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"How Am I to Understand Dating and Marriage, Biblically, in a Postmodern World?"

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:17:17 -0500

Ladies,

Let me encourage you to carve out time on your calendar right now for Saturday, January 31, 9:30–11:30 a.m. at the home of Ashley Hall to hear Sharon Phillips address the topic of "Dating and Marriage from a Biblical Perspective." This breakfast is especially designed for you! Rick and Sharon Phillips have walked with and counseled many on this topic for years. They've even recently put their thoughts into a book, Holding Hands, Holding Hearts. (You might want to pick up a copy before the breakfast with Sharon!) This is an informal time where Sharon will do a bit of presenting and a lot of interacting. Come and enjoy breakfast, bring your questions, and be ready for good conversation!

To register, email Ashley Hall at ashleyh@fpcjackson.org

A Theological Top Ten List

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:27:19 -0500

Collin Hansen has compiled a top ten theological stories list for 2008 at the Christianity today website. You can find it here.

Living By Extremes

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:48:18 -0500

You’ve probably witnessed the tendency in people, communities, cultures, and even time periods to correct one extreme by choosing the equal opposite extreme. The equal opposite, however, is usually not seen or understood as a new extreme but as the only possible solution.

For example, if the culture is eating too much for supper, then the solution proposed is rarely to limit the portion size and resist the temptation for seconds. No, the solution proposed is to cut supper out altogether! Easier it is to rid oneself of the tension entirely, then to daily exercise wisdom, discretion, restraint, and moderation.

Undoubtedly, of course, a generation will rise up at some point far enough in the future to have not understood (or at least not appreciated) why their grandparents decided to remove the tradition of supper eating. This new generation will stare into the famished eyes of their neighbors at 6 o’clock every evening and determine that the decision to cut out supper was an overreaction. They will decide, on solid principle mind you, to overturn the former persuasion and reinstitute—not just supper—but an extravagant feast every night of the week.

You see the problem.

We live in a time when the pendulum swing is making its way back across to the other side. And as is usually the case, we will learn much about the blindness and overreactions of previous generations. With the rise of the Emergent Church and other similar postmodern attempts at reformation, the modern evangelical church has had to own up to some of its latent extremes. One of the extremes regularly bemoaned by postmodern correctors is evangelicalism’s assumption that spiritual growth and maturity are almost exclusively tied to the right information; that a cognitive behavioral assumption sits at the bottom of much modern thinking about spiritual growth and sanctification. This is why, they argue, that evangelicalism is known by word rather than deed. It’s the doctrines believed, the creeds confessed, and the sermons heard that make all the difference in the Christian life. As one emergent type noted in a recent publication, evangelicalism in America is known more for mission conferences than mission work. We’d much rather preach to you about Christ’s love, even write an essay or a book on the topic, then to practice Christ’s love with our next door neighbor.

Before we take a look at the proposed corrective, it’s important that we come to terms with the assessment. Truth be known, these critiques are not entirely without merit. In fact, in some cases (maybe more than we’d like to admit), they are scarily accurate. We have at times forgotten that Christianity consists in more than information accumulation, and when we have paused long enough to doubt our own assumptions, we have consoled ourselves by saying, “No church is perfect. And if I’m going to err on one side or the other, I think I’d rather err on the side of right belief, than blind action.” There’s something in that statement that even strokes my own sensibility. What good is good action if it’s done from the wrong belief? Isn’t that Paul’s point in Ephesians. But cannot the postmodern reformer have an equally valid response. What good is right belief, if it’s not followed up with good action? Isn’t that what the book of James tells us? Point well taken.

This discussion seems to hinge on the “if we’re going to err in one direction or another” point, as if we are to give up on the indivisible relationship between belief and practice and just pick one side over the other. It seems, if we pay attention to the whole counsel of Scripture, that God is not so much interested in aiming for one error against another error but the whole truth.

I appreciate, more than many, the renewed interest in good works and practice among many postmodern theologians and pastors. But I’m deeply concerned when Brian McLaren, one the leading emergent thinkers, suggests that our unity should be “…built less around a list of things that one professes to believe and more around how one pursues truth and puts beliefs into action through practices.” (The Last Word and the Word After That, 197). In McLaren’s mind, the "truth" is in the emphasis of practice over belief not in the holding of belief and practice together. Don't be fooled. An equal opposite is never a corrective only an error in the opposite direction. The corrective will come when we learn to hold belief and practice together, two indispensable, absolutely necessary parts of one pure and indivisible whole.

Becoming Aware of Unbelief

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:14:17 -0500

Unlike many places in the U.S., my home state, Mississippi, has a long history of church attendance. I know this because I've seen it with my own eyes, and passed through it with my own soul. I am, in other words, a product of it. But despite being a product of it and being thankful for how God used the church in my life, I’m not always proud of it, or at least not in every respect.

Growing up in Laurel, MS, a sleepy little town halfway between the coast and the capital, no one ever asked me about my religious convictions or beliefs. Not once. Never! It was, you might say, assumed. I was born of Christian parents in a predominately “Christian” town, attended church weekly, and was for the most part a “good kid.” As the ole saying goes, "I didn't drink, or chew, or go with girls that do" (or at least I never got caught... that's the real key). Anyway, it never occurred to anyone to ask me, “So, Nate, are you a Christian?”

Now, a question I was asked very often growing up was, "Where do you go to church?" Take note, not “Do you go to church?” but “Where do you go to church.” The priority of church attendance and "where" is just more proof that Christianity was sometimes believed but always assumed in my community. It was what you did.

Over time, this has become a deeply unsettling reality for me. For by God's grace, I came to realize as a teenager that going to church and “being good” are not nearly the same thing as being a Christian. “But I know the right answers, and I was raised in church?” Right answers and being raised in the church is not the same as Christianity. Trust me, one does not need to abandon orthodox Christian teaching, or fall into some scandalous sin to be an unbeliever. All you need is a dead soul, and according to the Scripture, that’s how we come into the world.

To be perfectly honest, church attendance and moral behavior in the South can be one of the best ways of avoiding real Christianity altogether. Real Christianity talks about sin, judgment, the need for a Savior, and grace. Real Christianity assumes that you're not good enough and no amount of "righteous living" is going to change that. Christianity is more than more than a social tradition or religious sentiment; it's more than icing on an otherwise good cake. Christianity asserts that the problem of sin is more comprehensive and deadly than we could imagine. In fact, you can't climb out of the hole you're in unless God himself reaches down to pull you out. Despairing of oneself and finding your only hope in life and death in the person and work of Christ -- that is the gospel, the heart of Christianity!

You see, church attendance and morally upright behavior may not have anything to do with true Christianity in the end. One could go a lifetime to church and never embrace the core beliefs of Christianity. Week after week you could be warming a pew, believing oneself to be “good enough” to get into heaven, and be well on your way to hell. If we are to believe Jesus' teaching, we have to conclude that it's a frighteningly common reality.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to a regular church attendee (not someone from FPC) that a young lady had visited the Pathway Sunday School Class on Sunday who was not a Christian. She had come, as she confessed to me, "...to learn more about Christ." The look of disbelief on the person’s face confirmed my thesis. Of course the regular church attendee was encouraged by the prospect of unbelievers visiting the church to learn about Christ, but only after being flabbergasted that someone in our community openly claimed to not be a Christian and attended church as an avowed agnostic.

You see the problem, right? We walk around in the church, but also in the world, just assuming that most everyone (except for really, really bad people) is a Christian. Well, I hate to break it to you this way—it’s not true. You’re related to, working alongside, talking to, meeting with, making friends with, and even going to church with unbelievers every week. The quicker we wake up to this reality as a community the better, and the more forthright we are about the essence of the Faith, the quicker we may realize how pervasive the problem is, and may navigate a path of hope for the future.

The Gospels and the Incarnation

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:38:19 -0500

A good friend, and one time professor, Greg Wilbur, wrote a review of The Gospels and the Incarnation by Phil Ryken, Dan Doriani, and Rick Phillips (our FPC Men's Rally speaker in January 2009).

Check it out.

Rick Warren, Homosexuality, and the Presidential Inaguration

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:12:35 -0500

You would have to be hiding under a rock somewhere in the Sahara to have not heard of Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren for the invocation at the Presidential Inaguration next month. Needless to say, it has caused quite a stir, largely due to Warren's stated disapproval of homsexual marriage.

But whatever you think about Obama's choice, one thing is almost certain--increasing acceptance of homosexuality as a viable sexual alternative. This means that evangelical Christians, intent on upholding the Bible's instruction on the matter, will need both courage and wisdom to face detractors in the years to come.

