Well, you learn something new everyday I guess. I have had a problem with my DSL for several months now where it will drop in and out, sometimes dropping for 30 minutes. I have called SBC’s tech support over and over again to no avail. Occasionally they are able to tweak the line to some degree, but not enough to triumph over the problem. It was always like putting a band-aid on a wound. I called so many times that I just learned to have the first level tech support guy (in India usually) transfer me to the line department directly. So after this went on for several months, the connection dropping, me calling tech support, them fixing it temporarily, I finally got someone that knew something I didn’t know (something that may help the rest of you on a DSL connection if you ever have this problem). The guy at the line department said that looking at the logs on my connection he could tell the problem was more than likely an issue with my line filter. What was more astonishing (and I didn’t know this before), the guy said it’s a good rule of thumb to hook your modem’s telephone line directly to the wall jack without a filter but to put filters on every other telephony device in the house that lies on the same line! I did that and I am seeing significantly less errors in my firewall logs than I was before. However, I’m not holding my breath because this same type of thing has happened before where it appeared the issue was fixed and then it failed over and over again. I’m not understanding why they give you filters that have both a computer jack and a telephone jack if all you’re filtering is your analog voice connection. Anyway, what really amazed me and proved to me that was indeed the problem is that yesterday, when the connection had dropped for about 30 minutes, I called SBC (again), and upon learning that vital piece of information I had my wife take out the filter for me, and bamm: it connected instantly. So it seems this may have fixed it … so if you have a DSL line, you may try hooking your modem up directly to the wall, just so this never happens to you 😉
READ THIS FIRST:
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
Monergism.com subsection on the Emerging Church:
Monergism.com – Emerging Church
I particularly like this quote on the site …
“Emerging Churches are those (1.) who take the life of Jesus as a model way to live, and
(2.) who transform the secular realm, (3.) as they live highly communal lives.
Because of these three activities, emerging churches
(4.) welcome those who are outside, (5.) share generously, (6.) participate, (7.) create, (8.) lead without control, and (9.) function together in spiritual activities.
Boiling it down to one sentence: Emerging Churches are …
communities who practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures.
But critics often find the following characteristics of emergents: no place for formal convention; indifferent to biblical truth, Spiritual but not confessional; a strong distaste for definitions, sound doctrine or confessional Christianity; constant state of rebellion; often argumentative and often finding things to disagree with other believers rather than looking for the good. Rarely genuinely repenting or saying sorry for their offending with those who differ but expect it and accuse their opponents of being unloving. Amazing that those who thrive in lacking certainty themselves are so certain about their uncertainty and judge harshly those who claim that God has actually revealed something we can apprehend. How is it that they claim to have such a birds’ eye view that all the rest of us are all so wrong when they already deny having this kind of authoritative knowledge. Many emergents are making authoritative announcements that there is no authority. These firm assertions themselves must derive their source and dogma from some authority. In other words, the movement is hopelessly self-contradictory, doing the very things it despises in its opponents. A blow that is certainly fatal.”
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I just thought this was funny, I know it’s a caricture, but it’s still funny, though not really beneficial as an argument against the movement …
Another good entry by Phil Johnson on the hopeless contradiction of the movement …
Excellent audio interview with Pastor Ron Gleason and Chris Pajack speaking on the Emergent church … EXCELLENT
The Emergent Church (Windows Media)
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Okay. So I’ve given several articles and discussions as an argument against the Emerging Church and their principles of adopting the culture in order to win the culture, bringing post-modern thinking into a divine, eternal, absolute context. So how exactly are we to preach the Gospel to the post-modern thinker? I believe this sums it up:
Keller on Preaching in a Post-Modern City – Tim Keller
Now let me qualify what I said in my last entry with the statement that these contridictions occur along both sides of the aisle. Both are hypocritical in many ways. Both sides of the political spectrum are full of faults, mainly because sin has corrupted every single one of us, in every single facet of our lives. No one escapes its grip and deceitfulness. For any Republican to believe and assert they are without error in their thinking on almost every issue is foolish. The same for Democrats. But I will say I personally believe the Republican party upholds the ideals this nation was founded upon more so than Democrats. However, both sides are becoming more and more corrupt in my opinion which may lead to the eventual downfall of this country further down the road. And as a result of this corruption, the American people are becoming less confident in our leaders (generally speaking). In a lot of ways, though I agree with Bush on the war on terror, there are many things that I don’t understand in his collective decisions. For example, he wants to defeat terrorism at the front door (the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, wiretapping, etc), but leaves the back door open (so to speak), the US/Mexico border. People are pouring over our borders and we are just now beginning to address this problem. How is that upholding the security of our nation 4 1/2 years after 9/11? And how are we going to defeat terror if people are freely running back and forth across the border? Does this not seem to be a big security problem? What’s the point