∞
No Other Bride for Christ
While studying Genesis 29 I was encouraged by the thought that God is nothing like Laban. We will not wake up one morning in heaven (if we sleep at all) to find that we’ve been tricked. God promised us Christ, and that is who He’ll give us. How can we know?
Unlike Laban God does not make us work for our relationship. Salvation is not a wage we’ve earned. We couldn’t earn it in seven years or seven thousand years.
∞
The Goodness of God’s Discipline
None of us have endured the sort of hostility that Christ endured, not even one. He is an example par excellence that we “may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3). Keep running the race. He did, so we should.
Hostility and difficulty prove the grace we’ve received; joyful responses are not natural but supernatural. Struggles also train us to grow up in Christ. The author of Hebrews has a lot to say about this training and, in particular, about the goodness of God’s discipline.
∞
Fiction as a Political Weapon
The second Raggant Fiction Festival is less than two weeks away. This year’s theme is: Fiction as a Political Weapon
I get to lead off the day comparing two dystopian imaginations, That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis and 1984 by George Orwell. There’s a new children’s track this year for kids ages 3-10. I wrote a short story that I’m going to read for them in the afternoon. Check out the festival page for the full schedule and titles of the talks.
∞
288 Ways to Judgment
In The City of God Augustine took time to interact with another philosopher who calculated that there were 288 different ways to get meaningful, personal peace. As it turned out, some of those paths could be considered the same, but whatever the exact number is, men have a variety of options to choose from.
Many people are pursuing many different paths today and, while Christians usually say that all paths don’t lead to the same place, what if we turned that around.
∞
The Taste of Truth
Eve was deceived by the deceiver of the world. Sin in the heart deceives the sinner. Riches deceive from what is truly valuable. God is never deceived; He sees straight through. And we must put deceit away if we want to receive the word of truth.
I’ve observed before that we’re never commanded to read the Scripture. We’re commanded to hear it, to meditate on it night and day, and to do it.
∞
The Problems with Blessings
Those Christians who are gospel-centered are in great shape to see blessings in context. Good things do not ever exist in a vacuum.
The closest it’s ever come to having good things without problems was in Eden. But even there, everything good was given. No man has ever had anything good from and by and for himself. He has always needed to give thanks. It wasn’t a trial, but it was a test.
∞
It’s a Lie
I’ve heard it said that our talk talks and our walk talks but our walk talks a whole lot louder than our talk talks. In other words, we’re known not just by what we say but by what we do. “Even a child makes himself known by his acts” (Proverbs 20:11).
Since we speak, then, with both our lips and our lives, and since it’s true that we lie with our lips, then we should also consider that we can lie with our lives.
∞
Big Brother
Jesus is a much better big brother than Esau. Both were willing to give something up, but one gave up to his shame, the other to His glory.
Esau despised his birthright. He was born into a special position but it meant nothing to him, so he basically gave it to his brother. Jesus is the firstborn of creation and the firstborn from the dead. He did give up glory, in a way for a time (see Philippians 2:5-11), but not because He despised His position.
∞
A Profanity Problem
In a paragraph of instruction about how we ought to treat one another, the author of Hebrews named names. In particular, he named the name of one man that we must not be like. There were many men and women of faith to be imitated in chapter 11, but in chapter 12 we must not be like Esau.
Starting in Hebrews 12:12 we’re told to pursue peace and holiness. We are to help everyone obtain grace.
∞
Combing Hair at Thermopylae
On the first day Evangel Classical School met for classes I read the following quote from C. S. Lewis during my convocation address.
If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavourable.
∞
A Tomb in Canaan
God purposes to get praise for His glory by working out His will in stages.
He made a promise to Abraham about possessing land while calling Abraham to be a pilgrim. Then Abraham acquired a small piece of property in the land in order to bury his wife. Generations later took control of much of the land, and we believe that there is still coming the final fulfillment for Israel’s boundaries as described to Abraham under Christ’s reign in the land of Canaan.
∞
Internal Adornment That Shows
Moses does not paint a flattering picture of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in Genesis. Twice she resents and punishes others in her household. Twice she followed her husband’s lead and lied to those outside her household. Once she even laughed at the promise of God. She did praise the LORD for the birth of her son Isaac, but the very next thing she did was lash out and demand that Abraham “cast out this slave woman with her son.
∞
The Top of the Faith Chart
When we co-opt the apostle John’s language and talk about faith as victory that overcomes the world, we do so without smirking or crossing our fingers behind our back because our faith is in victory that overcomes death. If your god can’t do something about death then he can only offer so much.
Abraham believed in the God who overcomes death.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
∞
Close to Home
God will test our faith. The apostle Peter wrote that various trials cause heaviness:
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:7) Solid faith, not faith-leaf—like gold leaf, a thin layer of faith hammered around the outside—solid faith now will result in our being esteemed and rewarded by God when we see Jesus Christ and will no longer need faith.
∞
Well, is it or not?
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, at least for myself to reference in the future. It’s from Wayne Grudem’s book, Politics - According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture, pages 64-65.
IS THE UNITED STATES A CHRISTIAN NATION?
(1) Is Christian teaching the primary religious system that influenced the founding of the United States? Yes, it is.
(2) Were the majority of the Founding Fathers of the United States Christians who generally believed in the truth of the Bible?
∞
The Red-Blooded Trivium
I gave the following talk at the end of February for the Information Night at Evangel Classical School. If you’d prefer to watch the talk instead of read it, I won’t be offended.
How would you describe most modern education? A lot of parents and professionals (and employers) agree that there is a crisis, but there is little agreement on the cause or the cure. So many students graduate from high school with pale interests, foggy thinking, and sickly convictions.
∞
This Election Is a Disaster (so far)
I already tweeted a link to this, but “Two Kinds of Voting, Two Kinds of Disruption, and Two Kinds of Unrighteousness” should be read in its entirety. Here’s just one of many fantastic points:
the act of voting is also a civic duty that tells people what we think America means, what we want to teach our kids about moral leadership, what face we want America to present to the world, and what sort of candidates we want more of in coming years.
∞
It's not just okay
This book claims it’s not just okay to enjoy the things of earth, but it is our duty to do so.
—Jim Martin about The Things of Earth by Joe Rigney
∞
Strong "Ewww" Reflexes
Maybe the only threat more grave to our souls than unrighteousness is self-righteousness. Both make us enemies of God, the former by honest rebellion and the latter by dishonest resistance.
If our consciences are working, either by the Spirit or common grace, then the last section of Genesis 19 turns our stomachs. But we need it to turn them in such a way that we appreciate God’s mercy more than we appreciate that we are not like Lot and his daughters.
∞
The Life Behind
One of Jesus’ primary teachings is about losing and keeping. Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it, but anyone who loses his life because of following Christ will keep it. This isn’t about leadership style, it’s about eternal life, and it has application in every relationship you can think of. It also isn’t one strategy for success “God’s way.” It is the only way to salvation.
All four Gospel writers cover this teaching.