How bad was it really? Eric Metaxas, in his brand new biography on Luther that just appeared at the beginning of October, 2017, described one of Martin Luther’s experiences during his first journey to Rome as follows:
Another disturbing aspect of his time in Rome was the astonishing incompetence and cynicism of many of the priests there. Luther had never seen anything that began to approach it. It was one thing to have questions about God and the religious life, but what to make of these priests who seemed to go through the motions with a contemptuous indifference, or in some cases even a mocking blasphemy? It was positively diabolical. On the first score, Luther noted that Mass was said with such breathless speed that even he, who was exceedingly familiar with every word, found it utterly unintelligible. It was mystifying, as though the priests had secretly been replaced with fast-talking auctioneers. For Luther, who had revered the Mass to the point of awe and even terror, this cavalier attitude toward this holiest of privileges must have been a horror to behold. If ever one needed a picture of “dead religion” and “dead works,” here it was in all of its most legalistic ghastliness. Luther saw that these priests hadn’t the slightest reverence for the holy act in which they were participating but wished only to tick off the appropriate box and gallop off to something less demanding. The shortest time officially allowed in which a priest could hurry through the Mass was twelve minutes, but Luther recalled that at the basilica of St. Sebastian seven masses were said in an hour—in other words, in something less than nine minutes each. And when Luther himself said Mass, the next priest—fidgety with impatience—almost literally breathed down his neck. “Quick, quick!” he said to Luther, sarcastically adding, “And send our Lady back her Son!”—obviously a joke about the transubstantiated host. At St. Sebastian, Luther also recalled the freakish oddity of two masses being said simultaneously at the same altar, the priests merely separated by a painting.*
What Luther saw, and what many other reformers grasped, is that, by the time of the reformation, so much of what the church was doing was exactly in line with the failures in worship which have always been a part of human sinfulness. Worship was not about the word of god, but was rather filled with the vain imaginings of men who made up ceremonies and rules for themselves. Worship was not about the glory of God any longer, but was a tool for the religious elite to use to enrich themselves as they horded political power. Worship was not simple and congregational, but it was complicated, confusing, and only for the priests to perform on behalf of the people.
*[1]Eric Metaxas, Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World (New York: Viking, 2017), Chapter 3.
Sinclair Ferguson on the Deformation of Worship Before the Reformation
For many of us today, what passed for worship by the time of the late 15th and early 16th centuries would be completely unintelligible. We would not understand the language. We would not understand most of the actions. We would not grasp many of the symbols. And we would not be far removed from the common people of the day who, like us, would not have a clue what was going on.
In his excellent presentation called “The Priority of Worship” from the 2017 Ligonier National Conference, Sinclair Ferguson examined what had happened to worship by the time of the reformers.* Ferguson specifically highlighted three major deformations of worship by the time of Luther that were part of the landscape begging for reform.
First, Ferguson pointed out that worship had become visual and sensory, even sensual, rather than biblical and spiritual. Consider what New Testament authors often said about the spiritual component of worship in the New Covenant era as opposed to the physical ritual of the Old. Always, the New testament highlighted the superiority of the fact that we are not now performing physical rituals such as sacrifices, but we are instead looking in faith to the completed work of Christ that renders such physical performances obsolete. But by the end of the medieval period, worship was primarily physical and visual. The word of God was not at all central, Instead, symbols, vestments, and performances all took center stage. Sacramental bread had ceased to be a reminder of Christ’s work and had instead become a sacred talisman to cling to as a superstition.
Ferguson points out that the word of God was simply not at all a part of the common worship goer’s experience. He said, “You would not have asked someone leaving a service in the late middle ages, what did you hear? A) Because that person probably did not understand the Latin that he or she heard, and B) because all of the focus was on what we saw.” Instead of being fed by the word of God, worshippers would watch as a sort of performance was done in front of them.
Second, Ferguson points out that worship became vicarious rather than congregational. That is a natural outgrowth of the prior problem. If you, as a common man, could not understand the language being spoken, how could you participate? You also could not sing in worship, as all the singing was done by the formally trained choir. In fact, you could allow someone to say a mass on your behalf without your having to participate at all.
Thirdly, Ferguson points out that worship had become complex and lost its simplicity. The actions of the priests in the ceremonies were quite intricate. Move your hands this way. Speak the Latin at this point. Wear these particular vestments. Gesture just so. As Ferguson points out, “If there had been theological seminaries in the English speaking world, in those days most of the courses would have been on hand actions and vestments, and not on the action of God and the preaching of His Word and the understanding of that Word by God’s people in the sheer simplicity of biblical worship in the New Testament.”