in fighting with all this technology and then doing something so naive by leaving the back door open where terrorists can (and have according to some reports) come and obtain easy access into this country? That’s one aspect I just don’t understand. It just seems so contradictory. That’s not to say I totally slam Bush and the Republicans for everything they do, that they are all a bunch of greedy corporate pigs, blood thirsty and evil. That’s ridiculous. For the most part, I agree with Bush on almost everything else. There are plenty, if not more things Democrats do wrong than Republicans (in my opinion), under the guise of “good-will” toward the people. I guarantee you that if Democrats had their way and we were moved toward Socialized healthcare, no Democrat Senator like Clinton, Schumer or Feinstein would be going to one of those doctors. They would have their own. In addition, as far as I’m concerned, abortion is an issue I cannot and will not compromise on. It should be utterly abolished and is an absolute abomination and disgrace to this country. It’s infanticide at its best. Democrats tout rights this and rights that for every person, including even animal rights, and yet unborn humans can’t have the same rights? Is an unborn baby human no better than a dog? Man, that is hopelessly contradictory. The priorities there are so messed up and in disarray. It boggles the mind. And therefore, I must stand with Republicans on this issue alone because they uphold the principle of protecting the life of the unborn.
But my main premise is that faults are heavy on both sides. So there’s no need to say one party is better than the other. That is a wrong attitude. The very fact of the matter is that coming from a liberal ideology, you will lean more toward the “love love love” mentality without logic. But if you come from a conservative bent, you will tend to be more logical (some of us at least) with no love. Now that’s not the case for every person, I’m just speaking in general terms. What’s the right position though? Logic with mercy and love. I wish that was a new party 🙂 “The Logic and Mercy” Party.
The main answer to this is we must trust in Christ for everything, especially our salvation, but also for every facet of our lives. If your hope lies in this party or that party, or this ideology or that, this possession or that, you will be utterly disappointed. Hope in anything outside of Christ is meaningless hope, doomed to fail, and will wind up being burned in the end. Jesus Christ secured the salvation of any who would believe in Him, that by faith in His blood, we can be forgiven of all our sins, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, whatever background, whatever race, whatever lifestyle or belief system you’re in, the poor, the rich, any one can be saved by Him through faith in Him. And how amazing is it that He not only died but rose from the grave!? He’s alive! If you place your faith in Christ, what more should you have to trust in? Jesus is God, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world! Possessions, money, political party’s? All of this is rubbish, just like Paul said of all things, apart from Christ. He is our only hope and in Him is the greatest government that will ever be established, a benevolent dictatorship/monarchy. And what a wonderful King to have as our King and Leader for all eternity, if you’ve believed in Him. The Lamb that was slain will rule forever. How wonderful is that? Man I can’t wait to see Him with my own eyes …
When the whole Abramoff thing first got attention in the media, it was hoped by democrats this would mean the downfall of Republicans keeping their control over congress. Well, not only have they found rather ambiguous evidence linking Republicans to Abramoff, but now they wound up finding specific information linking one of their own to Abramoff, Sen. Harry Reid. I guess if you want to stir up the pot, you may get more than you bargained for sitting at the bottom …
We must do something about the border problem. It has nothing to do with race. If Japan was bordering the US and illegal immigrants were pouring over our border into our country, the response would be the same. It has everything to do with preserving our country and our way of life. In addition this is a huge security hole with vast implications all over the board, namely, terrorism, amongst a host of other things. No one ever thought 9/11 would happen. And we must be vigilant to seal every possible hole in our country to prevent other clever attacks by the enemy. There have been recent stand-offs along the Texas/Mexico border (Texas Deputies Threatened After Border Standoff, Texas officials seek border help, Sheriff Lucio testifies of border dangers, Alien smuggling suspect shoots at Ariz. Border Patrol officers). There have also been a series of tunnels discovered going from the US to Mexico (Tons Of Marijuana Found In Border Tunnel, Border Tunnel Is Called ‘Amazing’). This is a serious problem and if the people responsible for the smuggling see that we aren’t standing up to this issue boldly enough, they will indeed take advantage of it. Members of the MS-13 gang have been reported to be apart of this as well, including the trafficing of drugs, immigrants, and embezzling money. They are also becoming a growing threat in Houston, Dallas, and El Paso (amongst several other places). If we don’t take care of this problem now, it will fester, grow, and escalate into a problem beyond what we may think could possibly happen. We sit fat and happy in this nation, not considering the possibility even that we could be over-run, but it’s happened before in times past with other nations. We must have foresight on this issue and stomp it out before we’re over-run down here. I’m definitely glad that the Senate is actually beginning to see this as a big problem and passing bills to stop it, but we’ve already let it become a rather large problem by integrating illegal immigrants into our economy (using them as cheap labor generally speaking), and we are now stuck in some ways. So now, as a result, it will be even more difficult to get a handle on the problem. In addition, the very fact that we are stepping up the defense of our border means that the people responsible (MS-13 and possibly the corrupt individuals within the Mexican military) for channeling drugs, immigrants and money across the border will inevitably step up their ambitions.
