God Is Our Salvation!

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. (Psalm 68:19; ESV)

One of my favorite movies of all time is the original Star Wars movie from 1977.  It’s a movie that tells straight forward story of good and evil.  You have really bad, bad guys and really good, good guys.  You have love, action, explosions and awesome (for the time) special effects.  Even though watching this movie 30 years later you can tell it looks dated from a special effects point of view, the enduring quality of this movie is the strength of its story.  One of the themes of the movie is salvation.  Luke, Obi-Wan and Han Solo have to save Princess Leia from the clutches of Darth Vader and they have to save the struggling rebellion from the Empire’s ultimate weapon — the Death Star.

How Do the Ten Commandments Apply to Christians?

Question: What religious teaching is developed in the Ten Commandments? What audience are the Ten Commandments written for? What cultural influences (for example events, rituals, and customs) are evident to creating the Ten Commandments?

Answer:  The Ten Commandments represent the moral character of God.  They represent what God expects of his covenant people.  The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites through Moses after God delivered them from bondage in the land of Egypt.  The context of the Ten Commandments is the formation of the nation of Israel.  They form the basis of the Mosaic Covenant and serve as sort of the preamble for the covenant.  If the Constitution of the United States is the foundational document of our nation, then think of the Ten Commandments as serving a similar function for the Israelites.

The ‘Seeker Sensitive’ Movement

Take a listen to this video clip.  This was taken from a recent Ligonier conference.  The question is put forth regarding the Seeker Sensitive movement.  R.C. Sproul and Al Mohler both give awesome answers regarding this.  It is well worth the listen!

The Gospel and the Christian Life

Have you ever wondered how the gospel relates to the Christian life?  If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard that the gospel makes it possible for us to live the Christian life, or something along those lines.  This reduces the gospel to a ‘means to an end,’ namely our sanctification.  It also makes the gospel somewhat subjective as we relate it to our experiences.

It may shock you to know that the gospel is not a means for us to live the Christian life.  The gospel is the central focal point of all of human history.  The gospel is the objective, historical fact that approximately 2,000 years ago, a man named Jesus of Nazareth died on a hill just outside of Jerusalem.  This man was buried and three days rose again.  That man, Jesus of Nazareth, was none other than the sinless Son of God; the Second Person of the Trinity who took on human flesh.  What occurred on that hill was an event of cosmic proportions — the sins of mankind were atoned for through the substitutionary death of Christ.

We must, as American Christians, regain the true meaning of the gospel.  The attached audio file is a lecture given by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.  Dr. Rosenbladt is a professor of theology at Concordia University in Irvine California.  He is also an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and a co-host on the weekly radio program White Horse Inn.  Give it a good listen; it may just rock your world!

It’s Not My Fault!

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (James 1:13-14; ESV)

I am the proud parent of three teenage children (your prayers and concerns are well received ).  If you’ve parented children at all, then you know they’re masters of avoiding responsibility at all costs.  One of my favorite excuses they use is the classic blame shift — e.g., “It’s not my fault, she made me do it.”  It’s a good thing we grow out of this as we become adults…or do we?  Unfortunately, we don’t!  The only difference between us and our children is we’re usually more creative in our rationalizations.

My Help Comes From the Lord!

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. (Psalm 121:5-6; ESV)

Life can be a grind.  This is not news to anybody who has lived a significant amount of time.  As you’re growing up, your life is full of hope and promise.  As you get older and the realities of life begin to set in, you realize that life can be very tough at times.  In fact, for most, life just doesn’t turn out the way they hoped.  What I’ve just said about life in general applies even more to Christians.  There is a misconception held by some that when you become a Christian, you’re life gets better.  This false idea is generated by the way the gospel is presented by some as the gospel of the ‘big offer.’  In other words, the gospel is presented as “Come to Jesus and he’ll make your life better; he’ll give you a joy and a happiness and a peace that is beyond understanding.”

“I Came Here for an Argument…”

And now for something completely different…here is one of my favorite Monty Python skits.  What does this have to do with Christianity and theology?  Absolutely nothing!  It’s funny, and I like it!  Not everything has to be serious!

Serving Two Masters

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

If I can think up of a phrase that typifies our modern American culture, it would be instant gratification. Generally speaking, we are a people who despise the idea of waiting for anything. It used to be that if you wanted to buy something, you had to save up your money in order to get it. However, now with credit, you can buy now and pay later. This divorce between the purchase and the payment creates the illusion of wealth, but as we now know has led to the current financial crisis we find ourselves in; people over extended on their credit cards, their car payments and their mortgages. We have become enslaved to money because of the wonderful things it can buy, and when we didn’t have enough money to keep buying the things we wanted, we created credit to continue the buying spree.

Narcissistic Worship?

In church last Sunday, we sang the well known worship song Worthy of My Praise.  I love this song because it’s a simple, yet beautiful song.  However, as I was singing this song in church yesterday, I started to really contemplate the lyrics of this song.  Before I get to the fruits of my ruminations, read the lyrics of the song (included below).  After the lyrics, I will give you my opinion and you can let me know if I’m on to something or way out of line.

What Happens to People After They Die?

Question: Those who are dead in Christ and already in Heaven, do we know what bodies they have (just a spirit) in Heaven before they are resurrected with their new bodies during the rapture?

Answer:  The question you’re asking has been one that has been the source of intent debate throughout the history of Christianity.  Some Christian thinkers, influenced by Platonic philosophy and Greek thought have downplayed the physical resurrection and over emphasized spiritual immortality.  Another area of controversy regarding this topic arose during the time of the Reformation and centered on the topic of soul sleep.  Soul sleep essentially teaches that at death the soul “sleeps;” thereby making the state after death an unconscious existence until the final resurrection on the last day.  This view was rejected by John Calvin and the other reformers as being dangerously close to annihilationism (i.e., the souls of the wicked are annihilated and do not suffer an eternity in hell).  A third view is that held by the Roman Catholic Church, and that is the view of purgatory.  Purgatory is a place of penance in which the dead can further atone for any remitted mortal sins and cleansed of any unforgiven venial sins.  This view runs afoul of classic Protestant teaching in that the atoning sacrifice of Christ was sufficient for all our sins and that no further atoning is necessary (Hebrews 9:28).