As we all know on May 1st Bin Laden was killed by a US Navy Seal team in Pakistan. I immidiately read many posts and Scripture verses on Facebook and Twitter stating how we should respond to the terrorists death. I have for the most part thought that these posts and verses were not painting the whole picture as to how I should respond nor what God thinks about Bin Laden's death. I began to think about this blog and what I wanted to say, then I read a blog by some guy named John Piper (sarcasm), who said almost everything I wanted to say. So instead of giving you my thoughts I have just posted the article below for you to read if you would like. I believe that it gives a full description of God's view of the subject.
www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/is-god-glad-osama-bin-ladens-dead
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
WHAT WILL OUR HEAVENLY BODIES BE LIKE?
This past Sunday was Easter, the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we celebrate Easter, we are also praising Christ for the results we receive from His resurrection. There are countless benefits for us as a result of the Father bringing His Son to life; but one of those is that all those who accept Christ will be resurrected unto life as well. Probably the most frequently asked question when thinking about our resurrection is, "What will our heavenly body be like?" It is a great question, but we are not given all the answers we would like. Here are a few things that I think Scripture reveals to us as to what we will be like as we live on the new earth.
1. Our bodies will be like Christ's body
We are told in Phil. 3:21 that our bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. Whatever our bodies will be they will be like Christ's body was after His resurrection.
2. Our bodies will be a real, physical body
Christ did not simply rise from the dead spiritually. It was a real, physical resurrection, and so will our resurrection be. We will have a real, physical human body. In fact, you will be more human than you have ever been. We will not be spiritual ghosts floating around. No, we will have physical, tangible bodies.
Jesus appeared to Thomas after the resurrection and told Thomas to touch His hands and feet and place his hand in His side to see prove that he was in fact alive. You can't touch a ghost!!! But you could touch Jesus. So it will be with our bodies as well.
3. Our bodies will not deteriorate
Even though our bodies will be a real physical body, because the curse of sin has been removed there will be no deterioration of it. No more sickness, fatigue, or pain; these are results of the fall and once we are resurrected the curse is lifted and our real, physical bodies will be perfect.
4. Our real, physical bodies will be recognizable
We will recognize saints for who they are. Our bodies, while drastically different will still be recognizable as us. As to how this is possible or how old we will be, we do not know, but we will be recognizable nonetheless. When Jesus appeared to the disciples they knew it was
Him. They recognized Him as the one they walked with and talked with. He, while looking glorious, still looked like the Jesus they had always known.
5. Our bodies will do what they have always done
Our bodies were designed with certain things that will not be done away with upon the resurrection. Our senses for instance will be with us forever. We will see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. In other words we will do some ordinary activities in extraordinary ways. The post-resurrected Jesus walked, talked, touched, ate, and even cooked. We are told that we will feast upon the return of Christ. I just would like to add that all of this will be enhanced infinitely due to the radiation of Christ's glory bathing it all.
6. Our bodies, while physical, will be able to do some extraordinary things
At this point I just want to say that this is more conjector on my part than Scriptural fact. One thing that we see the resurrected Christ doing that we will possibly be able to do as well is to pass through walls or teleport. On the road to Emmaus Jesus seems to appear and vanish by thought. While the disiples are in the upper room, Jesus just appears in their midst, seemingly passing or walking right through the wall.
Now, I do not know if we will have this same power or if it is just reserved for Christ. But it is certainly interesting to think about and would be really cool if we could.
There are other points that I could have discussed and I could have elaborated further on these six points, but my main objective was to try to help us see that because of Christ's resurrection we too will be resurrected bodily, and that we will not be ghosts, angels, or just some bodiless spiritual beings. As Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 24:38-39, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."
N.T.S.
1. Our bodies will be like Christ's body
We are told in Phil. 3:21 that our bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. Whatever our bodies will be they will be like Christ's body was after His resurrection.
2. Our bodies will be a real, physical body
Christ did not simply rise from the dead spiritually. It was a real, physical resurrection, and so will our resurrection be. We will have a real, physical human body. In fact, you will be more human than you have ever been. We will not be spiritual ghosts floating around. No, we will have physical, tangible bodies.
Jesus appeared to Thomas after the resurrection and told Thomas to touch His hands and feet and place his hand in His side to see prove that he was in fact alive. You can't touch a ghost!!! But you could touch Jesus. So it will be with our bodies as well.
