Thursday, March 26, 2009

Why we don't obey Christ's call to "Go"

Marty responded to last Thursday's post with this question:

I know that I too often fail to go. Part of my omission is that I feel under prepared. However, that sense of inadequacy should drive me to pursue with violence to be prepared to give an answer of the hope that is within me. Do you think that preparation is the biggest reason that people do not go? What can we do to be prepared?

I can relate to feeling unprepared and inadequate for the task. Which is pretty convicting. Because if I (a pastor who has been saved for over 25 years; has listened to countless sermons; has read books and attended workshops on evangelism; has graduated from a Christian college and seminary; and has shared my faith on many occasions), if I feel unprepared, HOW MUCH MORE unprepared will most laypeople feel!

I think the #1 reason we don't go is fear. Fear of talking to strangers. Fear of what to say. Fear of how to say it. Fear of when to say it. Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of questions we can't answer. Fear of sounding like a Bible-thumping fundamentalist. Fear of putting ourselves in compromising situations. Fear of rejection. Fear of persecution.

Some of these fears can be remedied through better study, practice, and preparation. Others demand more spiritual courage. All of them require prayer, wisdom, and an utter dependence on the Spirit of God. Some of these fears will only subside as we begin to obey Christ and repeatedly share our faith.

Another reason we don't "go" as we ought is busyness. We get so caught up with the busyness of jobs, of family, of commuting, of ministry, of studying, of hobbies, of entertainment, that we leave little or no time for purposeful evangelism. We get so busy doing stuff -- even good stuff -- that we miss the divine appointments all around us. We must be careful. Busyness can actually be a Satanic strategy to sear our consciences and disguise our fear of obeying Christ's command to Go. If we're too busy to share our faith, then something else needs to be cut out of our schedules.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A call to prayer

Walter Price, pastor of Fellowship in the Pass in Beaumont and current president of our Southern Baptist state convention, has called for a special day of prayer on Wednesday, April 15:

In light of the current moral, spiritual and economic decline of our nation, I am calling all CSBC churches to a season of focused prayer. April 15 is a significant date for all tax-paying citizens – it is also a Wednesday and many churches will be holding their scheduled prayer meeting.

Let’s dedicate an entire service on this day as a time of prayer for our nation. We should also dedicate a specific time in every Sunday service following this date for a similar special prayer focus as well.

What a powerful opportunity for our churches to join our hearts and voices together across this great state in prayer. God’s Word reminds us that we are to “Call to the Lord and He will show us great and mighty things” (Jeremiah 33:3). We are in a unique position as the people of God. The church is the one group in America that has good news and carries the message of true, lasting hope. With so many depressing reports coming from the secular news media, it is time for God’s people to respond with the good news of God’s abundance and sufficiency, even in a time of crisis.

Imagine the spiritual energy as every church, large and small, city and rural, joins together in this timely prayerful response. We should be careful not to craft the prayer services as identical models to follow, but we should embrace a few common elements as we pray together. Consider adding these five items to your prayer focus on April 15:

  • Families facing financial struggles as a result of job loss and cutbacks
  • Churches to respond with sensitivity and compassion to those in need
  • Local, state and national elected officials to use wisdom in leadership
  • Opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus clearly and effectively
  • Humility, repentance and a true spiritual awakening in our nation

This call to prayer is being issued in the other state conventions across this nation by their presidents as well. I pray that we will join our hearts, minds and spirits together to call upon our holy and righteous Heavenly Father to grant us mercy and give us grace to help in our time of need.

Walter Price, pastor, Fellowship in the Pass Church, Beaumont

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Hannukah video

Last Sunday night, I taught on the Rise of the Maccabees as we continue our study through the Intertestamental Period.

Here's the Hannukah video I mentioned during the lesson (and which I could not get to play on Sunday night!). It gives a great little overview of the Jewish holiday, including its origin and modern elements that have been added.

