The Silent Holocron

I recently was directed to a fantastic resource provided by Don Whitney, professor of Biblical Spirituality at my alma mater, Southern Seminary. In it, he asks Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or on Your Birthday. Over the next few days I’m going to blog through each of these questions, doing two or three questions per installment unless a question takes up an entire post. Since I am doing self-reflection with these, all of the answers will be personal rather than ministry-related. I may well do this again when I’m done with a ministry focus!

And with no further ado, here’s Dr. Whitney’s introduction to the questions, followed by the first couple of questions and my answers.

Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or on Your Birthday

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It’s so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we’re going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
I can be determined to live joyfully for God, and not allow anyone to steal my joy. The past two years have brought much grief as I have, sadly, been exposed to what one pastor friend calls “small church politics.” I have learned a lot about ministry and who I can trust as a pastor. I have briefly and vaguely blogged about the experience, considering discretion the better part of valor.

I have also, more recently, had to sever close friendships in order to protect my integrity and ministry. Ending these relationships brought much pain which has yet to be resolved. I have had to remind myself that the joy of knowing Christ and serving him are far greater than the grief-bringing experience of broken trust and sorrow. As such, I must live the words of Paul as he sat in jail expecting his life to end at any moment – I must be full of joy at a sovereign God who works all things for the good of those who love him.

I must also rejoice at what God has done in my life and what he will continue to do. I have a daughter that causes that joy to burst forth as a fountain! I have a wife that makes the waters of that joy warm with love and comfort! I serve a church that I love and has a pastor under whose tutelage I have done nothing but grow! God has provided for us and will continue to provide!

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
To provide the means and direction to get us out of debt. By debt, I do not mean what Dave Ramsey calls “stupid debt” like credit cards and such. My wife and I have student loans from college to pay off. That is, thankfully, the only debt we have. But we are not able to do much more than pay the regular payments, especially since Tricia is not able to work full-time since becoming pregnant with Grace and then with Grace’s birth in January 08. We are not really able to save money, nor are we able to tithe, since our church experienced severe budget cuts in 2008 which extended to my salary. This means that in order to get it paid off so that we can actually use our finances to the glory of God, things must change.

My wife and I would like to have more children, and to me that means I need to be in a position where she does not have to work and we are not stretching our finances to the breaking point. UPS has been a fantastic employer – we have never wanted for anything, and everything they have given me as their employee (salary and benefits) has made it possible for us to be where we are today.

We will be asking God to make the way clear for me to get a full-time day job. Whether that is at UPS or elsewhere remains to be seen. I have begun the process of moving to a full-time position at UPS, but that process could be lengthy. There is also no guarantee of promotion, though I can clearly see God’s sovereign guidance at work as I have worked with my superiors over the past year. If I cannot get promotion, it may well mean it is time for me to look elsewhere, meaning I will have to leave a company I have come to love. This could mean finding full-time ministry, it could mean finding full-time secular employment outside of UPS, only the Lord knows the plans he has for us.

I look forward to seeing how God will provide for us as we seek to honor him by getting out of debt and becoming wise stewards of the finances he has provided.

Next Time: Questions 3 and 4.

I came across an interesting contrast in views of parenting in my readings this week:

From Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp:
“The central focus of parenting is the Gospel. You need to direct not simply the behavior of your children, but the attitudes of their hearts. You need to show them not just the ‘what’ of their sin and failure, but the ‘why.’ Your children desperately need to understand not only the external ‘what’ they did wrong, but also the internal ‘why’ they did it. You must help them to see that God works from the inside out. Therefore, your parenting goal cannot simply be well behaved children. Your children must also understand why they sin and how to recognize internal change.”

From The Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle:
“I have heard it said by some, that you should require nothing of children which they cannot understand: that you should explain and give a reason for everything you desire of them to do. I warn you solemnly against such a notion. I tell you plainly, I think it is an unsound and rotten principle. No doubt it is absurd to make a mystery of everything you do, and there are many things which it is well to explain to children, in order that they may see that they are reasonable and wise. But to bring them up with the idea that they must take nothing on trust, that they, with their weak and imperfect understandings, must have the ‘why’ and the ‘wherefore’ made clear to them at every step they take, this is indeed a fearful mistake, and likely to have the worst effect on their minds.”

Interesting contrast, no? I believe both are correct, and each serves to round out the other so that there is balance. This is why one must read widely of conservative evangelicals within a field of study. Reviews of both of these books will be posted by the end of the year!

Some of you know I’ve been looking into preparing family worship for my family in 2009. It’s been a very interesting and fruitful research so far. I’d like to take a few moments to show you a few potential quiet time tools that I’ve found that might assist you in your own devotions for the upcoming year. This post will eventually become a page of its own as “Recommended Reading.” Look for it in the near future.

