Reformation Faith Today

for the recovery and propagation of the faith of the reformation

December 26, 2007 • 12:47 pm 8

Hell

Whatever happened to it? It seems to me that for varied reasons, hell has lost ground in popularity. Well, I do not mean popularity in the sense that fewer people want to go there. I suspect that hell is still as unpopular as ever as a destination.

No, I mean that hell has become unpopular in preaching. Where did it go? Why do we not hear more preaching which emphasizes the reality of hell?

I remember my former pastor and co-laborer in the Gospel, Rodney Stortz, talking about how he referred to hell when he presented the gospel to someone. He would ask the person something like, “Do you believe that you are a sinner and that your sin is of such magnitude that you deserve to spend all of eternity apart from the loving presence of God in a place where you will always exist in agony and torment and punishment?” If the person agreed that they were a sinner, but that they were not that badso as to be eternally punished, he would normally stop and camp there in the conversation. Rodney’s view was that until a person recognized just how heinous their sin was and what it deserved, going on with God’s Good News in Jesus Christ was rather meaningless. I agree.

Until a person recognizes the depth of their sin and the punishment it deserves, i.e. the bad news, then the Good News of Jesus Christ is not really good news.

So, I propose that hell be brought back! Let our preachers preach the bad news clearly and boldly so that the good news is really Good News!!

Below I will feature a Robert Murray McCheyne sermon on hell. His text is Mark 9:44. One quote from the sermon:

Do not take my word about an eternal hell; it is the testimony of God, when he spoke about it. O! if it be true – if there be a furnace of fire – if there be a second death – if it is not an annihilation, but an eternal hell – O! is it reasonable to go on living in sin? You think you are wise – that you are no fanatic – that you are no hypocrite; but you will soon gnash your teeth in pain; it will come; and the bitterest thought will be, that you heard about hell, and yet rejected Christ. O! then, turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Bible, Gospel, Preaching & Preachers, Theology , , ,

• 12:28 pm 1

Robert Murray McCheyne

This Scottish minister lived from 1813-1843, a relatively short life. But what a life he lived for God.

As you will see below, McCheyne pastored St. Peter’s Church in Dundee, Scotland and was greatly used by God in building the Kingdom of God.

In 2004 I had an opportunity to visit St. Peter’s church in Dundee. The minister then as now is the Rev. David Robertson. While there, I was with David as his new book at the time was being released and being featured at a local bookstore. The title is Awakening: The Life and Ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne. I read the book on my way back from Scotland and I can tell you that it is an excellent read. You can get a copy at Amazon.

I encourage you to get a copy of the excellent book on McCheyne. Also take a few minutes to visit the St. Peter’s Church website. Rev. Robertson is an tremendous resource, especially his debates with Richard Dawkins, the famed atheist.

Continue reading below for a short biography on Robert Murray McCheyne. Lord willing I will be featuring some of McCheyne’s sermons going forward. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Books, Preaching & Preachers

December 25, 2007 • 7:23 am 0

The Cambridge Declaration

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals was formed in 1994 as:

an association of evangelical pastors, teachers, leaders, and Christians committed to the great evangelical consensus arising from the protestant reformation, working together for the recovery of the biblical, apostolic witness of the Church. It fosters a collaborative movement of reformed evangelical Christians, to promote robust, biblical, historic, confessional Christianity through media, events, publications, networking, and more. It has encouraged the Church to evaluate its message and methods, according to Scripture. It has warned the Church against false doctrine. It has advocated for sound doctrine, warm piety, catechetical instruction, biblical worship, faithful cultural engagement, and scriptural methods of evangelism and church growth.

In April 1996, the Alliance held its first major meeting of evangelical scholars. The Cambridge Declaration, first presented at this meeting, is a call to the evangelical church to turn away from Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Evangelicals, Reformed Faith

December 24, 2007 • 8:51 am 2

Martyn Lloyd-Jones Quote

Martyn Lloyd-Jones lived from 1899 to 1981. As the minister at Westminster Chapel in London from 1939 until his retirement in 1968, MLJ became known as one of greatest, if not the greatest, preachers in the 20th century. His book Preaching and Preachers is probably the best book available on the subject of preaching. Any man aspiring to preach the gospel is the worst for not having read this book.

Here is a quote from MLJ, excellent as usual.

The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first. That is how revival comes. That must also be true of us as individuals. It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be. Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian. Introduction to the Beatitudes

How do you respond to this idea from MLJ?

Filed under: Christianity, Gospel, Preaching & Preachers

December 19, 2007 • 3:17 pm 2

The Messiah Complex

 Michael Horton has written a brilliant piece posted over at 9Marks called Transforming Culture With a Messiah Complex. In the article he makes the case very well that the often quoted “incarnational ministry” phrase actually stands in a long line with social gospel movers and shakers. He says,

So when a conservative Southern Baptist like Rick Warren embraces “new measures” in church growth by advocating a vision of the church as an army of reformers who can end the plagues of disease, war, and poverty as well as promiscuity, abortion, homosexuality, divorce, and alcoholism, he stands in a long line leading from Finney to Strong to Sunday to Graham. “Deeds, not Creeds!” used to be the mantra of the social gospel of mainline churches, but Warren has revived it today as if it were newly minted. After a brief dispensationalist interlude, American evangelicals returned to their more positive and triumphant (postmillennial) message of transforming American culture into “a shining city upon a hill.”

In essence he points out that what is being attempted is really nothing more than a resurrection of Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Culture, Ecclesiology, Emerging Church, Government

• 8:16 am 31

Robert E. Lee on Slavery

On another post, a commenter referred to Lee in the context of slavery and the Civil War. The person said,

Lee defended an evil slave empire, and was in rebellion against the legal government of the United States.

Well, I will in no way say that every single thing Lee said and did in his life was perfect. Though Lee was a Christian, he was still a sinner and as such had his flaws. But, let us here from Lee himself on the subject.

Robert E. Lee’s Opinion Regarding Slavery
This letter was written by Lee in response to a speech given by then President Pierce.

Robert E. Lee letter dated December 27, 1856:

       I was much pleased the with President’s message. His views of the systematic and progressive efforts of certain people at the North to interfere with and change the domestic institutions of the South are truthfully and faithfully expressed. The consequences of their plans and purposes are also clearly set forth. These people must be aware that their object is both unlawful and foreign to them and to their duty, and that this institution, for which they are irresponsible and non-accountable, can only be changed by them through the agency of a civil and servile war. There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. It is idle to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race. While my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more deeply engaged for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things. How long their servitude may be necessary is known and ordered by a merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild and melting influences of Christianity than from the storm and tempest of fiery controversy. This influence, though slow, is sure. The doctrines and miracles of our Savior have required nearly two thousand years to convert but a small portion of the human race, and even among Christian nations what gross errors still exist! While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is still onward, and give it the aid of our prayers, let us leave the progress as well as the results in the hands of Him who, chooses to work by slow influences, and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day. Although the abolitionist must know this, must know that he has neither the right not the power of operating, except by moral means; that to benefit the slave he must not excite angry feelings in the master; that, although he may not approve the mode by which Providence accomplishes its purpose, the results will be the same; and that the reason he gives for interference in matters he has no concern with, holds good for every kind of interference with our neighbor, -still, I fear he will persevere in his evil course. . . .

Lee opposed slavery and had freed the slaves he had inherited from his wife’s estate long before the war. One of them, William Mac Lee, chose to stand by Robert E. Lee’s side throughout the war, serving as his cook and confidant. This former slave and friend described Lee with these words, “I was raised by one of the greatest men in the world. There was never one born of a woman greater than Gen. Robert E. Lee”.

Robert E. Lee could not, would not, fight against his native Virginia. When offered the opportunity, he rightly refused. Far from being in rebellion, Lee understood, better than many today, one of the primary issues in the great war–the right of the states to govern themselves. He believed that that the tragedy of slavery was diminishing and that it would ultimately be defeated by Christianity, not by war.

So, let us understand the man Robert E. Lee rightly.

Filed under: Civil War, Religion

December 17, 2007 • 9:57 am 0

Discernment, or Lack Thereof

How are the sheep at sniffing out false teaching in the church? I suspect that judging by the rampant false teaching making inroads in the churches today that the sheep are largely unsuspecting.

The Apostle Paul spoke to this in several places, not the least of which is 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound [1] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to remind us that the preaching of the Word is the remedy to combat false teachers. He also reminded us that we live in a day when many will follow after men (and women) whose teaching is false and mythological.

