibid, Ch.24

authority

over a year ago, i posted an article i wrote for an online magazine on the revelation of god titled
"god, revelation, and dr. phil" (found here)

i just finished a follow up article and will post it here, in its unedited (and capitalized) form, over the next several days. as always, comments are welcome.
___________________________________________________________

As Evangelical Christians, inheritors of the Protestant Reformation,
which reclaimed the truth of “Sola Scriptura” (scripture alone),
the Bible is our sole source of authority. No Pope, creed, council,
or other decrees of man supersede the authority of what God has
revealed to us through His word. For Evangelicals, the authority
of Scripture is not only important, it is essential.
Many denominations and groups have seen fit to summarize
their stance on the authority of Scripture to leave no room for
misunderstanding.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states:

The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be
believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.[i]

The 2000 Baptist
Faith and Message writes :

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's
revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth,
without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is
totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the
end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.[ii]

The Cambridge Declaration of the Alliance of Confessing
Evangelicals instructs:

We reaffirm the inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written
divine revelation,which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone
teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured.We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of
revelation.[iii]

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, a
watershed document in the History of the modern
Evangelical Church affirmed the following:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired
Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and
superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters
upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to
us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.
4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is
without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about
God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if
this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made
relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses
bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.[iv]

These statements and others show the importance that having an
accurate record of God’s revelation to man. God has not left His
people to wander aimlessly through life wondering what it is they
are to do and how they are to do it. We are not like the prophets of
Baal who cut themselves in a desperate attempt to communicate
with their God. We know what pleases Him, and
we know what displeases Him. Our God has spoken
clearly to us through His Word, the Bible. We can know God because
He has revealed Himself. We can feel confident in what we know because
neither He nor His word ever changes. We are not governed by emotions
or opinions that are always coming and going and developing. We are not
left under the dictates of men who age, die, and make mistakes.

As John Armstrong puts it;

The authority of the Scripture, then, is not located in human
brilliance or witness. It is not found in the person of Moses,
Paul, or Peter. The authority is found in the sovereign God
Himself. The God who "breathed out" the words through
human writers stands behind every statement, every doctrine,
every promise and every command written in the Scripture.[v]

Scripture itself speaks to the importance of God’s Word. in its
existence, uses and application. For example:

…and that from childhood you have known the sacred
writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads
to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so
that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every
good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets
in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has
spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the world.
(Hebrews 1:1-2)

Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (John 17:17)

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any
two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul
and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.(Psalm 19:7-9)

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for
they received
the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily
to see whether
these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

How can we be obedient to God when we don’t know what
is asked of us?

How can we worship a God we do not know?

How can we be saved without the Gospel being explained?

All of these answers are found in the Bible. Indeed, most of us
would agree Scripture is essential to the Christian life.

But how can we be sure that the book that we carry to Church
with us and read during our devotional times is what God intended
for us to have? How did God’s word go from old parchments written
in foreign languages to nice and neatly bound books in our own language?
Why are there so many different versions?

What follows is a brief and very general outline of how the Bible that
you own came to be.

(continued soon...)

[i] Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) Chapter 1 article IV
[ii] Baptist Faith and Message (2000) Article I
[iii] The Cambridge Declaration (1996) Thesis One
[iv] Chicago Staement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) Summary
Statement
[v] John H. Armstrong. Chapter 4 Sola Scriptura!: The Protestant
Position on the Bible. Don Kistler, General Editor, Soli Deo Gloria
Publications, 1994.

a horse died and i dont care

in case you missed it, barbaro, last year's kentucky derby winner was euthanized yesterday.

if you missed it, you're power must have gone out, and your paperboy must have called in sick.

i was literally amazed yesterday, when for over the course of several hours there was a continuous "ticker" running at the bottom of the t.v. screen giving the apparently earth shattering news that barbaro was dead.

granted, i live in louisville kentucky, home of the kentucky derby in the land of horse racing. but as i got online, it was on the front page of all of the major news sites. then as i turned on the television is was on *all* of the major networks. today, it was on the cover of national newspapers.

in the span of 12 hours i saw two separate "heart wrenching" stories of how the death of barbaro was profoundly impacting the country. fans in tears. endless flowers, and countless over sized cards expressing condolences.

i have nothing against animals. i would even call myself an animal lover (except for snakes).

my best friend from my childhood was my black lab, "buffy". i found her when i was seven years old, and we were thick as thieves until she died after my sophomore year in college. we had to have her "euthanized" after she was hit by a car. old age and a bad leg had made her too slow to run from the cars that she was usually scared of. there was no way for her to recover, her body had been crushed, so we had her put to sleep. and i cried. i was over 20 years old and i sobbed.
i say this to make clear that i understand loyalty and devotion to animals. i know what it is like to love an animal.

but yet i do not understand how our country can show so much grief and attention to a horse that was by and large unknown to anyone outside of its owners and caregivers a year ago.

here are some excerpts written on the death of this horse :

Barbaro's death is not for the sports pages. It goes on page one and also
Editorial. People who haven't been to a horse race in their lives feel
undone by the loss.
Animals get hurt being what they are.
Horses run on stilts for legs. If horses didn't run on ideal conditions
on a race track, they would try to split the wind on a lumpy field on
the other side of nowhere.
The loss of Barbaro's life is unsettling for two reasons. One, we
got to know the horse. We saw him blast through the starting gate,
then shake off that violent encounter, and start running as best he was
able, again.
We saw him fall. We saw him taken from the track by van. We followed
the surgeries and were gladdened by the rehabilitation. We saw him wobble
from a barn with casts on both right-side legs. We saw the limp. The
appetite. The bright eyes. We saw what was left of the one hoof, it looked like
a peg.
Another reason the loss felt so heavy was because we've had animals.
Few animals are cowards. Some are born sneaky. But not even chickens are chicken.
– jay cronley espn.com

