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Friday, September 30, 2005 

Infant or Believer Baptist?

The following quote is from a prominent pastor. He posted this at an Evangelical blog that receives support from evangelical Baptists and Presbyterians. Can you tell if he is a paedobaptist (infants should be baptized; paedo- as in child) or a credobaptist (baptism for believers;
credo- as in creed, I believe, etc.)?

I am on record as holding the view that the children of believers are not automatically saved. We should believingly employ all the means of grace for our children’s salvation, with holy boldness and confidence in God’s grace. But our children nonetheless do not take personal possession of the eternal blessings of the covenant of grace until they have a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Neither birth nor baptism secure them salvation, any more than did Ishmael’s birth and circumcision. For our children, as for ourselves, salvation occurs through a personal faith in Christ that involves knowledge, assent, and trust.

...Moreover, it is presumed that people like me treat our children as “little heathens” until we have manufactured some crisis experience that will permit us to tell all our friends that little Johnny “has gotten saved”. Really, I don’t know what church they saw such things in, but I’m glad I never went to it. All my children are covenant children who derive vast benefits from God’s covenant love for our family. To inherit all the benefits of the covenant of grace – including the eternal ones – they must come to personal, saving faith, which I cannot manufacture but which I trust God will do through the ordinary means of grace.


The real drama meat of the story, of course, is that the pastor's son was converted. Praise God for sovereign grace.

Go here to find out who wrote this, and what view of baptism they hold:Reformation 21 » My Five-Year-Old's Conversion: From Death to Life

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Today's Prayer

Confession and Petition

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.

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Thursday, September 29, 2005 

Home school Curriculum

If you are involved in homeschooling or classical education, or are simply interested in options outside of government schools, you may want to click on the title of this post.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005 

Sabbath Work

Reading: Basics of Biblical Hebrew
Enjoying: Cheerios
Listening: Joshua Harris' lectures I mentioned here

Rev. Danny Hyde, pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church in Oceanside, CA, has some excellent thoughts regarding the Christian Sabbath. In an article encouraging his flock to "Love the Lord Through the Liturgy," Hyde walks his people through the nature of the Christian Sabbath. After showing the importance of the seventh day in the Old Covenant, he goes on to show how, through Christ's resurrection, the sanctified day is transferred from the last day of the week - Saturday - to the first day, when Christ rose. This is why the Christian church, beginning with the apostles and the NT church, has always celebrated Sunday as the Lord's Day.
Hyde notes that we must let the Lord's Day structure us, contending that

So instead of seeing the Lord’s Day as a rule that stifles our “weekend”, we need to view it as a gift from God that actually structures our lives by providing a rhythm to keep the Lord’s Day.

Avoiding the rat race of corporate America, or the "squeeze-as-much- out-of-the-weekend-as-possible-while-begrudgingly-sparing-time-for-church" attitude so prevalent in white suburbia, the biblical outlook is seeing the Sabbath ordain the ebb and flow of life; our free time, work, appointments, and other duties of daily life fall under the consistent, steady, easy rhythm of the Christian Sabbath.

Hyde closes with another helpful realization about the Lord's Day:

Since we have been liberated from serving ourselves in order to serve God, let us use this liberty to love the Lord through the liturgy on the Lord’s Day as we show our gratitude for the glorious Gospel of grace.

He had opened the article commenting on the fact that the Reformation had so wholly been about liberty: liberty from the state, from Popery, from sin, and from worldly expectations. In closing his reflection, he helpfully rounds out liberty by seeing that rest is a releasing from our self-destructive habits.

Sabbath Work?
Though Reverend Hyde excellently addresses the Lord's Day, one issue that is biblically relevent but rarely discussed is the issue of proper work that is accomplished on the Sabbath. I find this especially relevent. As I desire to be an elder of the Church, and especially a teaching elder charged with Word and Sacrament, an important part of my work, my vocatio, will occur on Sunday. However, ministers are not the only ones that work on Sundays. The whole congregation works. The issue of work on Sundays is not a matter of working, but what kind of work, and who we work for.

Consider the original Sabbath paradigm. On the seventh day, God rested from His work. However, it is wrong to say that the Lord was some sort of lazy, twenty-something slob of a man addicted to his X-box. While God did rest from creative work that had constituted His previous six days, He was nevertheless involved in sustaining all things by the Word of His power (Colossians 1:15 - 17); loving His creation and Himself, hearing and answering Adam and Eve's prayers, etc. God was exceedingly busy on the seventh day of creation. The difference, however, was the kind of work He rested from.

Similarly, we are not called to no work on Sundays. Rather, we are called to give our best work then, works of love, works of song and prayer, works of mercy, and works of believing. We as Christians are called to rest from work for ourselves. Six days we are to labor in this earth, to sustain our families, to inaugurate Christ's kingdom in this world, and to perpetuate good deeds and mercy to those who rebel against their Sovereign. But one day a week, on Sunday, Christians are called to work in the world to come. During Sunday morning worship, when the Invocation is given, and God is called upon in the Name of Jesus, the sky is torn away, heaven draws near, and the Church militant joins with the cloud of witnesses and saints from every age in praise to our Triune God. In the heavenly throng, we lift our voices and prayers with archangels and seraphim and elders to glorify the Lamb, and God. We work in heavenly court the works which our Father has prepared for us.

So Christians rest, and yet never rest. We labor and toil in futility on this earth, as the curse is not yet fully removed. However, the Gospel spreads, and God is merciful. But when the Lord's Day comes, then we work with joy and singing, we labor and give thanks. His yolk is easy, and the burdens to carry on Sunday are light. We do not work on this planet, but by faith are working away at praising Father, Logos, and Spirit.

So don't think this weekend about all the work you need to get done on Sunday. Your calendar is already booked on the Lord's Day. Your assignment list is full. You have a heavenly work set before you this Sunday. Labor at it with your whole heart, that by faith in Jesus, you may find rest.

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EO - Yak Shaving Razor #23 is Released!

These things are great. I try to read them all the time, as soon as they come out. I recommend going back and reading all previous Shaving Razors.

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Wilson on Ferguson on the New Perspective(s) on Paul

Wilson makes some good comments. Yeah, that's correct. Doug Wilson, the one from Moscow, ID, makes some good comments. And not only this, he makes them on topics such as Sinclair Ferguson AND the NPP. If he keeps this up, a lot more people might not think he is a heretic. Of course, the lynchpin in that sentence is might.

One small quibble: while I agree with Wilson that those who accused him were in the wrong, I don't think he should keep bringing up their lack of repentence. This isn't any view I hold in respecting either party (I pray). If Doug Wilson had affirmed Pelagianism, Gnosticism, and Arianism all in one breath on cable TV, I would still think his accusers unbiblical and in sin. That said, I wonder if this isn't a Psalm 19:11 moment. Hopefully, everyone knows those who have accused Wilson personally are men to be largely ignored. Grace in this area will go farther to prove his orthodox Reformed faith than holding them captive to their sin. I think this is something I need to learn as well.

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Tuesday, September 27, 2005 

Joshua Harris on "Recovering Sex"
Topic: The Long War

Reading: Basics of Biblical Hebrew
Enjoying: Gurkha
Listening: Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown

Joshua Harris, author of Not Even A Hint, has recorded three mp3 recordings dealing with sexuality and dealing with lust in the Christian life. They are free to download. Go to the page for downloads by clicking here.

The titles of the lectures are "Does Sex Need to be Rescued?", "Are You Committing Pornography?", and "A Custom Plan for Fighting Lust." All three come recommended. Harris is speaking to a mixed audience - guys and girls - and speaks to the widest spectrum of lustful issues, including homosexuality. Happy listening.

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Fun with Boromir

What if the Council of Elrond had gone a bit differently? What if Boromir had been allowed to have more say? Click the title, and enjoy!

