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Repenting of Regret: Your Future Determines More Than Your Past

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regretWhat kept Abraham from being crippled by regret over Ishmael, whose progeny would plunge two lineages into millenia of violent conflict? What kept Joseph from the bitter regret of losing the prime of his life to wasted jail time, betrayal, and abandonment? What kept David from despairing in regret over Bathsheba – not only losing their child, but the perpetual consequence of the sword in his own household? What kept Peter from the regretful shame of denying his Lord and Master three times? And what steadied Paul when he could have easily plunged into guilt and regret over his former life as persecuting Saul?

What will keep you from a life crippled by regret? What will bring you hope?

There’s only one medicine that can cure the cancer of regret.”Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). Continue reading →

Resources on Church Government

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Both video and audio resources for thinking biblically about ecclesiology and polity.

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Marks-of-a-True-ChurchOne of the enduring decisions that continues to divide Christian denominations is polity – how the church is to be governed. Episcopal, congregational, presbyterian… each of these systems of authority and submission draws from elements of Scriptural truth, and believers have been unable to completely reconcile the various strands across denominations.

One sign of encouragement, however, seems to be recent, small trends towards agreement. Many denominations that are independent/congregational have been putting a greater emphasis on partnering together, and connectional/presbyterian denominations have displayed a willingness to think about the importance of the local congregation.

Examples of this abound in confessional, orthodox American Christianity. Denominations that were created out of the fight against modernism and biblical faithlessness – e.g., the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the Presbyterian Church in America, the United Reformed Churches of North America – have all by in large been careful to regulate centralized power and emphasize local, congregational authority (no doubt partly in reaction to abuses they had witnessed prior). On the other end of the polity spectrum, independent churches are showing an increased interest in working together. Networks such as Acts 29, the Gospel Coalition, Redeemer Network, and Reformed Congregational all act as evidence for this trend. Perhaps there is an increasing desire to find strengths on both ends of the spectrum, and God willing, careful students of Scripture will find ways to biblically and confessionally articulate these truths that lead to greater unity.

But enough pontificating, and on to the actual resources! Continue reading →

Monday Morning Pulpit: The Coming Kingdom Disrupts All Other Kingdoms

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MondayMorningPulptiSometimes you run out of room or time in your Lord’s Day sermon, and so “Monday Morning Pulpit” is a chance to expand upon or reinforce ideas you didn’t have a chance to finish during the sermon.

Doing some last minute sermon prep the other week brought me to this gem in Herman Ridderbos’ The Coming of the Kingdom. It was incredibly helpful to recast some of the homiletical language from the sermon in the kingdom language that Ridderbos so helpfully draws out from the text:

…in John’s [the Baptist] and Jesus’ preaching the coming and break-through of the kingdom are put in the foreground, and not the state of things at the time of fulfillment. This tremendous dynamic of the divine coming which sets the world of the angels in motion (Matt. 1; Luke 2); fills the devil’s empire with alarm (Matt 4:3ff; Mark 1:24; Matt 12:29); yes, even causes Satan to fall from heaven (Luke 10:18), permeates and transmits itself in everything and in all who are touched by it. For the coming of the kingdom is the initial stage of the great drama of the history of the end. It throws man and the world into a crisis.

Continue reading →

Owl Rights

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I was reading my son to sleep with a night time book about owls.

OwlsStoryThe story mentioned that owls are protected under U.S. laws. Sure enough, with a little googling, the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act protected many species, and owls were added to that treaty in 1972. The precise language states:

Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, any part, nest, or egg of any such bird, or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or in part, of any such bird or any part, nest or egg.
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I am neither an owl-ologist, nor the son of one, but it seems to me that it is not a stretch to recognize the great lengths we go to in protecting owls based on a 1972 law. I am dumbfounded, therefore, that one year later we would aggressively attack and murder unborn babies in 1973’s Roe v. Wade.

I am against terminating pregnancies because there are self-evident truths woven into the fabric of our universe that prohibit the taking of innocent and defenseless life. More fundamentally, as a Christian I believe these unborn human beings are made in the image of their Creator, and their sacred life should not be extinguished prematurely.

But suppose you disagree with me (in spite of all the evidence, and ultrasound images!, to the contrary) that fetuses are not human beings, merely reproducing tissues; pre-human life. Fine. Could we at least work toward agreement that fetuses deserve the same rights and protections as owls?

What NA28 May Mean For the Future of Reasoned Eclecticism

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DBWallaceNT manuscript guru Dan Wallace recently wrote at his blog on the newest edition of the critical text of the Greek New Testament, “Nestle-Aland 28: The New Standard in Critical Texts of the Greek New Testament.” There was a lot of interest there, but a few things stood out.

