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October 23rd, 2009: The Sands of Time are Sinking
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Last night I went to what I told my roommate was a surprise party for my Pastor, Mark Dever’s 15th anniversary of being associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. What I saw was something much greater, which was a tribute to him and more importantly God and the work he is doing through Mark Dever and the Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
Those who follow Evangelical Christian leaders today know who Mark Dever is. He is known as the expert on the Church in many Christian circles today, creator of the IX Marks which describe 9 things a church must have to be a healthy, Biblical Church. Of course, the number 9 is clearly arbitrary, and Pastor Mark would tell you that himself. If you really want to narrow the 9 Marks down to 1 essential point, it is this: Preach the Word. Really, through a proper handling of the Word of God, all of the other necessary callings of the church take care of themselves.
Funny thing is that when I walked into CHBC just over two years ago, I had no idea who Mark Dever was. I had no idea what CHBC is. I went to CHBC on recommendation of Ken Spink, the Pastor of Berea Baptist Church who had been to CHBC once and was impressed and since I told him I was Southern Baptist it was a natural fit. I always imagined that meeting a celebrity pastor (Mark would cringe at this term, but it works because of his popularity) would be like meeting a star athlete or a prominent politician. In fact, had a known that Mark Dever was a “celebrity pastor” before I met him, I would have wanted nothing to do with him or his church, because I seek a pastor who was a faithful teacher of the word of God and can care for his flock, not someone who is concerned with Guest appearances on Larry King Live and his chief concern being penning his next Christian Best Seller, which was my impression of celebrity pastors.
Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t think ill of the stereotype celebrity pastor I speak of. I think they are good if focused on the word, for the Kingdom. I just think the chief role of a pastor is to preach the word of God, and a celebrity pastor just seemed like someone who did that because it was part of the job in order to have street cred, but really a Celebrity pastor was really more of an author, or broadcaster at heart. I was seeking someone like my pastor at my last church Pastor Cliff Houston, a great man who is the Sheppard of a flock of less than 100 sheep in the spiritual deprived Pittsford, NY, a suburb of Rochester. This man puts years of labor in planting seeds and it is easy to get discouraged as the results are not immanently evident.
Well, like Cliff Houston, Mark Dever is a pastor. He may be a celebrity outside CHBC, but his chief role is to Sheppard his flock by devoting the core of his time to preaching the word of God. When I met Mark Dever, I had no clue he was a celebrity pastor. He surly don’t come off as one. His humility is something to be looked up to big time. When asked why it was important to be involved in a local church, Mark said that “He don’t trust himself outside of it.” Mark Dever puts himself on no pedestal, he is a sinner who relies on the church just like the rest of us.
The celebration last night was not only for Mark Dever as a pastor, but for Mark Dever as a mentor. I must say it was quite moving. Still, I chiefly know him as a pastor and he is a model one for sure. Brad Paisley in his song “Celebrity” says, “When you’re a Celebrity, it’s adios reality.” Well, Mark Dever is a celebrity, but what makes his great is that he is Hola reality. He is a faithful sinner looking to preach God’s Holy Word as faithful as he can on a week to week basis. Thank You Mark Dever. |
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December 25th, 2008: Merry Christmas
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May God Bless you on this Christmas Day
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.- Luke 2:8-16  |
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December 18th, 2008: Promises Made: A Second Coming: Daniel 12:1
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The last two times we have looked at promises made in the Old Testament, we looked at promises that referred to Jesus coming to the earth the 1st time, when he came to save the world. This time we look at Daniel in regards to Jesus second coming. Take a look at Daniel 12:1
"At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued.”- Daniel 12:1
Daniel is a very hard book to understand, and we will try to dig through this here. Through the prophet, God has made a made it clear that this final judgment is going to occur. We could say a lot on this matter, but we are going to take a quick look at the first part of the verse, and focus on the second part.