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Reformation 21 » Home

Reformation 21, a new endeavor by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, just released their most recent e-zine for October. I highly recommend the article by Paul Helm on the doctrine of impassibility. This biblical, classical doctrine is fallen on hard times, and articles like this will go a long way to rectify the situation.

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Monday, September 26, 2005 

Parsing Justification

Reading: S. Dempster's Dominion and Dynasty
Enjoying: Nothing. I guess I'm too busy lately. There's always the weekend.
Listening: "Talk the Walk" with Todd Friel on AM 980 KKMS. Listen Online

Though it is technical and exacting and difficult, if we are to be biblically, confessional, and Reformed, we must speak of more than simply justification by faith.

Did I get your attention?

In all seriousness, to be thoroughly biblical and Reformed, we need to get specific. To take in the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture, as well as the breadth of Reformed confessions, we must believe, teach, and preach that we are justified by Christ meritoriously, we are justified by faith instrumentally, and we are justified by works evidentially.

Christ's Meritorious Life
To say that we are justified by Christ meritoriously is simply to agree that II Corinthians 5:21 really means what is says. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Christ was made to "be sin" - despite the fact that Christ, in His sinless life, did not "know" sin - in order that we might be made the righteousness of God. In recent years, it has become vogue to deny this meaning of the text. This alternate reading has been furthered most effectively by one N. T. Wright, the bishop of Durham (at my last check, which may show how outdated I am). He has moved that the "our" in II Corinthians 5:21 refers not to Christians in general, but Paul's apostolic band. Also, while the text may show that our sin is imputed to Christ, the latter part of the verse is ambiguous as to time, nature, and extent.

I realize not everyone has this advantage, but the best man at my wedding, Haddon Anderson, has soundly put such Wrightian argumentation to rest. With the assistance of Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (the standard in Greek lexical studies and exegesis), he shows that grammatically, whatever sin is imputed to Christ, the exact same dimensions and properties apply to the imputation from Christ to His believers. Ask, and ye shall receive a copy of Haddon's work. His diagram and accusative object/complement induction is tremendous. Regardless of your theological commitments, you must bow the knee to the grammar. (I love it when the grammar backs "my" theology.)

Finally, Romans 5 asserts that Christ, as a second "Adam," acts as a federal head. All who are under His care - His jurisdiction - receive His benefits. Since Christ lived a perfect life, we are blessed to receive His blessings as members of His federal headship. This protects us from saying that our faith has merited anything (which the Bible denies). When we say that we are justified by Christ meritoriously, the merit - worth - that justifies us, is Christ's merit. We did not do anything good to merit justification, including believing. Our belief, or our faith, in Jesus is not what merits our justification. While we are called to believe, and when we do put our hope in Jesus, we are being obedient, our justification depends on our regeneration. Christ's merit is the only ground our justification has.

As the faithful Son of God, and as the persevering federal representative of the Covenant of Redemption, Christ has merited the salvation of all who believe in Him. He is our only source of righteousness, blessed be His Name.

I'll detail the other two senses of justification in following posts.

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From Whence Cometh Our Rights?

This seems to me to be a plausible reason to reject state - worship, which I suspect runs more rampant in America than we know. I'll post more on state - worship later. For now, Francis:

Francis Schaeffer (loose paraphrase):

If the State grants the [people] rights, then they can reclaim them; they can take them away. They are not inalienable after all!

Francis Schaeffer began and taught at the L'Abri Institute in Switzerland. He is well known for penning titles such as The God Who Is There and How Should We Then Live?

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Understanding the Prophet Zechariah, ben Berechiah, ben Iddo

Admittedly, the book of prophecies and oracles revealed to Zechariah is hard to understand. Consider the following sampling:

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 "I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Zechariah 1:7-8

And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." 6 Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'" 8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth." 11 Then I said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, "What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?" 13 He said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." 14 Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah 4:1-14

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits." 3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones." 5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, "Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out." 6 And I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the basket that is going out." And he said, "This is their iniquity in all the land." 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, "This is Wickedness." And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. 9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are they taking the basket?" 11 He said to me, "To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base." Zechariah 5:1-11

The reason I am thinking about Zechariah these days is because of a friend and C. H. Spurgeon. My friend has been asking me a lot about typology, sensus plenior, and what is justified symbolism from the Old Testament. C. H. Spurgeon is often brought up, since he so frequently "spiritualized" a text from Scripture. He is known to have said (something along the lines of), "I'd rather find Christ in a verse where He isn't, than be guilty of missing Him in a verse where He is."

Such logic, while refreshing in comparion to legalistic, moralistic teaching that passes as preaching in so many pulpits today, can also be a bit misleading. So Zechariah is an excellent test case, in that his language is so contextualized in Hebraisms and Old Testament typology, yet is thoroughly employed in NT apocalyptic texts like Revelation. Also, if you - like me - are reading through Spurgeon's Morning and Evening as part of your devotions, then you know he picked on two texts from Zechariah today.

While What the Thunder Said doesn't pretend to have all the answers, perhaps a suggestion may prove helpful. Compare two different approaches to Zechariah: the approach taken by C. H. Spurgeon in his devotionals, and the approach taken by Meredith Kline, in Glory in Our Midst. While Spurgeon was baptistic, primarily a preacher, and English, Kline is Reformed, teaching at Westminster Seminary (East & West), and takes a very certain, scholarly look at the OT text.

His book, Glory in Our Midst, was originally journal articles that ran as a series in the biblical/typological theology journal Kerux. Later, the articles were compiled into the book, and published by Wipf & Stock.

So what we recommend (to the billions of readers frequenting What the Thunder Said... I know you're out there) is that a bit of a comparison take place. Get a hold of Morning and Evening by Spurgeon, and go to the entry for September 26, 2005. (Here is a link for Phil Johnson's version, which is phenomenal.) In the morning, Spurgeon addresses Zechariah 1:8 - "The myrtle trees that were in the bottom."

Similarly, Kline also discusses the myrtle trees. To read his discussion, you can go about it a few different ways. First, if you're like me, you'd like to own a copy of his work. As I mentioned, Glory In Our Midst is published by Wipf & Stock. However, and this may be more appealing and educational for all involved, go download a free copy of the ENTIRE monograph at Two Age Press. Two Age Press is a website devoted to biblical theology in the tradition of M. G. Kline. What is more, you can also download other complete monographs. (I highly recommend Karlberg's treatment of Covenant Theology.) Once you have the text, start at p. 15, where his discussion begins, and dig into the myrtle trees.

So now you have your assignment. I trust everyone will check back in with their results. How do we handle symbolism, first in the Old Testament, and then applying it cross-covenantally to post-Pentecost believers? Happy reading.

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Sunday, September 25, 2005 

Mozilla Lightning

Reading: RBDL on Piper, Murray, and the Programmatic Function of the Law
Enjoying: just Ginger Ale, but its good
Listening: Switchfoot, The Beautiful Letdown

All in all, a successful weekend with the Wayts up at Lake Mille Lacs. Happy Anniversary to Richie and Char Wayt for 60 years of marriage!

Finally, some initial attempts at upgrading the Mozilla Lightning project seem to be getting underway. For those unfamiliar, Lightning is the project to help further integrate Mozilla Thunderbird, the Mozilla email client. (In case you haven't noticed, What the Thunder Said is a big time fan of Mozilla products, especially Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird. Check out my links to the left to get going.)

I would love to get to the point of eliminating Microsoft Outlook from my computer. Currently, it acts as a middle man. I synchronize my hp iPAQ 5550 pocket pc to get email, tasks, and other data on my calendar. However, I then export my calendar and tasks to Mozilla Sunbird, and wirelessly control my emails with Thunderbird. I would love to see Lightning eliminate my Microsoft middle man, and sync compatibly with Thunderbird (with a contextualized calendar client).

So, hopefully all of this is not far off. Here's what it currently looks like on my computer:


Have a blessed Lord's Day.

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Friday, September 23, 2005 

Lord, Help Me Not to Covet...

