Take Up and Read

There is a group called Live Action who has been doing sting operations on Planned Parenthood. Denny Burke remarks on their latest attempt where a young lady asked Planned Parenthood to help her abort her child if it was a girl. Here are Denny Burke's remarks on the video and then his response to Planned Parenthood's response.

Kevin DeYoung continues to respond to homosexuality with grace and without compromise. One of the best parts of this article is he discusses how to address various groups of people about homosexuality.

Brian Croft gives ten practical ways for a man to love and serve his wife. This list is worth referring to on a regular basis.

Last week I gave you Pastor Uri Brito on Pentecost. This week he writes on Trinity Sunday. Again, it is short and worth your time.

Finally, here is an article from the Washington Post on why marriage is better for children than cohabitation. It always amazes me when a secularist recognizes through research what the Scriptures declare through revelation.

Defeating the Idol of Sex

Here is a follow up to last week's post. It is directed mainly to married couples. I will address singles later this week or next week. 

How do we fight the idolization of sex?

1.      Worship the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Believe that only He can provide everlasting satisfaction and joy. Bow down before God and you will be less tempted to bow before sex.

2.      Remember sex is intended to be act of love between a man and woman married to each other. The point of sex is not so you can experience something, though this will certainly happen. The point is to give. That is what love is. Again, C.S. Lewis, “Say your prayers in a garden early, ignoring steadfastly the dew, the birds and the flowers, and you will come away overwhelmed by its freshness and joy; go there in order to be overwhelmed and, after a certain age, nine times out of ten nothing will happen to you.”  His point is that if we do something primarily to have a certain experience then what we will often be disappointed. But if we go to do what we are supposed to do then we will often be satisfied.  So too with sex.

3.      Sex is a gift from God.  Like any gift it must be used to love God and to love our neighbor. These two commands put fences around our sex life. Any act or thought which does not love God or love my spouse is sin.

4.      Sex is a gift from God. Sex is to be enjoyed within the bounds of the marriage bed. Sex is not evil or wicked or perverse. The idolization of sex will not be defeated by treating sex as dirty or bad.

5.      Sex is a gift from God designed for certain purposes, including conceiving children, providing pleasure, protecting one’s spouse from temptation, and making a man and woman one flesh. It is not designed to provide a transcendental, spiritual experience. It is not the pinnacle of human experience. It was not supposed to give you some dramatic encounter with God. As Mrs. Elizabeth Elliott said, “Sometimes sex is a sandwich. Sometimes it is a steak.” If you can’t enjoy sex as a sandwich then sex has become an idol.

6.      Beware the danger of always wanting more from your sex life. Beware of the slow creeping lie that there is something better and if you just do this or buy that or watch this then you can have a better sexual experience. Pull that weed up immediately and learn to be content with what God has given you.

7.      Beware comparing your sex life with someone else’s.  Most of us have seen numerous examples of sex on screen or read about sexual experiences in books or magazines. The temptation is to compare our sex life with what we have seen or read. To put it mildly, this is devastating to a real, enjoyable sex life. It does not matter what the world or other people are doing in their beds. Enjoy your spouse.  Make love with her/him without a single thought for the expectations of the outside world. You will be happier.

8.      Be content with what you have. This is the positive side of numbers 6 & 7.  Unless something is not working physically, your sex life is just fine and your spouse is just fine. The grass is not greener. 

Book Review: With the Old Breed

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great read. Straight forward, not overly sentimental or harsh. Just a man who survived two of the worst battles in the Pacific telling us what happened. As I read it two things struck me. First, the invasion of Japan would have been the most costly battle in the history of mankind. There are problems with dropping the atomic bomb. After Nagasaki and Hiroshima the world was never the same. And as a Christian I am adamantly opposed to civilian deaths. But reading this book one begins to realize that the Japanese had no intention of surrending. The toll on American soldiers, Japanese soldiers and Japanese civilians would have been astronomic if America had been forced to invade. So all the armchair generals who think we messed up by dropping the A-Bomb need to read this book and remember that it took more than 80 days and over 110,000 dead Japanese to get a six mile island named Okinawa. Second, I realized that if our generation (I am thirty-three)was called upon to do what these men had to do there is little doubt we would fail. As a culture we do not have the backbone or courage to fight like these men did.