* Sinclair Ferguson, “The Priority of Worship” The Next 500 Years: 2017 National Conference (Sanford, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2017) [transcript and media on-line]; accessed 14 Oct 2017; available from http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/next-500-years-2017-national-conference/priority-worship/?format=audio; Internet.
A Major, Sometimes Overlooked, Purpose of the Reformation
What was the reformation about? If you were asked that question by a church member, you would likely point to the five solas. You would say that the reformation was about recovering the right understanding of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You would say that this is to the glory of God alone. And, of course, you and I would tell anyone who would listen to us that the authority of Scripture alone is at the center of the reformation cause.
But is there more? How would the reformers have spoken of the purpose behind the reformation? What would they have said was at the center of their work, a work that we now celebrate as vital to the preservation of the church and the true gospel?
In 1543, John Calvin wrote a work entitled, “On the Necessity of Reforming the Church.” In that beautiful defense of the need for reformation addressed to Emperor Charles V, Calvin points to more than the doctrines of Scripture and of salvation as key to the heart behind the reformation. Yes, he highlights a recovery of the doctrine of God’s grace. But he sets right beside that glorious doctrine the recovery of biblical, God-honoring worship. Calvin writes:
If it be inquired, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence amongst us and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity, viz., a knowledge, first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and, secondly of the source from which salvation is to be obtained.
If any one is desirous of a clearer and more familiar illustration, I would say, that rule in the Church, the pastoral office, and all other matters of order, resemble the body, whereas the doctrine which regulates the due worship of God, and points out the ground on which the consciences of men must rest their hope of salvation, is the soul which animates the body, renders it lively and active, and, in short, makes it not to be a dead and useless carcass.*
* John Calvin, On the Necessity of Reforming the Church (1543-44) [book on-line]; accessed 14 October 2017; available from https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/calvin_necessityreform.html; Internet.
Using the Model Prayer for a Guided Prayer Time
In our ministry, we have found that one of the best ways to have an extended prayer time for our groups has been to use the model prayer as taught by Jesus. Many call this the Lord’s prayer, and, of course, it is very familiar.
Matthew 6:9-13 – 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
If you are willing to use this prayer, not as something to recite, but rather as a set of categories through which to pray, it can easily help you to pray for half-an-hour or more.
Below is how we break the model prayer into categories along with one extra Scripture passage for each just to set the tone. Then I am including some particular things to pray.
Part 1: A prayer of praise and a prayer for God’s honor
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Psalm 145:1-3
1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
- Praise God for who he is
- Ascribe holiness to the Lord
- Ask that he be seen by others as holy
- Pray that our church show that God is glorious
Part 2: A prayer that God’s will be done
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Revelation 21:1-4 – 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
- Pray that God’s kingdom come in full and set things right forever
- Pray that God set things right in the here and now as a sign of his reign
- This is a place to lift up prayer requests for God to save the lost
- It is a place to pray that God will push back the darkness of this world
- Pray that God grow our church as a part of his kingdom
Part 3: A prayer for provision
Give us this day our daily bread,
Psalm 145:15-16
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
- Pray that God meet our needs
- Pray for provision
- Pray for physical healings
- Pray for the Lord to be glorified as he supplies our needs
- Pray for God to provide for the needs of our church in every way
Part 4: A prayer for forgiveness
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
1 John 1:7-9 – 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Pray that God forgive us as a nation for our rebellion
- Pray that God forgive us personally for our intentional and unintentional sins
- Pray that God will help us forgive others as he has forgiven us
- In your heart, confess your sin and seek the Lord’s mercy
- Pray that God have mercy on our church, a body of forgiven sinners
Part 5: A prayer for protection
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Psalm 23:4-5
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
- Pray that god protect you from the devil’s temptations and all spiritual warfare
- Pray that God protect you from sickness and harm
- Pray that God protect you from the evil actions of others
- Pray that God protect you from the sin in your own heart and mind
- Pray this all for our church body
Closing:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
An Independence Day Reflection
It’s July 4, and so many of us are celebrating the birthday of the United States. It is a great gift from God to have been born in a nation where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been clearly preached in many places. I’m grateful to God for the freedom to worship the Lord, to preach the word, to share the good news of Jesus. I’m grateful that this nation has never established a government-controlled state religion or required its people to worship or not to worship in any particular form. I’m grateful to the Lord for men and women who have sacrificed of themselves in countless ways to establish and protect the freedoms we enjoy.
I am also deeply concerned for the future of the nation where I was born and for which I am grateful. Though we are most certainly not the nation of Israel under covenant with the Lord, we can and should learn from the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. I say that because I believe that we as a nation are guilty of so many of the very same things that brought the judgment of the Lord on that people.