Bible Reading
There are several excellent Bible reading plans that can be found quickly and easily on the internet. I have decided for my family worship that we will use the Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan (PDF in brochure format, click here for a full-page format). It is nicely set up with four readings per day so that you could have family devotions twice a day, presumably morning and evening, and then afterwards each family member could have at least a twice daily quiet time after these family worship times with the remaining two readings. If you use this, you will read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice within a year.

There are lots of Bibles out there geared towards daily readings through the year. I own a One-Year Bible, but I don’t like it too much — it’s NIV and I’ve never liked the NIV, and I just found the format too difficult to keep up with. Those of you who have an ESV Study Bible will have another excellent Bible reading plan in the back of the book. A trip to your local Christian bookseller will show you several options for through-the year Bibles.

Devotions
I’m not a big fan of devotional books in general. I find them to be quite shallow, superficial things. That being said, there are some good resources for daily devotions to supplement your Bible reading. A couple I would recommend would be John Piper’s What Jesus Demands from the World and Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Both are set up so that you can read one chapter a day and meditate on the chapter. I would also suggest Piper’s A Godward Life. It comes in 2 volumes and can cover an entire year. I wish more people would write stuff like this instead of the garbage most stores offer.

Daily Reading
This category is more robust. It is a daily reading intended to give depth to your Scriptural and devotional readings. First and foremost, I would point you to the Puritan Reading Challenge in the sidebar! This challenge is not confined to 2008 but can be done any time. Follow the monthly schedule of Puritan Paperbacks (which can be ordered from Banner of Truth) and read at least 10 pages per day after your Scripture and/or devotional readings. For most of the paperbacks, 7-10 pages per day, 20-30 minutes per day, will get you to read the entire book in a month. I can’t recommend this challenge enough. I may well do it again in 2009!

This year’s reading experience is related to the Calvin 500 celebration; that is, this coming year 2009 is the 500th birthday of the Reformer John Calvin. The boys at Reformation 21 are going to be blogging through Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and have provided a reading schedule which will allow you to read the entire 2-volume work in a year. It follows the same general format the Puritan challenge does — you will read at least 4 to 7 pages per day. I plan to do this challenge along with our Scripture reading.

I hope this post has helped you to spark some ideas for your family worship and personal devotions for 2009. I am still not finished looking around and planning. Praise God for the abundance of wealth He has provided for the growth of His people!

[Stephen's Note: In the above picture (from The Writer's Nook), we at The Silent Holocron do not endorse the methods of in-Bible highlighting and notetaking depicted. For those wanting to be shown a more excellent way, please read Jesus Saenz' excellent article on what to use for writing in your Bible. You won't regret it.]

I said this today elsewhere in the blogosphere:

“…the worst thing to happen to non-Calvinists like me are anti-Calvinists.”

This is true.

The past 2 days have been filled with lots of “Left-Behind” type anecdotes and stories from several people. I learned that a couple of Deaf friends have become obsessed with end-times tomfoolery, and have bit hook, line, and sinker into the latest prediction for the Rapture. Now the world will apparently come to an end in 2012 or 2015. Doesn’t anyone realize that’s a rip-off of the ancient Mayan calendar, which ends in 2012? Stuff like this is why I abandoned dispensationalism as a valid systematic theology. Besides, a straightforward reading of Scripture doesn’t support dispensationalism anyway.

But I was intrigued by a major statement many of these stories have in common. Apparently, the election of Barack Obama to the presidency is now the trigger that will bring about the end times! While I do believe that Obama is antichrist in the Biblical sense (meaning he is not for Jesus, period), I do not believe that Obama is the Antichrist (the one who will bring about the Tribulation). Of course, I could be wrong. I’m more inclined to believe Steve Spurrier or Nick Saban is the Antichrist, or even the Florida Gators football team as a whole, but I digress.

Instead of seeking to directly address this issue, I’m going to reproduce here in its entirety an article by Michael Mckinley from the 9 Marks Blog that pretty much expresses exactly what I think of this “Obamantichrist” stuff, especially in the paragraph about the monsters of history. Enjoy.

In the past week and a half, I have been fielding more than my normal number of questions from people about the antichrist. It seems that the election results have gone in ways that make some Christians fear that the end times are upon us and evil is making its climactic rise to challenge the authority of God.

Now first let me say that, as much as I am sinfully tempted to snigger at people who see the Book of Revelation under every rock, Christians certainly need to be wise and watchful as they live in a fallen world. So maybe the president-elect is the antichrist. But then again, maybe Tony Romo is. Time will tell. As an Eagles fan, you know which way I’m leaning.

