Book Review—Shopping for Time

Reviewed by Barbara Harper @ http://www.sharperiron.org

Mahaney, Carolyn, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw. Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007. 96 pages, Paperback. $12.99.

Purchase: Crossway | CBD | WTS
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ISBNs: 1581349130 / 781581349139

DCN: 248.843

Excerpt: Introduction and Chapter 1

Subjects: Christian Living / Women

Carolyn Mahaney is a wife, mother, homemaker, and author. She leads the Titus 2 women’s ministry at Covenant Life Church and speaks to women in churches and at conferences. Carolyn and her husband, C.J., are the parents of three daughters and one son. Read her Girl Talk blog.

Nicole Whitacre is a wife, mother, and homemaker. She contributed to I Kissed Dating Goodbye: The Study Guide by Joshua Harris and assisted her mother with Feminine Appeal. Nicole and her husband, Steve, have one son, Jack.

The subtitle of this book might cause one to raise a skeptical eyebrow until she gets to page 13. It says, “We can actually do all that God has called us to do” without becoming “overwhelmed, miserable, and exhausted.” That sentence succinctly states the theme of this book, and the following chapters outline several tips for using time wisely. Ephesians 5:15-16 is the theme passage of the book: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (ESV). “The phrase, ‘making the best,’ means to ‘buy up, rescue from loss, or improve’ the use of time” (p. 19). A shopping metaphor is employed throughout the book to illustrate ways to “buy up” time.

While we constantly—almost unconsciously—plan, evaluate, strategize, and make wise choices when shopping, we often neglect to do so with the most important matters of our lives. We wouldn’t dream of going to a grocery store without a shopping list or buying a car without haggling over the sticker price, or purchasing new shoes without checking the price tag, but we throw away time as if we had an endless supply. (p. 17)

The first chapter provides a thorough study of the theme passage, Ephesians 5:15-16. Chapters 2-6 discuss five tips to make the best use of time.

Tip one is to rise up early to spend time with the Lord and to plan for the day. Mrs. Mahaney and her daughters began what they call the “5 a.m. club,” but they acknowledge it is “founded on principle rather than practice. The question isn’t ‘How early do you get up in the morning?’ but ‘Does your daily schedule reflect your priorities: seeking God at the outset of the day, romancing your husband, and serving your family?’ The purpose of getting up early is to make the most important priorities most important” (p. 36).

The second tip emphasizes the need to sit at Jesus’ feet. Nothing else we can do is as good a use of time as this is. “Because of his death on the cross for our sins, we have the privilege to sit at the feet of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of peace and to listen to Him (Isa. 9:6)” (p. 41) and to receive grace, wisdom, guidance, peace, and strength.

It’s cute when children assume they can create or accomplish something all by themselves. However, it is altogether different and more serious if we conclude that we can grow in godliness, conquer sin, or spend our time wisely all by ourselves. That’s why we must seek God each day. If nothing else, sitting at Jesus’ feet says to God, “I need you!” It expresses—whether we feel it is true—that we know we can’t shop for time on our own.

Conversely, choosing not to sit at Jesus’ feet makes a statement. It says to the Lord, “I can do it without you. I don’t need to read your Word or pray or listen to your voice. I am competent all by myself, thank you very much.” These are frighteningly arrogant words we’re saying, if not with our mouths then with our hearts. (p. 43)

The third tip, “Sit and plan,” advises taking something of a personal retreat once or twice a year, even if it is just a few hours alone to take time for study, prayer, and evaluation of what our goals and priorities are and what we can do to better meet them. In my opinion, this tip would be the hardest to incorporate, but the value of it is such that I wish I had done it throughout the years. One of the evaluating questions in one of the sub-points discussing our service to the Lord concerning whether we are using our gifts everywhere else but the church was particularly thought-provoking to me.

Tip four is evaluating relationships. Which need attention? Do we have friendships that “sharpen” us? Do we have friends who mentor us and friends to whom we can be a mentor? Are there any negative friendships we should curtail or eliminate?

The chapter about the fifth tip, “Plan to depend,” contains several practical tips for implementing the goals and priorities we’ve established and for dealing with problems like interruptions while reminding ourselves that we need to depend on God all along the way to accomplish anything.

The book concludes by explaining that even though better time management can enhance our peace of mind, true peace of heart is found in the gospel.

The book is written in a conversational, encouraging, “coming alongside to help” style and doesn’t present a rigid system of schedules and plans as some time-management books do. Sprinkled throughout the tips are anecdotes from the authors’ own lives as well as snippets from notes and e-mails they have received. They frankly deal with issues that must be faced, but they also acknowledge problems women face in managing their time, especially with small children in the home. They also offer creative ways to implement their tips in busy households with very different planning styles, schedules, and seasons of life. They remind us that our standing before God is secure based on our relationship with Christ, not on how well we perform our duties, yet we can improve our stewardship of the time and responsibilities He has given to us.

The only statement in the book I wasn’t in total agreement with was a quote from the husband and father of the authors. He wrote, “Only God gets His to-do list done each day. We are not God. We are finite creatures with serious limitations” (p. 87). I believe I understand what he means: We will always have more things to do than time to do all of them. Truly we are not God, and we are finite and limited. But the premise at the beginning of the book is that we can do everything God has called us to do. Many people were still unhealed, unsaved, and undiscipled when Christ left the earth in bodily form, yet He had finished the work God had given Him to do. Our limitations actually help define some of the things we are not supposed to do.

I think most women would enjoy this book. It is written for women in any stage or season of life. At less than 100 pages, it’s ideal for someone who is short on time but wants to manage it better. Though I have read many time-management books, I was reminded of several principles and discovered some new perspectives through this book.

Barbara Harper, who resides in South Carolina, has been married to Jim for 27 years and is the mother of three boys. In college, she majored in Home Economics Education and minored in English. A stay-at-home mom for 23 years, she keeps busy with her family, home, ladies’ group, and missionary activities at ch

Confessions of a Would-Be Mary

by Beth Murschell @ http://www.sharperiron.org

As a child, when I heard the story of Mary and Martha, I cast myself without hesitation in the lead role as Mary. Martha (the shrew: shrill and stout with course, graying hair; or possibly lean and accusing with narrow eyes) didn’t hold a great deal of appeal, while Mary (the heroine: decorative and young with large, serene eyes) was graceful and kind and “chose the better part.” Besides, what idiot would choose chores over time with the Lord?

Of course, the story is more nuanced than I knew. The town called Mary “the sinner” (Jesus said her sins “were many”), and later we see her weeping and anointing her Lord’s feet with precious ointment of spikenard and wiping it with her hair, annoying Judas Iscariot with the extravagance of her gesture. She wept at Jesus’ feet when Lazarus lay dead, and she sat at Jesus’ feet at their home in Bethany. Mary “loved much,” and her many sins were forgiven. Jesus told her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50, ESV).

Martha, who reminds me of the prodigal son’s older brother, kept the household running and ran herself ragged in the process. The Lord called her “anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41). She had her good points, mind you, but who remembers them?

I still want to be Mary, but I’d be cast against type. Any sitting at his feet I should do runs a distant second to the daily Sturm und Drang of parenting and housekeeping. My theme verse these days is Proverbs 14:4—“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean.”

If I had a big crisis like cancer or a car accident or a child in danger, I would not hesitate to seek His face. But it’s hard to remember that the God of the universe is “a very present help” when I’m scrabbling for a clean rag to eliminate various excretions or relocating a lizard or using my psychic powers to tell whether a child is lying. I know I will get credit for giving a cup of cold water in His name, but what if I lose my temper because the child spills it?

I apologized to the children the other day for being cranky. My son said, “I didn’t know adults got cranky.” Martha knew. She had the audacity to tattle on her sister to Jesus. Ouch. And she didn’t have to worry about mercury in the fish supply, hormones in the milk, and lead in the lunch box liners. Some days, the idea of multiple wives even sounds reasonable—at least there would always be a babysitter and someone to talk to.

How do I study for the role of Mary? I’d imagine being forgiven a lot (yes, I have been), always being found at Jesus’ feet (well, I’ll do that as soon as I get off the computer or when the laundry is done or when I get dinner started or when the kids go to bed tonight), and starting to “love much” (about time, too).