To that end, let me encourage you to check out Carl Trueman's recent blog entry at reformation21. With measured sobriety and characteristic wit, Trueman identifies two temptations evangelical Christians will face when approaching this issue, and he offers some direction as to how we ought to proceed.

You can find the article here.

Keeping the Cross at the Center

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:20:58 -0500

In his new book Christless Christianity, Michael Horton tells the story of when the late Donald Grey Barnhouse, then Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA, once speculated what Philadelphia would look like if Satan took over. Without hesitation, Barnhouse quipped, "...the bars would be closed, pornography banised, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smile at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say 'Yes, sir' and 'No, ma'am,' and the churches would be full every Sunday...where Christ is not preached."

This haunting image from Barnhouse should be taken to heart, especially in a day where Christianity is understood to be little more than a tool in one's march to self actualization. For many, of course, Christianity is the biggest, brightest, and best of the tools. They run to it first when they are having trouble or need a boost in life, and it might work fairly well for what is desired. But the fact remains, it's only a tool.

When we consider Christianity as primiarly about us, then it's likely Christianity will become an instrument for improvement, which can trim away the unsightly fat from our character and prod us into someone who is better, fitter, and friendlier. When this happens, we've lost the center of Christianity. We have turned the personal effects of Christianity into the overarching goal of Christianity. We have sidelined Christ.

And when we do this, we cannot honestly say we believe that our chief aim is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Instead, it looks like the chief aim of our life is that Christ would glorify us and make us into who we've always wanted to be.

If we take the Scripture's images of the Faith to heart, we are forced to realize that Christianity is characterized by self-denial, not self-improvement. Does that surprise you? It shouldn't. The cross, an image of execution, marked the path and direction of our Savior and Lord, and since a servant is not greater than his master, it is to mark our path and direction too. Anything less is simply not Christian.

Ask this question with me today: What way am I bearing the cross today?

Changing the World One Cookie at a Time

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:15:13 -0500

Thanks for all of you who came out tonight to put together the Christmas Cookie Jars for Neighborhood Christian Center. What a great way for us to serve this incredible ministry! Though we faced significant trials, running out of sugar about half way through, we weathered the crises and finished strong. We are the Pathway class, changing the world one cookie at a time.

I've posted a number of the pictures from tonight's project on the website. I hope you will take the time to check them out. You can find them here.

Minor's Gold - Reflecting on Hosea Pt.2

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:51:34 -0500

Now that we have taken the time to reflect upon the message of judgment in Hosea we can further appreciate the message of mercy. God's marriage has been described as broken due to his bride's unfaithfulness. And then we read something amazing in 2:14-15:

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achora door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

In the midst of Israel's sleeping around, God calls to her and woos her back to him. While she is selling herself to other gods who aren't even capable of giving her lasting peace, God enters the picture again. He reminds them of how he rescued them out of Egypt before, and now he plans to rescue them again.

Why doesn't he forget about her the way she had forgotten about him? We might wonder where justice is in this. Doesn't justice demand that she be punished? Israel certainly brought this upon herself. God had ample justification to pour out his wrath upon her. She was covetous (2:5), proud (5:5), unstable (6:4), worldly (7:8), corrupt (9:9), continually backsliding (11:7) and idolatrous (13:2). Yet, we read God's response in 2:19-20:

19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

The language of betrothal speaks not only of God's commitment to his bride, but her commitment to him. So let me ask you. Have you kept your wedding vows? Do righteousness and justice describe your character? Have you always been faithful, keeping steadfast love for God? If you're being honest, you'll have to answer "no." But that is the commitment God requires.

Thankfully, someone else kept those wedding vows in our place. True and lasting reconciliation between God and his bride doesn't occur until Jesus Christ bought her redemption at the cost of his life. Just as Hosea humbled himself in order to take a wife of whoredom, Jesus Christ humbled himself in order to rescue a people of whoredom. Hosea redeemed Gomer for some shekels and barley (3:2). Jesus Christ redeemed his bride at the cost of his life!

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11).

Debate on "The Existence of God"

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:42:33 -0500

I thought some of you might find this interesting in light of the series of blogs that i have been posting. The link below is to a debate between Douglas Wilson (Christian) and Christopher Hitchens (Atheist) on the topic of "The Existence of God". Hitchens, you will remember, is one of the "4 Horseman of the New Atheist Apocalypse" that i discussed in last week's post.

Wilson and Hitchens are currently on a 'debate tour' , traveling to various locations in the U.S. Check it out if you have a few spare minutes. I find that watching debates such as this one help me to know what I believe even better and to be able to defend and articulate those beliefs more clearly. Plus, if you have watched debates before, they are simply entertaining to watch, regardless of the topic. This one is no exception!

Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson Debate On The Existence of God (Video)

Archimedes and his Pou Sto

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:50:05 -0500

Archimedes "thoughtful" by Fetti (1620)Archimedes was the greek mathematician who, when working with the lever, said, "Give me a place where I may stand ("Pou Sto" in greek) and I will move the world. If he could somehow get the fulcrum of this simple machine outside of the cosmos, then he would be able to move it. While Archimedes's extracosmic "place to stand' was merely hypothetical, the Christian needs a real and actual extracosmic 'place to stand',so to speak, if he is going to be an effective witness in the culture in which he finds himself. Let me explain.

There are many factors in our post-Christian, postmodern (or is it post-postmodern?) society, that make this 'place to stand' elusive prey. In my last post we saw that one of these factors was the "New Atheism". The "New Atheism", however, is unfortunetly only one of the many "isms" that seeks to remove the only foundation that gives real meaning to the universe: The Bibical foundation.

Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, agnosticism, Mormonism,etc, are only a few of the "isms" which we Christians are confronted with in our culture on a daily basis. There was a time, you will remember, when the religious, moral, and intellectual landscape was not always like this in America. Whether or not you agree that America was ever a 'Christian nation', there no doubt was a time when Christianity shaped its social, political, moral, religious, and Intellectual landscape. Even if people were unwilling to admit it, Christianity especially shaped their views of truth and morals.

Over the last century, however, America has become a melting pot of every kind of 'ism' that you can think of. Obviously, this situation has had and will continue to have a profound effect on people's ideas of what is right and wrong, what is true and what is false, what is possible and what is not, human purpose and destiny, etc.

It is easy to see how, in this climate, Christianity can get lost in the market place of ideas. If each religion/worldview comes nicely packaged with it's own definition of truth, moral standards, views on human purpose and destiny,etc, then who is to say which is right and and which is wrong? After all, it is pretty narrow minded and arrogant to say that only one of the "isms" is right and the rest are wrong in our pluralistic society that worships at the throne of' 'tolerance', political correctness, and individual freedom.

What is the Christian to do with this mess? Should he just throw up his hands and say, "to each his own"? Well, of course not. What the Christian needs is a "place to stand". God's word, as the only foundation that gives true meaning to any and every area of the universe and human life must be our extracosmic "place to stand'. God's word alone is truth (Psalm 119:160, John 17:17) and it is extracosmic truth, truth from outside of the universe. What I mean by this is that God alone made the universe and therefore only He can define what truth is, which moral standards are normative, and what human purpose and destiny mean.

What great news for the Christian! There are so many competing truth claims 'inside' of the universe, and all of these claims have been fashioned by the sinful human mind. For this reason, no single one of these has any more right to define reality than the other. What we need is a word "from outside". We need a God Who is there, and Who is not silent, to use Francis Schaeffer's words. Well, God is there, and He has spoken. He has spoken to us in His revealed Word: The Bible.Archimedes Lever

We have the very truth that a dying and lost world needs. If we are to be effective witnesses to our pluralistic, postmodern culture, then we need to be people of "the Book". God's Word, and His Word alone working by and with His Holy Spirit is the only thing that can change the hearts and minds of those who embrace the false 'isms' of this present darkness. More than that, he promises that His word will always accomplish it's purpose whether we judge it to have done so or not. Let us exhort one another to be bold at sharing the Living Word with the dying world in which we live.

In future posts we we look at some specific ways in which we can do this.

Minor's Gold - Reflecting on Hosea

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:37:02 -0500

I have continued to spend time in Hosea since Sunday's message. The story of Hosea's broken marriage to Gomer provides such an incredible picture of God's marriage with his covenant people. There is both a message of judgment as well as mercy. How Hosea rescues Gomer (3:1-5) points us to the true bridegroom, Christ!

I'd like to encourage us to continue to reflect upon a few things this week. Today, I want to focus upon the message of judgment. I think it's important that we not jump past this too quickly. There are truths for us to learn here in order to magnify our understanding of the mercy that is to follow.

Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season,
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.

Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
Hosea 2:9-10

In Hosea 2:5 & 8 we learn that Israel had begun to whore after other gods (see Jer. 2:20-37 for a parallel passage). Their children were conceived in whoredom (2:5). They have taken the gifts that God has given to them and offered them as sacrifices to Baal (2:8).

Could you imagine bringing home food and clothing for your family, only to see your wife take it and run to her lovers in order to share it with them? The pain and confusion this would cause would be unbearable.

Yet, do we not do this every time that we sin? We take what God has given for his glory and we use it to glorify something or someone else. We make God's good gifts into abominations. Calvin says that our hearts are a continual factory of idols. Every time we sin we make an idol out of something other than God. At that moment we declare God to be unsatisfactory.

God responds to Israel's idolary in 2:9-10 by promising to judge his bride by taking his gifts of food and clothing away. His bride is pictured standing before her lovers naked and ashamed. And who comes to rescue her? Who comes to her aid? Who comes to comfort her? No one! Her lovers want nothing to do with her when she can't offer them anything. They were simply using her. And until she sees that God is all satisfying, she will continue to run to her lovers.

It is the same with us and our sin. We will continue to make light of our sin until we see it as a form of spiritual prostitution. We must get to the point where we see that our sinfulness ultimately leads to loneliness and emptiness. Because it is only when we recognize our brokenness that God can begin to restore us. But more on that next time.

“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
Hosea 6:1

Majoring on the Minors: A Survey of the Minor Prophets

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:12:22 -0500

This winter we'll take a look at each book of the minor prophets. There are twelve books in this section of Scripture covering Hosea to Malachi. Each week we will examine one of these prophets with the hopes of seeing three things.

We want to know something of the context in which the prophet lived and proclaimed his message.
We want to know how each book points to and prepares the way for Jesus Christ.
We plan to show how this relates to the church today.

The minor prophets are often neglected in pulpits today. Unsurprisingly, Christians have very little knowledge about the characters and content of their pages. Our aim in this series is not only for you to become more acquainted with the minor prophets but also to show how they magnify our understanding of the gospel.

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
   Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
   righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)

I would encourage you to read through the minor prophets along with us each week. The minor prophets are the last twelve books of the Old Testament. We'll begin in the book of Hosea this Sunday. Let me suggest a few things to keep in mind as you read.

These books have been called the minor prophets because of their length, not their importance. Supposedly, they were able to fit onto one scroll unlike the major prophets. Hosea happens to be one of the longer minor prophets containing 14 chapters. It is only surpassed in length by Zechariah.
When we think of a prophet, our initial thought is of one who foretells the future. While this is true in part, a majority of the content found in prophetic literature speaks of the past and present context of the authors. The message of the prophet was immediately relevant to his hearers.
Each prophet usually proclaimed two types of oracles; one of judgment and one of salvation. Notice the reasons provided for each. Judgment is announced because of the sin of the nation. On the other hand, future salvation is based upon the the steadfast love of the Lord (not owing to any good the people had done).

May we join with the puritan who prayed,

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.
Who made me to differ, but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
I could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.
(Valley of Vision, pg.12-13)

The Men of the Covenant Luncheon

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:23:10 -0500

Join us Thursday, December 5, for the Men of the Covenant lunch. The speaker this week is Dr. A Joseph Wheat.

Dr. Wheat came to Highlands in July, 2005. Prior to this he was the senior pastor of Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Dr. Wheat began his ordained pastoral career at First Presbyterian of Augusta, Georgia, as an assistant pastor. He is a 1984 graduate of Auburn University, where he received a BS in Economics and graduated in 1987 from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson with a Master of Divinity Degree. Dr. Wheat also received a Doctor of Divinity (honorary) from New Geneva Theological Seminary in 2006. Dr. Wheat and his wife, Gina, have two daughters.

The time is 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The cost of lunch is $5.00. Reservations are not required. If you have further questions, please contact Shannon Craft in the Discipleship Dept. at 601-326-9243 or ShannonC@fpcjackson.org

The Four Horseman Ride

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:50:55 -0500

Sam Harris - Evangelistic AtheistHave you ever met an evangelistic atheist? One who is as passionate to spread the 'gospel' of atheism as Christians are to spread the gospel of Christ? I most certaintly would not characterize the majority of self professed atheists that I have encountered in this way. Most do not have a very well thought out worldview but would probably default to a more or less nihilistic outlook on life. In more recent days, however, atheism has jumped on the postmodern band-wagon and has re-invented itself. Thanks to the so-called ' Four horseman of the New Atheist apocalypse', atheism is becoming a whole new monster.

If you have not heard of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, or Daniel Dennet then you need to get to know them...and fast. Due to their high profile academic, media, and social positions and their highly popular (even best-selling) books, this new brand of Atheism is being made available to the masses at a more rapid pace than ever. As Christians this should especially concern us. Every generation faces its own challanges in applying the gospel to its particular social and cultural context. It is not enough to simply know the gospel, but we must understand the particular ideas that have captivated the minds of our generation so that we will be able to "...destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God..." ( 2Cor.10:5).

I am by no means saying the gospel is not enough and that something must be added to in order for it to be effective. But I am saying is that if we are to be most effective in our witness to the unbelieving world, we need to understand the worldview's embraced by the unbelieving world that we are witnessing in. With that said, I think it will be helpful to take a quick look at a few things that make the 'New Atheism' new. I am endebted to Al Mohler's book, Atheism Remix, for these observations.

First of all, it is evangelistic and bold. Advocates of the New Atheism unashamedly and unabashedly take the offensive against Christianity. In older forms of atheism you could sense a feeling remorse, that by 'losing God' they were losing something important and dear to life. With the new atheism, however, this is far from the case. One can even sense a feeling of excitment that the God of the bible is not needed make sense of the universe.

Secondly, the New Atheism is very specific on its rejection of the God of the Bible. They are not merley interested in rejecting the idea of "god in general' or some abstract philosophical concept. They passionately believe that if any god does infact exist, it cannot be the God of the bible. It is just as likely that the 'flying spaghetti monster exists', to use one of Dawkins favorite sayings.

Thirdly, there is a specific rejection of Jesus Christ. There have obviously been many who have rejected Christ before, but the intensity with which the New Atheism rejects Christ is striking. Hitchens, for example, goes so far to say that "when it comes to violence, Jesus makes the God of the Old Testament look like an amateur". Dawkins also chastens Jesus for not having a more 'inclusivistic message'.

Fourthly, the New Atheism is grounded specifically in scientific argument. Three out of the four men listed above are scientists by training. They believe that, at the end of the day, science must be the explanation for everything that is capable of being explained. The "god hypothesis" was simply the ignorant and naive answer we used to explain the cosmos before being enlightened by the more rational explanations of modern science. Their predisposition to a naturalistic and materialist worldview is not something that they are willing to negotiate. All religion is restrictive, biased and harmful. Conversly, Science is liberating, neutral, and the path to enlightenment.

These factors and others put a twist on atheism that is unique to the New Atheism. In a very real way, I think it is more evangelistic and irate than ever. The highly popular and public nature of the men listed above combined with the the 'newness' of the New Atheism makes for a deadly combination. Back to my original question. Have you ever encountered an evangelist atheist? If you have not yet encountered one, you may not have to wait long until you do. While we can be confident that God's purpose will always prevail in the face of unbelieving thought, let us not forget our Christian duty to always be prepared to make a defense for the hope that is within us (1Pet. 3:15).

O Generosity, Where Art Thou?

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:03:36 -0500

In The Decline and Fall of Charity, Clint Rainey provides a helpful analysis of contemporary generosity. Christians are giving more than other groups but significantly less than they gave during The Great Depression. Isn't it interesting that we have more, but give less? In one of the more startling statistics, Rainey states:

Taking a cross-section of church contributions nationwide right now, you’d see they nosedive as you move down the age spectrum. We can only hope that’ll change as today’s youth get older and wealthier, but it isn’t unreasonable to wonder about the cultural implications of sixty-year-olds who are 10 percent more likely to give to the church than are still not-so-youthful churchgoers in their forties and fifties, who, in turn, are 30 percent more likely to give than are those in their thirties, who are then 30 percent more likely to give than are twentysomethings, fewer than a third of whom give anything at all.

It would be more accurate to compare the giving of today's twentysomethings with the twentysomethings of forty years ago rather than current levels of giving. But the article does indicate a drastic overall decline in giving. More than likely, this decline has occurred among all age groups.

Nonetheless, the question remains. How do we become more generous?

We begin by recognizing that our sufficiency is found in God alone. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for us a pearl worth more than a lifetime of wages (Matt.13:45-46). Do you believe that? There is a direct correlation between the value of the gospel for us and our generosity.