According to John 10:22-23, Jesus himself took part in this festival, which celebrated the re-dedication of the temple in 165 BC.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

We are called to "Go"

I'm thinking a lot today about Christ's commission to "Go therefore and make disciples" (Matt. 28:19). Jesus did not command us to draw people into our settings, but rather, to go where the people are, in settings that will be natural and comfortable to get to know them to discuss the things of God.

Notice how this command to "Go" applies in a tribal setting. New Tribes Missions says, "While there may be situations when it is preferable for the people to gather at the home of the missionary or in a specially-erected building, it is usually better to conduct pre-evangelism sessions in the peoples homes or wherever the villagers most naturally and commonly gather. It may be under a large shady tree in the center of the viallage or at the town plaza during the hottest time of the day...The locale may change according to the seasons and the work being done by the people...By going into their homes, sitting where they sit, and communicating within the framework of the tribal culture, we are showing them, by example, that the message of the Scriptures is meant to be taught and practiced within the structure of their culture..." (Building on Firm Foundations, Vol. 1, p. 111, 124)

But what about 21st century America? How do we obey Christ's command to "Go"? If most of our church's pre-evangelism and evangelism is happening in Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, mid-week Bible study, or door-to-door visitation, it would seem we are asking people to interact in a setting that is completely unnatural and uncomfortable to them. How much better it would be for us to engage the culture by building relationships and sharing the gospel in their own natural environment.

I don't know how this will work itself out practically in our church, but I'm growing concerned that we must be much more aware of the cultural barriers we face as we seek to reach our own neighbors with the gospel.

One new resource I'm very excited about is a little booklet put out by Matthais Media called The Essential Jesus. It's an attractive version of the Gospel of Luke with three introductory pages and then a closing summary of the gospel at the end. You can download a preview of the entire book here. If you buy them in bulk, they're available for as little as 95 cents each.

I'm eager for creative ways to use this tool in the future, perhaps as a free giveaway at a local fair booth or as a possible book study at a local coffee shop. But even with this great tool, I realize there is now a whole generation of people who will not even spend the time to read a free, 80-page book. So, we must constantly explore newer and more effective ways to connect and reach unbelievers.

Monday, March 16, 2009

How to face death

David Powlison has written a good little booklet on how to face death or help others who are facing death. The key ingredient is the hope of the gospel. Here's an excerpt:
Your friends and relatives cannot go with you as you die, but the One who is closer than a brother promises to never leave you or forsake you. Jesus has a first hand knowledge of what you are facing. He will be with you as you face death and as you die. His life, death, and resurrection are your guarantee that beyond death’s door is a glorious new life. This is the reality of your faith. Your faith is not a nice theory, or a bunch of sweet, comforting, religious platitudes. God himself will be with you in the moment when death stretches its fingers toward you.
You can read the whole thing here.

Photo credit: Natalie Maynor

Thursday, March 12, 2009

40 books to strengthen your walk

Looking for books to add to your personal or church library? Do you want to read, but aren't sure where to begin or what's good? Monergism offers a list of 40 books they consider "both devotionally and theologically rich and have deeply impacted our ministry such that we want to set these apart as recommendations to you as a good place to start building a Christ-honoring library of books for your home."

These are not light Christian reading, but rich classics. Here's the list:

Truth For All Time - John Calvin

The Everlasting Righteousness - Horatius Bonar

The Holy Spirit - John Owen **

Chosen For Life - Sam Storms

When Grace Comes Home - Terry Johnson **

Knowing God - J.I. Packer

Saved by Grace - Anthony Hoekema

Sovereignty of God - A W Pink

Crook in the Lot - Thomas Boston **

The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall **

The Bruised Reed - Richard Sibbes

Bondage of the Will - Martin Luther

The Religious Affections - Jonathan Edwards

History of the Work of Redemption - Jonathan Edwards

Reformed Doctrine of Predestination - Loraine Boettner

Redemption Accomplished and Applied - John Murray

The Enemy Within - Kris Lungaard

Mortification of Sin - John Owen

The Bible and the Future - Anthony Hoekma

A Case for Amillennialism - Kim Riddlebarger

God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology - Michael Horton

A Body of Divinity (Paperback) - Thomas Watson **

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism - Tim Keller

Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith - Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen

Pilgrims Progress - John Bunyan

Gospel and the Kingdom - Graeme Goldsworthy

Biblical Theology - Geerhardus Vos

Systematic Theology - Wayne Grudem

New Systematic Theology - Robert Reymond

Justification and Regeneration by Charles Leiter **

How People Change - Timothy S. Lane & Paul David Tripp

Addiction: A Banquet in the Grave - Ed Welch

Shepherding a Childs Heart - Ted Tripp

Today's Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic - Walter Chantry

Tell the Truth - Will Metzger

Lectures to my Students - C.H. Spurgeon

The Cross and Christian Ministry - D.A. Carson

Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Vol Set) by John Calvin **

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall

Finally Alive by John Piper

I've only read about eight of these books so far. Several others I own, but have not read yet. Overall, the list does represent some excellent material, both past and present.

As always, read with discernment and search the Scriptures like a Berean (Ac. 17:11). Some of these titles will present a Reformed eschatology and ecclesiology, while I believe the Bible consistently teaches a more Baptistic ecclesiology and dispensational eschatology. But overall, I think this list would be very edifying and strengthening to your walk.

More corrupting that abortion

Regarding embryonic stem cell research, bioethicist Eric Cohen is quoted by Kairos Journal:
[A]lthough the pro-life movement has rightly spent its energy combating abortion, it would do well to begin giving some attention to embryonic stem-cell research as well. Pro-lifers have had substantial success convincing the public that abortion is a horrible and even inexcusable practice. Embryo research, on the other hand, seems relatively innocuous; but that is an illusion. Its insidious nature makes it more corrupting than abortion.
President Obama's tragic decision this week to permit government funding for embryonic stem cell research has brought this ethical dilemma back into the public spotlight.

The Bible teaches that all life is sacred and to be protected because all humans are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). This is true at every stage of life -- whether floating in the test tube of a laboratory, growing in the womb of a mother, or laying on the bed of a convalescent home.

It is never right to torture or sacrifice an innocent human life for the purpose of extending or improving the lives of others. God alone has the prerogative to give life and take it away (1 Sam. 2:6; Job 1:21).

When we get into the business of creating and killing life, even with the best of intentions, we are wielding a power that is reserved for God Himself.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Book Review: The Faithful Preacher

Last year at Together For the Gospel, I received a copy of The Faithful Preacher by Thabiti Anyabwile (pronounced an-yahb-wee-lay). I must admit this book was not what I first expected. I thought it would be a biography in the line of Piper's "Swans Are Not Silent" series. Instead, I found a compilation of sermons by three African-American preachers, each with a brief biographical introduction.

While I would have enjoyed reading more about the personal lives of these three men, I still found The Faithful Preacher to be a convicting and edifying read. Each man had a unique theme to his ministry.

Lemuel Haynes lived at the time of the American Revolution. Once an indentured servant, Haynes became the first African-American to be ordained in 1785. He had the remarkable duty of pastoring an all-white church for 33 years. Haynes gave special emphasis to conducting our ministry with an eye on eternity. "The work of a gospel minister has a peculiar relation to the future. An approaching judgment is that to which every subject is pointing and that renders every sentiment to be inculcated vastly solemn and interesting. Ministers are accountable creatures in common with other men; and we have the unerring testimony of Scripture that 'God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil' (Eccles. 12:14). If none of our conduct is too minute to be known, we may well conclude that important affairs relating to the work and office of gospel ministers will not pass unnoticed" (p. 29).