Here’s a bright spot: she did choose the better part. The Lord told Martha, “One thing is needful.” Even with chores to be done and help to be given, Mary carved out a slice of her time to sit and listen. And she did not let Martha’s worries budge her from her own seat at the feet of Christ.

Soon enough, my house arrest with four energetic ankle bracelets will end; and the fresh, raw smells and sounds of a young family churning the house inside out will be replaced with a more sedate, peaceful ambiance. I will have time to reflect on what I could have done differently or better had I only done what Mary did: seized the time available to me night and day and spent it with my Lord. “Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually” (1 Chron. 16:11).

If I start sitting and listening like Mary now (instead of worrying like Martha), then at the end of the day, “When the hurly-burly’s done/When the battle’s lost and won” (to quote a Weird Sister in Macbeth), I will be able to look back without regrets, and say, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). And maybe when my children hear the story, they won’t picture me as Martha.

^{Beth Murschell is married to Mick, a computer programmer, and they live in Bradenton, Florida. Her master’s degree is in music education, but her past work experience includes industrial cleaning, childcare, bumper factory, fast food, camp work (three different camps), music team, telemarketer, media center, music educator, sixth-grade teacher, maid, retail, writer, and now mother of four. She has lived in Panama City, Louisville, Greenville, Miami, Brevard, Quakertown, and Bradenton.}

John Piper - Rescuing Unborn Children

Kingdom Families

From http://www.biblicalfoundations.org

In God, Marriage & Family I sought to advocate a rebuilding of the biblical foundations as we put God and his plan first in our marriages and families. I have since increasingly come to realize that this movement has very important implications for the church as well as it seeks to strengthen and support families.

Every church, when asked, will of course say that they are supporting families. But is this necessarily the case? In many (if not most) churches what we actually find is a highly age-segregated model. Upon setting foot on church premises, everyone in the family goes their separate ways: the youth to the youth group, the babies to the nursery, and children and adults to their respective Sunday School classes. These, in turn, are typically divided into people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, Singles, Seniors, and so on. Then there are separate men’s and women’s ministries. How is this arrangement supposed to strengthen families? I believe many churches need to take a look at this question and squarely face the possible negative implications of this kind of approach to ministry with regard to families.

To preempt possible misunderstanding, I am not denying the benefit of encouraging people to mix with their peers and to derive encouragement from others like them at church. I am not saying churches should do away with their youth group (though our approach to youth ministry in the United States could certainly use some thorough reexamination). What I am saying is that respect for God’s order for the family should lead the church to devise ways in which families are encouraged to worship together, study God’s Word together, and grow together in their faith.

In theory, I realize, churches say they equip individuals at church—fathers, mothers, youth, children—and then they will come home and during the week be encouraged to relate to other members in the family in a Christian manner. But is it really best to segregate people at church and to leave integration to families themselves during the rest of the week? Would it not be better to practice and encourage integration at church as well?

I am not even advocating a model that is “family-integrated” church-wide here (though there would seem to be undeniable benefits to such a model). I am suggesting, at least, that families reconsider whether their current offerings do in fact have the effect of strengthening and supporting families in the greatest way possible. If this process of re-examination were to lead to changes (as I think they probably will), this would result in better integrated, more closely-knit families.

I believe that the purpose for every family should be exactly the same as for the church: families devoted to worship, discipleship, evangelism, fellowship, and so on. If so, church leaders should ask themselves the question: How are we encouraging families to grow in their worship? How are we helping parents to become more committed disciples and to help their young people grow in their discipleship? How can we help make families evangelistic units where service of others and sharing their faith becomes a way of life, a genuine desire, and a matter of commitment and priority? The list could go on and on.

At my church, my wife and I and our entire family have started a little experiment. After attending a “Family Bible Study” class for six months, we started a class of our own that we chose to call “Kingdom Families”—“Kingdom Families,” because we aspire to be more than families studying the Bible together. We want to be households—families with children, singles, old and young people—that think of themselves as kingdom outposts of salt and light in this world. On Sunday mornings we pray together, share meals and have fellowship, study God’s Word together, as families.

Everyone is welcome. To accommodate smaller children, we have coloring pages, occasional skits, and other activities tied in with the Bible lesson. One of the great benefits of this approach is that children and young people can see the father take leadership in prayer and teaching the Bible and that they can see their parents discuss the Bible together and participate in the discussion themselves. We circulate a prayer list and try to keep in touch as much as we can during the week. We are not a church in itself but part of the ministry of the church as a whole.

Since this is a fairly new concept, part of the challenge of our small gathering is to explain to the leadership and other church members exactly what we are all about. Most importantly, we want to be philosophically (i.e. biblically) driven rather than merely follow pragmatically an approach to “doing church” that mostly reflects the culture around us (even if this would mean our numbers would be bigger!). We do not have all the answers; we do not feel our way is the only way; and we continue to seek the Lord’s leading as our little group struggles to grow.

While we are aware of various models of integrating the church and families, and while we seek to learn from all of those, we do not hold up one work as our “Bible” or agree 100% with it. We believe this approach calls for discernment, humility, and careful nuancing, because the devil would love nothing more than to divide the church over this issue (or any issue) by stirring up some controversy or misunderstanding or misrepresentation.

For those of you interested in this approach, I reproduce our vision statement below:

The Kingdom Families Sunday school class is focused on households, whether families, singles, widows, divorced, and others. We are a multi-generational group of believers because we believe that in this way we can best reflect the type of learning and growing Christ desires for his church in the body of Christ. We study the Bible together, are interconnected with each other during the week through prayer and fellowship gatherings, and actively engage in and support evangelistic and missionary efforts through outreach, prayer, giving, and help. We would love to have any interested individuals or families join us. We are looking for a few kingdom families who share our vision of multi-generational, aimed at reaching entire households.

Our church is Richland Creek Community Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina (www.richlandcreek.com). If you are in the area and are looking for a church, come and visit us. Our class meets during the third hour of worship, starting at 11 a.m., in Room 111.

For Further Study see, among other works, Eric Wallace, Uniting Church and Home (Solutions for Integrating Church and Home, 1999); for a church family seeking to implement this kind of model see www.lakeside-community.org.

Understanding Islam

By John MacArthur @http://www.sfpulpit.com

With all that is going on today, can you help me gain a basic understanding of Islam? How does it differ from biblical Christianity?

Islam is actually a word that means “surrender” or “submission.” Islam claims to be fully surrendered to the will of Allah. And the will of Allah, Muslims believe, was revealed through his prophet Mohammed. The revelation is written down in the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

There are six basic articles of faith in Islam and five duties. A simple Islamic doctrinal statement would look something like this:

Muslims believe that Allah alone is the one true deity. He has neither mother nor father; similarly, he has no sons or daughters. He is not a Trinity; he is not the God of the Old Testament; and he is not the God of Christianity. Allah, according to Islam, is the god of all humanity.

Muslims believe in all the “Messengers and Prophets of Allah.” According to Islamic literature, Allah sent thousands of prophets (Jesus being one), but Mohammed is the greatest of them all.

Muslims believe in “the Revelations and the Koran.” They believe the Koran is the most holy book. Islam also recognizes other sacred writings, including the original manuscripts of the Bible. But Muslims claim that all other holy writings have been corrupted and tainted by translation and copyist errors. Only the Koran is pure, and every word of the Koran is the word of Allah, as given directly to Mohammed.

Muslims believe in the angels of Allah. They believe angels are created beings that have no material or physical needs. Angels require neither food nor drink. The angels are inferior to Allah but superior to humans, and they may be either good or evil.

Muslims believe in a day of judgment. Muslims believe all the dead will be raised to stand trial before Allah, and they will be judged according to their works. It is hoped by most Muslims that if a person follows Islam and does enough good deeds to outweigh the bad, Allah may allow such a person to enter paradise rather than sending that person to hell. But there are no guarantees of this. One’s ultimate destiny is subject solely to the will of Allah. In Islam, there is no atonement for sin or promise of forgiveness, and no assurance of any kind — except for those who die in jihad. Those people, martyrs, are guaranteed eternal life in paradise.