Here’s what I think about the question, though:

I don’t know if Obama is a Christian or not. If he’s not, then he’s antichrist in the sense that anyone who is not for Jesus is against him (Luke 11:23). But then so is my next door neighbor who smokes pot in his garage until 5:00 AM on Sunday mornings. Whether or not the president-elect is for Jesus or against him isn’t my call to make.

But more importantly, this question seems to take a very America-centric view of eschatology. Monsters like Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and Josef Stalin have all risen and fallen and have not been the harbinger of the end times. But this guy wants to socialize our health care, and Jesus is supposed to be so enraged that he will come storming back to save us?

Please. The Christian faith is doing great. Christ’s church is being built. The gospel is exploding in other parts of the world. It’s not the end of the world… just because you think America’s going down the tubes or because you don’t like the guy elected to lead one branch of the government for the next four years.

If you’re struggling… just take a deep breath, put down your copy of Left Behind, and pray for the president-elect.

Today, we usher in a new age in America. Barack Obama has won the Presidency in what appears to be an electoral landslide.

I’m not going to sugarcoat anything here. This election, Americans voted into office a man who supports abortion on demand, to the degree that a baby born alive during such a procedure should be allowed to die. A man who does not believe Americans should be able to keep what they earn, preferring instead to give it to people who are already paid to sit on their butts. A man who wants to force people to buy insurance they can’t afford, simply because he believes (though this is a good and right belief) all children should be insured. A man who wants to de-fund our military and undermine the work they have already done in the Middle East. A man who will actually drive our national debt up. A man who was able to lead so many people nationwide, hearing and Deaf, into a false sense of hope.

Yes, that’s right, false hope. Most of those false hopes aren’t even of his own making, but are the direct result of a media run amuck. I was told today of a Deaf person who said they voted for Obama “because the news captioned him when he was on and didn’t caption McCain!” Many Deaf in my own city said they were supporting Obama simply on the strength of a letter his campaign sent to the National Association of the Deaf, whereas McCain did not even bother to send a letter. It was said this single letter was proof that “Obama supports Deaf.” Whether that’s true or not is easily verifiable, but hopefully you get the idea.

We can’t ignore the component of color and the significance of this moment. Though Obama is bi-racial, his self-identification as black means we have elected the first ever black president. I don’t know about you, but that means we just saw history made. This is a huge, huge development! Just over 40 years ago black people in America were a deeply oppressed minority, subject to Jim Crow and rampant discrimination. Now our President-Elect is a black man! What a gigantic leap of progress we have made as a people. May God be glorified that color is ever increasingly less important in judging a person’s character and qualifications. Barack Obama is, quite simply, created in the image of God, and that’s all we ever need to consider.

But we must consider another aspect of this election that, in my opinion, is becoming quite sinister and damning of our national, spiritual and individual character. We must consider our response to this election.

The reaction from many Democrats , Obama supporters, and left-leaning Christians has been predictable: gloating, elitism, utter disrespect and disregard for anyone who had a different opinion and vote about who should lead this country. It is almost as if they’re saying, “Anyone who would not vote for Obama is backwards, cannot think for themselves, bigoted, standing in the way of progress, and ought to move to Iran.” Yes, seriously, I’ve even heard a supporter suggest that evangelicals who don’t support Obama should move to Iran! There has been a rash of name-calling, insults, and other not-so-kind slights of character by the victors since about midnight, after an Obama victory became obvious. This kind of thinking is typical of the vocal component of the political/theological left and of some Democrats.

But the reaction from some Republicans, McCain supporters, and conservative Christians has been less than stellar. They aren’t getting off scot-free, here! Some have reacted as if The Day After Tomorrow has taken place in real-life (hence the pic opening this post). There is fear that Hell has frozen over. There is talk that moral values in America are about to experience a rapid plunge, if not an outright demise. There is rhetoric that, with this election, America is abandoning freedom for socialism. And from the less kind among these folks, there is just as much name-calling, insults, and not-so-kind slights of character towards “Obamamaniacs” and Democrats.

None of these reactions from these groups are appropriate. I tend to say, quite tongue in cheek, that the first group proves Total Depravity, and the second group proves they don’t really believe God’s in control. But all this aside, how should believers respond biblically to what happened in the 2008 election?

1. Stick to your Scriptural convictions.
Don’t give up on your firmly held beliefs. The Bible clearly says that only those who endure to the end will be saved (Matt. 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13; 1 Corinthians 13:7; 2 Corinthians 1:6; Hebrews 12:7). 2 Timothy 2:12 summarizes the position of Scripture here by stating that “if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (ESV) If we endure this time when our nation has seemingly approved of tossing what God calls good out the window, and live righteously and justly, we will further confirm our place in the kingdom of God. And we shouldn’t endure only an Obama presidency, we must endure all things for the sake of the Gospel (1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Timothy 2:10). Go beyond enduring this new President. Endure those who ridicule you and your support of someone other than Obama. Endure those who call evil good. Endure all things so that some might be saved.