Daniel A. Payne, born in the South in the early 19th century, was raised by his great aunt due to the early death of his parents. Payne had a passion for educating blacks, but was forced to leave South Carolina after a tragic law was passed in 1835 that made it illegal to educate slaves. For over 40 years, Payne served as a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and eventually as president of Wilberforce University in Ohio. He sharply rebuked pastoral laziness and ignorance, setting a high standard for the man of God: "To sum up all our ideas in a single sentence, he must be holy, studious, instructive, and wise, ever keeping his heart in contact with the Spirit of God, ever drinking from the pure fountains of truth. He teaches himself, that he may be able to teach others also" (p. 101).

The third and final character of the book was Francis Grimke, born to a slave mother and eventually serving as a pastor in Washington, D.C. for 60 years. Living through the Civil War, Reconstruction, World War I, and the Depression, Grimke decried racial prejudice and exhorted pastors to remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. "If we are not going to preach the gospel and teach the Word of God faithfully, we have no business in the ministry. And the sooner we get out of it, the better" (p. 181).

By reprinting these men's sermons and giving brief biographical sketches, Anyabwile has introduced us to three unsung heroes of the ministry; three men who overcame racial barriers to boldly serve Christ's kingdom; three preachers who eloquently defended the faith once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 3). Truly, these were men of whom the world was not worthy (Heb. 11:38).

May we heed their words and imitate their example, that Christ's message may continue to spread in the 21st century.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Favorite quotes from Shepherd's Conference

Shepherd's Conference last week was an enriching time. Over 4,000 men were present, representing 45 different countries.

The Lord impressed many truths upon my heart that I'm still meditating on. Here are some favorite quotes from the seminars and main sessions I was able to attend:

"There is no creation science. Science cannot explain creation." - John MacArthur

"A ministry's attitude toward Genesis 1-2 reveals their attitude toward the rest of Scripture" - John MacArthur

"If you deny the creation account, you diminish praise to God" - John MacArthur

"Walk on the grass, kill the deer, drill for oil" - John MacArthur, after explaining that environmentalism dishonors God's command to subdue the earth and is killing millions of people

"The further we walk, the better the fishing" - cited by Irv Busenitz, who showed that the deep study of the Old Testament holds great reward

"The Bible was meant to be read forward, not backward" - Walt Kaiser, cited by Irv Busenitz, on how to properly read and interpret the Bible

"Some of us will eat a lot of crow at the marriage supper of the Lamb" - Irv Busenitz

"Damaging the church is rarely intentional" - Tom Pennington

"Paul never let his Calvinism get in the way of his care" - Rick Holland

"Satan always uses our language, and his dictionary" - Rick Holland

"Christianity is fundamentally a rational religion, which is why we teach" - Rick Holland

"The aim of apologetics is to present the gospel, not just argue for theism. We must win converts to Jesus Christ" - Nate Busenitz

"Don't pursue respectability at the expense of biblical fidelity" - Nate Busenitz

"An age of question marks is allergic to the exclamation mark" - Al Mohler, on why our culture is so resistant to expository preaching

"Preaching is your responsibility to get God's Word from your lips to the congregation's ears. The Spirit will get it from their ears to their heart." - Martin Luther, cited by Al Mohler

"To depart from the gospel is to depart from God Himself" - Steve Lawson

"If Jesus is not the only way to salvation, He's no way to salvation. For He said He was the only way. And no liar could be a Savior." - Steve Lawson

"This is not a time for dialogue. This is a time for declaration." - Steve Lawson

"If we please God, it does not matter who we displease. If we displease God, it does not matter who we please." - Steve Lawson

"To design a God who gives people sovereignty outside Himself is to design a different God" - John MacArthur

"The existence of evil actually makes God more glorious." - John MacArthur, showing how the existence of evil puts all of God's attributes on clearer display and causes us to sing with greater passion

If you would like to learn more about this year's conference, you can read the live-blog here, listen to MP3s here, or see photos here.