I don’t claim to have in any way arrived in my understanding of things, and I still have a long way to go. I’m just writing what I’m observing within the church.
It seems many Christians in America only seem to know John 3:16 as a defense of the Gospel, but then don’t even know really what all that entails (sure they may know the very basic premise of the Gospel, but don’t know it in its fullness). While this is an excellent verse (and God-inspired, infallible Scripture), almost everyone and their dog, including unbelievers, already know this verse in our culture, and it does very little to convey the entire message of the Gospel. It does in a general sense convey it, but that’s it. This verse, by itself, doesn’t communicate the entire message, and can mislead people immensely (i.e., well God loves me so I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing without any regard to Him as the source for my entire existence and experience). Which leads me to my point: The American evangelical church is making the message of the Gospel so simplistic now that the message doesn’t communicate the essence of the entire Gospel, with all its peaks and valley’s. The church is also watering down the Gospel even when preached in its fullness, but that’s another issue I’ll talk about some other time. We must preach the Gospel in its fullness, with all of it’s rough edges, and amazing grace, or we may not be preaching the Gospel at all. We must preach the Gospel as it is conveyed in Scripture, or we may be falling in to grievous error. God has given us a whole big book that conveys God’s redemptive plan throughout history, specifically wrought in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Quote some other verses that show the whole message. People know John 3:16, but does anyone know what it says right before and right after that verse? There are some really hard things Jesus says! For instance, right before John 3:16 is the whole section where Jesus is speaking of the new birth, that we must be regenerated in order to be saved. (Now here I would argue for the monergistic view of the new birth, that regeneration precedes faith, but I’ll leave that alone too and stay on topic). Also, in John 3:36 Jesus says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Whoa. The wrath of God remains on a person if they reject the Son of God? And what is the wrath of God? It is the everlasting torment of God for the unrighteous. This is not temporal … it’s eternal. But who are the unrighteous? I claim to be unrighteous all the time if you read my blogs; I am indeed a sinner, an awful sinner! So how is it that I think I’ll escape this wrath of God? Am I claiming that I’m righteous? No way! I’m a wicked man. We’re all unrighteous though. The only reason I am righteous at all is because of Jesus, His death of resurrection of my sins. It is because I possess a righteousness that is not my own, paid for in the Son of God on the cross, that He has freely given me, His own righteousness, like a robe that covers me, not owing to anything within me. So here is the message we need to preach, even if it makes people uncomfortable, annoyed, and possibly persecute us:
1) God is the Lord of heaven and earth, the great Creator of all things (Genesis 1-2).
2) God has spoken to us in His creation, showing His divine nature and eternal power (Romans 1:20). But more specifically, He has inspired His word, the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, infallible and without error, as a means of knowing Him better and coming to see and believe in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16).