...this book.

The faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary in California have appended their lectures, articles, and chapters from a recent conference to complete a book entitled Covenant and Justification. You had me at "hello." Talk about two topics that are thorny, necessary, and intriguing to me at this point in life. I though I'd share the goodies with you. Check out this run down of authors and chapter subjects.

Prologue
How We Got Here: A Brief History of the Current Controversy
R. Scott Clark

Introduction
Where We Are: Justification Under Fire
David M. VanDrunen

Exegetical and Biblical Theology

Covenant Nomism and the ExileIain M. Duguid

The Covenant of Works in Moses and Paul
Bryan D. Estelle

The New Perspective, Mediation, and Justification
S. M. Baugh

Systematic Theology

The Covenant Before the Covenants
David M. VanDrunen and R. Scott Clark

Which Covenant Theology?
Michael S. Horton

Do This and Live: Active Obedience as the Ground of Justification
R. Scott Clark

Faith Formed By Love or Faith Alone? The Instrument of Justification, W. Robert Godfrey

Justification by Faith Alone: No Christian Life without It
Hywel R. Jones

Pastoral Theology

Preaching Sola Fide Better
Hywel R. Jones

The Letter and the Spirit: Law and Gospel in Reformed Preaching
R. Scott Clark

The Rise of Moralism in Seventeenth-Century Anglican Preaching: A Case Study, Julius J. Kim

Simul Iustus et Peccator: The Role of Justification in Pastoral Counseling, Dennis E. Johnson

Appendix

The Faculty of Westminster Seminary California, Our Testimony on Justification


The final appendix, their statement on justification, is already online. Save your pennies. It comes out in January 2006 from P & R Publishing.

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A Pauline Readership

A few quick recommendations on books you should read about Pauline theology

Richard B. Gaffin Resurrection and Redemption P&R 197
Why doesn't the resurrection play a greater part in our preaching and thinking nowadays? Was it important to Paul? How does it function in our dogmatics and practical theology, especially - what comfort should it bring believers in daily living? All these and more are addressed in this phenomenal study.






Herman Ridderbos Paul: An Outline of His Theology Eerdmans 1997

Probably the place to start. A systematic approach to all of Paul's thinking, outlined by redemptive historical thought. Ridderbos is heavily influenced by G. Vos and the continental Reformed tradition. Terrific reading on anything you wanted to know about Paul. Though terrific in its own right, I would recommend Ridderbos over the otherwise-outstanding Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ by T. Schreiner; definitely over J.D.G. Dunn's The Theology of the Apostle Paul. I cannot say enough about this book. More people and seminaries need to institutionalize it.



John Piper The Justification of God Baker 1993

An exegetical discourse of Romans 9:1 - 23. While I have other reasons to appreciate Pastor Piper and his ministry at Desiring God, I highly doubt that this book will ever be improved upon - ever. He has thoroughly dealt with all of the scholarship on this area, and comes away deftly proving a Calvinistic interpretation of Romans 9. Any Arminian or heterodox challenge to the sovereignty of God in salvation will have to engage the battle on this work, and the textual clarity, cohesiveness, and skill needed to gain ground against Piper's work is inconceivable. This work is one of his earliest, and one of his best. It remains completely impervious to New Perspective(s) work, as well as Emergent theology.




G. Vos The Pauline Eschatology P&R 1930
Go check out this site: Biblical Theology by G. Vos.

The first two books listed could not have been written without Geerhardus Vos. The man single-handedly created the discipline of "biblical theology" and forced it into contemporary scholarship. Standing on the shoulders of the Swiss and French reformers, Vos' sight into the biblical text is outstanding. While this monograph recommended here is good, his work on the whole Bible is even better. If you have to start somewhere to break into Vos' corpus, I recommend either his Biblical Theology (beware: heavy reading!), or Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, compiled by Dennison and Gaffin.


Those aren't in a particular order, but they are phenomenal.

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Treasuring Faith

Reading: Dominion and Dynasty by S. Dempster
Enjoying: nothing right now
Listening:
Motzart's "Mass for Coronation"

Growing up, I was often told that certain spiritual keys and breakthroughs would come through more, or perhaps better, faith. Hey, I grew up in pietistic Protestant evangellyism, and what else could they tell you? What other remedy is there to offer when your theological convictions don't have room for anything objective, anything extra nos?

Well, as is so often typical of those in pietistic circles, this is frustrating news, not Good News. You end up trying to find other and better ways of increasing your faith, making it more genuine, etc. The problem with this is twofold:

1) No one has a really good idea of what faith is, or how it works.

2) The only thing to fix is inside of you. Thus, you spend all of your time looking inward, examining yourself, learning to look for any spark of divine you hope to find in your own heart. This is not wholly wrong, as we are commanded to test ourselves (II Corinthians 13:5). However, when your heart is as wicked and deceitful as yours is (and that is wicked, and I should know, because that's how wicked mine is), then you are not going to find much to work with if your only turning your gaze inward.

So you can imagine my relief when, discovering Reformed theology, they had already thought about what faith is and how it works. (I guess that is what happens when you aren't anti-intellectualistic and have a theology that goes back to the Fathers.) They consistently taught that faith comprised of three aspects: notitia, assensus, and fiducia. These are three components that make faith genuine.

Notitia - that is, knowledge - is a necessary (but not sufficient) aspect of faith. We must KNOW what we are talking about when we say we believe something. Faith is not altogether adrift from our reason and intellect. This is not to say our content must always be rational (e.g., the Trinity, the incarnation) but it must consist of rational pieces (both of those examples are supra-rational, above reason). This protects us from a faith that doesn't know Whom it believes, and is so much like the neo-Gnosticism in so much of the charismatic, Foursquare, and pentecostal circles of today. Unfortunately, so much of the "word of faith" and "name it claim it" attitudes, so faith driven, are not even true, saving faiths, since they lack this first, important aspect.

Assensus - assent - is the second necessary (but not sufficient) aspect of faith. While anyone can know the content of the Gospel, we must assent to it, and believe this is true. Any modern, liberal scholar can become an expert on the content of the Gospel, and recite it better than Paul could. However, one must believe it to be true. Mere knowledge, academic understanding, in not enough. One cannot get saved by classroom knowledge only. One must agree that it is true, and give assent to the propositions. The Gospel says I am a sinner, and I agree, I AM a sinner. The Gospel says Jesus died for my sins, and I agree, Jesus truly did do this.

Finally, fiducia is the hearty trust that all these things are "yes and amen" FOR ME. This hearty trust combines the affections with the mind (knowledge) and the will (assent) to make me truly long and yearn in this faith. Up to this point, the demons could agree. They know the Gospel, and they agree that it is true. But how they hate it. This hearty trust makes me love Jesus.

Recently, I wanted to do a little excavating on the topic of what treasuring had to do with a Reformed view of faith. I won't go into my interpretation. But here are some quotes that hopefully you will find helpful.

Reformed Scholastics on the Nature Of Saving Faith

Theodore Beza Confessions IV.16 - 17
Faith, I say, does not only believe that Jesus Christ is dead and risen again for sinners, but it comes also to embrace Jesus Christ (Rom 8:16,39; Heb. 10:22, 23; 1 John 4:13; 5:19, etc). Whosoever truly believes trusts in Him alone and is assured of his salvation to the point of no longer doubting it (Eph. 3:12).
Since Jesus Christ is the object of faith, and indeed Jesus Christ as He is held forth to us in the Word of God, there follow two points which should be noted well.
On the one side, where there is no Word of God but only the word of man, whoever he be, there is no faith there, but only a dream or an opinion which cannot fail to deceive us (Rom 10:2-4; Mark 16:15,16; Rom 1:28; Gal 1:8-9). On the other side, faith embraces and appropriates Jesus Christ and all that is in Him, since He has been given to us on the condition of believing in Him (John 17:20,21; Rom 8:9).