Photo credit: Lukas VanDyke

Monday, March 9, 2009

Walk for Life 2009

On Saturday, March 21, Dylan and I will be doing the "Walk for Life" to support the High Desert Pregnancy Clinic. This will be our second year in a row.

The Walk for Life is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the clinic, and your help is appreciated. Recently, the director of the clinic wrote,
We have ... seen an increase in calls asking about abortion. These clients are scared! Many already have children and can’t see how they could afford one more. This makes our jobs that much more difficult to help them see that a child is a gift from God and that for most women, they do regret aborting that child. These women are in survival mode, they feel the responsibility of taking care of the children they already have. But, still they refuse to acknowledge the child within. We try to help them see that the baby within is just as much their child as the ones in the home. In many cases they do decide to keep their baby.

For those who do not decide to keep their baby and there are a few, we ask them to come in for Post Abortive Counseling if they begin having difficulty with their decision.

Pray for these Women, their decision to abort does effects the relationship with their living children and their husbands. They are often are pregnant again within a year trying desperately to replace the child they aborted or they become distant and aloof towards their family, trying to mask the pain in their hearts, by believing that nothing matters any more. There are millions of women who feel like this and do not know how to make the pain go away.

We here at HDPC are working with God to help heal them, to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus and the forgiveness that only He can provide. We can’t do this without your support! We need your prayers and your financial gifts to keep our doors open. I know in these tough times everyone is suffering financially but without YOU we could not keep this ministry open. Our Volunteers give of their time to provide quality care and guidance to our clients. Please help us by giving to the Lord’s work we are providing!
If you're interested in sponsoring us with a small donation, just email me at stephen@fsbcyv.org. Thanks!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Does God elect some to damnation?

Pastor David Sqyres brought up a couple important points in response to Wednesday's post on the fairness of God's election.

First, David noted, "I'm not sure if the issue is that of it being 'fair' or 'unfair' but of it being Biblical. If it's Biblical, we accept that God is just and fair beyond our understanding."

Excellent point. It is true that God determines what is fair. He is the very basis and absolute standard of what is fair, just, and right in this world. Thus Paul warns in Romans 9:20 "Who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it?" We should be content to trust in the divine will regarding election because this is what the Bible teaches. Yet, it does put our hearts to rest to see that God is in fact fair (even from a human perspective), and that He is consistent in all His nature and dealings as both a loving and holy God on the matter of election. So, although we need to be extremely humble and careful in questioning God's fairness over the matter of election, I believe the question does help us better understand how all His attributes work together in harmony to accomplish our redemption.

David brought up another point: "I might note, if I may... that all of the verses cited refer to God's choosing for salvation. It does not speak of a negative election; ie: Predestine for hell." This raises a great question. Does God elect some to salvation and elect others to damnation?

In short, I believe God sovereignly and graciously chooses some to be saved, while passing over others to suffer the just wages of their sin. It is not as though humans were neutral creatures, and that God arbitrarily elected some to suffer in hell and in the same way elected others to enjoy eternal bliss in heaven. Rather, the Bible says we were all deserving of hell because of our sin, but that God graciously chose to snatch some out of the pit and save us by the atoning work of His Son on the cross.

Theopedia, quoting from R. C. Sproul, says,

The term double predestination has been used to refer to the dual concepts of election and reprobation in Reformed theology. This is largely a pejorative term which leads to misconceptions of the Calvinist (or Reformed) doctrine. It has been used as a synonym for a "symmetrical" view of predestination which sees election and reprobation being worked out in an equally parallel mode of divine operation.

The distortion of double predestination suggests a parallelism of foreordination and predestination by means of a positive symmetry, which may be called a positive-positive view of predestination. This is, God positively and actively intervenes in the lives of the elect to bring them to salvation; and in the same way God positively and actively intervenes in the life of the reprobate to bring him to sin.