3. Our bodies will not deteriorate
Even though our bodies will be a real physical body, because the curse of sin has been removed there will be no deterioration of it. No more sickness, fatigue, or pain; these are results of the fall and once we are resurrected the curse is lifted and our real, physical bodies will be perfect.
4. Our real, physical bodies will be recognizable
We will recognize saints for who they are. Our bodies, while drastically different will still be recognizable as us. As to how this is possible or how old we will be, we do not know, but we will be recognizable nonetheless. When Jesus appeared to the disciples they knew it was
Him. They recognized Him as the one they walked with and talked with. He, while looking glorious, still looked like the Jesus they had always known.
5. Our bodies will do what they have always done
Our bodies were designed with certain things that will not be done away with upon the resurrection. Our senses for instance will be with us forever. We will see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. In other words we will do some ordinary activities in extraordinary ways. The post-resurrected Jesus walked, talked, touched, ate, and even cooked. We are told that we will feast upon the return of Christ. I just would like to add that all of this will be enhanced infinitely due to the radiation of Christ's glory bathing it all.
6. Our bodies, while physical, will be able to do some extraordinary things
At this point I just want to say that this is more conjector on my part than Scriptural fact. One thing that we see the resurrected Christ doing that we will possibly be able to do as well is to pass through walls or teleport. On the road to Emmaus Jesus seems to appear and vanish by thought. While the disiples are in the upper room, Jesus just appears in their midst, seemingly passing or walking right through the wall.
Now, I do not know if we will have this same power or if it is just reserved for Christ. But it is certainly interesting to think about and would be really cool if we could.
There are other points that I could have discussed and I could have elaborated further on these six points, but my main objective was to try to help us see that because of Christ's resurrection we too will be resurrected bodily, and that we will not be ghosts, angels, or just some bodiless spiritual beings. As Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 24:38-39, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."
N.T.S.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
HOW CAN WE BE OF ONE MIND WITH SOMEONE WE DISAGREE WITH?
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, or Jack and Tollers as they called one another, were the best of friends. They would meet every week in a pub to discuss God, Scripture, philosophy, literature, and anything else their brilliant minds could think up. However, if you were to secretly listen in on one of their conversations, they would certainly not sound like best friends, at least not how we define best friends. Lewis and Tolkien would argue about everything. Lewis would even make tongue-in-cheek comments on how he and Tollers disagreed on everything. Now how could these two men disagree on so much and yet maintain such a close brotherly friendship?
I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day and we began to discuss this very issue. I have had tons of spiritual conversations with my friend, on a whole variety of issues, and we disagree on a lot. I will give you one of the biggest ones. I am a Calvinist, he is not. That may seem like a short and simple seven word sentence, but it is not that simple. This means that we disagree on a whole host of doctrinal issues. We both study God's Word, pray for the Spirit to lead us into all truth and think long and hard on what we should believe, yet we come to different conclusions. How can I be friends with a guy who does not agree with me on a issue that I hold very dear? The question of how you could be close to someone who disagrees with you on something you think is important, is somewhat perplexing, given what Scripture tells in Philippians 1:27. In this verse we are told that we are to stand firm in one spirit and one mind.
I think many Christians have a misguided understanding as to what it means to have one Spirit and one mind. I have seen people stop worshipping together over disagreements ranging from losing their "assigned seat" in the auditorium to the afore mentioned Calvinism. But does having one spirit and one mind mean you agree on everything? Should we run, with hurt feelings and anger, away from those who disagree with us? If that is the case, then I certainly could not worship with my wife. And given how I disagree with myself from day to day, I would rarely be able to worship with myself either.
I think verse 27 actually gives us the hint as to what it means to be of one spirit and one mind, and it has nothing to do with being in complete agreement, but agreeing on one essential thing. We are told to stand firm in one spirit and one mind striving side by side for the sake of the Gospel. There it is!!! That is what our spirit and minds should agree upon. The key to unity is the Gospel. This is why Jack and Tollers and why my friend and I could be the best of friends while in disagreement, because we are united in the Gospel. We can disagree on all kinds of stuff, but if we agree on the Gospel then we are brothers in Christ, and what a testimony that is to the world.
In fact Philippians 1:28 states that our striving side by side for the sake of the Gospel and not being afraid of our opponents is a clear sign of their destruction and our salvation. So let us disagree, discuss our disagreements with respect and love, learn from one another, and in the end with brotherly love strive together for the sake of the Gospel.