For you who do not know the story, let me sketch in the history. In Genesis, God promised to send the Messiah (or Christ) into the world to rescue sinners, crush the devil, and set right what went wrong at the fall of man. God chose one particular family, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to carry this promise. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and promised that Israel would be a nation through which God would fulfill his promise. And Israel agreed to obey the commands and ways of God in order to have God bless and protect the nation. Eventually, this led to the nation being led by a king named David, and God promised that David’s family line would carry his ultimate promise.
In around 9:30 B.C., The nation of Israel divided. Ten of the 12 tribes separated from the leadership of the descendants of King David and went their own way. That nation was still called Israel or the northern Kingdom while the descendants of David and carriers of God’s promise were called Judah after David’s tribe. In 722 B.C., the Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Assyrian Empire.
Look at how Scripture describes the fall of Israel and the reasons for its fall.
2 Kings 17:6-8 – 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.
Here we see that the nation of Israel had turned away from the things that please God and had begun to do things that god had forbidden. They modeled themselves after the surrounding nations instead of following the terms of the covenant they had made with the Lord. Israel did this even though the covenant agreement included severe consequences for violating God’s commands.
What did Israel do? From verses 9-18 of 2 Kings 17, God lists the offenses of Israel. They refused to worship God. Instead, the people of Israel began to worship false gods. They bowed down to idols. They even began to sacrifice their children to their false gods. Other books in the Bible tell of how God warned Israel to change. Amos, for example, called Israel to stop allowing the super-rich to live in luxury while they oppressed the poor and needy in their land. Many prophets instructed Israel to stop practicing sexual immorality and all forms of wickedness. But the nation would not repent.
And here we are, over 2,700 years later in a nation that the people of Israel could never have dreamed would exist. We are privileged beyond anything we could have ever imagined. But I wonder how long we will be able to stand. I do not doubt the American drive or the strength of will of our soldiers. But I do wonder if the Lord will allow this nation to stand strong forever given the way that we so eagerly embrace the things that brought God’s judgment upon Israel. No, we are not a nation in covenant with God like Israel. But, throughout biblical history, God would only allow the nations around his people to live in sin for so long before his judgment on them would fall.
As a nation, we have seen gloriously good things. We have seen the Lord honored as our people have preached and spread the gospel. It was our soldiers who made a dramatic difference to put down Hitler’s Germany in World War II and helped to rescue the world from one of the greatest threats in history. It was the U.S.A. that stood against the threat of Soviet Communism to see the Berlin Wall fall and that wicked system of oppression collapse. And I am so grateful for those things.
But we are also a people who have embraced things that God has called wicked in his word to a degree that is beyond imagining. We, as a nation, have allowed the sacrifice of our children, not to a statue of a false god, but by abortion to the idol of human freedom and autonomy. We have openly embraced what God calls sexual immorality, redefining marriage, loosening any restrictions on divorce, and leaving generations of children without fathers. We have allowed in years past the kidnapping and sale of human beings to serve as slaves simply based on their color of skin. In the present, we still fear one another and hurt one another if we look different from each other. Now the modern slavery involves the kidnapping and sale of young boys and girls into prostitution through human trafficking, a very real American sin. In truth, the things God commands are ignored in our nation while the things God forbids are celebrated.
So, I ask, how shall we stand? Even if we are not Israel, even if we are not in covenant with the Lord, how shall we stand? The answer, dear friends, must be repentance. Our nation has been great in many ways. Our nation is great in many ways. We have been blessed in many ways. But if we, as a people, are not willing to turn from our sin, bow to the Lordship of Christ, and seek his mercy, I fear for our future. The Lord let his judgment fall on nations as great as ours in the past. Egypt fell. Assyria fell. Babylon Fell. Persia fell. Grease fell. Rome fell. Every great empire in human history has fallen. So we dare not take our freedom and our stability for granted. We need to bow, turn to Christ, and seek the mercy of God.
I’ll wrap up with a prayer recorded in Scripture. The Prophet Daniel, a God-fearing, God-loving, righteous man, prayed a prayer of national confession and repentance. In so many ways, Daniel was not personally guilty of what others around him had been doing. But he did not pretend that his own goodness would save the nation. Instead, Daniel prayed to God, confessing the nation’s sin, and asked the Lord to have mercy. Perhaps we could do the same, praying that the Lord have mercy on the nation we live in, on the nation he has so blessed, on the nation we love, on the nation that has so turned against him and his ways. May we pray for God’s mercy as we celebrate our independence, but not an independence from our Creator.
Again, Daniels’ prayer is for the people of the house of David, Judah. We are not, in America, the people called by God’s name as they were. But perhaps we can learn from this prayer to seek the mercy and favor of God as we turn from sin and to him.
