A Boomer in the Pew

Why Does God Permit Suffering?

A good many people throughout history, have completely denied the existence of God over this very issue.

For the Christian, this is still a very difficult question.  Horribly painful things happen to Christians everyday.  What are we to make of this?

Does God not care?  Is God really all powerful?  When we are screaming our guts out in pain....where is the answer?

The book of Job provides us a glimpse into this mystery.

Job 1:13-19:   "Now there was a day when his [Job] sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,  and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,  and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants  with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,  and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

In one day, Job lost all of his wealth, his seven sons, and his three daughters.  Here was a "blameless and upright" man who was completely stripped of everything.  Worse yet, it would seem, Satan asked God to let him do this,  and God permitted it?

What?  Come on...what???? 

This is a very difficult event to wrap our minds around. 

Are  you prepared to hear God's answer?  Are you willing to set aside your own understandings and simply come to God with this question? 

Listen to Dr. John Piper, in these three videos from his 2008 Regional Conference, "When the Righteous Suffer". 

If you allow God to speak to you, it will change your worldview, and bring you great comfort.

Saviour King - Hillsong United

Top 5 First Impressions of my New ESV Study Bible

Look what I just received yesterday!  I just received my first copy of the new English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible!

I was so excited to receive it, the first thought that came to my mind was to photograph it for my blog. 

For this first post, on the new ESV Study Bible, I thought I would share with you my first impressions.

1.)  Wow!  This is a huge text!  According to my blue Chinese desk ruler, this text, lying on its back, it is 2 1/8 inches deep!  That depth competes with the copy of Dr. Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" that also sits on my desk.

2.)  2,750+ pages!

3.)  Another reason for my enthusiasm,  is affinity.  Dr. Wayne Grudem was the General Editor of this project.  Wayne is also my Sunday School teacher. 

There are two other contributors, to this project, that I know from my home church:  Dr.(s) Paul Wegner & John DelHousaye.

Further still, there are many contributers who are my mentors from afar.  Examples include, J.I. Packer, Vern Poythress, Darrell Bock, John Piper, and quite a few more.  Additionally, there are many scholars, from all over the world, who I look forward to getting to know.  With the Internet, it is incredibly easy to plug right into their minds!

4.)  Content!  Of course, first and foremost, this is God's sacred text.  But as you all know, this text can be difficult to understand.  With this study Bible you literally have scores of the world's most brilliant minds, holding your hand all along the way.  I noticed also, that this study Bible also touches on some of our culture's most difficult challenges such as abortion, world religions and cults, foundational doctrines, and much, much more.

5.)  On-line ESV Study Bible website.  I haven't perused this additional value as of yet, but I did get, with my new Bible, a secret password that unlocks features that evidently allow me to personalize the site.  For example, evidently I will be able to keep notes, on the web, of my studies.  My mind reels with the possibilities of such an on-line resource and the possible community that could be formed around the study of God's word.

Well..that is enough for now.  I will be back, in the coming weeks, as I actually use this Bible and share more of my impressions.

Confessions of a Paunchy Baby Boomer

Have you ever noticed that when stress appears in your life, its attributes will appear all over the place?

When I experience stress, it generally appears in my waistline.

Problem - I hired a trainer/nutritionist a year ago to move me forward towards a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Although I am significantly healthier than a year ago, my fat reduction has recently stalled.

Confession - I have, in the last few months, succumbed to old habits of eating after 9:00.

Excuse - there isn't one.  I am allowing bad habits to control this part of my life.

Resolution - I am resolved to continue my health journey and experience the joy of a healthy and fit lifestyle. 

Action - Fess up!  I will fess up to my trainer/nutritionist and build accountability, for the near term, with my wife. 

Self Talk - Dude!  You have gone from 33% fat content to 19%.  Don't stop!  You can do it! 

From God - Stress, and its attributes, are ultimately a lack of faith.  Continue your journey in faith.

PS - NO!  Those are NOT my toes. 

It's Your Fault, This Economic Crisis

I generally don't make a habit of simply copying other people's articles, but I thought this one was worthy of your attention.

First of all, [Hat Tip to Tim Challies] for the article.

Carl Trueman reminds us that when we point a finger, looking for someone to blame for this current economic mess,  there are always four fingers pointing back at ourselves. 

Reformation 21 is the on-line magazine for The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.  In this month's edition, Carl Truman forwards an interesting contention, that has long been on my lips.  The difference is, he is far more eloquent in his presentation, and disciplined in his thought process.   

To give myself a little break, he is a trained PhD in Church History, whereas I am a businessman, two years ago retired from active involvement in the retail mortgage business, as a mortgage company owner.

I noticed this insanity starting to brew quite a number of years ago.  In fact, I wrote an article to my industry lamenting the insanity of negligent underwriting standards combined with cheap money, and greedy markets.

Clearly this fell on deaf ears.  There were far too many people looking for the quick easy buck.  In fact, millions of people joined this stampeding herd, right off the cliff.

Read on to contemplate Carl Truman's disquieting thought. This economic mess is...YOUR fault!

Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008

Talk Not.  Blog Not.  Do! 

