A Boomer in the Pew

Boomer in the Pew's Weekend Reading

This has been a great week of learning for me.  I have been tackling, all week,  the doctrine of election and finally feel like I have an understanding that will allow me to move forward in my series on Systematic Theology.  I will be writing my last post on election next week.

I thought I would also pause a bit to reflect on where this blog has journeyed thus far.  My objectives for this blog are:

1.)  To journal my thoughts and findings in my faith journey.

2.)  To leave these, as a legacy, for my sons, family and friends.

3.)  To welcome the world at large into the conversation.

I have noticed a few trends in this blog that are significantly different from my other blog adventures:

1.)  My audience is truly world-wide.  This is amazing when you think about it.  Just an hour ago someone from Nairobi, 9422 miles away, was in my blog reading about finding the will of God.  That is mind blowing to me.

2.)  People are staying and reading what I have to say and searching through my articles.  Sure, I gathered lots of traffic with other ventures, but people didn't hang around long.  Here they are staying and reading about my journey.  A great privilege to me.

For this weekend's reading I thought I would share with you my top three posts (defined by your readership) as well as a few other interesting posts I found this week:

• My #1 read article - My record of the series done by Jamie Rasmussen (Scottsdale Bible Church) on the book of Esther.
• My #2 read article - My understanding of the lessons learned on "Understanding God's Will" from my Class 100 at Scottsdale Bible Church.
• My #3 read article - Once again from my Class 100, "Learning to become a Disciple of Jesus Christ".  This was a two part post which you can find here and here.
• Great intellect can be a real stumbling block in understanding the things of God.  Albert Mohler has some interesting thoughts on, "Albert Einstein's God - The "Product of Human Weakness".
• This week the California Supreme Court ruled that "same sex couples have a constitutional right to marry".  This has become a difficult issue for our country.  Dr. John MacArthur shares some direct and caring thoughts on the subject with, "God's Plan for the Gay Agenda".

Well, that is enough for now.  Thank you very much for your kind readership and I will see you next week.

The Third Word from "The Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross"

"Christ on the Cross between Mary and St. John", c 1512 by Albrecht Altdorfer.

This is my fifth post, joining fellow Christian bloggers in reading Christian Classics.  In this series we are reading Dr. A.W. Pink's, "The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross".

John 19:25-27, "Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing there, He said to His mother, "Woman, here is your son."  Then He said to the disciple, "Here is your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home."

While Jesus hung on the cross we are witness, through the sacred text of the scripture, to one of the most pivotal moments in all of creation.  First Christ interacts with His Father, then with the thieves on the cross, and now with His mother and the beloved John.

Standing by the cross of Jesus was His mother.  Imagine her pain.  From Pink:

"What sorrow it must have caused her when, because there was no room in the inn, she had to lay her newly born babe in the manger!  What anguish must have been hers when she learned of Herod's purpose to destroy her infant's life!  What trouble was given her when she was forced on His account to flee into a foreign country and sojourn for several years in the land of Egypt!  What piercings of the soul must have been hers when she saw her son despised and rejected of men!  What grief must have wrung her heart as she beheld Him hated and persecuted by His own nation!  And who can estimate what she passed through as she stood there at the Cross?  If Christ was the Man of Sorrows, was she not the woman of sorrows?  "There stood by the cross of Jesus...His Mother"

Chapter three, for my part, was not the feast of deep theology as the first two, but it was certainly a chapter full of drama, human suffering and lessons for us to observe.

Please read on...

God you like me, you really, really like me!

"King David in Prayer" c 1635, by Pieter de Grebber.

This post is the third in a series on the question of Predestination (Election and Reprobation).  This series will ultimately be part of a larger collection of posts on "The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption" from Dr. Wayne Grudem's textbook on Systematic Theology.

In yesterday's post, we examined what the New Testament has to say regarding the Doctrine of Election (Predestination).  The result of that careful look found that clearly God ordained beforehand those who would be saved. 

At the end of the post, in light of that clear revelation, I asked a few very difficult questions that would likely come to the minds of any serious student of this subject.