Daniel 9:3-19 – 3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Why My Kids Do Not Believe in Santa
My children do not believe in Santa Claus. To some, this is an obvious move. To others, this is a shock. What’s the deal? Am I some sort of anti-holiday Scrooge? Am I some sort of overzealous fundamentalist? Why in the world would I not have my little ones believe in Santa?
I am probably asked every year about what our family has decided to do about Santa at Christmas time. And, every year, I share a version of this post to try to explain the process that my wife and I went through in deciding our answer to the big question: To Santa or not to Santa.
Since you know the answer already, let me very briefly tell you the reasoning that made the no Santa policy in my home. Then, I will share with you a bit of how we deal with Santa.
Christmas is a holiday that has been highly over-commercialized in the US for years. People focus on winter, on trees, on lights, on gifts, and not on Jesus. And you know what, none of those are the reasons why my family did not tell my children that Santa was real.
Here is my bottom line reasoning: If I tell my children to believe in a figure that they cannot see, that he watches them from afar, that he judges their motives and actions, that he has supernatural powers, and that he will visit them with gifts every Christmas, they will eventually find out that I have intentionally told them to believe in something that is not true. This fact will not do much for my credibility in telling them true things about God, who is invisible to them, who watches over them though they cannot sense it, who judges their thoughts and actions, and who will bless them with eternal blessings if they will follow Christ. So, simply put, my wife and I have determined that we will never tell our children that something is true when it is not, because it is far too important that they be able to believe us when we tell them some things are true that they cannot see.
How do we deal with Santa and Santa stuff? It’s quite simple. Ever since Abigail was tiny, we have worked to distinguish the difference between true stories and pretend ones. In our house, if a story begins with “A long time ago…,” it is a true story. If a story begins with, “Once upon a time…,” it is a pretend story. The kids have done surprisingly well making those distinctions. They can still enjoy the stories that they know are not real just as any children can.
Since my children have no trouble enjoying that which they know not to be real, my wife and I do not get all crabby when a family member wraps a Christmas gift and puts “From: Santa” on the label. We do not find ourselves upset when they want a musical Rudolph toy from Wal-Mart. We do not get bent out of shape when a Santa ornament makes its way onto a tree near us. We don’t even mind taking snapshots of them sitting on the knee of a portly, bearded guy in a red, fuzzy suit once a year.
I think that you can tell from what I’ve already written, but just in case it is not clear, Mitzi and I do not look at our decision about Santa as the only possible one. This is a matter of conscience and preference. There is not Scripture that states, “Thou shalt not ho, ho, ho.” I grew up believing in Santa, and it really didn’t harm my worldview that much (so far as I can tell). But, for me and my house, we have simply made a decision that we want our children to know that Mommy and Daddy will always tell them the truth, and that trumps our desires to have beaming little people listening for sleigh bells on Christmas Eve.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, we also try our best to keep our children from being the ones who spoil it for others. Abigail and Josiah have both been told in no uncertain terms that they are not to make it their mission to correct the Santaology of other children. They have answered truthfully when asked by other little ones, but they, to my knowledge, have never tried to be anti-Santa evangelists. So far, so good. We’ll have to see how Owen handles it when he is old enough to play the spoiler role.
Hear my heart as I wrap up this post. I am not here attempting to change any family’s plans for how to handle Christmas. Nor am I asking any person not to do Santa things with my little ones. Nor am I suggesting that, if you have just watched a Claymation special with your kids that you have ruined their spiritual chances for the future. So, please, no cranky comments defending your traditions. Santa stuff is a lot of fun. I love fun stories and the joy of imagination. (We even watch Harry Potter every year around the Christmas season simply because the music feels Christmassy to us; so obviously we are not the strict, non-fiction parents that you might be imagining.) But, since many ask, here is the answer: we have made a choice to be able to tell our children that, when mom and dad say something is real, we fully believe it to be real.
My Ten Favorite Reads of 2016
Since we’ve made the end of another year, I thought I’d join the list of folks who are sharing their top reads from 2016. I’ll not include my favorite fiction, as fiction is just too hard to recommend. But here are ten of my favorite non-fiction books I read this year, and, no, they were not generally published in 2016.
Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View
Friesen, Gary
Discerning the will of God is a vital topic. It is also a topic which I believe confuses many believers. Friesen’s work is the gold standard for discussions of this topic from a non-mystical point of view. This is the kind of book that is easy to read, but which would also make a fine group study.
Church History in Plain Language
Shelley, Bruce L.
It is simply good for believers to work through church history from time to time. It is vital for us to realize that the doctrines we hold dear do not arise from a vacuum. Instead, many of the things that distinguish who we are as believers have arisen out of some very significant events. This book is, as its title suggest, simple. However, it is helpful and digestible, and it was a fun casual read.