The answer to our lack of generosity is not an increase in opportunity to serve. Opportunities abound everywhere. Just ask your neighbor. The answer is in dealing with our mistrust in an all-sufficient Christ. When we recognize our tendancy to horde, we must call upon the mercy of God, and once again seek his forgiveness.

Secondly, we must realize that whatever offering we bring, is given from a heart that is grateful for that which Christ has done for us. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Our generosity is a picture of the generosity of the cross.

It's easy to become paralyzed by the overwhelming need in this fallen world. We can become convinced that the need is far greater than any meager effort we might manage to offer. I know this helpless feeling all too well. As Christians, we don't have the option of claiming ignorance. All of us know what it was like to have been hungy, thirsty, and naked. But the struggle is to daily remind ourselves of how abundantly we have been filled and clothed by Christ.

Letting the Gospel become meh

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:27:48 -0500

Have you heard the exciting news that "meh" is going to be added to Collins English Dictionary? Actually, "exciting" might not be the most appropriate description considering the definition of "meh" is, "an expression of indifference or boredom, or an adjective meaning mediocre or boring."

I doubt anyone in America would be surprised to discover how the word was vaulted to dictionary status.

The origins of "meh" are murky, but the term grew in popularity after being used in a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa.

"They both just reply 'meh' and keep watching TV," said Cormac McKeown, head of content at Collins Dictionaries. (FoxNews)

It's certainly a term that could define a generation that has been raised in front of the television. Few things excite us anymore.

Unfortunately, for many of us, "meh" could describe our spiritual life as well. Of course we would never say that out loud. But how often has the television supplanted our Bible reading? How often have we decided to spend an hour on Facebook rather than getting our faces into The Book? The same questions could be asked regarding our time in prayer.

"Did you get a chance to commune with your Heavenly Father today?"
"Meh."

How we spend our time reveals a great deal about where our priorities lie. But no one needs to be convinced of that. Rather, we need to be convinced of the glorious truth and beauty of the Gospel.

It is all too easy to gloss over the subject. Some of us feel like we've heard the Gospel all of our lives. We might think it's too simplistic. We tell ourselves we're ready for something deeper.

Mark Dever writes,

I remember taking a walk with Don Carson once, and Don remarking something to the effect that the first generation has the Gospel, the second generation assumes the Gospel, the third generation loses the Gospel. (T4G)

The temptation to assume the Gospel is a daily struggle. So many other activities demand our attention. Yet we are mistaken when we think that the Gospel is confined to a particular activity (i.e.; reading the Bible or praying). The Gospel is more than historical facts, doctrinal truths, or cognitive furniture for us to fall asleep upon. It must effect everything we think, say, and do. The Gospel must penetrate beyond our minds and into our hearts.

When that happens, the Gospel is anything but meh.

Book of the Month: "Home" by Marilynne Robinson

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:45:22 -0500

Marilynne Robinson won the pulitzer prize for fiction in 2005 for her novel, Gilead. Some of you have heard me voice high praise for Gilead, both for the beauty of its prose and the truth-ful-ness of the story. For me, there is hardly another modern author, writing to a mainstream audience with a secular publisher, that accomplishes so much for the "things hoped for...the things unseen" (Heb.11:1).

Now having read Gilead twice and Home once, I can honestly say I've rarely been more impressed with the balance of truth and imagination displayed in these two novels. Robinson doesn't bypass the mind on the way to the imagination, or neglect the imagination to "preach" the truth; but instead she moves through the mind (what C.S. Lewis calls, "the natural organ of truth") on her way to the imagination to cast a vision that neither contradicts or blurs the truth but drives it deeper into the consciousness where meaning can be experienced. I can only speak personally to the impact her works have had on me. But each time I read her I'm left with something like a glow on my heart. I liken it to a kind-of illumination, where ordinary grace and heavenly wonder converge.

Her new book, Home, was released roughly two months ago, and it is already receiving wide acclaim (which it most certainly deserves). Let me encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself. I commend it to you for both its truth and beauty.

BTW: For those of you who subscribe to the New York Review of Books, there is a high quality review of the book in the most recent edition. Don't miss it. The London Review of Books also recently reviewed it if you have access to that publication. Available to all, The Washington Post recently sat down with Marilynne Robinson for an interview where her deep, Reformed convictions were made plain. (She's an avid reader, and lover of John Calvin!) The link to the interview/article is below.

At 'Home' With the Past (Washington Post)

The Work of Faith

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:35:18 -0500

We reflected on I Thess. 1:1-3 last night at prayer meeting. It's a passage where Paul expresses deep thanksgiving for what He sees God doing in the community at Thesslonica. Three phrases stood out to me in Paul's prayerful remembrance: the work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope (1:3).

What's interesting about these three descriptions is how closely tied they are to both heart and life. Paul's encouragement stems not from their faith alone, but their work of faith. His thanksgiving is not for their love alone, but their labor of love. His rejoicing is not for their hope alone, but for their steadfastness of hope. In other words, Paul finds comfort and peace in the spiritual health of the church at Thesslonica not because many profess faith, love, and hope in Christ but because he sees the fruit of faith, love, and hope in their lives as a community.

Jesus reminds us just how close the heart and life are to be in John 14:15. He says, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." Obedience is the natural extension of a heart that is embracing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; it is the inclination and trajectory for a heart open to God and full of His mercy and grace. This does not mean, however, that obedience will always feel natural for the Christian. If our heart was always in the right place spiritually, if we were always set upon the foundation of Christ and him crucified, then yes, obedience would be natural. But, as you and I both know, Christians struggle to believe the gospel. We struggle to keep our hearts consciously embracing the truth of the gospel. We forget it, doubt it, neglect it, or distort it. In the flesh we are given to living by sight rather than by faith (Hab.2:4; Heb.10:38-39), and so when we are controlled by the flesh, we are controlled by sight, which means we will not naturally feel an inclination toward obedience, and we most certainly will not take delight in it. To quote the Apostle Paul, "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things that you want to do." (Gal.5:17)

When the flesh gets the better of you, what do you do? Let me encourage you to do what the church at Ephesus was called to do in the letters to the churches in Revelation. We have to return again to our first love (Rev.2:1-7). We have to return to the Word to form and fill our minds with the truth of the gospel, we have to meditate upon it until our heart apprehends the meaning of the gospel once again, and with this renewed mind and heart we step out and choose with delight to follow the Lord whereever he calls. Try what you will, my friends, there is no other way.

It is the work of faith from which Paul derives comfort and encouragement. And the same comfort and encouragement would be true today of our church should God witness in us the work of faith. God takes joy when he sees the perfect work and righteousness of his Son make deep and lasting inroads into our community. Indeed, He longs to see the work of faith operable in our community to the point that He witnesses the glory of His Son being manifested in our life together. This is a goal for us to pray for, a goal for us to work for... a goal to live for.

Praying for Barack Obama

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:29:37 -0500

Ligon Duncan has posted a very helpful reflection on the Bible's mandate to pray for our elected officials. His words are timely, given the recent election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

Let me encourage you to check it out at reformation21.

Men of the Covenant Luncheon: Dr. Sam Hensley

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:50:31 -0500

Join us Thursday, November 6, for the Men of the Covenant lunch. The speaker this week is Dr. Samuel Hensley. Dr. Hensley, in addition to practicing medicine, serves as Bioethics Consultant to Mississippi Baptist Medical Center and is an Adjunct Professor at Covenant Theological Seminary and a Fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. He is president of the Board of Directors of Matthew 25:40 Ministries, an outreach to the elderly in Chicago. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the local campus based chapter of the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) and serves on the CMDA National Ethics Commission. In 2000, Dr. Hensley received a Master's Degree in Christian Thought and Ethics from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. He and his wife, Elizabeth, teach an elective in Bioethics for fourth year medical students.

The time is 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The cost of lunch is $5.00. Reservations are not required. If you have further questions, please contact me at 601-326-9243 or ShannonC@fpcjackson.org

The Grace of "Trying Again"

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:28:00 -0400

The Christian life can be very discouraging. It can seem like the harder you try to be who you're supposed to be, the worse you become. It can often feel like everytime you take one step forward that you follow it up with two steps back. Yes, the Scripture tells us "to run the race that is set before us," but doesn't it often feel like you're running in circles instead?

If you find yourself in that place right now, I ran across a beautiful passage in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity that you might find comforting. It was for me.

"You must ask God for help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the other hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."

