Thanksgiving poem/psalm

I, along with the rest of my church, was asked to compose a contemporary psalm or poem for our upcoming Thanksgiving service. I thought I'd share it with my friends in the electronic world. The psalm was to reflect what God has done over the past year in my life, but since I am currently experiencing an ongoing health challenge, Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease, my psalm reflects the hope I have in the midst of trials.

I have felt the sting of sin.
Disease has begun to ravage my mind & body.
What only a short time ago worked so well now begins to fade.
You, Oh Lord, shine eternal.
My hope is in you.

Once my thoughts were clear and bright,
but now they are muddled and foggy.
Your wisdom, Oh Lord, Outshines the sun
Your word is a fountain clean and pure
My hope is in you.

Too quickly these days my moods swing.
What only moments ago was a quiet stream,
is now a raging torrent of pain and confusion.
You, oh Lord, are an immovable rock, constant and steady.
My hope is in you.

My tongue has started fires never intended.
And friends that once stood close by have fled for cover.
You, oh Lord, are slow to anger and ready to forgive.
You will never leave me or forsake me.
My hope is in you.

My body once young and strong,
now grows weak and feeble.
You, Oh Lord, are ageless, and all mighty.
You are a friend to the weak and lowly
My hope is in you.

One day I will draw my last breath.
My lifeless body will rest beneath the earth.
You, oh Lord, rose from the dead the first born of many.
You conquered death and sin.
My hope is in you.

All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to you.
Your eyes see all that was, that is and that is to come.
You know all. Your wisdom and knowledge are inexhaustible.
You sustain all creation and you care for me.
My hope is in you alone.

Hate Crimes Bill

Today President Barak Obama signed the Hate Crimes bill into law. If you don't know about the new law and some of the concerns that it raises for Christian Broadcasters read this article by Craig Parshall the chief council for the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB).

If the law lasts and is not overturned by future administrations then in time it may prove to be a problem. Romans 8 reminds me that for those of us who love God and are called according to His purpose for us even this foolish law will work out for our good. Who knows it may even be the tool that God uses to purify his church or on the other hand it may end up coming to nothing. Either way my hope is anchored in the holy of holies with Jesus my Lord (Heb 6:19). 

Thankfully no law of man is truly a problem to those of us who are governed by the Almighty, we are overwhelmingly victorious even in death (Romans 8:37). As believers we must be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous and be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). And when we stand firm remember that we stand firm in the strength of the Lord and in His mighty Power (Eph 6:13).  Isn't it truly awesome to know that no matter what strategies the devil throws at us we are already victorious in Jesus. 

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one--for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:31b-39 NLT)

Certainly we must strive to overturn such ridiculous laws and to protect our religious freedom, but let us not do so with a spirit of fear and timidity about what may come but with a spirit of power knowing the truth that we cannot be separated from the love of Christ. Onward Christian soldiers! Put on the full armor of God and stand firm against the strategies of the devil you are overwhelmingly victorious in Jesus. Whether this law ultimately stands or falls you are victorious!

A Simple Question

Why does God punish people in hell for eternity?

The honest Arminian answer: Because they rebelled against God and they refused to believe in His only son, Jesus whom He sent.

An honest Calvinist answer: Because God unconditionally decreed that they would rebel against him and that they would refuse to believe in His only son, Jesus whom He sent.

An honest answer according to the Calvinist doctrines of God's immutable decrees and the Calvinist's use of Romans 9:19-23 is that God sends people to hell because He made them for that purpose, it's what He desires, it's according to His good pleasure and it's for His glory.

Most Calvinist's, in my experience, will simply answer the above question and questions like it as an Arminian or a non Calvinist would so are they being dishonest? I do not believe so but rather that in practice they are often inconsistent with their doctrine.

For a different interpretation of Romans 9 see the following: Romans 9 an Arminian/New Perspective Reading

Albert Mohler and a Calvinist Inconsistency

Yesterday morning I received an email with the link to Albert Mohler's post titled "Why Do the Heathen Rage?" a response to the Center for Inquiry's international blasphemy day set for September 30.

In his brief pastoral response Albert Mohler counsels Christians to respond in a three-fold way.

1. Take no offense.
   
2. Mourn the Blasphemy.
   
3. See the observance for what it really is -- an unintended testimony to the existence of God and the foolishness of those who deny Him.
   

I found a glaring contradiction between what Albert Mohler writes explaining why we should mourn the blasphemy and what his Calvinism teaches. He writes "We must mourn the blasphemy, not because honor is at stake, but because souls are at stake with eternal consequences." (emphasis added). The doctrines of Calvinism, to which he so stringently holds, teach that it is impossible for one destined by God for salvation to resist His call and that God will in fact irresistibly call to salvation all that He has destined for salvation. Calvinism also teaches that all those to whom God has given salvation can never forfeit that salvation. So I respectfully ask Albert Mohler and all who hold to Calvinism, "How then can it be said that souls are at stake or that there are eternal consequences for blasphemy?"

Albert Mohler also writes "The worst form of blasphemy is the refusal to hear and believe the Gospel. For that sin there can be no forgiveness." The elect can never commit this unforgivable blasphemy and thereby perish and the un-elect can never refrain from committing this unforgivable blasphemy and thereby be saved so truthfully, honestly, in Calvinism nothing is ever at stake.

