I am thinking it is time to resume posting.

I have just been reading some controversies about John Piper inviting Rick Warren to speak at a John Piper conference. The responses were remarkable.

My wife and I are attending the Lutheran church full time. Strange doctrine, but no Rick Warren, no emergent church, and lots of scripture. Refreshing.

Peculiar things

My wife and I currently attend an Assembly of God church (though of late we have also been attending services at a local Lutheran church).

One thing I find peculiar. Though the Assembly of God majors on the Holy Spirit, seeking constant evidence of signs, tongues, healings and other wonders, they seem peculiarly blind when it comes to the actual leading of the Spirit in many areas.

How strange.

If wishes were fishes, I would have long since exceeded my limit.
I would like to write much. I have little opportunity to write.

Here is the link to a very good article by Orrel Steinkamp:

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel28.html

Here is an excerpt from the article:

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It was Palm Sunday in our local church. The focus of the whole service was the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The pastor proceeded to verbally paint a picture of the holy week in Jerusalem. This included the agony in Gethsemane, the political and religious intrigue regarding the interaction between the Jewish authorities and the Roman government. Finally he gave a description of the crucifixion focusing on the crucifixion technique as it applied to the victim. If a picture is worth a 1000 words this pastor was painting a graphic picture with words. Especially the crucifixion event itself was so well done that I could almost hear the crowd crying out "give us "Barabbas" and I could almost feel the struggle of Jesus on the cross as he tried to get His breath. I knew the historical resources the pastor used that provided the palate he used to paint this spellbinding picture. And even though I have not seen Mel Gibson's "The Passion," still I felt I was there "when they crucified my Lord." Then the pastor abruptly pivoted toward his conclusion and appeal. He gave only a passing nod to Jesus death for our sins and providing eternal life. He launched into his application. Here are his actual words: "He died for you so you could approach Him today with whatever it is that is weighing you down. Maybe it is a relationship that is not right at home or school or work. Maybe it's a financial crisis. Maybe your kids are breaking your heart. Maybe you are disappointed in yourself. You can't get over the hump, or some behavior in your life. You are lonely, sick or grieving. The cross is where God's best meets man's worst as we see the cross with fresh eyes."

I have no idea what view this pastor holds regarding the atonement. It really doesn't fit any of the historical views. Maybe we could dub it the "life application atonement." This type of appeal becomes more significant in the current environment, for now there is an open and frontal attack on the cross as a propitiatory sacrifice and substitutionary death to pay the penalty for our sins Within evangelicalism, with its plethora of odd and often heretical teachings, we now have, if not a full fledged war, at least major skirmishes breaking out regarding the meaning of the death of Christ. There are many major voices identified and accepted as fellow evangelicals, who are chiming in to challenge and target the Penal Substitutionary Atonement, hereafter PSA.

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Steinkamp has put his finger on something I had long noticed. Whether in Baptist or Bible Church or Evangelical radio circles, we constantly hear that Jesus came to "give us healthy families", "restore relationships" and much other touchy, feely type things. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Remember that Christ said He would divide families.

The primary reason Christ suffered and died was to take my place and your place so we might escape the just wrath of God.

Who is God?

This is a simple, yet profound subject. It is simple in the sense that a child can understand, yet so profound that theologians can write entire books about the subject.

While typing, I just looked at my 12 year old daughter and asked her, "Who, or what, is God?"

The first thing that sprang to her mind (and to my 51 year old mind) was Creator. That is a good place to start. That is where the apostle Paul started when he was pushed in front of the podium before a pagan audience in Athens, Greece. The scene is described in the New Testament book of Acts, in Chapter 17. The Greeks had many gods, and as the Athenians demanded to know what Paul believed, the first thing out of Paul's mouth is that the God which Paul is proclaiming is the creator of all things. Pauls says:

God that made the world and all things therein

We learn many other things about God in the Bible. He is: loving, just, holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere, eternal (without beginning or end). Some of these concepts are difficult for a finite human mind. The list could likely be made longer. It is sufficient to say that God is certainly demands attention.