As INTF [Ed. – Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung in Münster] worked through the Catholic letters, they came to see much greater value of the Byzantine manuscripts than they had previously. In Wachtel’s presentation, he noted that the NA27 displayed “prejudice against the Byzantine tradition” while the NA28 recognized the “reliability of the mainstream tradition.” This is a welcome change in perspective, made possible because of exhaustive collations.

The changes are so great that the apparatus symbols will change as well, from a gothic “M” to “Byz.” Wallace calls it a “sea change” in Münster for how the text is approached.

Secondly, Wallace says “a step back” has been taken in the editorial process.

The previous edition was edited by three Protestants (Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland, Bruce Metzger), one Roman Catholic (Carlo Martini), and one Greek Orthodox scholar (Ioannes Karavidopoulos). The latest edition lists as its editors only “the Institute for New Testament Textual Research… under the direction of Holger Strutwolf.” … the final decisions about the text are solely in the hands of Münster.

No ecclesiastical information was listed, and it sounds like there is a fairly firm bottleneck in the final decision making process. Textual scholars would be able to say if this is typical or a departure from the norm, but Wallace noted it as a step back.

So then, on come the questions.

  1. Is this a change in reaffirming the role of the Byzantine, Majority text? (See Wallace’s article for some redefinition of what “Majority/Majorities Text” will mean going forward.) Is this a step toward bringing Received Text and Critical Text proponents together?

    2. Continue reading →

Theology for Pastors from John Calvin

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Dr. Scott Manetsch lectures on Calvin’s Pastoral Theology. This video was taken from the RCA Integrity conference, which we’ve linked to in the past.

There are a wealth of resources there for Midwest ministry, so look for more information from that in the future.

In the meantime, ponder what Calvin’s theology and praxis means for ministry today.

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6 Truths to Stand On When Voting

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Dear Zion,
With the campaign advertisements, donor & polling phone calls, it is clear that election season is upon us! Christians are, often rightly, concerned over where the country is going, what candidates do and say, and the pressure cooker of the election season only adds to that. But what truths from the Bible can we stand on, even leading up to the election? Here are six:

  1. God is sovereign over whoever is elected in November. It is clear from Scripture that ultimately the White House, as well as every position of power, comes from God’s power and authority. He “brings kings down and He sets kings up” (Daniel 2:21). The rise and fall of nations is in His control (Daniel 4:30 – 37). If even such little things as the life of sparrows (Matthew 10:29) and the rolling of dice (Proverbs 16:33) and under God’s control, will God not also oversee the heart and decisions of rulers (Proverbs 21:1)? The citizens of America will elect their leader on Nov. 6 by voting, but this is simply the means that God uses to install the leader He has chosen.
  2. God can use bad leaders to accomplish good things. Even if the person who gets elected is not the person we wanted, God is still able to accomplish His purposes! In fact, God always accomplishes what He wants, and no force in heaven or earth can thwart Him (Ephesians 1:11)! God called the pagan king Cyrus to be His “messiah” in setting His people free from exile (Isaiah 45:1 – 4). The apostle Paul reminds us that even an emperor as wicked and notorious as Nero was still the Lord’s civil minister keeping peace, rewarding righteousness and punishing evil (Romans 13:1 – 7). Ultimately, all rulers, kings and presidents will be subdued before the King of Kings and President of Presidents, Jesus Christ (Psalm 2)!
  3. Therefore, our ultimate hope is in God, not politics. Continue reading →

Pro Omnibus Sanctis

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Celebrated in the earliest days of the Church as Αγίων Πάντων (All Saints), this is a fantastic rendering of the eighteenth century hymn by Indelible Grace. As you ponder the church militant (Christians laboring for Christ on yet on earth) and the church triumphant (those saints who have entered into their rest), may this song encourage you to labor on til that yet more glorious Day.

Don’t Search Google for Theology

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Shane Lems of Reformed Reader has some great insights into how to utilize the internet for finding good theology:

Finally, I’d recommending using Google as little as possible when doing biblical/theological research. Google’s methodology in finding websites might be helpful in some areas, but not theology. Google works with clicks and cash; good theology isn’t determined by popularity or money, but by Scripture as read and interpreted in and with the historic Christian church. The top search results on Google are not necessarily the best sources for research and study. Rather than Google, email your pastor, elder, or another wise/mature Christian and ask them where they would recommend getting reading material on a certain subject. Or, look for information on websites whose authors are accountable to elders, creeds/confessions, and/or denominational standards. Continue reading →