Francis Turretin Institutes II.XV.viii
The fourth is an act of refuge arising from a persuasion by which we betake ourselves by an act of desire to Christ thus known by us…Because the desire of salvation and happiness is implanted in all…[man] should not [sic] seriously and most ardently betake himself to Christ – desire, seek and endeavor to possess him in every way.

This faith is “by which we not only seek Christ through a desire of the soul and fly to him but apprehend and receive him offered…” When the soul sees Christ as his redeemer in all verity, it “cannot help embracing with the highest freedom of the will that supreme good offered, and the inestimable treasure, selling all for him (Mt. 13:44), resting upon Christ as the sole Redeemer and delivering and making himself over… This is the formal and principal act of justifying faith, usually termed “reception”: “As many as received him…”

Faith is confidence which consists in that joy, tranquility, peace, acquiescence and delight which arise from the possession of Christ, by which the believing soul leaning upon its beloved (Cant. 8:5) and conscious of its own most intimate union with Christ through faith and sure of its own mutual communion and love with him, piously exults and rejoices in the Lord, glories in adversity and courageously challenges and despises all enemies whatever (Rom. 8:38, 39); rejoices with joy unspeakable and glorious (1 Pet. 1:8); rests under the shade of the tree of life and satiates itself with its sweetest fruits (Cant. 2:3), certain that he who began the good work, will infallibly carry it on to perfection.”

Berkhof Systematic Theology p. 505
And in saving faith it is a matter of life and death that the object be appropriated. This third element [fiducia] consists in a personal trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, including a surrender of the soul as guilty and defiled to Christ, and a reception and appropriation of Christ as the source of pardon and of spiritual life …It naturally carries with it a certain feeling of safety and security, of gratitude and joy.

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Galatians 6:10

World Magazine's blog recently posted about the fact that, while FEMA and other federal programs have not sufficiently stepped up to help out those beleagured by Hurricane Katrina, the local church has.

This supports a claim made here on this blog, that Christians relief efforts should not go through federal accounts, but from local church to local church, from session to session. This puts faces and individual prayers with other individual faces and individual needs.

Think of it this way
A disaster strikes. Several communities are stricken and rendered helpless. The news relates the ruin. What happens next should be that the churches that are geographically close (but functioning) need to act as first response and the lifeline to other churches. They should be a Rome to Paul's missionary enterprise. Paul wanted to herald the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to Spain, and asked the church in Rome to be his last line of connection and support.

The churches geographically distant need to raise funds, clothing, and other needs. As a church, they should pool their resources, either to be sent as a lone church (Congregationalists, Baptists, most of evangellyfish America) or by their synod (presbyterian). Then the deacons, the ones whom God has appointed for times such as this, are to be the ones bringing the relief and the love and prayers of the people to those suffering.

Once the resources arrive, the over-abundance can be distributed to the suffering Christians, who will hopefully have enough to survive on, as well as distribute to neighbors. What an opportunity! Two people, both suffering from the same storm/disaster, and one can say, "Hey, look, some brothers and sisters of mine who all hold the same spiritual beliefs blessed me with all this extra food and clothes. Here you take some of it, and I just want you to know I'm giving you this stuff because I love you and care for you, but even more because I love and care for Jesus, and He will take care of you far better than I can." At this point, a person who has had their world shattered, has just seen the support, love, and strength presented in Christ. I would guess that many would be interested in hearing more about the Gospel at this point.

For how What the Thunder Said has talked about this before, go here.

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A Wild Evening


Last night, thanks to my wife's generous co-workers, we enjoyed a Minnesota Wild hockey game (preseason) against the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was a terrific game. While Gaborik was still sidelined with his injury (coach Jacque Lemaire hinted he may play Friday, 9/23) we did get to see newly acquired Brian Rolston - he looked sharp.

The first period was the best, where the Wild thwarted to powerplay opportunities by the Chi B'hawks, and scored the first goal. Their stick handling, passing, and skating were sharper and crisper than the opponents.

However, the Wild did look a bit flat footed compared to the scrappy B'hawks, and it showed. Quickly, the visiting team was up 2-1. While the Wild still clearly won two fights, things just weren't running up to par.

There was a shootout. Lemaire didn't like it (click on link). I did. Go Wild.

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Middle East Conflict...

...And how to deal with it.

For awhile in pop Christianity, it was cool to interpret the news by your theology. Certain men made their ministries and flourished by their associating of newspaper headlines with verses from Revelation, Daniel, or Ezekiel. This is obviously a poor hermeneutic, and poor hermeneutics often turn out poor ministries. Much of that does not plague the Church as much as it used to.

But what about the flip side of this? Can our theology affect the way we view the news? What the Thunder Said is a big supporter of this. We think theology can and should affect how we think about current events.

So for a litmus test, how should Christians, explicitly Reformed Christians, think about the turmoil that is the Middle East? While there will no doubt be disagreements, an excellent way to start thinking through this is listed here. Three different approaches to Christianity - dispensationalism, liberation theology, and Reformed theology, all offer suggestions on how the Gaza strip developments should be viewed. It just so happens that none other than Michael Horton weighs in for the Reformed viewpoint.

Happy reading.

Engaging Israel's Disengagement

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The Advent of A Miracle


These little guys are awesome. As soon as we get the Great Commission better down the road, everyone should get one of these things next.

I realize all the new stuff coming out, but few things top this machine with content, ability, and aethestheics.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2005 

Yellow Fuzz and Pucks

The U.S. Open wrapped up in NYC in a fashion that couldn't have been better. While Kim Clijsters defeated Mary Pierce for the women's singles championship, the real stories were on the men's side.

The semi-finals were simply gorgeous, featuring two high energy matches. Roger Federer faced long time opponent/peer Lleyton Hewitt, and as has been the emerging pattern, had little to no trouble with. However, the Cinderella favorite Andre Agassi faced dark horse Jim Blake, a rising star with culture and chic that the sport desperately needs. Agassi ended up taking the night-time, center court match in five sets (as he had the previous two matches), setting up final showdown predicted by What the Thunder Said.

Though the final ended up being decisively won by Federer, it was truly a close match to watch with plenty of excitement, and perhaps a final chance to watch a dominant Agassi in the second/third sets. However, the real story was Federer's mental and physical ability to raise his game to zero gravity. The man is a marvel. Perhaps most impressive were Agassi's comments about him, especially comparing him to modern marvel semi-deity Pete Sampras:

ANDRE AGASSI: But, you know, he's the best I've ever played against. There's nowhere to go. You know, there's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greens and make putts. I mean, every shot has that sort of urgency on it. And if you do what you're supposed to do, you feel like it gives you a chance to win the point. That's just too good.

Q. Do you think Roger is even better than Sampras at his best, and he could maybe break one day the record of Sampras?

ANDRE AGASSI: Pete was great. I mean, no question. But there was a place to get to with Pete, you knew what you had to do. If you do it, it could be on your terms. There's no such place like that with Roger.

I think he's the best I've played against. But I also think the accomplishment of winning that many Slams requires a number of things, including a little bit of luck to make sure you're healthy, nothing goes wrong.


So, thanks for a great tennis season. I do hope Andre can continue to heal up his back (come see my dad. He can fix anybody) and get off the cortizone. However, he has already given a gift to the tennis world, and I am thankful for that. I am also thankful that Federer is only 23 and we can still watch him for years to come.

* * *

In a different world, Mark Messier announced his retirement. This man embodied so much of the attributes I so respect in athletes. He could take over a game, will his teammates to win, and dominate the ice and the attitude and play of every player in the rink with him. He will be sorely missed. He led the Edmonton Oilers and the NY Rangers to Stanley Cups.


