An Easter Message

From John MacArthur:
“The Lord’s promise:

Not only is Christ preparing heaven for us, but He will also come back and take us there. The Lord isn’t going to send someone else to get us. He will take us home personally. That tells us how precious we are to Him.

My dad used to tell a story about a father who dropped off his little boy at a street corner, and told him he would be back in twenty minutes after taking care of some business. The father’s car broke down, and he wasn’t able to get back to his son for four or five hours. The son waited on the corner by a store that whole time, and the panicky father had no way of phoning him. He didn’t get back until eleven o’clock at night, and the boy was rocking back and forth on the sidewalk whistling a tune. The father pulled up to the curb, hugged his son, and said he was very sorry. The boy replied, “What are you sorry about? You said you were coming.”

That’s the kind of trust we can put in the Lord. He said He was coming back. It may look like it’s becoming dark around us and that He may have forgotten, but we can still trust His promise to return. He is getting heaven ready for us, and He is coming to get us.

“Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is the way to the Father. He is life that is eternal, and He is everything anyone ever needs. Everything that was lost in Adam is regained in Christ. Trust His presence, His promises, and His person. No matter how bad things may become, we have comfort because we can trust Him.”

We have been granted grace upon grace, and mercy upon mercy. How can we hope to fathom or comprehend the depths of God’s love for us through the sacrifice of our savior, Christ Jesus?
As this Easter week passes over us, let us fall upon our knees in praise and repentence. As we celebrate the Savior’s resurrection from the dead, let us also celebrate our own resurrection in Christ; for we were dead in our transgressions until we believed upon Him and repented.

Christ above all,
Jon

Of Lions and Lambs – Part 2 – Wives

Ephesians 5:22-33 (ESV)

 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.  25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and  gave himself up for her,

When you read Ephesians 5:22-25 there should be no doubt in your mind that God intended Christian men and Christian women to have separate roles. As Paul explains the distinct roles of husband and wife, keeping in mind that the true purpose is to be a representation of how Christ loved and honored His church, he makes it abundantly clear that there is a position of headship and a position of servanthood within the Christian marriage. In case you missed it the first time let’s try it again:

23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church,…24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

The roles are distinct, irrevocable, and not interchangeable or reversible. You can no more reverse the role of husband and wife than you can reverse the role of Christ and the church.

From John Piper:

“Husbands are compared to Christ; wives are compared to the church. Husbands are compared to the head; wives are compared to the body. Husbands are commanded to love as Christ loved; wives are commanded to submit as the church is to submit to Christ.”

Two points here:

• 1) Please do keep in mind that this discussion is specific to the relationship between Christian husbands and wives. This passage does not teach that a wife is to be submissive to all men, only to her husband. God has given the Christian wife a husband…he is hers…she possesses him…he belongs to her…and yet she submits to him.
• 2) Whether you’re a man or a woman, a husband or a wife, ….if the above passage makes you uncomfortable, if you think it’s oppressive or humiliating, bear in mind that by taking issue with it, by refusing to open your eyes and heart to this teaching, your disagreement is not with me,.. but you have now chosen to stand in opposition to the Creator of the universe.

So, we see that a wife’s submission within the confines of Christian marriage is the divine calling of a wife to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts.

John MacArthur offers this:

“But in the created order and in the proper design of God, it is legally binding by the commandment of the Almighty Himself that a wife be in submission to her husband. It is fitting, Paul says, before the Lord. His leadership is given by God and she is to recognize that and in a humble spirit of loving submission come under that leadership. And again I remind you that this should be easy to do, it should be very appropriate, well understood, except for the curse, except for our sinfulness and except for the onslaught that Satan has brought against marriage to confuse these issues.”

