Singing to One Another In...

My goal this year is to be more faithful than I have previously been at blogging. I am shooting for more consistency in this area both because it is helpful for myself, but also because I find a great amount of encouragement from friends who blog well.

My first post this year will be small (as hopefully most of them will). In the midst of doing sermon prep this week for a passage from Ephesians 5, I was greatly moved by this sermon by John Piper (one of my faves, but I am not a Piper disciple on the same level as a lot of guys I know). If you have 30 minutes, this is a great look at church music, why music?, and the goal of music.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/singing-and-making-melody-to-the-lord

Justice, Revenge, and Greater Good: What is the appropriate Christian response?

Before I delve too deep into this, I want to mention one other article, written by someone wiser than me, who has also given his thoughts on this issue. You can read his writing below. My hope was to have more, but out of a good size list of people that I would look to for a word on this issue, most are silent at the moment.

Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/05/02/the-trial-that-still-must-come-the-death-of-osama-bin-ladin-and-the-limits-of-human-justice/

Now, as far as our response, some of the questions that I am hearing are questions like these:

How much joy is appropriate in this, and do I have any right as a believer to be happy about this?

Are we endorsing murder to rejoice in this man's downfall?

Aren't all sins equal, and are we hypocritical to desire this man to have justice done to him, while we ourselves don't want justice done to us?

Can we as believers think that someone's killing (execution) is the right result to go for?

What is my response to this supposed to be from a Biblical perspective?

This issue is full of emotion, and charged on all sides. I have seen Christians upset about the apparent partying in the streets by other believers who seem to be reveling in the death of someone who needed Jesus' salvation. I have also seen Christians who are rejoicing in what the death of this man could potentially mean for the status of human freedom, and the possible downfall of a certain strain of evil that has had overwhelming consequences in the world in the last 10-15 years. There seems to be this struggle between believers on this issue, which is quickly heating up, and for at least the folks in our faith community, I would like to respond to this issue the best that I can.

1. Are we endorsing murder to rejoice in this man's downfall?

Some have stated that what was carried out against Osama Bin Laden is essentially murder and it would be wrong to give any support to that as believers. However, that doesn't quite fit a Biblical definition of the word. As God relays to His people in the book of Exodus "you shall not kill (literally murder)" he is giving a commandment to individuals, and there are several aspects of that command. First, human life is sacred, and no man has authority over another person's life to take it away. Second, individuals are not to take upon themselves the role of God, or of their society, in giving out justice. It's interesting that while God commands every individual that they are not to kill, He then gives numerous directives to the government of Israel as to when someone earns the death penalty. He distinguishes between someone personally trying to take someone's life, and a society levying justice against an individual.

In the case of Osama Bin Laden, it would not be appropriate to use the word murder, since I believe it would be more appropriate to see this action as a matter of justice that was brought about by a government against whom numerous crimes (which claimed thousands of lives) had been committed.

2. Aren't all sins equal, and are we hypocritical to desire this man to have justice done to him, while we ourselves don't want justice done to us?

On the first question of are all sins equal, the answer is yes and no. All sins are equally effective at causing us to be guilty in front of a Holy God, and need His saving grace alone for salvation. In the work of salvation, God needs to bend over no further to redeem a man like Osama Bin Laden, than He needs to bend over to redeem a man like me. As the Bible states clearly - all fall short, all have sinned.

At the same time it would also be wrong to not recognize a level of injustices committed, and see that in a way God also sees on this level as well. We mentioned Levitical law in the Old Testament already, and you will see by the different punishments that God Himself gives to different crimes that there is a recognition by God that greater wrongdoing needs to carry with it a greater punishment. In the New Testament we see several illustrations of this as well. One of the greatest offenses that the people of Jesus' hometown committed was refusing to believe in Him. He says to them that it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on judgment day than it will be for them. While there is an equality in sinful separation from a Holy God, there are numerous examples in Scripture to point to there being levels of wrong that point to appropriate levels of retribution.

3. Can we as believers think that someone's killing (execution) is the right result to go for?

I think this is something that it seems like Christians have been more hesitant to answer. Certainly, Christians are not called to rejoice in simply the fact of life being taken from someone. To rejoice in the fact that Osama suffered death, that he is facing eternal judgment, or in any of the facets of how he was taken out, would be wrong for a believer to take joy in - because that is what each of us deserve apart from Christ (death, eternal judgment, wrath, and the revenge of God).