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Thursday, September 08, 2005 

A Good Blogging Day

Reading: Turretin's Institutes of Elenctic Theology
Enjoying: A Coke in the TBI resource center, KC's company. The coke is covered, of course.
Listening: Project 86 new tunes on my spanky new headphones

I hope today is a good blogging day for me, as my brain is thundering with literally billions of ideas that I need to get out. However, I also need to get a lot of other work accomplished. I have paperwork and reports to get over to my part time job, and I need to do some translating and careful theologizing for school.But that is just the start of my laborious duties ahead of me. This weekend I get to head up to Brainerd, MN to hang out with the in-laws (whom I truly do love) and do some work up there.


On top of all this excitement, I have to prepare for the Red Rock dedication coming up soon. Thanks to some very dedicated and talented people, that will not be nearly as big of an undertaking as it started out to be. Nevertheless, I need to get some work done on that.

So we will see which wins out over all this. Will any blogging get done? Will my homework be completed? Will a roof be erected in northern Minnesota? Who knows?

In the mean time, I just noticed one of my pastor's announced his "book of the month" to be a book I formerly reviewed, The Family Worship Book. I just checked, to be sure, and yep, its still as good of a book as when I recommended it. So check it out, especially if you are NOT married yet but one day hope to be. Reading it before you tie the knot will help greatly later when you do.

Look for more on faith, love, and treasuring; quotes and reflections from Turretin, political reflections of whether or not small government has any use in America today, and other excellent blogging material.

P.S. We received a handout today on knowing whether or not one is called to the ministry, which wonderfully complements the thoughts Mr. Dabney and myself had on the ministerial call. I'll comment on that, I'm sure, as well. Grace and peace.

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Wednesday, September 07, 2005 

US Open

For many of you, tennis is not something to get especially jazzed about. That is why What the Thunder Said is doing you a huge favor by helping you to know who to root for and get excited about at this year's Grand Slam event. So, you should cheer for American Andre Agassi and Swiss Roger Federer.

Agassi is the quintessential American - loud, brash, cocky, extremely talented and relying on reserves of talent to skip practice and party instead. Ok, that was perhaps the early Agassi. In his later years, he has also reflected a maturity and hard work coupled with heart and love for the sport that is unparalleled. Federer exhibits the yang to Agassi's yin. He is cool, collected, young, and on fire.

Keep your eye on these two. Though Agassi has a soft spot in my heart, I look to see Federer kissing the cup.

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Ringtones

Make your favorite song your ringtone on your Bluetooth phone for free!

Perhaps this should go in Thunder Speak, but here is my attempt to do a Lifehack, or better yet, of the Evangelical Outpost's "Yak Razor Tip." This is so common knowledge I'm sure its practically useless to everyone, but perhaps there are a few things that I can point out to make possible.

To start with, select a song that you would like to have as your ringtone. Better, select a section of a song. In all actuality, it is not feasible to play a full song as your ringtone. Allow approximately twenty seconds of play. This will allow the sound selection to play through once, and get about half way through a second time before it cuts to your voicemail. Of course, some phones allow you....

...Disappointment

This is how far I got before I realized the latest Yak Razor Tip actually has an entry entitled "How to make your own ringtone," thus making this entry, this one, the one you are currently reading, fully obsolete. I am dejected. Oh well. At least this means that I was actually going to suggest something helpful. Heck, they should offer me a job. You can find the link here.

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Weighing In on Katrina

God Struck America
Land that I Love

With a heavy heart, I seek to lay out a few things that have struck me concerning the recent catastrophe in the Gulf region. My wife and I have already made small contributions toward relief, but there are still more to be made, and more decisions to be reached. As with anything so unprecedented as this disaster, these reflections will be (and should be) more raw and off the cuff, with less chance for reflection that they adequately deserve.

* * *

As my title makes clear, there is no doubt that God is behind the hurricane, God was riding on the hurricane as it destroyed the Gulf shore, and He received glory in its wild, chaotic sweep across the ocean and land. Make no mistake - Father, Christ, and Spirit drew the energy and winds across the ocean, spun the water and waves in the vortex of the typhoon, strode ashore in its destructive energy in Florida, dealt mercy to thousands in Florida, rode back out on the dark clouds into the Gulf of Mexico, increased the raging fury of the winds and the bite of the waves and the thundering pressure of the rains, and then crashed into the Gulf coast, dealing mercy and death to all that He was pleased to. God did this. Does calamity strike a city like New Orleans unless the Almighty has done it (Amos 3:6)? Who else holds together a chaos that is a hurricane if not the risen Christ (Colossians 1:16 - 17)? In the words of the hymn God Moves in Mysterious Ways by William Cowper:

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

Or, lyrics from O Worship the King, a hymn written by favorite Isaac Watts:

O! tell of His might! O! sing of His grace, whose robe is the light, and canopy space!
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, and dark is His path on the wings of the storm.
No, it will not do to say that God was not watching, that He wished He could have done something to stop it. Our God is an awesome God, and He is dangerous. In the wild fury and chaos of the storm, the impenetrable darkness and stinging, lashing rain, an important and priceless aspect of the character of our Lord is revealed. Our God is entroned on the hurricane, He is in His temple, let all the earth cry, "Glory!"

Let us learn to bless our sweet Jesus in harvest and hurricane; in sunshine and tsunami. All of life is opportunity to worship: with Job we have the opportunity to bless God or curse Him. May God give us the grace to look beyond a frowning providence and worship Him in Spirit and truth.

* * *

It is supreme folly to worry about which politicians did not do their duty, failed to live up to their requirements, or had foolishly engaged the country in other endeavors thus leading to the horrible incidents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I recently read an article by Michael Moore (director of the anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11) sarcastically prodding Bush with the disaster in New Orleans and implying the blame and incompetence were his fault. This sort of maligning is happening, it seems to me, at every level of the political hierarchy: the police, the city mayor, the legislature, the state government, and the federal level (especially Bush) were all incompetent and unprepared and directing funds and resources away from where they should have been going.

The first rule in all of this is that what the critics are saying may very well be true. We may come to find that the W. has committed massive crimes against America in all of this, and should be impeached. We may discover huge vice and grafting and political crookedness at various levels of Louisiana and Alabama civic positions. We could find that the GOP have been making key investments and political moves banking on the fact that someday something like Katrina would come crashing along, and they will get rich off of it. All of these things may come to be true. However, now is definitely not the time to sort these things out. Currently, America has a wonderful opportunity to unify and rally against a common antagonist, namely, the problems occuring on the Gulf coast. After this is completed, THEN let us deal with who was to blame. It would be foolhardy for an army, in the middle of a battle, to stop and ensue in an argument that divided the army in half. They surely would be conquered. Only after they win the war is there opportunity to deal with the original problem.

My personal guess is that when we finally sort everything out, we will find out that yes, President Bush and several others were all guilty of not being prepared at various levels. Then, we come to see that NO ONE was prepared at any level for this. Of course we were devoting resources towards Iraq. This foolish bickering on the part of certain parties that always have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight is ridiculous to listen to. Those in control should bear the brunt of criticism - they are, after all, wearing the mantle of leadership with its attendent responsibilities and priviledges. I know that personally, while I have spent more time praying for believers and survivors in the affected area, I have done little in tangible efforts to help. I suspect this is true of much the country (I know it is of my own personal sphere of influence). We should not be so quick to cast stones. Keep your hands empty that we may help the relief effort more.

* * *

The Christian response to this event is very important. We need to bear the responsibility of leading the culture in response to this event, teaching them in our own actions and attitudes how to respond. Where else will millions of pagan, children-of-wrath, unbelieving, unregenrate heathens learn to deal with this crisis if not the Church? This is why we are still on this earth, that God, in His divine and infinite patience, may have mercy on more for their repentance.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9 - 10

While this may be controversial, I think it an obvious biblical teaching. The people who are to feel the benevolence and resources of Christ through the Church is... the Church. We support fellow believers before we support children of the serpent. Notice, Paul is quick to say that we are to support everyone. No one should take these comments to mean I or Christians do not care for others not of their own ilk. We do, and the early Church is replete with stories to that effect. We are the ones who do care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the disenfranchised (and it is about time the Christian church started living up to this name). However, first and foremost we are to care for children of God.