For the moment, I am going to table further discussion of my questions as Dr.  Grudem's text wants us to look at another issue first.  That is, how does the New Testament present the teaching of election?  I also mentioned yesterday that the other thought that comes to mind is that if this is true, how lucky and thankful should I be that God chose me to be one of His elect?

So for now, let us leave the questions about the unsaved on the table for later discussion and today focus our intentions on those who are saved.  How has the Holy Spirit presented, through the New Testament, the doctrine of election for those who believe?

Shedding some tears about the idea of Predestination (Election and Reprobation)

"The Last Judgment" c 1617 by Peter Paul Rubens.

This post is the second in a series on the question of Predestination (Election and Reprobation).  This series will ultimately be part of a larger collection of posts on "The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption" from Dr. Wayne Grudem's textbook on Systematic Theology.

In my last post I introduced the question:

Is it possible that a loving, saving God actually makes a conscious decision to send some people to hell and to make that decision before they were born?

We need, perhaps, to be reminded as well just what the definition of election is:

"Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure."

I am certain that we could discuss this topic until the cows come home, but what does God tell us in His word on this subject?  What sense would it be for us to discuss this difficult topic without first seeking God's wisdom on the matter? 

So..let's join Dr. Wayne Grudem, in his textbook Systematic Theology,  and find out what the New Testament has to say on the subject of Predestination.
 

Does God Predestine Some People to Hell?

"Paradise and Hell", c 1510 by Hieronymus Bosch.

This is clearly one of the most difficult questions in all of the teachings of Scripture.  Is it possible that a loving, saving God actually makes a conscious decision to send some people to hell and to make that decision before they were born?

When I was a much younger man I determined in my mind that there was no way that "my" God could do such a thing.  I suspect that many who call themselves children of God fall into the same camp.  The problem in this thinking is that it doesn't really matter what "I" think.  What is the truth of Scripture?

To be honest, I don't know.  But this difficult question is the next topic in our journey through Dr. Wayne Grudem's book "Systematic Theology" and specifically the section on "The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption" and the chapter on "Election and Reprobation".

To be fair, to even begin to answer this question is going to rely on 700 pages of doctrine, prior to this question, that we have not covered in this blog.  But, I have chosen to do this because this is the section that Dr. Grudem is currently covering in our Sunday School Class.  I jumped into this class nearly two years downstream. 

Dr. Grudem has also already made the decision to fall on the side of the Calvinist or Reformed  way of thinking.  Therefore, our discussion is going to be coming from that side of the fence.  Having said that, Dr. Grudem would be the first to tell you that he isn't infallible.  Therefore, lets give the man some grace and dig into this topic.

Please read on...

A Series on the Book of Esther

This is designed as a landing page for all the posts that I did on my series on the Book of Esther:

#1 - God Behind the Scenes
#2 - When Pride meets Humility
#3 - The Price of Righteousness
#4 - Decision Making when it Counts
#5 - A Well Laid Plan (Part 1)
#6 - A Well Laid Plan (Part 2)
#7 - The Blessings of Faithfulness
#8 - Handling Power
#9 - The Kingdom of God is a Party

These notes and thoughts were taken from nine teachings that Jamie Rasmussen (Senior Pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church) did on the Book of Esther.  I have also included links, in each of the posts, to Jamie's audio file for each of the sections.

I hope these messages prosper your path as much as they did ours.

Happy Mothers Day

This is my mother's high school graduation photograph.  A few short years later, she would marry my father and on September 21, 1956 (a very stormy fall evening) she gave me birth.

My mother was a homemaker for the first 16 years of my life.  She was always there keeping the foundation under my feet.   My father, it seemed, always wanted to have his own business, so it wasn't long after we moved to Okemos, Michigan that my mother joined my father in building the Precision Service Company.  For many years she was there, alongside dad making a life for themselves and their family.

My father died a few years ago and mom is now a widow.  She has busied herself in the business of being a clown (she is a professional clown), she loves the Red Hatters, she belongs to the 50's+ group in her church and she enjoys being around her family.

