Stuff Happens and It Happens Fast

So much stuff has happened the past couple of weeks, it’s been a bit dizzying. Things that we’ve been planning for months are suddenly done (Shift, the overnight retreat for the youth), things that I’ve been looking forward to for just as long are through (Weekend vacation at my favorite spot for inactivity, Pulo), and things that I never actually thought would happen have now happened (My sister’s now engaged – Well, i thought it would happen, but you get my point). It’s amazing how fast these things fly by. Before you know it, days, weeks, months, and years have gone by. Thinking about these things really brings two truths to my mind.

1. Life is short. One of man’s greatest stupidities is found in the fact that we constantly live as though life just went on and on. It really doesn’t. I pray that God would help me realize that I have a limited time here on earth, and that I really should maximize that time honoring Him and striving to be more like Him.

Psalm 90:12

“So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

2. I owe God everything for the gift of eternity. A life that simply passes by is a life devoid of any real meaning. Yet because of God’s unfathomable grace, He’s destined those who put their faith in Christ to live forever in a world free from sin and all its effects. He’s called us to spend eternity with Him, enjoying all the goodness and wonder that is our God. What an amazing gift God has purchased for believers through the blood of Christ. Each and every day I spend on this earth ought to be spent thanking and praising this great, wonderful God who has given me the gift of eternal life.

1 John 5:11-12

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”

Books I’ve been Reading

Just decided to run down a couple books I’ve read recently or am still reading.

1. God’s Greater Glory by Bruce Ware

- Picked up this book about two months ago, and it is phenomenal. Focusing on God’s providence, the book explains what it means for God to have exhaustive and meticulous sovereignty over the universe and for moral creatures to still exercise freedom. I love this book because it takes seriously what the bible has to say. This is not a philosophical book that just sprinkles in a couple of verses here and there. This is a book that firmly holds to the absolute authority of scripture and goes about explaining what the bible has to say about this topic. And he does it with a worshipers heart. Anyone who says theology is cold and dead has obviously not read Bruce Ware.

2. Evangelical Feminism by Wayne Grudem

- One of the most important books I’ve read this year. The book talks about the current trends in the Church towards egalitarianism, or the belief in the equality of men and women without distinction, and how egalitarians constantly undermine the authority of scripture. Wayne Grudem then goes on to list practically every argument made by evangelical feminists and he shows how they undermine scripture by those very arguments. A very powerful book that ought to be read by anyone who believes in the authority of the bible.

3. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by Bruce Ware

- Fantastic book on the trinity! This is a book written by a world-class theologian for the everyday Christian. I was absolutely refreshed by this book, and you leave it with a greater reverence and love for who God really is. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has always believed that the Trinity was a topic that was too complicated to even think about.

4. Sex and the Supremacy of Christ – Edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor

- Any book that John Piper touches, I’m pretty much all over, and for good reason. This book is a compilation of essays written by various authors on the theology of sex and marriage. Because it was written by various authors, some chapters are better than others, but as a whole, this is one of the richest biblical teachings on sex that I’ve come across (Not that I’ve come across many). This is a great book that will change the way that you understand the gift of sex. I highly recommend it to married couples and to singles as well.

5. Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig

- One of the best apologetics resources out there. I’m really so thankful for the work of William Lane Craig. This definitely isn’t for casual readers though, coz the stuff in here is enough to make your head spin. But to those who want to understand what reasons there are to believe the Christian faith and are willing to go through scholarly material, you need to have this book in your library.

6. Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles Swindoll

- Hmm… this book was just alright for me. It was written primarily to make theology accessible to people, and while I believe it did accomplish that, it felt like it did so at a cost. Some of the depth and richness of the topics were diminished. Still, considering how much a bought it for, it’s still well worth the price.

Thank God for Star Trek!

Last Saturday, after the 6pm service, Dar and I rushed off to see what would turn out to be my favorite movie of the year so far: Star Trek! It was amazing! An absolutely epic action film with breathtaking effects, interesting characters, and with a great sense of humor. It was such a wonderful break for me, that I remember going home, almost at midnight, about to fall asleep, and literally praying to God saying, “Father, thank you so much for Star Trek!” before I finally went to bed to dream of Vulcans and Romulans.

When I woke up, I remembered my prayer from the night before. I felt a bit silly about it. Maybe my sleepiness and my excitement had combined to produce some religious weirdness. But then, two verses in particular came to mind:

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” – James 1:17

If everything I do ought to result in the glorification of God, and if every good thing given comes from my heavenly Father, then perhaps it isn’t all that inaccurate to thank God for a movie that I truly enjoyed. Maybe what’s really odd is that fact that I’m not thankful for every good thing that I experience. After all, every good thing I receive comes from God. It’s all a gift and I don’t deserve any of it. God deserves the glory for every good thing that I experience in this life, for it all comes from Him.

“Thank you Father, for every good thing that you’ve given me in this life. To you be the glory in everything I do. And yes… Thank You for Star Trek. Amen.”

Something’s Gotta Give

Every generation has ideas and beliefs that shape that culture. New philosophies, new inventions, new events change the way people think, resulting in a cultural milieu that molds the minds of the generation that grows up in it. Certain things that were acceptable back in the day are absolutely unthinkable now. Certain practices that were unimaginable before are now pretty much common practice. And every culture believes that they’ve finally got it right.

Yet there’s been a standard laid down that hasn’t changed. Over the course of centuries, it’s been attacked, it’s been condemned, it’s been ridiculed, yet it remains the same. That is the standard of Scripture.

Problem is, many times, ideas popular in culture contradict the standard of Scripture. For instance, did we all come into existence from a totally naturalistic, unguided process of natural selection over thousands of years, or were we created by the loving God of the universe? Are men and women equal without distinction or are they equal in dignity yet different in role? Is sex no big deal or is it only reserved for the marriage bed? Culture and Scripture stand on different sides on these questions. But the bigger question for us is who are we going to trust when the two collide. Will we let culture trump Scripture, or will we let Scripture shape culture? Because between culture and Scripture, the truth is that something’s gotta give. The question for us all is, which one will it be?

Isaiah 40:8

“The grass withers, the flower fades,But the word of our God stands forever.“

2 Timothy 3:16

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

Theology-Schmeology!

“Theology is never any help. It is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn’t there.”

– Robert A. Heinlein

At the risk of sounding trite, the average Christian really isn’t too fond of theology. In fact, there are few better conversation killers than the word theology. It’s pretty fun to see the responses you get when you say the “t-word”, you’ll get everything from polite yawns, rolls of the eyess, sideways glances, nervous giggles, etc. And I suppose it’s understandable why.  Most of the theology we’ve been exposed to has been wrapped in such unintelligible language, it might as well have been in french (actually, some of it may really have been in french). Furthermore, a lot of it has come from professors who seemed utterly unmoved by the things that they taught. So theology has come across as boring and dead, something that should be left to the few weird Christians who have nothing better to do.

This however is an unfortunate state of affairs, because the truth is good theology is invaluable to a strong Christian life. Charles Swindoll, in his book Growing Deep in the Christian Life, shares six reasons good theology is essential, allow me to share three.

1. Knowledge gives substance to faith

• So many people rest their faith solely on their emotions, which are here today and gone tomorrow. The only way to build a solid faith is to rest it on the foundation of good theology.

2. Knowledge stabilizes us during times of testing

• Knowing the truth about who God is and what the Christian life is going to be like enables us to withstand the troubles that will come.

3. Knowledge enables us the handle the bible accurately

• It’s easy to misinterpret Scripture when you’re not familiar with good theology. It’s impossible to see what the whole Scripture teaches simply by going through it little by little. Getting a good bird’s eye view allows us to keep within the realm of biblical doctrine when we’re interpreting our bibles.

Lastly, I think good theology is essential because ultimately, we’re called to know God. That’s what our life is all about. This is the ultimate purpose for which we were created. And getting to know God is what good theology is all about. This doesn’t mean that everyone needs to enroll in seminary next term, but perhaps there are small steps we can all take. In fact, I’d like to ask, what small step do you think can be taken to move towards better theology?

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

- John 17:3

A Most Wonderful, Beautiful Word.

Ever noticed how over-exposure often leads to under-appreciation? Many times, your first encounter with something proves powerful, yet exposure over time tends to diminish its value in our eyes.  For instance, I remember how awesome it was the first time I got behind the wheel. Yet now, it’s an everyday thing that I rarely enjoy. However, there are those instances where it hits me once again just how wonderful it feels like to drive, windows down, wind in my face, with a good song playing on an empty road. There are times I look back at what life was like before a license and the memory helps me rekindle an appreciation and an enjoyment of driving. Because the truth is, regardless of how much I drive, driving is always a really cool thing. I just need to put myself in a position to appreciate it.