3) All mankind has sinned (Romans 3:10-18). There is no one that doesn’t sin and there is no one that escapes the wrath of God as a result of that sin, apart from Christ (Romans 3:23, 3:19). We are by nature slaves to unrighteousness (Romans 8:7-8). We are born into sin (Psalm 51:5), sinful even from birth. Naturally, we rest under the condemnation of God because of our sin (Ephesians 2:3b). Our sin separates us from God, and not only that, the wrath of God abides on us even while we’re alive, apart from faith in Christ. And how many sins have we all accumulated over the course of our lives? Makes me sick to even think about. Both the self-righteous (those who think that just being good and obeying the law of God will earn them salvation) and those who totally reject the law of God altogether, living in lawlessness even, are all under the condemnation of God. Every mouth is silenced before the great judgment seat of the Lord God almighty. There is absolutely no one righteous. We are ruined before Him in our sin. Doing good works to try and justify yourself before an almighty, holy, perfect God is pointless. And those of you by living your life in rebellion to God you are simply storing up wrath for yourself when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed with fire. God hates sin. And those without Christ will be consumed by His wrath for all eternity (Revelation 20:11-15). He is just, and cannot be in the presence of sin. He will punish it. Our offense is against the infinite, eternal God, and therefore the punishment will be so. And there is no hope to escape His wrath, except in …
4) Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-26, one of the most important sections of the Bible in my estimation). God exists in Trinity, or God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons. Jesus became a human, both fully man and fully God. He lived a life of perfect submission and righteousness before the Father, something we could never do. Because of this, He became fully qualified to become a sin sacrifice, blameless and spotless, on behalf of anyone who believes in Him. He allowed Himself to be subjected to death and gave Himself up by dying on the cross. He shed His blood, becoming an atonement (or propitiation, i.e. wrath bearer or deflector) for any who would believe in Him. Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert, that any who looked to the snake would survive their snake bites and be healed (Numbers 21:4-9), so also Jesus was lifted up on the cross, that whosoever believes in Him by faith should not perish (eternally) but have eternal life (John 3:16). However, if you reject Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior, you will be eternally condemned and in fact stand condemned already (John 3:18)! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Romans 10:13).
We must use Scripture as our source for preaching the Gospel. And we must use Scripture in preaching the Gospel. These are the very words of God breathed out. John 3:16 is an amazing verse, and I even used it above. But don’t just tell someone that without giving them whole story. It’s indeed a difficult thing to do because the message of the cross is offensive to the world and there is a high chance you will be persecuted for preaching it. In giving people a very very simplistic message though, you are doing them a disservice by not giving them all of the truth. And this is highly dangerous.
Biblical Reflections on Hebrews 6 – John Hendryx
This is a really great Scriptural refutation of those who claim this passage speaks that the truly regenerate believer can lose his/her salvation. Much like everything within Scripture, context is so vitally important. It is said of real estate there are three rules which determine the value of your property: location, location, location. And I believe with Scripture there are three rules (amongst many) when studying Scripture: context, context, context. Part of this contextual analyzation is done by referring to other passages of Scripture that echo your understanding of a passage as well as (and especially) referring to surrounding text to put it in its proper environment of thought. Many passages of Scripture can be unlocked when put in their proper context and many false doctrines can be snuffed out when the Scriptures are properly understood within their respective context. This passage is no exception and a very clear example of this. People will take this one passage and make it say something it isn’t saying at all by taking it out of context and disregarding some, if not all of the surrounding text. No Scripture contradicts itself because it is all the inerrant, authoritative word of God, and I believe the result of John Hendryx’s blog entry shows what the result is when Scripture is properly exegeted.
The recent world-wide riots in response to the cartoons depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban speak volumes about Islam as a religion to me. Now, I in no way believe the Danish journalists were justified in publishing those cartoons. It was a wrong thing to do. I want to make that clear. However, the response was equally if not more condemnable than the publishing of those cartoons. The leaders of Islam state that the terrorists are extremists of Islam, in the minority of what most Islamic people believe. They state Islam is a religion of love. I find it interesting though that if the terrorists are in the minority, how is it that the majority seems to be doing all the rioting in response to a few cartoons? You know, Christianity (Christ) is slammed all the time by the world (even by Islamic people) and yet, for the majority, Christians are not destroying property in response to these attacks on our faith. I do believe Christians should be offended more these days at the attacks made on Christ, but they should not destroy property or riot in response. That’s just wrong.
So how is it that the people of Islam can bash Christ all they want, but as soon as someone bashes Muhammad (not saying I agree that’s a beneficial thing to do), they get in a hissy fit, destroying buildings, people, and themselves in some instances? And it seems to me this is characteristic of Islam, this being a prime example. If it’s such a religion of love, how is it that the majority’s response is something so violent and unloving? Makes me wonder if the leaders of Islam who speak to the Western media understand the religion at all. Maybe they’re just toning it down when speaking to us. These riots show that the majority of Islamic people want the West to vanish in my estimation, it’s just some of them have the guts enough to attempt to make it happen (i.e. the terrorists).