"To Feel Your Need Of Him"

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:37:18 -0400

I spend a lot of time speaking with people about sin. It's a central tenant of what I'm called to do. As you can imagine, this is not always, not even most of the time, a fun task. Most people (including myself) don't relish the opportnity to talk about how their lives are messed up. Instead, they'd prefer to look "on the bright side" of things. Someone recently told me that they were an "optimist." This meant, at least in part, that he'd rather think about the "good things" in his life; you know, the things that were going well. He admitted that all this talk about brokenness and sin was quite discouraging.

Though I can certainly sympathize, these kinds of statements really worry me, for they're usually a smoke screen, a diversion. Being an "optimist" in this case was a way of escaping real, deep problems. It's the old, "Ignore it, and maybe it will go away" tactic. I certainly get that impulse; I have it and put it to good use. Just ask my wife; she'll tell you. I'd rather bury my head in the sand when it comes to my sinfulness. But I have found, time and again, even in my own life, that long term avoidance (often masked as "optimism") is spiritually detrimental. News Flash: Spiritual growth doesn't come from looking at all the things you're "doing right" or all the things you're "not doing" that you could be doing that are wrong. Such "optimism" is usually a mask for self sufficiency--the great enemy of the gospel.

Rather, spiritual growth comes through seeing one's need of Christ. We only ever see our need for Christ when we admit, own, and confess our failings. Remember that line from Come Ye Sinners, "The only fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him." Do you feel that you need Christ; I mean really need him? If not, you're deceived and resting on the sufficiency of something else, probably yourself.

Let me suggest that you pray David's words in Psalm 51 until you mean them, reflecting all the while on those sins that you've sought to avoid. God loves to hear from his children. Will you go to Him?

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from you presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit." (v.1-2, 10-12)

Promoting Worldliness (Well, Sort Of)

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:11:50 -0400

Okay, so we're back in Mark 4 this Sunday, finishing up the parable of the sower. We only made it through the first part of the parable two weeks ago, and so this Sunday we'll pick up where we left off and talk about the seeds that fell among the thorns and the seed that fell on the good soil. Good stuff.

Revisting this passage, particularly the section where the seed among the thorns, reminded me a brand new book edited by C.J. Mahaney entitled, Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World. In this sense, let me promote Worldliness by encouraging you to pick up the book. But if your short on cash, or if your reading list is far too long to add another, just check out Joe Holland's review at reformation21. It's worth your time.

Acceptable Sins: Gossip

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:58:07 -0400

I ran across a number of satirical short films by Tom Rice that I thought you'd find interesting... revealing. One of the most poignant of the films focused on the sin of gossip--that's right, the sin of gossip. For most of us, gossip has become so common--so acceptable--that we hardly bat an eye when it happens. In this short film, you see a beautifully convicting example of how "prayer requests" so easily slip into grave sinfulness.

Check it out.

Book of the Month: Whiter Than Snow

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:33:02 -0400

The New Yorker published a cartoon in 1967 that summarizes my kind of madness. It's a picture of a husband and wife with their realtor visiting a house that just went on the market. The house for sale is unique in that every wall of the house is lined with bookshelves. The wife walks in the door, surprised at the sight, and immediately says to the realtor, "Holy cow! What kind of crazy people used to live here anyway?"

If you've ever visited my office, you might be tempted to say the same thing. And yes, I'm willing to admit it; I do have a problem--just read Bibliomania (1809) by Thomas Frognall Dibdin and you'll have a sense for how bad this can get...

My wife (bless her heart) has not only witnessed but lived with my disorder for seven years now. She has been very patient and flexible, while clearly worried for my psychological health. My children, though they are still quite young, became aware of my disease when they realized our house didn't look like normal people's houses. This was particularly true during pre-office days, when the extent of the problem was harder to mask, for my library was kept at the house and monopolized almost every inch of wall space. The kids would visit other people's homes (sane people, that is) and they noticed shapes of all different types, mostly squares, hanging on the walls of their home. When they returned from one of these visits, I had to explain to them that those "shapes" were decorations, mostly pictures and paintings, and that most people's home could afford such a luxury. Ours, on the other hand, could not. We only had room for books. (This is usually where I'd build the case, a bookcase--wink, wink--that books are the most beautiful decoration of all. Really, what could be more attractive than a wall--or a room, or even a whole house for that matter!--lined with bookshelves and filled with books?)

(Christy: "Please pray for me!")

To give complete liscense to my love for books, I've decided to inflict my passion on you by choosing one book a month (just one!) as a suggestion for you to pick up and read. This month I am suggesting a very new release from Crossway publishing. The book is Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin & Mercy by Paul David Tripp. I finished the book early this morning, and I am going to turn right around and read it again. This book did much to convict me of sin, stir my heart for the gospel, and strengthen my will for obedience.

In this book, Paul David Tripp takes each verse of Psalm 51 line by line and pens 52 short meditations. Different from so many devotional books, this work doesn't seek to do careful exegesis of a passage and then apply the text in certain personal directions. Instead, this work endeavors to introduce the power of the text into the every day frustrations and riffs of our life. Paul David Tripp calls it "devotional jazz," for it seeks to improvise harmonously our lives with the context and teaching of the text. In other words, this is devotional for life. This means it's a devotional for you. Take up and read! Pick it up! I think you'll be glad you did.

Politics & New Evangelicals

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:52:54 -0400

In a recent op-ed piece in USA Today, Stephen Mansfield asserted that the rise of the political right has done much to subvert the long standing, loving heritage that was once the strong reputation of evangelical Christians in America. This loss of the spirit of charity can be, according to Mansfield, indelibly linked to the wedding of Christianity with the right-wing.

This is changing though. The rising generation of evangelicals are increasingly skeptical of the messianic promises advanced by both political parties. They have heard the bloated promises of Republicans and Democrats alike, and they have witnessed expectations rise and fall and fail repeatedly. The new evangelical, according to Mansfield, is more interested in being "biblical than narrowly political." This means, at least in part, that the church must concern itself less with one parties policies and more from God who founded and guides her. For Mansfield, as for Martin Luther King Jr., this includes the church's responsibility to be "the conscience of the state."

Interesting article. Check it out here.

Officer Election and Membership Survey!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:38:20 -0400

This is an important week in the life of FPC, and I want you to be up on all the ways you can be involved and contribute significantly to the life and health of the church.

1. Officer Election: We are nearing the end of our election for the office of elder. The congregation has already elected nine men to the office of elder, and there is only one more slot to be filled. The two candidates in a run off for the officer of elder are W. Harper Keeler and F. Earl Fyke. If you are a member of FPC, let me strongly encourage you to prayerfully consider which of these two men you would like to see serving on the Session of the church. Please make plans this week to vote for one of these two men as we seek to conclude our election for the office of elder.

2. Membership Survey: This past Sunday members and regular attenders of FPC were asked to participate in our strategic planning efforts by taking a brief membership survey. This survey is very important to the overall effort of strategic planning, and one of the most important ways the every member and regular attender of the congregation can play a critical part in the future direction of the church. Let me strongly encourage you to take the time to fill out a survey. This is a tremendous opportunity for you to tell the elders and staff about yourself and your experience of the ministry at FPC. Let me underscore the fact that surveys are STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. The church has made every effort to ensure anoymity. No church officer, minister, or staff person will see any completed surveys. The surveys will be sent to a third party data entry organization, and only the aggregate results will be given to the church.

If you would prefer to take the survey at home instead of the times posted in Lowe Hall and Patterson Hall, then you can print off a survey from our website. Here is the link.

If you have any questions about either of these opportunities to serve the church, feel free to contact me at nshurden@fpcjackson.org I may not know every answer, but I can probably direct you to someone who does.

The Sum of Ministry: Teaching Prayer

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:26:49 -0400

After more than forty years of pastoral ministry, Eugene Peterson believes that the sum of a pastor's work is to "teach his people how to pray."

When I first read that line, I thought to myself, "Yes, a pastor ought to consider it among his chief responsibilities to help his congregation learn how to pray -- but to call prayer 'the sum' or 'chief goal' seems overstated. Aren't we forgetting a few things here? Isn't a pastor supposed to teach his congregation the Bible and doctrine too? Isn't a pastor supposed to train his congregation to love one another? Isn't a pastor to teach his congregation how to share the faith? Isn't a pastor suppossed... " And list went on and on.

However, after reflecting on Peterson's words, I realized I failed to catch the nuance of his statement. He meant something deep and profound by saying that prayer is the sum of a pastor's work. He meant that a pastor's work can be chiefly described as teaching people how to live in the presence of God. For Peterson, prayer was not merely a discipline or exercise, it was communion with God. Prayer wasn't something you did, it was a way of being and living. The sum of the pastor's work was yoked to the sum of the Christian life--living before God's face.

