Slavery in the New Testament

Posted on May 27, 2011 by blund

Dear Zion,
In our sermon series looking at God’s transforming grace in the book of Colossians, we note in chapter three, verse twenty-two: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything… Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly…” (Colossians 3:22; 4:1). Slaves?! Reading along about how the Lord wants us to live in the power of Christ’s resurrection (Col. 3:1-4), and how that power should transform our families (Col. 3:18-21), it can be jarring to come to these verses and hear the Apostle Paul talk about slavery. Why doesn’t Paul scream out against slavery? Is he condoning it? Why does Scripture speak this way? Continue reading →

Just In Case You Missed ‘Em

Posted on May 26, 2011 by blund

With the overwhelming influx of information available, discerning readers must become selective in what they give their time to read. Just in case you missed ’em, here are some links I found valuable, and hope you will also.

NYT: The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries
Being the husband of an amazing teacher, this issue strikes close to home. Why does the entertainment business (pro sports, musicians, Hollywood) command multi-billion dollar industries, but our most formative is nearly broke? I think R.C. Sproul once argued that educators’ compensation reveals a culture’s priorities.

Ligonier: What about “Church is boring?”
When we come into the presence of the Almighty, we come as embodied souls, and there is nothing boring about meeting with the Ancient of Days.

Michael Gerson critiques Ron Paul’s Libertarianism Continue reading →

Calvin: Benefits from Justification for Children

Posted on May 25, 2011 by blund

Calvin wanted Christ’s little lambs to know the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and he wanted them to know that justification also provided:

Sanctification – as distinguished from, but – inseparable with it

Master.But can this [imputed] righteousness be separated from good works, so that he who has it may be void of them?

Scholar. That cannot be. For when by faith we receive Christ as he is offered to us, he not only promises us deliverance from death and reconciliation with God [i.e., justification], but also the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which we are regenerated to newness of life [i.e., sanctification]; these things must necessarily be conjoined so as not to divide Christ from himself.
Assurance of salvation

M. What advantage accrues to us from this forgiveness [which is, of course, included in justification]? Continue reading →

After Prayers, Lie Cold

Posted on May 24, 2011 by blund

Arise my body, my small body, we have striven
Enough, and He is merciful; we are forgiven.
Arise small body, puppet-like and pale, and go,
White as the bed-clothes into bed, and cold as snow,
Undress with small, cold fingers and put out the light,
And be alone, hush’d mortal, in the sacred night,
-A meadow whipt flat with the rain, a cup
Emptied and clean, a garment washed and folded up,
Faded in colour, thinned almost to raggedness
By dirt and by the washing of that dirtiness.
Be not too quickly warm again. Lie cold; consent
To weariness’ and pardon’s watery element.
Drink up the bitter water, breathe the chilly death;
Soon enough comes the riot of our blood and breath.

C.S. Lewis, Poems (1964)

Harold Camping?

Posted on May 20, 2011 by blund

Here are some resources for thinking about Harold Camping’s “prediction” of the rapture on May 21, 2011, and the end of the world in October, 2011.

Godfrey – “The problem with Harold Camping is that he’s lost the Gospel. He’s lost Christ.”
Mohler: The End Is Near? The False Teaching of Harold Camping
Michael S. Rosenwald, “This Time, It’s for Real, Believers Say: Doomsday Coming This Month,” The Washington Post, Thursday, May 5, 2011.
Sproul Jr: Not a False Prophet, Just a Bad Exegete
“A Conversation with Harold Camping, Prophesier of Judgment Day,” New York Magazine, Wednesday, May 11, 2011.
Godfrey – Harold Camping and the End of the World – WSCal Valiant for Truth series
Riddlebarger – Old Issues with Camping

Needless to say, I’m not going to stop preparing my sermon for Sunday, May 22. I’ll try to get a comment here on Monday, just to check in!

Hymns vs. Contemporary Worship

Posted on May 18, 2011 by blund

Sometimes we can think that the issue of the older hymns vs. more contemporary songs (often praise choruses) is overblown. Music is subjective, so they say, and how can anyone say one is better than the other? Isn’t it personal opinion?

I’ve said elsewhere that not all hymns are created equal (I’ve never been in a garden alone with Jesus), and that there is some absolutely phenomenal new stuff coming out in contemporary songs. But despite these caveats: no, music isn’t wholly subjective and beyond critique. McLuhan Mug Remember Marshall McLuhan?

The medium is the message.

Dr. Lester Ruth is especially helpful for driving this point home. Dr. Ruth is now at Duke (formerly Lily May Jarvis Professor of Christian Worship at Asbury Theological Seminary), and he has tried to show conclusively the differences between song forms. He examined the top contemporary songs from CCLI for 13 years for language on how these songs spoke about the Trinity, the atonement, God’s divine saving work, and other doctrines unique to Christianity. Here are some of his findings: Continue reading →

Spiritual Marriage, Spiritual Union

Posted on May 16, 2011 by blund

The section on “spiritual marriage” is short, but chock full of gospel excellence.

Growing up in American Evangelicalism, I knew how to “close” an evangelistic encounter. Having sufficiently stirred with the target’s emotions and guilt, you led them in the (sacrament of the?) Sinner’s Prayer™ (© 1954), and both parties left (often never seeing each other again) satisfied that eternal security had been purchased [/sarcasm]. But upon stumbling into the doctrines of grace, how do you actually lead someone into saving faith? Sure, your TULIP and covenant theology come into sharper focus, but how do you appeal to a spiritually dead will for conversion?

I submit that Evangelista’s interaction with Neophytus serves as an excellent example of how to press the Gospel message home. Evangelista’s question: “But tell me truly, are you resolved to put forth all your power to believe, and so to take Christ?” is a fantastic picture – not of subverting the emotions and the will – but of testing in a ministerial manner whether or not God has brought life out of death (Ephesians 2:1-10). Continue reading at TheMarrow.Org…

Soaring By Relying On the Holy Spirit

Posted on May 12, 2011 by blund

I want to thank Eric Williams, the class of 2011, and all of you for the privilege of addressing you this evening for your Baccalaureate service. Congratulations to the graduating class!

As we think about our theme of “soaring,” one of the key passages in Scripture that has already been mentioned is Isaiah 40:31 – “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”. Maybe we sometimes wonder, “Why should I believe that God will help me soar on eagles wings?” Well, that is a question God’s people have asked themselves in every generation. But the reason we can know that God will help us soar on eagles’ wings is because He has proven that He has done it in the past, and He can do it again. Continue reading →

Not Jaded Enough?

Posted on May 12, 2011 by blund

Let’s go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love…
We’ll be young forever
– “Teenage Dream”

Where is my jaded and cynical generation when I need them? We are the generation that went through Monica-gate in the White House, have been inundated with casual sex flurries in the media, “reality” TV, and real reality. When this generation actually was in the teenage years, Cobain’s shadow was still hanging over the party. Though she has other reasons, I agree with this The Atlantic writer, that Perry’s teenage dream “isn’t mine.”

Does anyone still think the unicorn of “no-strings-attached” sex exists? This strange, erotic amnesia needs to die sooner than later.

Sanctification: Ryle vs. Pink?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by blund

What role does sanctification play in the Christian life? And specifically, is sanctification necessary for a Christian to ultimately be saved? Sometimes this issue can be confusing for Reformed Protestants who wish to maintain salvation by God’s saving grace from first to last, and yet also trumpet the need for holiness and good works. Even reading erstwhile helpful pastors and expositors can be confusing, as J.C. Ryle and Arthur W. Pink demonstrate. Consider their separate comments: