John Newton on Handling Controversy

"As you are likely to be joined in controversy, and your love of truth is joined with a natural warmth of temper, my friendship makes me solicitous on your behalf. You are of the strongest side, for truth is great, and must prevail; so that a person of abilities inferior to yours, might take the field with a confidence of victory. I am not, therefore anxious for the event of the battle; but I would have you more than a conqueror, and to triumph not only over your adversary, but over yourself.

If you cannot be vanquished, you may be wounded. To preserve you from such wounds as might give you cause of weeping over your conquests, I would present you with some considerations, which, if duly attended to, will do you the service of a coat of mail; such armor, that you need not complain, as David did of Saul's, that it will be more cumbersome than useful; for you will easily perceive that it is taken from that great magazine provided for the Christian soldier, the Word of God....

As to your opponent, I wish that before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him to earnest prayer to the Lord's teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write. If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab, concerning Absalom, are very applicable: "Deal gently with him for my sake."

The Lord loves him and bears with him, therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself....And though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

But if you look upon him as an unconverted person, in a state of enmity against God and his grace (a supposition which, without good evidence, you should be very unwilling to admit ), he is a more proper subject of your compassion than of your anger. Alas!" he knows not what he does." But you know who has made you to differ. If God, in his sovereign pleasure had so appointed, you might have been as he is now; and he, instead of you, might have been set for the defense of the Gospel. You were both equally blind by nature. If you attend to this, you will not reproach or hate him, because the Lord has been pleased to open your eyes and not his. Of all people who engage in controversy, we . . . . are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation.

If, indeed, they who differ from us have a power of changing themselves, if they can open their own eyes, and soften their own hearts, then we might with less inconsistency be offended at their obstinacy; but if we believe the very contrary to this, our part is not to strive, but in meekness to instruct those who oppose, "if peradventure, God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth." (2 Tim. 2:25) If you write with a desire of correcting mistakes, you will of course, be cautious of laying stumbling blocks in the way of the blind, or of using any expressions that may exasperate their passions, confirm them in their prejudices, and thereby make their conviction, humanly speaking, more impracticable".

Effectual Prayer

This short story makes a good point.

There is a story about a businessman in a small community who changed the whole character of a section of town by opening a tavern. A local church group became concerned and conducted an all-night prayer vigil, asking God to close the tavern. Shortly before morning, a thunder storm came through the area and a lightning bolt struck the tavern and it burned to the ground.

The owner of the tavern sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the group were responsible for the destruction of his tavern. The church hired a defense attorney to argue in court that they were not responsible.

The presiding judge, after an initial review of the case, stated that "No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the church group does not."

Posted by Robert Hayes at Uganda Short Term Mission Guide website www.ugandamission.net/

Why "Just Me and My Bible" Is Insufficient

"The best way to guard a true interpretation of Scripture, the Reformers insisted, was neither to naively embrace the infallibility of tradition, or the infallibility of the individual, but to recognize the communal interpretation of Scripture. The best way to ensure faithfulness to the text is to read it together, not only with the churches of our own time and place, but with the wider 'communion of saints' down through the age." Michael Horton.

from a recent post by JT at theologica.blogspot.com

Keeping It In Perspective

The following is an excerpt from an interesting post dated Wednesday, October 8, 2008, by Pastor Zack of Lansing, Michigan. You can (and should) view the complete article here.


Eschatological On-Ramp


So a bunch of global banking bigwigs got together today and agreed to cut interest rates. Our own fed chair ironed this out with his counterparts in England, China, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and some Czar from the European Central Bank. (It hasn't worked yet; the decision to cut the federal funds rate to 1.5% rallied the market for a short time, but the DJI still closed out considerably down. )

That was this morning. Tonight, I taught my Wednesday night Bible class. We've been going through Revelation for a little less than a year. I've been doing my best to slowly, brick by brick, knock down any vestige of Left Behind Rapture cult nonsense that my people may have absorbed and, in its place, teach them the Historic Protestant understanding of the end times.

There are some major differences. Case in point: your average Left Behinder would have jumped into the study of Revelation, using the day's headlines as an interpretive grid. Van Impe makes a living doing this (see yesterday's post). Whether it's 1985 or 2008, we can find prophecy in the headlines. Mikhail Gorbachev is clearly the Antichrist. No, wait! It's Saddam Hussein!... Y2K will mark the beginning of the Great Tribulation! Er...The European Union is clearly the Beast; it has SEVEN STATES after all. Crud, now it has twenty-seven...

The frustrating thing is that these guys never go back and retract what they said about last year's headlines. They plow ahead without a care in the world, effecting as confident a tone and demeanor as they can muster.

Were I a Left Behinder, I'd have spent a good deal of time tonight outlining what had taken place when those seven (oooohhh) nations got together and started acting all one-world-governmenty. One step closer to a world currency. One step closer to the microchip that the Bible predicts! (Greek: pentiumos intelos).