Recently, God’s really been putting me in a position to appreciate one of the things that I sometimes tend to neglect. It’s a seemingly simple word that many of us hear all the time. In fact, the word is repeated to us so often that we fail to understand what the word really means. Yet, when I quiet my soul and allow myself to remember all that this word captures, I’m transported from the chaos of a highway at rush hour to the tranquility of an open country road, windows down, breeze in my face…

The word is Grace.

There are few words as beautiful to me as the word grace. That God would choose to love me despite myself. That God would choose to forgive all my sins at the cost of His own Son’s blood. That God would enable me to become the person that He made me to be. All that meaning captured in the simple word: Grace. This is a word that ought to be treasured. Doesn’t matter how many times we hear it. There’s nothing quite as wonderful or as beautiful as the grace of God.

Father, I thank you for the grace you extended to me. I did nothing to deserve your love, and yet how you’ve lavished your love upon me. I pray that I would never forget the beauty and the wonder of your grace in my life. To you be the glory, forever and ever.

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” – Ephesians 1:5-8

Why Apologetics?

Ever since I became a Christian, I’ve always found myself moving towards apologetics. And whenever a Christian finds out that my interest lies in that area of theology, I’m always greeted with a warning. “That’s great, but remember, no one comes to Jesus because of arguments,” or “Oh, that’s nice, but don’t focus on that.”

I understand the warning, and in part, I agree with it. People deeply interested in apologetics need to be careful not to neglect other areas of their walk including worship, prayer, quiet time, and fellowship. It’s also important to take seriously the warning the bible gives when it says that “knowledge puffs up.” And lastly, we should not neglect our own personal testimony in evangelism.

However, the negativity that many Christians have towards apologetics I believe is largely unwarranted. From my experience, many Christians feel like apologetics is a dangerous distraction that is at best, simply unimportant. This attitude I believe is not accurate, not helpful, and not biblical.

In the book “Reasonable Faith”, Dr. William Lane Craig tackles this attitude by expressing three major functions of apologetics. Those are shaping culture, strengthening believers, and evangelizing unbelievers.

Apologetics should be an essential part of the Church because it can help to shape the intellectual climate of society. This is important because in many parts of the world, the gospel is not even seen as an intellectually viable option. To many people, talking to people about Jesus is the equivalent of talking to people about unicorns and elves. And when that’s the case, evangelism becomes exponentially more difficult. In Europe for instance, the soil is so hard that sowing the Word is getting more and more laborious. Today, over 22% of Europe is reported to have no religious affiliation, and the number is growing. The Church needs apologetics to keep the soil soft where it still is, and to move towards softening the ground where it has become hard.

Apologetics is also important because it strengthens believers. When a believer finds out that there is actually strong evidence to believe in a Creator, in the resurrection, and in the historicity of the bible, it just makes their faith more substantive. Many people rely on emotional intimacy to fuel their faith, and while that’s good and necessary, they cannot stand alone. Feelings wane. Reasons remain. And believers need to be strengthened in both the areas of the emotional and the intellectual to be healthy.

Lastly, apologetics is important because of the role it plays in evangelism. It’s funny that many people believe that apologetics doesn’t have a role to play in personal evangelism, when in the book of Acts, the apostles used apologetics over and over again. When talking to Jews, the apostles referred to the fulfillment of prophecy and to the objective miracles of Christ to talk to them about the gospel. When talking to the Greeks, the apostles used natural theology and the proof of the resurrection. These are all examples of apologetic evangelism. While our personal testimony is extremely important and useful, that does not mean that apologetics is unneccessary. The most effective evangelists will always be those who can combine their personal testimonies with a reasonable justification for their beliefs.

Pre-Sunday Mindsplat

Out of the 17 hours I’ve been awake, I’ve probably spent a good 13 hours just thinking about my message this Sunday. And truth be told, I’m pretty far from done.

In a way, it’s pretty odd that I’d spend this much time on a 30 minute preaching. I always felt like I was a decent communicator, and in fact, never really spent too much time preparing for things like oral exams or interviews. Speaking comes pretty natural to me, and as a result, I’ve always been comfortable just winging oral defenses and the like.

