Spending Life

As I meditated on the eternality of God last night it became apparent to me that the glories of a man's entire life are like a sparkler firework. Only able to bedazzle us in the dark and only for a short while, the sparkler will shine and then fizzle out, only to be discarded in the trash. Yet if we saw the sparkler in the daylight, it wouldn't demand our attention, nor stand out, quite the same. In the darkness of our present world, men can demand our attention for their own exaltation, and the sad part is, we give it to them! We praise them for their temporal acheivements that are only able to be done by God's mercy in keeping them alive. How backwards! Yet, if we put these silly sparklers of men in the light of God's burning, abounding glory, we will be lead to exalt the King of Glory, who is Jesus Christ.

My grandmother is in the hospital and her heart is "getting tired" according to her doctors. I don't know if my "Granny" has a relationship with the Living God that is "eternal life" (John 17:3), and this leaves me without peace as to her eternal placement. Truly, without the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the God-man, we have no ultimate hope. On the other hand, I received a call no more than 2 hours after I heard of my grandma from a brother in the Lord telling me that another brother, named John, had just unexpectedly been found dead in his apartment. In light of his high cholesterol, the prelimenary prognosis is a heart attack...at 21 years of age. Though I am obviously saddened by the loss of a dear friend and brother in Christ, peace swells in my heart, knowing that He is with the Lord.

In the midst of my circumstances and feverish praying for the salvation of my grandmother, the way that I spend my life is being challenged as I analyze the way others have spent theirs. With the reality of physical death striking closer to home on all sides, I am craving a life with an eternal perspective and one poured out for the sake of those who lack a relationship with the Triune God. I am also learning that God has ordained me to be in relationships with people for the sake of their salvation. People are in my life to be prayed for and shared with, and the same is true for every follower of Christ.

Psalm 90 says that we are all eventually turning back into dust...what will we do with the time we have? To what end will we spend the lives we have been given?

Putting Knowledge in Its Place

On the way to a brother's wedding the other day, I was attacked out of nowhere with doubt concerning a very specific scientific debate among creationists and evolutionists that I had researched fairly in depth about 3 years ago. It was over the presence of helium zircons that "shouldn't" be in what radioisoptopic dating methods label as "millions of years old." Their presence denotes an age of the rock that falls into a very recent creation that fits more readily with the 6-day biblical account in Genesis. Evolutionists had attempted to refute his work, to which he has responded cordially, and for whatever reason, I was feeling impressed to reject the Christian Phd's views. In response, I felt the temptation to go and find the online articles I had read to see for myself.

Now, I had felt this temptation before, and it caused me to think back to some counseling sessions Nicole and I had had, and how we arrived at the conclusion and prayer that I should no longer go and "partake of that tree of knowledge." My mind then shot off on a tangent and began to wonder, "Why is it a sin for me to go and research helium zircons and it isn't for this Christian PhD?" A leading question inspired from the Holy Spirit that gave the Lord an opportunity to teach me about knowledge's proper place in our lives.

As I pondered my query further in prayer, God revealed to me something profound. Recalling, again, what He had spoken to me before about how both Eve and I had "been led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion" (2Corin. 11:3) because we did not call on Him for help in the midst of our respective moments of decision, I began to see that the act of gaining knowledge itself is not sin UNLESS it is gained outside the presence of the Lord and without His leading. Read that again because my next point hinges upon its absolute application.

Please respond to the following if you agree or disagree. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was meant to be eaten by Adam and Eve...eventually. Though I am fine with the explanation of this ominous tree's existence being for testing the love of Adam and Eve and setting the stage for the glorious Christ's work through the cross and resurrection, I do believe that God would have eventually led Adam and Even to be blessed with its revelation of a greater understanding of God's nature (and reality for that matter, seeming as Satan and the demons had sinned and thus evil was present) upon eating its fruit rather than cursed by it as history shows. The key difference was that one decision to gain knowledge would have been with God in His timing and the other was done without Him on our own. The same is true with sex for example. It is totally of the Lord when done in His timing (in marriage), but a horrendous offense to Him when done otherwise.