Eric Redmond, writing over at Justin Taylor’s blog (go read the whole thing), says “it is not virtuous to side with the majority because one does not wish to stand out among friends, or because one is unwilling to examine all information on an issue, or because one wants to dispense dislikes toward current leadership, in spite of righteous reasons to vote against the majority—in fact, under some circumstances, it can be a horrendous evil.” While he is speaking of how one should vote in this quote, it is equally true of how we should react to the results. Don’t abandon Scriptural convictions in the face of moral decline.

2. Be obedient to Scripture.
Remember what I wrote yesterday? Scripture is clear that we are to live in submission to our government (Romans 13:1). This means we are required to obey the laws we have elected Obama to enforce; we are required by God to pray for him (1 Timothy 2:1-2); and we are required to honor him (Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:13-18). Be obedient to the Bible’s commands to submit to authority.

3. Live redemptively in this new age.
If you take a serious look at the Scriptures we’ve used here in this post, there is an underlying theme that runs through the entire concept presented here. Have you noticed it yet? Here’s a hint: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) You see that? There is no law against living out #1 and #2. If you follow these first two encouragements, you ought to be displaying the fruit of the Spirit. And if you are displaying the fruit of the Spirit, who can bring accusation against you? Who can ridicule you without looking utterly stupid and foolish? Who can call you backward, bigoted, rigid, and stupid without looking like a bigot themselves? Who can say you “need to move to Iran” without making him/herself look like an intolerant idiot?

Indeed, if we are living out our obedience to God and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, any idiot can look at you and say, “We need more Americans like that!”

And when you’ve done that, you have made absolutely sure that the only stumbling block in front of you is the Gospel itself. They have no reason to be offended by you except for the Gospel. And God has promised through his Word that some will hear and believe that Gospel.

You see, even this election result is under God’s express control, and even the election of a blasphemer to the highest office in the land can bring God glory. So what will you do? Will you work to bring God glory by how you live under an Obama presidency? Will you work to bring glory to God by how you relate to our President-Elect? Will you work to make the Gospel the only offense “Obamamaniacs” have against you? Let’s pray.

Lord, we come to you humbled by your sovereign control over all things. You have allowed Barack Obama to be voted into office. It is obvious to all that he is your man for this time. We humbly and joyfully submit to your will for America and our government. Humbly, because you alone are responsible for the authority we voted to give Obama. Joyfully, because your will has been done, and it was a history-making, barrier-shattering will; and because you are doing a new thing in our lives with this new President.

We beg of you to create in us clean hearts, O God; and to renew steadfast spirits within us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and take not your Holy Spirit from us. Empower your people, O Lord, to endure all things until the end, no matter how impossible we may think it is nor how evil we may believe it to be. Empower us to honor you by our conduct towards our government. Let us glorify you by submitting to Barack Obama. Let us lift up your name by lifting Obama up to you in prayer. Let us shine your light on America and the world by our obedience to the laws Obama has been selected to uphold.

Make us more like your Son Jesus Christ day by day. Make us to display the fruit of your Holy Spirit, that none may have reason to accuse us. Make us nothing before your Gospel of salvation, that our only offense may be that Gospel alone.

Finally, Lord, we beg of you to glorify yourself in this day. Glorify yourself in Barack Obama. Glorify yourself in Joe Biden. Glorify yourself in the midst of all that has happened and will happen. Glorify your name in all the earth!

In the most high and holy name of your Son Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

As the 2008 Election comes to maturity this week, it is appropriate that we take a few moments to seriously consider this opportunity. Many of us will head to the polls tomorrow. Many of us will vote for John McCain. Many of us will vote for Barack Obama.

I am convinced that this election presents us with the worst choices we have ever faced. On the Republican side of things, we are faced with essentially the status quo, with a few changes that reflect that John McCain is most definitely not President Bush. On the Democratic side, we are faced with negative change, and a candidate who has consistently refused to be clear about what he really believes, talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Obama is most definitely (politically speaking) an Antichrist. He is a far, far-left Democrat, though he is not, thankfully, an extremist. He has no new ideas. All of his ideas have historically failed. He is a flat-out supporter of abortion on demand, no matter his rhetoric about wanting to reduce the number of abortions (a flat-out lie any way you slice it). He has repeatedly stated his first order of business if he gains the White House is to sign a bill into law that essentially eliminates all restrictions on abortion. His economic plan will actually put this country further in debt, a prospect which I have no desire to foist upon my daughter. He thinks children in school should be required to think homosexuality is okay. I have no intention of calling what God calls evil good, nor do I intend to teach my daughter to do the same. Further, he wants to take my hard-earned money and give it to the welfare recipient who is essentially being paid to make babies and sit on his/her butt. Incredibly, he even thinks it’s cheaper for us to buy insurance for our children. Last I checked, that’s not what Grace’s doctor bills said. He has no qualms about saying what people want to hear in order to get their support. He is even endorsed by terrorists. He doesn’t even want to finish the job in the Middle East! And that’s apparently not enough to make thinking people step back and say, “Wait a minute….”

