Archive for May, 2007
 Perhaps you’ve heard of Apple’s iPhone; the latest revoluationary digital device? It is supposed to be released next monht, and for a couple hundred dollars, it will change your life! So they say.
Maybe you’re intrigued, but the iPhone just isn’t a financial possibility for you anytime soon. Yeah, me either. So check out this alternative: the PocketMod.
With a name that is almost as cool as iPhone, PocketMod is fully customizable, incredibly inexpensive, and completely portable. Check it out.
You’ll need access to a printer, and a little skill at folding, but it’s not rocket science. You can’t make phone calls from it, but you can tear it into peices and leave people little notes. Enjoy!
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We’re about to finish another round of the New Members Class and we have a baptism coming up in July. So, for me, this is the season for reading testimonies about conversion. Many of the testimonies from those of us who grew up in the church follow a familiar pattern: prayed a prayer as a young kid, didn’t really seem to stick, turned to Christ sometime in high school… Some of us regret that our testimonies aren’t as dramatic as some of those who didn’t grow up in the church.
While this is a common thought among those of us who “grew up Christian”, it is painfully short-sighted. Theologian D. A. Carson explains how Christians should think about this:
Some of us who were reared in Christian homes have secretly wondered if perhaps it might have been better if we had been converted out of some rotten background.
This is not the psalmist’s view. “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb” (Ps. 71:5-6)
The most thoughtful of those who were converted later in life wich they had not wasted so many of their early years. Now that they have found the pearl of great price, their only regret is that they did not find it sooner. More importantly, those who are reared in godly Christian homes are steeped in Scripture from their youth. There is plenty in Scripture and in personal experience to disclose to them the perversity of their own hearts; they do not have to be sociopaths to discover what depravity means. They will be sufficiently ashamed of the sins they have committed, despite their backgrounds, that instead of wishing they could have had a worse background (!), they sometimes hang their head in shame that they have done so little with their advantages, and frankly recognize that apart from the grace of God, there is no crime and sin to which they could not sink.
It is best, by far, to be grateful for a godly heritage and to petition God himself for grace that will see you through old age.
D. A. Carson, For the Love of God, Vol. 1, 5/18 entry.
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I snapped this pic today… Coming to a Burke Centre near you:
If anyone is looking for a summer job, they are hiring.
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 I learned recently that at the age of 86, John Stott has announced his imminent retirement from ministry. (HT: JT) What can we possibly say here to properly honor this man whose writing has had such a profound effect on us personally, and on our church? Dr. Stott has been a pastor at All Souls Church in London since 1945 — 62 years. That’s more than twice as long as I’ve been alive.
Let us thank God for this man and his ministry, and let us pray for the next generation of men who will contend for the gospel and communicate the deep truths of the faith in ways that serve Christians all over the world.
I think the best way I can honor Dr. Stott is to share some of my favorite John Stott quotes from my favorite John Stott book, The Cross of Christ:
“So then, althought [Jesus] knew he must die, it was not because he was the helpless victim either of evil forces arrayed against him, or of any inflexible fate decreed for him, but because he freely embraced the purpose of his Father for the salvation of sinners, as it had been revealed in Scripture.” (p. 32)
“Before we begin to see the cross as something to for us (leading to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance). (pp. 59-60)
“The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.” (p. 160)
“A ’substitute’ is one who acts in place of another in such a way as to render the other’s action unnecessary. A ‘representative’ is one who acts on behalf of another, in such a way as to involve the other in his action… Just so, as our substitute, Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves: he bore our sin and judgment. But as our representative he did what we by being united to him have also done: we have died and risen with him.” (p. 276)
“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as ‘God on the cross’. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?… In my imagination I have turned to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his.” (pp. 335-336)
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1682 years ago, the Council of Nicea began. Whether or not this means anything to you, this was one of the pivotal events in the history of the church. The early church didn’t have Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology or anything like it; the clear, orderly explanations of Scripture that we so enjoy today didn’t just arrive on the scene when the church began. Doctrinal definition had to be carefully hammered out over a period of centuries. The Council of Nicea involved some major hammering by some heavyweight theologians, including the great Athanasius.
The problem developed in the years leading up to Nicea: a man named Arius and his followers had begun to teach a dangerous form of heresy. They claimed that Jesus, the Son of God, was created—that is, that he had a beginning at some point along the way. Thus, they said, Jesus Christ was not of the same essence or substance as God the Father. They put it this way: “there was a time when he was not”, denying Jesus’ eternal deity as God the Son.
So, Emperor Constantine convened more than 300 leading bishops from around the empire to combat the Arian heresy. The major accomplishment of the Council was not just refuting the heresy, but recording their refutation in what we now call the Nicene Creed. For sixteen centuries it has stood as one of the most important, simplest, and clearest explanations of the deity of Jesus Christ. I’ve highlighted the parts that particularly deal with the Arian heresy:
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son];
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.
So what does this mean for us? It should cause us to think deeply about who Jesus is and what he’s done. That he is God the Son made man, dying in the place of sinners to bring them to God. Let’s worship.
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Don’t forget: tomorrow night is our church family meeting. Coffee at 6, meeting at 6:30, ice cream afterwards!
We’re looking forward to a video report on our campus ministy at Mason, and an update about other churches in our region.
See you tomorrow night. Don’t forget: ice cream afterwards!
Categories: Announcements, five15 blog
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 Just a reminder that the last chance to register for the five15 Retreat is THIS SUNDAY MORNING!
If you’re planning to come, please get right on it. We’re planning all kinds of great stuff, and I don’t want you to miss it.
I also want to say: if finances is the only thing keeping you from going, please see me right away.
See you on Sunday!
Categories: Announcements, Retreat07, five15 blog
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Maybe you’ve heard me say, “We’re all going to be dead soon.” I’m trying to shake up those feelings of teenage invincibility and help people “live wisely, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
Apparently I’m not the only one convinced that “I’m going to die soon.“
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Mark preached to us from Mark 8:22-9:13 yesterday about “The Divine Necessity.” The cross is a divine necessity:
- The Father requires it: it is the divine plan for the salvation of sinners
- The Son desires it: Jesus plans to go to the cross to give his life for sinners and redefines the expectations of even those closest to him, like Peter.
- The disciple (you and me) acquire it. We are each called to take up our own cross and follow the Savior. John Stott explains what this means:
“Self-denial is not denying to ourselves luxuries such as chocolates, cakes, cigarettes and cocktails (though it may include this); it is actually denying or disowning ourselves, renouncing our supposed right to go our own way.” Stott, The Cross of Christ, 279.
Some discussion questions for parents and teens:
- Where is one place in your life where you are struggling to deny/disown/renounce yourself?
- How does Christ’s finished work at the cross position you to make progress? In other words, how does justification help you in sanctification?
Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog
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