So whether it's knowledge concerning helium zircons or the knowledge of good and evil, the key to whatever God has for us to employ our minds with (employ as in "to give work to"), is to submit our minds to the Logos and source of all understanding, and listen to Him as He gives us joy to research that which will inevitably draw us nearer to Him. To do anything else is setting us up to fall into the sin of pride and we will be laid bare to the enemy for him to use whatever we endeavor to know apart from the Lord against us.

Thus, knowledge is not just knowledge if God's presence is guiding us. Then, and only then, it becomes wisdom.

The Threshing Floor

"John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."" Luke 3:16-17

As I read this passage of Scripture, it occurred to me that I didn't know what a "winnowing fork" was. I googled it to see and found that it is a tool used to seperate wheat (the useful stuff that we use to make food) from chaff (the casings of the wheat that are not edible) in the process of "winnowing". I decided to do a google image search of someone using a winnowing fork and the picture above is what I found.

I got a picture of the Lord Jesus, at the end of time, doing this with the souls of all people to see who was a follower of His and who was not. He will seperate out those who are His, who have escaped judgment through His precious blood, and those who are to be judged. More specifically, I got a image of Him thoroughly examinging each piece of material in His pile to see each indivudual thought, action, word and motivation and revealing to us even those notions that are in us that we didn't know about. His "baptism of fire" will be thorough. To baptize means to "immerse". I didn't want to meditate for very long on what God was showing me as I envisioned the lives of people completely immersed in the "consuming fire" of God's presence.

Truly, we ought not take for granted the blessing of being immersed in the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ while we exist in this time of mercy. May you meditate on this Scripture also and see what the Lord has for you.

Defining Faith

Yeah, I couldn't put it any better than this:

“The Old Testament variously defines faith as resting, trusting, and hoping in the Lord, cleaving to Him, waiting for him, making him our shield and tower, taking refuge in him, etc…The New Testament regards the self-despairing hope, world renouncing obedience and heroic tenacity by which Old Testament believers manifested their faith as a pattern which Christians must reproduce (Romans 4:11-25 and Hebrews 10:39-12:2)”.
- Walter Elwell, “Evangelical Dictionary of Theology”

The reality of God being my faith has me searching the Scriptures and the scholars for the meaning of faith. My limited research yielded confirming truths.

"Derived from this root is the word emun meaning a craftsman. A craftsman is one who is firm and secure in his talent. Also derived from aman is the word emunah meaning firmness, something or someone that is firm in their actions."

We tend to view faith from a western perspective as a "head-thing" and it is to a certain degree. But faith is something that connects the head and heart inextricably. That what you know about God causes you to find security in Him, though you can't see Him. The fact that I cannot believe in God and His Word unless He helps me is a constant cry in my heart nowadays...that is to say that God is the "firm support" of my faith, hope, and love.

Recently when tempted by a History channel show set out to "discover if the biblical stories are rooted in history or not" to run off and research man's wisdom on the subject when I felt my faith weakened by what was in front of me, I decided, by God's grace, to go to the source...the Triune God Himself. I said, "Lord, you are my shield. Extinguish every flaming arrow that is before me, tempting me to doubt and rely on man. I lean on your [firm, sturdy] presence to protect and provide for me. If you do not continue breathing faith into me, Father, I will fall."

But faith is.

If faith is a supernatural production, then it must come from God. Surely enough, Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus is the "author" of our faith. Jeremiah 17:7 says, "Blessed is the man whose faith is in the Lord and whose faith IS the Lord." Thus, God is our faith, and by that I mean that His presence IS our very ability to believe. His presence produces faith. If the Triune God produces faith in Himself, then where does faith in other gods come from? You guessed it...the devil and his demons!

Scripture says that the devil is the "father of lies" and that there are "doctrines of demons" that lead people away from the true faith. The lies that he produces faith in can range from pride (confidence in ourselves) to Buddha. The truth of the matter is that he doesn't really care as long as we don't lean on Jesus for our everything.