N.T.S.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Love The Lord Your God With All Your Mind
Have you ever been scared while watching a movie? It is actually ridiculous when you think about it. You are sitting either in your home or a theater and something happens on a screen and then you react by either screaming or jumping, or both. Now, you are in absolutely no danger whatsoever, what is happening on the screen is not happening to you, but you react as if it were.
Why do we react this way? What causes us to freak out? The ultimate answer is our mind. Our mind controls our body and our emotions. When you sit in a movie, your mind makes your body believe that it needs to jump or scream. You actually are in no danger, but for a split second your mind thinks you are, and your body follows as well. Our mind is a powerful thing, and we must understand this power in order to rightly use it to worship God.
The Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Now many believe that this battle is about their circumstances, behavior, or relationships. The ultimate battle for the Christian is not found in any of these things, but is found in the mind. The mind is ground zero for the spiritual battle that we are in. It takes place in our thought life. Satan knows that if he can get us to think wrongly or believe wrongly then he can paralyze our spiritual growth.
When a Roman soldier was all geared up and ready for battle, an attendant would bring his helmet to him and place it on his head and help him secure it properly. The soldier understood that his skills in fighting would be rendered pointless if he were to take a blow to the head without it being protected.
It is interesting that in Ephesians 6:17, the helmet that is to be worn in this spiritual battle is the helmet of salvation. I take that to mean that the greatest protection for our minds is to rightly understand the great truth and security of our salvation and its effects upon our everyday lives.
We wear this helmet of salvation in two basic ways. First is to understand that we are saved, and the great depth of what that means. I am always amazed when people tell me that they don't like to get into deep doctrinal discussions. It is in the understanding of these deep doctrinal truths of salvation that we are strengthened and encouraged. Doctrines like regeneration, justification, and propitiation are vital for us to study and understand, so as to grasp how great this salvation truly is.
The second way we wear the helmet of salvation is to renew your mind daily
(Romans 12:1-2). This is not something you do by a short little prayer in the morning to get a little protection. This is not a casual thing. It is meditating, studying, and thinking on the Gospel, and the promises and truths of Scripture in order to use them to defeat the attacks of the enemy. Satan will fire fiery darts and the shield of faith will extinguish them (Eph. 6:16). However, faith can only function around the truth in which we know. That means that we cannot have faith in what we do not know. We must know truth in order to believe truth.
Jesus commanded us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, MIND, and soul. And I feel like many times we neglect loving God with our mind, and thus we think wrongly and our emotions and body follow. Unlike being scared in a movie, which has no real consequence, except for the ears of those around you, wrong thinking in our spiritual lives will have us fighting spiritual battles without our helmet properly secured and therefore we take massive blows from the enemy.
N.T.S.
Why do we react this way? What causes us to freak out? The ultimate answer is our mind. Our mind controls our body and our emotions. When you sit in a movie, your mind makes your body believe that it needs to jump or scream. You actually are in no danger, but for a split second your mind thinks you are, and your body follows as well. Our mind is a powerful thing, and we must understand this power in order to rightly use it to worship God.
The Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Now many believe that this battle is about their circumstances, behavior, or relationships. The ultimate battle for the Christian is not found in any of these things, but is found in the mind. The mind is ground zero for the spiritual battle that we are in. It takes place in our thought life. Satan knows that if he can get us to think wrongly or believe wrongly then he can paralyze our spiritual growth.
When a Roman soldier was all geared up and ready for battle, an attendant would bring his helmet to him and place it on his head and help him secure it properly. The soldier understood that his skills in fighting would be rendered pointless if he were to take a blow to the head without it being protected.
It is interesting that in Ephesians 6:17, the helmet that is to be worn in this spiritual battle is the helmet of salvation. I take that to mean that the greatest protection for our minds is to rightly understand the great truth and security of our salvation and its effects upon our everyday lives.
We wear this helmet of salvation in two basic ways. First is to understand that we are saved, and the great depth of what that means. I am always amazed when people tell me that they don't like to get into deep doctrinal discussions. It is in the understanding of these deep doctrinal truths of salvation that we are strengthened and encouraged. Doctrines like regeneration, justification, and propitiation are vital for us to study and understand, so as to grasp how great this salvation truly is.
