What about Halloween?

How should a Christian (or should he) recognize and participate in Halloween?

I have often said that when the girls were little, we viewed it as a quest to get as much chocolate as quickly as we could. I have always understood this as an issue where a Christian may exercise Biblical liberty (and must practice Biblical judgment in exercising that liberty).

The issue is complex. Blogs by Tim Challies, Grace to You (John MacArthur) and Al Mohler offer perspectives that are well-thought and discerning. As you consider this issue, they are worth taking the time to read.

It's Not Halloween. It's Reformation Day.

The great event of October 31, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenburg Church.

We do well to remember what Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer, Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, and a host of others fought for.

J. C. Ryle's book, Five English Reformers helps us do just that:

Let men say what they will, or pick holes where they may, they will never succeed in disproving these facts. To the Reformation, Englishmen owe an English Bible, and liberty for every man to read it. To the Reformation, they owe the knowledge of the way of peace with God, and of the right of every sinner to go straight to Christ by faith, without bishop, priest, or minister standing in his way. To the Reformation, they owe a Scriptural standard of morality and holiness such as our ancestors never dreamed of. For ever let us be thankful for these inestimable mercies. [HT: CQOD]

Elsewhere, he also says:

Let us thank God that the foundations of the Reformed Church of England were laid by such men as John Bradford. Let us clearly understand what kind of men our martyred Reformers were, what kinds of doctrines they held, and what kind of lives they lived. Let us pray that the work they did for the Church of England may never be despised or underrated. Above all, let us pray that there never may be wanting among us a continual succession of English clergy, who shall keep the martyr's candle burning brightly, and shall hand down true Reformation principles to our children's children. [p. 138.]

That is a worthy goal on this day — that we remember the cost and benefits of the work of god through the Reformers, that we give thanks to God for them, and that we continue to stand in such a way that the gospel of God is honored and upheld. Perhaps a way to begin that is by reading a good biography on the reformation or one of the reformers. Ryle's book is a good place to start, as are a number of books authored by Stephen J. Nichols.

Last year I also noted several resources for information about Luther, and the Reformation in general. Or read some short quotes ("Reformation quotes") about the Reformation.

Sunday Leftovers (10/28/07)

In today's passage, Jesus refers to two familiar figures of speech to explain who He is —

• I am the door of the sheep (vv, 7, 9)
• I am the good shepherd (vv. 11, 14)

Jesus and the rest of Scripture frequently use such images to help us understand the character of God and His relationship with His people. John MacArthur has accumulated a long list of these images:

He is called the Amen (Rev. 3:14; cf. 2 Cor. 1:20), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), the Advocate (1 John 2:1), the Apostle (Heb. 3:1), the Author and Perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2), the Author of salvation (Heb. 2:10), the Beginning (source, origin) of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14), the Branch (Jer. 23:5), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), the Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25), the Counselor (Isa. 9:6), the Deliverer (Rom. 11:26), the Door of the sheep (John 10:7), Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6), the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5), the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17), the Firstborn (Preeminent One) of the dead (Rev. 1:5) and over all creation (Col. 1:15), the Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), the Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14), God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5), the Guardian of souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Head of the church (Col. 1:18), the Holy One of god (John 6:69), I AM (John 8:58), Immanuel (Isa. 7:14), the King of Israel (John 1:49; cf. Zech. 9:9), King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15), the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), Lord (John 13:13), the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8), the Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), the Messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1), the Messiah (John 1:41; 4:25-26), the Mighty God (Isa. 9:6), the Morning Star (Rev. 22:16), the Only Begotten (Unique One) from the Father (John 1:14), our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), the Prince of peace (Isa. 9:6), the Resurrection and the life (John 11:25), the Righteous One (Acts 7:25), the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the Root and Descendant of David (Rev. 22:16), the Root of Jesse (Isa. 11:10), the Ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6), the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), Savior (Luke 2:11; Titus 1:4), the Servant (Isa. 42:1), Shiloh (Gen. 49:10), the Son of the Blessed One (Mark 14:61), the Son of David (Matt. 12:23; 21:9), the Son of God (Luke 1:35), the Son of Man (John 5:27), the son of the Most High (Luke 1:32), the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), the Sunrise from on high (Luke 1:78), the True God (1 John 5:20), the True Vine (John 15:1), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), the Word (John 1:1, 14), the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and the Word of Life (1 John 1:1).

