Meeting the Mormons, and the Hope of Evangelism

Recently as I cut the grass, the Mormons came.

And they stayed. In fact they stood at the driveway at the back of my house and stared at me until I turned off the lawn mower, at which point they asked if they could come in, asked if they could have a seat, and asked if they could talk with me about the book of Mormon.

Apparently Cindy had sicked them on me (those are their own words) after she politely rebuffed their attempts to interrupt her already arduous task of feeding our two-year-old.

I commend them for their diligence.

After quite a while, though, and after the conversation had reached a polite impasse, Cindy came outside and we said our goodbyes to the two Mormon missionaries.

As we walked back towards the house, she asked me, mildly in jest: "So, did you convert the Mormons?"

My response: "No."

But I wouldn't have had the conversation if I didn't think it was possible.

A Question: For Christians who vote Democrat

I am not the first to link the issues of abortion and slavery; I make no claim to originality. Recent posts and comments at Parchment and Pen and Between Two Worlds contain just two of a myriad of examples that might be cited.

But I want to add one more question I have not heard asked to the list Michael Patton (of Parchment and Pen) gives: Would you vote, now or 150 years ago, for a candidate who wants to legalize slaveholding, though he or she claims to be personally against the practice?

I hope the answer is no.

Framing the question this way shows the moral absurdity pro-choice candidates ask us to embrace by voting for them.

I'm Not THAT Kind of Sinner, Am I?

From Abraham Piper's very helpful post by the same title:

In the story of [Jesus] saving the adulteress from being stoned, he didn't say, "Let him who has never committed adultery be the first to throw a stone at her."

If he had, she would've been quickly pounded by numerous self-justified stones, because surely most of the crowd hadn't sinned like this woman had.

But no, Jesus doesn't seem to rank sins like we do. He says, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

He seems to have two categories in this story: perfect and not perfect. So what Jesus really suggests is, if you are in the latter category, what in the world do you think you're doing judging other people who are also imperfect just like you?

The fact that I'm imperfect in a different way...is totally irrelevant to Jesus. As long as I'm any kind of sinner, no matter how benign my faults might seem, I am still just that—a sinner, the same as an adulteress...

There is only one place I belong, and it's not standing with stones in my fists, threatening someone else in the "not perfect" category. No, the only place I belong is crouching in hope at the feet of Jesus with the adulteress.

Cowper Concurs

William Cowper's great hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way:"

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

With Dr. Al Mohler's clarification: "The phrase ["God moves in a mysterious way"] quickly entered popular parlance, but Cowper's reverent and thoughtful understanding was quickly lost. When he described God's ways as mysterious, Cowper was not shrugging his shoulders in resignation, but expressing a Christian confidence." (From AlbertMohler.com)

All Things for Good: The Dying Thief's Uncanny Providence

Among the most quoted Pauline verses has to be Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (ESV)

The dying thief is case in point.

He could not have imagined the day of his crucifixion would be the best day of his life. But that day was the day he met Jesus! The cross was, for him, a divine act of mercy, for through the crucible of suffering he attained to glory.

What grace! "How unsearchable are [God's] judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Cf. Romans 11:33)

May God help us to bow the knee in reverence, and lift our hearts in trust, when our providence is so contrary to our tastes. There are so many ways in which your suffering and my suffering may be turned for good, and the dying thief is but one example.

58 Years and Counting...

Francis Pieper, in Christian Dogmatics (1950), p. 3:

This, then, is the sad situation: The overwhelming majority of modern theologians refuses to identify Scripture and the Word of God; and accordingly they do not make Scripture but their own heart the source and judge of Christian doctrine. And this false principle does not merely disturb the order of things in the Christian Church, but turns it upside down. It is an outright revolt against the divine order.

We, on our part, stand for the supreme and sole authority of Holy Scripture. We maintain that Scripture, by virtue of the singular divine act of inspiration, is God's own infallible Word, "God's Book," from which alone, to the end of time, the Christian doctrine, every single part of it, is to be taken and determined. And we do not ask men to bear with us for taking this position; we insist that it is the only position one may take.

What is a Meme? This is.

I think.

At any rate, Rich Clark, at Christ and Pop Culture, tagged me to participate in a meme in this post. I didn't exactly know what that meant until Ben Bartlett was kind enough to explain in an e-mail after tagging me again at Humble Beginnings. I'm still deciding whether or not to feel complemented by his calling me "intellectual."

But, first things first. I should just comment how much a step ahead this thing is than the run-of -the-mill chain letter. It is still a chain letter, of course. Only it's much more twenty-first-century. Except it has nothing to do with MySpace or FaceBook.

The other difference is you won't, unfortunately, get to find out what my favorite color is, what three wishes I would pick if I rubbed a genie out of a bottle, or what people or books I plan to take along the next time I get stranded on a desert (or is it deserted?) island.