Muslims believe in “Qadaa and Qadar.” These Arabic words signify Allah’s timeless knowledge and power to execute his plans. Islamic determinism goes far beyond the biblical doctrine that God is ultimately sovereign over all, working all things together for good. Instead, Islamic predestinarianism amounts to a kind of fatalistic determinism, where everything that occurs — both good and evil — is thought to come directly from the hand of Allah.

Muslims also have five duties, known as the pillars of Islam. Islam itself is said to be built on these five “pillars”:

1. The first duty is the recitation of the Islamic declaration of faith, known as the Shahadah.

2. The second duty is prayer five times a day.

3. A third duty is charity (known as Zakat).

4. A fourth duty is the annual fast — actually a month of fasting — called Ramadan.

5. A fifth duty, required of every Muslim at least once in his life (unless it is utterly impossible by some restraint), is a pilgrimage to Mecca, called the hajj.

Islam is fundamentally and irreconcilably opposed to biblical Christianity. Islam teaches that Jesus Christ was a mere man–a prophet, and not God incarnate. Islam also denies that Jesus died on a cross. Obviously, if Christ did not die on the cross, He did not have to rise from the dead; so Islam denies the resurrection, too.

Islam further teaches that no one can have salvation but a Muslim. Even though a Muslim can never know whether he has salvation, only Muslims can have it in the end.

Much more could be said, but clearly, Islam and Christianity are mutually exclusive. Both claim to be the only true way to God. Both cannot be right.

Boo Review: Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

Reviewed by Tony Reinke @ http://spurgeon.wordpress.com

The title of Jerry Bridge’s new book – Respectable Sins — pops with sarcasm. While confronting many obvious and blatant sins in culture – abortion, corporate corruption, homosexuality, bullying and physical abuse – the Church frequently misses the sins running rampant within its walls.

“The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative evangelicals may have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more ‘refined’ or subtle sins” (p. 9).

Later in Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate (NavPress: 2007). Bridges makes this shocking statement: “In our human values of civil laws, we draw a huge distinction between an otherwise ‘law-abiding citizen’ who gets an occasional traffic ticket and a person who lives a ‘lawless’ life in contempt and utter disregard for all laws. But the Bible does not seem to make that distinction. Rather, it simply says sin – that is, all sin without distinction – is lawlessness” (p. 20).

Bridges begins the book with an excellent chapter on defining sainthood in light of the messed-up Corinthians being considered “saints” (see 2 Cor. 1:1). We are called to live as the “saints” we have been declared in Christ. The second chapter — “The Disappearance of Sin” — paints a strong argument that the Church is having a hard time defining and seeing her own sins. The third chapter – “The Malignancy of Sin” – sets out to reveal that sin is not merely what we do but who we are. Our sinful actions spring from our sinful heart. Sin is a “principle or moral force in our heart, our inner being” (p. 24). Bridges then gets into the Gospel as our hope. We can face and overcome sin because of the Cross and the powerful working of the Holy Spirit.

Bridges has dressed the reader for warfare.

The “Respectable Sins”

So what sins are “respectable sins”? Bridges’ chapters include the following topics:

• general ungodliness defined as a sinful attitude towards God
• anxieties and frustrations
• discontentment
• unthankfulness
• pridefulness revealed specifically in self-righteousness, even in a pursuit of theological accuracy, in prideful motives behind our achievements and revealed in a spirit of independence
• selfishness with our interests, time, money and inconsiderableness
• lack of self-control in eating, drinking and temperament, finances, entertainment and shopping
• impatience and irritability
• anger, even anger towards God, and the underlying roots of anger in resentment, bitterness, enmity, hostility and holding grudges
• judgmentalism and a critical spirit over differing convictions and doctrinal disagreements
• envy, jealousy, competitiveness and being controlling
• the sins of the tongue like gossip, slander, lying, harsh words, sarcasm, insults and ridicule
• worldliness shown financially, by our idolatry and in “vicarious immorality,” that is, the enjoyment of watching or reading the sinfulness of others.

And Bridges says his list was whittled down for print!

Conclusion

Bridges’ new work fills an important gap. There are excellent theoretical and architectural works to help church leaders conceive the mission of pastoral ministry and fellowship groups (Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp is one great one). But Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate (NavPress: 2007) may be the best yet in giving churches an easy-to-read book that has great potential in small group settings as believers help one another identify — and then mortify — the “respectable” sins of the heart. And only one who has proven himself faithful to the message of the Cross, like Bridges, is suited to lead us deep into the caves and caverns where sin lives in our hearts. A useful and excellent book worthy of consideration in the 2007 TSS Book of the Year contest.

Title: Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
Author: Jerry Bridges
Reading level: 1.75/5.0 > easy
Boards: hardcover, embossed
Pages: 187
Volumes: 1
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: glue
Paper: white and clean
Topical index: no (unnecessary)
Scriptural index: no (would have been very useful)
Text: perfect type
Publisher: NavPress
Year: 2007
Price USD: $18.99 retail; $13.99 MonergismBooks
ISBNs: 9781600061400, 1600061400

The New 7 Wonders

View them all in 360 degree interactive panoramas from internationally known panorama photographers

The New 7 Wonders of the World were announced at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.

Click on images for fullscreen interactive 360 degree panoramas

lick on images for fullscreenQTVR or choose them from the popupmenu	New 7 Wonders site
The Roman Colosseum Italy- Click to view Fullscreen QTVR For more fullscreen panoramas from Rome visit roma.arounder.com
The Great Wall, China Click on image for fullscreen QTVR For more fullscreen panoramas from the great wall visit www.sleeponthegreatwall.com
Petra Jordan - the forgotten City- Click to view Fullscreen QTVR
Taj Mahal India - Click to view Fullscreen QTVR
Machu Picchu - Click to view Fullscreen QTVR
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro Brazil Click on image for fullscreen QTVR
Chichén Itzá, Mexico - Click to view Fullscreen QTVR

Eiffel Tower

The Giza Pyramids

The Cordoba Mosque

Angkor Wat

Yulonghe river

Book Review: Heaven is Real by Don Piper

Review by Tim Challies @ http://www.challies.com

Lessons on Earth Joy—From the Man who Spent 90 Minutes in Heaven

Don Piper was relatively unknown for even a couple of years after writing 90 Minutes in Heaven. But something must have happened, because now it seems that the longer his book sits on the shelves, the more it picks up steam. It has now sold well over a million copies and shows few signs of abating anytime soon. It is still sitting at the #2 spot in the softcover non-fiction portion of the New York Times list of bestsellers. Piper has made appearances on countless talk shows and has taken his message to millions. His message is this: heaven is real.

This is a message that should, by rights, make me glad. But there is a small problem. Here is how the book begins: “Heaven is real. I know it because I have been there and back.” 90 Minutes in Heaven described Piper’s supposed death, ascension to heaven, and return to earth. In that book he describes heaven as he experienced it and how he has since built a ministry around it. He now seems to be known as the Minister of Hope and the hope he provides is the hope of heaven through his own experience. Since the publication of 90 Minutes in Heaven he has written a devotional book based on his experiences in heaven and has now returned with Heaven is Real.

Ultimately I couldn’t help but feel that Heaven is Real is a self-focused book rather than a gospel-focused book. Though Piper turns often to his experience of being in heaven, even this experience is often just a bridge to discuss some aspect of his own life. Time and time again he prints letters sent to him from people who read 90 Minutes of Heaven and wished to lavish him with praise. Time and again he shares conversations he had with people who identified with his experience and wanted to thank him for writing it. His motives in sharing all of these stories may be sincere, but it certainly begins to feel after a while that he is heaping praise upon himself. I was left with the distinct impression that this book is not only a follow-up to his previous book, but almost an advertisement for it. It’s long, it’s tedious and it’s really quite difficult to read. This book is described in the subtitle as being “Lessons on Earthly Joy,” and this in instructive. The chapters do seem akin to lessons. The book does not seem to build from the first chapter to the last. Rather, the teaching seems a bit disjointed, disconnected from what has gone before and from what will follow.

