February 14, 2009
Aliens and Exiles: We Have Moved
Thanks for checking in!! We have moved to a new blog, Aliens and Exiles. All of the old posts, including comments, can be found there!! All future posts will go there as well, so please join us as we try to grow and spread the good news of Jesus!!
February 7, 2009
Dr. Martin Loyd Jones - Excerpt from a personal letter
Excerpt from a personal letter, dated 25th November 1974
My attitude to the question of Tongues and other gifts is this: I have never been able to accept the traditional teaching as stated particularly, perhaps, by Warfield, that all gifts came to an end at the Apostolic era. I cannot see any scriptural warrant for this teaching; indeed it seems to me to be a kind of dispensationalism which renders much of the epistles useless. For instance it implies that the teaching of 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 19 - 21 has no application today. All I say is, that while it is clear from the history of the Church that certain gifts seem to have been in abeyance over the centuries the Holy Spirit in His Lordship may give them at any time. Indeed there is clear teaching that towards the end of this age such gifts are likely to reappear in great power, and at the same time many counterfeits.
The result of all this is that while I am very unhappy about this Charismatic Movement, and regard it as a real danger to the true Church and the Gospel, because it implies constantly that doctrine does not matter at all, I am equally concerned that we should not become guilty of "quenching the Spirit" and tying ourselves up in a dead orthodoxy.
The result of all this is that while I am very unhappy about this Charismatic Movement, and regard it as a real danger to the true Church and the Gospel, because it implies constantly that doctrine does not matter at all, I am equally concerned that we should not become guilty of "quenching the Spirit" and tying ourselves up in a dead orthodoxy.
February 5, 2009
PAIGE PATTERSON HOPES CALVINIST PROFESSORS WON’T BE “LET GO” AT SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY (SBC)? -Repost from Apprising Ministries
Apprising Ministries continues our coverage of an accusation made by Wade Burleson in his post Forcibly Removing the Tulips at SWBTS. One which Robin Foster of SBC Todayhas referred to as Tabloid Blogging:
Because of the recent tabloid blogging that has occurred at this site here and here, we at SBC Today have been busy answering questions on when we would respond to what one Calvinistic professor called, “lies and slander” of the aforementioned postings. (Online source)
At his Grace and Truth to Youblog Burleson had written:
Yesterday Dr. Paige Patterson met with professors in the theology school at SWBTS and said that the seminary would be letting go the five point Calvinist professors from the seminary, claiming that the lack of funds and the need to reduce faculty as the rationale for the impending releases. Odd, however, was the chosen method of reduction. (Online source)
I’ve previously pointed out that this immediately caught my attention because, as a former Roman Catholic, I now happen to be an SBC pastor myself holding the doctrines of grace being discussed in Burleson’s post. In addition, it’s also no secret in the Christian blogosphere that I’ve been quite critical of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The main reason is my contention that it’s filled with CEO-type leader wannabes who comprise a “good ol’ network” largely advancing each other’s businesses, oops, ministries. And along with this pragmatic semi-pelagianism the SBC, ostensibly the largest Protestant denomination in the country, is slowly embracing Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism whose rotten root draws much of its spiritual poison from the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism.
This is necessary background as to why I’m very carefully watching this developing story. In my original piece I also brought out that Dr. Greg Welty, a Calvinist on staff at SWBTS, is denying any such meeting took place. Then yesterday in Forcibly Removing the Tulips at SWBTS (Part II)Burleson would share “a couple of observations.” The first of which was:
(1). This expressed intent to use the downturn in the economy to rid the faculty of Calvinists has been known by various SWBTS professors and administrators, but not all professors, for at least ten days. Meetings with professors were both individual in nature, and in a couple of instances, several professors at one time. (Online source)
Also yesterday in Are Calvinist Professors To Be “Let Go” At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBC)? I mentioned a phone call I had received from J. Randall Easter, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Briar, Azle, TX. Pastor Easter, came recommended by a pastor on AM’s board of directors and both have stood shoulder to shoulder with Paul Washer for the advance of God’s Gospel preaching with him in Peru.