The second way we wear the helmet of salvation is to renew your mind daily
(Romans 12:1-2). This is not something you do by a short little prayer in the morning to get a little protection. This is not a casual thing. It is meditating, studying, and thinking on the Gospel, and the promises and truths of Scripture in order to use them to defeat the attacks of the enemy. Satan will fire fiery darts and the shield of faith will extinguish them (Eph. 6:16). However, faith can only function around the truth in which we know. That means that we cannot have faith in what we do not know. We must know truth in order to believe truth.
Jesus commanded us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, MIND, and soul. And I feel like many times we neglect loving God with our mind, and thus we think wrongly and our emotions and body follow. Unlike being scared in a movie, which has no real consequence, except for the ears of those around you, wrong thinking in our spiritual lives will have us fighting spiritual battles without our helmet properly secured and therefore we take massive blows from the enemy.
N.T.S.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Speaking Biblically About The Disaster In Japan
Friday is my day off, and while most Friday mornings involve a glass of milk, Pop-Tarts, and Boy Meets World with my kids; that was not the case last Friday. Right after I woke up, I did what many do in today's electronic age, I jumped on Twitter. However, instead of seeing tweets about sports, movies, and even quotes from sermons; I saw post after post about an earthquake in Japan. I immediately turned on the news to hear that not only was there an earthquake that registered 8.9 on the Richter scale, but at that very moment a tsunami was destroying a great deal of the country as well. I was heart-broken and shocked, like many others in the world, as I watched the video of the devastation that was left from both the earthquake and the tsunami.
However, I was just as heart-broken if not more so about the commentary that I heard on why things like this happen in our world. I heard it on social networking sites, websites, podcasts, and television; people giving their opinion on why things like this happen, what it means, and how we are to respond. I have heard that this is great evidence that Christ will return soon, that this is God's punishment on wickedness, or that God was not in control at all and this was nothing more than random natural tragedy.
In times like these it is important not to make statements that are based on opinion, human reasoning, or even anger. There are things we can and should say, and there are things that we should not and cannot say. The only place to find these answers is in the Word of God. My desire is for the people of God to say what God says on these issues and not shy away from those opportunities. Here are a few thoughts on what we should and should not say regarding the disaster in Japan.
1. We should affirm God's sovereignty and His absolute control over natural disasters
Amos 3:6 states Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it? Isaiah 45:6-7 makes it even more clear when it says, That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.
A quick reading of Job 38 will bring even more light to God's control over snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, ice, and floods. Remember the God we are talking about spoke to the wind and waves and they obeyed.
2. We do not know why natural disasters happen
We can and should say that God is sovereignly in control of natural disasters, but we make a terrible mistake when we try to speak for God and say why these things have happened. Unfortunately during times like these we hear that this is God's judgment for some specific sin directed at some specific people.
Remember Job's three friends? The reason that God became angry with them was not that they said God had done all these things to Job (property, finance, servants, children all taken away), but that they claimed to know why God had done it. They, along with Job darkened council by words without knowledge. (Job 38:2) They uttered what they did not understand and spoke wrongly of God.
Listen, could God have sent the earthquake and tsunami to Japan in order to judge them for some sin? The answer is yes, He could have. But do I, or anyone else know that this is the case? The answer is no! This may have happened for reasons that have nothing to do with judgment, but grace. Let us tread cautiously here so as to affirm God's sovereignty, but avoid speaking for him in regards to His reasoning.
3. We should be careful not determine our eschatology (study of end times) by current events
Over the last 2000 years of church history the only thing that has been agreed upon when it comes to escatology is that the Lord is coming back. There are so many different views as to how endtime prophecies should be interpreted, and given how hard these things are to get a grip on, it might be best for us to hold our eschatology loosely.
Since I was a child, I have heard after every disaster and major tragedy that the event was a sign that Christ is coming soon. However, every generation in church history has believed that Christ was returning in their lifetime, and ours is no different. We are told in Scripture that no man knows the day or hour that the Lord will return (Matthew 24:36-44). And given the varying possibilities of how endtime prophecies could be viewed, we must be careful not to view current events as an aid to interpret Scripture.
It is proper to tell people that the Lord may return at any moment, and that we are to be prepared, but that is different than kneejerking at every disaster or Middle East event as a sign that it will be in our lifetime.
