Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings: A Prayer

Posted on December 7, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Lord Jesus Christ,Lord of Lords and King of Kings, For you heavens high praises ring, yet you came to earth by humble birth, . In your name we see the purpose, to save us from our sins.

In your birth and early life you did not reveal your majesty, instead within a manger you lay and cried like any other child. And as you grew you lived as a normal child in your family.

It would have been interesting to see a perfect child having fun but that his hid from view. What we are told is that a child you sought your Father’s presence, you thought your earthly parents would realize your priorities when you stayed in the temple.

For thirty long years you lived in obscurity and yet each perfect decision was another stitch in the garment of righteousness you wanted to give to your people.

When the time for mission came it was only started because of the Father’s voice and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Immediately you were in battle with the evil one and you triumphed in the wilderness.

You went about proclaiming the Kingdom of God and as you did you showed that kingdom by your healing power. the blind were healed, the dead were raised, demons were cast out and many other miracles you performed.

Jesus is your name and you came to save and therefore you steadfastly headed to Jerusalem, to be the only sacrifice that could save us from our sins. You died on that cross a horrible death, feeling that your Father had forsaken you.

At the time of death you cried out “it is finished”, the greatest shout of triumph this world has ever seen, the veil of the curtain was torn in two to show that we had access to the Father because of what you had accomplished.

Three days later the Father vindicated you by raising you from the dead, your fearful disciples were transformed by your grace. they became the heralds of good news to a lost and broken world.

Two thousand years later your disciples still know that you are the only saviour from sin. We worship you and give you the praise for what you have done. We want to see you glorified in the whole earth, so come renew your church by the power of your Spirit.

 

 

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The Magnificat: Mary’s song of Praise

Posted on December 6, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

The story in this passage is very familiar to us and we therefore miss the impact of it, I want to look at the Magnificat in the context of what Luke is wanting to do in his gospel.

   9       At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40       where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41       When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42       In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43       But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44       As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45       Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

46       And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47       and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48       for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49       for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50       His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51       He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52       He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53       He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54       He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55       to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56       Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. (Lk 1:39–56). .

Luke records this song as part of his teaching to show the way Jesus came into this world to save us, it is very easy to divorce the Magnificat from its setting when we do this we lose the thrust of what Mary is saying and it turns into a nice song. The surrounding account is of vital importance to our understanding this song. Mary is visiting her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant and her son is to become the powerful prophet  John the Baptist. This Child leaps in the womb at the arrival of Mary because she is bearing the son of God in her womb. It is interesting to see that as the child in the womb leaps for joy Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit it is quite staggering to see that an unborn child could recognize the presence of the Saviour. Elizabeth realizes that the Child Mary is bearing is her Lord. The powerful work of the Holy Spirit is to be seen here, we need to remind ourselves that we need to be as open to the Holy Spirit as Elizabeth was. Elizabeth also affirms Mary’s faith when she says, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” . This is what humanly speaking causes Mary’s response as she too is led by the Holy Spirit to praise God, it seems that she must have been very familiar with Hannah’s song of praise because she seems to base her own song of praise on it. Just look at Hannah’s song and the similarities are striking.

   2:1       Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2       “There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3       “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4       “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5       Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6       “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7       The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8       He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
on them he has set the world.
9       He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10       those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”  (1 Sa 2:1–10).

This demonstrates Mary’s love of the Word of God, she obviously had remembered tis passage of Scripture in such a way that her own song of praise was strongly influenced it.

Having seen the setting we need now to look at what Mary says in this song of praise because it can be very instructive for us as a model of worship.

firstly Mary’s song is God centered, she says ” My soul glorifies the Lord” these words are the key to understanding the whole song, indeed the traditional title for this song the Magnificat is taken from this opening line being the word for glorifying God in the Latin text of this Scripture. Every line of this song is one that glorifies God. Mary is just amazed at the power and love of God which has been manifested in God blessing her with his own. Son. Notice that she glorifies God her Saviour, we must believe Mary when she describes God as her saviour, she was sinful from birth just like any other human being and she glories in the fact that she is saved by the grace of God. It is only after this confession of God as her saviour that she praises God for the blessings that he has poured out on her. Mary says,

   for he has been mindful    of the humble state of his servant.    From now on all generations will call me blessed, (Lk 1:48).

