Conference on Doctrinal Discernment

One of the blogs I truly enjoy is NA Humble Orthodoxy. This is a blog site that was modeled after a conference that Josh Harris started in 2004 called the New Attitude conference. It's purpose was to equip the people of the church with biblical teaching.

Well at this years conference they spoke on the Essentials of Doctrinal Discernment. I can not think of a more appropriate subject for our day in age. In a time when it seems that people are accepting the post-modern mantra of truth being relative, discernment is lacking. On this blog site they have all the sermons for you to listen too. I would strongly encourage you to visit this site and listen to what some of my favorite preachers have to say on discernment. If you don't have time to listen to them all at least listen to one of CJ Mahaney's sermons. He is one of favorite preachers because he sums up humble orthodoxy. He is funny, witty and right on with his theology.

Enjoy!

My Day at the Dentist

A couple of days ago I had the pleasure (I don’t know how true that sentiment is) of going to the dentist. About a month ago I broke a tooth and I have finally got around to going in and getting it fixed. I really don’t mind the dentist and my dentist is a pretty cool guy.

Well this all started out by me having to take off early from work to get to the appointment. (This provokes a question: Why do dentist have the hours 9 to 5? I guess its ok with them if you take a sick day to see them or even worse take a vacation day. If you ask me their hours should be from 6:00am to 10:00am, take a break, and then back for a 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm shift. Works for me, how about you?) So I get there at 1:00 pm for my appointment, sign in and go sit down. Just as I start getting into HGTV the receptionist says “Tom, do you have an appointment today?” I think to myself “you’ve got to be kidding!” So as she is scrambling around to fit me in the thought occurs to me that maybe I should just re-schedule. I bring this up to the receptionist and she insists it’s ok and that they will be able to get me in. I should have insisted on re-scheduling.

A few minutes later I am ushered back to my room. As I sit down the dental assistant apologizes for the chairs’ headrest being broken, but assures me that it shouldn’t affect the work that the dentist needs to do. I should have insisted on re-scheduling! The stinkin’ headrest kept sliding the whole appointment. I guess when she said that it wouldn’t affect my appointment she meant that it wouldn’t affect the dentist monkeying around in my mouth.

After this episode the dental assistant started to prep my mouth for the dentist. She put this rubber thing in my mouth and said that it would help relax my jaw. Relax my jaw?!? You should have seen the size of this thing. If you have roller blades go look at the brake on them, that’s how big this thing was! (no big mouth jokes) Then she puts this paper contraption over and in my mouth. This thing was anchored by rubber bands that fitted around my teeth. Yes, they feel real good. It’s at this time that out of no where my heart rate starts to increase and I feel like I can’t breath. It was unbelievable; I was having a panic attack. I never have panic attacks. I really should have insisted on re-scheduling. Well after talking myself out of the attack, I started to relax some.

It’s at this point that I hear the nurse say “I can’t get it to stop bleeding”. This peaks my curiosity. Since I can’t feel anything, I’m wondering how bad could this be? Well it was bad enough that they had to seal everything back up and tell me that they would have to finish fixing my teeth once the blood vessel they hit healed. So I ask “How long will that be?” To which the dentist replied “one month”. I should have really insisted on re-scheduling. What a way to spend my sick time.

So now I sit here at work with a sore mouth, from I assume a healing blood vessel and with another dentist appointment in a month. I sure hope they don’t forget and if they do I will insist on re-scheduling my appointment

An Edwards Moment

As I read Jonathon Edwards Resolutions this morning, his resolution #28 stood out to me. It reads “Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.”

My wife, Suzi, and I meet with young couples and couples to be all the time and the one constant we find is that they struggle with their time in the Word. This does not surprise me, because we as a society, Christians included, make ourselves so busy that we squeeze God out of our lives. At times I am certainly guilty of this. I will schedule early morning meetings before I go to work and set my alarm to go off only early enough to provide time for a shower. The paper route helped me to schedule my mornings better and even to learn how to lean on God when I am tired.

Another problem is that we are entertainment driven and the reading of scripture is not entertaining to us. When I was a young Christian this was a problem for me. The reading of scripture just did not seem fun and bored me. I now know that this could have been a fatal flaw in my faith. If it were not for a sermon I heard during this time I probably would still be looking for the entertainment value in scripture. In this sermon, the pastor asked his congregation “what brings you here this morning? Is it the reading and instruction of the Word of God? Or is it me and my speaking ability?” He went on later asking if the people were at that particular church because of its reputation in evangelical circles. This hit me like a ton of bricks. Was I merely looking to be entertained? Was my enjoyment on the Word itself?