The Heart of Revelation
Duvall, J. Scott
I loved reading this book simply because it was a book on Revelation that was not trying to draw for me a timeline or argue about the same old topics. While I believe that end times discussions are important, I also understand that the Book of Revelation is intended by God to reveal to us his character and victory. This book does a wonderful job of helping us look at the book of Revelation in a fresh light without bogging us down in the arguments so often present. [my review]
Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God’s Resources in Scripture
Scott, Stuart
I like to be sure that I read in the biblical counseling field from time to time. I do not believe that there is anyone better to read here than Stewart Scott. This author presents unwaveringly biblical counsel in real world situations with compassion and understanding. Scott’s work is also a great example of how real, biblical counsel can help people to walk through issues which many Christians might believe unsolvable.
The Doctrine of Repentance (Puritan Paperbacks)
Watson, Thomas
I’m not sure if I enjoy reading Puritan books more for the overall truth they present or the powerful quotes that pierce my heart. Either way, this was a powerful classic on a topic so often ignored in modern days.
Unparalleled: How Christianity’s Uniqueness Makes It Compelling
Wilson, Jared C.
I just happily read anything from Wilson. He writes with such reality and such grace. [my review]
Living in the Light: Money, Sex and Power
Piper, John
I think I enjoyed this book because it was written from a retired pastor who can now speak these truths to us with the wisdom and compassion of many years of faithful service. It is not a prudish or a salacious book, but a helpful one that I would recommend to anybody. [my review]
The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World
Mansfield, Stephen
I never expected to read this one, but since it was on a nice sale on Kindle, I gave it a shot. This was a great example of how a Christian might order his family life and business to make a difference in the world around him. Yes, this book is about Guinness, the beer and the family. However, the picture in this book of a family that impacted their world for good in a way that many would never have expected makes this a very interesting historical read.
Can I Smoke Pot?: Marijuana in Light of Scripture
Breeden, Tom
Cruciform press puts out short, readable, and helpful books. I would not say that this book is the last word on the topic of marijuana in the life of the church. However, it is good that somebody had the courage to write the first word in such a short and accessible format. As the use of marijuana becomes more broadly legal in the United States, Christians need to think this issue through and not ignore the need for us to have responses to the hard questions.
Divorce
Murray, John
This was one of those books that I have had on my list of books to read for years. Whenever you read a book on Divorce or on remarriage in the Christian community, Murray’s book is always in the bibliography. Murray is thorough and compassionate while handling a very hard topic.
These were some of my favorites from this past year. What were some of yours?
10 Responses to Election 2016 to Bring about Healing
Today I live in a world I could never have predicted just a few years ago. My family and I live in Las Vegas—a far cry from the Midwest of my childhood—The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions, and Donald Trump has won the presidency of the United States of America.
With my inability to predict the future understood, I believe that there are a few things I can rightly predict. The transition to this new presidency is not going to be easy. As many have rightly noted, this election promised to present us with the most divided nation post-election for over a century. Polls showed us that well over half of voting Americans did not trust either candidate. Many argue that the result of the 2016 presidential election is about a rejection of one candidate and party far more than it is about the embracing of another.
Even among conservative Christians, how this election unfolded was difficult to watch. Some Christians voted for Trump, reasoning that a vote for him at least stood a chance of protecting life and religious liberty. Other Christians, citing Trump’s previous lack of character, could not cast a vote for him with a clear conscience. Even others chose to vote for Hillary, declaring that they would prefer to face the known quantity of a leftist White House over the unknown and unpredictable future of Mr. Trump. And the social media storms bombarded us for months before everything went crazy on election day.
Now we find ourselves in a place few of us thought would come. We have seen college students plan “cry ins” to express their sorrow over the president-elect. We have seen name calling on social media again. We have seen gloating. We have seen loving, welcoming humility. We have seen rioting.
The question for us cannot be about what we wish would have happened. The right posture is not to gloat if what we wanted to happen took place. Neither is the right posture to have a fit if what we did not want to happen took place. Instead, the right move, from this point forward, is to behave with character and civility.
The outcome of this election has given us a great opportunity to learn about ourselves, about our friends and neighbors, about those who oppose us, and about the sovereignty of God. And with that in mind, I want to share a set of 10 things that we need to think or do, to avoid thinking or not do, as we move forward in the desire to heal a nation and glorify our God.
1. Learn to have civilized conversation and disagreement.
In the election cycle, we often commented that this is one of the ugliest, one of the nastiest elections in memory. And I believe that people of both parties and of no party were disgusted by the base cruelty of what happened.