She acknowledges her humble state and yet she sees that God has richly blessed her and that all generations will call her blessed, we need not as many evangelicals do object to the title The blessed Virgin Mary because she was a virgin at the point of her conception. Some object to the title because she had other Children after Jesus but that is to miss the point of the title as originally given. Mary was supremely blessed with the responsibility of being the human mother of the son of God,our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in this context that she can say that the Lord has done great things for her, notice once again that she ascribes all the glory to God , she realizes that she does not deserve  this but god in his gracious and sovereign will has ordained her to be the one who would bear his Son in her womb. Mary here sees the amazing grace of God and she marvels in the way God has done great things for her. As a result of this she worships a holy god and she says “Holy is his name”.

Springing from this acknowledgement of the grace and holiness of God the rest of the song shows how God brings his salvation to those who seek his mercy and fear him, in the good sense of fear that of  a healthy respect for God which is marked by reverent joy. Notice how Mary describes how God receives the poor and needy who acknowledge their need of him and passes over the rich and self-satisfied. Indeed he casts down the mighty one, who are arrogant and raise up the humble. But perhaps the key to much of what Mary has said comes in her closing words when she recalls the covenant with Abraham. Abraham had been promised that through his descendants,  “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”. In the birth of Jesus Mary see the fulfillment of that promise, at that time she did not realize that for this to be a reality her son would have to die on the cross and be raised again on the third day. we know these things that Mary had to learn so painfully, we too like Mary must praise our Saviour, let our songs of praise be God centered and we too will realize along with Mary how loving,gracious and powerful is our holy God.

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The God who delights in new things.

Posted on November 22, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Recently I was listening to a sermon online and the preacher made the comment that God is into new things, he challenged his hearers to check the word of God for themselves. as a result of this challenge I am writing this article.

Firstly notice that God delights in new songs of worship, our worship is meant to be fresh and new, down the ages as God’s spirit has moved new songs have come into existence, fresh blessing calls forth fresh songs of praise. In the Church of which I am an elder we have been blessed over the years by some who write new songs for usand this enriches our times of worship.

Sing to Yahweh a new song;
sing to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to Yahweh; bless his name.
Announce his salvation from day to day.  (Ps 96:1–2).

8 I am Yahweh; that is my name,

and I do not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to the idols.
9 Look! the former things have come,
and I declare new things.
I ⌊announce⌋ them to you before they sprout up.”

A Song of Praise to Yahweh

10 Sing a new song to Yahweh;
praise him from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea and that which fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants. (Is 42:8–10).

For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered,
and they shall not come to mind.
18 But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever over what I am about to create! (Is 65:17–18).

This next passage reminds us of the greatness of our god and at the same time it calls us to sing a new song.We are reminded that because of the Lord’s greatness he can announce new things before they come to pass, no wonder this inspires a new song.

Look, the days are coming,” ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh, “and I will ⌊make⌋ a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I ⌊made⌋ with their ancestors on the day of my grasping them by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them,” ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh. 33 “But this is the covenant that I will ⌊make⌋ with the house of Israel after those days,” ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people.  (Je 31:31–33).

But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering 23 and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and ⌊to the sprinkled blood⌋ that speaks better than Abel’s does.  (Heb 12:22–24).

And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you. (Lk 22:20).

The Scripture constantly reminds us that our salvation is grounded in God’s new covenant with his people. It is because of the work of Christ upon the cross that we can know the blessing of salvation. We know this not as some outward mark but because the Holy spirit works within our hearts. The presence of the Holy spirit in our lives is a consequence of the new covenant. Salvation isgrace from first to last,when we meditate upon the Fathers love for us,Jesus dying for us and the Holy Spirit working within us this all is the fruit of the covenant.

 And he also told a parable to them: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and* puts it* on an old garment. Otherwise, he will have torn the new also, and the old will not match the patch that is from the new. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the wineskins, and it will be spilled and the wineskins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins. 39 And no one after* drinking old wine* wants new, because he says, ‘The old is just fine!’ ”(Lk 5:36–39).