After this watershed moment my Christian walk changed drastically. I now read the Word because I enjoy reading about what God has done through the people in scripture who struggled just like me. What an example these men and women are! I just don’t read the Word though, I listen to it. As you can see by the podcasts I have designated out, I listen to a lot of different pastors. The main thing though is that these men teach the truth and do not water it down. So between reading and listening to the Word I fill my mind with scripture.

The main benefit that comes from the constant reading and hearing of Gods Word in my life is that when I am dealing with hard times at work or at home I have scripture in my mind to recall. It helps strengthen me in those times of trial. Like Edwards, I find myself growing in my knowledge and its truths.

So I leave you with this, are you reading scripture “steadily, constantly and frequently”?

What Does Your Child Own?

These days bring many difficulties for Christian parents. In a day when our society teaches us there is no absolute truth and advocates behavior that defies the Christian faith a Christian parent can find themselves at war with the culture and their kids. It is in these days that we as Christian parents constantly and consistently teach our kids the truths of scripture. It is in these days that we must train our kids that they cannot be saved on the basis of anyone else’s faith other than their own.

I see many Christian parents focusing more time on the world than on teaching their child about who our Lord is and about his death and resurrection. All you have to do is watch the news and browse the Internet to see that many parents get more caught up in protesting a political policy than raising a child that can influence the world for Christ. In these kids sights God is a political advocate and not the God that rules over kings and world leaders.

It’s not only the political Christian parents though; it is the average pew sitting Christian that is failing their kids also. As a person who sees many Christian college students every year, I can tell you that they come to college not knowing what their faith stands for. I would venture to say that quite a few students get to college and begin to doubt their salvation because they start learning doctrines they have never been taught before. Many of these students have never had their faith tested and therefore do not “own” their faith.

So what is it to “own” your faith? “Owning” your faith is when you start to take ownership of the doctrines that are key within the Christian faith. It is not just the starting process though; it is the continuation of learning the tenets of the Christian faith. We are called to be like the faithful Bereans ( Acts 17:11) and to search the Word of God. We are to be like the early Hebrews and to be in a constant learning process when it comes to scripture. We should be reading the SHEMA (Duet. 6:4-7) and do like the early Hebrews did. I read the following article by Dr. Ronnie Jeff Johnson and tend to agree with him.

The most important place for Christian education is not a theological seminary. Neither is it a Bible college or Christian school. It is not even Sunday School or other church services. Where is the most important place for Christian education? Basic instruction on Christian Education is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7. To the Hebrews, this passage was known as the SHEMA, a primary confession of faith. It provides a clue to the most important place for Christian education.

Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (4)

The first Hebrew word in verse 4, SHEMA, is "hear" or "listen and obey." These verses were read at the opening of synagogue services. They were to be said two times each day. They were held in such high regard that they were quite literally taken, in that, they were actually worn on the body and written on doorposts of houses and city gates.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. (5)

The Hebrews understood that personal relationship with God is essential. Christians today understand that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is essential. The Jews recognized this as one of the most important passages in the Old Testament. Jesus called verse 5 the "greatest and first commandment" (Matthew 22:36-38).

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; (6)

"These words" (verse 6) refer back to the Ten Commandments given in Deuteronomy chapter five. The Ten Commandments represent all of the instructions, commands, and promises contained in the Word of God. The Word of God should be in your heart. In the Hebrew understanding of physiology, the heart is the seat of the emotions, mind, and will. Whatever is in your heart, makes you the person that you are.

Therefore, it is important to have the Word of God firmly embedded in your heart. Memorization of the Word is important. Meditation on the Word is more important. Understanding the meaning of the Word to your life is most important of all. For an understanding of what the Word of God means to you will guide your actions, desires, and inner motivations.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (7)

The most important place for Christian Education is not a seminary. The most important place for Christian Education is not a Bible college or Christian school. The most important place for Christian Education is not even in the church or Sunday School. The most important place for Christian Education is the home.

It is a place of diligent instruction. Parents have a responsibility to religiously educate their children. It is a place that uses lifestyle instruction. "Do as I say, not as I do" just won't work. Your children see you when you go to church, study the Bible, and tell them what to do. The also see you when you get up in the morning, drive them to school, watch a video or TV program, and hit your thumb with a hammer. They see what is important to you and they see what you do after church service is over.

You shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. (8-9)

This is the figurative language that was taken literally later on. The Word of God was written on parchment, placed into leather pouches called phylacteries, and worn on the forehead and on the back of the hand. It was a good idea at first, because every time a person looked at his hands to do something, there was a reminder that the Word of God was to guide their actions. However, like many good ideas, the phylacteries lost their meaning after a time and became like a good luck charm with no deeper meaning.