The first part is really a judgment of Israel. The “at that time” clause is talking about the era of the second coming. Michael is a high ranking angel who God gave a special job regarding Israel. This time of anguish is the time of God’s final judgment. It is the same time event that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:21 “For that will be a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again.” This really is a promise of Judgment. Remember the Judgment we looked at in God’s first promise just after that fall? We see something very similar here. We see a divine judgment here, but right after we see a divine grace.
That grace is seen in the second part. Daniel says that “at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued” Remember God’s judgment in the past? The great flood comes to mind, of all the judgment that God has given before none will compare to this one. This one is the big daddy of all judgment. Yet, there is a way that we can avoid God’s perfect, holy, divine judgment. That way we are rescued is by being “written in the book.” How are people written in this book?
Those who believe Jesus and make him Lord of their life! Those are the people who avoid this judgment! It has nothing to do with being a Jew or a good person or anything else. It’s about being in the book, which is done through Christ alone. Look at what John had to say on this matter
“So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life. I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:12-13
This promise has not been kept yet, but God is batting 1.000, so you can take this Promise made in the Old Testament, restated in the New Testament as one you can take to the bank. |
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December 4th, 2008: Promises Made: God to Abram: Genesis 12:1-3
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After taking a week off due to thanksgiving we return to our Promises Made series. We remain in Genesis, but this week we focus on the Promise that God made to Abram and really by extension the promise God made to us. Let’s look at our verses, Genesis 12:1-3
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
What is going on here? God is commanding Abram to leave where he is at and it is clear that Abram is being called to leave everything and follow him. I was reminded of what Jesus said in Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” As followers of God, we are called to follow him.
I do want to make clear though that the command in Genesis 12:1 is a command to Abram specifically. Not all followers of Christ ought to leave they place of birth. The focus is not on the specific action, but rather that you are wholly committed to him.
After this specific command to Abram, God makes specific Promises. He says that he will show Abram to a land. God promised to make Abram’s name great. The 3 major religions all stem from this man, and I don’t think that is for no reason. God would provide a land through his seed, even though his people took a lot time screwing around in the process.
We see time and time again that God would bless his people through the Old Testament, but I want to focus on that last line there. “In you all of the families of the earth shall be blessed” How was this to be? Well, looking through the New Covenant lens, it is very clear how this would be. Look at the first verse of the Gospel of Matthew: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew then for 16 verses traces the line of Christ, starting with Abraham.
God mad a promise to Abram that all the families of the earth shall be blessed through him. This man, Jesus, would be the savior of mankind.
Promise Kept. |
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November 20th, 2008: Promises Made: Genesis 3:15- The Protoevangelium
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To start our series on Promises Made by God in the Old Testament, we naturally begin at the beginning of mankind, in the Garden of Eden. If you recall, God created Man and placed him in the Garden of Eden. This being, Man, was created to be in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and to rule over all other beings on earth. In this garden, God has given man all that he needs. While in Eden, God creates Eve (not named till post fall), which is the companion of Adam.
God had told Adam that he “may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die." (Gen 2:16b-17). This brings us to the end of chapter 2 in Genesis. God has created Adam and Eve and placed them in paradise and told they them can eat any fruit except fruit from this one tree.
It’s a very peculiar situation, but it is not the focus of what I want to look at, so we will just leave it there. We now can talk about chapter 3, with a focus on verse 15, often called the Protoevangelium, or the first gospel.
Here is Genesis 3:1-5:
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
What is happening here? The serpent is attacking Eve. Right some the top, the serpent misquotes God. God never said they could eat of any tree, just every tree except the in the center of the garden. The serpent is, right here sinning against God, accusing him of deception and lying. I think it is of particular note that the serpent temps Eve, who was created after God gave the command to Adam in chapter 2 not to eat from the Tree.
The serpent makes false promises, and Eve falls into his trap. She gave some of the fruit to her husband Adam and he ate it as well. From here we see the 1st sin. Adam and Eve mistrusted God, and but their own self above worshiping God. It is here where the statement “Pride comes before the fall” is so accurate.