But can we say that somehow even a Christian could say that killing Osama Bin Laden was an appropriate goal? I was reminded amidst some of the discussion on this topic of a man named Dietrich Boenhoffer. He has become widely popular in evangelical circles in recent years, and was a pastor, theologian, and is held by many to have been an incredibly dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. He was one other thing as well, an assassin. Dietrich planned an attempt on Adolf Hitler's life, in order to shorten the war, prevent further death by soldiers and in concentration camps, and to remove someone who by his very living was causing death to thousands, even millions of people a year. His attempt was unsuccessful, and he was executed, but it seems that Evangelical Christianity has had no problem in seeing that Dietrich's thought process here was correct.

Osama Bin Laden has been responsible for thousands of innocent lives lost, and not even those of simply the victims of these attacks. Outside of embassy bombings, the USS Cole, and even the September 11 attacks, Bin Laden (along with others) systematically brainwashed people to believing that the very mission of God was they themselves destroying their own lives. He gave them false hopes about their rewards for strapping bombs to themselves, and killing others. This had influence on young and old, male and female. Besides even the victims of the attacks, which were overwhelmingly innocent people of all ages and walks of life, Bin Laden poisoned people of his own culture to in essence murder them. This was all while he was protected, had multiple wives, and enjoyed at least in some form the luxury of being powerful and provided for.

I hold Dietrich Boenhoffer's logic to be correct. When it is clearly identifiable that someone is the perpetrator and instigator of senseless and brutal deaths, one must make a choice to either allow that person to continue killing (and in essence by doing that, take part in the slaughter), or to seek to bring that person to justice through just means. For this reason, I do not think that it is carefully thought out for a believer to simply say "well, it's wrong to kill." You are right that it is, the problem is that you have death on either side of the equation, and the choice becomes deciding on what is just and right. Should we allow innocent people to die, or levy justice against those who freely take lives, even if it involves taking their life?

How much joy is appropriate in this, and do I have any right as a believer to be happy about this and what is my response supposed to be from a Biblical perspective?

This has been one of the major issues at play here, and I have appreciated those who have posted verses like "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his ways and live. Ezekiel 33:11"

There is nothing appropriate for a believer to rejoice in simply in death, revenge, or any similar statement. The Scripture speaks about our greatest hope for one another being in Christ, no matter what that person has done. Jesus tells those listening to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them. Would there be rioting in the streets for joy if Bin Laden had come to Christ and became an avid follower of Jesus? I was forced in this scenario to think about the Apostle Paul, and the way that God changed his heart, and the way that the early church (though hesitant at first, understandably) brought him in to their fellowship, though he was responsible for the death of many of their members. Think about what kind of an understanding of the gospel that takes! And yet, it's the understanding that we have been called to.

I remember in 2006 when a man entered an Amish school in Pennsylvania and barricaded the doors. He was a child molester, with plans to molest school children that day. He tied up and fatally shot 5 girls, before taking his own life. I was not yet a parent at that point, but even navigating through how terribly tragic, and embittering, a tragedy like that would be for a parent, now that I am one, made me stop and take pause. The thing that I remember about that incident was how quickly afterward people from that community and even some of those girl's parents began to reinforce their need for forgiveness of this man amongst one another, and not take joy in the eternal punishment he was now facing. That is the kind of radical understanding of the gospel, that we are called to have. That people's souls are held in incredibly high esteem, and our desire for them is not that they burn, but that they come to Christ. Easier said than done.

That being said, I think it is appropriate for Christians to rejoice at what this could possibly mean in terms of both quelling terrorism around the world, and weakening the strength of groups like Al-Qaida. It is appropriate to find closure in events like September 11th, and see that those who are guilty do not go unpunished (regardless of whether or not we ever found Bin Laden). It is appropriate to see this event as a reason once again to find hope in freedom, and the worthy cause of not allowing bullies and powerful extremist minorities to have a free pass at conducting evil.

As Christians though, we need to be very careful in what we are celebrating, and not forget the gospel of Jesus Christ - that each of us deserves a fate worse than death, but God through His love and grace to us, gave His only Son so that anyone who trusts in Him will not meet that end, but instead receive the free gift of eternal life.

10 Books That Would Be Helpful to Any Believer

I was asked to compile a list of about 10 books that every Christian should read. I want to say that there is only one book that every Christian should read, which is the Bible. I always hate hearing someone say "this is a book every Christian needs to read", because it implies that somehow 2,000 years of Christians didn't understand crucial information that somehow we have because someone wrote a book.