Do not neglect the meaning of these verses. The Word of God should be upon your hands, influencing everything you do with them. It should also be as "frontlets between your eyes," guarding what you look at and think about.

The Word of God was also written on the doorposts of houses and gates of cities. This served as an announcement to anyone who entered that God was a member of that household. Does everyone who enters your home recognize that it is the most important place for Christian education?

Each and every day I pray that my children would “own” their faith. I pray everyday that my children would never be negatively impacted by my actions or my words. Knowing that I am a sinner raising a sinner I do not act in self righteousness as much as out of a sense of love. I desire to see all three of my kids in heaven and therefore it is important that they know the way.

As Christian parents we must pray that our kids do “own” their faith.

Are you Standing on Jell-O?

This morning as I read Shaycam’s blog on a job decision he made, I couldn’t help but think of all the people that would sacrifice their own personal beliefs for a job. I applaud Shaycam for his decision because he actually stood for his convictions. In today’s society we have many people, who like our presidential nominees (Giuliani and Edwards in particular), who say that their faith will not get in the way of making decisions. Why have beliefs at all if they are not going to influence your decision making? I believe we have a growing problem with people who call themselves “Christians”. Both of the men I state above call themselves “Christians” and yet vote for abortion, partial birth abortion and stem cell research. How does that jive with the Christian faith? It doesn’t!

This problem is bigger than that though. It is a problem that lies within our pulpits and what is being taught. We see the Episcopal Church with gay priests, we see the Methodist Church with a transsexual priest and we see many so-called Evangelicals throwing away many Biblical doctrines because they are offensive to our culture. The church is trying to be relevant to the point that it is watering down the effect of sin. The modern church is more interested in culture and the number of people attending than the salvation of the people in the pews. I would cast all the judgment on the preachers, but that would not be biblical. We are to be like the Bereans in Acts, who searched scriptures to verify the teaching they were getting. We as the pew sitters need to be discerning and instead of allowing our ears to be tickled by every type of doctrine, we need to stand for the Truth.

So, how do we go about creating change in a society of pluralism? How do we stand for something as solid as the Word of God when our society tells us that the ground we stand on can only be as firm as Jell-O? Well we start like Shaycam. We stand firm for what we hold as our core beliefs. We are willing to be fired from work because the job goes against those core beliefs. We leave the church that is teaching that homosexuality is acceptable. We do not allow preachers to get away with teaching heresy. We battle for the Truth. Remember this is a war. We use the sword that is the Word of God to strike down the heresies the post-modern church is selling us. At the same time we show the love that Christ showed us. We love those men and women that are caught up in homosexuality and show them that they need to repent and turn from their sin. We need to love unbelievers, knowing that once we were unbelievers and if it wasn’t for the grace of God we would still be wallowing in sin. We battle sin in our churches, we battle the heresies, but we do it in love.

It is my firm belief that by making strong decisions in regards to our faith we impact the people around us. I am confident that Shaycam’s decision impacted the people he worked with. I don’t know what affect it will have on any of them, but at least they know what he stood for. Christianity is not a political system. It is not a political party. It certainly is not a world view that can be turned on and off when we feel like using it so that we can get votes.

Thanks for your example Shaycam!

Jonathon Edwards Moment

Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

Whenever I can I try to read through Jonathon Edwards’s resolutions. They are such a good reminder of what I should be doing with my life. As I read through them a few minutes ago this one really stuck with me.

This stuck with me, because I tend to be a very competitive person. I try to play basketball every Saturday morning and sometimes on Sunday nights. Due to my competitive nature I can do more harm to the Gospel message than positively influence those around me. The Lord has been gracious to constantly bring to my attention these times so that my hearts desire is to compete so that I glorify the Lord and not myself. My desire is that those around me would glorify my God more because of my actions, not that I would drag them into sin.

This also stuck with me, because I work in a secular job and have to deal with gossip and people talking ill of others. I wish I could say that I have never talked ill of a co-worker, but I cannot. I am not quite the gossip, but if someone is lazy in the workplace I have problems keeping my mouth shut. The Lord has been very gracious to me in this area too by gently tugging on my heart and reminding me that I am lazy when it comes to my obedience to Him. I know that work ethic should spur others on to work harder and that my actions should be a non-verbal Gospel message.

I pray daily that my actions and words would first, be in alignment with each other and not in contradiction and secondly that my actions would speak louder than my words.