Pastor Easter is also a student at SWTBS and gave me permission to publish an email, which he sent me following our talk. In his letter he shares his firsthand information from speaking personally to some of the professors involved in what Easter called “meetings between the President of SWBTS and Faculty” of SWBTS.
Now today let me draw to your attention a post at the aforementioned SBC Today called A Brief Visit with Dr. Paige Pattersonwhere Wes Kenney informs us:
One year ago yesterday, we posted an interview with Southwestern Seminary president Dr. Paige Patterson, as Tim Rogers talked with Dr. Patterson in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, we present another. Dr. Patterson was in Hugo, Oklahoma for the Frisco Baptist Association’s annual evangelism conference, and I was able to talk to him briefly after the conference had ended. We talked about issues ranging from ecclesiology to ecumenism, the characteristic passion for missions that has always defined Southwestern, to the future legacy of the seminary as envisioned by the school’s eighth president. We even talked a little about some of the silly rumors generated by recent tabloid blogging. (Online source)
One is able to listen to that interview from a link to the side of the above piece at SBC Today. And finally, in closing this for now, AM now points you below to a partial transcript of that interview with Patterson mentioned above. It appears in a new article by Wade Burleson, who has “spent the last twenty five years pastoring in Oklahoma,” called Are Southern Baptists Blind or Blindfolded? :
Interviewer:“I’ve been asked recently about a rumor that these economic challenges have been used as an excuse uh… to weed out certain professors at Southwestern who hold to a soteriological viewpoint with which you disagree. Is there any truth to that rumor?”
Paige Patterson: “Ummm… eh you… you know… eh uh… I certainly hope not. Uhhh… eh uh… eh… I’ve lived my entire life… of life in a goldfish bowl… and… as boldly as I know how to do it. Uhhh… we’re not certain at all that we’re going to have to eliminate any professor. We have been working very, very hard to… ummm… to cut everything else in the world so we don’t have to cut professors and… uh… we don’t know yet what we’re gonna have to do, but we… we’re hopeful that we don’t have to cut any professors. If we do… ummm… I will not use a… uhhh… screen… uh… to do that with. Ummm… if if if… every decision that I make regarding faculty would be made with a view to assisting the school to be the best school it possibly can be. Ummm… we have every conceivable soteriological view on the campus… uhhh… in terms of five points of Calvinism. We have one-pointers, two-pointers, three-pointers, four-pointers, and five-pointers. Uhhh… I will say this. Uhhh… Southwestern will not build a school in the future around anybody who could not look anybody in the world in the eyes and say, “Christ died for your sins.” If there is a problem there, then I believe there’s a problem that Southern Baptists would not want to fund.
Interviewer: “True.”
Paige Patterson: “And so uhhh… uhhh… that would be case, but I wouldn’t be hidin’ behind a screen of economic matters… if I had to deal with that”.
Interviewer: “Sure.”
Paige Patterson: “And uhhh… uh… God willing… ummm… if He’s gracious to us… God’s people continue to give… maybe we won’t have to lay off anybody else.”
Interviewer: “That’s what we’re prayin’ for. Yes.” (Online source)
February 2, 2009
Blog Block
In spite of a lofty New Year's Resolution, I have been unable to get anything of my own posted here since I wrote the New Year's post. I have started and restarted 4 different posts, but cannot seem to get the point of what I want to say across to myself, let alone actually post anything here for public consumption. I guess I have some stupid form of writer's block. I'm glad my livelihood does not depend on my writing, or I'd be screwed!! The ideas are there, just not the ability to communicate them. If it wasn't for TH, this blog would be more or less dead, falling far short of the goals I had set for it!!
Perhaps with the end of the football season I will be able to think about other things, though I really didn't obsess over it in the first place, just spent several hours a week watching it. I cannot think of any good excuses for not being able to write anything, other than the fact I just can't seem to put any worthwhile thoughts together!!
I may have mentioned that a few times already. . .