This distortion makes God the author of sin who punishes a person for doing what God monergistically and irresistibly moves man to do. This is not the Reformed view of predestination, but a gross and inexcusable caricature of the doctrine. Such a view may be identified with what is often loosely described as Hyper-Calvinism and involves a radical form of supralapsarianism. Such a view of predestination has been virtually universally and monolithically rejected by Reformed thinkers.

The classic position of Reformed theology views predestination as double in that it involves both election and reprobation but not symmetrical with respect to the mode of divine activity. A strict parallelism of operation is denied. Rather predestination is viewed in terms of a positive-negative relationship.

In the Reformed view God from all eternity decrees some to election and positively intervenes in their lives to work regeneration and faith by a monergistic work of grace. To the non-elect God withholds this monergistic work of grace, passing them by and leaving them to themselves. He does not monergistically work sin or unbelief in their lives. Thus, the mode of operation in the lives of the elect is not parallel with that operation in the lives of the reprobate. God works regeneration monergistically but never sin.
Wayne Grudem says it this way:
When we understand election as God’s sovereign choice of some persons to be saved, then there is necessarily another aspect of that choice, namely, God’s sovereign decision to pass over others and not to save them. This decision of God in eternity past is called reprobation. Reprobation is the sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins, and thereby to manifest his justice...reprobation is viewed as something that brings God sorrow, not delight (see Ezek. 33:11), and the blame for the condemnation of sinners is always put on the people or angels who rebel, never on God himself (see John 3:18–19; 5:40). So in the presentation of Scripture the cause of election lies in God, and the cause of reprobation lies in the sinner. Another important difference is that the ground of election is God’s grace, whereas the ground of reprobation is God’s justice. Therefore “double predestination” is not a helpful or accurate phrase, because it neglects these differences between election and reprobation. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 686f)
After quoting Romans 9:18, Baptist theologian James Dagg explains,
The natural tendency of human depravity is such, that the heart grows harder under the general mercies which God bestows, unless he superadds to all the other benefits which he confers, the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, by which the heart is changed. This renewing grace he gives or withholds at his sovereign pleasure.
And Calvin himself writes,
Since God inflicts due punishment on those whom he reprobates, and bestows unmerited favor on those whom he calls, he is free from every accusation; just as it belongs to the creditor to forgive the debt to one, and exact it of another. The Lord therefore may show favor to whom he will, because he is merciful; not show it to all, because he is a just judge. In giving to some what they do not merit, he shows his free favor; in not giving to all, he declares what all deserve. (Institutes, III, xxiii)
So the answer to our original question is "yes." God does elect some to damnation. But not in the same way He elects some to eternal life. Election and salvation is a free and unmerited gift, an act of grace contrary to what we deserve. Reprobation, on the other hand, is the rightful payment for what we already deserve. It is God sovereignly (and in some sense even reluctantly) bypassing or witholding His mercy and grace in order to manifest His glory and justice.

Election and reprobation are difficult topics for our hearts and minds to bear, but they should drive us to worship God in His sovereign grace and to evangelize the lost with greater urgency and compassion.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

An alternative to government bailout

Cal Thomas, with typical wisdom, offers an alternative to the government bailout of the auto industry:
Let them die a slow death, with the emphasis on slow. Tell workers (management always seems to land on its feet) that they have a fixed amount of time to look for new jobs. Government will help them with training and education, but government cannot prop up companies that no longer make products people want to buy in large enough numbers for them to remain profitable.

...Americans have benefited from capitalism. Our government should not be undermining an economic system that has produced more prosperity for its citizens than any nation on earth. It cannot forever prop up companies that make products not enough people wish to buy. If a growing number of people prefer cars not produced by GM and Chrysler, how will a government rescue plan make them more likely to buy them?
I couldn't agree more.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Is unconditional election fair?

Last Sunday, I preached on John 15:16, where Jesus declared, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you."