Proverbs 15:1 – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
May we learn from this season that positive ground is not gained by ugly, nasty, mean speech.
2. Follow the golden rule.
Matthew 7:12 – “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus called us to intentionally and actively treat other people in the same way that we want them to treat us. Consider that as you decide to talk about the election. How would you want people talking around you if the outcome you did not want came to pass? How would you want to hear people talk about the outcome if the outcome you wanted came to pass? What assumptions do you want people to make about your character, your intellect, and your motivation? Please, to honor the Lord, do not treat people in a way that you would not welcome. That does not mean that you cannot disagree. However, it does mean that you cannot disagree in a harsh, judgmental, cruel way. It does not mean that you cannot argue for your point of view. It does mean, however, that you cannot argue unfairly.
3. Never present another person’s position in a way that that person would not agree is their position.
Exodus 20:16- “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
One of the best lessons I ever learned in discussing difficult topics with people who disagree with me is that it never helps for me to present a strawman argument. It does nobody any good if one party in an argument argues against a position that is actually not held by the other person. Before you attempt to persuade someone that their position is incorrect, you must first do them the courtesy of being sure that you and they both agree on what their position is. Otherwise, you are bearing false witness against them, accusing them of holding a position they do not hold, likely for reasons they do not agree are their reasons.
4. Do not give into the childish belief that those who disagree with you are always completely motivated by evil.
It is a childish thing to believe that every thought and motive of your opponents in a political discussion are all dark and malevolent. Not everyone who disagrees with you has a sinister plot. Even people who hold positions with which you vehemently disagree probably do not hold those positions out of utter stupidity or cruelty. We will always communicate better if we can be sure that we present one another’s positions fairly. We gain no ground by arguing against a fictitious opponent. Neither do we gain ground by assuming that our side’s motives are always positive while the only thing that motivates the other side is evil or stupidity.
5. Listen.
James 1:19 – Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
How do we avoid making the mistake of the previous point? We must participate in actual conversation with people with whom we disagree. I am not here suggesting that we find opportunities to argue. Instead, I am proposing that people of both sides ask questions of people with whom they disagree without trying to plan ways to score points. When is the last time that you just listened to the fears and feelings of someone who holds an opposite political view from you? When is the last time you listened without looking for a way to call them an idiot?
If you are part of the group who is happy with how this election went, know that there are many people walking around in a daze today, unable to believe what has just happened. Talk to them. Even better, listen. Listen to what they are feeling. Listen to why they are afraid. Let them know that you are hearing them and that you care, even if you cannot agree with their point of view.
If you are distraught at the results of the election, find someone who is not. Listen to them. Hear why it is that they can be happy at the unforeseen turn of events that led Donald Trump to the presidency. I am certain that you will learn something new. If the entire news media could not imagine how President-Elect Trump could gain the votes he did, obviously there is a disconnect in the ways many people in our nation see the state of our nation and our culture. If you assume that everybody is mortified by a Trump presidency, you are obviously not in touch with the reality of the votes cast. People voted for Donald Trump on purpose. If you cannot imagine why, you should ask someone without trying to make it into a fight.
We would do much better if we put forth an effort to get to know people who disagree with us as actual people. As I saw someone say on Twitter, If you do not know someone who is excited at the outcome of the election and somebody who is distraught over the outcome of the election, you need to broaden your circle of friends.
6. Do not gloat.
Bragging is obnoxious. We gain nothing by rubbing a result we like in other’s faces.
7. Do not disrespect the leader.
Neither do we gain any ground by making nasty and disrespectful remarks about our leaders. God called his people in Romans 13 to respond rightly to government. When we realize how corrupt and evil that government was, we realize that Paul was not telling us to speak nicely about leaders we like and blast leaders we do not. We are to show respect for the office and to pray for its occupant. We want leaders who will protect the righteous and punish the criminal in our society. May our leaders have the wisdom and character to be a government that will lead our nation in a positive direction.
8. Pray for those you love
Are you happy with people around you who think as you do? Pray for them. Pray that they have the wisdom not to miss the opportunity God has given us to be peacemakers in this nation.
9. Pray for those you consider enemies.
What about those people who are on the other side from you? Pray for them too. Pray that God lead us all in his ways for his glory. Pray that God will help us treat each other with the dignity and respect that we should. Pray that God will rescue our nation from the judgment that we have so clearly earned.
10. Rest in the sovereignty of God.
Proverbs 21:1- The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
Before the election, I saw multiple posts reminding us that our future is not in the hands of a president, a congress, or a judiciary. Instead, the Lord is on his throne. He sets up leaders and removes them. He establishes nations and brings them down. He directs the hearts of kings like water in his hands. So, while it may feel like the world has turned inside-out in the past 24 hours, God is still on his throne.
It is impossible to predict what is to come in the next weeks and months in the United States. However, I believe that it is possible for us to hold strongly to our convictions, to press for the change that is right, and to treat others with a kindness that will lead to friendships, healing, and health in the nation moving forward.
"Does God Change His Mind?" Answering an Accusation of Contradiction
Jeremiah 18:8 (ESV) – and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
1 Samuel 15:29 (ESV) – “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
I recently received a question asking how we reconcile the statements in the two verses above. Is there a contradiction in the Bible in the discussion of whether or not God changes his mind? How do we deal with this?
While these verses may appear contradictory at first glance, it requires a fairly aggressively negative reading not to be able to harmonize them. What we want to do is to interpret the statements of the text as they were intended. Differences between author and imagery account for what appear contradictory.
What are the two authors of the two verses intending to communicate? Jeremiah is helping those who hear him to understand that God will have mercy on certain people in a specific situation who are otherwise destined for disaster. God intends and has determined that disaster will befall a particular nation or group that continues to fail to hear his warnings. However, Jeremiah also communicates to us that God will not destroy the people if they will repent.
The Samuel passage is different. The prophet Samuel has just pronounced a certain judgment of God on King Saul. Saul will lose the kingdom to someone else for his refusal to obey the command of God. There is no going back on this. No matter what Saul does, another family will carry the kingly line of Israel. God is not fickle. He will not change his mind here.
Now, are those who thoughts contradictory? I would argue that they are not, as the authors are discussing different issues, even if similar words are used. One author is using the picture of changing God’s mind as a way to call people to repentance. God is all-knowing, and he most certainly knows what he will do. However, the threat of destruction for an unrepentant nation is real. Similarly, the promise of reprieve for a nation that repents is equally real.
This is not at all similar to the kind of mind-changing depicted in 1 Samuel 15. In the Samuel passage, King Saul will not be allowed a reprieve, even with repentance. God does not promise one thing one day and then go back on it. In this sense, he does not change his mind.
Reading the text fairly, we can see that two separate authors, in two very different situations, writing hundreds of years apart, writing from dramatically different social and political situations, use a similar type of phrasing to declare true things about God. In the situation with Jeremiah, the people can find mercy if they repent—thus God will change his mind from the destruction headed their way. In Samuel, Saul can do nothing to regain the blessing of God—thus the statement that God does not change his mind.
So, does God change his mind or not? It depends what you mean by the question. Is God dishonest? No. Does God know exactly what he will do in all things? Yes. Yet, we need language that will help us understand a situation like the one in Jeremiah. God honestly promises destruction for a people given their current direction and intent. However, God will also have mercy on them when they repent. Changing his mind is a humanly understandable and acceptable way to describe that mercy. Now, God also knows, before the situation ever comes about, whether or not the people will repent and thus whether or not he will have mercy. But he is not going to tell them the future. He is only going to give them the promise that they are destined for destruction unless they turn from their sin. Thus, from our point of view, it will look like he changed his mind.
Honestly, this comparison of the two verses helps to understand some wonderfully true things about what God tells us in the gospel. We are all dead in sin and destined for destruction. So long as we live, however, we have the opportunity to see that situation change. We can come to Jesus, seek his forgiveness, and give our lives to his lordship. If we do, we will no longer be dead in sins, but will have been made alive by God and forgiven. We will go from being objects of God’s wrath to being his children.
How should God speak to a person who currently opposes him but who will one day be his child? He should tell that person, “You are destined for destruction.” But, he can also honestly tell the person, “You can be forgiven in Christ.” When that person comes to Christ, God can say to that person, “You have always been destined for my mercy.” And in none of this is there a genuine contradiction. All the statements are true.
However, if a person dies without ever turning from their sins and trusting in Jesus, God can say to that person that he never changes his mind. Once they have died, there is a judgment that the person will face that is never going to change. God is not fickle. He does not change his standard. He saves those who repent and come to faith in Jesus. He commands all people to turn from sin and trust in Jesus for salvation. He does not change that standard, so it can certainly be said that he does not change his mind.
The logical fallacy of equivocation is to unfairly apply the same meaning to a term when that term is being used in different ways. For example, one might say that the game of baseball has evolved. To argue that the evolution of baseball proves that Darwinistic evolution is true is improper reasoning. In the two cases, the word “evolve” is being used to mean different things.
To argue that the verses above contradict is to commit the fallacy of equivocation. The situations are different. The intents are different. The authors and contexts are different. Yes, the same phrasing is used, but not to say the same things. The verses do not contradict in any fair, logical discussion.