When driving the truck, there are certain things you can ignore. There are certain things you cannot ignore. An unhappy automobile driver who flips you off because you are holding him up with your slow truck can be ignored. A state trooper with flashing lights who pulls in behind you cannot be ignored, since after all he has a gun and the full might and power of the state stand behind him. Truck drivers learn to fear state troopers. Once you have lost the equivalent of a week's paycheck to ticket happy state trooper, you learn to fear. God is bigger than any state trooper. State trooper, judges, governors, presidents and kings must answer to God. We do well to take Him very, very seriously.

One of the great problems in the church today is a low view of God and a high view of man. Many of today's teachers do not fear God sufficiently to respect His word. Isaiah, a prophet of the Old Testament, writes in chapter 65:

Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you,
that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear
to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

God demands our respect. He is worthy of our respect.

Basic Axioms or Postulates

To have sound doctrine, you must start somewhere. You cannot pull sound doctrine out of the air. You cannot even discern sound doctrine using human logic alone if, as the Bible says, we are fallen, depraved creatures. A very, very long time ago, in high school, I took a geometry class. I remember that the class had to begin with certain starting rules, I think they were called postulates or axioms. Once you had that groundwork laid, you could go on to build a system of geometry.

Let me put it another way. If you are a truck driver, you know that you have to trip plan. Trip planning includes choosing a legal route, choosing places where you can stop for the night (you can't put a 60+ foot rig weighing 79,000 lbs in someones front yard!), choosing fuel stops, and estimating how many miles to cover each day to arrive on time. But no truck driver can trip plan unless he is told the pickup point, the delivery point, and the appointment times. That information is basic. If there is no load, there is no trip, there is nothing to plan.

The starting place must be the Scriptures - God's Holy Bible. Why?

Man is not all-knowing. To know something of God there must be revelation of God. We know that there is a general revelation of God in nature. Anyone who spends any time observing and contemplating the world around us will quickly discern that a great power is at work. The unbeliever calls this force "nature", or "Mother Earth", or "Chance", but he must call it something. The creators of Star Wars call it "The Force". Only a fool fails to recognize that there is some great force at work (I can say this because the Bible expressly says that those who say that there is no God are fools - Psalm 14:1).

The question may be asked, "Why the Bible"? That is a good question. There are an abundance of Holy Books or other claimed sources of divine revelation: the Koran, the Hindu holy texts, the Pope, the Book of Mormon. You have many choices.

To set forth why the Bible is superior is probably beyond the scope of my ability and certainly beyond the time I have available this morning. In brief, some of the reasons why the Bible is superior include:

• 1. It very accurately describes man. I could hardly belabor this point. The bible is shockingly accurate in describing us in a way that modern psychology and other teachings are not.
• 2. It is historically accurate. The bible very accurately describes the events of the middle east during the past several thousand years.
• 3. The Bible contains prophecies which we know were accurately fulfilled (this is an important reason).
• 4. The Bible is distinct from many other historical books - it shows even its heroes to be flawed men and women. The Bible never sugar coats its characters. (Of course there is one character who did not have flaws).
• 5. The Bible decribes a unique God, one who is completely "other", completely distinct from man.
• 6. The Bible is internally consistent, though having been written by dozens of men from differing occupations and educational levels over the course of centuries.
  

I could go on, and may add to this list if I think of some other distinctives. There are apologists who grapple with and debate the superiority of the bible on a regular basis.

For right now, let us start with the Holy Bible as the beginning point of this discussion of theology.

Easter Monday

It did not seem appropriate to discuss theology on the journal blog or on the devotional blog, so here is a third blog. Sound theology, sound doctrine, is very important, and very much lacking these days.

My wife and I live in Southeast Texas, just outside Houston, and we are incredibly frustrated at times insofar as we cannot seem to find a sound church to attend. We are currently attending an Assembly of God church, but I do not know for how long.

Since I am not theologically trained, I trust the reader will be patient and forgive imprecise or inaccurate use of terms. Helpful corrections will be appreciated.