4. We should use natural disaster to instruct all men everywhere to repent
In Luke 13:4-5, we are told about 18 men who were killed when a tower fell upon them. Jesus made a remarkable statement, giving insight into how we should approach disasters. He states that the men who died were no worse offenders than anyone else, yet they were killed. Jesus then tells those listening that unless they repent, you will likewise suffer.
That is how I think we should view natural disasters. We should not presume to know why God has done certain things, but affirm the sinfulness of all men everywhere, and call them to repent and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, putting forth the consequence that if they fail to do so they will perish.
There is more that needs to be said on this topic, but it is vitally important that Christians speak carefully and Biblically when commenting on disasters such as we saw last week.
N.T.S
Monday, March 7, 2011
How Do You Pray?
We live in such a fast paced world, where the motto of most people's lives is "get it to me as fast as possible". Have you noticed how fast everything has become in your life? We can just swipe our card and get gas, download movies, music, and games straight to our televisions or computers. Smart phones have propelled this speedy society into hyper-drive. We can literally get almost anything and everything we want quick, fast and in a hurry. While in one sense this is a huge benefit, it does not bode well for our spiritual disciplines.
A friend mentioned to me the other day that one thing he was trying to do in his life was to SLOW DOWN! I have been thinking about that lately and I started to realize that all the spiritual disciplines we struggle with, come as a result of our lives being so fast. Reading and studying Scripture takes time and effort, it is not something you can rush through and still get the full benefit of learning and thinking deeply. Prayer is another one of these disciplines that suffer due to our lack of being able to slow down. Scripture tells us to "pray without ceasing", but we will never get to that kind of attitude because most of us cease to pray.
Why is it so hard for us to pray? Have you ever thought about that? We know that there is great spiritual benefit to being people of prayer, yet we struggle so badly in this area. While I believe that there are many reasons for this struggle, one glaring problem is that we do not know what to pray. If you are like me, then most of your prayers are just a grocery list of things we think we need. I find that most of my prayers are completely focused on myself. I struggle with how to pray.
But I have been learning recently about the power of praying Scripture. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this in relation to praying God's words.
If you struggle to know what and how to pray, let me encourage you to go the Psalms and pray the Word. Praying the Psalms is so beneficial because of the wide range of emotions that are involved that you will find yourself identifying with. As one author said, "I feel like I know this writer", and you will probably feel the same way. In our speedy, fast-paced world of smart-phones there should be no excuse for us to not know what to pray. Download a Bible app. and starting praying the very words of God today.
A friend mentioned to me the other day that one thing he was trying to do in his life was to SLOW DOWN! I have been thinking about that lately and I started to realize that all the spiritual disciplines we struggle with, come as a result of our lives being so fast. Reading and studying Scripture takes time and effort, it is not something you can rush through and still get the full benefit of learning and thinking deeply. Prayer is another one of these disciplines that suffer due to our lack of being able to slow down. Scripture tells us to "pray without ceasing", but we will never get to that kind of attitude because most of us cease to pray.
Why is it so hard for us to pray? Have you ever thought about that? We know that there is great spiritual benefit to being people of prayer, yet we struggle so badly in this area. While I believe that there are many reasons for this struggle, one glaring problem is that we do not know what to pray. If you are like me, then most of your prayers are just a grocery list of things we think we need. I find that most of my prayers are completely focused on myself. I struggle with how to pray.
But I have been learning recently about the power of praying Scripture. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this in relation to praying God's words.
The child learns to speak because the parent speaks to the child. The child learns the language of the parent. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken and speaks to us. In the language of the Father in heaven God’s children learn to speak with God. Repeating God’s own words, we begin to pray to God. We ought to speak to God, and God wishes to hear us, not in the false and confused language of our heart but in the clear and pure language that God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ.
God’s speech in Jesus Christ meets us in the Holy Scriptures. If we want to pray with assurance and joy, then the word of Holy Scripture must be the firm foundation of our prayer. Here we know that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, teaches us to pray. The words that come from God will be the steps on which we find our way to God.
If you struggle to know what and how to pray, let me encourage you to go the Psalms and pray the Word. Praying the Psalms is so beneficial because of the wide range of emotions that are involved that you will find yourself identifying with. As one author said, "I feel like I know this writer", and you will probably feel the same way. In our speedy, fast-paced world of smart-phones there should be no excuse for us to not know what to pray. Download a Bible app. and starting praying the very words of God today.
N.T.S.
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