Perhaps with the end of the football season I will be able to think about other things, though I really didn't obsess over it in the first place, just spent several hours a week watching it. I cannot think of any good excuses for not being able to write anything, other than the fact I just can't seem to put any worthwhile thoughts together!!
I may have mentioned that a few times already. . .
January 31, 2009
For This Reason - Repost from TeamPyro
This is an excellent post by Frank Turk of TeamPyro. Give it a read and let it sink in!!
Honestly: there are reasons to admire Hugh Hewitt. He's a man of many public accomplishments, a public servant, a lawyer, apparently a fine administrator and speech-writer. He's a fine man. Probably a good neighbor.
He deserves our respect.
What we are not required to give him, however, is intellectual and spiritual carte blanche. In spite of his allegedly-conservative political views, he's vacant on the subject of the Christian faith and what it means to have a savior and a Gospel and a church. And if he would stay away from these subjects, he'd be far more admirable.
But he doesn't. Maybe he can't -- maybe like a moth compelled to throw itself into the flame of a candle, or maybe like a wolf who bleeds to death because he is licking a razor and tasting his own blood -- Hewitt always circles back to the subject of christianity (small "c" intentional).
And he comes back because he thinks that the ends of the church are the same as the ends of conservatism. It's because he sees the church as a moral improvement society -- something which only teaches the world something it couldn't learn on its own.
This is why Hugh Hewitt gets my goat: he sees the church as a means to a political end. I find his views in that respect reprehensible.
Which is why it surprised me a little to see that J. P. Moreland was on Hewitt's show recently advocating for the same clap-trap Hewitt is selling. I mean: J. P. Moreland. He's a respected apologist -- same class as William Lane Craig and Francis Beckwith, right?
I'll leave that part to the meta.
But on Hewitt, we can see Dr. Moreland saying stuff like this:
Being involved in politics is not unchristian. In fact, it’s a part of our calling as Christians. Why? Because we are supposed to do good to all people including the household of faith. And to do good to all people means establishing just laws and a just and a stable social order. And that’s the job of the state. It’s political. So the first thing a pastor should do and the Church should do is to enlist people like the dickens to be involved in the political process and vote. It is unconscionable that we have these rights, and that we have an obligation as disciples of Jesus to try to bring goodness and truth to society, that we don’t use all means available to promote just laws and a just and stable social order through the political process. And so voting is absolutely critical.
Get that? The first thing we should be concerned about as Christians is inhabiting the political process.
The first thing. Seriously: that's the first thing the pulpits of our churches should be used for? But get this as a chaser:
This is important because the Evangelical does not want to place the state under Scripture. That would be to create a theocracy, and that has never been a good idea. What we want is we want to place the state under the natural moral law. Therefore, if an Evangelical is going to be for traditional marriage, and it’s going to be against gay marriage, it cannot use Scripture to argue that case in the public square. It can be preached from the pulpit that this is a Biblical view, but when it comes to political engagement, it is not our attempt to place the state under the Bible, but to place it under the natural moral law. So it would follow, then, that Christians need to learn how to provide independent arguments for traditional marriage that do not require premises from the Scriptures.
Look: I can't make up stuff like this. I'd feel embarrassed if I attributed a statement like that to someone because it is surreal -- absurd in such a way that it makes sarcasm irrelevant.
Read the whole interview with Dr. Moreland for yourself, but don't be taken in by it. You know better. You know for a fact that Jesus did not die to make sure that the Republicans will control both houses of the Legislature, the Oval Office, and appoint only right-of-center judges to Supreme Court.
Paul knew it, anyway. Listen to what he said:
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world ...
Now listen: Paul says this from a prison cell under a government based wholly on idolatry. If anyone ever had a chance to declare and proclaim and require a political solution to his plight, it was Paul. But he says this:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The pontifications of Hugh Hewitt or J.P. Moreland or any of the dunces who agree with them that somehow "evangelicalism" has "died" because Barack Obama is our president are like the sounds of tin cans being kicked in the street by rough and homeless children. The sounds that come out of them are because they are part of the game and not because they have something to say. They get kicked, and it's "POP! CLACK-tee-CLACK-clack!" -- a small, insulted sound at which the children laugh.
