When the Abortion Industry Self-Destructs

In one sense, there are really just two types of people when it comes to the topic of abortion: those who think it is okay to kill unborn babies, and those who think it is wrong. If you don’t think you’re in one of these categories, you still are; you’re just confused.

Confusion, though, isn’t the most terrible thing. It means there is still hope, and in fact, this hopeful condition likely characterizes the general public of the United States. Most people don’t have a deep conviction about unborn babies. Most people don’t even think about unborn babies unless it’s an election year or the news runs a story. Even most who support abortion could only repeat the rhetoric they’ve heard from devotees.

And therefore, if confusion is what’s really popular, the question becomes: What will it take for abortion activists to convince the general public that their position is a psychotic threat to humanity?   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Be the Opposite of a Hypocrite

Knowledge doesn’t terminate on the knower. We don’t learn in order to conceal, just like a lamp isn’t lit to be put under a basket (Matthew 5:15). We learn in order to express — to lead others in seeing and savoring what we have seen and savored. And that means we don’t merely say it, but that we say it effectively.

To encourage this kind of communication, John Piper recently explained four characteristics of helpful speaking and writing to new graduates of Bethlehem College and Seminary. He counsels communicators to say what they’ve seen with truth, with logic, with pictures, and with love.

It’s perhaps that first point, though, that might surprise most of us. It could seem redundant to say that communicators of truth should communicate with truth. But as Piper explains it, he doesn’t mainly have in mind that we be the opposite of liars, but that we be the opposite of hypocrites. He then continues by giving a profile of hypocrisy:   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

The Deep Joy of Self-Denial

Jesus gives us commands — “demands,” we might call them. They are words issued to us from his comprehensive authority in all of heaven and earth, all linked together in some way, forming a beautiful tapestry of what it means to live under his lordship.

But the question remains for us in how they are connected. How do we understand them in relation to one another? Take, for example, the commands to rejoice and renounce.

Jesus tells us in Luke 6:22–23,

Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

This command is to rejoice. Paradoxically, we are blessed when we’re reviled on account of Jesus. And when that happens, “in that day” Jesus tells us, we should rejoice and leap for joy. Why? Because our reward is great in heaven.   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Why Homosexuality Is Not Like Other Sins

Homosexuality is not the only sin mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

It’s not the only sin mentioned, but it is different from all the rest, at least right now. At this moment in history, contrary to the other sins listed here, homosexuality is celebrated by our larger society with pioneering excitement. It’s seen as a good thing, as the new hallmark of progress.   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Put Your Foot on It

 

We definitely wouldn’t let our kids see this.

If the next Bible-inspired movie was about Joshua taking the Promised Land, it might even be one that many adults choose to miss, especially if it stays true to the biblical account. It would likely have more violence than the roughest action film to date, though at the same time, and to much surprise, offer more hope than the best feel-good movie ever could.

The Events of Joshua 10

Conquest is happening. At long last the people of Israel are coming into their promised land and Joshua is proving to be the model leader — a man who is devoted to God’s word and finds his refuge in God’s nearness. He’s been leveling cities and taking names by chapter 10 of his story. But then there are the five kings of the Amorites who join together in opposition to Israel. They gather their armies to fight against Gibeon, Israel’s shrewd ally, who sends word to Joshua: We’re surrounded by armies. Please help!  Continue at Jonathan Parnell

When the Sex Should Stop

Sometimes sex should stop in marriage.

The sometimes is really important. Not all the time. It’s not what is normative or typical. It’s sometimes. And, at the same time, be sure that sometimes really means sometimes. Real times. These are actual moments, or seasons, that never present themselves as the anomaly they should prove to be in the long run. We’re talking about a tangible pause from sex, however brief and limited the stopping may be.

The biblical text on this topic is 1 Corinthians 7:1–5, and though the meaning is pretty straightforward, the way this text plays itself out in the life of the church can run askew in two different directions. One error is to use this passage to support a pattern of self-fulfilling sexual demands; the other is to use this passage to fuel a culture of fear in the marriage relationship — and both combine to produce damaging implications.

Let’s expose these misuses and then chart a course for the gospel-empowered sometimes of sexual abstinence in marriage.

 

Look at the Passage

First, here’s verses 3–5 of 1 Corinthians 7:   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Fight Your Sin: A Storyline for the Battle Lines

Fight your sin with a storyline. I mean right now. Life is war, even on Saturday. Submerged temptations lie waiting for you just out of sight. Insidious sirens are faintly wooing your way, beckoning you to cruise their waters. You will hear their calls soon enough. This is a plea to steer clear of them from the helm of a story — your story.

I say “your story,” but I mean God’s doing, as we see it in his Book.