Justification and Imputation

At the Gospel Coalition earlier this year, Phil Ryken gave an excellent defense of the importance of imputed righteousness. Both the text of his message and the audio are available.

"I am not accepted on my own merit, but I am fully accepted in Christ and that is the basis of my acceptance before God — [I am] as fully accepted as God's own beloved Son. Only perfect righteousness can bring assurance in the aftermath of sin and in the face of death."

And only Christ provides that righteousness. In a church culture that is finding the death of Christ and imputed righteousness increasingly distasteful, this is an important message to help us defend the truth of Christ's substitutionary work.

Piper on Biblical Masculinity

In a recent message, "Some Sweet Blessings of Masculine Christianity," John Piper defined Biblical masculinity this way:

By “masculine Christianity,” I mean (though words are inadequate): The theology and the church and the mission are marked by over-arching male leadership and an ethos of tender-hearted strength and contrite courage and risk-taking decisiveness and readiness to sacrifice to protect and provide for the community—the feel of a great, majestic God making the men lovingly strong and the women intelligently secure.

From that statement, he made the following observations and conclusions (which I've abbreviated):

1. Men are freed to have feminine traits without being effeminate and women are freed to have masculine traits without being tomboys.

2. Men are more properly attracted to the Christian life when it does not appear that he must become effeminate to be a Christian.

3. Women are more properly drawn to a Christian life that highlights the proper place of humble, strong, spiritual men in leadership.

4. We are freed to celebrate strong, courageous women of God who love the biblical vision complementarity, without and sense of compromise.

5. Men are awakened to their responsibilities at home to lead the family and protect the family and provide for the family.

6. Youth leaders and parents will catch a clearer definition of how to answer the question of a boy: “Daddy, what does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman?” And a clearer definition of how to answer the question of a girl: “Mommy, what does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?”

7. The meaning of masculinity and femininity in singleness will be clearer and a lifetime of singleness without sexual intercourse will be more understandable and livable.

8. The corporate worship teams are not dominated by women and the songs chosen are not dominated by a one-sided feel of intimacy or majesty.

9. The God of the Bible will be more fully portrayed and known than where the tone is more feminine.

10. Preaching is more readily prized.…The fear of strong preaching is part of the effeminizing of the church, and the full range of the way God is and appears on the Bible is not known where preaching is simply casual and conversational.

11. A wartime mindset and a wartime lifestyle will feel more natural. And that is what the world needs from us—a readiness to lay our lives down for a great and global cause making all the sacrifices necessary to push the word of Christ into the most inhospitable places.

The entire sermon is worth hearing for men who want to be Biblical in their manhood.

Born to Reproduce

Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, was a uniquely gifted and effective evangelist and discipler.

His heart for the latter is demonstrated in his sermon, "Born to Reproduce." It's the first time I've heard a recording of one of his sermons, and I found it personally challenging. It's worth a listen.

Reading Tips

You know how to read. I know that. But sometimes a little guidance on how to get control over that growing stack of books on your night stand (or wherever your favorite place to stack things is) would be helpful.

Here are six tips from Al Mohler:

1. Maintain regular reading projects.
2. Work through major sections of Scripture.
3. Read all the titles written by some authors.
4. Get some big sets and read them through.
5. Allow yourself some fun reading.
6. Write in your books.
   

To that, I would also add, don't be afraid to leave a book unfinished. If it's not worth the time to read, then don't read it. No one will give you a test on whether or not you finished. It's fair to walk out of bad movies, and it's appropriate to leave inadequate books uncompleted.

Read all of Mohler's comments.