(Tip: "Spring Reading Days" are the Al Mohler version of Spring Break.)

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What are you reading on Spring reading days?
Primarily The Armies of the Lamb: The spirituality of Andrew Fuller for my Baptist History class. This weekend I'll be working on Ronald F. Satta's The Sacred Text: Biblical Authority in Nineteenth-Century America.

What do you wish you had time to read?
Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections and Freedom of the Will. I would also like to re-read John Owen's Mortification of Sin (one of the best books I have ever read).

What have you decided NOT to read that you were assigned to read?
Nothing! This probably makes me seem very strange to most of you reading this. Ironically, the last book I did not finish reading for a course was one of the books I was enjoying reading most out of all my courses thus far, and that was J.N.D. Kelly's Early Christian Doctrines for Church History 1.

What is one great quote from your reading?
Andrew Fuller, in a circular letter to the churches of his Baptist Association, wrote the following as one of several reasons the churches were experiencing a decline in spiritual vitality:

"[T]he want of considering the consequences of our own good and evil conduct is, we apprehend, another great cause of declension in many people. It is common for people on many occasions to think within themselves in some such manner as this: 'What signify my faults, or my efforts?...What will my prayeres avail? And what great loss will be sustained by an individual occasionally omitting the duty of prayer, or attendance on a church meeting...?"

"...If an army would hope to obtain the victory, every man should act as if the whole issue of the battle depended upon his conduct. So, if ever things go well in a religious view, it will be when every one is concerned to act as if he were the only one that remained on God's side."

"We may think the efforts of an individual to be trifling; but, dear brethren, let not this atheistical spirit prevail over us. It is the same spawn with that cast forth in the days of Job, when they asked concerning the Almighty, 'What profit shall we have if we pray unto him?' At this rate Abraham might have forborne interceding for Sodom, and Daniel for his bethren of the captivity. James also must be mistaken in saying that the prayer of a single, individual righteous man availeth much. Ah, brethren, this spirit is not from above, but cometh of an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God! Have done with that bastard humility, that teaches you such a sort of thinking low of your own prayers and exertions for God as to make you decline them, or at least to be slack and indifferent in them! Great things frequently rise from small beginnings."

(From The Armies of the Lamb: The Spirituality of Andrew Fuller, edited by Michael A.G. Haykin, Joshua Press: Dundas, Ontario, 2001. pp. 102-103)

Why are you blogging? (You’re supposed to be reading!)
Something is wrong with me. The amount of time I spend working on assignments tends to be inversely proportional to the amount of time that I actually have to work on it. Another way to say this is that the time I waste by not studying is directly proportional to amount of time until an assignment is due. I think that if I continue explaining myself I'll just be confirming my initial answer to this question.

Questions for Reflection: Wives

Do you love your children more than you love God?

Jesus was not delusional when he spoke to the multitudes. He was, in fact, brutally honest. Consider Matthew 10:37: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (NASB).

Or think of Luke 14:26-27: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (NASB).

What does Jesus mean? We must be willing to lose everything in order to gain Christ. Our houses. Our money. Our health. Our comfort. Our family. Our spouses. And even our children.

If that was your choice, would you take it? Since that is your choice, do you take it? The baby you nurse, and the toddler you kiss and tuck into bed every night – would you trade them both for Christ…today?

Mercifully, the question for most of us has little to do with the earthly life and death of our children. But it has everything to do with how we raise them and with the vision that we cast for our families. Let us, therefore, model sacrifice for our children – a joyful sacrifice, and sacrifice that extends beyond our earthly goods and beyond our own selves.

It may mean that you are willing to die to bring the gospel to Muslims in Saudi Arabia.

Or, it may simply mean that you are joyful when your husband is away from you and your children, studying for a sermon or a seminary class.

Let us, therefore, be willing to sacrifice what we love most in this world if it would but serve to advance the kingdom of God and the glory of Christ – even if it involves our children.

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(See other posts in this series: Questions for Reflection)

Grateful for the Sovereignty of God

Every Christian has thoughts that serve as a buttress against the encroachment of sin and heresy in his life. These are foundational truths, core convictions to which he might return over and over again when faced with challenges of various kinds. In some this is more unconscious than conscious, but I would argue that everyone has some set of core convictions that, way down at the root, shapes and informs and directs the formulation of his or her entire worldview.

In my own mind, I can identify at least two such convictions that shape and direct my theology and worldview. The first is that the Bible is God’s authoritative and infallible word to us, and the second is that God is absolutely sovereign over all of creation.

Without the first, I would not be a Christian. Without the second, I would not be happy.

This may be an ironic thing for some readers. But God’s sovereignty, even (and especially) over the lives of human beings, is a source of unspeakable confidence, joy, and peace in my heart and mind. It helps me sleep at night.