“Strike while the iron is hot!”, they say, and heaven is hot at the moment. After reading Heaven is Real I’m not convinced that Piper really had a book in him when he began to write this one. The teaching is simplistic and far too human. It sounds like it would come from the lips of Dr. Phil sooner than from the lips of Jesus. Piper clearly attempts to bring sense from suffering. But in that regard it fails. When I compare it to a title like Polishing God’s Monuments by Jim Andrews, a book that had a similar goal, well, there really is no comparison. While this may be the purpose of the book, it is written almost as a follow-up to 90 Minutes in Heaven—as a way of making sense of the success of that book rather than of making sense of the supposed journey to heaven.

Too long, too boring, too man-centered and too much like an infomercial, this book is a near-complete waste of time. Avoid it.

The Gospel According to Islam

By John MacArthur @http://www.sfpulpit.com

Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the already ecumenical climate in America has reached new heights. In an effort to distinguish between the extremist Muslim terrorists and the mainstream Muslim population, the media has called for an even higher level of tolerance and acceptance of the religion of Islam than usual.

In a 2002 issue of Newsweek, for instance, religion editor Kenneth Woodward asserts that “mere tolerance of other religions is not enough” and that “even the acceptance of other religions as valid paths to God is insufficient” (“How Should We Think About Islam?” Newsweek, December 31, 2001 / January 7, 2002, p. 104). According to Woodward, “the most important theological agenda of the new millennium” is for committed Christians, Jews, and Muslims to “find within their own traditions sound theological reasons for valuing other faiths without compromising their own” (ibid., pp. 104-05).

Sadly, the influence of this sentiment can be seen even in the church. In fact, in a relatively recent Christianity Today article, Wheaton College professor James Lewis recommends that Christians “seek Muslim prayer partners and together beseech the true, one and only God to have mercy on us” (“Does God Hear Muslims’ Prayers?” Christianity Today, February 4, 2002, p. 31).

When evangelicals capitulate and attempt to soften the offense of the gospel in this way, they blur the lines between the god of Islam and the God of the Bible. But now is not the time for blurring lines. Now is the time to draw lines—lines between truth and error, and between the one path to heaven and the many paths to hell.

Islam rejects the Trinity and the God of the Bible, insisting instead that Allah alone is the one true deity. It denies that Jesus is God, that He died on the cross, and that He was raised from the dead. Instead, say Muslims, Jesus was but one of thousands of prophets sent by Allah, the greatest of them being Mohammed. In other words, Jesus was merely a man.

Islam rejects the salvation of forgiveness through Christ, teaching that only Muslims can be saved. According to the Koran, if a person follows Islam and does enough good deeds to outweigh the bad, Allah may allow him to enter paradise, but even then he can’t be certain. The only sure pathway to heaven is killing and being killed in jihad, a holy war.

Islam gives lip service to the Bible as a holy book, but it undermines and denies every fundamental doctrine about sin and salvation taught in the Bible. In fact, Islam today is the most powerful system on earth for the destruction of biblical truth and Christianity—thousands of Christians are dying under Islamic persecution, especially in the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia, and other parts of Asia.

Clearly, Islam and Christianity are mutually exclusive. Both claim to be the only true way to God, but both cannot be right. There is no atonement in Islam, no forgiveness, no savior, and no assurance of eternal life. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of hope; Islam is a religion of hopelessness.

Making these kinds of distinctions may not be politically correct, but it is critical if the purity of the gospel is to be protected. Put simply, there is no salvation outside of Christ. When this truth is compromised, the gospel is abandoned—and so is the only hope that we can offer to those who are not our enemies, but rather our mission field.

The Dumbing Down of Youth Ministry: Causes and Cures

by Dan Burrell @ http://www.sharperiron.org

For too many churches, the youth pastor has become little more than the spiritual equivalent of an activities director on a cruise ship. He plans “events” and activities, hangs out with the kids, entertains, and provides some semblance of oversight in order to keep the kids reasonably safe and occupied. Many churches have designed “youth programs” that allow their teens to grow up with a sense of “entitlement” wherein they expect to be amused, indulged, and isolated from the adults with most every whim of appetite and interest being met by the church. They have separate services—sometimes to the point that they never even have an opportunity to go to the adult service, which is often described as “dry” and/or “irrelevant” to what they need. (Think about this: Many children are growing up in a church culture where they never sit under the pastor’s teaching or with their parents and family in a church service from infancy through adolescence because of nurseries, children’s programs, and youth programs.)

Parents frequently demand that the church hire a youth director or pastor whose primary job description is to keep their kids “engaged” in church. This engagement takes place preferably through weekly activities, contemporary music, activities, and youth centers equipped with video games and comfortable lounge areas exclusively reserved for teens. Youth pastors are expected to be “hip,” accessible, relevant, and responsible. They need to be masters at keeping teens “occupied.”

Thus, many teens develop an “us” vs. “them” mentality toward the older generation in their church (those of their parents’ and grandparents’ ages). Many of the “older” generation are quite fine with this scenario because—let’s face it—teenagers can be rowdy, messy, and ornery. They become compartmentalized apart from the church “body” with their own facilities, program, ministry leadership, music, and calendar. They aren’t encouraged—nor sometimes even permitted—to be integrated into service opportunities generally reserved for adults—opportunities like serving as ushers or greeters, participating in the adult choir, or even working in various aspects of the children’s ministries. Over time, they buy into a “consumer” mentality of church and expect to have their “needs met” rather than to find their role and function within an overall body life.

Today’s youth ministry has been dumbed down for a variety of reasons. I offer a limited list here:

1. We have created an extended adolescence. Western culture has normalized a premature adolescence and a delayed adulthood that have extended puberty into a nearly decade-long process. It begins with little girls wearing makeup in elementary school and ends up with 30-year-old college grads living in their parents’ basements with moms still doing their laundry.
2. We do not believe teens listen to or have a thirst for strong scriptural teachings. By listening to our culture, we have bought into the fallacy that kids can’t or won’t tolerate “deep” stuff and that we must “keep it real” by offering them intellectual and spiritual junk food. We fear challenging our students with meaty subjects that might bore them or turn them off to spiritual interest.
3. We have bought into an entertainment mentality that sees keeping teens occupied as an adult’s obligation. The mantra of today’s teens is often “I’m bored.” Angst-ridden parents with an inflated sense of guilt seem all too willing to rush to provide more activities and distractions for their precious progeny.
4. We fail to recognize the raw potential most adolescents possess. When we study the culture when Jesus walked the Holy Land, we discover that most of His 12 disciples were probably in their late teens to mid-20s. Children were expected to put away much of their childhood once they reached maturity, which is age 13 in Jewish culture. From that landmark age, apprenticeships and jobs soon followed, and many got married in their mid-to-late teenage years. Today’s teens are no less capable of acting maturely and of making an impact even in their youth.
5. We have low expectations and even lower accountability for teenagers. Many parents have surrendered their kids to an extended period of foolish behavior marked by rebellion, antisocial (toward adults) behavior, irresponsible conduct, and a lack of accountability. During this time, parents “expect” them to experiment, to sow their “wild oats,” and to push the limits. Today’s parents expect too little from their teens and seem more than willing to shrug their shoulders and to roll their eyes at behavior that could threaten their health and heart for many years to come.

With these causes in mind, what steps should youth pastors consider to bring sanity back to our strategy for spiritual development among adolescents? Here are some thoughts:

Emphasize Teaching, Not Activities

Expectations need to change as far as what parents and their teens expect from youth ministries. If youth ministry is about drawing a big crowd, then build a huge lounge, order the PS3’s, buy a pizza oven, and hire a band. If it’s about training young people in the Scriptures and equipping them for ministry, let every parent know upfront that the church’s responsibility is not to provide recreation, entertainment, amusement, and a weekly complimentary buffet. Kids need to spend more time at home, not less. Mom and dad would be smart to park the cars in the driveway for a few years, to turn their garage into a family “rec center,” and to invite their kid’s friends over to their house. Let the church be used for biblical equipping. That doesn’t mean that at church teens won’t have the occasional fun activity or food. It just means that it is the occasional treat, not the expected norm.