In our prayer times on Sunday night, I've been reminded of how vital it is that prayerfulness (being full of prayer) is not just something we set aside time "to do," but it is a way of living in the presence of God. You've probably had moments or even seasons of prayer where you "get lost in" or "caught up in" God. In such moments, the mechanics of prayer fade as communion with God takes over; all that is within us seems to rest in God's arms, as we bless Him, hallow His name, share our hearts, and experience the kind of comfort this world cannot afford.

Such sweet seasons of communion are soul forming. It is as if the very hands of God are molding us into the creatures we are to be, and we are experiecing afresh the wind of the spirit filling our souls. During such heavenly encounters, we find ourselves willingly submitted to God's designs, and we are moved, often to tears, at who He is and what He has done.

So, the sum of the pastor's work is to teach his congregation how to pray... Tis so, tis so.

Thursday Morning Guy's Group

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:05:15 -0400

Calling all guys!

Every Thursday morning at Primos on Lakeland a small group of guys gather for a short time of study, discussion, encouragement, and prayer. We would love for you to join us!

We begin at 6:45am with breakfast and get started with our study around 7am. This fall we are embarking on a brand new journey through C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. We begin this Thursday, so it's not too late to join us! The books are free, and the fellowship is good. What are you waiting for? There's no better way to begin the day!

If you would like to learn more, e-mail Nate Shurden at nshurden@fpcjackson.org

Review of "Culture Making"

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:01:58 -0400

I've been slowly working through a new book by Andy Crouch entitled, Culture Making. I'm not yet ready to post my thoughts on the book, though I would like to introduce you to some of the aims and then point you to a recent review of the book.

The book catalogs the interest and fascination of a new generation of Christians with culture. In Crouch's mind, this interest is evidence that many Christians are not satisfied with a comfortable divide between faith and life. Younger Christians especially are deeply desirious to understand how all of life, not just "Christian" activies, share in the meaning of the gospel. To do this, Crouch believes that Christians have to learn "a new vocabulary, a new story, and new set of questions" (p.10). If this happens, Christians will be able to move beyond cultural awareness and engagement onto what he calls, "cultural responsiblity."

In the weeks ahead, I'll be talking about some of the themes of this book, since these are themes I regularly see popping up in conversations I have with you. For the time being, let me suggest you read a very recent review of the book. I think you'll find it reasonaably helpful. You can find the review here.

On Worldviews

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:42:58 -0400

A dear friend of mine posted a few quotes on the importance of "worldview" on the way we live, move, and have our being. I thought I'd share the quotes with you for your consideration and reflection.

"The most practical and important thing about a man is his view of the universe. For a landlady to consider a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. For a general to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy’s numbers, but still more important to know the enemy’s philosophy . The question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them." G.K. Chesterton

"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." King Solomon

"Worldview is the most important thing that we can know about a man. Ideas have consequences. And those consequences affect everything in the practical realm as well as in the theoretical realm. Discernment of worldview is therefore the most necessary of all the tasks of wisdom." Richard Weaver

A Prayer for Christlikeness

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:58:03 -0400

"Help me to walk as Jesus walked,

my only Savior and Perfect model,

his mind my inward guest,

his meekness my covering guard.

Let my happy place be amongst the poor in spirit,

my delight the gentle ranks of the meek.

Let me always esteem others better than myself,

and find in true humility,

an heirdom to two worlds."

Made in the Image of God

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:39:39 -0400

I've been reading a number of new books on creation and the calling of man that have reminded me of thoughts long forgotten and spurred lots of new fruitful ideas.

One of the things that struck me recently is just how different the God of Scripture is to the popular Near Eastern gods who littered history in the day of Moses. The God of creation is not removed from his creation, governing with an iron fist from afar, thirsty for power and a way to prove Himself. Rather, we find in the Scripture an infinitely great and powerful God, not lacking anything, who was--and is--deeply interested in personally relating to all that He made. Genesis 1-2 describes and depicts an intimate God, a God who takes joy and satisfaction in being interrelated to what He has made.

Secondly, we see that God's personal interest in his creation, particularly in the creation of man and woman, is intended to reflect His person, character, and work. In the same way that our Creator is personal, we are personal. In the same way that our creator is holy and righteous, we are to be holy and righteous. In the same way he is creative, we are to be creative. We are, as Andy Crouch recently said, made to be "creative cultivators." We are to be so deeply connected to creation that we give our lives to living within God's order, in His character, to cultivate and create "good" things.

Ken Myers said somewhere that "Culture is what we make of the world." This may not be all that can be said about culture, but what it says is true. Making something of the world is central to what it means to be human. We take the joys, horrors, and mysteries of our experience of creation and we seek with all our might to make sense of it. We assimilate information about the world, and we consider what it tells us. We understand it, as best we can, and within that understanding we labor to make a positive contribution to the health of the world. This is at least part of what it means to labor for the Kingdom of God in the world, as we've been studying in the Gospel of Mark.

All of this prompts a question: how are you fulfilling your calling to be fruitful and multiply? In what ways are you seeking in God's character to walk in the footsteps of the True Man (Jesus Christ) and care for, tend, and contribute to the health and peace of the world? It's a question worth pondering, and we'll talk about it a lot more in Sunday school in the weeks to come. I hope you will join the discussion.

The Messiah Channel

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:49:07 -0400

In last month's Touchstone magazine, Russell Moore penned a scintillating article on how the purity of the gospel is being distorted as often in so-called "Bible-believing" or "conservative" churches as in liberal churches. The name of the article is "The Messiah Channel." Here's a taste to whet your appetite.

"Where anything other than Christ is preached, there is no truth offered, and thus, there is no freedom proclaimed. There may be shouts of affirmation or silently nodding heads, there may be left-wing politics or right-wing politics, there may be culturally liberal psychotherapy or culturally conservative psychotherapy, there may be almost anything people think they want, but there’s nothing but judgment in the air."

It's definitely worth a look.

Officer Election Begins Tomorrow

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:14:14 -0400

One of the privileges of being a member of FPC is the opportunity to nominate and elect men to serve as officers in the church. Following the Biblical pattern, FPC has two types of officers: elders and deacons. Within the office of elder, there is a distinction between teaching elders (i.e. ministers or preachers) and ruling elders. This Sunday all members of FPC get to exercise the membership privilege of casting votes for the men they believe best qualify to fill 10 available ruling elder slots.

Each man has participated in a rigorous training for the office of ruling elder. They have been examined according to the Biblical qualifications for the office of elder as found in I Tim 3 and Titus 1 and have passed their examinations. Now, this Sunday the Session at FPC will set before you (the congregation) 43 approved candidates. Out of these 43 men only 10 will be elected to the office of ruling elder.

I hope all of you who are members have been perusing the pamphlet of candidates for the office of ruling elders and have chosen the 10 men you plan to vote for during tomorrow morning's election. If you've not yet made a decision, please take time tonight to identify which 10 men you believe would best serve the church as ruling elders--men who would oversee the flock of Christ in the gospel with diligence, wisdom, and love.

Bring School Supplies THIS SUNDAY

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:24:17 -0400

As most of you know, we're partnering with the Agape class to supply Neighborhood Christian Center with all the school supplies they need for their fall tutoring program. This is a great opportunity for us to show that our love for Christ is genuine (see Paul's words in I Cor.8-9) by meeting the needs of our community.

A listing of all the school supplies can be found on the home page (www.fpccareer.org). NCC is expecting an enrollment of 60 kids this fall, so there's no fear of bringing too much. Break the piggy bank, reach between the couch cushions, lift up the mats on the floor board of the car -- find whatever spare money you can and help support this ministry. Please bring all supplies to Sunday school THIS SUNDAY. If you have some extra cash but do not have time to shop before Sunday, please consider making a monetary donation. Any little bit will help!

I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use you to meet this important need!

Men of the Covenant Lunch THIS THURSDAY

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:47:54 -0400

Calling all guys!

Please join us Thursday, September 4, as we kick off our fall Men of the Covenant lunches. The speaker this week is Dr. Jim Baird. Following the Korean War, Jim was called to the ministry. He graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He has served as pastor in churches in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and for 12 years as senior pastor at First Presbyterian, Jackson, before retiring in 1996. Jim served as the moderator of the PCA General Assembly in 1983 and 1984 and as chairman of the PCA's MNA and MTW committees.

The time is 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The cost of lunch is $5.00. Reservations are not required. If you have further questions, please contact Shannon Craft at 601-326-9243 or ShannonC@fpcjackson.org

Dwelling in the Presence of God

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:02:33 -0400

There may be no spiritual practice more countercultural than prayer. It is almost never convenient, efficient, or measurable in impact, which is to say it has little to make it attractive to a world caught in a web of immediate relevances.

