okay I take it back, he’s still with us

For awhile I was afraid the respected Dr. John Piper was becoming emergent in his theology and practice.  But after listening to this sermon, I take it back.   He has not given over to cultural embrace to the degree that his sensitivity to spiritual realities has been blunted.  This message is deeply convicting for me, listen at your own risk.

a tribute to smallgroup

I love these guys.

Just Once

God, I want to see You for once without seeing myself first.

The Lord will descend

Here, O Lord, descend and bring
Your great salvation. Mighty King
With scepter raised in victory,
We watch you write the history,
Of heaven and of earth and men.
You hold the only sovereign pen.
And now as days begin to wear
The souls of Christians everywhere,
On streets and ships and even graves,
In nakedness and filthy caves,
O come messiah, come and free
The broken and the suffering.
(Take hope, there’s more to what you see.
The Lord, exceeds our wildest dreams
Believe, and run the race ahead
Your King, is waiting at the end.)

A song I learned today

Met a guy on skid row tonight, he sang me a song before we parted ways, the refrain went like this.

“you can’t give, love, if you can’t see, love.“

I don’t think he meant it this way, but theologically, it’s true that if you cannot see and comprehend the love of Christ in his cross-work you cannot then give real love away.

“ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1John 4:7-14 NAS95S)

I guess it’s that time of life.

feels like everyone and their mom is getting married.

When did Jesus proclaim to the spirits in prison?

see 1 Pet 3:18

(1a) For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God,

(1b) having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

(1c) in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who once were disobedient,

(1d) when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

(1e) Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”

Points to Note:

1. There are two chronological instances in the verse concerning Christ’s proclamation, A is after he is made alive in the spirit, B is the time period during which he actually makes the proclamation.
2. The time of the spirits imprisonment is grammatically vague.
   1. Grammatically it is vague because the tense of the spirits in prison is not found in its immediate proximity because there is no verb-to-be (eimi), rather only the prepositional phrase “in prison,” upon which we are left with only assumptions upon (1.) whether or not to supply the tense (2.) how to understand two past tense verbs in temporal relation to one another.
      1. Note: The verse “when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark…” relates specifically to the time of their act of “disobedience”. However, knowing the time of disobedience does not elucidate the temporal state of the spirits imprisonment. Just because they committed sin in the past does not necessitate that Christ preached to them in the past nor does it necessitate that Christ preached to them on the day after the Crucifixion.
3. The time period of Christ’s proclamation is grammatically and theologically vague.
   1. Grammatically it is vague because the main verb “He preached” is not determined by:
      1. The temporal status of the spirits in prison.
         1. Whether or not the spirits were in prison on the day of the crucifixion or in the days of Noah makes no impact upon concluding when exactly Christ made his proclamation.
      2. The time during which the spirits committed disobedience.
   2. Theologically it is also vague because after death, it is uncertain whether a spiritual creature experiences time the same way and in the case of Christ, the God-man, it is even more unknown. Jesus could have traveled to the past, no longer bound by time, to preach or he could’ve descended to the spiritual prisons.
4. However, one must wonder why Peter even mentions Noah. If his point is to say that Jesus descended to the spiritual prison of condemned souls, why mention Noah and specifically the “days” of Noah? It seems much more likely that Peter draws upon Noah’s historical period to highlight the “once for all” sacrifice of Christ. This he does in order to show that even in Noah’s day, the message of Christ was being preached just as it is now.
5. The type and anti-type presented between the flood and baptism highlight the Gospel’s saving work rather than victory over the condemned.

The current possibilities are as following:

1. 1. Strong takes
      1. Christ after his crucifixion after he was made alive in the spirit went back in time to preach in spirit, in the days of Noah to those who at the time were alive in the flesh but simultaneously spiritually imprisoned because of depravity.
      2. Christ after his crucifixion after he was made alive in the spirit went back in time to preach in Spirit in the days of Noah to those who have since died and are currently spiritually imprisoned because of their disobedience.
   2. Weak takes
      1. Christ after his crucifixion after he was made alive in the spirit descended to hell to preach victory to those imprisoned because of disobedience in their earthly lives.
      2. Christ after his crucifixion after he was made alive in the spirit descended to hell to preach the gospel to those therein imprisoned to give a second chance to those who in their earthly life were disobedient.