Provide a “Grownup” Youth Pastor

Kids don’t need their youth pastor to be their “buddy.” He needs to be their pastor. He doesn’t need to dress like a mortician, but he shouldn’t pretend he’s 16 either. (Few things in this world are more pathetic than adults who refuse to grow up. Neither real grownups nor real teenagers respect people like that.) Balance is essential in being an effective ministry leader. The youth pastor must be mature enough to know what his objectives should be, where his boundaries should lie, where his authority should reside, and how to move students forward spiritually.

Challenge Teens Toward Maturity

Our Western culture exalts values that promote rebellion—from hard-edged rock ‘n’ roll to extreme sports to uncensored expression. Rebellion has almost become synonymous with being “American.” Fast cars, loose morals, and risky business in all its permutations have been the generational mantra from James Dean to Tom Cruise to Britney/Lindsay/Paris. But even many teenagers are now becoming aware of the soulless vacuousness of such a lifestyle. They desire something more substantive, more concrete, and weightier. Certainly not every teenager is sick of low expectations, but a core is ready to get a jump on their peers and to start taking life seriously.

Spotlight Prioritizing

Youth leaders can train teens by teaching them to comprehend and establish priorities in their lives. What role is authority going to play in their lives, and where is that authority found? Every teen should be confronted with the principle of “first priorities.” Are we willing to give the Lord the first and the best in what we do vocationally, with whom we will spend our lives (marriage), in how we will spend our money, and in how we will use our talents and gifts?

Teach Doctrine, Apologetics, and Rhetoric

Many within Fundamentalism have bought into an “isolationist” mentality that encourages them to withdraw from the world rather than to engage it with truth. Without a doubt, it is foolish to shove our kids into a world system intent on ignoring and countering spiritual truth without adequate preparation. Today’s youth ministries have an opportunity and an obligation to equip our next generation of leaders with a sound grasp of biblical doctrine, the education to tell people “why” they believe what they believe, and the skill to fluently articulate truth and its logical defense in the public forum.

Encourage Service and Ministry

In a generation that’s “all about me,” Christian teens can make a difference by living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. By this author’s definition, service means using our skills and talents to be a blessing to others; and ministry means directly bringing the souls of men and women into contact with the Word of God. Our teens can learn and practice service and ministry at an earlier age than most give them an opportunity to do so.

Promote Cross-Generational Interaction

Rather than isolate our kids from the older generation, we should integrate generations. There is much older generations can teach teens, and there is much teens can do to inspire and encourage older generations. This integration means that those of us in the older generation must accept the fact that today’s teens aren’t quite the way we were at their age; we must be patient with them as they grow into maturity. It also means that teens must be taught respect and consideration for those who have traveled a few more miles down the road than they have. Our current approach of inflexible isolation is making generational transfers of ministry and leadership difficult and at times impossible.

Include the Pastor in the Ministry

The lead or senior pastor needs to be plugged in to the teens of his church flock. He needs to spend time with them, to preach to them, and to get to know them. He should be their cheerleader. Too often, teens view their senior pastor as some out-of-touch stiff who wears a suit and prays in the King James English. No wonder he makes little, if any, impression on them. Most surrender to go into the ministry in their teens with a vast majority doing so by the time they are 14 years old. Any pastor who spends time with his teens is using his time wisely. The youth pastor isn’t a substitute for the senior pastor; he should be an extension of him.

Create a Positive Spirit Toward the Youth

It’s long been a sport to trash-talk teenagers. Sure, they are pimply, hormonal, gangly, and unpredictable messes in sneakers. But they are also witty, gifted, vibrant, gregarious, curious, and reflective gifts from God. Let everyone else put them down and diminish them in word and in deed, but let the church and her leadership be their cheerleaders. When we project love, enthusiasm, interest, and confidence in our teens, we create a positive spirit and relationship that benefit both sides of the generational divide.

Train and Equip Parents, Not Just Teens

Today’s parents of teens often grew up in dysfunctional homes. These are the parents who experienced the consequences of the 50 percent divorce rate. These are the parents whose parents tuned out during the free-love, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll craziness of the 1960s and ’70s. Consequently, many of these parents didn’t have a stabilizing, spiritual role model during their formative years. The church has an opportunity to train and equip them as the parents of their teens. Church youth pastors and ministries ought not to be a substitute for parents but rather an extension of them. We can serve teens by serving their parents and by helping them to adopt healthy leadership strategies and biblical values in their God-given roles.

Today’s ministry leaders need to smarten up and to counter the dumbing down of youth ministry. An unfathomable well of opportunity is at hand. Wise pastors and spiritual leaders must recognize the opportunities, and alert and conscientious parent should anticipate them as they work together to see teens come of age into the leaders God created them to be.

^{Dan Burrell is on a sabbatical after seventeen years of pastoral ministry of two large churches and is currently serving three colleges and seminaries as an adjunct professor, consulting with Christian day schools and working on several book projects. He’s also a commentator for the Evangelical Press News and blogs at Whirled Views with Dan Burrell.}