Prayer will not be hurried, bullied, or quantified. It refuses to be pigeonholed. But when it is practiced, when our soul is given over to it, we enter into the power of God. We are taken up, as it were, into the realm of heaven where God lives and we commune with him. In a world of exile, prayer deepens us into an awareness that we have a home, a place to dwell. It opens us to the heart of God, and it leads us to say, "I am my Beloved, and my Beloved is mine."

Distinguishing one spiritual discipline as more or less important is like saying water is more important than air (or visa versa). Each of the disciplines are mutually dependent on one another, and they should be understood as a whole and practiced in relationship to one another. But unlike so many of the disciplines, prayer reveals so much about our spiritual lives--more than we usually want to know.

One of the things I've noticed recently is how prayer shows us just how unaccustomed and uncomfortable we are in the presence of God. It's almost like being trapped in a bad conversation at a wedding reception, where you find yourself trying to carry on a conversation with someone you don't know well, and maybe don't have much in common with, and so the nature of communication is superficial, unsatisfying, and short-lived.

Thankfully that awkward feeling in prayer diminishes the more you pray, because the more you pray the more you become accustomed and comfortable being with God. This is why the Puritan pastors used to challenge their people to "pray till you've prayed through." Said another way, pray until you've met God; pray until you feel yourself to be a child relaxing into the arms of a loving Father, telling him your heart--and listening to His. God has given us this deep grace to slow the fast and furious rhythm of our daily lives to the pace of intimacy and love, melting the tyranny of the urgent by the one thing that is needful.

"Do You Pray?"

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:20:57 -0400

“Do you pray?”—J.C. Ryle, A Call to Prayer (p.9)

The question shot though me like a bolt from clear blue sky. Conviction quickly spread through my heart. “I hate questions like this,” I thought silently to myself. But no matter which way I cut it the answer was the same… “No… I don’t pray.”

Of course my answer wasn’t entirely true—I did pray some. I prayed when life got hard, or when I needed something particular from God, or when I thought it might be handy to have God on my side. But I knew deep down that Ryle wasn’t asking the question in that way. He wanted to know if I was a praying man.

Thankfully, God used that question (and Ryle’s little book) to change my life. I know it’s cliché to say so, but it’s true. The change, interestingly, didn’t come through the book directly; it came, rather, through what the book prompted me to do, namely, pray. I really didn’t learn a bunch of new things about prayer in the book, or new techniques by which to jump start my prayer life. Instead, my prayer life changed by praying. Over the course of regular prayer, I learned how deep my need was (and is) for God, and I began to experience, slowly but surely, how satisfying it is to meet with Him. I was gradually but truly transformed from a man who sometimes prayed into a praying man.

God wants you to see Him for who He is, and come face to face with how desperately you need Him. He wants you to be drawn into a life of continued fellowship with Him—not for His sake, but yours. Would you be willing to ask with me and other prayer-struggling young adults the same question the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us how to pray?” (Luke 11:1) I hope you will.

Every Sunday night from 5:00-5:45pm on the first floor of the youth house, we are going to gather together to learn how to pray by praying. Let me be clear: you don’t need to be “good at praying” to come. In fact, if you’re a bonafide prayer professional, this is probably not the prayer group for you. We’re looking for those who know they don’t pray like they should but are willing to take the risk of learning how to pray with others. Is that you?

Come and join us as we meet with God in prayer this Sunday… and every Sunday.

Your fellow prayer-struggling brother,

Nate

Technology & A Life of Emptiness

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:16:44 -0400

There's a really fascinating article in World Magazine that exposes the dangerously idolatrous expectations we hold about the power of technology. The article is written by Vern Poythress who is the Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Westminister Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. He has been thinking about cultural matters from a Christian perspective for well over 30 years, and he has done some tremendous work in that time.

Check out the article here.

Questions for Meditation

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:10:56 -0400

On Sunday we wrapped up our short two week study on the discipline of Christian meditation. Some of you received the handout I gave in Sunday school which outlined some practical suggestions for meditation. But for those of you who couldn't be with us, I'm posting a few of the meditation questions for your viewing. I hope you find them to be a good resource.

“Meditation reflects on the truth of God in the presence of God.”—Edmund Clowney

“Slowing down and giving one’s undivided attention to God lies at the core of Christian meditation.”—Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Questions To Get You Started

1. Diagnostic: How would you characterize your ability to meditate?

2. Place: Where do you find it easiest to focus your heart?

3. Time: When do you find it easiest to focus your heart?

4. Distractions: What in your life keeps you from focusing on God?

5. Exposing Sin: What is more important to you than meditating?

6. Gospel Assurance: In what way does the gospel give you comfort when you fail in meditating?

7. Gospel Motivation: How does the person and work of Christ motivate you to further meditation?

Martin Luther’s Questions for Meditation

1. How can I praise God for this truth?

2. What I can confess because of this truth?

3. If I believed this truth, how would I really live?

Meditation: Take Two

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:52:58 -0400

There is always more to say than can be said.

We have one more week to talk about the spiritual discipline of meditation, and there is more to be said now than when we first began. But such is the nature of things. But even with our abbreviated study on this important Christian practice, I hope you have been impressed with the priority and purpose of meditation. I hope you have seen the Scripture as the primary text through which meditation finds its foundation, and Jesus Christ, both in his person and work, as the focus of meditation.

One of the things we will not have the chance to cover tomorrow in class is the fact that Christian meditation is the work of taking upon ourselves the yoke of Christ. As Edmund Clowney makes plain in his reflection on Christian meditation, our Christ is simultaneously the Suffering Servant and the Triumphant Lord. When we submit ourselves to Him in meditation, we learn to submit ourselves to both of these aspects of His nature. We learn to identify with Christ in his experience of suffering as the path of Calvary, and we learn to take comfort in his ruling over us and all things as Lord. Knowing this, we can take true "delight," as the Psalmist teaches us in Psalm 1, in the law of God. How? Because in the law, we find Christ's life and ministry, which is our life and ministry. Thus, as believers in Christ, we listen to the law with humility and learn to take His instruction as our food and drink; we learn to say, "Only to do His will; that is my highest aim."

May that be true of you and me...

In the end, this means that gospel wisdom not ecstasy is the ultimate object of Christian meditation. We are not content to contemplate abstract infinity, to empty our minds of all thought or reflection, we desire the "Christ of Scripture, and the Scripture of Christ." (Clowney, 29) We desire that our mind, will, and emotions would be filled and formed by the Bible. We do not attempt to imagine Christ a certain way, but to imagine him in the way of the Bible, and in so doing, to lay down our lives at his feet. To tell him with our whole heart to do with us what He may.

"The Christian Scripture are the primary text for Christian spirituality. Christian spirituality is, in its entirety, rooted in and shaped by the scriptural text. We don't form our personal spiritual lives out of a random assemblage of favorite texts in combination with individual circumstances; we are formed by the Holy Spirit in accordance with the text of Holy Scripture. God does not put s in charge of forming our personal spiritualities. We grow in accordance with the revealed Word implanted in us by the Spirit."--Eugene Peterson

Prayer Before Evening Service

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:24:14 -0400

Please make plans now to join us for a season of prayer before the evening worship service at FPC. We will begin praying at 5pm in the large meeting room in the first floor of the youth house. If you can't be there at 5pm, come whenever you can. We will wrap up things around 5:45pm just before evening service begins. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at nshurden@fpcjackson.org or 601-668-0730

Hope to see you there!

Dogma as Preserving Mystery

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:15:29 -0400

"Dogma can in no way limit a limitless God. The person outside the Church attaches a different meaning to it than the person in. For me dogma is only a gateway to contemplation and is an instrument of freedom and not of restriction. It preserves mystery for the human mind."--Flannery O'Conner

Two Halves Make a Whole

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:52:27 -0400

One of the ways we fallen human beings go about destroying the good things God has given us is by isolating or separating those good things from other good things. Sometimes the greatest damage is done when we allow what is good to be dislocated from the only context at which that good thing can be truly enjoyed without being destroyed.

This is true with sex, and C.S. Lewis is a faithful guide to us as he speaks about the two halves that make a whole in Mere Christianity.