McCain is most definitely the lesser of these two evils (and I’m getting very, very tired of this terminology). He is essentially the opposite of each of the positions I’ve given above. The only real positives of his platform are, for instance, energy independence by relying on our own resources (drill baby drill); stopping the flow of money to foreign countries that, in his words, “don’t like us very much;” a willingness to tackle the credit crisis head on (even though he hasn’t even articulated how yet); stopping handouts to businesses and corporations through tax incentives; winning in the Middle East; and so on. If not for his selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, I would have been tempted to not even bother voting for him. I’d have been tempted to waste my vote by going third party or not voting at all. He has done nothing to instill confidence in me that he has the answers our country needs.

Further, neither candidate has original ideas. They seem to be stealing and copying ideas from each other much the way cell-phone makers are stealing and copying the iPhone concept these days. They seem to be getting in a price war with each other, battling to see who can offer a bigger “tax cut” or some such economic nonsense. This is truly the worst election choice to hit America in a very long time.

So, in the midst of all this nonsense as this election cycle comes to a close, what should we as believers do?

1. Realize that God is firmly in control of the election.
Romans 13:1 says very clearly that no one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God (NCV). This means that it is God alone who decides who will become President of these United States, and he will use our votes to make it happen. No matter who wins this election, he is the winner only because God has allowed it to be so. This should humble us who are believers and cause us to think seriously about the people God has allowed to attain public office. It should cause us to seriously pray about our vote and how God would have us use that vote to bring about his purposes.

This is not to say that if it becomes clear that God is going to allow a blasphemer such as Obama (I couldn’t get more obvious about what I think there, could I?) to assume office, that we should cast our vote for that person. What that tells me is we should vote for the candidate who most reflects God’s righteousness and justice, and if that candidate does not win, we should praise God that he has given us the perfect opportunity to proclaim his Gospel in a land that may no longer hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words, we should become voices crying in the wilderness.

Look at the evil kings of Israel or even the foreign kings that oppressed and enslaved Israel, or even better, the Roman emperors under whom Christ and his followers were persecuted and killed. Even more clearly, Communist China! All of these were allowed to ascend to power by God alone, and those who loved righteousness and justice were to actively work to bring about those qualities in their countries. But notice how that worked – such righteousness and justice was not preached with success, as a rule, until such despotic blasphemers were allowed to rule! When all was well and good, the people ignored God’s command for holy living. Then an evil king came and solidified their unrighteousness. It was not until an unbeliever conquered the nation that the people hearkened to God’s gospel and repented. It may well be that America needs the same thing.

2. Realize that our government is working for God.
Romans 13:6 makes it clear that the government is “God’s public servants” (HCSB) and have given their time to this work. This means we should submit to those who are in public office. Submit to Obama and Biden. Submit to McCain and Palin. Submit to your state and local senators and representatives. Don’t believe me? See Romans 13:1 again – “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities” (HCSB). Romans 13:7 tells us we should “show respect and honor to them all” (NCV).

3. Pray for our government.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 is very, very clear about this – I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him. Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to know the truth.

Why pray for our elected officials? Romans 13:4 says that “government is God’s servant to you for good” (HCSB). Awesome. They are there to do good for us! And one thing that can be said about both candidates this election is that they are trying hard to present an agenda that they are convinced will benefit Americans. No wonder we should pray for them – we need to ask God to keep them on that path, and to show them a more excellent way!

You can’t get clearer than that, can you? Pray for McCain and Palin. Pray for Obama and Biden. Pray for your state and local senators and representatives. The upside to doing this is huge – we will be able to live quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God! And if we are able to live this way, we will do the most we can to spread the Gospel to as many people as possible!

This past Sunday my pastor, Tim Bender preached on “Christians and Government.” In his message, he gave us Six Ways to Direct Your Vote.

1. Vote Biblical principles over Party.
Do you agree with everything the party promotes? Does the party follow biblical principles? Don’t be fooled by a platform that looks and sounds good, but directly goes against the Bible!