That being said, Christian books have been a huge blessing to me in my lifetime, and God has used them to show me so much that I might otherwise not have realized. Anytime the gospel is being spoken into your life by an author desiring to illumine the Word to you, you can't go wrong.

The following is my meager attempt at the list that has been a representation of the books that have meant a lot to me over the years. These are in no particular order.

Radical - David Platt

This is the one book I have not read, but it is about seeing Christianity as we are called to live it, not as a safe American lifestyle has forced us to live it. This book is challenging, and life altering from what I understand. I look forward to reading it when my classes are over this summer.

Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan

This book was written in the 1600s, and has been the most central and constant book in my life besides the Bible. From watching the cartoon as a kid, to reading the book numerous times in adulthood. Bunyan makes the Christian life into a story, and it is incredibly relevant, even though it was written over 300 years ago. Get a modern version of this. Cheryl Ford's is my favorite, but Warren Wiersbe is also a good modern translation.

Boy Meets Girl - Joshua Harris

Dating books tend to be idealistic, and I haven't read a great many of them. But this one is my favorite, and a very well written insight into the light and dark side of dating, relationships, self-esteem, sin, and everything relevant to the subject. I encourage any single person to check out a good dating book, and this is one of the good ones.

Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper

I appreciate John Piper so much, and this book is challenging and inspiring at the same time. The title pretty much sums it up. Piper's books are all available for free download at desiringgod.org, which is more than enough reason to download the PDFs and check them out.

Jesus Freaks - DC Talk (really Foxe's Book of Martyrs for a new generation)

This boo

k is the one that I forgot to include on Sunday, but it deserves to be there. The first time I picked up this book I read 90 pages before I could put it down. It is simply a testimony of what people sacrificed through the centuries for the sake of Christ. Challenging.

Knowing God - J.I. Packer

If you are looking for a book on God, this is my absolute favorite. It is easy to read for the most part (as much as any book can be on the subject of God). Overall, he is able to say things more simply, yet more deeply, than we often think about. Those of

you who don't like thinking of big words and terms like systematic theology, and all the others, will find both depth and simplicity in this book.

To The Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson - Courtney Anderson

I want to encourage you to take some point in your life and read a biography of a famous missionary. It will change the way you walk through your life, and what you view as important. Judson's story has been my favorite, and if you aren't ready to tackle the book, you can still listen to part of his story on our church's missions page.

The Pursuit of God - A.W. Tozer

Tozer is an old-school guy with a great handle on the things that we tend to put in God's way, and our own way. His premise is that our problem is that we seek "God and..." This book is a breaking down of that thought process. This is the shortest book by far on this list (under 100 pages).

Chasing Daylight - Erwin McManus

This book is a very well written, entertaining, challenging, and overall 'kick in the pants' of practicing one's faith. The book deals with our tendency to let life, opportunities, and all other sorts of avenues, pass us by. To live for God is to live seizing the moments that He has given us. This is the easiest read on this list, and an

encouragingly challenging book to me.

The Jesus I Never Knew - Philip Yancey

Yancey re-introduces the reader to the Jesus that they assumed they knew after growing up in church, and does so in an incredibly moving and compelling way. This is near the top of the list as far as the impact it has made on my life. It's a book on Jesus that you will find to be a breath of fresh air, and a mind and heart opening experience.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Garry Friesen

This is the book that Jared recommended Sunday, about the nature of the will of God, and what that means for our life. Often times we spend our lives asking questions like "what is God's will for my life?" This book deals with the nature and the response to that question.

J. Hudson Taylor - Missionary to China

Hey Everyone,

Every December or so I get to give my favorite "talk" of the year, which is a missionary biography. Some of you guys got a chance to hear it Sunday night, but I wanted everyone to have a shot.

My hope is that you will throw this in your IPOD or when you just have time to kill you will listen to it. Burn a CD and listen to it in your car on the way home, or just whatever. It's about 45 minutes long.

You all have had to listen to me speak too much, and I realize there is nothing exciting about that. But I want to encourage you to listen to this for the sake of hearing the story of this man and his family, and the missions movement in China in the late 1800s. If you were interested in another story, you can find last year's mission story - Adoniram Judson, on the church website -firstbaptistwelcome.org in the missions resources page.

Click here for the MP3

15 Books that...well, you decide

Well, this begins another season of blogging with everyone back in school. These won't come every week, but now and then to give you guys something to chew on. Hope this can still be a resource for you.