Paul tells Timothy to "fight the good fight of the faith". He also says in Ephesians 6 that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." The war is a spiritual one over whether it will be the Lord or the enemy producing faith in each person. We MUST pray with this in mind. I'm not an overly-charismatic demon hunter, but the revelation of this war in the heavenlys has opened my eyes of faith, by God's grace, to help me pray more powerfully for the lost and to personally lean on the Lord more wholly as my faith. I pray it would do the same in you as well.

MORE...on my "reformedness"

From a brother...

"Bro Ryan,

Thanks for the poignant response. I appreciate your openness.

I would like to press you a little further however, to define what exactly being "reformed" means to you - if not the monergistic working of God in salvation. It seems from your response that you believe fallen man still has 'enough' will to "agree and die", that he can resist God's salvific grace, and that he can fall away - in some manner or another. For me, that seems a little difficult to reconcile with any reformed system.

I may just be misunderstanding your definitions, explanations, etc., and if that's the case, I apologize. But if I was to speak frankly, it doesn't seem like you are affirming any of the five-points...lol."

My response...

"Press away on me brother! I love this kind of friendly dialogue that helps to define our terms and, hopefully, draw us nearer to the God who saves as we grow in the knowledge of who He is through how He interacts with His creation. I believe the key is to be willing to take everything into prayer if we feel there is something to what the other is saying. Our alliegance, as you have stated, is to Jesus, not a doctrine. Though we do both recognize the importance of doctrine, I think one of the most important aspects of it is the willingness to hear from the Lord and grow in it...together as a body.

Brother, to be honest with you, all I know of being "reformed" is what I have heard from other brothers. (blush as my lack of knowledge is exposed) =) I equate "reformed" mostly with being Calvinist. I do know some other brothers that would consider themselves "reformed" but not Calvinist.

If you have any articles on it, (that aren't too long) =) that describe it in a way you accept, I'd be open to reading them.

Ok, I don't believe that man has it in himself to make the initial move toward God but I don't agree completely with the "I"...I don't know of any Scriptures that necessitate the idea that we can't help but come to God. I think that every ounce of distance covered on the straight and narrow in our race is initiated and carried out by God as we agree, in our freedom, in God's work of sanctification. Yes, I believe that man has a will that God, in His love, allows us to exercise in agreement with Him or against Him. Specifically, God initiates a work in man (it can only be this way because "none seek after God") but after the initial drawing, man has freedom to agree or resist. I am open to God overriding freedom at certain points...=)

T - I agree completely!

U and L - Seem to go hand in hand if you accept that God has foreknowledge of everything. I think God foreknew everyone who would hear, believe and persevere, so that, from eternity, God knew all that would be in Christ and thus part of the chosen people of God. So, in a sense, it could be said that salvation was/is "meant" for these people but available for all.

I - In general, I think God gives us the freedom to agree with grace. But I do think that sometimes, maybe, possibly He overrides that freedom to accomplish the greater good that gives Him the most glory. He definitely has the ability to! I think God giving us the freedom to agree with the grace gives Him the most glory because it reveals the goodness of Him whom we freely choose to run to after tasting and seeing His goodness rather than (pardon me) treating us all like dogs on a leash that He must yank along over and against our will. I know there are other ways of looking at this that make irresistible grace more appealing and magnify God's goodness in His mercy, especially on a devotional/relational level, but it can still be boiled down to this. Like I said before, grace is irresistible in the initial drawing of God, but this doesn't necessarily mean salvation. It could be a spiritual awareness that causes man to begin seeking. God has it set up, in my mind, that man can't do anything for Him or toward Him apart from Him, so God still gets the glory of all good that is done, but man still has the freedom ("where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom") to yoke himself again if he doesn't lean on God for help in everything. One thing is for sure, I don't want to resist ANY of God's grace! (I'm still workin on this stuff!!!)

P - Nope. Hebrews 10:26-27, 1Tim 4:1, etc. - I hold these warnings as realities that are not heeded at times. God's grace is REALLY REALLY hard to escape, especially in a salvific sense (i.e. - "losing your salvation"), but I do believe I have seen it happen. I don't know where the line is drawn exactly (i.e. when people actually "lose" their salvation), only God does.