2. Vote Biblical principles over Pork.
Do you want to waste federal money just to help your area? Do you want to do the most good for the most people or are you just out for your local economy? Don’t be fooled by promises to help just your area!

3. Vote Biblical principles over Pocketbook.
Are you out to fatten your bank account? Or are you out to see that people who actually need help get the help they need? Remember, Scripture says money is a root of all kinds of evil. Don’t be fooled by money!

4. Vote Biblical Principles Over Person.
Are you voting for a relative, a co-worker, a friend? You have no special interest in that person that would be served by voting for them? You may know that person much better than the voters! What if this person is a chronic liar? Would you still vote for him/her simply because of your relationship? Don’t be fooled by your relationship to a person!

5. Vote Biblical Principles Over Popularity.
Are you voting for someone just because they are your idol, they’re good-looking, they’re cool, they’re awesome? Don’t be fooled by how popular a candidate is!

6. Vote Biblical Principles Over Political Speech.
Does the candidate’s personal life and political record match up? Do they really believe what they are saying? Are they “walking the talk?” Or are they just “singin’ and dancin’;” that is, saying what they need in order to get your vote? Don’t be fooled by what a person says; check their record!

When You Vote Tomorrow
Having said all that (I’m at 1600 words!), when you vote tomorrow, I only ask that you do one thing before you enter the booth and pull the lever. Ask yourself if the people you are planning to vote for give God the most glory. If not, please, please, PLEASE re-think your vote and vote for someone else! Also, please do not waste your vote by voting for a third party candidate who has no chance of winning. That shows at worst a detachment from the reality of the situation, and at best a lack of common sense. How different could this nation have been if all those third-party votes actually went to one of the two candidates who actually had a chance to win!

I will not waste my vote on a third-party candidate, no matter how tempting it is to do so. I will not waste my vote by not voting. I will honor God by backing a candidate who has a direct chance to win, and of those who do, I will vote for the one who I am convinced by Scripture and conscience is the most God-honoring choice among them. Therefore, I am convinced for personal, common-sense, and Scriptural reasons that the most God-honoring choice this election is John McCain. If he wins, to God be the glory. If he does not, to God be the glory. The Gospel will have a greater platform to be proclaimed no matter who wins, and in the end that is all that really matters!

I am convinced we need men with a vision for what can be called “A Great Commission Resurgence.”

With these words, Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, fired the first shot of what I believe to be the next and greatest of all “Baptist Battles.” Indeed, after the Conservative Resurgence which rescued the Southern Baptist Convention from liberalism, this battle may be the most important of all. Having won what has been called by some “the Battle for the Bible,” what do we do with that victory? Akin makes no bones about it: we must dedicate ourselves to the task the Great Commission.

What is a “Great Commission Resurgence?”
In his address Answering the Call to A Great Commission Resurgence, delivered at the Building Bridges conference last November, Akin lays the foundational principles for a Great Commission Resurgence, stating that “the time has come for us to focus on the great task the Lord Jesus left us as He ascended back into heaven.” For too long we have neglected this task. It is time for this task to “resurge” in our churches.

For something to surge it must have a strong, wavelike, forward movement. The very first “surge” of the Great Commission began, quite clearly, in Acts chapter 2 when the disciples, in obedience to Jesus’ command, waited in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. Receiving this empowerment, they immediately went out and proclaimed the Gospel. The result was that very day 3000 people were saved. Since Apostolic times this surge has noticeably lessened. However, church history shows clearly that at certain points there has been a resurgence, a rising again or revival, of the Great Commission. In our history we can clearly point to the Protestant Reformation and the Great Awakening as examples of such a resurgence of the Gospel. As Baptists we can point to William Carey and the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention (which was formed on missions as its primary purpose) as prime examples of Baptist participation in Gospel resurgences. I am hard-pressed to name examples prior to the Conservative Resurgence beginning in 1979; perhaps those more knowledgeable than I can provide these examples.

In Deaf ministry, the founding of the Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf in 1948, also centered around missions, is a prime example of Deaf participation in these resurgences. In fact, the mission statement of the SBCD is “to reach Deaf persons for Jesus Christ by serving as a cooperative network for Southern Baptist churches and agencies to fulfill the Great Commission by providing training, advocacy, worship, fellowship, missions awareness and mission involvement.” Other Deaf Christian conferences/conventions have a similar mission statement. We can see, therefore, the foundation for Deaf involvement in a Great Commission Resurgence has already been laid.

What Is The Gospel?
Before we can ask what such a resurgence would look like, we must first remind ourselves of the main idea of such a resurgence. We must first seek to answer the question, “what is the Gospel?”

A basic description of the Gospel appears in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 -

Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News and continue strong in it. And you are being saved by it if you continue believing what I told you. If you do not, then you believed for nothing.