Why? Below I list 29 reasons that I, personally, am thankful for God’s sovereignty (by which I mean God’s exhaustive knowledge of all things and his meticulous, personal, and intentional working of all things after his own will and purpose). Some are related, and some touch on other doctrines as well (like the goodness of God, the love of God, the holiness of God, etc); but I have tried to limit these to things that are in some way directly related to God’s sovereignty.

If you think of something I left off, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment.

1. The One who first overcame my sinful heart to draw me to himself is able still to overcome it and keep me in the faith.
2. God was able to draw me irresistibly to himself.
3. My inevitable weaknesses and failures as a father are not the final word in my daughter’s life.
4. There is yet a real hope of salvation for those I know who are still outside of Christ.
5. The One to whom I pray is not only willing, but able to act on my behalf.
6. He knows all things, and consequently he doesn’t answer all of my prayers.
7. The evil that befalls me is not random, pointless, or malevolent; rather, it is directed toward a wholly good end by God’s sovereign design.
8. God not only directs what evil befalls me, but he orchestrates good for me.
9. God is not surprised by what happens to me, either for the good or for the bad.
10. The One who appoints me to service in his kingdom is aware of my deficiencies, and He is able to transcend them.
11. My preaching is not merely a human endeavor; one plants and another waters, but only God makes things grow.
12. The results of my preaching do not rest solely on my shoulders.
13. The wicked in this life will not go unpunished (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5-12).
14. Nothing can prevent the righteous from receiving their reward.
15. God killed Jesus.
16. God raised Jesus from the dead.
17. God will raise me from the dead.
18. There is One who cares for my family more than I do.
19. God has preserved his Word through history down to this day.
20. The human will is not free.
21. He has told us what is to come in the world so that we will not be led astray (cf. Is. 46, Mt. 24).
22. He can, and will, fulfill all his promises to us.
23. By his sovereign hand, God has preserved “a long line of godly men,” by whom the truth once for all delivered to the saints has come down to us.
24. The one who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it, and he is able to complete it.
25. Even the elements of nature are under God’s control.
26. As Revelation indicates, because of his great power, Christ will reign on an eternal throne.
27. God has brought low the wise and revealed his truth to the “little children” (cf. Mt. 11:20-30).
28. God is sovereign over all sickness and disease.
29. He comprehends all things at all times; consequently his decisions are all wise.

Thankful for the Holy Spirit in Preaching (part 3 of 3)

(Reason 3 for being thanful for the Holy Spirit in preaching)

3. Working through the Word. Words mean things. Preachers deal in them as a trade, but there are hazards to the occupation. Preach but once and you will be aware of the danger of your words being taken out of context. Hoping to avoid confusion, we learn quickly to qualify our statements, and rightly so. Few would deny our responsibility to interpret Scripture with Scripture—placing each passage in its immediate as well as its canonical context.

There are, however, dangers involved when we begin to qualify the statements of Scripture too much. The great commandments and promises of the Bible may be relegated to mere suggestions and anticipations when they are not allowed to speak with all the force their author intended.

I find, then, the Spirit’s work to be a great source of freedom in the pulpit, and this is something for which we should be particularly thankful. Consider two specific and related ways the Spirit helps us in this regard:

First, we can let the text sound how it will. What joy! And with how much more power and clarity will we speak when Scripture can sound like Scripture! Of course, as I mentioned, we interpret Scripture in context, and we do not serve our people well by giving them half truths. Cross-reference; answer paradoxes and seeming contradictions; and explain paradigms, by all means. But do so with a confidence that the Spirit works through the Word.

Second, we are not the only teachers our people have, and we need not say everything there is to say, every time we have a chance to say it. There can be great temptation in expository preaching to say more than needs to be said, and this is a drag on our sermons. In such cases, we affirm the clarity of Scripture in principle but deny it in practice. We would believe the Spirit teaches people through the Word, but we fail to trust Him to do so. I am thankful, therefore, for the Holy Spirit, because I trust that when I cannot address a particular point at a particular time, it is not necessarily lost on the congregation.

Conclusion: We are not in strange company when we approach our ministries with a reliance on the Spirit’s power. Jesus was a man marked by such a dependence. He relied on the Spirit to give the new birth (John 3:6-8). It was “in the power of the Spirit” that He returned to Galilee to teach in the synagogues and be glorified by all (Luke 4:14). And He rejoiced “in the Holy Spirit” that God both hides spiritual truths from the wise and understanding and reveals them to little children (Luke 10:17-22).

All these things relate to our preaching ministries. Would we have our people to experience the new birth, we must beseech the Holy Spirit to grant it. Would we have God be glorified when we teach in our churches, the Spirit must come with power upon us and our hearers. Would we have the eyes of our hearers opened, we must ask God to do it.

And when he does them, may we be thankful: thankful that He helps us preach; thankful He helps us understand; and thankful He does it through the Word.