The actions of man have brought upon the Judgment of God. Adam and Eve try to hide from God, but this is a useless endeavor. Let’s look at what God says as he begins his Judgment, speaking to the serpent.
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live 15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
While verse 14 is interesting, I want to focus on verse 15. God here describes the relationship between Satan and man. First, he says there will be hostility. We know that Satan always hated man, Satan hated God and God created man, thus Satan hated Man. This is why Satan tried to deceive Man. There is a battle that occurs between man and Satan, even that of an unsaved man. While the unrighteous man is rebelling against God, that does not mean that man is a friend to Satan. This is fine with Satan, because he has us serving ourselves instead of God.
The key line is “he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” How will Satan be struck on the head? There he is referring to the offspring of the woman. We know exactly who that person will be. That person will be Jesus! Even here in God’s first Judgment in the bible, we see the promise of Jesus as a redeemer. Jesus, the offspring of the woman and the Son of God, will save man from his sins.
What Satan must have regarded at the time as a victory, would ultimately be trumped by the glory of the cross! Satan would attempt to get Jesus to sin “you will strike his heel.” In the end, this attempt would be futile. The amazing this is that God set up the tree in order to give us, man, the choice to follow him or to reject him.
Adam, the first man, had failed. Yet through this failure, God is yet glorified even greater though our redeemer, his Son, Jesus Christ. We see here in the 3rd chapter of the bible God making his first Promise. That Promise is kept through his son, Jesus. It really is an amazing story. Without understanding the Promises Made in the Old Testament, you are missing out on the understanding beauty of the promises kept in the New Testament. |
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November 16th, 2008: Promises Made
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I know that for months I have been writing on basically one theme, Politics. It makes sense, since I work in Political Polling and I will be returning to school in Political Management. Thus, this blog has built up a readership of dedicated politicos as its base. That being said, I think there is room for more and now that the election is over, I will start blogging on other subjects. Still expect 50% or more of my post to be related to politics, but I will be looking at other issues as well, and I really look forward to writing about the story of the Gospel. With that in mind, I want to announce the start of a new series that will debut this Thursday and continue every Thursday until I feel like stopping it. To start, we will start with a series called “Promises made” Recently, I have been disturbed but the lack of understanding of the Old Testament (not that I am anywhere near understanding that makes me a scholar). The God of the Old Testament is no different than the God of the New Testament. The Old Testament, quite simply, is a series of promises made to his people (both his elect and the people spoken to directly at the time). Without the Old Testament, the New Testament is pointless. I want to look at the theme of Promise through the Bible. Unlike humans, God always makes good on his promises. We can learn a lot about God through these Promises. On Thursday, we will look at God’s first promise to mankind, found in Genesis 3:15 From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (NLT) This is the story of mankind. Even here, we will see in God’s first judgment, God great mercy, which points towards his son, Jesus Christ. For the Christian, I hope you come along and understand the great promises God has given to his elect. To the unsaved, I hope that you see that you live on the wrong side of an angry God, and see that it don’t have to be that way as God has provided a substitute through his divine Thursday. Come back to this blog daily as I hope you find it edifying. I hope you especially take time to come back on Thursdays as we take a look at Promises Made in the Old Testament, starting this week with the fall of man in Genesis 3. |
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July 7th, 2008: Here is Love
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I love my Church, CHBC, though I do miss some of the hymns that we tend not to sing there. Among those are Celtic Hymns such as "Blessed Assurance" or "Rock of Ages." Still, today we sang a Celtic Hymn which is a beautiful song that we have sung before, but I was very moved by the words today. And that was just a piece of the whole hymn, so I leave you to ponder the lyrics below. Here is love vast as the ocean |
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June 22nd, 2008: Positive, Encouraging Christianity