And in case you cannot read my parable here, the children are the unbelievers. They have kicked Hewitt's can, and his complaint is really: because he played the game, he got kicked. Having more cans in the street is not going to stop the kickers from kicking: it is going to cause them to kick more cans.
Christians ought to be more than cans in the street getting kicked. Paul has indeed instructed us -- Christ has indeed instructed us, and God in all of Scripture has sufficiently and perfectly instructed us -- on what we are to do first. May He who calls us out of the world to pass through the world as if it were not our home also call us to preach the Gospel which is the only hope of men -- and not trade it for the noises of traducers like Hewitt who don't understand that they are the problem, not the Gospel.
And to be sure you know what I'm telling you personally to do here, be in the Lord's house with the Lord's people on the Lord's day this weekend -- start there. Call people there. The solution that ought to be preached there should be the Gospel and not new law.
Honestly: there are reasons to admire Hugh Hewitt. He's a man of many public accomplishments, a public servant, a lawyer, apparently a fine administrator and speech-writer. He's a fine man. Probably a good neighbor.
He deserves our respect.
What we are not required to give him, however, is intellectual and spiritual carte blanche. In spite of his allegedly-conservative political views, he's vacant on the subject of the Christian faith and what it means to have a savior and a Gospel and a church. And if he would stay away from these subjects, he'd be far more admirable.
But he doesn't. Maybe he can't -- maybe like a moth compelled to throw itself into the flame of a candle, or maybe like a wolf who bleeds to death because he is licking a razor and tasting his own blood -- Hewitt always circles back to the subject of christianity (small "c" intentional).
And he comes back because he thinks that the ends of the church are the same as the ends of conservatism. It's because he sees the church as a moral improvement society -- something which only teaches the world something it couldn't learn on its own.
This is why Hugh Hewitt gets my goat: he sees the church as a means to a political end. I find his views in that respect reprehensible.
Which is why it surprised me a little to see that J. P. Moreland was on Hewitt's show recently advocating for the same clap-trap Hewitt is selling. I mean: J. P. Moreland. He's a respected apologist -- same class as William Lane Craig and Francis Beckwith, right?
I'll leave that part to the meta.
But on Hewitt, we can see Dr. Moreland saying stuff like this:
Being involved in politics is not unchristian. In fact, it’s a part of our calling as Christians. Why? Because we are supposed to do good to all people including the household of faith. And to do good to all people means establishing just laws and a just and a stable social order. And that’s the job of the state. It’s political. So the first thing a pastor should do and the Church should do is to enlist people like the dickens to be involved in the political process and vote. It is unconscionable that we have these rights, and that we have an obligation as disciples of Jesus to try to bring goodness and truth to society, that we don’t use all means available to promote just laws and a just and stable social order through the political process. And so voting is absolutely critical.
Get that? The first thing we should be concerned about as Christians is inhabiting the political process.
The first thing. Seriously: that's the first thing the pulpits of our churches should be used for? But get this as a chaser:
This is important because the Evangelical does not want to place the state under Scripture. That would be to create a theocracy, and that has never been a good idea. What we want is we want to place the state under the natural moral law. Therefore, if an Evangelical is going to be for traditional marriage, and it’s going to be against gay marriage, it cannot use Scripture to argue that case in the public square. It can be preached from the pulpit that this is a Biblical view, but when it comes to political engagement, it is not our attempt to place the state under the Bible, but to place it under the natural moral law. So it would follow, then, that Christians need to learn how to provide independent arguments for traditional marriage that do not require premises from the Scriptures.
Look: I can't make up stuff like this. I'd feel embarrassed if I attributed a statement like that to someone because it is surreal -- absurd in such a way that it makes sarcasm irrelevant.
Read the whole interview with Dr. Moreland for yourself, but don't be taken in by it. You know better. You know for a fact that Jesus did not die to make sure that the Republicans will control both houses of the Legislature, the Oval Office, and appoint only right-of-center judges to Supreme Court.