The Danish journalists shouldn’t have done something to encourage their behavior, but the Islamic people shouldn’t be responding the way they are as well. There is responsibility on both sides. If a person I’m doing business with offends me deeply by lying to me about our business deal (before a contract is signed by either of us) and in rage I go and beat him with a club, who’s going to be more at fault? The guy who lied or me for beating him? Who’s going to get the citation and possibly go to jail? Will it not be me? But why? Because I broke the law. Right? The journalists didn’t technically break the law in Denmark, though I don’t agree it was a wise thing to do. And in response some Islamic people are totally destroying at least one Danish embassy (that I know of) and creating havok all over Europe and the Middle East. That’s ridiculous.
All of this over a stupid series of cartoons, showing the opinion of one publisher? Stupid NBC does a lot worse than that all the time toward Christianity … The Book of Daniel, the Will and Grace episode coming up in April. And what should my response be to this? These things offend me deeply because it’s an attack on my Savior, Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself for my sins. I hate that NBC is doing this! But I’m not going to go blow up Rockefeller center or the GE building or cause mass hysteria in response. That would be doing the opposite of the very thing I’m trying to do; win people for Christ, that they may be saved! A staple of Christianity is loving your enemies, just as Christ loved His. So if the majority of devout Islamic people riot over something so trite to begin with, what does it say about the religion as a whole? How can it possibly be a religion of love, selflessness, and sacrifice if this is how they react to someone bashing their faith? If it is a “religion of love” then their leaders in their Mosque’s need to do some serious re-teaching of their faith. I believe history proves though that this is definitely not a religion of love.
Articles pertaining to this:
My Other Blog on the Future of the West Vs. Islam
Islam – Monergism.com
Protests Grow Over Muhammad Drawings
Press urges end to cartoon riots
“Religion of Peace” or Riots
Rabble in the name of Islam
Asians Protest Mohammed Cartoons
NBC Offends Christians Again – CNSNEWS.com
It’s really not all that surprising this is happening. Jesus in fact said in Matthew 10:22, “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake,” and in Matthew 24:9, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake,” and Luke 6:22, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” and Luke 21:17, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake,” and John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you,” and John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you,” and praying to His Father in John 17:14, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
It is very clear from this that persecution, whatever the form, is nothing new and has been the case for a long time. And not only this, it should be expected! The world utterly hates Christ, and if you’re associated with Him, you will be persecuted, to one degree or another. We should not be surprised this is happening. It happened to Christ, He was reviled, and we should expect the same if we are to follow Christ. Yes, it is highly offensive what is happening; they are spurning the Son of God, but it is not surprising. The world hates believers’ because it hates Christ. Christ is in believers’ therefore it hates us as as well. Listen what Jesus says though concerning persecution in Matthew 5:10-11, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” When enduring through persecution and showing the love of Christ to these people who hate us, it may be that by God’s grace many of them can be saved. I pray that’s the case. I believe our response should be one of sorrow and love toward these people who constantly slam Christ, because Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us on the tree, having become a curse for us. How can we not but do the same to people who revile us for Christ’s sake?
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
I’ve constructed a page with MP3 downloads of John Piper sermons on Romans 9. I cannot begin to explain or tell you what is at stake in the verses of Romans 9, and really Romans 9 through 11. Many people falsely interpret Romans 9 to be spoken of in a temporal context, meaning they assume it’s speaking of the election of groups of people and the temporal blessings that result, not individual people and their eternal destinies. I believe that after listening to these sermons it will be unmistakably clear from Piper’s preaching that it is speaking of the latter, respectively. The main point of Romans 9 itself is not election. Election is simply the substantiating of the primary point. And this is the main point: if the vast majority of Israel has rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ, and yet God made promises to bless them in the past, has God’s word failed? And if God’s word has failed for the Jews (hypothetically speaking), what hope do we have as Gentiles that the verses of Romans 8 will hold true, namely, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” and “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The answer is in verse Romans 9:6, namely, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” The rest of Romans 9 through the end of Romans 11 is an argument for this statement. And how do we answer these things, the unfathomable, deep things of the Lord? “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” – Romans 11:33-36. I urge you to take the time for this, set aside what you feel about God’s sovereignty, and consider these things. As Piper says in one of his sermons (my paraphrase), Paul doesn’t deal with controversial, mind-bending doctrine because it seems to be intellectually intriguing or stimulating. He wouldn’t give it to us unless it could do something for us practically speaking. So again, please give heed to this and listen intently because being grounded in God in His great divine sovereignty through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection gives me so much hope, everyday.