"The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christ's words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organism--for that is what the words 'one flesh' would be in modern English. And the Christians believe that when He said this He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact--just as one is stating a face when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument. The inventor of the human machine was telling us that its two halves, the male and the female, were made to be combined. The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside of marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union. The Christian attitude does not mean that there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to try to get the pleasure of taste without swallowing and digusting, by chewing things and spitting them out again."--C.S. Lewis

Remembering Solzhenitsyn

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:38:53 -0400

I was first introduced to the literary output of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn during my second year in college. I remember it quite well. I had just finished one of Leo Tolstoy’s lesser-known works, The Forged Coupon, and I was so intrigued by his unique vision of the Faith that I knew I wasn’t ready to leave Russian literature behind... But what to read next?

In a conversation with one of my roommates (also a literature major), he suggested I pick up Solzhenitsyn. Knowing Solzhenitsyn merely by name and reputation, I took my friends advice and picked up One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The book was as attracting as it was repulsive. I loved and hated every moment of it. I later described the experience in my journal as “an unsettling journey in honesty.” I'm recalling even now a famous line in Tacitus' Histories, where he refers to honesty as “truth that shivers.” If there was ever an apt description of Solzhenitsyn’s prose, it was that phrase.

My eyes were opened in reading that novel. I had been given, through the life and pen of someone who really knew, the history of communist Russia. Previous to that reading my thoughts were slight and impressionistic, but after reading One Day, my heart apprehended the atrocities of the Gulag in a way that left an indelible mark.

Solzhenitsyn’s commitment to Christianity was deep and comprehensive. Indeed, it was from a place of deep Christian conviction that he was able to later in life confront Western liberalism with what he understood to be it’s own ideological totalitarianism. Alas, his audacity would make him plenty of enemies in the U.S. and Europe, but it was his unswerving allegiance to the Faith that gave him the boldness and the prophetic eye to see what it seemed no one else could.

Joseph Pearce sums up the life of Solzhenitsyn accurately when he writes: "Solzhenitsyn is paradox personified: the pessimistic optimist. His pessimism springs from the creeping knowledge that human history may be little more than long defeat in a land of exile. Yet such a defeat, however long, is rooted in time: temporal and therefore temporary. Solzhenitsyn knows that his exile in time, like his exile in the West, must eventually come to an end. Perhaps only then will the fullness of his destiny be revealed. Solzhenitsyn is, for the time being, a temporary pessimist, but he is also, and remains, an eternal optimist."

Solzhenitsyn’s death yesterday, at the age of 89, should be met with both natural grief and supernatural joy. Earth has lost a hero, but heaven has gained a saint.

Feasting on the Word

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:06:44 -0400

This next week or so in Sunday school we'll spend time reflecting on the nature of Scripture (what it is) and the discipline of Bible reading. But before we dive right into the particulars, I think it's important that we talk about the relationship between Scripture and our reading of it.

I realize that the word "discipline" may grate against your sensibilities. Should reading the Scripture really be a discipline? The answer to that is, of course, "Yes and no." I would say, first, that reading the Scripture always takes discipline. The reader must go to the Word, open it, read it, understand it, and receive it. Anyone who has attempted to do just that, knows that it's not easy. It takes time and effort (i.e. discipline). This is why you'll often here pastors talk about the "spiritual disciplines" (Bible, prayer, meditation, fellowship, service, etc.) of the Christian life, because living in communion with God requires planning, intention, and action. And where planning, intention, and action are involved there you will find discipline.

With that said, reading the Scipture is not merely a discipline; it is also an art. The Scriptures are "breathed out" (II Tim.3:16) by God; they are his very words. This means that spiritual words requires that we read them spiritually. This is where Bible reading breaks down for so many. It is not uncommon in my experience to witness Christians approaching the Bible as if it was any other book they'd pull off the shelf. They read it to get out of it what they want, or what they think they need. If over time it doesn't give them this, then they often despair of it. They will at first marginalize its place in their life looking to other things for the answers they seek, and in the end, if the despair continues and grows, they will forsake it altogether. Lot's of Christians in this place.

The first mistake is approaching the Bible like any old book. It is qualintatively different from every other book in this way: God wrote it. That point alone changes everything. As the reader, this changes the way you approach Scripture; it demands that we not approach it as if we are masters of it, looking to get out of what we want; but that we approach it in a spirit of submitting to it's power and direction with hope that it will master us. In the weeks to come, we'll talk more about how this plays itself out in your Bible reading.

I began reflecting this morning on a concert of passages on Scripture, which I would invite you to consider with me. These would be great passages to turn over in your mind this week as we prepare to meet together next Sunday.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account."--Hebrews 4:12-13

"Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, 'Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.' So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, 'Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.' And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angels and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, 'You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."--Revelation 10:8-11

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousnsess, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."--II Tim. 3:16-17

Responding to the Gospel

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:07:53 -0400

This week we continue our series entitled "Practicing the Faith: Working Out What God Is Working In." This series has focused on sanctification (growth in grace) and spirituality (intimacy with God). Throughout the last few weeks, we've discovered a number of things that are essential to growth and intimacy with God. To summarize, here's two brief points:

To receive the grace of the gospel requires that we believe we need the grace of the gospel.
To believe we need the grace of the gospel requires that we cultivate a state of the heart that believes and remembers the gospel.

On Sunday, we'll go a step further to discuss how believing in the gospel and seeing our need for the grace of the gospel cultivates in the heart of a Christian a proper response to the gospel. To help you in preparing for Sunday, I'm posting a few quotes below that might be worthy of your reflection.

"The practices of faith are not ultimately our own practices but rather the habitations of the Spirit, in the midst of which we are invited to participate in the practices of God."--Craig Dykstra

"Gratitude for life in Christ draws out of the believer a desire for holiness, even as it creates in the believer a healthy hatred of the sin that mars our life and disfigures us."--Robert Norris

"The problem of the soul, in other words, is not at its essence a lack of knowledge--though knowledge is, after all, important and helpful--but the human will which has been corrupted and enslaved...Put another way, how does one will to change one's will?"--Kenneth Collins

"The spiritual life, however, is prior to the moral life, for we can love the neighbor as God loves us only if first we have experienced that love affair with God. More important, we cannot love God except in response to God's love for us. This love affair with God is the one and only end of human life."--John Westerhoff

Thomas Chalmers on Putting Sin to Death

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:53:03 -0400

Banner of Truth has recently republished a number of handsome new volumes, including a long overdue republication of Thomas Chalmer's letters. Chalmers was a Scottish Minister born at the end of eighteenth century, but ministering in the nineteenth century in the city of Glasglow. His legacy is widely known in both preaching and outreach, but it was his reflections on the nature and work of parish life that truly changed my life when I first encountered him in college. His very well known sermon, "The Expulsive Light of the New Affection," is as powerful as any sermon I've ever read or heard.

I've been perusing this volume of late, and I ran across this tremendous paragraph which I think you'll find spiritually stimulating and helpful. Chalmers is laboring to convince us that experience of Christ is how believers grow in their hatred of sin and their desire to put sin to death. Stated another way, the more we apprehend who Christ is and what He has done with our whole heart, the more characteristic our lives will be of Christ's hatred of sin and his commitment to its demise.

“I would first, then, say to you, that you are not to wait till you have mourned enough for sin ere you accept the Savior. You complain that you have not such deep views of sin as experienced Christians speak of; but how did they acquire them? They are the fruits of their experience in Christ, and not of their experience out of Christ. They had them not before their union with the Savior. It was on more slender conceptions of the evil of sin than they now have that they went to Christ, that they closed with Him, and that they received from His sanctifying hand a more contrite spirit than before — a more tender conscience than before. Do as they did; wait not till you have gotten their deep sensibilities till you go to the Savior. Go to Him now; go to Him with your present insensibility; bring it before Him as part of your disease, and He, the Physician of souls, will minister to this and all other diseases. But, generally, you complain that you are ignorant of how to go — how to believe. Now, this has long been a stumbling-block to many; their thoughts are how they are to believe, when their thoughts should be what they should believe. They look inwardly for the work of faith, when they should look outwardly for the object of faith. ‘For every one thought,’ says Richard Baxter, ‘that he casts downwardly upon himself, he should cast ten upwardly and outwardly upon Jesus, and upon the glorious truths of the Gospel’” (Thomas Chalmers, Letters, 301)

The Difference Between Religion & Christianity

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:47:19 -0400

I ran across a quote by the long time pastor of Westminister Chapel in London, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, while reading a new book by Iain Murray. I thought the quote captured an important distinction between religiosity and true Christianity, and so I share it with you for your own consideration.

"If I were asked to state the main difference between religion and Christianity, I would say that religion always puts its emphasis on what man does in his attempt to worship and please God... Christianity on the other hand is primarily listening to God. God is speaking! Religion is man searching for God; Christianity is God seeking man, manifesting Himself to him."--Martyn Lloyd-Jones