This should be more obvious the more we think about it. In airplanes, you are instructed to ensure oxygen to yourself in the event of an emergency first before you help children and those around you. This is not selfish; it ensures your ability to help others more efficiently. Why in the world would we send millions of dollars to people who are by nature selfish and sinful, and there is every chance in the world that they will graft off the donations, pocket some for themselves, use resources unwisely, and spend in a manner that reflects a materialistic worlview that doesn't include a Christ-centered eschatology? No, instead we ought to give to Christians, who ideally are less selfish and more others-centered, and will seek to distribute in God honoring and kingdom-centered means. This is the method Paul establishes. When the famine breaks out in Jerusalem, he does not take up a collection for various relief agencies. He intends the money from Gentile churches to go to Jewish churches. The money goes from one church to another. I do not think it a stretch to say Christians should give within their churches to churches that are suffering or are locationally placed to help the suffering. Finally, the opportunities to give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name, that is, to witness to Christ while distributing the monies, is only possible when the money comes from other Christians in relationships developed before or because of the hurricane. Red Cross won't lead a single soul to Christ.

On a different point, we do not speak the truth nor help the culture when we say that the hurricane is punishment on the sinful tendencies of New Orleans or the gambling district of Alabama, etc. While we must affirm the first statement above - that God is sovereign over Katrina - it is presumptuous to give reasons why. God brings rain and sunshine on the just and the unjust... and He does the same with hurricanes. There were several Gospel-centered, faithful churches and seminaries that felt more wrath from Katrina than did sinners and their establishments. So if the hurricane wasn't for punishment, why did God do it?

Luk 13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
Luk 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

The reason Katrina, 9/11, and towers fall is to teach us something, not to punish us. We all deserve our own personal Katrina every day. We are no better than any who perished in Katrina. Rather, disasters are a warning of the coming judgement, which will make Katrina seem tame in comparison. The key word Jesus uses here is "likewise." Jesus told them that unless they repented, they would all "likewise" perish. They did not repent, and forty years later (the length of a generation in those days) all of Jerusalem fell to the ground in A.D. 70. The destruction of Jerusalem (which Jesus prophecied on several times to verify His truthfulness) is a type of the eschatological destruction that is coming for all men. Every time a natural disaster hits, we are to do a reality check, and reevaluate how things are in our souls.

Finally, every time a hurricane or something hits, it didn't hit somewhere else. In other words, though the Gulf coast tasted God's wrath, Minnesota tasted His mercy. This wasn't the case during the Flood in Genesis. Then, everyone tasted God's wrath, except for Noah and his family. So every time a hurricane lands, we must give thanks for God's covenant faithfulness. New Orleans is flooded, but Minneapolis, MN is not. God has kept His promise.

* * *

Rebuilding will be slow and tedious, which is as it should be. We should not think or try to recover from this quickly. There was much that was beautiful in New Orleans that we shoul lament the loss of, and anything that can be salvaged should be. Any opportunities to help the Gulf coast region and help the economy should go together as much as possible. Doug Wilson offers an interesting suggestion:

In the early returns, it appears to me that there are two things that the various levels of government can do after the rescue operation is complete. The first is to redesign and rebuild the levee system to be able to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The second thing the federal government should do -- if it is really serious about rebuilding this region of the country -- is to make a list of the devastated areas by zip code. Once the list is complete, the federal government should grant full and complete federal tax-exemption for five years to all businesses and individuals located in those zip code areas. And just watch what happens.

I think this idea has some merit to it. While I am certainly the least to offer economic advice, a time of furious rebuilding could have a profound affect on the economy. Here is a great chance at job explosion with returns for at least a decade. Non-taxable areas would certainly generate interest and business development. With a well-communicated, realistic phasing plan, companies started in the heyday would have ample opportunity to prepare to go back under taxation. Similarly, businesses that develop a branch or an arm to explicitly provide goods or services to said areas could also receive a kick-back or pension appropriate.

Finally, it would be wonderful to house some of the victims in our homes until their own homes are rebuilt. My pastor has spoken of the opportunity we have to bring these people away from the disaster, build and invest into them as much as possible, and then send them back with resources and spiritual nourishment to be a blessing in their original homes. God providentially used the Jewish expulsion from Rome, and He can use Katrina in a similar fashion.

* * *

Let us love on our wounded brothers and sisters, and break ourselves in helping them. I have several excellent quotes by Spurgeon, Machen, et al on the necessity of fighting for our doctrinal convictions when they come under fire. How much more so when it is our very flesh and blood, members of the body, that are under attack. If we have all things but do not have love for those currently suffering, we have nothing. Let us strive to love the victims of Katrina even as Christ has loved us.

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Tuesday, September 06, 2005 

Rehashing Luther and the Law

Reading: Surfing the blogosphere and love letters
Enjoying: H. Upmanns 1844 Monarch
Listening: Nothing. Its too late; wouldn't want to wake anyone

Awhile back, I posted a quote from Luther's commentary on Galatians concerning the use of the Law. To sum up what The Reformer argued for goes something like this: we Protestants don't annul good works, and we aren't antinomians ("against the law"). Rather, we see two purposes for the Law; 1) the restraint of evil in society ("bridle civil trangressions"), and, 2) to increase the knowledge of and actual grievances of individual spiritual sin. Therefore, the Law brings light to the exceeding sinfulness of man, and acts as a terror on his conscience and, hopefully, drives him to Christ.

Now, what is said here is rock solid and biblically true. However, it is also true and biblical to say that this is not all the Law does. Typically, the Reformed have identified three uses of the law. The first two are in sync with Luther supra, while the final one deals with the Law as a comfort and guide and light to Christians, teaching them and instructing them in how to live, i.e., how to love one's neighbor in a manner worthy of Christ.

Now while there is debate as to whether or not the Lutherans affirm this final tenent, it seems wholly fair to agree that this thinking can be found in Luther, and especially in Melancthon and his followers. However, what is beyond a shadow of doubt is that the emphasis, for Lutherans, fall on #2 - the Law drives us as sinners to Christ. Conversely, for the Reformed, the emphasis falls on the final category - the Law is good for the Christian.

In some ways, this seems to be the problem with the New Perspectives on Paul that have been ciruclating in academia and, especially, the Presbyterian churches in America. In many ways, the NPP reacts against a more Lutheran view of the Law (which they perceive to be) as negative. The NPP thus reflects a do-able, possible law that is able to obeyed.

However, this is not in keeping with Scripture. The glories of God's Law found in Psalm 119 need to be balanced against Paul's indictment of humanity from the Law in Romans 3. Both need to be held in tension, and neither should be lost.

Luther's remarks are terrific... except for his very last statement:
This is the proper use of the law, and here it hath an end, and it ought to go no further.
But here the Reformed respond and say, "No, it needs to go farther. The Law of God plays an important part in every day living for the Christian." Yes, the Lutheran emphasis on Law for justification is important, but not to the exclusion of Law for sanctification. Perhaps there is a logical primacy to the second use of the Law, but not an ultimate primacy. What good is justification if sanctification does not follow? And there is no sanctification without justification. So the two are equally necessary.

In defense of Luther, there is an important sense in which he is correct. For instance, a person is overcome by their sinfulness - no doubt by the convicting power of the Spirit through the Law - and trusts in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and salvation. The person is justified. Now, his relationship to the Law is far different. When Christ commands us to love another as He has loved us and as we love ourselves, the way this is played out practically is by looking to the Law as to how to love one another. After all, the first table (commandments 1 - 4) are how to love God, while the second table (commandments 5 - 10) deal with loving our neighbors. So now the justified Christian is looking to the Law for how to live. However, as he goes about his days, he will see constant failure to fully live up to what is required of him. His only hope is to flee to Christ. Therefore, in a real sense the Law, an aid to his sanctification, is once again driving him to Christ. In this sense, there is a circular path to tread: the Law drives us to Christ, we humbly love as God commands us (in the Law), we realize our shortcomings, and flee back to Christ.

