A Call For A Return To Fundamentalism

At Hampton Park Baptist Church this past Sunday, J.D. Crowley preached on being a steward of the gospel.  He preached against churches that call themselves Fundamentalist, but instead are just separating from gospel preaching churches because of non-issues. 

You can download the sermon here, and I highly recommend doing so.

The Unsaved Giving Two Mites

I found this article this morning on the New York Times.  It tells the story of a family who sold their house and gave half the money to the poor.  Should we as Christians not be willing to do this and more?

Martin Luther King on His Funeral

"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards, that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day, that martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hat Tip: Jenny Simmons

Idolatrous Worship of the Bible

The Armchair Anthropologist on the Book of Eli:

Eli and Carnegie, like the Pharisees, “search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life (John 5:39-40).” Like so many, the Bible is worshiped as an important piece of literature, but they fail to know the One to whom it testifies.

Read the rest here.

John 1: God's Rejection by His Own

John 1:10-13:

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God; children born not of natural descent nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God.

Pretty much every time I hear this passage quoted it's about salvation, which is an excellent application.  Everyone who believes on Jesus will be adopted as one of God's own children. 

But the thing that struck me the last time I read this was verse 11.  "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." The Messiah had been foretold for years.  Isaiah prophesied that he would come and heal the lame and make the blind see.  But when Jesus actually showed up on this earth, healing the lame and the blind, he was rejected by Israel.  The very people that knew he would be coming, that were even waiting for him to come, murdered him when he did come.  He came to his own, but they didn't receive him. 

I am God's own.  I've been bought with a price.  I am no longer mine.

How many times does God try to get my attention, only to have me completely ignore him?  How many sermons do I sit through without checking out my own heart?  How many times can I read the Bible through without it radically changing my life?

So today, this week, I pray that I will not be ignorant or blind.  But I pray that I will have my eyes open to receive whatever God has for me.

Al Mohler's Take On Haiti

Yesterday I posted an article about God's role in the Haiti disaster.  Today I ran across something Al Mohler posted on his blog on Thursday.  He says it so much better than I do and it's worth checking out.  Read the full article on Al Mohler's website.

God's Role In the Haiti Disaster

In light of this week's devastating earthquake in Haiti, many have offered up explanations as far as God's role in the disaster.  Pat Robertson claims it was because the Haitians made a pact with the devil and kicked the French out in Colonial times.  Pooja Bhatia, in the New York Times wrote that a God who hides is better than nothing.  Some believe the earthquake was a product of chance; some believe God, or the devil caused it.

The fact is that I don't know what was going on in heaven in the hours before the quake.  The book of Job lets us in on God's sovereignty over bad times.  In Job's case God allowed Satan to take everything Job had and loved. 

Death isn't something that belongs to Haiti.  Yes, this week death struck hardest there, but every human being will one day fall to death.  It is unavoidable.  Romans 5:12 tells us that "death came to all men, because all sinned."  We will all die, because we have rebelled against God.

We have tried to put God in a box.  We over emphasize his love for all people or his justice and hatred of sin.  But God cannot be understood, and he will not be held down by our theories.

So as politically insensitive as this sounds, the destruction in Haiti was directly or indirectly the work of God.  He allowed it to happen.  It was part of his sovereign will, just as everyone will one day die.  It is our punishment for sin.  Because God is just, and we are sinners, we must die.

God is a God of justice, but he is also a God of Love.  Romans 6:23 tells us that the payment for sin is death, but God gives the gift of eternal life.  Just as God has every right to punish sin, he has every right to forgive it.  And forgive it he will.

So through every bad time we go through, whether it's a Katrina, or a 9-11, or a tsunami, we know there is a God who will punish sin, but who will also give us eternal life if we repent and turn to him.  (Romans 10:9)

Reading Through John

Last semester I was really lazy as far as updating the blog. This semester I really want to update a few times a week, and not just with things about Bob Jones that make me angry. I want to start blogging the book of John.

John has always appealed to me as a book. It's not just an account of the things Jesus did. It's mostly conversations with people from all backgrounds, all walks of life, and all social statuses. It's just Jesus being Jesus, and I'm looking forward to it.

#John

Time For College, Again

In about an hour I'm going to be leaving for college and the world of very limited internet that goes along with it.  I will have to use a secondary website to post to this blog and I may not find any time at all to do so.  But whatever happens I will try to post with the usual stuff I come up with.

Pray for me while I'm away.  I will still be tempted, and probably fall a lot, even at a place like Bob Jones.

My Side Project

One of my passions has always been music. My ipod and headphones are almost always with me. So, I decided to start a music blog. It will probably suck and may eventually get absorbed into this one or deleted altogether, but for now check out The Music Blog.

Awesomest Remix EVER

Ok, so this is probably the best YouTube video I've ever seen. Some guy remixed 25 songs together into one song, and he did on awesome job.

Isaiah 59 - Sin and Redemption

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.

² But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.

³ For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.

⁴ No one calls for justice;
no one pleads his case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments and speak lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider's web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.

⁶ Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.

⁷ Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts;
ruin and destruction mark their ways.

⁸ The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks in them will know peace.

⁹ So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.

¹¹ We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹² For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:

¹³ rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
turning our backs on our God,
fomenting oppression and revolt,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.

¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.

¹⁶ He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.

¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

¹⁸ According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.

¹⁹ From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the LORD drives along. ^a]">[a]

²⁰ "The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,"
declares the LORD.

²¹ "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD.

Until The Whole World Hears

Lord, I want to feel with Your heart
See the world through Your eyes
I want to be Your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads

Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise

Until the whole world hears, Lord, we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
And as the day draws near, we’ll sing until the whole world hears

Lord, let Your sleeping giant rise
Catch the demons by surprise
Holy nations sanctify
Let this be our battle cry

Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise

Woah, woah, sing until the whole world hears
Woah, woah, sing until the whole world hears

I want to be Your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads
To see You set the captive free
Until the whole world hears
And I pray the day will see
More of You and less of me
Lord, I want my life to be
The song You sing

Woah, woah, we’ll sing until the whole world hears
Woah, woah, we’ll sing until the whole world hears

-Casting Crowns

The God That Fails (And The God That Doesn't)

David Brooks:

I thought this was really unusual. David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times wrote an article about America's misplaced trust in technology and the government to stop terrorism.

Many people seem to be in the middle of a religious crisis of faith. All the gods they believe in — technology, technocracy, centralized government control — have failed them.

Brooks doesn't mention the one true God that will never disappoint or fail to protect.

ECU Players Fight Over Dessert

Exactly. Two players for the Eastern Carolina University Pirates were actually suspended from their bowl game for fighting. At a celebratory luncheon. Over dessert.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Paulk and Williams scuffled during the AutoZone Liberty Bowl awards luncheon and nearly flipped over a table while fighting over a dessert. According to the paper, one player had the other in a headlock and was hitting him.

Read the rest on ESPN.

Bob Kauflin On The ESV Study Bible

In 2009 Bob Kauflin read through the ESV Study Bible. He shares his thoughts on his blog. It reminds me that I really need to be in God's word this year.

HT: Zach Nielsen