Paul knew it, anyway. Listen to what he said:
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world ...
Now listen: Paul says this from a prison cell under a government based wholly on idolatry. If anyone ever had a chance to declare and proclaim and require a political solution to his plight, it was Paul. But he says this:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The pontifications of Hugh Hewitt or J.P. Moreland or any of the dunces who agree with them that somehow "evangelicalism" has "died" because Barack Obama is our president are like the sounds of tin cans being kicked in the street by rough and homeless children. The sounds that come out of them are because they are part of the game and not because they have something to say. They get kicked, and it's "POP! CLACK-tee-CLACK-clack!" -- a small, insulted sound at which the children laugh.
And in case you cannot read my parable here, the children are the unbelievers. They have kicked Hewitt's can, and his complaint is really: because he played the game, he got kicked. Having more cans in the street is not going to stop the kickers from kicking: it is going to cause them to kick more cans.
Christians ought to be more than cans in the street getting kicked. Paul has indeed instructed us -- Christ has indeed instructed us, and God in all of Scripture has sufficiently and perfectly instructed us -- on what we are to do first. May He who calls us out of the world to pass through the world as if it were not our home also call us to preach the Gospel which is the only hope of men -- and not trade it for the noises of traducers like Hewitt who don't understand that they are the problem, not the Gospel.
And to be sure you know what I'm telling you personally to do here, be in the Lord's house with the Lord's people on the Lord's day this weekend -- start there. Call people there. The solution that ought to be preached there should be the Gospel and not new law.
January 23, 2009
THE RESOLUTIONS of Jonathan Edwards
THE RESOLUTIONS of Jonathan Edwards BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD’ S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST’ S SAKE.
Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.
1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’ s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.
2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things.
3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. July 30.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder.
12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.
13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.
14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.
15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.
16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
17. Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so, at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
19. Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.
20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking.
21. Resolved, never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him. (Resolutions 1 through 21 written in one setting in New Haven in 1722)
22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.
23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’ s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.
24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.
25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.
26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.
27. Resolved, never willfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.
30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.
31. Resolved, never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.
32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6,‹A faithful man who can find?Š may not be partly fulfilled in me.
33. Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.
34. Resolved, in narrations never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.
35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.
36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.
37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.
38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord’ s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.
39. Resolved, never to do any thing of which I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.
41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.
42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.
43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’ s; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723.
44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. January 12, 1723.
45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.
46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.
47. Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5, 1723.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.
50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.
51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.
52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.
54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.
55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as providence orders it. I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty, and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.
58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.
59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.
60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.
61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.
62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty, and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man:‹knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.Š June 25 and July 13, 1723.
63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. January 14 and July 13, 1723.
64. Resolved, when I find those ‹groanings which cannot be utteredŠ (Romans 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those‹breakings of soul for the longing it hath,Š of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton’ s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.
66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.
67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them.
68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. August 11, 1723.
70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. August 17, 1723.
Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.
1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’ s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.
2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things.
3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. July 30.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder.
12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.
13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.
14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.
15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.
16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
17. Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so, at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
19. Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.
20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking.
21. Resolved, never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him. (Resolutions 1 through 21 written in one setting in New Haven in 1722)
22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.
23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’ s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.
24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.
25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.
26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.
27. Resolved, never willfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.
30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.
31. Resolved, never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.
32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6,‹A faithful man who can find?Š may not be partly fulfilled in me.
33. Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.
34. Resolved, in narrations never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.
35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.
36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.
37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.
38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord’ s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.
39. Resolved, never to do any thing of which I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.
41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.
42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.
43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’ s; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723.
44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. January 12, 1723.
45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.
46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.
47. Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5, 1723.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.
50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.
51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.
52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.
54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.
55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as providence orders it. I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty, and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.
58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.
59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.
60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.
61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.
62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty, and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man:‹knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.Š June 25 and July 13, 1723.
63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. January 14 and July 13, 1723.
64. Resolved, when I find those ‹groanings which cannot be utteredŠ (Romans 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those‹breakings of soul for the longing it hath,Š of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton’ s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.