Phil Johnson (thanks to Randy Kirkland for alerting me to this) wrote an article last year called Terrorism in the Church which is Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Apologetics, Emerging Church, Theology

December 16, 2007 • 10:30 am 0

The Incarnation

As Christians we celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Christmas is often, though, a celebration of commercialism. Fundamentally, though, this Christmas thing is about the incarnation.

But how can God become a man? A mystery indeed. R.C. Sproul has an excellent essay on the subject. Here is an excerpt:

Long before there was a human nature, there was a second person of the Trinity. Here the second person of the Trinity, very God of very God, God himself, was able to take upon himself a human nature. No human being could reverse the process and take upon himself a divine nature. I cannot add deity to my humanity. It’s not as if Christ changed from deity into humanity. That’s what I hear all the time. I hear that there was this great eternal God who suddenly stopped being God and became a man. That’s not what the Bible teaches. The divine person took upon himself a human nature.

As we approach Christmas, pause and reflect on very God of very God taking on a human nature for His people. Here is a link to the essay.

Filed under: Christmas, Theology

December 15, 2007 • 1:05 am 2

Psalm for Praise and Singing

I was reading Psalm 146 Friday evening and was greatly encouraged. One of the aids I use for study when reading the Psalms is the very helpful little book by John Brown of Haddington called The Psalms of David in Metre. Rev. Brown introduces each Psalm with a few words basically outlining the Psalm and providing some application.

Here is what he had to say about Psalm 146:

This psalm contains, (1.) Pleasant engagements and encouragements to the hearty and constant praises of God, ver. 1-2, 10. (2.) Earnest dissuasives from trusting in man, who is so weak and short-lived, ver. 3-4. (3.) Powerful persuasives to trust in God, whose power and goodness appear so remarkable in creation, providence, and redemption, ver. 5-10.

While I sing, be stirred up, my soul, and all that is within me, to bless his holy name; to depend on him alone, who is my Maker, my faithful Friend, my kind and righteous Protector, my bountiful Provider, my almighty Deliverer, my gracious Enlightener, my seasonable Restorer, my perpetual Preserver, and the just punisher of my foes ­ my King, my God, and my all.

This psalm is also in our Trinity Hymnal (#57) under the title Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul. It is from The Psalter, 1912 and is set to the tune RIPLEY. Here are the words:

Psalm 146

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Put no confidence in princes,
Nor for help on man depend;
He shall die, to dust returning,
And his purposes shall end.

Happy is the man that chooses
Israel’s God to be his aid;
He is blessed whose hope of blessing
On the Lord his God is stayed.
Heaven and earth the Lord created,
Seas and all that they contain;
He delivers from oppression,
Righteousness he will maintain.

Food he daily gives the hungry,
Sets the mourning prisoner free,
Raises those bowed down with anguish,
Makes the sightless eyes to see.
Well Jehovah loves the righteous,
And the stranger he befriends,
Helps the fatherless and widow,
Judgment on the wicked sends.

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Over all God reigns for ever,
Through all ages he is king;
Unto him, thy God, O Zion,
Joyful hallelujahs sing.

Either way you read or sing this Psalm, you will no doubt be encouraged. By the way, the John Brown notes for the Psalms may be found here.

Filed under: Music, Psalms, Worship

December 13, 2007 • 11:44 am 2

More on Pullman

The Shepherd’s Scrapbook has a bit on Pullman posted today. They refer to an interview about Pullman’s writings. Here is what the Scrapbook has:

“Alan Jacobs is a literary critic and professor of English at Wheaton College. In 2000 Jacobs was interviewed on the Mars Hill Audio Journal about Philip Pullman’s writings (like The Golden Compass) and why he hesitates using Pullman’s works in teaching literature to his college classes. About midway through the interview Jacobs explains how gifted “world-making” authors are especially effective at communicating ideology. He says:

“There is no question that there aren’t very many writers out there more gifted than Philip Pullman and of course that’s what makes it the more disturbing when the gifts are abused. … We [he and his Senior college class] spent a lot of time talking about what’s involved in reading a world-making author like this. It’s an enormously seductive experience. As you come to trust in the author’s ability to make a compelling and fascinating world it becomes harder and harder to mistrust that author’s leadership and direction in moral matters. And so it’s very hard to sort these things out. If you begin to suspect the moral tendency or direction that the book is taking the imaginative wholeness of the vision becomes less compelling to you as well. So I think many readers who love and relish being put into these secondary worlds, who love to immerse themselves in the textures and shapes of a world different than ours, those readers are faced with a great temptation to turn off their moral and spiritual discernment so they are not disturbed in their immersion in this world. It’s a tough thing to try to keep those moral and spiritual antennae working to discern the spirits because you want so much to have an enjoyable reading experience. You don’t want it all to collapse all around your ears.”