Sunday we looked at a part of a lecture (determined by class vote) from the Apologetics Conference last year. The topic was "10 Books that Screwed up the World", which in reality ended up being 15 books.

The basis of his argument was the importance of reading these books, especially for Christians, to understand both the depths and the ramifications of some modern thought. For example, The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin makes Darwinism hit home when arguments are made for applying "Origin of Species" methods, for lack of a better title, to humanity. We might call that social darwinism, or survival of the fittest, but to understand what Darwin meant by those, the Descent of Man outlines the fruit of evolution in society as eugenics (controlling the population through sterilization of certain peoples), and even extermination. This is the side you don't tend to hear about his arguments, but it is important to note for someone to consider themselves an advocate of Darwinism or not.

So here is the list of books (and I promise you I have misspelled some names and titles), along with a summary, if the speaker gave one, of the thoughts expressed in this book:

Machiavelli – The Prince (Beginnings of atheist thought in government. Ultimately, a government should do what is in the best interest of the people and the ruler, even if that means being immoral, because ultimately if you can get a government to not fear hell and punishment, there is much more you can accomplish).

Charles Darwin – The Descent of Man (described above)

Pivot of Civilization – Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood, this book is something that most planned parenthood people want others to avoid because of the extreme views voiced in this book. Nevertheless, she is the founder of the movement that is the leading voice in encouraging abortion)

John Stewart Mill – Utilitarianism

Freud – The Future of an Illusion

Renee Descartes – Discourse on Method

Karl Marx – Communist Manifesto (full scope of communism, government that is run with the state and not the individual in mind)

The rest which we did not have time to examine, but that the speaker gives.

Meade – Coming of Age in Samoa

Hobbes – Leviathan

John Jacque Reusau – Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men

Lenin – The State and Revolution

Nitsche – Beyond Good and Evil

Adolf Hitler – Mein Kampf

Kinsay – Sexual Behavior in the Human Male/The Male Report

The Feminine Mistique – Betty Fernan

If anyone has questions or comments, or would like a copy of this session, let me know, and I will be happy to burn a DVD and mail it to you. God bless you all, happy reading if there is a book that sticks out to you as something that would be important to examine.

Summer Syllabus

Okay, this is a new idea for me, we'll see how this works. I want to encourage all of you to find a way to make this summer productive, whatever that might mean to you. For myself, I have carved out a summer syllabus to try to pace and challenge myself through what I would like to be able to learn and do this summer. I have until August 15th to complete these things, and kind of "grade" my progress :). Here goes...

Scripture Memorization:

Psalm 46

Psalm 91

Isaiah 43:1-7

All powerful passages that are good to be reminded of in tough times. Need to be hid in my heart, not just my Bible.

Reading:

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners – John Bunyan

Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan

Coupled with the Pilgrim's Progress cell group I am hoping to dive into the story of this amazing man, Bunyan, who endured so much for the gospel.

It is Not Death to Die: A New Biography of Hudson Taylor – Jim Cromarty.

Hudson Taylor was another early Baptist Missionary. I am trying to read one missionary biography per year now, so I am looking forward to this one.

Physically:

Run 5 miles a week, some form or fashion.

Evangelism:

Attempt to share the gospel/swing to the things of God with at least one person a week outside of church. Continue developing relationships with people around me who need Christ.

Just for Fun:

Pistol: Life of Pete Maravich (Mark Kriegel)

One of my childhood heroes who still fascinates me. He became a believer later in life, but dealt with incredible demons in his younger years. Probably the greatest skill player to ever play, so this will be the relaxing read for the summer.

There you go, I am now accountable to all of you. Feel free to ask how I am doing in this. Let me know if I can help you figure out how to maximize your summer.

Social Justice and the Gospel

Last Sunday we looked at what the role of the Christian was in light of the social needs of the time. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? What is the role of the believer in social justice?

Spectrum

Let me just save us a lot of time and say that we looked at two extremes in the beginning - the inward salvation only Christian, and the social gospel Christian. Neither of which are right.

The inward salvation only Christian desires only for the spiritual needs of someone to be met. They do not consider physical needs worth caring for since we are all in fallen flesh, and seek to only spread the good news of Jesus. While there is truth in that model, it goes against the teaching of Scripture to see someone in need and do nothing about their physical need, while at the same time trying to give them the gospel (see James).