Ok...that's alot of typing but I appreciate the encouragement to go deeper as you "press me". Please, continue to. If we want to get more into the "correctness" of my understanding, I am so game. I don't really want to read...but rather discuss. Is there room for discussion on particular topics concerning Calvinism's correctness, or is that "off limits" on a reformed blog? Bear in mind brother, I RARELY dabble in these areas and tend to be much more pragmatically and devotionally bent in my blogging.

Faith shouldn't be...

In Hebrews 11:27 it says that it was "by faith [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen." How is it we see something that is unseen? Isn't that the essence of faith? My own paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1 is: Faith is being certain of an unseen expectation and convinced of a personally unseen event. Bearing this in mind, how does a strictly physical universe make sense of the human ability to do this? How can a human truly give credence of mind to an event that they have not personally, physically experienced?

The obvious answer is that in a strictly physical universe, faith just shouldn't be! It appears to be of supernatural origin...that is to say that it is produced from something "outside the natural". I suppose an atheist or someone opposed to the reality of the Christian idea of faith could say that nobody really has faith in such a way that an event they hear about is as real to them as something they have experienced. Of course, this bald assertion couldn't really be measured in an objective way since faith is subjectively experienced by its very nature. Evidence against this response would be the millions of people over the years that have given their lives for a cause they accepted by faith. It would seem that these people alone prove the reality of faith, but on top of this, even the atheists have faith in events described in history and science books! Faith is truly an inescapable phenomena.

My "Reformedness"

This is from a facebook convo with another brother whose blog I may be contributing to. It's the first time I've gotten this much in writing concerning man's responsibility and God's sovereignty in salvation. Please, all sides, let me know your thoughts and any Scriptures you feel are relevant to the discussion. Enjoy!

I definitely agree to the complete depravity of man and that God alone ignites and sustains faith in those that He draws. I believe that it is by God's power, in His love, that He freely lends help (grace) to those that are lost. I don't believe in synergism in the sense that man will seek out God somehow on His own..."no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws Him" and "there are none who seek after God." I do believe, however, that the role man has in salvation is to agree and die. The illustration that God gave me concerning this is one like this: Man is created with a hook on his chest and he is running the opposite way of God. God comes through in His mercy and latches a hook onto man's chest and begins pulling him to Himself...completely of His own will and power. Man has no power to turn towards the Lord apart from this act of God to illuminate and awaken/resurrect. At this point man has the opportunity to die and agree to this pulling power of God (picture the body going limp) and allow Himself to be drawn closer to God OR fight against God so as to possibly, eventually "fall from grace" / "tread the blood of the Son of God underfoot." I don't really know where the "line" of salvation is drawn in this...but I don't think that is relevant and it may not be the same for each person in the sense that some may need to be drawn further to reach the cross or that some are drawn faster than others, etc. The manifestation of man's rebellion to God could be a number of sins. Anywhere from trading the freedom in Christ for religiosity to blantant fighting against God in sexual sin. The warnings in Scripure of falling away are very real and do go unheeded...tragically. God knows how many were truly saved and which never were. I'm tired of trying to figure that out. =) A couple of Scriptures that I believe God opened my eyes to are when Jesus says that "none can be plucked from His hand." "Plucking"is an external force coming and removing an object from its previous placement. Jesus will protect us from any external force plucking us out but it does not say that we cannot crawl out ourselves. Also, Jesus "will not lose any given to Him," He says. The word "lose" here does not reflect the idea of a battle "lost"...like a football game or something but instead an object is misplaced. Jesus is saying that He will never misplace any of us...He knows the hairs on our head at all times and nothing escapes His eyes. This is the jist of where I'm at currently in my sotieriology (sp?). I do consider myself "reformd" in many ways and love reading reformed authors and love how reformed theologians put the emphasis on God's working in us rather than man's duty to God (though I certainly do believe that man has responsibilities - namely to submit to grace...which we still need help to do!).