I praise God that I belong to a church that has not only the vision, but the character to actually do something about poverty.  I am also thankful to God for the resources that he has entrusted to me.  When I learned of our church's mission in Tanzania, it was clear to me that God desired some of his assets, in my care, to be invested in the new classroom project in Tanzania.

To me, giving is worship.  It is a clear and tangible way that I can demonstrate my praise, obedience, and faith in my heavenly Father.  The actual act is anonymous, and therefore provides a clear way for us to demonstrate the love that Christ requires of us.  Pure love, with no expectation of acknowledgment, except from my holy Father.

So, bringing attention to poverty is a worthy thing.  Actually taking out your checkbook, and sending a check takes that worthwhile attention, and brings it into action,  in the form of love.

If you are really concerned about poverty, write a check.  Even $5 from every blogger can make a difference.  We can all afford $5.  Right?

ESV Study Bible Online

From Crossway Publishers: 

"We are pleased to announce that the ESV Online Study Bible is now available. This site is open to everyone, and has special features that can be unlocked with a code included in every print ESV Study Bible. We’ve also made these special features available for free in the book of Matthew, so you can try the site while you wait for your print ESV Study Bible to arrive."

I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.com.  I am looking forward to getting this baby in my hands.  It looks like the web-site will be useful as a study tool, as well.

Jonathan Edwards' Rare Manuscripts Digitized

I am a subscriber to the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University.

As such, I have at my on-line disposal, literally hundreds of Jonathan Edwards' writings.

Now, they have released 42 high resolution, digital photographs of some of Jonathan Edwards' rare and priceless manuscripts.

Here we can see a copy of Jonathan's Bible,  surrounded by homemade note pages for his studies.

I find it amazing that I can be sitting in the year 2008, in Scottsdale, Arizona and be reading Jonathan Edwards' Bible from the 18th century. 

Don't you?

The Doctrine of Adoption - The Most Precious Blessing of the Whole of the Bible!

I just finished my study of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson's "Children of the Living God", which is a treatise on the Doctrine of Adoption.

I was drawn to this study because Dr. Wayne Grudem, in his "Systematic Theology", stated that: "the Doctrine of Adoption just may be the single greatest blessing, even above forgiveness of sins!"

This didn't make sense to me.  How could anything be more important than the forgiveness of sins? 

I decided that if this were the case, then I had better park the bus and rest awhile in this doctrine.  What I have found is a completely new, and very precious self-image.  The above photograph presents a fairly good visual of the whole of the doctrine. 

From Dr. Sinclair Ferguson:

"The conviction behind this book is that realizing what John was speaking about is life-transforming.  It lies at the heart of understanding the whole of the Christian life and all of the diverse elements in our daily experience.  It is the way - not the only way, but the fundamental way - for the Christian to think about himself or herself.  Our self-image, if it is to be biblical, will begin just here.  God is my Father (the Christian's self-image always begins with the knowledge of God and who he is!); I am one of his children (I know my identity); his people are my brothers and sisters (I recognize the family to which I belong, and have discovered my deepest 'roots')."

From Dr. J.I. Packer:

"You sum up the whole of the New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator.  In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's holy Father.  If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father.  If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all."

These are both powerful statements for Christians to hear and understand.  If you boil the whole of the Bible's teachings down to one thing, that one thing is that God desires to have a relationship, with each of us, as "sons".  He started that way in the Garden of Eden, and the whole of the Bible tells of his past, present, and future plans to restore us into sonship.

Dr. Wayne Grudem, as I see it, was right.  This doctrine is a more precious blessing as compared to salvation, as difficult as that may seem. 

Salvation is the how, but Adoption is the why!

Abba, Father!

Our Final Destiny as Sons of God - Receiving our Inheritance

The New Jerusalem by Pat Marvenko Smith.

This is the 13th post in my study of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson's text "Children of the Living God".  Buy this book from Amazon.

We come now, to the last chapter of Dr. Ferguson's text.  Here he points us to the final destiny for the sons of God:  our inheritance.

Throughout the whole of this text, we have seen that God has determined that our relationship to him will be as his "sons".

We saw that the scriptures called Adam, God's son.  After the fall, we find that once again God returned to a father-son relationship with the nation of Israel.  Today, we find ourselves adopted into this family, through Christ, and living under a new covenant.

Sonship is everything!

As I have studied, and meditated on these truths, I have found that my perspective has completely changed.  I never fully realized the intimate relationship that God desires to have with us as sons.  I never really saw the central theme of sonship, and the restoration of us as sons, weaving its way through the whole of the Bible.  Never before has my identity, as God's son, been so before me.  Never before have I understood the beauty of my Father, and the relationship that he deeply desires to have with me.  Never before have I contemplated unending....increased...joy...for eternity.  Finally, never before have I understood all that my Father has for me, waiting in store, as my eternal inheritance.

When I spend time meditating on these things, it really is overwhelming to consider.

1 Peter 1:3-4 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,"

Romans 8:17 - "and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..."

Galatians 4:7 - "So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."

Did you get all that! 

Let's explore Dr. Ferguson's final chapter...