You can get to the interview here. I found it very engaging. Any thoughts from the above quote?

Filed under: Books, Culture, Movies

December 12, 2007 • 1:51 pm 6

Whose Ideas are Emerging?

For most people, reading in the Emerging stream of books and literature might be like Forrest Gump’s motherly advice which went something like, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

You know what that is like. Someone gives you a box of chocolates. It does not include the handy guide telling you which ones have nuts. Now, it just so happens you are allergic to nuts. You pick up and bite into a delicious looking one. Bam! Allergic reaction. Sickness, maybe even death. You wish you could have been warned of the dangers.

The EC is in some ways like that. It is really hard, even for seasoned theologians, to discern where these guys’ theology is coming from. What fountain have they been drinking from? What theological stream have they been swimming in?

For most us us, jumping in that stream with them can have serious consequences. Particularly vulnerable are new believers and young people who have not adequately developed a well rounded apologetic. They should be warned at every turn.

Let me use an example from a well known church leader, Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Emerging Church

December 11, 2007 • 5:19 pm 1

At the Crossroads

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has a fascinating article on their website. It has to do with some recent manuscript discoveries near the ancient site of Bethel, about 12 miles north of Jerusalem.

One of the texts has been dubbed the “purplehat” scroll. Here is a short excerpt. I commend the entire article to you.

As I said, as soon as we left Herod and set out in the direction of Bethlehem there was the star again, ‘the glory’ as we called it. And with the help of ‘the glory’ we finally arrived in Bethlehem. It was weird. ‘The glory’ had led us to a place that was far from glorious. What a let down! We began to think we’d been deliberately duped by Herod, and that ‘the glory’ had lost the scent. When this star brought us to a filthy barn behind an inn in Bethlehem, we seriously thought we’d been fooled, that this was some kind of sad, Jewish joke. Who wouldn’t? But we quickly came to realize how stupid that was!

‘The glory’ went ahead of us and then stopped, hovering. When it came to rest suddenly things began to fall into place.

When you read the introduction to purplehat I believe you will see the significance. Click here to read.

Filed under: Bible, Christmas

• 12:57 am 9

Emerging, more!

attitude.jpg

 

Seems we find even more good stuff to read on the Emerging/Emergent %*&$ment. If we keep beating this horse we’re gonna have us a dead horse on our hands.

Phil Johnson, longtime book editor, writer, etc. and assistant for John MacArthur, put together a seminar last year at the annual Shepherd’s Conference in LA. I met Phil back in 1987 at one of the conferences and have been really impressed with his body of work. His blog is on the right column of mine and is called Pyromaniacs. You gotta love that name!

Remember, the %*&$ment that is not a movement has probably changed some since Spring of 2006.

So here is the text of Phil’s seminar. Phil Johnson on the Emerging Church

Filed under: Emerging Church, Theology

December 9, 2007 • 11:28 pm 0

Tragic Gun Attacks

Today saw two more attacks by gun weilding assailants, both in Colorado. Fox News reported on an attack early Sunday morning at a Youth With a Mission training facility in Colorado. Then later on Sunday a man opened fire at a church near Denver soon after the 11:00 service had ended.

This is on top of the tragic slaughter in an Omaha mall last week where eight people were killed and five wounded.

These shootings are indeed tragic. Innocent people were killed and wounded.

John Lott wrote an opinion on FoxNews online about the vulnerability we all face in what he calls “gun free zones.” In most cases like these, the only person with Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Culture, Government, Guns

• 7:39 am 11

Why Mike Huckabee for President? Part 1

mikehuckabee_com.jpgFormer pastor and later Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee has surged in the polls in Iowa and appears to be leading substantially in the race for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. At least in all in important Iowa.

Here are some excerpts from Gov. Huckabee’s website:

A significant part of his adult life was spent as a pastor and denominational leader. He became the youngest president ever of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, the largest denomination in Arkansas. Huckabee led rapidly growing congregations in Pine Bluff and Texarkana. He said those experiences gave him a deep sense of the problems faced by individuals and families.