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The Idolization of Sex

The real danger seems to me not that the lovers will idolize each other but that they will idolize Eros [sexual love] himself.” (C.S. Lewis in The Four Loves)

C.S. Lewis is a master of the human heart. He understands very clearly the dangers that come, not only with hurt, but with pleasure and joy.  We assume that it is the wicked, evil things that destroy us. But all too often it is the good thing, that which is beautiful and enjoyable becomes a bloodthirsty demon.  Why? We replace the Creator with the creature.  The creature, the thing, the experience, becomes our god. We long for it without God, instead of under God. The moment we do that we have brought home a dragon that will eventually eat us.

All areas of human experience are prone to this idolization.  But there is no area so easily worshiped today as sex.  Our culture is sexualized beyond anything seen before.  Even past sexual cultures, such as Rome, were not as sexual as ours. Our commercials are filled with sexual innuendo or scantily clad women. Our teenage daughters wear more to bed than they do on the street.  Television shows and movies are filled with sexual imagery. Songs are filled with sexual lyrics. Magazines have articles on how to have a better sex life.  Christians write books on how to have a better sex life.  Pastors preach sermons on how to have a better sex life. Apparently, a better sex life is the way to happiness.

But it is important to understand that what people want is not a particular man or a particular woman to have sex with. They want a particular experience.  A man watching pornography does not want the porn star. He wants what the porn star can supposedly give; a sexual high. A woman who sleeps with men at the drop of hat or dresses with most of her body showing is not looking to please a particular man. She is trying to get a particular experience.  Often, even the Christian, because he or she has been catechized by our culture, is looking for a particular sexual experience.  In other words, we bow down and worship sex. It is our god, our great savior.  It is the transcendental experience that will get us closer to God.

Thunder and Lightning in the Pulpit

"We were not sent to clear our throat nervously, trying to get somebody's attention. We were not sent in order to make a few mild suggestions. We were not sent to indulge in a few postmodern dabblings of a theological nature. We were commissioned-I believe the word is ordained-to compel every manifestation of worldly power, glory, wisdom and exaltation to yield to and obey the majesty of God, in full accordance with God's Word.  We were sent to bind and loose, and all by God's Word.  And if need be, we have been ordained to open the Word completely,  press it flat against the pulpit, hold on to both sides of that pulpit, pray for divine protection, and preach as though we were thunder and lightning.  How could we not?  The Scriptures are a great thunderhead." (Doug Wilson in With Calvin in Theater of God, p. 95)

Take Up and Read

Uri Brito is writing more on his blog. I am grateful for this. I have enjoyed reading him. This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Unfortunately most of the Church doesn't know. Pastor Brito reminds us why it is important. 

Peter Leithart explains why he is too Catholic to be a Roman Catholic.

I do not know who these people are, but they have created a really neat infographic about the kings who ruled Israel and Judah. They even tell you which kings were good, sort of good, and bad. If you struggle to get the kings down this is a wonderful resource.

It is easy to believe that we are God's gift to our local church. A lady wrote a post earlier this week on eleven ways to hurt your local church. It is a convicting article. Too many of us fall into one or many of the sins listed. I encourage you to read it and pray through it.  She wrote two follow up posts: one on how church conflict can sanctify us. And one on how to love your local church.

Finally,  I have always enjoyed R.C.Sproul Jr.'s writing, his love for the Lord Jesus, and his passion for the good, simple life. Here he explains why we don't need accountability groups if we have friends. As usual, he is short and his arrow hits the target.

Seeing God

Peter Leithart notes that many Christians see God the Father as this cold, harsh, angry God who needs to be appeased by the kind, loving Jesus.  However, this separates what the Scriptures have joined together. In the Bible, Jesus is God. There are not two gods, one angry, one loving. There is one God. He is love. This love is seen as the Father sends the Son, the Son dies for his people, and the Spirit is poured out so that the people might love each other.

"You want to know what God is like, really? Take a look at the gospel. If you have seen Jesus, if you have seen him in the  manger, seen him tempted in the wilderness, seen  him passionately fighting the Pharisees who oppress his people, freely offering himself on the cross, powerfully rising again from the dead-when you have seen all this, you have seen God who is love.   Jesus did all of this out of his love for us, and because his Father sent him out of love. You want to see the love of God, read about Jesus. For whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father."  (From Behind the Veil, p. 151)

Character Traits of False Teachers

1.      False teachers enjoy arguing and speculating.  ( I Timothy 1:4, 4:7, 6:20, II Timothy 2:14-18, Titus 1:14)

  