I for one will take Albert Mohler's counsel on how to respond to international blasphemy day, I believe it was wise and good counsel, but I will leave his theology behind.

“But I say to you love your enemies”

Today I received an email which contained graphic pictures of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and as I scrolled down the page letting my mind take in the images I was flung through many emotions. The first was Sadness, then disgust at those who do such a thing, then anger, then hatred. As I felt the hatred welling up in me I was humbled as I remembered Jesus words;

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)

This caused me to think of the love that God showed His enemies 2000 years ago.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 ESV)

I was an enemy of God (friendship with the world is enmity towards God James 4:4) and yet God loved me sacrificially. As I sit here looking at these pictures I realize, to my shame, that since September 11 I have never prayed for the enemies of the US, I have prayed for our safety, I have prayed for the downfall of Islamic nations, but never for their salvation. Though I believe the slogan is trite I find myself asking, "What would Jesus do?" And I find myself answering, "He would die for His enemies." As for me I can only hope to chase after the heart of my savior and as such I will pray for those who persecuted us that God would send bold ambassadors of the gospel to our enemies, for how can they believe if they have not heard and how can they hear unless someone is sent?

A prayer for my enemies

Lord, forgive my arrogance for I have not loved my enemies like you have loved me. Be merciful O' Lord to those, our nation's enemies, whom you have created in your image and who are in bondage to sin, deceived by the devil, and perishing in a way that seems right to them. Freedom from the jaws of the evil one who prowls like a lion is found only in you. Greatly to be pitied are those who live without the knowledge or experience of your love and horrifically tragic is it when one dies in their sins to forever be tormented in hell. So much worse is eternal punishment than anything that we suffer here on earth, my mind cannot even begin to imagine. Lord, I beg of you mercy for those that we would call the enemies of our nation and send to them men and women who have their feet prepared with the Gospel. Lord Jesus, it is my prayer that we, those who have been redeemed by your blood, would rather see the repentance of our enemies than their destruction. There will come a time when you will reluctantly and without pleasure put an end to all rebellion but you are slow to anger and not willing that any should perish. Oh that I would be like you that men would see my good works and glorify you!

Amen

Less Than Human Love

Does God love everyone and is his desire for everyone to come to repentance and salvation in Jesus?

As a five point Calvinist I would have answered yes God loves everyone but no He doesn't desire everyone to come to repentance and be saved. In fact I would have said that by eternal decree God has created some people for the express purpose of pouring out His wrath on them for all eternity. One might ask, "How then is this love?"

Some Calvinists make the argument that just as a man loves his wife in one way, his child in another way, and his friend in yet another way so God is free to love one man in one way and another man in another way.

It is true that a man's love for his wife is different than the love that he has for his children and his friends but in each instance the man's desire for those he loves is the same. He desires the very best for those he loves. Indeed will not a man who truly loves give even his life for the ones he loves? Does a man ever desire the worst possible end for those whom he loves whether it is his wife, his children, or his friends? Is God's love less than Human in that He desires the absolute worst possible end, eternal damnation, for some of those whom he "loves"?

Thanks be to God that He loves even His enemies and desires for them the best possible end, eternal life!

Tragically those who reject His love will by their own hard hearted choice suffer the worst possible end, eternal damnation. Does not your heart break for those who are perishing?

I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-- that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Romans 9:1-3 ESV)

Paul truly loved the lost. Can God's love for the lost be any less than Pauls?

Idle Words

Matthew 12:35-37 LITV The good man out of the good treasure of the heart puts forth good things. And the evil man out of the evil treasure puts forth evil things. But I say to you, that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give an account of it in Judgment Day. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

In Matthew 12:22-37 Jesus heals a demon possessed man and in response to this the Pharisees accuse Jesus, though apparently not to His face, of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. It is during this exchange with the Pharisees that Jesus speaks these very powerful words of certain judgment. The Pharisees were evil persons and evil treasure came out of their mouths and so it is right to see Jesus words as an indictment of the Pharisees and a warning to those who followed the Pharisees, but is there an application for us as followers of Christ today?

To properly apply this verse to our speech whether spoken or written we need to understand what idle words are or as some translations have it careless words. The Greek word translated Idle or carless comes from two words "Without" and "work" and so literally means without work. So if idle words are words that aren't at work then what is the work that our words are supposed to be doing? In Ephesians 4:29 Paul writes that our words are to build up and bring grace to the hearers. We can then by implication conclude that the words that are not at work or idle words are words that fail to build up and bring grace or worse tear down and bring a curse. The Pharisees by accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebul did not bring grace to those who heard their words but rather brought a curse.

The internet is full of Christian bloggers who presumably blog for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus, for the advancement of His kingdom, and to contend for the faith once delivered to all the saints (Jude 3). The internet has no doubt expanded the believer's ability to communicate the truth of the gospel and to defend the faith but unfortunately its impersonal nature has also opened the door to greater temptations to use our words to tear down our brothers rather than to build them up. In fact some bloggers seem hell bent on condemning and tearing down any who don't agree with them. Brother's as we defend our respective theological camps let us keep in mind the words of Paul in Colossians 4:6 ESV Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Finally, hear the sobering words of Jesus in Matthew 12:37 ESV "for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." After the earth and sky have fled from His presence you will stand before Him naked and exposed will your words spoken or written testify that you are a child of God or will they condemn you as one of those self deluded imposters who will hear Jesus say, "depart from I never knew you."