All About Action

The Bible is no mere moral code or a set of principles, though it does include these. It’s neither a textbook, nor mainly a philosophy for life. Instead, the Bible is a “transcript” of God’s action in the world, all centered on Jesus Christ, who is the apex of his glory.

The Bible is the dramatic script of God’s doing. It tells God’s authoritative story, which we read as audience, and in which we participate as characters. God has been at work from the beginning, and he is at work today, in our day.

When we have this kind of vision — when we know what God is doing in Scripture and in the pages of our lives — it exposes the turmoil of temptation and the sinking-ship mess of sin. When we see what has really happened, and what is really happening, the storyline of our identity is put to work on the battle lines of our holiness. That is the tactic Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6.   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

The Main Ingredient in Effective Prayer

It’s tragic how easily we can miss the main ingredient in effective prayer.

In our sin, we’ve been rewired to focus on us — on the steps we should take for our prayers to be heard. We have this bent toward believing that every result is born from method. If something works for somebody we want to know what that somebody is doing.

We’ve developed the assumption that if we can just strip it all down to a reproducible process to put into action, then the results will multiply. While this applies to certain things, it doesn’t apply to prayer — or at least that’s not the vision the apostle James gives us. The main ingredient in effective prayer is emphatically not us.

Often Misunderstood

 

Many of us find James 5:16 to be a familiar verse: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” — which is also translated, as an ESV footnote spells out, “The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power.”    Continue at Jonathan Parnell

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Doctrine Matters (Free eBook on Ten Theological Trademarks)

Here is the theological summary of one preacher’s lifetime of investment in a local church: Doctrine Matters: Ten Theological Trademarks from a Lifetime of Preaching, from John Piper.

Preaching, you could say, is where the rubber begins to meet the road on what a church believes. It is the living statement of faith. And in the case of John Piper, we have this statement captured online in over 1,200 sermons, including a whole series where he devotes a single message to the main theological emphases of his near 33-year preaching tenure. These theological emphases, preached as ten sermons last year and now edited into this volume, embody the legacy Piper hopes to leave at Bethlehem Baptist.

But don’t think that these messages are the memoirs of a retired pastor. You don’t store these truths away to collect dust. The vision of God in these pages doesn’t take a pat on the head — it turns the world upside down.   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Watch Out or the Devil’s Gonna Get You

In rural America, off a country road, on the soft soil of a weathered field, stands a sobering message for every passer-by: Go to church or the devil will get you!

The words are neatly strewn across a homemade billboard adorned with flood lights and a painted silhouette of a red figure, apparently Satan, holding a sling-blade. Go to church, the warning hisses, or be his victim.

As hokey as it sounds, the warning is right, you know, at least in a sense.

Now to be clear, if the sign means (and it likely does) that you’d better attend a weekly meeting or else Lucifer will eat your lunch, then no, that’s not right. That would be Anglo folk religion — more akin to African animism than anything Christian.

But, more positively, if “go to church” means be part of a gospel-shaped community, and “the devil will get you!” means you’re more susceptible to his schemes apart from such community, then the sign is absolutely right. By all means, if this meaning is the case, go to church or the devil will get you. Here’s why: first, Satan is real and he hates you; second, God designs that Christians persevere in faith by means of one another.    Continue at Jonathan Parnell

Was Spurgeon Reading Off His Rocker?

It was a stretch you might say. A 19th century British preacher apprehended a 3,000-year-old psalm for peace and courage in the midst of dire circumstances. Andree Seu Peterson tells the story in a recent article:

In the middle of a cholera epidemic in 1854, Charles Spurgeon was returning home from yet another funeral when a shard of paper wedged in a shoemaker's window caught his eye. It said, "Because thou hast made the Lord … thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Surgeon subsequently wrote:

"The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm."

Peterson calls Spurgeon's resolve "extrapolation." She explains that, for Christians, it's what readers of Scripture do when they infer God will do something based upon what we know about him.

Reading Off His Rocker?

Inspired by another's example, Spurgeon believed Psalm 91:9–10 concluded that God would protect him. But should such an old psalm about Jesus really propel pastors into ministerial fearlessness?

Was Spurgeon reading off his rocker?   Continue at Jonathan Parnell

No, I don't think so.

Be Stressed Out and Do Not Sin

I love the Book of Psalms. As authoritative models of prayer and worship, we return to them often for help (When we don't know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit intercedes for us... and read some psalms). And in my experience, it's the easiest book to short-circuit meaning for application. Because the theology is so relevant, we can subtly gloss over what the text says to focus on us and our situations. But remember it's only for us — by God about his Son for us. 

So how might it look if we read like this? Say, Psalm 4? How would it look if we asked first, "what does this text say?" and then second, "what does it mean for me right now?"