Take a moment to look at Proverbs 31. I’m going to reference verses 10-12 and 26-31, although if you will take a moment to read the full passage it clearly reflects the value of a wife’s efforts. If you believe that the above statement(s) serve to repress, stifle, squelch or restrain a wife and mother please examine Proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31:10-12, 26-31 (NIV)

10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.  12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:  29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

If you read through this passage you will see the wife and mother portrayed thusly: valuable, trustworthy, supportive, enterprising, productive, willing to sacrifice.  Those don’t sound like inferior or sub-standard character traits. Those are traits that are to be sought after. Those are the traits that stand the test of time and ravages of a fallen, sinful society.

The Lord has established a divine model of marriage. It is between a man and a woman. The Lord, in His wisdom, has appointed the man to be the leader, provider, and protector in your marriage and in your family. Wives, you are the body of the marriage covenant, and your husband is the head of it.

John MacArthur again:

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the church, and when he died on the cross He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). All we need to do is fall under His provision. That’s the illustration. Now in the home, the husband is the provider, the deliverer, the protector, and the savior. We don’t need co-breadwinners, co-saviors, co-protectors, co-providers, or co-preservers. All a wife needs to do is fall under the protection, the provision, and the preservation of her husband. That’s God-ordained pattern. And believe me, when we follow that pattern, we’ll have happier homes, godlier children, and fewer divorces. God will be honored, and the Word of God will not be blasphemed.

Why is this important?  What weight does it really carry in today’s society? We’re talking about nothing of less importance than Biblical authority. 

If we claim we are Christians, affirm that we believe in the Word of God, go forth and offer the Gospel to the lost, proclaim the Bible to be wholly sufficient for our needs, yet in our daily testimony, the lives that others see us living, do not honor the Word of God, why should anyone believe that it’s as important as we claim it is? Where there is a lack of obedience to the tenets of scripture, there is a statement being made. The impact of losing the authority of scripture is devastating.

If it means you need to make changes in you life….make them. It’s that simple. If we as Christians are going to have an impact in the world, that’s the way we need to live. And may God help us to do that for His glory, through His grace and by His mercy.

Of Lions and Lambs – Part 1

Recent discussions of and with a number of Christians in my life led me to delve into the issue of a man’s role and a woman’s role within marriage. As I studied I came across a number of good teachings from a number of solid Christians.  This is, hopefully, the first in a multi-part collection of my own lessons, convictions, and beliefs regarding the nature of men and women, the purpose of marriage, and the clear and concise teaching of Holy Scripture on this subject.

Introductory comments: In today’s society and culture there are few things as damaged, tattered, and torn as the institution of marriage.  The impact of this ruptured remnant of Biblical authority being lost within our lives is immense; it’s weight bearing down upon the fabric of culture, tearing it apart at the seams.

Beyond the financial ramifications, which are usually substantial, the emotional repercussions are often life-changing and persistent, carrying with them the sort of shame, remorse, bitterness, and distrust that effects the potential for future positive relationship growth.

A proper understanding of God’s purpose for marriage and the distinctly unique roles of a Christian husband and a Christian wife can serve to lay the foundation for a loving, lasting, unbreakable covenent relationship. 

Part 1 – God’s Purpose for Marriage

Ephesians 5:31,32:

31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”^[e] 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

From this passage in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus we see that the deepest, truest purpose of marriage is to be a reflection, a representation, a likeness of how Christ related to and treated His Church. This is NOT simply an illustration, or an insteresting and satisfying perspective of marriage, this is the true meaning of marriage.

Quoting CJ Mahaney:

“So we see that there is a purpose in marriage that goes beyond personal fulfillment.  Something of the selfless love, care, and sacrifice that Jesus shows toward the Church is supposed to be evident in you as you relate to your wife.  Something of the respect, submission, and devotion that the Church shows toward Jesus is supposed to be evident in your wife as she relates to you.  That’s the purpose for your marriage.  That is why God has given her to you, and you to her.”

From John MacArthur:

“Marriage is the capstone of the family, the building block of human civilization. A society that does not honor and protect marriage undermines its very existence. Why? Because one of God’s designs for marriage is to show the next generation how a husband and wife demonstrate reciprocal, sacrificial love toward each other.