66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.
67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them.
68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. August 11, 1723.
70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. August 17, 1723.
INDIA - Four Christians Arrested in Madhya Pradesh
At 10:00 a.m., Pastor Kantilal Bhuria went to a home where 25 Christians were gathered for prayer. During the service, a mob of Hindu extremists barged into the house and accused Pastor Bhuria of forcibly converting Hindus. The extremists verbally abused those present and beat a Christian woman. The police arrived on scene after receiving a phone call from the attackers and arrested four believers. At last report, these Christians remained in detention. Pray for the release of these Christians.
The Voice of the Martyrs provides assistance to persecuted believers in
January 22, 2009
January 21, 2009
CHARLES SPURGEON: MEET THE ONLY GOD THERE IS
Ken Silva wrote over on the appraising ministries blog (http://apprising.org/)"From the Charles Spurgeon devotional At the Master’s Feet for January 20. Using the Sword of the Spirit Spurgeon slices through the mystic mist of the mush god of contemporary Christendom:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8, KJV)
And we now declare that the God of Holy Scripture is a God of inflexible justice, He is not the God Whom some of you adore. You adore a god who winks at great sins; you believe in a god who calls your crimes peccadillos and little faults. Some of you worship a god who does not punish sin but who is so weakly merciful, and mercilessly weak, that he passes by transgressions and iniquity and never enacts a punishment.
You believe in a god who, if man sins, does not demand punishment for his offense. You think that a few good works of your own will pacify him, that he is so weak a ruler that a few good words uttered before him in prayer will win sufficient merit to reverse the sentence, if indeed you think he ever passes a sentence at all. Your god is no God; he is as much a false god of the Greeks or of ancient Nineveh.
The God of Scripture is one who is inflexibly severe in justice and will by no means clear the guilty. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1:3, KJV). The God of Scripture is a Ruler who, when His subjects rebel, marks their crime and never forgives them until He was punished it, either"
We all (I am the Chief of Sinners here) must fight the urge to create a god in our own image and with the Israelites of old dance around our creation and proclaim "This is the god who brought me up from the land of Egypt"or"This is my personal Lord and Savior", and "My God is this". God forgive me and and help me to see that my reasoning is just as silly as Aaron's "So I said to them 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." The only remedy for this is to throw ourselves into the Word and get to know the God as he has revealed himself.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8, KJV)
And we now declare that the God of Holy Scripture is a God of inflexible justice, He is not the God Whom some of you adore. You adore a god who winks at great sins; you believe in a god who calls your crimes peccadillos and little faults. Some of you worship a god who does not punish sin but who is so weakly merciful, and mercilessly weak, that he passes by transgressions and iniquity and never enacts a punishment.
You believe in a god who, if man sins, does not demand punishment for his offense. You think that a few good works of your own will pacify him, that he is so weak a ruler that a few good words uttered before him in prayer will win sufficient merit to reverse the sentence, if indeed you think he ever passes a sentence at all. Your god is no God; he is as much a false god of the Greeks or of ancient Nineveh.
The God of Scripture is one who is inflexibly severe in justice and will by no means clear the guilty. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1:3, KJV). The God of Scripture is a Ruler who, when His subjects rebel, marks their crime and never forgives them until He was punished it, either"
We all (I am the Chief of Sinners here) must fight the urge to create a god in our own image and with the Israelites of old dance around our creation and proclaim "This is the god who brought me up from the land of Egypt"or"This is my personal Lord and Savior", and "My God is this". God forgive me and and help me to see that my reasoning is just as silly as Aaron's "So I said to them 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." The only remedy for this is to throw ourselves into the Word and get to know the God as he has revealed himself.