Jesus taught that we need new wineskins so that the wine can mature, people often speak of the need for new wineskins without realizing that they have a purpose of allowing people to grow in their relationship with God.

 But now we have been released from the law, because we* have died to that by which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit and not inoldness of the letter of the law. (Ro 7:6).

Another blessing that we receive as a consequence of Christ’s death is that we are able to walk in the newness of the Spirit, when we are full of the Spirit, he will do new things in us and for us. He will empower us to live in a way that pleases God.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 And all these things are from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as if* God were imploring you through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  (2 Co 5:17–20).

We need to realize that we are a new creation in Christ’ because of what he has done for us we can know that we are reconciled to God and knowing this we can be at peace within our own hearts. We will also want to share this gospel of reconciliation to others, wanting others to come to a knowledge of what Christ has done for them.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4       and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5       who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Pe 1:3–5).

Because of the mercy of God we have been born againand the result of this new birth is to give us a hope through the resurrection of Christ that we have an inheritance that will never perish. Because of God’s mercy we can be sure that we have inherited all things in Christ.

There are also areas where newness is impliedbut the word new is not used. Prayer is a good example of this, when we pray we are asking God to do new things. In the Lord’s prayer we pray “you kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” This is asking for new things big time but we are also taught to pray for our daily provisions. As we pray for the spread of the gospel we are praying that many will experience the new birth and grow in newness of life.

We are called to be filled with the Spirit at all times,

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19       speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, (Eph 5:18–19).

If we are to be full of the Spirit we will need to be continually receiving from him, D L Moody rightly said “we are leaky vessels” and leaky vessels need to be refilled constantly with new supplies.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit, in the teaching contained in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12-14, we find a very dynamic view of life in the church where each person is using his gifts for the benefit of the whole body. Healings for instance are always new blessing, as are words ofprophecy. Look at the gifts of the Holy Spirit some timeand you will see that God desires to be constantly doing new things for his people.

Obviously we need to test anything that is new and Paul gives clear instruction about how this should be done,

Do not quench the Spirit. 20    Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21    but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22       reject every kind of evil. (1 Th 5:19–22).

We are called to be open but to test everything by the Word of God, often in Christian circles we fall into one of two errors, the first is to embrace everything new without discerning whether it is from God or not. The second extreme is to reject everything that is new. The Scriptures teach us to be open but alert, when something new comes along we should neither automatically accept it or reject it but rather test it. If the Church had taken heed of these words there would be a lot less division in the body of Christ.

In conclusion lets us look to God to do new things in our day, the Scripture teaches clearly that God wants to do new things, so lets seek his face and expect him to do great things.

Posted in Charismatic, faith, God's love, Jesus Christ, love, love of God.the glory of God, praise, Spiritual gifts, the body of Christ., Theology, Word of God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is this really the way of the Master?

Posted on November 8, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

I have watched two videos from the Way of the Master website, the first is entitled “Hell’s best kept secret”, the second is entitled “God’s wonderful plan”. Both of these videos claim to be showing the biblical way to evangelism as pursued by Spurgeon, Whitfield and Wesley. Firstly I will look at what is claimed to be the Biblical way, secondly I will make some comments from a historical theological perspective and thirdly I will raise some outstanding concerns.

The Biblical basis: The claim is that biblical evangelism always starts with the law; appeal is made to the account of the Rich Young ruler and the Lady at the well in Samaria. Granted in the first case Jesus uses the law explicitly to show the rich young ruler his need of salvation but he still rejects the teaching of Jesus.  In the case of the Samaritan women we have no explicit reference to the law but only an implicit reference. We are informed by the teaching on these videos that one must use the law explicitly for evangelism to be successful. My biggest problem with this is someone obviously forgot to tell the apostles this if we take the sermons in Acts seriously. On the day of Pentecost there is no explicit account of Peter expounding the Law but rather he preached Christ and his atoning work, he demonstrated this by quoting from the Old Testament but not from the Ten Commandments. Yet we are told time after time on these videos that we must use the Ten Commandments in our evangelism. We are told that modern evangelistic techniques reduce the gospel to seeking peace and happiness, the critique of modern evangelism is not always fair but I would grant that the Biblical emphasis on repentance is often missing. We are told that that the real motivation to evangelize is so that people will see that they have to escape from the wrath to come, surely this as self-centred as the previous method but the subject has been changed. The purpose of the proclamation of the gospel is to see that God is glorified as he reveals himself as the God of holy love. Our emphasis is to point men to God and show them who he is in all his glory and his grace. This is why the apostles preached Jesus Christ and him crucified. When God is revealed then sinners will see their need of a Saviour, it is our task to proclaim the gospel in such a way that lost people will embrace the God of holy love. As we preach Christ sinners will be convinced of their sin.