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I listen to WGTS a lot here in Washington, DC since it has almost no commercials. WGTS is a Contemporary Christian station and like many Christian stations they claim to play “positive, encouraging” music. They don’t call it Christian music but rather this positive, encouraging brand. WGTS is not alone in this title. The national Christian radio station, K-LOVE, uses the same “positive, encouraging” line in their jingle. This line really annoys me. I think it is contrary to the gospel. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that I am positive and encouraging in my relations with people. It is what they are implying with their words that make me shutter. To further my point, WGTS has another little clip they play where a small child says “Safe for the little ears.” I cringe even more when I hear this line. Why do I cringe? The gospel ought not to be “safe for the little ears.” What do I mean? The Gospel is offensive. It says that you need a savior. It says that man is evil and is in rebellion against God. If by God’s grace you are brought into his kingdom, there is still yet another battle here on earth. It is a battle of your new self, the Holy Spirit, with the flesh, your sin like being. The battle is a war, and a bloody one at that. What these jingles do is reduce that to some prosperity Gospel. I heard about people today in Iran who were thrown in prison for being Christians. Is their life “safe for the little ears?” No it is not. The problem with many American Christians is that they don’t go beyond the realm of safe. They don’t dig into the negative parts of our life and turn them around in order to be better servants for Jesus. Instead we only focus on the surface positive and we miss the real beauty in being in a spiritual war. I am talking to myself as much as any of my fellow American Christians. Should we be positive? Yes. Should we be encouraging? Certainly. Should our speech be “Safe for the little ears?” Of course. My point is not that ought not to be focused on these things, but rather that we ought not to be comfortable with our life. Jesus never promised lack of suffering on this earth. Quite the contrary, he actually guaranteed it. If you aren’t being tested, you need to examine yourself. |
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April 20th, 2008: I agree with Josh
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I still follow what is going on at my old school, Rochester Institute of Technology. I receive much trash on facebook regarding joining causes, but I got one the other day regarding a group called “I agree with Josh.” Josh is a friend of mine and the current student leader of the Baptist Campus Ministries. Faithful readers of this blog will remember that Josh was the first guest blogger here, writing about the role of faith in politics. Well I know the bulk of you readers have no idea who Josh Horn is. Well, the great thing about this campaign is that it has nothing to do with Josh Horn. The goal of the campaign, as far as I can see it while speaking to no one on campus and just searching google and facebook is to for one bring awareness about the gospel and more importantly, bring people to a decision, that is to say a yes or a no to a creed, more or less. The people who do agree will be wearing shirts and hopefully will have the RIT community talking about the gospel. So, here is the “creed” “I agree with Josh” I believe in one true God, See, I call it a creed because it reminded me immediately of the Nicene Creed, which I have reproduced below: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And we believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. See, the “I agree with Josh” campaign is really just a trimmed down version of the Nicene Creed. I pray for them and hope that |
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February 18th, 2008: Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis and James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of Crowds
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Some of you know who Rob Bell is. He is a great communicator who is one of the leaders of the emergent church. So how does this tie in with the groundbreaking Surowiecki book Wisdom of Crowds. Surowiecki’s book is subtitled Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. Surowiecki’s book is essentially as the subtitle states. Anyone who knows what a prediction market is understands the idea behind Surowiecki. Surowiecki litters his book with examples where the many are smarter than a group of experts. Many times, he is correct. He gives an example of cars at the turn of the 20th century. Cars did not always look like they do today. Through the market though, the Model T won out and cars now have a mold they fit into. See, Ron Bell is arguing for a Wisdom of Crowds style Gospel. He is arguing that if we all get together and discuss the bible, we will be better for it. And I agree with that premise. There is value in the people looking at issues. Still, certain issues have been decided and confirmed by the experts that both I ask why. It has been established for hundreds of years (go to the Nicene Creed). It has been affirmed as essential to the Christian faith. These questions were asked, and they have answered. What There are essentials to the Christian faith. Christ crucified. It will be a stumbling block or foolishness to many. Still, to others, it will be their salvation through the risen Christ. The focus isn’t on doubt, and it isn’t on getting everyone’s opinion. It is about telling the truth, and letting God do his work. Sorry Surowiecki, the crowd isn’t as smart as you think, and to sit here all day and not declare absolutes based off of the crowd is neither right nor safe. |
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