Tried With Fire

I care deeply about the issue of domestic violence and especially when it occurs within the homes of professing Christians. I've previously stated that the church-at-large has not always handled this well, so I'm thankful anytime there is a discussion about abuse on the Christian intraweb. Here are some recent links, some of which you may find controversial. However, I believe in order for domestic abuse to be addressed, this requires examining one's position on divorce, headship/submission, and gender. These are tightly interwoven threads making the issue very complex. Without a doubt, examination needs to be done in the light of God's Word, but at the same time, the question needs to be asked, "Are we wrong?" This won't be an easy task. The problem of domestic violence isn't going to be solved in a naive or simplistic manner, but saving a life is worth the effort. Fooled by False Leadership - A sermon on domestic abuse by Jason Meyer, April 25,...

Trigger warning: Rape, violence against women, target/victim blaming, objectification. The Bible isn't a book of nice moral stories on how to be a good person. It contains very stark pictures of the sin and the brokenness of mankind after the fall. One of these depictions is in Genesis 34. Jacob's daughter, Dinah, is seen by Shechem, a prince in the city where they are sojourning. He takes her and rapes her. Then he wants to marry her. What follows is mutual deceit on both sides. Shechem's father suggests they strike a bargain and begin to intermarry, which is agreed upon by Simeon and Levi but only if the men are circumcised. The men of Shechem think this is a small price to pay because they will eventually assimilate Jacob's family and his wealth. But Simeon and Levi are plotting to kill them in their weakness and not only that - they have misused and abused a covenant sign from God to exact their revenge. Once the deed is done, Jacob's sons take the property...

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:22-25. "There is all the difference between the groan of death and the groan of life. Now, the apostle sets the whole matter before us when he said, "The whole creation groaneth," and you know what comes after that, "travaileth." There is a result to come of it of the best kind. We are panting, longing after something greater, better, nobler, and it is coming. It is not the pain of death we feel, but the pain of life. We are thankful to have such a groaning." C.H. Spurgeon, Creation's Groans and the Saints...

We're writing about the local church this month at Out of the Ordinary , and it's my turn again: I love the local church, and I stand by everything I've ever said or  written  about my faith family. But Christian community isn't always easy. It requires commitment, perseverance, and sometimes it's necessary to roll up one's sleeves and fight for it. But the fight may not be against another person. I've learned that the battle is often against myself. Read the rest of the post ...

Without "absolutes" revealed from without by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about manners, justice, and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers. We could never know who God is, how He is to be worshipped, or wherein true happiness lies. If virtue is sought above harm as a road to temporal happiness, the striving and the progress starts and ends in self - but selfishness is itself a vice! No attitude of mind which does not acknowledge dependence upon Almighty God and seek to glorify Him has any element of good or virtue in it. If the mind of a student is ensnared by these theories and speculations, he will find it a sore task ever to be free of them. Indeed, it is a dolorous task, and something beyond the potential of the slothful or careless, to root out mercilessly ideas and dogmas with which the intellect has long been nurtured. With the world, indwelling sin, and early education all arguing the same way, i...

Let it be admitted on all sides that God, by His right of creation, is the supreme Lord of all things. Then their very existence consists in dependence upon Him, and they conform to that nature which He has implanted in each one of them. All creatures, by the fact that they are created, each with its due proportion of capacity and talent, are equipped to worship their Creator and to serve him. "All Thy works shall praise Thee" (Psalm 145:10). For this reason, we see the psalmist frequently urging all of creation to praise God. The eternal and unchanging method of divine worship is preached and practiced by all of the Church, be it militant upon earth or crowned in heaven; that is, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasures they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11). with which sings in concert the entire throng of creatures, "and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, an...

ht: Rob on FB And for your viewing pleasure, The Force Awakens official teaser #2 .

I am thankful for this truth and for a faithful friend who wouldn't let me go down the path of needless (and sinful) worry -  Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘Wh...

There's another group post over at Out of the Ordinary in which we share the ways we serve in the local church. Read it here .

"The king's garden."—Nehemiah 3:15. Mention of the king's garden by Nehemiah brings to mind the  paradise  which the King of kings prepared for Adam. Sin has utterly ruined that fair abode of all delights, and driven forth the children of men to till the ground, which yields thorns and briers unto them. My soul, remember the fall, for it was  thy  fall. Weep much because the Lord of love was so shamefully ill-treated by the head of the human race, of which thou art a member, as undeserving as any. Behold how dragons and demons dwell on this fair earth, which once was a garden of delights. See yonder another King's garden, which the King waters with His bloody sweat— Gethsemane,  whose bitter herbs are sweeter far to renewed souls than even Eden's luscious fruits. There the mischief of the serpent in the first garden was undone: there the curse was lifted from earth, and borne by the woman's promised seed. My soul, bethink thee much of the agony and ...

ht: Reformed Baptist Fellowship & Theology Forum on FB

I'm at Out of the Ordinary today: "It will be seven years next month since I've been a member of my church. It's hard not to get teary-eyed when I think of the journey that led up to that day. It's also hard not to get teary-eyed as I write this and think of what this group of believers means to me. If you asked me 10 years ago whether I would darken the door of a church again, the answer probably would have been, "What!? Are you kidding?" Yet here I am today, a member in good standing of a local church…" Read the rest of the post here .

(Update: See postscript at the end of the post.) Dear Darth Vader: I hope this finds you in relatively good health, all things considered, and trust that the spring pollen has not had a detrimental effect upon your breathing apparatus. But lest I be sidetracked by lesser subjects, let me get to the point of my correspondence. This meme came across my Twitter feed a week or so ago, and I wanted to thank you for the good laugh from this clever mash-up. Well done, sir! But at the risk of being force-choked, I would respectfully disagree with your understanding of Reformed Baptists. Anabaptists aren't our fathers. If you search church history, you will find this to be true. Reformed Baptists can trace their origins to English Puritan separatists in the 17th century. In fact, the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith , printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1742, was nearly identical to the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession,  thus American Reformed Baptists share the same herit...

In Romans 16:17, Paul writes the following: I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Notice what Paul says here. Contrary to the modern notion that doctrine divides, Paul here says the exact opposite: these people who must be avoided are divisive precisely because they have departed from the true teaching. It is their doctrinal deviance, their departure from true teaching, that makes them sources of division. If Romans 10:9-10 made the positive case for doctrine as a vital part of belonging, here Paul states the other side of the case, that wandering away from sound doctrine means being divisive and ceasing to belong. The Creedal Imperative , Carl R. Trueman, Crossway 2012, pg. 68.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Job 19:25-26 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him....

Acts: Evangelical Press Study Commentary , Guy Prentiss Waters, John D. Currid series editor,  EP Books, 2015, 614 pages. This commentary on the book of Acts is the latest in Evangelical Press' Study Commentary series. It is written by Guy Prentiss Waters, professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. As stated in the preface, the purpose of this volume is to provide a concise resource for those who want to understand the text better for themselves. It also seeks to avoid two extremes - first viewing the book of Acts as a blueprint for church purity and secondly that it is solely historical with little current application. This commentary is also written from a Reformed perspective. Before jumping into the text, the introduction discusses basic information about Acts including authorship, title, genre, its purpose, the outline and motifs contained in the book. This is followed by exegetical commentary and application of the text itself,...

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:1-3 (KJV) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 50:6 (KJV)