Concluding Thoughts:

The reason the strong takes are strong is because they actually give a reason to mention Noah’s day. The flow of argument seems to center around the vast temporal expanse of the Gospel’s reach, that it was indeed a once-for-all sacrifice, applicable to all people of all epochs. If that is true, then Jesus’ proclamation as mentioned by Peter unto the spirits in prison was not a self-honoring proclamation of victory but a proclamation of salvation in Him and a call to repentance. What further supports this claim is the type and anti-type that is presented at the end of the section. The flood and deliverance through the proclamation of salvation by means of the ark corresponds to the coming judgment and deliverance through the proclamation of salvation by the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the saving work of the gospel that is here highlighted, not the heralding of victory over the condemned.

that’s for you Richard.

oh my greatness

Congratulations Morgan Pixley! Apparently you can’t fight the feeling anymore.

a slender difference

Serving the body of Christ can be an enjoyable thing, and make no mistake, it should be. However in these last few years, I have come to the conviction that the gauge of service cannot be determined by sheer enjoyment as we often can rate what is enjoyable and what is not. There needs to be a clarification as to how enjoyment and service intertwine. It is not the service itself that should provide the enjoyment but the deeper, eternal impact to which the service paves a way.

So what does that mean practically?

Let’s look at an example. I must say that purchasing things for someone whether that be lunch dinner or snacks, movie tickets, or  anything at all for that matter is a very vague form of service.  I mean, I can see how it could be a loving act and certainly it is always appreciated on the receiving end, but is it necessarily always service?  Just because someone is known for treating others out, is it a surefire sign of care or love?  How about hanging out with fellow believers?  “Fellowshipping” we call it.  Is that a measure of service? There are a number of activities that fall beneath these two categories and both of these categories fall underneath a single larger circle I like to call “Fun things to do.”  You see, if your ministry is only composed of “Fun things to do” what makes you any different than an unbelieving friend who likes to have fun and is generous with his money and time?

It’s no fight against the flesh to have fun.

I’m not saying that these forms of service are illegitimate at all times,  but I would say that if your ministry is composed entirely of these things, you ought to be questioning whether you have a heart for serving others or just a heart for having fun.

If however, your enjoyment is placed in the appreciation and apprehension of the glory of God, it doesn’t matter whether you are serving in a soup kitchen or scrubbing the bathroom floor, you will find joy.  You see, it may not be fun, but in your act of painful service the Lord is being magnified because nothing shows love like sacrifice and nothing shows sacrifice like discomfort.  Show me a man who puts himself constantly in discomfort for the sake of the Lord and I will show you a man who truly ministers to the glory of God.  But show me a man who’s ministry is composed of nothing more than providing fun, food, and “fellowship” and I will show you a man no different than a generous unbeliever.

So next time you splurge on Korean BBQ, or gather your friends together to hangout or watch a movie, or make dinner for the freshman, don’t start thinking you’ve legitimated your service to the Lord.  Because no matter how much money you spend on people, you can never buy true care.  And no matter how much time you spend hanging out or going places, it will never amount to love.

If you want to show love, if you want to truly serve, you make a sacrifice and real sacrifices hurt.  That means denying yourself.

So here’s the final word. Only believers will deny themselves to serve others.  Are you showing yourself to be a believer in your service?

Enough to convert, but not enough to captivate

Last Sunday night I sat in the front pew at church and watched as a number of young men and women stood in the waters of baptism and recited their testimonies. One thing I love about Grace Church is that you can be sure the Word of God plays a large role in every testimony. You will hear quotes that clearly outline the Gospel, that salvation is by faith alone and not by works, the supremacy and centrality of Christ and His redemptive work on the cross. While these testimonies are almost always powerful and moving in their honesty, they are also deep doctrinally and hence, a real pleasure for those who have come to love the word of God.

But sitting in that pew made me realize something that made me very uncomfortable. As I sat and enjoyed the testimonies, and the doctrinal solidity of the words being declared on the speaker overhead, I became very aware of the way these young believers were treating the Word. It was quite obvious that those few, simple and almost rudimentary quotes of Scripture were there precious treasure. You could hear it in their voice. I can still recall listening to a young girl, who was raised in a Catholic home attribute her point of conversion to her reading of the convicting words of Ephesians 2:8. As she quoted them, they were spoken like they were really precious… really holy. And in that moment, I saw her faith, fully exposed. She really believed that what she had read and quoted was the Word of God. It was her treasure.

I have lost that. That feeling of being captivated, of being blessed by the privilege of hearing, reading, understanding the Holy Scriptures. I have been walking with the Lord now for more than 7 years and know most of the key verses by heart. John 3:16, Eph 2:8, Rom 3:10-11 and 23-26… they are like worn tools which have been used many times and have become very familiar in my hands. But perhaps they are now too familiar; they have lost their mystery and their power. Well, actually, it is I who have lost my reverence, and my belief.

It was a devastating moment for me to realize that those words which were powerful enough to raise new life and convert enemies into sons, today are no longer enough to captivate me. Those same words which I once treasured in my heart and whispered to myself as I fell asleep are now “rudimentary”, “simple”, “basic.” Now I gloss over them in my Bible. I can feel it, my grip has grown loose on this old treasure.

You see, those verses that I now so easily quote and so quickly dismiss are the roots of my faith. And from what I’ve learned from nature, you can’t outgrow your roots. The moment you separate from them, you will certainly perish.

So I guess it’s time to dust off those verses and love them again.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8 NAS95S)