I feel that this technique tries to do the work of the Holy Spirit for him, instead of relying on him to draw sinners to himself in the way that he desires. If we use this teaching and insist that we must proclaim the law first some of the most needy people in our world will find that all it does is convince them that they are worthless, something that they already feel, in such cases instead of proclaiming the law we need to show the grace and love of Christ so that they may see that in the God of the bible there is real hope.

My conclusion then is that this method is fatally flawed because it does not place Christ at the centre of its proclamation.

Secondly: Historical Theology and the issues it raises. We are told that Spurgeon, Wesley and Whitfield used this approach; I believe this is a profound misunderstanding of their common acceptance of the Puritan idea that sometimes the terrors of the law are needed to bring a person to Christ. What is overlooked here is that these three preachers could thunder the law and its claims but also any reading of their sermons shows that they also could be winsome and tender. The ambition of all three men was to preach Christ and him crucified under the leading of the Holy Spirit.  All three would stress repentance in coming to Christ, sin must be forsaken but I cannot imagine any of the three going onto the streets and starting the message with the Ten Commandments. Yes they used the Ten Commandments in their preaching but only as a means to reveal who God is in all his holiness and grace. I find it intriguing that Jonathan Edwards is not mentioned, his best known sermon is “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. Edwards was keen to show forth the glory of who God is and in his book “the Religious Affections” he makes it clear that God deals with people in diverse ways the important thing is that they come to know Christ. Edwards was one of the first to clearly teach what has been called Christian hedonism, he believed that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (” Westminster Shorter Catechism question 1). Reformed Theology has emphasised the glory of God as the main focus of all its teaching, including its evangelistic methods, it therefore dislikes techniques because using a technique shows a lack of trust in the way the Sovereign God works.

Thirdly other concerns: This whole technique borders on manipulation, in all of the video examples seen people were made to feel how bad they were before the hope of a Saviour is mentioned. One of the criticisms they level at other techniques is the high fall off rate but I fear that this could be the same for this, frightening or shaming people into the kingdom is not a biblical pattern but yet this what the fruit of this technique is. Surely when people realize that they have been manipulated to pray the sinner’s prayer they too will fall away. I have referred to this throughout this paper as a technique and perhaps this is the most damning criticism of it. We are assured that this is the method, the only correct way to present the gospel but as shown above there is very little biblical support for this statement and the evidence of church History also goes against it.

Another concern is the way Scripture is used, let me give two examples. Firstly, in the first video the speaker refers to John 3:18 without any reference to the preceding verses, the whole purpose of this was to emphasise that people were under condemnation if they do not accept Christ as saviour, while this is undoubtedly true the context shows that God in his love does not want to leave the sinner in that place. The second example also from the first video advises people to use Psalm 51 to see if they are Christians and if not to use the Psalm as the basis for confession and receiving Christ, this is to treat the Psalm in a way that does not do justice to the fact that this is the prayer of a backslidden man not that of a new convert.

I feel that it is easy to be critical of others and a critical spirit is to be avoided but on the other hand we need to test everything by the Word of God, I have attempted to be as fair as possible in the above and I acknowledge that the teachers of the Way of the Master are my brothers in Christ. These men have a passion to see the lives of believers built on a solid foundation, I share that passion but I believe their methodology is wrong.

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Christ and Culture

Posted on November 6, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

One of the important questions that has been raised is what is the relationship of Christ to Culture? Many of us were taught that Christ and culture were opposed to each other, as a result of this we accepted a legalistic list of things we could not do. We feared that  any exposure to the culture would contaminate our walk with the Lord.