“Until We Rest In Thee": The Eschatological Nature of New Covenant Rest

By Ian Clarey @ http://ruminationsbythelake.blogspot.com

In Sunday school this morning we discussed the chapter in the Second London Confession of Faith (1689) concerning the Sabbath/Lord's Day. It reminded me of a paper I wrote two years ago for my systematic theology course I did with Prof. Kirk Wellum. It is on the Sabbath as it pertains to Hebrews 3 and 4. So I thought I would post it for your reading pleasure. The following paper seeks to address the question of rest found in Hebrews 3:7-4:11. The purpose for this evaluation is to understand rest as a present reality that anticipates eschatological fulfillment. The result of this evaluation will have ecclesiastical application for an understanding of Sabbath rest as an indicative and imperative for the church. This essay will first briefly outline the theme of this section in Hebrews as it relates to the topic. An explanation of rest as it fits the structure of the passage will follow accompanied by an application for the New Covenant community. Hebrews 3:7-4:11 Pervading this passage, and the entirety of the epistle, is a theme of exhortation (3:8, 12; 4:1, 11; cf. 13:22). Positively believers are exhorted to enter rest by obedience (4:2, 11); negatively they are warned that lack of obedience will prohibit such entrance (3:18-19; 4:2). Wilderness-Israel’s disobedience is frequently pointed to as the prime example of failure to enter rest (3:7b-11; 15-19; 4:8). Typologically the comparison between believers and wilderness-Israel is significant. The already/not yet condition of the church is characterized by Israel’s wandering subsequent to their release from Egypt and before entrance into Canaan; theirs was a “between the times” condition. Likewise, the church is comprised of “wanderers” who have been released from sin yet are on the verge of entering into final rest.[1] Richard Gaffin illustrates this well by referring to the church as “the new and final wilderness community.”[2] Three examples are given to show that true rest had not been attained in the epoch before the advent of Christ. In the case of Moses, Israel did not enter into rest because of disobedience (3:16-19); their “bodies fell in the wilderness” and they did not physically enter the land (v. 17; cf. Num. 14:29). In the case of Joshua, Israel physically entered Canaan although they did not enter true rest. That Joshua had not given them true rest reveals it was yet to come (4:8). David, the final example chronologically speaking, confirms that Israel did not have rest, though his kingdom was established in the promised land (3:7b-11, 15; 4:3, 5 and 7). This does not negate the promise of God to give Israel rest. The land functioned as a type, not the ultimate reality; it foreshadowed the rest to come at both advents of Christ. [3] Present Rest That these three Old Testament figures did not provide true rest is significant. Upon reading this, a Jew might have asked, “If Moses, Joshua and David failed to give us rest, who can?” Of course, the answer is found in Christ whom Moses, David and Joshua typified.[4] They could not provide true rest, but the one whom they foreshadowed did. Verses such as Matthew 11:28, where Jesus claims to provide rest to the weary and heavy-laden, can be cited as evidence of present rest. This is what Robert Murray M’Cheyne, in his sermon Entering Into Rest, called “the gospel rest of a believing soul.”[5] It is a state of being that is the result of the Christian ceasing from his labours to rest in Christ for salvation. Subtly, Hebrews 3:7-4:11 is Christocentric, as indicated both by its location between Hebrews 3:1-6 and 4:14-5:11, as well as the indicative in 3:14. In 3:1-6, the writer focuses on Jesus as greater than Moses; in 4:14-5:11 Jesus is honoured as the Great High Priest. It is no accident that a discussion of rest is couched between these two great passages. The indicative in 3:14 states that believers currently share in Christ provided that they hold fast their original confidence that same confidence spoken of in 3:6. This is further indication that Christ is the final rest anticipated by Moses, Joshua and David. As well, the opening of this section explains that believers can obtain true rest at present. In 3:7b-8a the writer quotes Psalm 95, written by David, who says, “today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.” The adverb “today” (semeron) points to the current opportunity for rest for the readers of Hebrews, it is the “already” in the “already/not yet” paradigm. Again Gaffin is helpful, It refers to the time, any time, in which “good news,” “the word of hearing” is being proclaimed (4:2), in which “the promise of entering his rest remains” (4:1). It is the time of summons to faith and obedience, when, correlatively, unbelief and apostasy are present and very real threats (3:12, 13, 15; 4:6-7).[6] The point here is to show that rest is a current possibility and requires faith in Christ to be obtained. The Christ-centred nature of this passage, coupled with the already indicative of the “between the times” tension, reveals that true rest is presently to be found in Christ. Does this mean that the rest believers now have in Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of rest?[7] The answer, found distinctly in this passage, is negative. To quote Hebrews 4:9, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” Future Rest As essential as it is that believers have current “gospel rest” in Christ, the here-and-now is not the only facet of rest. Thus far we have argued that rest has an “already” component that is found soteriologically in Christ. Correspondingly, there is a “not yet” component that is found eschatologically in the return of Christ — the inauguration of the new heavens and new earth (2 Pet. 3:13). Therefore, there is still an ultimate and final rest to be looked forward to. This “eschatological Sabbath” is rooted in two future perspectives in Hebrews 3:7-4:11. The first is the phrase “my rest” (katapausin mou) that indicates that rest is potential and future (3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5).[8] The second is the unique word used for rest (sabbatismos) in 4:9 that indicates an ongoing form of celebration. First, in Psalm 95:11, quoted in Hebrews 3:11; 4:3 and 5, God calls the land of Canaan “my rest.” John Murray struggles with this characterization, arguing that it can’t merely refer to the provision of rest by God. Rather, as Murray argues, it is called God’s rest because Canaan is patterned after God’s own resting at creation, “it partook of the character of God’s rest.”[9] One of the arguments proffered by challengers of a New Covenant Sabbath-keeping is that the Sabbath is not a “creation ordinance.”[10] Meaning, that unlike marriage or labour, Sabbath resting was not instituted at creation.[11] They argue that the Sabbath institution first appeared when Moses delivered the Law at Sinai. Yet the author of Hebrews has drawn a connection between God’s rest at creation and the rest yet to be entered into by believers (Heb. 4:4, 6 and 9; cf. Gen. 2:2). The Genesis account of creation that finds its only quotation in the New Testament in this passage is both prescriptive and descriptive. It is the support for 4:6 that says, “it remains for some to enter it.” Gaffin argues, “as the writer sees it, the fulfillment of the church’s hope…represents nothing less than the fulfillment of the original purpose of God in creation.”[12] Commenting on the eschatological character of the Sabbath found in the Decalogue, Geerhardus Vos says, Man is reminded in this way that life is not an aimless existence, that a goal lies beyond. This was true before, and apart from, redemption. The eschatological is an older strand in revelation than the soteric.[13] The fact that “my rest” is intrinsically linked to creation speaks of its eschatological nature.[14] The intended aim of Adam’s test in Eden was to usher in the new heavens and new earth. Because he disobeyed, the adverse course of human history played out as it did. The new heavens and the new earth are now looked forward to by Christians, and will be ushered in by the Second Adam. Therefore, when thinking of “my rest” as creation rest, Christians are also to think in terms of the new creation that is entirely forthcoming. As Richard Gaffin explains, “‘My rest,’ as rest, stands in pointed contrast to the believer’s present circumstances.”[15] Christians do not have complete rest from sin and will not until they enter the new heavens and new earth. Secondly, The word for rest that has been used in this section is katapausin (3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 10 and 11). Yet in 4:9 the word used for rest is sabbatismos that can be defined as “Sabbath keeping”;[16] it is the only New Testament occurrence of this word. The sudden use of sabbatismos has deliberate authorial intent.[17] It may be that a nuance was missing from katapausin that sabbatismos better expressed.[18] That nuance is likely the difference between a state of being and a form of action.[19] Lane argues that “it appears to have been coined from the cognate verb sabbatizein, ‘to observe/to celebrate the Sabbath.’” As well, its usage in subsequent ancient literature contains the notion of active observance.[20] The use of sabbatismos points not only to the coming new creation, but also to the current practice of weekly Sabbath observance. But in what sense? Eschatological Sign The relationship between the current character of “my rest,” the appeal to creation and the ongoing nature of Sabbath-keeping points to a connection between Sabbath observance and the anticipated Sabbath of the new heavens and new earth.[21] Gaffin has called it “a sign of hope.”[22] Robert Martin explains it as a pledge or promise of the final rest that Christians are currently awaiting.[23] Functioning eschatologically, it is anticipatory of the second coming of Christ. “The weekly Sabbath is the promise, token, and foretaste of the consummated rest; it is also the earnest.”[24] Throughout the course of redemptive history, beginning at creation, the Sabbath functioned as a weekly sign. As a remembrance, it looked back to creation and redemption from Egypt. But it was also forward looking, anticipating the coming Messiah. The church, in similar existence to wilderness-Israel, still has a Sabbath to keep in anticipation of the rest that they await. It is curious that the writer to the Hebrews does not mention the abrogation of the Sabbath if it had in fact been abrogated. Sabbath abrogation would deeply impact his argument that rest is eschatological. If Sabbath observance were no longer necessary under the New Covenant, it would be necessary for the author to provide a redemptive-historical reason for this. Rather, the Sabbath functioning as an eschatological sign fits nicely into the flow of the writer’s argument that links the Sabbath to creation and the new creation. Conclusion The great North African church father Augustine of Hippo once wrote, “O, Lord, thou has made us, and our spirits are restless until we rest in thee.” This is true regarding both the already and the not yet of Sabbath rest. As Christ is true rest, the tumult of a sinful soul will remain until the burden of sin is set before him. Yet, as Christians who are resting in Christ, there is still the destination of their sojourn to arrive at, like wilderness-Israel before Canaan. Until that great Day when Christ returns, final rest will not be found. As a sign of both the rest currently possessed in Christ and the rest still looked forward to at his coming, the Christian has the weekly, one in seven Sabbath. However it may be celebrated, may it be done with Christ as the focus so that he might receive all the glory. Amen. [1] Richard B. Gaffin Jr, “A Sabbath Rest Still Awaits the People of God,” in eds. Charles G. Dennison and Richard C. Gamble, Pressing Toward The Mark: Essays Commemorating Fifty Years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia: The Committee for the Historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 1986), 37-39. William Lane explains that the church, like Israel, experiences “the tensions of an interim existence between redemption and rest, between promise and fulfillment,” in William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8, WBC 47a (Dallas: Word Books, 1991), 89. [2] Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., “Westminster and the Sabbath” in ed. Ligon Duncan, The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2004), 133. [3] Philip Hughes argued, “[t]his land…was a visible and tangible token which, like a sacrament, pointed beyond itself to a far more wonderful reality…the eternal rest of God himself,” in Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1990), 143. [4] Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 104. [5] Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Sermons on Hebrews ed. Michael D. McMullen (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2004), 20. [6] Gaffin, “Sabbath Rest,” 38; cf., his “Westminster and the Sabbath,” 133. [7] Various critics of the so-called “Christian Sabbath” argue persuasively for the “already” indicative, yet fail to do justice to the “not yet.” For instance, see Andrew T. Lincoln, “Sabbath, Rest, and Eschatology in the New Testament,” in ed. D.A. Carson, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), 177-201. Also, Tom Wells and Fred C. Zaspel, New Covenant Theology: Description, Definition, Defense (Frederick, Maryland: New Covenant Media, 2002), 232-233. [8] Gaffin, “Sabbath Rest,” 38. See also his “Westminster and the Sabbath”, 133. [9] John Murray, “The Pattern of the Lord’s Day,” in Collected Writings of John Murray (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976), 223. Fred Zaspel agrees, “This is in every sense God’s rest (Ps. 95:11), his delighted rest in his finished work. The creation narrative climaxes in God’s contentment,” in Zaspel and Wells, New Covenant Theology, 212. [10] For an argument in favour of the Sabbath as a “creation ordinance,” see John Murray, Principles of Conduct: Aspects of Biblical Ethics (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1957), 30-35. [11] Zaspel and Wells, New Covenant Theology, 214 n. 292. [12] Gaffin, “Westminster and the Sabbath,” 136. [13] Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966), 156-157. [14] Lane observes, “[o]ver the course of time a distinctly eschatological concept of rest developed…An eschatological understanding of ‘my rest’ in Ps 95:11 is presupposed in v 1 and is fundamental to the exhortation to diligence to enter God’s rest in 4:1-11,” in Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 98. [15] Gaffin, “Sabbath Rest,” 38. [16] Robert P. Martin, “A Sabbath Remains: The Place of Hebrews 4:9 in the New Testament’s Witness to the Lord’s Day,” in Reformed Baptist Theological Review (July 2004): 1.2, 5-6. [17] Lincoln, “Sabbath, Rest and Eschatology,” 213. [18] Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 101. [19] Martin, “A Sabbath Remains,” 5-6. [20] Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 101; see also Hughes, Commentary, 162 n. 67. See also Joseph A. Pipa, The Lord’s Day (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2001), 115. [21] Gaffin, “Sabbath Rest,” 41. [22] Richard B. Gaffin Jr., “A Sign of Hope,” available from New Horizons 3, http://www.opc.org/new_horizons/NH03/03a.html. Internet; accessed 02/12/04. [23] Martin, “A Sabbath Remains,” 8. [24] Murray, “Pattern of the Lord’s Day,” 223. See also Gaffin, “Sign of Hope,” 3 (of printout) and his “Westminster and the Sabbath,” 137.