The Beautiful Structure of the Flood Narrative
Sometimes the structure of a biblical passage helps us to better understand it. An interesting structure leads us to grasp that there is design and beauty behind the transmission of the account. The account of Noah and the flood in Genesis 6-8 is an example of a passage that has more design behind it than we might realize.
The flood narrative is in the form of a chiasm. This structure is a common ancient pattern in which items repeat in reverse order—think 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 or a-b-b-a. It is called a chiasm after the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter x. Readers often find chiasms in the Psalms, as this device was often used in biblical poetry. See the verses below with my notations added:
Psalm 95:4-5 (ESV)
A 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
B the heights of the mountains are his also.
B’ 5 The sea is his, for he made it,
A’ and his hands formed the dry land.
Notice in the A lines, the psalmist is repeating thoughts about the hands of God and the land. In the B lines, we see reference to the mountains and sea, clearly creations of God that are not the typical land. Thus, the 1st and 4th lines parallel each other while the 2nd and 3rd lines parallel one another.
While it is interesting to find these structures in the texts of Hebrew poetry, it is also interesting to find them in a more major text. Scholars have claimed for years that such a structure is to be found in the narrative of the flood in Genesis 6-8. Not all scholars define the chiasm in exactly the same way, but the presence of the structure is clear. See the following examples:
From: R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing in Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), Genesis 6:9.
Title: “These are the generations of Noah.”
Introduction: Noah’s righteousness and Noah’s sons (6:9-10).
A God resolves to destroy the corrupt race (6:11-13).
B Noah builds an ark according to God’s instructions (6:14-22).
C The Lord commands the remnant to enter the ark (7:1-9).
D The flood begins (7:10-16).
E The flood prevails 150 days, and the mountains are covered (7:17-24).
F God remembers Noah (8:1a)
E 1 The flood recedes 150 days, and the mountains are visible (8:1b-5).
D 1 The earth dries (8:6-14).
C 1 God commands the remnant to leave the ark (8:15-19).
B 1 Noah builds an altar (8:20).
A 1 The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind (8:21-22).
From: Lee Anderson Jr., “A Deeper Understanding of the Flood—Making the Most of the Message,” (Answers in Genesis, April 1, 2014); Accessed 25 May 2016, available from https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/making-the-most-of-the-message/; Internet.
A. Transitional Introduction: Noah and His Sons (6:9–10)
B. The Corruption of All Flesh (6:11–12)
C. God’s Resolution to Destroy the Earth by Flood (6:13–22)
D. God’s Command and Noah’s Response: The Entrance into the Ark (7:1–10)
E. The Beginning of the Flood: The Inundating of the Earth (7:11–16)
F. The Rising of the Waters (7:17–24)
G. God’s Remembrance of Noah (8:1a)—central theme of the account of Noah’s Flood
F’. The Recession of the Waters (8:1b–5)
E’. The End of the Flood: The Drying of the Earth (8:6–14)
D’. God’s Command and Noah’s Response: The Exodus from the Ark (8:15–19)
C’. God’s Resolution Never Again to Destroy the Earth by Flood (8:20–22)
B’. The Covenant
A’. Transitional Conclusion: Noah and His Sons (9:18–19)
Besides the way that these authors see the events as parallel, readers can catch clues of the structure in the repetition of numbers. Noah gets 7 days warning before entering the ark. The rains come for 40 days. The waters prevail for 150 days. The waters recede for 150 days. The land dries for 40 days. Noah sends out the dove for 7 days at a time. The pattern is certainly there.
Now, why would we care about the presence of such a structure? Is this all just for Bible nerds who like to see things others don’t? On the one hand, this is not necessary for someone to see on their own in order to gain the truth of God from the flood narrative. At the same time, seeing the chiastic structure of the flood account shows us at least two things.
First, the chiasm shows us the hand of God and the wisdom of Moses in the composition of this event. Moses was reporting history to us. Yet, as he wrote the account, he also chose to structure the telling in such a way as to make the passage stand out, especially to those who were accustomed to this kind of poetic device. There is a sweet and subtle beauty to what is written here, a hint of the artistry of God in the pages of holy Scripture.
Also, in many chiastic structures, the central point or central two points are the keys to understanding the passage. IN this instance, the statement that God remembered Noah is the very center, the turning point of the passage. God did not leave Noah to the flood. God was faithful to his promises. The reason humanity exists and that God’s promises did not fail is because God remembered Noah. The mystery of the flood narrative is not the question of why God would flood the world, but rather why would God allow anyone to survive. The center of the chiasm shows us that the reason that God allowed the survival of humanity is that God has remembered, been faithful to, his promises.
Pastor Travis Peterson 