I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all he was seen by me—as by a person not born at the normal time. (NCV)

To this we would add the commands of the Gospel; namely the command to repent of our sins (Acts 17:20) and to receive Christ and live for him and by him from now on (Colossians 2:6-7). As Baptists we would also add the command to be baptized once these things have been done (Acts 2:38) as a sign of what has taken place and of one’s commitment to live for and by Christ.

So we understand that the Gospel is the message of Christ’s saving work and the command to repent of our sins, believe in Christ, be baptized as a sign of our repentance and faith, and to commit one’s life to living in Christ.

We must believe that the message of Christ is more important than anything else, even our very lives. It must be more important than our jobs, friends, homes, families. It must be the one thing that makes our lives worth living. We must believe the commands of the Gospel must be lived out in every aspect of our lives. We must live our lives continually repenting of sins we find in ourselves, trusting in Christ to overcome those sins we find, and committing ourselves to Christlikeness in those areas of our lives from then on.

Before a Great Commission Resurgence can take place in Deaf ministry, we must first recover this clear, solid, and biblical understanding of the Gospel in our Deaf churches.

The Gospel and Deaf Ministry
I have become increasingly convinced the Gospel has been lost, not only in the hearing churches, but in Deaf churches as well. That is going to upset many Deaf readers of this blog. If the Gospel is truly our foundation, my only response must be this: I don’t care if it upsets you. Instead, I am going to praise God you are upset!

You see, in many Deaf churches we do not preach Jesus anymore. Instead we preach self-help and how you can feel better about your life problems. For example, I’ve heard (and have preached myself) way too many sermons on gossip and negativity in the Deaf community from Deaf preachers. I’m sick of it. My pastor must be as well, because this Sunday he asked our congregation which was more important to us: the Gospel or gossip. What a challenge! Instead of focusing on the unimportant and pitiful little problems we have in this life, our churches need to get back to the main thing: Jesus and his Gospel.

In many Deaf churches we don’t preach the Bible anymore. Instead we find a “Christian” book that is easy to understand and relates well with Deaf people and preach through that. We don’t stop to ask if the book is biblical, or if the Bible already teaches the principles in the book. Or we preach on topics, pulling different verses from around the Bible that may not really have anything to do with each other or the topic we choose. We don’t stop to wonder if a book of the Bible or a chapter of a Bible book would be deeper and more clear than 10 verses from 10 different places in the Bible. As a result, many Deaf people are being led astray by people such as Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, and others. Even worse, many Deaf people are ignorant of what the Bible teaches because they have not been taught to go through their Bible verse by verse! And it is mainly the fault of Deaf pastors who will not open up their Bibles and teach from the Bible alone on Sundays. If we pastors do not make what the Bible has to say number one in our preaching, it will be no surprise if our people do not read their Bibles. We must get back to the main way we learn about Jesus and his Gospel: the Bible alone.

Deaf ministry needs a Great Commission Resurgence. When less than 2% of all Deaf people have even heard the Gospel, something is horribly wrong. But unless our Deaf churches make the Gospel the center of their lives, that percent will get smaller and smaller, until 0% of all Deaf people have heard the Gospel.

If the idea that your church has lost the Gospel really bothers you, I praise God for that! Getting mad sometimes is the only way to get a problem fixed. I invite you to pay careful attention to this series and to join the discussion. Leave comments on the posts. Talk with your pastor friends about the Gospel. Preach the Gospel to your people. Above all, make the Gospel and its commands the center of your ministry!

Join me next time as I look at how the Gospel impacts us individually and as a church.

As things have quite calmed down in the blogosphere over the last year, I reflected on some of the major “Baptist Battles” that have taken place in my 17 years as a believer. Below is a roughly chronological overview of those battles.

Inerrancy
This seemed to drag on and on since the beginning of the Conservative Resurgence in 1979 (that’s two years after I was born, by the way). When God saved me in Christ at the beginning of the 90s, this was what I heard about: “Do you really believe the Bible is God’s word?” This battle has largely ceased as inerrancy has been less and less seriously challenged.

Homosexuality
Another battle that, while still on-going, has also largely ceased. When science failed to find any such thing as a genetic basis for homosexuality, and then a majority of states passed amendments to their constitutions banning homosexual marriage, this issue ceased to become “hot button.” This battle is still being fought, and will never go away, but I’m convinced no serious Christian would knowingly compromise on this issue.

Open Theism
This issue dominated the 90s and the first couple of years of the 21st century. I was exposed to this errant theology in college. One of my seminary profs wrote three books that effectively buried the open-theist worldview. This battle may not go away until its originators do, but also no serious Christian really believes God doesn’t know everything, nor that God is not in control of everything.