The social gospel Christian seeks to let the world know they are loved by serving them, and in all of our hearts this person is far more endeared. It is easier to love this martyr of human cause, who has given up so much to serve in such need, because it is so admirable. However, the social gospel begins to exist when only someone's physical need is met, and no teaching of their sin and need for a Savior is discussed. At heart, someone like this wants people to love them, not God.

Scripture

We see that the truth of Scripture is that Jesus spent his entire ministry doing two things more than anything else: meeting physical needs, and meeting spiritual needs. He healed the sick, but He had no delusion that their only great need was physical healing. He also shared the gospel, but He didn't do that coldly to the masses without touching the lepers and giving sight to the blind.

We have to be honest with ourselves in that mankind's greatest need is the gospel. It isn't to bring them into social peace with all cultures, it isn't to end disease, it isn't to bring about equality. Those are all temporal things this side of eternity. BUT, we do those things because we love mankind, and we want their circumstances to be raised so that when their physical hunger has died away, their spiritual hunger can now be dealt with.

We see this in the story of the Prodigal Son. This does not end with the son being given some bread and a clean room to sleep in, after he was longing over the pig slop, though that is how many today would want to fulfill his need. His greatest need was to be reconciled to His Father, which we have to see as people's greatest need.

Jesus talked again and again about meeting physical needs - The story of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the King (where we see "whatever you have done for the least of these..."), the feeding of the 4,000 and 5,000. We see lepers, blind, deaf, lame, dumb, mute, demon possessed, self righteous, poor, rich, etc, etc. get their needs met by Jesus in the midst of the gospel message.

So then...

How does this apply? Some of you are at certain ends of this, others at the opposite side. Let's list some things to avoid:

Social Justice as a sexy issue to slam the church:
This is growing incredibly popular. The reason that there are _____________ is because the church is having potluck dinners instead of ________________ . Be careful with this. In every church you can find things that happen that don't seem vital to the kingdom, but in the end are part of community time together, and serve a legitimate purpose (we see the book of Acts mentioning meals and just relaxed time together). I bet you relax at some point too. Be careful about trying to place blame on someone other than yourself. If God has given you a burden, move patiently through the means of a spiritual community, and find ways to serve there. But just because you are passionate about this one area this week doesn't make everyone apostate for not being on your wavelength.

Being arrogant about the church's role:
Believe it or not, the church wasn't put in place to solve the problems of the world. Christ is going to return to solve the problems of the world. So let's not place ourselves on the throne of all powerful in the world, that is God's role. That being said, it is the role of the church to labor tirelessly to meet physical and spiritual needs in its members and in the community, country, and world.

At Winter Conference, while being asked about the Haiti earthquake, one of the panelists said that the church in America should accept blame for the buildings in Haiti not being what they should be. It reminded me of what Josephus, an early Jewish historian, wrote about the Tower of Babel in Genesis. That men were so wicked they wanted to build a tower high enough to survive a flood as if to trump God's ability to get them. I am not saying that it was God's role to get Haiti in the least, but I am saying it is foolish for the church to be so arrogant as to think that in all the nations of the world we are going to take care of all things so that nothing bad can happen to anyone. That is the arrogance and guilt game, not love.

Let's Not Reduce this to politics:
Okay, let's not confuse these issues for being liberal or conservative. It is neither one of those, it is either loving and Christ following, or self seeking and idolatrous. Those of you who are liberal/moderate reading this will have to struggle with feeling like the conservatives are heartless because of some presupposition that they are money-guzzling, self-righteous racists based on the fringes of your party portraying them that way. Those of you who are conservative reading this will have to struggle with feeling like the liberal believers are freeloading, baby-killing, socialists based on the fringes of your party portraying them that way.

Believers, not political parties, need to unite around the truth of Scripture on this issue, nothing else. There is much that could be said here, but I will stop here.

Not wanting to share the gospel, just wanting to "love" people.
That's not love. We need to hear that. I am constantly praying that God will again and again scream that into my heart. We long to go through life making people think good about who we are, and maybe even have them think nice things about God, but as Paul says "how will they call on Him whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to (telling) them?" (Romans 10).

Conclusion:
That being said. I love how passionate many of you are about what God has placed in your heart. Use that to glorify Him, bring the church along patiently to assist you in that work, and humbly seek to grow in the knowledge of God in righteousness. Don't use these grand ideas and huge tasks to replace your need to grow in love of Christ, and as a student of His word.

People need their needs met: physical and spiritual. We need to use what God has given us to make sure we are laboring to do what we can in both of these areas.