Towards a Theology of Fitness
Until about nine months ago I would have scoffed at the idea that one should develop a theology of fitness. A Theology of Work, yes, a Theology of Marriage – absolutely, but fitness, nah. Seriously, the people who focus on that sort of thing are the granola eatin’ momma’s boys who take one statement by Paul, eisegete it beyond recognition and then paint it on the wall of their Jesus gym. 1 Timothy 4:8 says “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” I think that taking this verse and trying to suggest that Paul is trying to get Timothy to begin “Pumping Iron” is abandoning the natural reading of the text, and more than just a little bit silly. But, I have seen “Bodily Exercise Profits” on the walls of at least two YMCA’s. The same holds true for Paul’s athlete analogies; A simple reading (not a study mind you – just reading) will inform one to realize that Paul is using a commonly held cultural ideal to make a point about spiritual things. To take these analogous images and use them to teach fitness is, to me, an unconscionable mishandling of The Scripture. So, for all these reason I merrily ate my fried bologna sandwich surrounded by my books and got fat nasty and disgusting, laughing at the Under Armour wearing fools out there in the cold (or the heat as the case may be.)
But then I was invited to go to Nepal to help a member of my church teach, train, and equip pastors. I was going to get to go to a foreign land and impact the Church of my King by teaching His servants how to preach expositional Sermons. Now this is my sort of thing. The route we where to take to get to the “Seminar” was described to me like this: “We will fly out of Kathmandu to city X and then take a bus to Town Y, and in Town Y we will get a Taxi to take us ‘as far as it goes’, and then we will walk the rest of the way.” “How far do you think that might be?” I asked. With a chuckle my host said “That is depends on where the Taxi will go no more”. I couldn’t tell at this point whether my friend was messing with my mind, if I was having trouble with his broken English, or the situation was really this nebulous. After several minutes of wrangling with the language I was able to determine that I should be prepared to walk 20 kilometers with a pack full of all my stuff, to preach the gospel. As a former Marine I know it was possible that I had gotten in up my neck. As I leaned on the counter to catch my breath from walking to the fridge I slowly ate a Swiss Cake Roll and thought about the changes that I was going to have to make in the next few months.
The preparation was simple, I bought a good heavy pack and filled it with commentaries and Greek word studies until it was about 50lbs and walked. The first day I almost got out of my office, and then I was able to make it to the front door and so on until I was walking about 5 miles a day with my pack. I am pretty sure that my neighbors thought I had finally lost my ever-loving mind as I plodded around the community with all 5 kids in tow and Wuest falling out of my pack. But, I was ready - I thought. As you have probably already surmised the terrain in Western Nepal (What with the Himalayas and everything) was a good bit different than the piedmont of North Carolina, and the mental/spiritual exhaustion of the actual work I had traveled to perform made the walking up and down the mountains all the more difficult. I returned to the United States a different man and wouldn’t trade those two weeks of crushing for anything. This is not the place to discuss all the things God taught me in Nepal, but I did have a bit of an epiphany about fitness.
I heard John Piper say in a sermon one time something near this “If you do not possess a passport you are not in God’s will.” His point, I think, was this: If you are not prepared to answer the call of your king at a moment’s notice then you are presuming upon God not calling you to serve him outside of the country. When I heard this I patted my passport, said Amen, you tell ‘em, smiled and moved on. But, if this principle is correct, if I am to be ready to be scrambled in the service of my king immediately then fitness becomes an issue of the Gospel. Things began to crystallize in my mind. If everything God has given me is to be used for Him for the furtherance of the gospel – If my Home, my marriage, my money is a gift given as nothing more than equipment to be used in the service of my King then is my body any different? 2 Timothy 4:1-2 says “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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” If I study diligently to be obedient to this passage am I assuming upon WHERE I am to preach the gospel. I confess as sin that yes I was. I was living my life as if God could not possible send me to preach his gospel somewhere that required that I walk further than from the car to the pulpit. In Nepal one morning I stood with two Nepalese Pastors as they looked across the mountains and said “There is a village on that mountain that has not heard the gospel”, and “We need to send someone over there with Jesus” and as this conversation continued I realized that because of my American mindset it had never crossed my mind that God might ask ME to walk to “that Village” and preach the gospel, and that right then at that moment I COULD NOT do so because I was physically unable, and that made me ashamed of my sin. So, for me the first point in my theology of fitness is simply this.
