I See More

Despite horrible reviews, my wife and I went to see the Lady in the Water the other night. My wife's movie standard is, if it gets bad reviews, we might like it and vice versa. Accordingly, we both thought it was great!

The following morning I read some more reviews of the movie to see why I had such poor taste in films. I ran across a review from Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer entitled "Lady in the Water: I see Wet People." It was, as you may have guessed, another diatribe on how big an idiot director M. Night Shyamalan really is. Rea concludes his review with the declaration, "I see wet people."

Rea's review got me thinking. Why is it that some see and others do not? Why is it that some are prompted to fall on their knees in repentance after hearing the preached Word, while others remain unaffected? How come some find great hope in reading the Word, while others see only myths and fairy tales? Are some people just smarter than others?

I think that the Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes the biblical answer quiet nicely as follows:

"We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverend esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts." [Emphasis added] Chapter I - V.

It is, of course, nothing less than the working of the Holy Spirit. May many more eyes be opened through the preaching and reading of the Word.

I see more. . .

"Faith Night"

I ran across a story on Marketplace yesterday regarding ballparks sponsoring "Faith Nights" to help boost ticket sales on certain games. On "Faith Night"there will be personal testimonies from star players to be followed by a Christian rock concert. I think these "Faith Nights" are rather appropriate since our culture tends to worship sports and athletes. Moreover, churches, more and more, resemble stadiums. I am surprised some church growth guru hasn't thought of offering free baseball hats to the first 500 people to attend Sunday worship!

I know -- I am being very cynical. . .

Lig on Worship

I have recently enjoyed listening to a 2002 round table discussion regarding worship with J. Ligon Duncan, III a.k.a. "Lig," Bob Kauflin, Carl "Chip" Stam, and Mark Dever. Although I found some common ground with all of the pastors, I believe Dr. Duncan's overall approach to worship is most true to scripture.

There was simply too much food for thought in the discussion to address in this short post. However, I was particularly struck by one of Dr. Duncan's experiences while worshiping in the Free Church of Scotland. If you don't know, these churches are exclusive Psalmists and do not believe in using instruments in worship. He relayed that for the first time in his life he realized that if there was going to be worship -- he was going to have to worship. That is, no one was going to worship for him. It was not going to be done for him vicariously through someone else's prelude, ensemble, or choir anthem.

I thought to myself how often do we find ourselves vicariously worshiping through others? Is there such a thing as vicarious worship? How can our worship services be designed for more corporate and direct worship of God?


*You may listen to the discussion online at the IX Mark's website at this link.

Reason No. 1002 -- Why I do not attend a PCUSA Church

Al Mohler, in a blog entry entitled The God Who Names Himself,writes the following:

On June 19, the 217th General Assembly of the church [PCUSA] voted to "receive" and commend to the church for study the paper entitled "The Trinity: God's Love Overflowing." The recommendation before the General Assembly was modified so that the report was "received" rather than "approved," but the result is practically the same. The paper is now a part of the official proceedings of the General Assembly and it is now forwarded to local congregations for study and application.

In its most controversial sections, the report suggests new triads of language that can be used in place of the biblical language for the Trinity--namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The new triads, suggested for employment in worship, include "Rainbow, Ark and Dove," "Speaker, Word and Breath," "Overflowing Font, Living Water and Flowing River," "Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child and Life-Giving Womb," "Sun, Light and Burning Ray," "Giver, Gift and Giving," "Lover, Beloved and Love," "Rock, Cornerstone and Temple," "Fire that Consumes, Sword that Divides and Storm that Melts Mountains," and "The One Who Was, The One Who Is and The One Who Is to Come."

What??? To the good folks in the PCUSA still trying to keep the ship afloat -- you are in my prayers.

The Dominion Mandate

"We have only one thing to give up. Our dominion. We don't own the world. We're not kings yet. Not gods. Can we give that up? Too precious, all that control? Too tempting, being a god?" Anthony Hopkins as Ethan Powell. Instinct (1999)

I have found that Hollywood often times portrays the depravity of man correctly. However, it rarely, if ever, gets the solution right. It simply does not understand the Gospel. A few years ago, I might have somewhat agreed with Ethan Powell's statement. That is, I saw mankind as the environment's biggest problem. I did not grasp that all of creation was cracked when Adam sinned. I thought that if we would just let nature take its course, it would work itself out. Today, I see that attitude is entirely unbiblical.

Are we not given the mandate to subdue the earth?

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:28-31 (ESV)

Granted, we will not see a perfect earth until it is restored by our Lord, but in the interim we are in a sense the caretakers of it Mr. Powell. To give up control of it, moreover, not to actively pursue dominion over every corner of it, would cut against scripture.

I was recently given a tour of a large state farm that a good friend of mine supervises. He described the research they were doing to produce better varieties of fruits and vegetables, e.g., ones that were resistant to disease. I thought what a great example of subduing the earth. In effect, should we not be working toward restoration of the earth to its pre-fall condition?

The Gospel at Dairy Queen

. . .Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9. (ESV)

I have found that the Gospel goes well with cheeseburgers and fries. Recently, on a return trip from vacation, my family stopped a Dairy Queen for supper. It is interesting how the Holy Spirit prompts little hearts to ask deep eschatological questions that are difficult for adults to answer. One of those is, "What is the Gospel?" How do you explain it to a three (3) year old or a thirty (30) year old for that matter? I have taught my girls that the Gospel is simply this, "Jesus will make sure you are at the party." They seem to understand it quickly. They love parties! I want to remind them in the same sentence that it is Christ's work, not their merit, that will get them there. I want to emphasize the promises of God, if you will. Now, they ask me all the time, "What will the party be like?" and "Who will be at the party?" I even overheard my oldest daughter, who was five (5) at the time, ask her cousin, who was her same age, "Do you love Jesus?" He responded, "Yes." My daughter replied, "Then you will be at the party!" I think she gets it.

How do you explain the Gospel to your little ones? How do you explain it to yourself?

The Man in the Mirror

"When we hear the divine benediction on the creation of humanity, 'It is very good,' we are meant to see that here God saw himself in the mirror. The law was natural not only for God, but for his image-bearer. The difference was that while God cannot transgress his own moral character, since he is necessarily holy and righteous, creatures are only contingently so." Michael Horton, God of Promise (2006) p. 84.

God looks in the mirror and sees righteousness and holiness. The sinner looks in the mirror and sees Adam. God looks at the believer and sees Christ!

Acting Outside My Vocation - Thoughts on Vocation (Part 6)

Gene Veith writes "When we act outside our vocations -- that is, when we try to do something we have no calling for -- we are only creating trouble for ourselves. Sometimes this may involve a moral transgression, as in taking the law into our own hands instead of calling the police or having sex with someone we are not married to. More often, acting outside of vocation is morally innocent, but it results in ineffectiveness, frustration, and wasted time." God at Work (2002) p. 139.

Well, four (4) hours of labor, and the creation of this octopus, has shown me that it was not my calling to be a satellite TV guy. But hey. . .it works!

The Ultimate Consumer Driven Church

Me Church!