May
30
Near enough to heal, strong enough to save
Filed Under Apologetics, Christmas, Evangelism, Islam | Leave a Comment
What question could a kind, gentle American seminary professor ask to get himself run 
out of the famous Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem? Let me suggest you to take few minutes to read a short piece by Dr. Reggie Kidd, Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, entitled ‘The Deity of Jesus–So What?’ , and you will find more than an interesting encounter with Islam, but a rich discussion of the beauty, sweetness and necessity of eternal God taking on human flesh. Dr. Kidd (he would prefer you call him Reggie–with a hard ‘g’) reflects on the question, ‘What difference does it make that Jesus is not just man (though certainly that), but also God?’ Or to personalize the question a bit: ‘What has Jesus done for us that no human could do?’
May
29
John Owen and Pentecost
Filed Under Books, Holy Spirit, John Owen | Leave a Comment
This past Lord’s Day was Pentecost Sunday, the occasion of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the promise of Joel 2:28-32 (“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…”). In the Old Testament Pentecost was a feast that celebrated the first fruits of the year’s harvest (Exodus 23:16; Numbers 28:26). In the New Testament, the fulfillment appears, and the long-expected Day of the Lord has arrived: the powers of the age to come are released; the harvest of the world begins to come in. Christ—crucified, risen and ascended—pours out the Spirit in unrestrained measure and without geographical or ethnic limitation. The gospel promise “is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39).
John Owen wrote Pneumatalogia, or A Discourse concerning the Holy Spirit in 1674. It
is a massive work occupying 650 pages in the Banner of Truth edition of Owen’s works (volume 3). Volume 4 contains a number of other works by Owen on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The Banner of Truth Trust has also released an abridged and modernized version, edited by R.J.K. Law, in their ‘Puritan Paperback Series’ entitled The Holy Spirit, to make Owen’s monumental work a bit more accessible to contemporary readers. The Sweet Dropper, who has read and outlined the entirety of the originals in volumes 3 and 4, highly recommends the paperback.
Here is a good taste of the abridged version, which I read during Evening Worship:
The great privilege prophesied of the gospel age, which would make the New Testament church more glorious than that of the Old, was the wonderful pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit on all believers. This was the good wine which was kept to the last (Isa. 35:7; 44:3; Joel 2:28; Ezek. 11:19; 36:27).
The ministry of the gospel by which we are born again is called the ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:8). The promise of the Holy Spirit under the gospel is to all believers and not just to a special few (Rom. 8:9; John 14:16; Matt.28:20). We are taught to pray that God would give us his Holy Spirit, so that with his help we may live to God in the holy obedience he requires (Luke 11:9-13; Matt. 7;11; Eph. 1:17; 3:16; Col. 2:2; Rom. 8:26). The Holy Spirit was solemnly promised by Jesus Christ when he was about to leave the world (John 14:15-17; Heb. 9:15-17; 2 Cor. 1:22; John 14:27; 16:13). So the Holy Spirit is promised and given as the only cause of all the good that in this world we can partake of.
There is no good that we receive from God but it is brought to us and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. Nor is there in us any good towards God, any faith, love, obedience to his will, but what we are enabled to do by the Holy Spirit. For in us, that is in our flesh, there is no good thing, as Paul tells us…The Holy Spirit’s work is to bring to completion what the Father had planned to do through his Son. By this, God is made know to us, and we are taught to trust in him. (p.19,21)
May
25
Conflict and Apologetics
Filed Under Apologetics, Books, Christian History | Leave a Comment
I’ve been following with some interest Carl Trueman’s recent push to get more people reading and appreciating the early church fathers. You can find his Ref21 posts on patristics here, here, and here. You can also read an interview with Trueman in three parts (part 1, part 2, part 3). These posts resonated with something I had heard Dr. Peter Jones talk about at the Twin Lakes Fellowship. He was advocating the view that our current culture is very much like the culture that surrounded the birth of the church in the New Testament. With Trueman and Jones carrying on a convesation in my head, I decided to relieve some cognitive dissonance and pick up volume one of the Ante-Nicene Fathers set.
I read the first two letters in the book. The first was The First Letter of Clement and the second was The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus. What did I discover? Well, of course, that Trueman and Jones were both very correct. The letters were incredibly encouraging and helpful for modern ministry.
The Fist Letter of Clement was a letter from Clement to the church at Corinth. Clement probably knew Paul. He rose to leadership in the church before the first century. As a part of his shepherding of the churches he wrote a letter to the church at Corinth. What was this letter about? It was an encouragement to handle disagreement in the church. He confronts conflict within the body of Christ with a sweeping discussion of basic theology ranging from creation to redemption. Listen to Clement speaking about the redemption we have in Christ:
Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him.
What wisdom is here! What does a church in conflict need to hear? They need to hear about the blood of Jesus calling all to repentance.