Worship and Transformation

Tim Keller on the role of worship in transformation:

A Christian, if you looked into the Mirror of Erised [Desire] you would see yourself perfectly enjoying God and if you could have one perfect act of worship in which you perfectly valued Him, in which you perfectly enjoyed Him, if you completely enjoyed Him as He is, you'd be perfect. Nothing would get you down. Nothing would destroy you. You could face anything. But of course, all of our acts of worship are imperfect, and therefore bit by bit by bit, as we worship and as we get better and better at worship, we change where our heart looks. We reassign the ultimate value to the One that will satisfy us if we get Him and forgive us if we fail Him. If you're living for achievement and you fail that god, it'll never forgive you; you'll hate yourself forever. If the thing you are really looking for is love and romance or family, and somehow you fail that god, it will never forgive you; you'll hate yourself forever. This is the only God who's a shepherd. This is the only God — we're the people of His pasture, we're the flock of His hand. He's the one God who forgives you; He's the only God who died for you. So why do we need to worship God? Because we're going to worship something and anything else but the real God will distort our life.…Worship is the ultimate need of your heart. It's the ultimate need of your life.

Listen to the complete message here.

The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism

Greg Bahnsen articulates clearly and well the fundamental differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We are not one with Catholics; they do believe a different gospel; and we must not (for the sake of their eternal destiny) suppose that we believe the same work of Christ.

Listen to "The Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Right?"

Sunday Leftovers (10/21/07)

Some leftover quotations after thinking about God's purposeful (read: sovereign) intention to use all circumstances to make worshippers out of unbelievers:

"Our trials reveal the measure of our affection for this earth — both its good things and bad things. Our troubles expose our latent idolatry." [John Piper, Life as a Vapor.]


"In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel (Rom. 10:17), so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone. It is only in the Scriptures that we find an adequate view of God's relationship to and involvement in our painful circumstances. It is only from the Scriptures, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in adversity.

"In the arena of adversity, the Scriptures teach us three essential truths about God — truths we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity. They are:

• God is completely sovereign.
• God is infinite in wisdom.
• God is perfect in love.

"Someone has expressed these three truths as they relate to us in this way: 'God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.'" [Jerry Bridges, Trusting God.]


"We are all idealists. We picture to ourselves a life on earth completely free from every hindrance, a kind of spiritual Utopia where we can always control events, where we can move about as favorites of heaven, adjusting circumstances to suit ourselves. This we feel would be quite compatible with the life of faith and in keeping with the privileged place we hold as children of God.

"In thinking thus we simply misplace ourselves; we mistake earth for heaven and expect conditions here below which can never be realized till we reach the better world above. While we live we may expect troubles, and plenty of them. We are never promised a life without problems as long as we remain among fallen men...." [A. W. Tozer, 12/18.]


"I would not have you think that any strange thing has happened to you in this affliction: 'Tis according to the course of things in this world, that after the world's smiles, some great affliction soon comes. God has not give you early and seasonable warning not at all to depend on worldly prosperity. Therefore, I would advise…if it pleases God to restore you, to lot [count] upon no happiness here. Labour while you live, to serve God and do what good you can, and endeavour to improve every dispensation to God's glory and your own spiritual good, and be content to do and bear all that God calls you to do in this wilderness, and never expect to find this world anything better than a wilderness." [Jonathan Edwards, writing to his daughter Esther after she had been seriously ill.]


"Behind a frowning providence he [God] hides a smiling face. We may see it in our lifetime, or we may not. But the whole Bible is written, and all the swans [great men of God who have gone before us] are singing, to convince us it is there, and we can and should 'exult in our tribulations' (Rom. 5:3)." [John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God.]

Enduring with Christ When Others Sin Against You

At the recent Desiring God Conference, "Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints," Jerry Bridges addressed the topic of how to endure, even when others sin against you:

“Life is frequently difficult, and it’s sometimes painful. And if you live long enough, you will experience both difficulties and pain. And if you want to endure to the end, if you want to stand firm in the face of life’s difficulties and pain then you must have a firm belief in the sovereignty and love of God, and we could add, the wisdom of God. Not only believe that God is in control of every event in His universe and specifically every event in your own life, but God in exercising that control does so from His infinite love for you. [In Lam. 3:37] the prophet says, ‘who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it?’ This verse affirms God’s sovereignty over the actions of other people. So much of life’s pain is caused by the sinful actions of other people. And if you do not believe that God is sovereign and in control of those, then you’re tempted to become bitter, and when you become bitter, then you begin to peel off, and you will not stand firm. You will not endure — if you let other people’s sinful actions cause you to be bitter. And one of the ways that we can keep from becoming bitter…is to realize that God is in sovereign control, even over the sinful actions of other people.”

The rest of this message, along with the others from that conference are well worth hearing and heeding.