2.      False teachers do not build up the flock. ( Ezekiel 34:1-6, I Timothy 1:4, II Timothy 2:14)

  

3.      False teachers are concerned about their positions. (I Timothy 1:7, III John 1:9)

  

4.      False teachers can be very conservative. (I Timothy 4:1-5 and Colossians 2:20-23)

  

5.      False teachers can be very liberal.  (II Peter 2:18-22, II Timothy 3:6)

  

6.      False teachers will rarely challenge God’s people and call upon them to turn from their sin. (Jeremiah 8:11, 23:21-22, II Timothy 4:1-4)

a.       Focus on sins of other people.

b.      Preach forgiveness without repentance.  No doctrine of sanctification.

c.   Preach against sins that are not in the Bible.  

7.      False teachers take. They do not give. (Jeremiah 8:10, Ezekiel 34:1-6, Micah 3:1-3, 11, I Timothy 6:3-5, II Timothy 3:6)

8.      False teachers flee when there is danger. (John 10:11-14)

  

9.      False teachers abandon sound doctrine.  (I Timothy 1:3, 1:10, 4:1-7 6:3, II Timothy 3:10, Titus 1:9-16)

Do We Live in the Last Times?

“Last Time/Times”

            The phrase “last time” is used twice in the New Testament in I Peter 1:5 and in Jude 1:18. While the phrases in I Peter 1:5 and Jude 1:18 are translated the same in English, they use two different Greek words for “time.” Peter uses chairos and Jude uses chronos. I Peter 1:5 does refer to the final revelation of Jesus Christ. The phrase “reserved in heaven for you” points us in this direction.

            However, Jude 1:18 does not refer to the end of the world.  Jude 1:17-18 is almost an exact parallel with II Peter 3:2-3.  Therefore it is not surprising that Jude should agree with Peter that the last times had already begun. Jude says in verse 19 that scoffers are “these who cause divisions” among his readers. (See verses 4, 8, 10, etc.) Verse 16 says the same thing as verse 19. Those to whom Jude wrote his letter were already dealing with these false teachers. These scoffers are not men who will arrive with the coronation of the antichrist. They are men who were in churches that Jude was writing to.  The “last time” began in the first century.

            I Peter backs up Jude saying that the “last time” began with Christ.  Though Peter does not use chronos in I Peter 1:5 he does use it in 1:20.  Here is that verse:

            He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you (I Peter 1:20 ESV)

            Peter agrees with Jude. The last times began when Jesus “was made manifest,” that is when he came in the flesh. We do live in the last times, but they have been going on for almost 2,000 years now. 

End of the Ages

            There are two places where we are specifically told that the end of the ages has come.  Here are those two verses:

            Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

(1Co 10:11, ESV)

For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

(Heb 9:26, ESV)

            There is much that could be said about these verses. It would be a worthwhile discussion to determine what are these “ages” Paul is referring to. But the main point for this post is that the end of ages came when Jesus sacrificed Himself upon the cross.  We usually envision the end of the ages as something to come in the future. Paul sees it as something that has already come.  

Book Review: The Christian Imagination

The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing by Leland Ryken
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Not every essay was great, but a lot of them were. The best part was the variety. There were long articles, short articles and lists of quotes. There were older writers and newer ones. There were articles on reading, writing, poetry, movies, fantasy, realism and why reading is such fun. There were various types of Protestants, as well as Roman Catholics. Some of the authors included were Francis Schaeffer, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Wendell Berry, Gene Veith, Leland Ryken, G.K. Chesterton and Madeleine L'Engle. In short, the book was a feast of a wonderful variety of essays by a variety of people on a variety of topics.

The articles I found most helpful were the ones on evil in Christian writing. There were two in particular that were helpful in sorting out this thorny issue. Susan Wise Bauer wrote an essay called "Three Faces of Moral Evil: Christian Writers and the Portrayal of Moral Evil." She compares three different views of evil using Stephen King as foil for one type. Also,a professor from Doane College, Richard Terrell, wrote an essay entitled "Christian Fiction: Piety Is Not Enough." Both of these laid some groundwork for how to include sin and evil in Christian writing. Brian Godawa's essay on the movies also addressed this issue.

I also really enjoyed Frederick Buechne'sr essay "The Gospel as Fairy Tale" and Peter Leithart's essay on the reader humbling himself before writer.

A good book to help fire the imagination and to get the Christian to think through how to use the imagination in a way the glorifies God.

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