Psalm 4:1–8,

¹  Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
²   O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
³   But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
  ⁴ Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
⁵   Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
⁶   There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!"
⁷   You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
⁸   In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

What It Means

Prayer is an important theme in this Psalm of David. It begins with the plea, "Answer me when I call" (verse 1). Again, "hear my prayer!" Then, "the Lord hears when I call to him" (verse 3). It's an amazing picture of fellowship. David talks to God and God hears David. And he keeps David. He sustains and guards him (Psalm 3:5; 4:8). 

Now these are observations. They are all by the way of discovering what the text says. But don't think we're blank-slate readers. Jesus has let us in on an important tip: the whole Bible is about him (Luke 24:25–27; John 5:39, 46). So an integral part of discovering what this psalm means is seeing how it's connected to our Lord.  Continue at Jonathan Parnell

When People Look Like Satan

God made humans to reflect his image and advance the display of his glory over the created world (Genesis 1:26–28). But Adam failed in this commission. 

Rather than have dominion over the serpent he succumbed to its craftiness. As Greg Beale explains, "Instead of wanting to be near God to reflect him, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8 [so also 3:10])" (NTBT, 359).

Sin brought chaos and disorder. Things got all messed up. In fact, things became so backwards that Adam could be seen as actually suppressing the image of God to reflect the image of the serpent, like a back-story to Romans 1:18–25.

Adam was the first human idolator who became something he was not supposed to become, looking more like the snake than he did his Creator. Beale explains how:

"Idol worship" should be defined as revering anything other than God. At the least, Adam's allegiance had shifted from God to himself and probably to Satan, since he came to resemble the serpent's character in some ways.

[He Lied]
The serpent was a liar (Genesis 3:4) and a deceiver (Genesis 3:1, 13). Likewise Adam, when asked by God, "Have you eaten from the tree of the which I commanded you not to eat?" (Genesis 3:11), does not answer forthrightly. Adam replies, "The woman whom you gave me to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12). Adam was deceptively blaming Eve for his sin, which shifted accountability from him to his wife, in contrast to the biblical testimony that Adam, not Eve, was accountable for the fall (e.g., see Romans 5:12–19).

[He Didn't Trust God's Word]

In addition, Adam, like the serpent, did not trust the word of God (with respect to Adam, see Genesis 2:16–17; 3:6; with respect to the serpent, Genesis 3:1, 4–5). Adam's shift from trusting God to trusting the serpent meant that he no longer reflected God's image but rather the serpent's image. . . .  Continue at  Jonathan Parnell

Left Behind for Now: Tribulation and the Need to Know God’s Word

Tribulation is here, and we need to know God's word.

This is the gist of chapter 7 in Greg Beale's A New Testament Biblical Theology. In 37 pages, he lays out how the eschatological tribulation has been inaugurated with Jesus and the church. It's here, now. 

Tribulation Already

Telltale marks of the tribulation, according to Daniel 7–12, include persecution and deception through false teaching. The apostles were mindful of how present these things were in their own day, especially the rise of false teaching. John even drops the A-word (antichrist) in 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7. 

Though it seems to have not yet reached its climax, the tribulation clearly has begun (the whole period between Christ’s two comings), and Christians are called to persevere.

On the corporate level, a major part of this perseverance is church elders (gently) correcting insidious doctrines that raise their head within the covenant community (see 2 Timothy). As individuals, the best antidote is to understand temptation — and know the Bible.

Deception All Over Again

Beale observes that the same ways Satan deceived Adam and Eve at the beginning of history are reproduced by the biblical authors to characterize his deception at history's end. On this note, Beale shows how we can learn from the initial failure to trust God's word:  Continue at Jonathan Parnell

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Universalism: Not a New Temptation

The temptation is not new: silencing certain biblical texts in order to say that eventually everyone will be saved. In fact, we could just call it recycled liberalism.

Desiring God focused on this subject 21 years ago at the Conference for Pastors — "Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment."

In his sermon that assesses the biblical and theological arguments for universalism, Sinclair Ferguson reminds us:

There is a mighty sermon in Gresham Machen’s book, God Transcendent, on the text in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who can kill the body; fear Him who is able to cast soul and body into hell.” And the sermon begins by the repetition of the text and with these words: “These words were not spoken by Augustine, or by George Whitefield, or by Jonathan Edwards, but by Jesus of Nazareth."

It behooves us to listen to Jesus' testimony; both because this is the testimony of the Savior, and because this is the testimony of the One who names himself as the living and true witness—who is the One who has come back from the dead to tell men that it is so.

Ferguson's other messages from the conference include:

1. Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment: Contemporary Preaching

2. Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment: The Justice and Mercy of God

4. Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment, Panel Discussion