Preaching however is a totally different ballgame. And it’s not the crowd or the setting that makes the major difference. Upon reflection, there are basically three things that compel me to spend literally dozens of hours preparing for the preaching. The first is the opportunity. The fact is that I have the chance to impact lives with the message of the gospel. I know firsthand the power that the gospel has to change lives, and the fact that I have the opportunity to take part in that just motivates me to study.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” – Romans 1:16

The second motivating factor is the responsibility. Preaching the Word of God is no joke. And while I know that God’s grace is always available for me, I also know that it is my duty to handle the Word of Truth accurately.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15

Lastly, it is the privilege. It baffles my mind that God would choose to use a guy like me to reach out to a fallen world. I know deep down in my heart that I’m no better than anyone else. In fact, I really believe left to my own devices, I’m probably much worse than most. On my own, I’m proud, self-righteous, condescending, lustful, easily angered, violent, and greedy. Yet, God so graciously chose me to come into His family and be a conduit of His grace.

“For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain” – 1 Corinthians 15:9-10

Come to think about it, none of these three things are reserved to preachers. Every Christian has the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of people with the gospel. Every Christian has the responsibility to accurately handle the Word of truth. Every Christian has been given the incomparable privilege of being a minister of reconciliation. And whether we’re preaching in front of a crowd, or to a single person, the opportunity, the responsibility, and the privilege remain the same. My hope for myself and for all Christians is that we’d never lose sight of this fact, and we’d always be motivated to share the gospel and make disciples.

God speaks at Starbucks

About a month ago, I was invited to join a little apologetics small group at Starbucks on High Street (for the non-geek, apologetics is basically the branch of Christian theology that deals with seeking a rational defense for Christian truth claims). Being the type of guy that I am, I jumped at the chance to learn and share my passion with a group of other like minded men.

Just yesterday, we met up for just the second time, and I had a blast. We talked about all sorts of fun (well, fun for me) topics, like the interplay between free will and the omniscience of God, the irrational nature of the Jesus seminar (a radical group of liberal New Testament scholars), the lack of evidence behind atheism, and other really interesting topics.

In the midst of all this however, I felt there were two things that God was impressing upon my soul. The first was that arguments may win you battles, but they won’t win you hearts. Though apologetics is a worthwhile field that has it’s place in spreading the gospel message, at the end of the day, penetrating hearts will always be about love, prayer, and faith. We’ll need to show people the love of Christ both in our words and in our deeds. We’ll need to pray for the Spirit of God to soften their hearts and grow the seed that has been planted. And we’ll need to believe that God is mighty to save even the hardest of hearts.

The second thing that is so real to me right now is that no matter how much I learn, God will always be infinitely more glorious than I could ever comprehend. God is so mind-blowingly awesome. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge reside in Him. His power is beyond all measure. His glory brings the legions of angels to their knees in worship. And His love is enough to bridge heaven and earth through a bloody cross. How amazing is the God that we serve! To Him be all the glory, all the honor, forever and ever!

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?

Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen”

Romans 11:33-36

On Experience and Scripture

Just got home from a long, interesting day. Can’t stop thinking about the events of this afternoon. In fact, I’m probably gonna have to write another blog about in a couple days coz there’s so much to talk about.

This afternoon, Victory ran Hu u? for a second time this year, which is a half-day seminar on the differences between men and women. Despite my appeals and my supplications, I was made to take part in a panel discussion in front of a crowd of probably 800+ people. Thanks to my “friend” David (take note of the quotations, hehe…), whose insistence resulted in my participation, I had to answer questions on marriage (I’m not married), Christian dating (I’ve never dated as a Christian), commitment in relationships (haven’t been in a relationship since i came to Christ), and other thorny topics, many of which were beyond my current experiences.

Yet, as I listened to each question asked, I was surprised to find myself formulating a response and actually wanting to share my thoughts. I found myself wanting to answer, even though the questions were typically about things I’d never gone through myself. In the process, I came to a realization. Experience isn’t the best teacher. Scripture is.

The fact is that hardly anything I shared really came from my experiences. I didn’t really give advice based on my personal history. I didn’t tell people about some epiphanies I had while I was busy reflecting on what I’d been through. All I did was tell people what the bible said, and truth be told, that’s the only reason people should choose to listen to anything I said.

See, experience can only teach us so much. It can teach us how to avoid an ugly situation, but it can’t teach us how to achieve the ideal situation. It can warn us about dangers similar to those we’ve encountered before, but it can’t tell us anything about new enemies lying ahead. It can tell us about where we’ve been, but it can’t show us with certainty where we ought to go.This is why I believe experience is always a teaching aid at best, and it is at its best when it is examined under the light of Scripture. At the end of the day, Scripture is the ultimate authority on living. It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t been through, the bible will always be our essential guide. It is God’s Word forever penned and it will always ring true, it will always bring light, and it will always lead us in the path of life.

“Every Word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” – Proverbs 30:5