The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus was written by an early disciple to a man named Diognetus. It serves as a proto-apologetic for the Christian faith. The author compares the emptiness of Paganism and Judaism to the fullness found in Jesus Christ. Much like Clement, the author of this letter grounds his apologetic in the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!
I don’t plan to end my reading of the early church fathers here. But what I have sound far has been encouraging and surprising. Our problems are the same. How do we handle conflict within the church? How do we preach Jesus to the lost world? And so our solution is the same as well. Proclaim a crucified, risen Savior who alone is able to purge from sin, bring about repentance, and build his church.
May
22
Blogging 101
Filed Under Culture | Leave a Comment
Tim Challies has written and excellent series of posts on the history, pitfalls, and usefulness of blogging. Tim is considered by most, though probably not by himself, as one of the premier Christian bloggers around. Whether you’re new to this blogging thing or if it is old hat to you, Tim’s articles are a great read.
- Blogging - My Story
- Blogging - History and Societal Trends
- Blogging - State of the Blogosphere
- Blogging - Wrapping It Up
On a personal note, I got to meet and chat a good bit with Tim and the Twin Lakes Fellowship. He is a humble guy who sincerely sees his blogging as a God given ministry. I happen to agree with him.
May
21
John Owen: what’s the big deal?
Filed Under John Owen | Leave a Comment
J.I. Packer wrote of John Owen,
In his own day he was seen as England’s foremost bastion and champion of Reformed evlangelical orthodoxy, and he did not doubt that God had given him this role; but his interest lay in broadening and deepening insight into the realities that orthodoxy confesses, and a humbled and humbling awareness that his present understanding, though true (so he believed) as far as it went, was deeply inadequate to those realities pervades all that he wrote. In this, as in most things, he was more like John Calvin than was any other of the Puritan leaders. (A Quest for Godliness, 81)
His main body of work was published in the 19th century as a 16-volume set (what might he have accomplished with a word processor?), plus a 7-volume commentary on Hebrews and a work on biblical theology which has only recently been translated from Latin to English. His work is not easy reading. If you studied Latin somewhere along the way you have an advantage in reading with understanding, as Owen’s style is Latinate. His writing is condensed and heavy. The trick I have learned is to read it aloud (at a whisper at least), and much of the difficulty fades.
You might expect a man of such depth and accomplishment to struggle with pride and vanity–and Owen apparently did. His enemies accused him of such. But time and again his writings reflect the kind of maturity that brings men low in their opinion of themselves before God. He wrote,
There are two things that are suited to humble the souls of men…a due consideration of God, and then of ourselves. Of God, in his greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject and sinful condition…the man that understands the evil of his own heart, how vile it is, is the only useful, fruitful and solidly believing and obedient person. [vi.200-201]
May
18
Hymn Helps
Filed Under Music, Psalms, Resources, Worship | Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since I focused a post in on a great online resource. Today I wanted to briefly highlight The Cyber Hymnal. It is a website that specializes in all things concerning hymnody. Here are just a few things you can do there:
- Find the lyrics to your favorite hymns
- Find an audio file of your favorite hymn tune
- Find historical information on hymns, tunes, hymn writers, and tune writers
- In addition to this there are pictures, trivia, Scripture cross references, bibliographies, etc
You may be wondering who runs this site. The site owner(s) have chosen to keep that information private, saying,
This is a private Web site, doing our best to advance God’s kingdom, using the tools He gives us. We belong to the same denomination as Jesus: “Christian.”
In general, I consider intentional internet anonymity a red flag. However, I’ve used The Cyber Hymnal for years and have not found any objectionable material or ulterior motives.
How do I use The Cyber Hymnal? Let me give you two anecdotes.
Since today is Friday, I’m in the process of concluding my sermon preparation for Sunday. The end of that process usually includes me picking a suitable hymn with which to conclude the service. If at all possible I want that hymn to be a fitting response to what I preach. Often I will find a great hymn but am unsure whether the tune is one with which we as a congregation are familiar. Enter The Cyber Hymnal. I simply go over to cyberhymnal.org and listen to the tune. If the tune is easily sing-able I include it. If it isn’t, I pass on it for another hymn. This morning I passed.
I’ve also gotten into the habit of singing the psalms. I ordered a copy of the old Scottish Psalter. I went with that version because I’m not musically gifted in any way. Some of the tunes in the Trinity Psalter are intimidating to me. The Scottish Psalter puts almost all of the psalms to common meter. Put simply, I could sing every psalm to the tune of Amazing Grace if I had to. But I’d rather not do that. Enter The Cyber Hymnal. I simply searched for all of the tunes that are in common meter. I picked the ones I liked and continue to use them for my private devotional singing.
The Cyber Hymnal is the most useful online resource for those interested in the traditional hymns. It is certainly worth a glance. You won’t regret it.