The idea that God sovereignly chooses some for salvation while bypassing others, and that this choice is not conditioned upon any future faith or works of the believer, is known as "unconditional election." I believe in this doctrine because the Bible clearly and consistently teaches it (cf. Deut. 7:7-8; John 10:3; Ac. 13:48; Rom. 8:30; Eph. 1:5; 1 John 4:10).

But some wonder how God's election can possibly be fair. Doesn't God's choice eliminate our sense of "free will" or human responsibility? Is it possible a person could want to be saved, but not be elected by God? Charles Spurgeon answers this objection in a very helpful way:
But there are some who say, “It is hard for God to choose some and leave others.” Now, I will ask you one question. Is there any one of you here this morning who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin and walk in holiness? “Yes, there is,” says some one, “I do.” Then God has elected you. But another says, “No: I don’t want to be holy; I don’t want to give up my lusts and my vices.” Why should you grumble, then, that God has not elected you to it? For if you were elected you would not like it, according to your own confession.

If God, this morning, had chosen you to holiness, you say you would not care for it. Do you not acknowledge that you prefer drunkenness to sobriety, dishonesty to honesty? You love this world’s pleasures better than religion; then why should you grumble that God has not chosen you to religion? If you love religion, he has chosen you to it. If you desire it, he has chosen you to it. If you do not, what right have you to say that God ought to have given you what you do not wish for?

Supposing I had in my hand something which you do not value, and I said I shall give it to such–and–such a person, you would have no right to grumble that I did not give it to you. You could not be so foolish as to grumble that the other has got what you do not care about. According to your own confession, many of you do not want religion, do not want a new heart and a right spirit, do not want the forgiveness of sins, do not want sanctification, you do not want to be elected to these things: then why should you grumble? You count these things but as husks, and why should you complain of God who has given them to those whom he has chosen? ("Election," Spurgeon's Sermons, Vol. 2, p. 75-76)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

George Lucas' next movie

As an avid Star Wars fan, I was interested to learn last week that director George Lucas' next film will be on the Tuskegee Airmen. The early title for this project is 'Red Tails,' after the fighter unit's nickname. The story of these heroic men who overcame racial prejudice and the German Luftwaffe, combined with Lucas' own love for action and his attention to detail, has the right stuff for a great Hollywood film.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Half off MacArthur study Bibles

Today only, Monergism is offering all New American Standard MacArthur Study Bibles at a 50% discount.

If you don't own one yet, today's the perfect opportunity to get one for yourself. Or, why not do some super-early Christmas shopping and get one for a friend?

I believe the MacArthur Study Bible, along with the ESV Study Bible, should be on every Christian's bookshelf. Both of these tools offer a wealth of Biblical information, and much of their content does not overlap.

HT: Tim Challies

Same sex marriage hearing on Thursday

Here's an update from ProtectMarriage.com:

Proposition 8 was put before the people of California, and by a wide margin of 600,000 votes became a part of the California Constitution (Article 1, Section 7.5). Next Thursday, March 5, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine whether the sovereign will of the people should be upheld, and whether marriage between only a man and a woman will stand.

This is the most important legal issue impacting families in a generation. The outcome of this case is “do or die” for traditional marriage. If the California Supreme Court were to overrule the vote of the people (for the second time) it would not be long before homosexual marriage is the law of the land across this country.

Please be in prayer for our Supreme Court Justices next Thursday as they hear arguments on this historic case. Pray for the legal team led by Ken Starr who will be making a case for the constitutionality of limiting marriage to one man and one woman. Pray for those who oppose this amendment, that they will understand our motivation is to affirm traditional marriage and preserve the traditional family, not to attack or offend any person or group. Most importantly, pray that no matter what the outcome, churches and individual Christians will be a gospel witness, showing obedience to God and love toward those who disagree.

New Blog

Today I'm closing up shop and launching a new blog called Pinch of Clay. You can visit it by clicking here . Please stop by and...