The Emerging Church
Another “battle” that currently is sounding its death knell. With some of the major personalities in this movement wanting to do away with the terms “emerging/Emergent,” and its originator Mark Driscoll calling the movement nothing more than “toilet water” (appropriate since it seems they took his ideas and ran amuck with them), the days of this “church” are numbered. Many have finally, to paraphrase my preaching professor, “emerged and are called the church.” Many who initially resisted this movement are embracing the streams of the emerging church (not the Emergent movement/organization) that are consistent with biblical faith and reforming their own faith and practice as a result. Even though this battle began in the mid-90s, it has not really seriously challenged orthodoxy. What’s left of this movement is (spoken tongue firmly in cheek) for girlie men.

Calvinism
This is the most foolish of all the “battles.” It’s also the most short-lived. Spanning about the last 3 to 5 years in intensity and degree of publicity (whereas the others took at least a decade or more), this battle has been an exercise in stupidity, rudeness, and ignorance by a lot of people, usually anti-Calvinists (and I’m not going to name names). And those anti-Calvinists are a total embarrassment to non-Calvinists such as myself (I’m a 4-point Calvinist). As I’ve observed the issue, studied the theologies, and engaged the personalities, I’ve found myself losing a lot of respect for people I esteemed, and in some cases I have even written these individuals off completely. I’ve found myself gaining respect for some I never thought I would even like, even gaining what I believe will be lifelong friendships. My conclusion: this battle is effectively over, and the anti-Calvinists have been soundly defeated. The next battle will illustrate why.

The Gospel
This is the next great “Baptist Battle.” We Baptists have lost or obscured the Gospel. We no longer seek to meet the real need of the lost nor of our own people, choosing instead to focus on “felt needs” so that everyone gets their spiritual warm and fuzzies. No wonder our churches struggled with all the previous battles! When the Gospel is lost or obscured, confusion and false teaching have inroads.

That’s why I believe the next great “Baptist Battle” will be for the recovery of the biblical Gospel. Southern Baptists must stop this theological tomfoolery we’ve been engaged in and start making real change in our denomination. And the only way to see real change is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only the Gospel can change a person, a church, a denomination. And until we believe that — truly believe that — we will continue to pass ill-considered resolutions, offer really silly and sometimes downright stupid programs and emphases, and generally continue to miss the point.

Towards that end, some in the SBC are taking practical and theological steps to correct our path. There is a call going out — not from Nashville — but from the seminaries and churches who are deeply, deeply concerned about the Gospel penetrating all aspects of the church and the believer. That call is for a Great Commission Resurgence. And the current SBC President, Johnny Hunt, has taken up that call.

We must ask ourselves: “What is the Gospel? How does the Gospel impact me, change me, shape me? How does it impact my life, my family, my friends, my work? How does it change the way I view and relate to the world?”

Over the next several weeks, I’m going to dedicate this blog to answering these questions. And I will be attempting to answer how a Great Commission Resurgence could impact Deaf ministry. Deaf people have not really been involved in many of these “Baptist Battles.” But the battle for the Gospel is one we cannot afford to miss. Join us Monday for the first post, “Great Commission Resurgence: The Gospel and Deaf Ministry.”

Jay Nordlinger at National Review writes a post about the liberal and feminist hyperventilations over Sarah Palin. He says these episodes (which, in my view, are disgusting) show that America is a sick country. Proving what I previously wrote, he shares:

Then there is continuing amazement over the sheer hatred that Palin has aroused: “I am almost 60 and come from Massachusetts. In all my years, I have never seen anything like this, and don’t want to see it ever again. I have a friend who is both feminist and left-leaning. I asked her why they hate Palin so much. She said, ‘Because she’s had it all: family, career. And she did it without a man like Bill Clinton helping her. She did it on her own.’”

I have said it before: Hillary Clinton’s husband was president of the United States. Sarah Palin’s works the night shift in an oil field. Who is the feminist hero? Bien sûr.

I can see how you might disagree with Governor Palin — she’s a conservative, after all. I can see how you might find her unprepared even for the vice-presidency. But hate? Hate a woman who rose from a modest background to be governor of her state? Who is obviously a warm, civic-minded, talented mother of five?

Hate?

It must be abortion, religion, and culture. If she were pro-choice, went to a mainline church (only on Christmas and Easter), and didn’t hunt, she’d be okay. At least less attacked. But then, she wouldn’t be herself, would she?

I consider myself a very patriotic person, and I have been teased or damned all my life for my pro-American views — particularly in academic settings. But, I’m sorry, this is, in many ways, a sick country.

Read the whole thing.

HT: Tim Challies