But when husbands and wives forsake that love, their marriage fails to be what God intended. When marriage fails, the whole family falls apart; when the family fails, the whole society suffers. And stories of societal suffering fill the headlines every day.

Now, more than ever before, is the time for Christians to declare and put on display what the Bible declares: God’s standard for marriage and the family is the only standard that can produce meaning, happiness, and fulfillment.”

 Society is falling apart all around us. In an increasingly unbelieving and secular culture that is predicated upon instant gratification, selfish desires, and foolish pride, we must seek after the wisdom of Holy Scripture, and comform ourselves to the model we have been given in Christ.

Christian, your marriage is projecting a message into the world for all to see, like it or not. Examine yourself.   …Examine your life and the fruits you are bearing.

Again, John MacArthur:

“If you’ll walk in the power of the Spirit, yield to His Word, and be mutually submissive, you can know that God will bless you abundantly and glorify His Son through your marriage.”

The Post-Truth Era?

A Christian brother shared with me an article from Dr. Albert Mohler which he had posted on his blog on the 19th that dealt with the issue of children lying to their parents.  Dr. Mohler references an article by Po Bronson in New York magazine titled “Learning to Lie“.  As a Christian husband and father I found it very interesting and am quoting from it here:

“In the end, 98 percent of the teens admitted lying to parents. At the same time, 98 percent of the same teens said that lying is wrong. Add to this the fact that many of these kids admitted lying a great deal.”

“It turns out that children begin to lie very early. As a skill, lying seems tied to intelligence. The smarter kids lie earlier and more skillfully. Really smart kids can lie at 2 or 3.”

“The Christian worldview does not honor truth as a matter of mere politeness, but as a moral necessity.  We deserve the truth from each other, and we owe the truth to each other.  As Christian parents, we should ask ourselves whether we are teaching our children to lie — and whether we really expect our children and teens to tell us the truth.”

“Is honesty “on the ropes” at your house?”

As the father of a four year old I am forced to examine myself and my practices to ensure that I am portraying the sort of Christian attitudes and ideals to my daughter that Christ would have me portray.

Proverbs 22:6tells us: Teach a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (NIV)

5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 

Matthew 19: (King James Version)

And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them.
  But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
    Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
      And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them.

If I could only be the man my daughter thinks I am….yes, then, I might have something to be proud of.

Here’s a link to dr. Mohler’s blog site if you’d like to go read the full article. It’s a short read and well worth the time in my opinion.

 http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php

The Cup.

The greatest act of obedience in all of history……….

Mark 14:32-42 (ESV)

32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34And he said to them,  ”My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

36And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

37And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

40And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Rejoice in the Savior’s love for you. Recognize His love for you in His darkest hour. My sin, your sin….our sin….required His death.  And He drank the cup of God’s wrath…….for you and me.

Thank you Lord Jesus.

This video clip is from CJ Mahaney and is a little over 3 mins. The full message can be found at  Sovereign Grace Ministries

Christ: The Fulfillment of Prophecy

The following article was written by D. James Kennedy: 

Some time ago I had the opportunity to speak to a man who had no belief whatsoever in the Scriptures as any sot of divine revelation from God. He was a writer who was articulate and well-educated. While he was well-read, he was completely ignorant of any evidences for the truthfulness of the Christian faith and the Scriptures which reveal it. He said the Bible was simply a book written by men, just like any other book. I said, “That’s very interesting. I would like to read some statements to you about someone and have you tell me, assuredly, without question, about whom I am reading.”