Others have seen Christ and culture as things to put in different boxes, I have my walk with the Lord in one box and my living out from the cultural standards of the world. In this area we are told the Christian faith has no relevance to political and other cultural matters. So we see many Christians leading a lifestyle that is not influenced by their Christian faith. I have talked with people who can see no relationship between their Christian faith and the consumer society in which we live. When confronted with the need to use the worlds resources responsibly they respond by saying that I have bought into a social gospel. The social gospel as taught in the early twentieth century is something I do not accept, but I do believe the gospel has a social perspective.

I firmly believe that Christ came into this world to save it, and that includes the created order. If this is so then God cares about his world and the way we live in it. It is interesting to note how the prophets spoke to their cultures, they highlighted so many social sinsand this is relevant to us. The law of God as recorded in the Old Testament shows patterns for society which shows that God hates injustice. also,the Bible affirms humankind’s creativity, God gave us the arts for us to enjoy. Christ is the one who transforms culture, as we accept the Lordship of Christ over all areas of life, we will begin to see the relevance of the word of God to everything that we touch and do. We are shown guidelines for our family, work and daily lives, but we are also given standards of justice and equity that a holy God expects us to apply to our cultures.

Christians have retreated from cultural involvement, and as a result we wonder what has happened to our world, we decry the lack of moral standards, the lack of integrity and the fact that our governments are accepting more and more things which are contrary to the word of God. In many way we are reaping the fruits of allowing our Christian faith to be defined by being a religion rather than a worldview. We need to grasp again the importance of the Lordship of Christ for every area of life, we need to show to a watching world that submission to God brings forth the beautiful fruits of love,justice,creativity and integrity. The world needs to see the relevance of the Christian faith to the whole of life, and then it will see a message that will address the world in which they live, they may or may not like that message but they will acknowledge that what we are saying is relevant to today.

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Is America the hope of the World? or, is Jesus the hope of the World?

Posted on October 30, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Is America the hope of the World? or, is Jesus the hope of the World?.

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Is America the hope of the World? or, is Jesus the hope of the World?

Posted on October 30, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

When Mitt Romney asserted that America is the hope of the world, I didn’t know how to treat this rather arrogant claim. I don’t think many Europeans would think that way and this British citizen certainly does not. What is worrying about this statement is not just the arrogance of it but more importantly it seems to me to be an idolatrous statement that exalts a nation-state to the place which God alone can claim. Now I am quite aware that other regimes and countries make similar false claims. Great Britain used to see itself in a similar light, we still sing silly songs like “Rule Britannia” which rest on our imperial past. Many other regimes have claimed to be the hope of the world but it seems the assertion is made as a culture is crumbling or in Britain’s case its Empire was beginning to unravel.

My main point in this article is to point out the danger of exalting our nation over all others. I don’t mind the joking comment I get when I visit America “so you have decided to visit God’s own country” to which in good humor I always reply no I will be returning there soon. The  important thing is to see that every nation exists under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and that it is his gospel alone that can bring true hope to a fallen world.

The gospel of Christ comes to all men offering them hope because of the finished work of Christ and it is in Christ that all human being can be united. We are taught in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for the kingdom of God to come. As we seek the kingdom of God divisions between nations become irrelevant because instead of looking at ourselves we are looking at the one who created and upholds the world. The thing that worries me about claims that  our nation is the most important in the world is that apart from the fact of idolatry, it causes divisions in this world.

I hope the above is not seen as anti-American as I have been happily married to an American citizen for 33 years and I value my American family very highly.

Let us do what the writer of the book of Hebrews call us to do and that is to “fix our eyes on Jesus”

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The Holy Spirit Makes The Bible Come Alive

Posted on October 26, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

It has been said that the Bible is the only book where we can speak to the author as we read it and this is vital for our study of God’s word. Yet there is another truth that far outweighs this and that is that God speaks to us as we read, it is this fact that causes us to talk to the author in the first place. as with all things pertaining to our salvation the initiative is with God, this another aspect of the continuing work of God’s grace in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the one who applies the fruit of salvation to our hearts and he does so primarily by making the word of God come alive to us, he alone can do this because he is the one who inspired the Bible in the first place. The bible is the only book that we can read year after year and not get bored with it and that is because the Holy spirit makes it alive to us. If we look at the Bibles teaching about itself we do not find an abstract theology but rather a dynamic view of the Bible’s application to our lives. In an experiential way most of us recognize the Bible’s authority first of all because we have heard God’s speaking to us. It is only after this that we see the importance of having a theology that backs up that experience. We need good theology that tells us about the authority of the word of God but unless we see that the authority of god’s word has a practical relevance for us, the Bible becomes a sterile book. a close study of Psalm 119 and 2 Tim 3: 14 -17 confirm this.  Meditate on this passage for a few moments and you will see how practical the authority of God’s word is.

