A Christian Conscience and the Culture of Death

“…then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
- Genesis 2:7

"You shall not murder.”
- Exodus 20:13

“I am the bread of life.”
- John 6:48

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
- John 10:10

“We love our neighbor because we first love God. In His sovereignty, our Creator has put us within this cultural context in order that we may display His glory by preaching the gospel, confronting persons with God’s truth, and serving as agents of salt and light in a dark and fallen world. In other words, love of God leads us to love our neighbor, and love of neighbor requires our participation in culture and in the political process.”
- Al Mohler, Culture Shift, p. 2

“…the biblical injunctions to submit to the state as God means, in our context, that we must take our obligations toward a participatory democracy seriously. This, combined with the moral obligation to ‘do good to the city,’ involves believers matters of government at some level (all the way from voting to influencing government to legislating to governing) in ways impossible for Paul and Luke….”
- D.A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited, p. 196


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

I’ve already voted as I typically vote absentee. If you are able and you meet the legal criteria you must vote. One of our obligations as Christians, at least in the West, is to participate in our democracy. And as we participate in our democracy we must ask the question which candidate(s) best promotes a worldview consonant with biblical values. This is never easy. In a fallen world there are choices to be made that are not ideal. In this election there is a choice to be made that is not ideal. Senator McCain was never my first choice in a field of questionable candidates, but the contrast between he and Senator Obama is stark. Here is a platform position from Senator Obama’s website, “…(Obama) has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President.”[1] Contrast this with this platform position from Senator McCain’s web site, “John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.”[2] A president nominates judges that effect the direction of the Supreme Court for years to come. And in a nation with a death toll nearing 50 million lives taken by abortion your vote matters. A lot can be said about a man when it comes to defending the defenseless and how can someone be a ‘champion’ for abortion rights? Again, this election is not about an ideal choice. It is about a Christian conscience in a culture of death. I’ve already voted, and I hope you will vote also.

I’m grateful to God for placing me in a participatory democracy.

Dan
[1] http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues
[2] http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm

Brokenhearted Affections

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51:17

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite."
-Isaiah 57:15

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
-Isaiah 66:2

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”
- James 3:13

“All gracious affections, that are a sweet odor to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or to men, is a brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires. Their hope is an humble hope, and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory is a humble brokenhearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit, and more like a little child, and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behavior.”
- Jonathan Edwards, quoted by Sam Storms in, Signs of the Spirit, p. 117

“Sheep are the most harmless, quiet, inoffensive creatures that God has made. So should it be with Christians: they should be very humble and lowly-minded, as disciples of Him who said, ‘Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart.’ They should be known as persons of a very gentle and loving spirit, who desire to good to all around them, who would not injure any one by word or deed; who do not seek the great things of this world, but are content to go straightforward on the path of duty and take whatever it shall please God to send them. They ought to show forth in their lives and outward conversation that the Holy Ghost has given them a new nature, has taken away their old corrupt disposition and planted in them godly thoughts, desires and purposes. When, therefore, we see people biting and devouring one another, saying and doing uncharitable things to their neighbors, and passionate and evil-tempered and angry on the slightest occasion; full of envy and strife and bitter speaking, - surely we are justified in saying, ‘Ye do not belong to Christ’s flock; ye have yet to be born again and made new creatures; there must be a mighty change. Profess what you please, at present we can only see in you the mind of the old man, even Adam the first, but nothing of the second Adam, even Christ Jesus the Lord; we can discern the spirit of the wolf, however fair your clothing, and we want instead to discover in you the spirit of the lamb.”
- J.C. Ryle, The True Christian, p. 112


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

God inclines Himself to the humble and the contrite. Humility and contrition are indications of the grace of God at work in the sinner’s heart and true humility and contrition cannot be feigned. They are the work of grace given by God to undeserving sinners. Our Savior was clothed with humility and the Spirit bears the fruit of humility in us. Spirit borne and wrought Christians are characterized by humility. And as such, when we interact with one another humility and contrition ought to characterize both our posture and our conversation. God scatters the proud and brings them low. He is repelled by the arrogant and the proud, but He draws near to the humble and contrite. As those who love the Savior and are called by His name may we be filled with humble, brokenhearted affections for Him and for those around us.

I’m grateful for mercy to undeserving sinners like me and I’m praying that God would work His brokenhearted affections in my life.

Dan

Wrath and Mercy

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
- Romans 3:10-12

“We are stiff-necked, rebellious, and ungrateful. Free, unmerited grace is our only hope to be otherwise.”
- John Piper, Spectacular Sins, p. 93

“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him…”
- Isaiah 53:10a

“Jesus, the servant of whom Isaiah spoke, was crushed for us; therefore, if we believe and turn from our sins, we are not crushed. We have been rescued from deadly peril and endless pain. But as we get farther from the day we were rescued, do we remember what we were saved from? Do we remember that we should have been crushed by God’s wrath? Do we realize that, from our perspective the cross is the greatest injustice there will ever be? The Perfect One crushed in the place of sinners? And do we remember that there will be a divine judgment when God’s wrath will be revealed (Romans 2:5)? Hell teaches us about the fear of the Lord.”
- Edward Welch, When People are Big and God is Small, p. 123-124

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;In all the universe we have no place.Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;We know today what wounds are; have no fear;Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
Edward Shillito (1872-1948), Jesus of the Scars