I owe my creative streak to my mother.  If you happen to peek at my Flickr site (right hand column of this blog) you will notice my photographs.  One of the things that you will probably notice is that I am addicted to color.  I love saturated colors.  This is from my mother.   My mother's bedroom is glow in the dark purple, the dining room is bright blue, her bathroom is shocking pink.  Her world is alive with color.  She also has every conceivable nook and cranny filled with her artistic creations, pictures of the family, clown memorabilia as well as a few silly things to play with that generally bring a smile to ones face.  My mother has made an indelible mark on my life with her love of color, things created by her hands and a general appreciation of the beauty around us.

When I was a child, we were a family that needed to carefully watch our pennies.  I will always remember, when a particular Easter rolled around many years ago, she took cottage cheese containers and together we painted them and covered them with broken egg shells and turned them into Easter Egg Baskets.  All four of her children treasured those Easter Egg Baskets. 

When I was a boy scout, she helped me win first place in a contest to make something out of nothing.  I don't remember what the event was called, but we had a wire hanger, a coffee can, some string, a piece of cloth, nails, screws, etc.  From those things, my mother saw a jack in the box and together we built the first place entry!  When the Pinewood Derby would roll around each year, I never won the race, but I did win the most creatively produced car...every year as I recall.

These are my fondest memories of you mom!  Thank you very much for your creative gifts.  Thank you very much for spending time with me when I was a child to develop these things in me.  I will always cherish these things about you and promise to send your gift down into the generations to come.

Happy mother's day mom!  I love you.

Boomer in the Pew's Weekend Reading

The weekend is here and now it perhaps allows a little time for personal reading. 

Here are a few things that I found during the week that you might enjoy:

The Land of Disappearing Children - Japan's Population Crisis
Albert Mohler shares that the number of children in Japan has been shrinking for 27 years making Japan the lowest major nation in the world in regards to the proportion of children to adults.  This can spell incredible trouble to a nation.

Sunday School Wisdom
Ben Witherington received an e-mail this week from his mother with wonderfully funny jokes from children in Sunday School Class.

A look at the Two Christian Faiths in our Public Square:  Christianity and Jesusanity
Professor Darrel Bock discusses the Dethroning of Jesus.

Tim Challies sharing his thoughts on Total Depravity.
Our culture hates the idea of sin and that we as individuals might be sinners.  But what does God say in the Bible on the subject?

Jen is a home schooler in Oregon and shares with us her lesson on A Strawberry Tea Party.  I enjoy Jen's blog a great deal and she is without question this blogs most frequent commenter. 

The Truth about Homosexuality
In our "politically correct" society this subject is often taboo.  However John MacArthur and several professors at The Master's Seminary seek to give God's perspective on this issue.  There are fives audio lectures.  So far I have only listened to Dr. MacArthurs.  He was sensitive and very direct on the issue.  Give it a listen.
   

The Second Word from "The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross"

"Christ on the Cross between Two Thieves", c 1619 by Peter Paul Rubens.

This is my fourth post, joining fellow Christian bloggers in reading Christian Classics.  In this series we are reading Dr. A.W. Pink's, "The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross".

Lets read Pink's introduction to this chapter:

"It was no accident that the Lord of Glory was crucified between two thieves.  There are no accidents in a world that is governed by God.  Much less could there have been any accident on that day of all days, or in connection with that event of all events -- a day and an event that lie at the very center of the world's history.  No, God was presiding over that scene.  From all eternity He had decreed when and where and how and with whom His Son should die.  Nothing was left to chance or the caprice of man.  All that God had decreed came to pass exactly as He had ordained, and nothing happened save as He had eternally purposed.  Whatsoever man did was simply that which God's hand and counsel "determined before to be done" (Acts 4:28).

Once again, A.W. Pink is going to take us deep beneath the text of this historic event and bring to light those things which are seemingly unseen.

Please join me...

Israel's 60th Birthday

Happy Birthday Israel! 

This month marks Israel's 60th birthday after "The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel" on May 14th, 1948.

Here is a link to the Jewish Virtual Library to learn a little more about their history.