The Reason Why the “Problem of Evil” is Such a Problem Today

By C Michael Patton @http://www.reclaimingthemind.org

Recently, I was watching the “local” news and was overwhelmed by the burdens of bad news that I had to take on within just a few moments. There was a shooting and someone died. There was a brutal stabbing of a realtor while she was showing a house. The details were gruesome; she was stabbed over seventy times. There was a kidnapping of a young girl with no significant leads. My heart sunk as I looked into the faces of the parents as they plead with the kidnappers to return their little girl. There was a car crash where a young teen died as he was racing one of his schoolmates. Then there were the updates on unresolved crimes and tragedies of the past few weeks that were reviewed. I turned to Fox News and it does not get any better. The burdens continue to mount. A shooting that took place in Florida just off the highway with no leads. There was the continuing coverage of a tragic shooting where several young girls were shot by a disturbed father who then shot himself. (I have two girls who are in school. What do I do?). As well, news of Iraq war is not good. Many are still dying. Many parents would be getting the news that their sons had died.

All the news was bad news. Not only this, but it was bad news about people I did not know and would likely never meet. At my local church (where I do know the people), there was more bad news. Not too long ago a twelve year old girl hung herself—twelve years old. Her parents are heavily involved in our church. We also had four other funerals within a two week period. Then, in my Sunday school class, there were more needs. A prayer request about a mother who had an aneurysm, a father who had cancer, and a baby who was in danger of being born prematurely. My own family has troubles of its own that we add to the list. My mother is not recovering from her stroke. My wife’s uncle is near death. Many in my family are very depressed from the heaviness of my mother’s situation and lingering pain of my sister’s death. Not to mention my friends who need salvation, relocation decisions, and various other issue.

With this much evil, what is one to do?

Paul tells us to “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). The “law of Christ” in this context seems to be to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39). How am I to bear all of these burdens? Are all these people my neighbors? There is that question again—”who is my neighbor?” To be a neighbor, do I bear all of these burdens? How? It is too overwhelming. Once I attempt to bear them all, they in turn become less significant and I become apathetic. I place my hands in my head and simply say “maranatha–come Lord Jesus.”

News can be overwhelming. Evil reports are discouraging, depressing, and disillusioning. I believe that in our world today we are blessed with valuable technological advancements in communication that would have seemed nothing short of supernatural until one hundred years ago. In the day of Christ, to think of those in Jerusalem being able to have on demand and immediate access to the happenings of people on the other side of the Roman Empire would have been unheard of. In order for one in Jerusalem to find out what was happening in Rome they would have to wait weeks or months to get the information. And even then, the information may not have ever reached your ears had you not been in the “need to know” audience. Certainly, people would have heard if Rome would have been sacked, if there was a severe famine in a certain part of the world, or if the Emperor had died or been replaced, but you would not have heard any non-significant information that did not pertain to you. You would not have heard about kidnapping of the daughter of the everyday Roman citizen, a stolen chariot, or a robbery-murder that took place on the Ephesian Way. This kind of information, if it did reach your ears, would have been irrelevant and, at most, part of a minor rumor mill that died out very quickly. At this time, a person would limit the “headline” news to that which happened in their own neighborhood. Worries and anxieties would be limited to the here and now. For the most part, worries and anxieties would have come from the possibility of future happenings to you, your family, or your immediate community. Your daily news would have come from your community within a certain vicinity. Within this limited community (your family, neighbors, synagogue/church, your work place), you would have had a balance of good and bad news. For the most part, this news would not have been too overwhelming or disillusioning. If there was someone who had a daughter who died of suicide, it was probably the first time you had been exposed to such an occurrence and it would seem very tragic. If you were a good neighbor who was desirous to bear the burdens of the other, you would have been with the parents that day with your arms around them. The biggest problem you would then have is to worry about the future. What is going to happen tomorrow? What if one of my children does the same thing? What if my child dies of this disease or that ailment? What if I lose my job as so-and-so did? What does the future hold?

It is in this context in the great “sermon on the mount” Christ brings perspective:

Matthew 6:31-34 ³¹ “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

“Each day has enough troubles”? This does not sound too encouraging. I would rather have heard Christ say, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. God is going to take care of you.” Or “Don’t worry about tomorrow; for today has enough joys to keep you occupied.” I don’t really like “Today has enough troubles of its own.” Even worse is the King James translation. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” The Greek does not get any better. The word used to translate “trouble” is kakia. The Gingrich Greek lexicon defines this word as “badness, faultiness in the sense of depravity, wickedness, and vice.” Most particularly in this context it carries the idea of “trouble or misfortune.” Ouch. I don’t like the word misfortune or depravity. I especially don’t like it connected with the word “today.” In essence, Christ is saying that each day had enough burdens to bear. Within the culture of the day, with the limited news that they had, their troubles were sufficient. According to Christ, a person cannot and, indeed, is not expected to take on any more than they can bear. This includes future evils. “Do not worry about tomorrow.” The theological principle is this: people should not and cannot take upon their shoulders the evils of the future. More broadly, this would teach that people can only take so much burden. If this is the case, while the burdens of the future are major temptation and cause people great worry and stress, so also is the case with the burdens of those outside our community.

We, as individuals, have a responsibility to take on the burdens of those around us. When we begin to take on the burdens, the evil report, of those whom we have never met and will never meet, we become so discouraged that we cannot even take on the burdens of those close to us any longer. We throw our arms in the air and cry “What is the use? What can I really do?”

Now lets apply this to our current situation of our day. This is the postmodern plight that we find ourselves in today. I believe that it is the primary cause for today being called by many “the age of despair.” We have access to so much information it creates an overload of knowledge concerning the state of affairs that goes beyond our own community and responsibility. We feel as if it is part of our stewardship to pray for, cry for, and give an answer for the evil report of the entire world. We feel as if we are doing something good if we have a good day and are able to do this. But this is not often the case and it will eventually make us useless in bearing any burdens and dealing with the problem of evil at all.