The Law/Gospel contrast is unfortunately difficult in a day and age in which it is so rarely preached and taught. However, it is of the utmost importance. I will weigh in on this more later.

Brought to you courtesy of HP iPAQ 5550

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Monday, September 05, 2005 

Here We Stand: Rewriting Scripture For Theological Coherencets

Here We Stand: Rewriting Scripture For Theological Coherence

This one was too much. Maybe because its late, or maybe because I'm in a weird mood. But whatever the reason, this was hilarious.

I wasn't really getting into it until they started in on the Calvinists. Ooh, that was just too good.
Enjoy.

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On Repentance

Link to Article

Steve Camp of CCM infamy has a terrific article on the need for, and practical use of, repentance from sin.

It comes highly encouraged... Just like his blog - check it out.


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Supreme Court nominee John Roberts has been tapped to replace the late Rehnquist as Supreme Court Chief Justice. Sandra Day O'Connor will stay on until a replacement for her seat can be appointed and affirmed.

Will such a move make for a more conservative Court?

"It's too early to tell. Some people believe that Roberts may be similar to Rehnquist in his jurisprudence, although that's not at all clear yet," says Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond Law School.


Before I suggest some hypothetical, lets cover our groundwork. We just don't know enough or a lot about Roberts until he votes a bit on some controversial cases. This may be hard for some to hear, at least since all the conservatives that I hear have non-sexual crushes on G.W. Bush, which means they simply cannot admit that he could ever do wrong. They simply must argue for his every act of righteousness, and gloss over any misdeed.

This is, to me, ludicrous. The only man I will ever happily vote into office is Jesus Christ. Everyone else is just a lesser of two evils and a let down. Don't question this; I voted for the W twice, but not for a minute do I think he hasn't made terrible mistakes (and most of them don't have to do with Iraqian situations).

So thus far, all I can tell from the appointment of John Roberts (which isn't much, by the way) is that this is a man under the radar that Bush meant to surprise everyone with. For every ultra-conservative note there is the story of supporting gay rights. With every Rehnquist internship there is feminist support. I heard some radio voice intone something to the effect of: remember, Bush has always promised Roberts in the mold of Rehnquist, not Scalia. He may be conservative... and he may be.

So back to our hypothetical. Suppose Roberts succeeds Rehnquist as Chief Justice. This leaves us with our replacement for O'Connor. How will Bush go on this seat? More conservative? More liberal? Similar to Roberts? Personal favor?

My guess is a combination of the latter two: Bush will fulfill a personal favor and find someone like Roberts that is going to be difficult to get any dirt on; no matter what color dirt is to you. So how will that leave the court? My guess is only slightly more conservative. You won't have the glaring pendulum swings that was characteristic of Sandra Day O'Connor, and instead you will have slightly more conservative votes. However, both Roberts and perhaps the new appointee may follow less than ideal moves if certain components are present. Though the disappointments may be less extreme, and fewer, the disappointments to a small-government, morally conservative, states-rights Constitutionalist will definitely be there.

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Happy Labor Day!

Reading: Basics of Biblical Hebrew
Enjoying: The company of my busy wife. She made excellent biscuits tonight for dinner, and now we're enjoying extra watermelon. MMmmm...
Listening: B.Y.O.B. and Chop Suey and Question! by System of a Down. Go ahead, count all the other blogs you're reading that listen to System of A Down.


It was an excellent day today, seeing as how I finally had my wife back from her TBI wives' retreat. My family was up to celebrate the holiday and my dad's birthday (we got him a pocket pc - a Dell Axim x3).




I have been thinking more and more about the uselessness of the term "evangelical" to describe where I am at. Much more helpful, it seems, would be to say that I am a Nicene, confessional, Protestant, Reformed, Baptistic Christian committed to the sola's of the Reformation with strong high church and Kuyperian leanings. Of course, that is too much to easily say, and given today's climate, even that won't carry much baggage given enough time (and sinful card-carriers).




The problem with "evangelical" is that there is no objective body to assign, discipline, or revoke the label. (Its still all a power relationship, a la Derrida.) Too many people are allowed too much latitude in an ala carte attitude towards too many theological opinions. When couples like Greg Boyd/R.C. Sproul, Pinnock/Boice, and Strickland/Duncan all can wear the moniker "evangelical," the name loses a serious categorizing power. What do the theological beliefs reflected in the above names hold in common that could not be summarized in the term "Christian?"




I learned to think about catholicity, unity and heresy in terms of concentric circles. At the outermost edges you have theistic beliefs - there is something greater than man in existence. This is the aposphere inhabited by pantheism, henitheism, panentheism, etc. Taking one of these categories - monotheism - we find Judaism, Isalm, and Christianity.




Within Christianity, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity exist. Now, we COULD say that the couples mentioned above might fit Protestant Christianity. However, they are not "protesting" Rome in any meaningful sense. That is, half of the men, Boyd, Pinnock, et al do not hold to the five solas, and justification by faith alone apart from works is not the article by which the Church stands or falls. So they are not Protestant in the way the term was historically used.




Perhaps a better term for the men on that list (that weren't reformed) is "American Christian." American Christian has either little theology or culturally influenced theology. It focuses on the subjective, the emotional, and the intuitive. It is grassroots, congregational, and often politically conservative (though often vehemently denying it - there are currents on this issue).




Somewhat coincidently, the characteristics of American Christianity have very few things in common with my own spiritual identity. I am at the opposite poles of many of the above spectrums.




Personally, I see nothing wrong with being identified by our denominations, and then maybe a qualifier with how ardently we pursue our denominational distinctives. For instance, one might be a "conservative Baptist" or a "confessional Presbyterian." A "confessional Lutheran" and "Wimber Vineyard" and "Westminsterian Baptist" would all be conceivably much more like minded, theologically harmonious, and biblically unified than an ELCA, Foursquare, and General Baptist could ever be... or even to denominational brothers. Currently, the denomination I have sworn allegiance to (gulp) is the BGC. However, there are churches within the denomination that are lightyears from where my congregation stands on a host of issues, and we from them.




There are many benefits to such a strategy. First of all, there isn't the cultural confusion that occurs when we hear that "evangelicals hold position P about political issue I." Secondly, there is real communication, discipline and accountablility - the local Church. When someone gets out of line, there is a tangible way to deal with it.




So, is What the Thunder Said going officially "evangellically free?" Um... yeah, probably. I find it doesn't help my "witnessing encounters" (evangelical lingo) to identify myself with them in front of a pierced Goth or politically liberal college kid. Now, our speech in front of other believers should be different, so I won't force anyone who hasn't thought through these issues to embrace "anti-evangelicalism."
So move over, Nietzche. Evangelicalism, and its neo-legalist god, is dead. Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! Everyone, back to your denominations, and bar the doors on your confessions.




Similarly, go check out Dr. C. Matthew McMahon's article at A Puritan's Mind.

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Saturday, September 03, 2005 

The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

Read this moving story about Allen Yuan, a faithful brother and martyr for the Kingdom of God in China. Would that more brothers and sisters followed his exemplary attitude.

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. Philippians 1:29


May Christ's Church move forward at her own expense.
May each of God's elect learn the price with which Christ has bought us at.
May more and more martyrs seal their faith with their blood, saying, "This much, O God, this much I believe and love You."
May Christ come quickly, and usher in the Eschatological Shalom, when we will see with new eyes, all will be new, and every wound be healed and every tear dried.

Thank you, Brother Yuan. May our doctrine goad us to follow Yuan, Paul, and Christ down the road set before us.

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Friday, September 02, 2005 

Reformed, Biblical Theology

Enjoying: Year two of classes began on Monday.
Listening: Yellowcard Gifts and Curses I am amazed these guys have a violin player.