So many people felt a stake in Barbaro's recovery. They imagined his
pain, grimaced each time he faltered, took heart as each day passed
and he was still alive, making painfully slow progress.
The 2006 Kentucky Derby winner's fight for survival was their fight,
a symbol of strength, courage and comfort -- and, more than anything else,
a source of inspiration.
He was, after all, winner of the world's most famous race, in a sport
desperate for a superstar...
"Certainly, grief is the price we all pay for love," co-owner
Gretchen Jackson said.
We just reached a point where it was going
to be difficult for him to go on without pain," Roy Jackson said. "It was
the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there
was a situation where it would become more difficult for him, then it would
be time."

When Barbaro broke down... [w]ithin 24 hours fans across the country
seemed to be caught up in a "Barbaro watch."
Well-wishers young and old showed up at the New Bolton Center with
cards, flowers, gifts, goodies and even religious medals, and thousands
of e-mails poured into the hospital's Web site.
The biggest gift has been the $1.2 million raised since early June for the
Barbaro Fund, money to be put toward needed equipment such as an
operating room table and a raft and sling for the same pool recovery
Barbaro used after his surgeries.
- associated press

and now... the contrast:

As we soberly mark the 34th anniversary of the judicial atrocity known as Roe v.
Wade, the sheer number of innocent victims of that act of judicial tyranny
overwhelms our everyday experience. Even under the most conservative of
estimates (and we lack certainty because we do not have a national, uniform
mandatory abortion reporting requirement), somewhere between 40 and 50
million unborn children have died under this nation’s regime of
abortion.To put that number in some context, the best estimate
is that the total war dead, of all causes, for all of America’s major and minor
wars since 1775 is 1,329,991 or an amount equal to just one year of Roe’s
infernal tally.

- Nikolas T. Nikas ,president and general counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund, a public interest law firm that advocates for life-affirming policies regarding abortion, human cloning and embryo research, and end-of-life issues.

i understand loving an animal. i understand people reacting to it. i understand the public display of sadness.

what i do not understand, is with as much outcry against the war in iraq, the rising death toll of our troops, and the demands to get out to save lives...

i do not understand the relative silence where there should be outrage, grief, and action.

the following is not for the weak or faint of heart. i debated whether or not to even link to it. but i do so with hopes that these images will spread and help stop the killing of human beings... babies, whose worth is not determined by success on a race track, but by being an image bearer of god.

i cannot stress enough the sensitive nature of this video. it is graphic. it shows aborted children. the only reason i link to it is for the purpose of showing it to those you know who hear abortion and think "woman's choice" with no thought of the death of a human. i am repulsed by the images. but i am more repulsed that what is shown in these images is legal.

i strongly advise expectant parents not to watch.

a graphic video of the horror and violence of abortion. viewer discretion is advised.



HT: justin taylor

religion can send you to hell

Hindu devotees offer evening prayers on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India. (above)

Drawn by the pull of the new moon, millions of devout Hindus, led by naked ascetics, plung into the holy Ganges River in Allahabad, India. (below)

i ran acorss these pictures at foxnews.com.

a life of religious devotion, a religious lifestyle, a religious zeal...

and unless they come to saving faith in jesus christ, the religiosity will gain them nothing but hell.

...

then i read this article and thought of the millions who call themselves christians in our own country.

many show much less devotion, live contrary to, and lack zeal for their faith than those hindu's do in their false religion.

i cant help but wonder how many people we know who call themselves "christians" are merely "religious".

do they know the difference? can they see the difference in us?

...

no one is good enough to deserve or earn salvation. it is only by the grace of god anyone is saved.(rom. 3; eph. 2:1-10).

we should be in prayer often not only for the lost in other countries who are so visibly wrong in their beliefs, but also for the many in our own country in our own communities whose faith lie only in going through the motions of activity of religion, using christian jargon, but ultimately have never accepted christ as the lord and savior.

who is more sincere?? the hindu's in these pictures, or the 63% of southern baptist church "members" in the u.s. who do not attend chruch?

i am inclined to believe that the hindu's in their rituals and ceremonies are more sincere,, but at the end of the day, it doesnt matter.sincerely believing in a false religion, and not participating in the one true religion both result in an eternity in a literal hell.

we often get motivated and fired up about missions. we give money, watch presentations, listen to testimonies of mission stories. all of these things are good.

but how often do we burn to see those who have no signs of regeneration other than thier name on a church roll confronted with the gospel?

i am not suggesting that we question everyone we know and demand answers to our every question in order to decide if *we* think the person has done enough to be a christian.

but i am suggesting that we take the bible seriously when it comes to church membership.

the church is made up of believers. believers are called to gather together and participate together as members. when there are names on the rolls of our churches of people who are capable and able of coming and being involved, but do not, there is a problem that needs to be addressed. to ignore it is similar to looking at the above pictures and looking away thinking, "maybe they'll figure it out."

after walking around athens and observing all of the man made idols, paul stilled refered to those people as religious...

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.
"For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD "...(acts 17:22-23)

then he shared the gospel with them.

james admits that there can be "worthless" religion...

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. (james 1:26)

so let us not further the idea, but our words or actions that being religious, even within christian culture, is enough.

being "religious" can send you to hell.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me - john 14:6

15"Beware of the alse prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20"So then, you will know them by their fruits.
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.
22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS. -matt 7:15 -23

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; - phil 2:12

may we fear and tremble at the thought of hoping in anything else but the gospel of christ.