At this point, we can easily become disillusioned by the problem of evil in an unnatural and imbalanced way.

Principles

• I am not saying that everyone should quit watching the news, but be careful. If it causes you to worry, become disillusioned, and go into despair, maybe you should consider slowing down or stopping. Just be careful what and how much you take in, it can alter your worldview.
• Your primary stewardship is with your immediate community which is made up of those who you actually know and have a relationship with. Always seek to bear their burdens.
• This does not mean that we don’t care or do what we can for those on the other side of the world. Paul went from church to church seeking help and relief for others. I think we have a responsibility for those who live in impoverished nations and catastrophe stricken states. We need to do what we can to help relieve their suffering and pain. But, at the same time, we need to keep focus on the stewardship that God has given us in our immediate context. There is only so much you can do.
• Keep in mind that today does not have more bad news or evil report than any other day in the history of the world, we just now have more access to this bad news. Don’t lose perspective.
• For every evil report, there are countless reports of heroism, joy, success, comfort, and redemption that are taking place all over the world. The “breaking news stories” that the local and national news deems worthy of reporting are not balanced (and I don’t know how we can expect them to be–so don’t use this blog to go picket CNN!). They won’t tell of the countless children who did not get kidnapped and the billions of people who survived the car crashes. They most certainly are not going to tell of the redemption of countless people who have accepted the truth of the Gospel or who found the way out of depression through the loving gracious arms of others. There is neither a news station who has access to the heavenly realm where the report will be made that God is still on the throne and has a plan for everything that happens. They are not going to tell us of the angels rejoicing when a sinner repents. Don’t let the news dictate your understanding of the big picture–no one has access to it outside of Scripture.
• How long is your prayer list? Many times we feel that we have to pray for every problem that we hear about. When this happens, the result will be a mix of insincerity and apathy like I described concerning my friend above. Because of this, we will stop praying so much for others and as a result be weighed down with undo guilt. I am not saying to stop praying for others as God leads, but to keep your prayer list responsible and realistic.

Let us read the words of Christ once more:

Matthew 6:31-34 ³¹ “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the reason why the “problem of evil” is more significant today than it has been in the past is because you and I have information overload concerning the evils of the world.

If God Wills Disease Why Should We Try to Eradicate It?

By John Piper @ www.desiringGod.org.

This question arises from the biblical teaching that all things are ultimately under God's control. "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose" (Isaiah 46:10). "Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" (Psalm 135:6). "He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35). "[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11).

This means that God governs all calamity and all disease. Satan is real and has a hand in it, but he is not ultimate and can do nothing but what God permits (Job 1:12-2:10). And God does not permit things willy-nilly. He permits things for a reason. There is infinite wisdom in all he does and all he permits. So what he permits is part of his plan just as much as what he does more directly.

Therefore this raises the question: If God wills disease why should we try to eradicate it? This is a crucial question for me because I have heard Christians say recently that believing in the sovereignty of God hinders Christians from working hard to eradicate diseases like malaria and tuberculosis and cancer and AIDS. They think the logic goes like this: If God sovereignly wills all things, including malaria, then we would be striving against God to invest millions of dollars to find a way to wipe it out.

That is not the logic the Bible teaches. And it is not what Calvinists have historically believed. In fact, lovers of God's sovereignty have been among the most aggressive scientists who have helped subdue creation and bring it under the dominion of man for his good-just like Psalm 8:6 says, "You have given him [He] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet."

The logic of the Bible says: Act according to God's "will of command," not according to his "will of decree." God's "will of decree" is whatever comes to pass. "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (James 4:15). God's "will of decree" ordained that his Son be betrayed (Luke 22:22), ridiculed (Isaiah 53:3), mocked (Luke 18:32), flogged (Matthew 20:19), forsaken (Matthew 26:31), pierced (John 19:37), and killed (Mark 9:31). But the Bible teaches us plainly that we should not betray, ridicule, mock, flog, forsake, pierce, or kill innocent people. That is God's "will of command." We do not look at the death of Jesus, clearly willed by God, and conclude that killing Jesus is good and that we should join the mockers.

In the same way, we do not look at the devastation of malaria or AIDS and conclude that we should join the ranks of the indifferent. No. "Love your neighbor" is God's will of command (Matthew 22:39). "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is God's will of command (Matthew 7:12). "If your enemy is hungry, feed him" is God's will of command (Romans 12:20). The disasters that God ordains are not aimed at paralyzing his people with indifference, but mobilizing them with compassion.

When Paul taught that the creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20), he also taught that this subjection was "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (v. 21). There is no reason that Christians should not embrace this futility-lifting calling now. God will complete it in the age to come. But it is a good thing to conquer as much disease and suffering now in the name of Christ as we can.

In fact, I would wave the banner right now and call some of you to enter vocations of research that may be the means of undoing some of the great diseases of the world. This is not fighting against God. God is as much in charge of the research as he is of the disease. You can be an instrument in his hand. This may be the time appointed for the triumph that he wills to bring over the disease that he ordained. Don't try to read the mind of God from his mysterious decrees of calamity. Do what he says. And what he says is: "Do good to everyone" (Galatians 6:10).

This question arises from the biblical teaching that all things are ultimately under God's control. "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose" (Isaiah 46:10). "Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" (Psalm 135:6). "He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35). "[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11).

This means that God governs all calamity and all disease. Satan is real and has a hand in it, but he is not ultimate and can do nothing but what God permits (Job 1:12-2:10). And God does not permit things willy-nilly. He permits things for a reason. There is infinite wisdom in all he does and all he permits. So what he permits is part of his plan just as much as what he does more directly.

Therefore this raises the question: If God wills disease why should we try to eradicate it? This is a crucial question for me because I have heard Christians say recently that believing in the sovereignty of God hinders Christians from working hard to eradicate diseases like malaria and tuberculosis and cancer and AIDS. They think the logic goes like this: If God sovereignly wills all things, including malaria, then we would be striving against God to invest millions of dollars to find a way to wipe it out.

That is not the logic the Bible teaches. And it is not what Calvinists have historically believed. In fact, lovers of God's sovereignty have been among the most aggressive scientists who have helped subdue creation and bring it under the dominion of man for his good-just like Psalm 8:6 says, "You have given him [He] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet."

The logic of the Bible says: Act according to God's "will of command," not according to his "will of decree." God's "will of decree" is whatever comes to pass. "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (James 4:15). God's "will of decree" ordained that his Son be betrayed (Luke 22:22), ridiculed (Isaiah 53:3), mocked (Luke 18:32), flogged (Matthew 20:19), forsaken (Matthew 26:31), pierced (John 19:37), and killed (Mark 9:31). But the Bible teaches us plainly that we should not betray, ridicule, mock, flog, forsake, pierce, or kill innocent people. That is God's "will of command." We do not look at the death of Jesus, clearly willed by God, and conclude that killing Jesus is good and that we should join the mockers.

In the same way, we do not look at the devastation of malaria or AIDS and conclude that we should join the ranks of the indifferent. No. "Love your neighbor" is God's will of command (Matthew 22:39). "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is God's will of command (Matthew 7:12). "If your enemy is hungry, feed him" is God's will of command (Romans 12:20). The disasters that God ordains are not aimed at paralyzing his people with indifference, but mobilizing them with compassion.

When Paul taught that the creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20), he also taught that this subjection was "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (v. 21). There is no reason that Christians should not embrace this futility-lifting calling now. God will complete it in the age to come. But it is a good thing to conquer as much disease and suffering now in the name of Christ as we can.

In fact, I would wave the banner right now and call some of you to enter vocations of research that may be the means of undoing some of the great diseases of the world. This is not fighting against God. God is as much in charge of the research as he is of the disease. You can be an instrument in his hand. This may be the time appointed for the triumph that he wills to bring over the disease that he ordained. Don't try to read the mind of God from his mysterious decrees of calamity. Do what he says. And what he says is: "Do good to everyone" (Galatians 6:10).