He agreed and I began to read:

“Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs on my head” (Ps 69:4)

“The Kings of the Earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One” (Ps 2:2)

“Even my friend, in whom I trusted, one who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps 41:9)

“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” (Zch 13:7)

“Then I said to them, ‘If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver. ‘Throw it to the potter,’ the Lord said to me–this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter” (Zch 11:13-13)

“They are striking the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod” (Mc 5:1)

“I gave My back to those who beat Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting” (Is 50:6)

“They pierced My hands and My feet” (Ps 22:16)

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1)

“Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads” ‘He relies on the Lord; let Him rescue him; let the Lord deliver him, since He takes pleasure in Him’” (Ps 22:7-8)

“They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps 69:21)

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me” (Ps 22:14)

“Yet He Himself bore our sickness, and He carried our pains; but we regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted” (Is 53:4)

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.  Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth” (Is 53:7)

“They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing” (Ps 22:18)

“He submitted Himself to death” (Is 53:12)

“He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels” (Is 5:12)

“You may not break any of its bones” (Ex 12:46)

“He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken” (Ps 34:20)

“They will look at Me whom they pierced” (Zch 12:10)

“They made His grave with he wicked, and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully” (Is 53:9)

“For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit” (Ps 16:10)

“You ascended to the heights, taking away captives; You received gifts from people, even from the rebellious, so that the Lord God might live there” (Ps 68:18)

“The Lord declared to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Ps 110:1)

I said to him, “About whom did I read?” He replied, “Well, you obviously read of the life and ministry and suffering and death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.”

I said, “Is there any question in your mind about that?”  He answered, “No. That could refer to no on else.”

I replied, “Well then, I would want you to understand that all of the Scriptures that I just read to you are taken from the Old Testament, which was competed some four hundred years before Jesus was born. No critic, no atheist, no agnostic has ever once claimed that any of those writings was written after His birth. In fact, they were translated from Hebrew into Greek in Alexandria some 150 years before He was born. If this is merely a book written by men, would you please explain to me how these words were written?”

He said, “I haven’t the faintest idea.” He was completely nonplussed. He had never heard those things before in his life. Indeed they cannot be explained by any purely humanistic presuppositions.

It is noteworthy that in no other religious writings in the world do we find any specific predictive prophecies like we find in Scripture. You will find no predictive prophecies whatsoever in the writings of Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Lao-Tse, or Hinduism. Yet in the Scripture there are well over two thousand prophecies, most of which have already been fulfilled.

They are so specific in nature that they burn all bridges behind them. If they are not fulfilled, it leaves no room for excuse. How can these be explained? Of all the attacks that have ever been made upon Scripture, there has never been one book written by a skeptic to disprove the prophecies of the Scripture. Though the Bible has been attacked at every other place, the one place where God rests His inspiration is that the things He foretells come infallibly to pass.

The Bible prophecies are altogether unexpected! I know of no one ever prophesying that any other human being would rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. That is exceedingly improbable. The chance of it happening by coincidence is incalculable.  No, the Bible is not merely a book written by men; it is a book written by God through men, and the heart of its prophetic message is Jesus Christ. 

Muddy Debate; Sedimentary Deposits

Physorg.com is carrying an article published in this week’s edition of Science by researchers from Indiana University and MIT which challenges the longstanding theory that most sedimentary depostion took place in relatively still, quiet waters.

The article can be found here: http://www.physorg.com/news116777974.html

Of particular interest to me is the first paragraph of the article wherein the author, in my opinion, completely misses the big-picture ramifications of the research when he remarks;

“Geologists have long thought muds will only settle when waters are quiet, but new research by Indiana University Bloomington and Massachusetts Institute of Technology geologists shows muds will accumulate even when currents move swiftly. Their findings appear in this week’s Science. This may seem a trifling matter at first, but understanding the deposition of mud could significantly impact a number of public and private endeavors, from harbor and canal engineering to oil reservoir management and fossil fuel prospecting. ” -(emphasis added)

The more important aspect of this research is that it shows that sediment can be deposited by rapidly flowing waters. Harbor and canal engineering?!?!  What about the complete undermining of current theory of geologic ages of rock strata??!