But I didn't do that. I caution students of the Bible against using the Old Testament to interpret the new (it should be vice versa), let alone using the Associated Press to interpret Holy Scripture.

However, there will ultimately be a great crash to the whole thing. And I mean the whole thing. I'm preaching on the Rich Fool in Luke 12 this week. For him, the great market crash was his death, when he found out that he'd been putting all his eggs in the wrong basket and all of his investments in the wrong fund. And that fund didn't pay dividends in the afterlife.

When all is said and done, whether the market is up or down, there's only one place to put your trust that won't crash and burn in the end: in Jesus Christ. If your trust is in Him and you're living for Him, your investments are secure for all of eternity.

That's not quite as sexy as smoke-filled back rooms where one-world currencies are born or tanks rolling into Jerusalem or microchips being injected into people's foreheads. But it's a heck of lot more comforting. And it's actually based in reality and the truths of Scripture.

Why you need to be in a church tomorrow

The following post is intended to be a challenge to our "no organized church for me" friends.

No, you're not the church. You're part of the church. The word ekkle-sia means "assembly," and no, you're not an assembly. Doesn't matter how overweight you are, you still aren't an assembly.

If you're a Christian, you claim Jesus as your Lord.

Where's your Lord today? He depicts Himself as walking among local assemblies (Revelation 1:12-13, 20). Do you know better than He? Which one of you is "Lord," again?

That's the church, that local assembly of believers where pastors lead, the Word is preached, the ordinances are observed, and discipline is carried out. Christ loved it and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). He died for it. But you won't walk into one? Which one of you is "Lord," again?

Before He died, He prayed for the church (John 17). But you won't attach yourself to one, to work in it and pray for it? Which one of you is "Lord," again?

Who is your pastor? Are you fool enough to say "Jesus"? Nonsense. When He ascended, He gave pastors to the church (Ephesians 4:11). Which one is your pastor, your toe-to-toe, eyeball-to-eyeball pastor?

Your "Lord" charged pastors with the care of souls. That means Jesus — your Lord, so you say — thinks your soul needs watching over (Hebrews 13:7, 17). Which individual flesh and bones living pastor is watching over your soul, in person, individually?

If "none," how is it that you decided you are smarter than Jesus? You know, Jesus. Your "Lord." Which one of you is "Lord," again?

And if you fall into unrepentant sin, which body will discipline you? Jesus says you need that, too (Matthew 18:13-20). I don't care what complex, high-sounding list of excuses you can slap together. If you say you don't need to be in a local assembly, you say you're smarter than Jesus, and are sufficient.

Fool.

And remember, that Jesus you say is your "Lord" said that the second most important thing in the world is to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:39). He moved Paul to tell you your fellow-church-member is your premier neighbor (Galatians 6:10). That's where you take all that rich doctrine (Ephesians 1—3), and live it out in community (Ephesians 4—6). That's where you do all those "one another's."

And if you tell yourself that your spouse or children are all the "one another's" you need, you put your judgment over God's.

Meaning you're a fool and a blasphemer, whether you intend to be or not.

And bringing harm on your spouse and children, by preaching a lie to them.

That's for starters.

So, Jesus — your "Lord" — says you need to be in a local church. You say you don't?

Hm. Which one to believe? You? Or Jesus? You? Or Jesus? Hmm.

See you in church.

Posted on 10/4/08 by Dan Phillips. www.bibchr.blogspot.com

To The Unknowns

Recently I read an article in an American Legion newsletter regarding what is commonly referred to as the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" (the official title is "Tomb of the Unknowns"), which is located in Arlington Cemetery. Having my curiosity piqued I did some research and came across the "Sentinels Creed". (The Sentinels are the military "guards" at the tomb that have stood watch over the tomb continuously since 1937 - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather or circumstance!) As I read the creed I thought about my own dedication to Christ and my responsibility in living the Christian life. If we attempt to honor men in this way may it encourage us to live more dedicated and honoring to our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sentinels Creed

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.
In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.
And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,
I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.
It is he who commands the respect I protect.
His bravery that made us so proud.
Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day, alone in the thoughtful peace of night,
this soldier will, in honored glory, rest under my eternal vigilance.

The inscription on the outside of the granite tomb reads:

"Here Rests
In Honored Glory
An American Soldier
Known But To God"

2 Timothy 2:1-3 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

It's Not About Me

"For many years I took an individualistic approach to the Christian life. I was concerned about my growth as a Christian, my progress in holiness, my acquisition of ministry skills. I prayed that God would enable me to be more holy in my personal life and more effective in my evangelism. I asked God's blessing on my church and the Christian organization I worked for. But as I learned more about true fellowship, I began to pray that we as the Body of Christ would grow in holiness, that we would be more effective witnesses to the saving grace of Christ. It is the entire Body - not just me - that needs to grow."

Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship (P & R, 1985), pgs. 71-71.