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Yesterday I had the privilege of listening to D.A. Carson at The Spurgeon Fellowship at Western Seminary (www.thespurgeonfellowship.org). Dr. Carson’s message was on suffering and evil, and since he was speaking primarily to pastors his efforts were aimed at building and reinforcing a pastoral theology of suffering and evil. The question of suffering and evil is a moot point when everything in the world is rosy. As long as things are going our way and the vestiges of a fallen creation are held at bay, then suffering and evil are relatively inconsequential. The rub comes when our world begins to unravel. It’s then we begin the blame and accusation. Several years ago I read John Gerstner’s, The Problem of Pleasure, and found his argument compelling. He turned the classical theodicy argument on its head. Theodicy argues for God’s goodness in spite of the existence of evil. Gerstner (and Chesterton before him) asked why sinful humans experience pleasure in a fallen world. This is a very important question. I’m afraid we have become accustomed to grace. We’ve come to expect God to act in munificence and we’ve forgotten His wrath and judgment rightly directed to sinners. God is graciously withholding His hand of judgment for now, but a day is coming when the full measure of His wrath will be unleashed. A sober assessment of God’s wrath and judgment rightly deserved by sinners will sober us. Understanding wrath helps us understand mercy. Understanding our state outside of Christ will bring deep and pervasive humility. Understanding the righteous judgment God has rightly leveled against us is only averted through Jesus Christ will change how we interact with one another. Dr. Carson urged us pastors to give greater attention to the wrath and judgment of God lest for us mercy and grace become commonplace.

I’m sobered by God’s wrath once directed towards me and grateful for His mercy, averting that wrath, through Christ,

Dan

Our Children and Their Faith

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.1 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
- Ephesians 6:4

“To help our children come to an enduring faith in Christ, we must begin the parenting process with a clear view of their spiritual nature at birth. We must also have a clear view of the final goal of the parenting process as it relates to our children’s ultimate spiritual condition.”
- Parents Passing on the Faith, Carl Spackman, p. 13

“In each generation, the church’s most critical task is to uphold and proclaim the truth as it was delivered to her by her Lord. One important aspect of this task is the diligent preparation of the church’s children to continue to be the support and pillar of the truth in the generation to come.”
- Training Hearts – Teaching Minds, Starr Meade, p. 1

“Reader, if you would train your children wisely, mark well how God the Father trains His. He doeth all things well; the plan which He adopts must be right.”
- J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents


Dear Christ our Redeemer Family and Friends,

As Christians and as parents we have been given a joyful and yet sober responsibility. God’s electing love directed towards sinners is entirely His prerogative and is given freely by His grace, but this does not negate our responsibility to raise our children ‘Christianly’. In other words, with the counsel of Scripture we are to bring instruction to our children that accurately portrays man in his fallen state, God in His acts of redemption (specifically revealed in the gospel), and their need for true repentance and faith. As far as is possible our children must be brought again and again to Christ. We mustn’t assume their conversion if there is no evidence of conversion. We must instruct them, we must appeal to them, we must urge them, we must pray for them and foremost we must live Christian lives before them. Pat’s sermon last Sunday is easily applied to our homes as well. The demonstration of the power and life of Christ must be evident in us for our children to see. The greatest opportunities for discipleship and evangelism exist within our own homes. We must ‘be’ the gospel to our kids. They will never see the validity or the power of it otherwise.

Please pray for the children of COR and please pray that God would make us the godly parents He would have us to be. The next generation at COR will depend upon it.

Praying with you for our children,

Dan

Proto-Evangelism and the Call to the Nations

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
- Isaiah 61:1-3

“God the Father is the author of evangelism. He conceived evangelism in eternity. Likewise in eternity He commissioned the Son to merit salvation for sinners by His substitutionary death on the accursed cross and by His rendering to the Father on behalf of sinners that perfect obedience the reward of which is eternal life.”
- R.B Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism, p. 14

“The Lord of the Scriptures is a missionary God who not only reaches out and gathers the lost but also sends his servants, and particularly His beloved Son, to achieve his gracious saving purposes.”
- Kostenberger and O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, p. 269

“Knowing the desperate plight of men and women under divine judgment and that the gospel was the only hope for deliverance from the wrath to come, those who had once been in this predicament should be wholly involved in bringing it into the hearts and lives of others.”
- P.T. O’Brien, Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul, p. 112

“Never forget that the gospel is good news about the coming of a King.”
- John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord, p. 157


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Evangelism is the glad and grace-filled responsibility God has given to the church, but only because God is Himself an evangelist. His desire is that the nations are gathered to worship Him and in Christ He has issued the world-wide call to repent and believe. Therefore, the mission mandate is derivative. Our call to evangelism comes from God’s call to the nations. Our call to outreach finds its source in the God who has already extended Himself to sinners and when we engage in evangelism we are simply heralding the call already given. Over the last few weeks there has been bad news all around. But this is truly good news - God has called sinners to Himself and in His sovereignty He’s called us to the same task. We are simply echoing the call already given.

This coming Saturday we are holding an evangelism seminar for Christ Our Redeemer Church. We will be meeting at Vista Community Church in Ridgefield from 9am to noon on Saturday. We’ve invited Living Waters Church and Red Sea Church to join us. My dear friend Pat Sczebel will be leading this. If you are able, please make every effort to attend, because this will enable us to more effectively repeat God’s call to the nations, starting with our own neighbors and friends.

Thank you for loving the Savior and desiring to make His name known.

Dan