      But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15     and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16     All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17     so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Ti 3:14–17)..

Notice that for the apostle Paul the inspiration and authority of scripture is not a matter of theory but rather this is the book the Holy Spirit has inspired so that we will come to know the Saviour and to be equipped to live a Godly life.

When you open your Bible ask God to speak to you and he will because he has given the bible for that very purpose. If you are not convinced read the whole of Psalm 119 and you will be’

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Who Am I? the question of my identity as a Christian

Posted on October 25, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Many Christians struggle with very negative thoughts about themselves. We realize our own sinfulness and tend to see ourselves primarily as sinners saved by grace but is that all there is to say about the matter? What is staggering to many is that as they read Paul’s letters he addresses them to the saints, this is how he thought about Christians. Read Paul’s letter to the Romans and here you will find a detailed account of man’s sinfulness but you will also read of the triumph of grace over sin. We tend to miss the note of triumph and miss the fact that we are now united with Christ Jesus. If you read the letters carefully you will realize that Paul teaches that by god’s grace we are new creations.

We are called to a high calling that is to become like Christ Jesus and because of the work of the Holy Spirit indwelling us this becomes a reality, read about the fruit of the Holy spirit and you will find a description of the character of Jesus. As we look at the character of Jesus, we will see how we are being changed to be like him.

Another teaching of the New Testament writers is that we have been adopted by God into his family, this is entirely because of the grace of God shown to us in Christ Jesus. There is no boasting here but there is an assurance of faith because we know that we are Children of God. In the light of God’s grace we can have an assurance that God loves us with an everlasting love, we can know that he will never forsake us.

The New Testament addressed us as saint and that is what we are in God’s eyes, therefore we are called to live by the power of the Holy Spirit in the light of this truth and become increasingly Christlike. when we see how God views as we are delivered from low views of our self and we begin to see ourselves in the light of God’s truth. Read the New Testament and ask yourself this simple question, what it does it say about my relationship with God?

The answer to that question can set us free to live the lives that God designed for us.

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The Frontier Boys by John Grooters: A Book Review

Posted on October 19, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

This is a story adapted from the film of the same title, it is is about 4 young men and their relationships with one another.
The first chapters introduce them to us as all having been  raised  together in Michigan, we something of their sporting life and their inter-relationship with one another. The main emphasis of the story is around the theme of temptation and sin and how one can be restored. Two brothers Mike and Brent are key players in the story, Mike the elder brother lures his brother into a drugs gang with dire consequences. The drug Lord a man called Sean, tries to see how brave they are and gives Mike a gun so that they can shoot TJ a young black man who is also son of the Pastor. Brent tries to stop his brother shooting but it all goes horribly wrong and TJ soon finds himself in hospital fighting for his life. In the meantime the other Frontier boys try to find out who has shot their friend. they manage to track down the car that was used but then their own car is damaged and the hiding place of the car is burnt down by the criminals.
TJ’s Father finds himself struggling with all the problems that come when one’s son has been shot, TJ has been placed on life support but there is no trace of any brain activity, should he let his son’s organs be harvested and admit that his son is really dead? The story weaves back and forth between the account of the pastors struggles in the hospital and how the frontier boys are coping.
I don’t want to give the whole plot away but suffice it to say Brent confesses to his unwilling involvement in the gang, which leads to the arrest of the gang and the drug lord.
If you want to know what happened to TJ and the other Frontier Boys you will have to read the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this E-Book free from the publisher through Destiny Image Book Review Program. <http://www.destinyimage.com> Book Review Program. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Posted in crime, Frontier Boys, Michigan, Pastor, relationships | Leave a comment