As you have probably noticed, blogging has slowed down for me as school has approached/begun. Yesterday morning, Pastor John exhorted us to focus, and testified from his own life how he himself is not very good at many things, but is very good at one thing, and has built his life around this one thing. I think I am prone to spreading my life all over, and I don't want blogging to become typical of this. Therefore, at least while school is in session, there will either be fewer posts, or they will be more targeted to what I am learning or thinking about from classes (which may still be as broad and tangential as ever, you know...).

Going over my notes from Hebrew yesterday, my prof is very excited and adamant about the importance of Biblical Theology. As noted above, this will undoubtedly mean you the reader of this glorious blog will be hearing a good bit about BT in the future.

While I myself love Biblical Theology, I have often thought it a reaction to overdue emphasis (perceived, it seems) on dogmatics and systematic theology. However, I do not think it need be so, and here - in two arguments - is why.

1. Biblical Theology and systematic theology are both subdivisions of theology. However, they, nor any other aspect of theology, are independent, but rather are all interrelated and connected, building off of, investing in, and thriving off other disciplines. Lord willing, very soon I hope to post (probably at Thunder Speak) a chart of how I conceive of the sub - disciplines relating to one another. But one thing that is certain, at least in the Reformed tradition, is that at least two tributaries flow into the river of dogmatics, and these are exegesis (Exegetical Theology) and Biblical theology.

In times past, the distinction employed by Reformed writers on these sub-domains was not very distinct at all. I think in the earlier days of the Reformation, especially when a Reformed heremeneutic - consisting of literal-grammatical readings couple WITH redemptive-historical matrices, sola Scriptura that did not rely AS heavily on the Fathers, etc. - was more pronounced and needed, dogmaticians and systematics showed their exegesis and biblical theology on the way to presenting systematically. This formed a hard foundation of text and exegesis and redemptive reasoning culminating in a rich, beautiful crust of systematic doctrine, which was nearly impenetrable.

Over time, however, as the "groundwork" of exegesis and BT became more and more accustomed and anticipated, only the crust of systematic theology remained in Reformed books. When the Enlightenment landed like a Nazgul spreading death and decay, punching a hole through systematic crust - earlier insignificant due to the vast amount of biblical reasoning that lay underneath - produced only air and holes. This has given rise to the recent interest, and, for those who are chronologically snobbish, invention, of biblical theology. Hence, if the dogmaticians of the Reformed faith hadn't gradually began to leave out the necessary but painfully taxing work of biblical exegesis that undergirded their dogmatics, we wouldn't be experiencing the Renaissance of BT that we see around us in academia.

(On a side note, I also wonder about denominational influence. I think that while especially the mainline denominations would have been and were informed of BT and knew of it, their increasing apostasy and abdication from the faith created a vaccuum for theologically ignorant Batpists, Free Church, and independent Congregationalists who did not have the acumen necessary for their new role as evangelical torchbearers. Thus, ignorant of the likes of Geerhardus Vos, when scholars like George Eldon Ladd came along, the new faithful low church movement thought it had discovered something absolutely brand new.)

2. John Calvin. There is a reason this man led the Reformation like he did. There is a reason so many denominations, mission boards, and individuals look to this man. This man was an EMINENT biblical theologian AND systematician. This is most evident in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, which is basically a collection of biblical theological discoveries and insights, arranged systematically across the Creed and Romans 7. There is hardly anything in BT today that cannot be found in Calvin, at least not in infant form. This man knew his God, knew his Bible, and loved the glory of God in the Bible. He saw things that Ladd and Vos have merely expounded upon. When a man of the caliber of Calvin begins your church/denomination, you are in good hands.

I love BT. I love my professors passion for the subject. I also think we are well served by our Reformed heritage.

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A Pocket PC Future

Reading: The following article... Googlenews... praying for Katrina victims
Enjoying: State Fair "Sweet Martha Cookies" chocolate chip cookies and milk
Listening: Nothing. Its too early...

According to this article, more and more people - from professionals to teens - are taking advantage of PDA devices to run their lives more smoothly. Where teenagers may be simply chatting and messaging each other with wireless devices, professionals are getting their email wirelessly, working with mini applications like Pocket Word and Excel, and getting directions from voice activated and self-speaking GPS locators on their unit.

Of course, this is nothing new to blund. As a "seminary student," I've been relying on my Hp iPAQ 5550 for a long time now to keep me going. Besides maintaining three email accounts, surfing the net, managing all the paperwork for my part time job, creating papers, spreadsheets, and powerpoint presentations (with wireless printing, nonetheless), listening to my mp3 collection, and running my blund blogs, there are few things my little pocket pc cannot do. I get all my news, weather, sports scores, movies, music videos, and daily paper on the little gadget. Perhaps even more amazing than all of this, is that I haven't spent a dime on software, and other than the purchase for the initial machine (which should run anywhere from $300 - $500), I have spent only $130 on memory cards, an extra battery, a foldable keyboard, and a Bluetooth mouse (I'd like to get Bluetooth or nice corded earphones). A Pocket PC's flexibility and useability are tremendous.

This morning, I awoke to the alarm on Wolf Clock, a program I run. My schedule and everything I had to do was already set up and waiting for me on Pocket Outlook. I had devotions with my Bible and Pocket PC (which has prayer requests and other devotional aids stored on it). Right now, I'm using it to write this entry with Pocket Blogger. After this, I'll go to the club and listen to mp3's on Windows Media Player while lifting weights, where I could also watch the latest movie previews or music videos. Speaking of videos, Pocket TV is a great movie player. After working out, I'll need to get lunch, and Mapopolis will help me get there while Microsoft Money for Pocket PC helps me keep track of expenses and how much to spend (according to a budget my wife and I drafted, which I keep track of on Pocket Excel).

After lunch I'll need to spend some time studying, so I will for sure need my iPAQ. I keep several Bible translations, as well as the Nestle-Aland and LXX, and the Hebrew Masoretic texts on my Pocket PC. I keep a small Reformed library handy that is accessible through Microsoft Reader (with Calvin's Institutes, and works by Jonathan Edwards, Augustine, Bavinck, Kuyper, Isaac Watts, Warfield, Poythress, Frame, and all the confessions/catechisms). If this should ever prove not enough, or I need to get more specific, I can surf the net wirelessy with Pocket Explorer or Mozilla's Minimo. My preset alarms let me know when its three o'clock, because that is when I'm going to go pick up my wife for a date we planned tonight. (When I get her, I keep the iPAQ scarce. She thinks it makes me look like a nerd!) If we need to call anyone, I keep all my contacts and their info on Outlook Contacts as well.

Tomorrow, I need to drop off my paysheet, schedule request form, and fill out expenses/reimbursement information for the part-time job I work at. I made all these forms on my iPAQ, and, for instance, when I went to the State Fair on work-related interests, and needed a receipt for parking, I simply asked the attendent to leave the price, date, and his signature as an electronic copy on my Pocket PC. Now I'm printing it as a picture, and I'll staple that to my reimbursement form to ensure it is covered. Ahh, the wonders of technology.

In short, there are few things I cannot do on my iPAQ. I suppose someday I will need to get heavyduty programs that I cannot perform apart from a PC or laptop, but those days have not come yet. Until then, you may want to consider investing. If you want an entry level machine, I would consider an HP iPAQ rx, or a Dell Axim x3 or x5 to learn on. If you want a more heavy duty workhorse, there are still a few good Axim's (x30 or x50v), but I would recommend the HP iPAQ 55xx or the iPAQ 4700. Enjoy!

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Transplanted from the artic blight of Minnesota to the sunny paradise of SoCal, I am attending school and learning to say "dude." I like to think of myself as equal parts surf rash, Batman, heavy metal, Levinas, poetic license, and reformational. Other than creating blund blogs, I enjoy reading, sporting, and socializing with serious and funny people.
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