  • The First Amendment requires that expressions of faith be neither prohibited nor preferred.
  • My faith is my life – it defines me. I don’t separate my faith from my personal and professional lives.
  • Real faith makes us more humble and mindful, not of the faults of others, but of our own. It makes us less judgmental, as we see others with the same frailties we have.
  • Faith gives us strength in the face of injustice and motivates us to do our best for “the least of us.”
  • Our nation was birthed in a spirit of faith – not a prescriptive faith telling us how or whether to believe, but acknowledging a providence that pervades our world.

The First Amendment requires that expressions of faith be neither prohibited nor preferred. We should not banish religion from the public square, but should guarantee access to all voices and views. We should share and debate our faith, but never seek to impose it. When discussing faith and politics, we should honor the “candid” in candidate – I have much more respect for an honest atheist than a disingenuous believer.

My faith is my life – it defines me. My faith doesn’t influence my decisions, it drives them. For example, when it comes to the environment, I believe in being a good steward of the earth. I don’t separate my faith from my personal and professional lives.

Real faith makes us humble and mindful, not of the faults of others, but of our own. It makes us less judgmental, as we see others with the same frailties we have. Faith gives us strength in the face of injustice and motivates us to do our best for “the least of us.”

Our nation was birthed in a spirit of faith – not a prescriptive one telling us whether to believe, but one acknowledging that a providence pervades our world.

Filed under: Politics

December 8, 2007 • 2:12 pm 0

unChristian

Jared Stinehagen has been reading the book unChristian and has posted about it. The post and comments are well worth taking a look at. Thanks Jared.

Here is a sample from his blog The Outlet:

The section “Hijacking Jesus” (pg 32) was exceptionally interesting to me.  In it, Kinnaman states “As we work to change the negative perceptions of outsiders, we need to avoid an opposite and equally dangerous extreme.  Some Christians respond to outsiders’ negativity by promoting a less offensive faith.  The unpopular parts of Christian’s teachings are omitted or deemphasized.  They hijack the image of Jesus by portraying him as an open-minded, big-hearted, and never-offended-anyone moral teacher.”  I think we’ve all experienced the health/wealth/happiness gospel and shrink back from the milquetoast mush this kind of teaching renders the true gospel and Truth itself.  The converse of this is to understand where the conceptions of the outsiders are coming from so that we can see how our actions affect the testimony of our own personal beliefs, but to all who would call themselves Christians.

Filed under: Christianity, Culture, Ecclesiology, Emerging Church

December 7, 2007 • 5:51 pm 0

Laughing is Good For Us

Laura Steel has posted a hilarious piece she found on ugly cars. You really need to see it. Click here and enjoy the laughs.

Filed under: Funny, General

December 6, 2007 • 11:27 pm 12

On Reading Non-Christian Authors

Phil Ryken, Sr. Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, wrote briefly on the subject. Read it here.

This is especially relevant in light of the new movie The Golden Compass. The movie is based on Phillip Pullman’s trilogy of books called His Dark Materials. Pullman hopes to lure younger readers to his anti-God books.

Filed under: Books, Culture, Movies

• 3:14 pm 1

Mitt Romney on His Religion-Mormonism

I put this here for your information. It is from the AP. My comments will be in another post. Hereafter is from the AP.

Text of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s speech Thursday on faith at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. ROMNEY: Thank you, Mr. President for your kind introduction.

It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the first lady and because of the film that’s exhibited across the way in the presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the president as a young pilot, shot down during the Second World War, being rescued from his life raft by the crew of an American submarine. It’s a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation. We’re in your debt, Mr. President. Thank you very, very much.

Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It’s now my generation’s turn. How we respond to today’s challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.

America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we’re troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.

Over the last year, we’ve embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America’s greatness: our religious liberty. I’ll also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my presidency, if I were elected.

There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Mormonism, Politics, Religion

• 1:38 am 7

Our Common Faith With Muslims?

Where have we been, as evangelicals? Apparently asleep at the theological wheel. And while we were sleeping Muslims and Christians found some common ground.

Now pick yourself up off the floor and get the doctrinal sleep out of your eyes. Apparently Christians and Muslims share the same views on the ten commandments. You will remember that Jesus answered a question about which commandment is the greatest with, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (ESV). No problem here for Christians. Right?

But here is where it gets sticky. Back in October, a group of Muslim scholars and clerics issued a call to Christians. It read Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Apologetics, Bad Theology, Christianity, Theology

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