I must be ready at all times to respond to the call of my King to take the gospel wherever he sends me. This would include my spiritual walk in that I must be in constant communion with my savior so that I am ready. This would include my mental preparation in that I study and equip myself to preach and respond and hold Jesus up. And now I realize that this would include Physical preparation in that I must be prepared and equipped to physically Go should the call come.
I will continue with the second and third points in the next few days.
-Blaurock
But then I was invited to go to Nepal to help a member of my church teach, train, and equip pastors. I was going to get to go to a foreign land and impact the Church of my King by teaching His servants how to preach expositional Sermons. Now this is my sort of thing. The route we where to take to get to the “Seminar” was described to me like this: “We will fly out of Kathmandu to city X and then take a bus to Town Y, and in Town Y we will get a Taxi to take us ‘as far as it goes’, and then we will walk the rest of the way.” “How far do you think that might be?” I asked. With a chuckle my host said “That is depends on where the Taxi will go no more”. I couldn’t tell at this point whether my friend was messing with my mind, if I was having trouble with his broken English, or the situation was really this nebulous. After several minutes of wrangling with the language I was able to determine that I should be prepared to walk 20 kilometers with a pack full of all my stuff, to preach the gospel. As a former Marine I know it was possible that I had gotten in up my neck. As I leaned on the counter to catch my breath from walking to the fridge I slowly ate a Swiss Cake Roll and thought about the changes that I was going to have to make in the next few months.
The preparation was simple, I bought a good heavy pack and filled it with commentaries and Greek word studies until it was about 50lbs and walked. The first day I almost got out of my office, and then I was able to make it to the front door and so on until I was walking about 5 miles a day with my pack. I am pretty sure that my neighbors thought I had finally lost my ever-loving mind as I plodded around the community with all 5 kids in tow and Wuest falling out of my pack. But, I was ready - I thought. As you have probably already surmised the terrain in Western Nepal (What with the Himalayas and everything) was a good bit different than the piedmont of North Carolina, and the mental/spiritual exhaustion of the actual work I had traveled to perform made the walking up and down the mountains all the more difficult. I returned to the United States a different man and wouldn’t trade those two weeks of crushing for anything. This is not the place to discuss all the things God taught me in Nepal, but I did have a bit of an epiphany about fitness.
I heard John Piper say in a sermon one time something near this “If you do not possess a passport you are not in God’s will.” His point, I think, was this: If you are not prepared to answer the call of your king at a moment’s notice then you are presuming upon God not calling you to serve him outside of the country. When I heard this I patted my passport, said Amen, you tell ‘em, smiled and moved on. But, if this principle is correct, if I am to be ready to be scrambled in the service of my king immediately then fitness becomes an issue of the Gospel. Things began to crystallize in my mind. If everything God has given me is to be used for Him for the furtherance of the gospel – If my Home, my marriage, my money is a gift given as nothing more than equipment to be used in the service of my King then is my body any different? 2 Timothy 4:1-2 says “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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” If I study diligently to be obedient to this passage am I assuming upon WHERE I am to preach the gospel. I confess as sin that yes I was. I was living my life as if God could not possible send me to preach his gospel somewhere that required that I walk further than from the car to the pulpit. In Nepal one morning I stood with two Nepalese Pastors as they looked across the mountains and said “There is a village on that mountain that has not heard the gospel”, and “We need to send someone over there with Jesus” and as this conversation continued I realized that because of my American mindset it had never crossed my mind that God might ask ME to walk to “that Village” and preach the gospel, and that right then at that moment I COULD NOT do so because I was physically unable, and that made me ashamed of my sin. So, for me the first point in my theology of fitness is simply this.
I must be ready at all times to respond to the call of my King to take the gospel wherever he sends me. This would include my spiritual walk in that I must be in constant communion with my savior so that I am ready. This would include my mental preparation in that I study and equip myself to preach and respond and hold Jesus up. And now I realize that this would include Physical preparation in that I must be prepared and equipped to physically Go should the call come.
I will continue with the second and third points in the next few days.
-Blaurock
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