Furthermore, the research team noted that portions of the geologic record indicated that erosion and deposition were taking place simultaneously;

“The finding feels like something of a vindication, Schieber says. He and his colleagues have (genially) argued about whether muds could deposit from rapidly flowing water. Schieber had posited the possibility after noting an apparent oddity in the sedimentary rock record. (emphasis added-JFG)
In many ancient mudstones, you see not only deposition, but also erosion and rapid re-deposition of mud — all in the same place,” Schieber said. “The erosive features are at odds with the notion that the waters must have been still all or most of the time. We needed a better explanation.”

And here, in my opinion is the most critical portion of the entire article;

“We found that mud beds accumulate at flow velocities that are much higher than what anyone would have expected,” said Schieber, who, because of the white color of the clay suspensions, calls this ongoing work the “sedimentology of milk.”

The sediment accumulates much more quickly than anyone expected?!?!  Wait a minute!  I thought the scientific community had performed hundreds and hundreds of quantitative tests to arrive at some sort of sediment accumulation rate parameters upon which to base the age of  many of the strata that are observed in  the geologic record?!  …..accumulates more quickly than expected?!?!?  This is the first published, well documented testing of this sort!??   Man, oh man!…..talk about making unsubstantiated statements!

Ok…..so….to recap…… current evolutionary models assign huge time periods to geologic strata based on assumptions that it takes hundreds or thousands of years for a bone/shell/animal to be covered by sediment because sediment accumulates very slowly. …but that’s not supported by physical quantitative testing of the process in a controlled setting.

In other words, this is another example of the uniformitarian view—a little water, a long time—giving way to the possibility that geological landscapes were formed by massive amounts of turbulent water over a short period of time and, once again, pointing out that there should be room to question the existing model.

When we view the geologic record through the lens of a Biblical understanding we would expect to find millions of dead things buried in sediment laid down quickly by water all over the Earth.   

For more thorough research into this issue please utilize the resources available at Answers In Genesis:

Get Answers: Geology

Get Answers: Flood

Radiometric Dating Proves Earth is millions of years old?

While perusing a friend’s blog I noted some comments regarding a poster’s belief that radiometric (C-14) dating techniques have pretty much proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Earth is millions of years old.  Let’s have a look, shall we?

A few interesting tidbits from an article I found over at AiG:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-c14-disprove-the-bible

“The use of carbon-14 dating is often misunderstood. Carbon-14 is mostly used to date once-living things (organic material). It cannot be used directly to date rocks; however, it can be used to put time constraints on some inorganic material such as diamonds (diamonds contain carbon-14). Because of the rapid rate of decay of ¹⁴C, it can only give dates in the thousands-of-year range and not millions.”

“Scientists now use a device called an “Accelerator Mass Spectrometer” (AMS) to determine the ratio of ¹⁴C to ¹²C, which increases the assumed accuracy to about 80,000 years. In order to actually do the dating, other things need to be known. Two such things include the following questions:

1. How fast does ¹⁴C decay?
2. What was the starting amount of ¹⁴C in the creature when it died?  “

I hope you can readily see the potential for conflicting conclusions when analyzing material via Carbon-14 methods.  Number one, it’s not possible, at the very edges of the envelope, to measure accurately beyond approximately 70,000 years, based on the decay rate of the Carbon-14…….. and secondly, and far more important in this argument, is the fact that one is forced to take a guess at the baseline presence of Carbon-14 in the test substrate (animal) at the time of it’s death.  So what quantifiable data should we use to validate the baseline levels of carbon-14 at the time of the animal’s death?….which is itself the very question we’re trying to answer.

Now there are certainly other types of radiometric dating techniques, each of which presents it’s own set of challenges with respect to producing conclusive results. But Carbon-14 has been around so long and has been touted so many times as being “infallible” and “completely reliable” that I wanted to offer another view.

The problem is NOT with the test method itself but with the assumptions and presuppositions made by the scientists performing the test.

So the next time someone tells you that “the rocks” have been “Carbon-14 dated” to be millions of years old?……ask them how that could be possible. Ask for the data to support that claim. It simply doesn’t exist.