A Sculpture of Jesus

Just in case you are unable to keep up with the more interesting bits of news – it seems that some character by the name of Cosimo Cavallaro (I wonder if that is his real name) has made a life-sized sculpture of Jesus – and, are you ready for this? – it is made entirely out of chocolate, calling it “My Sweet Lord.” But that is not really why it made the news. Mr. Cavallaro sculpted Jesus naked and, shall we say it discretely, anatomically correct.

I really don’t know what to think? Obviously I am offended at such a calloused and mocking depiction of the Savior of the world (John 1:29) and the Lord of all creation (John 1:3) – but the reality is that we live in such a calloused world that such things shouldn’t surprise us.

What was interesting to me is that there was such a world-wide fiasco as well as riots when a cartoon strip did not place Muhammed of Islam in a favorable light. There were months of chaos, ten of thousands who demonstrated and violence to the extreme. I would suspect that apart from verbal cries, the Christian community will be much more quiet. Yet it makes me wonder what would happen if such a sculpture of Mohammad had been made.

Even more laughable is the Manhattan art director’s response to the uproar this is causing as Christianity enters “Easter week” Of the sculpture he said, “It's intended as a meditation on the Holy Week.” Meditating on a chocolate Jesus - apart from the anatomical features, it sounds like something a seeker-sensitive church might consider.

For those of us who find such a sculpture demeaning to our Savior, let us remember that fallen man has no choice but to delve deeper into depravity and mock the living God (Romans 1:20-32). Perhaps we could pray for a heat wave to strike New York and melt the sculpture down. Oh, yeah, that is going to happen –

2 Peter 3:10-13
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

If you would like to read more about the story, here is what I read from USA Today: (click here)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

What Am I Willing To Give?

This morning’s Bible reading with my family revealed an interesting progression that challenged me and so I thought I would note it here in my blog. We read from Luke 18-21 and while we were a day behind in our regular reading, sometimes it is nice to read a larger block of Scripture because then you see things you might otherwise miss.

In the reading today, I noticed three different people and the descriptions of what they were willing to give in following the Lord. In Luke 18 we read of the rich, young ruler, who, upon asking the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and thinking he had kept the Law of God, was told by Jesus,

Luke 18:22
One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.

And what was the response of the rich young ruler?

Luke 18:23
But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

And then Jesus goes on to explain –

Luke 18:24
How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

There is a lot that could be considered from this account, but suffice it that this rich young ruler was unwilling to relinquish anything of his self-obtained life.

The next character we come across is that little man named Zacchaeus, the chief tax-collector of Luke 19. He, like the rich young ruler, sought out Jesus. But unlike the rich young ruler, the prospect of fellowshipping and following Christ was of more importance to Zacchaeus than worldly possessions. Look at what he said,

Luke 19:8
Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.

This act clearly demonstrated a converted heart on the part of Zacchaeus. In fact, Jesus even says that salvation had come to Zacchaeus. He truly stands as a testimony of one who, in comparison to the treasure of Christ, was willing to give it all up whereas the rich young ruler was clearly unwilling.

But there was a third character in our reading that caught my attention – do you know who it is? It is the widow and the giving of her two copper coins. Of the three characters mentioned who did something with their money, the widow stands out as the one who truly gave the most, for Jesus said of her,

Luke 21:3-4
Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.

In the grand scheme of things I don’t generally consider myself a rich young ruler (how can I? I just turned 40 yesterday). And I don’t really see myself like Zacchaeus, having much to offer back. Rather, fiscally speaking, I might see myself more like the widow, but I wonder how willing I am to put out all that I have to live on to the use and glory of God? And there lies the challenge: what am I willing to live on and am I willing to take all that I have and all that I am and offering it, small though it may be, to the use and glory of God?

1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

May this be the pursuit of my heart, O Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

What a providential 200th post!

Timing is everything (so they say) and this is my 200th post. And just what might be the topic for my 200th post? I would like to share with you the following card I received for just this day (it is from my niece):

“With Sympathy” –

Ed – May your memories bring you peace,
comfort, and strength. Getting old is hard!

To carry on the theme, my niece sent a second card that read:

“With Deepest Sympathy” –

Ed – Thinking of you at this difficult
time with sympathy and understanding.

If you have not already guess, I am celebrating my birthday today – my 40th birthday. Who would have thought I would make it to 40? I am most thankful to the Lord for His mercy and goodness to me and for the privilege of being His child, His servant, and His ambassador. Here is something I read last night from Jeremiah 10:6-7:

6 There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might. 7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.

The best present I can think of is a heart with a great capacity to rightly fear and love the Lord. While only the Lord can give me such a present, please pray that such might be the desire and the gift each one who confesses the name of Christ would receive.

One last thought – my father-in-law informed me of the following. He said that most people will try to tell you that life begins at 40, but that the truth is that maintenance begins at 40. With all my dental woes, I would have to concur with the later sentiment. But praise be to the Lord who will return and clothe the perishable with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. How’s that for a present? Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Our Confession of Christ

Luke 12:8-9
8 And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

These were some verses of interest to my family as we worked our way through our Bible Reading (current reading).

What we commented on is the active force given to the idea of the confession of Christ. To make a public declaration of the person and work of Christ does not happen passively but is intentional. The one who actively and intentionally makes Christ known, who is unashamed of Christ and His gospel (Romans 1:16), who let’s his light shine before men in order that they might glorify God (Matthew 5:16); this is the one who Christ is unashamed to call him a brother (Hebrews 2:11) and lovingly confesses before God.

Conversely, the one who denies Christ, who, due to fear, shame, love of the world, neglect or even self-inflicted ignorance, this one Christ will deny, that is, He will be ashamed of him, not counting him a brother and leaving this one to his own horrible state of sin, condemnation and death.

As noted above, it takes much effort to confess Christ. It means to have the very essence of Christ upon our hearts and on our lips. It means seeing one’s self truly as an ambassador for Christ wherever he finds himself. It means having the mind of Christ, seeking always to glorify the Father. It means not allowing circumstances to dictate obedience but to seek active engagement in being a witness for Christ. It means going to work, going to school, going to the store, going to activities and even going to church with the primary intention of pointing people to the person of Christ, evangelizing the lost while edifying the saints. It means striving to enter through the narrow gate.

While denial can certainly be active as well, there is also an aspect of denial that takes little effort. One needs do none of the above efforts of confession and the result is a denial of Christ. To deny Christ takes nothing more than passive indifference to the purpose and call of God for those who would be witnesses. It takes nothing more than a self-absorbed, self-focused heart that repeatedly fails to see the commands to “make disciples” in one’s goings and to be His “witnesses” as applying to him. It is a failure to apply the Scriptures:

1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men...

We have a great task, and a great privilege – to confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9a). Let us guard our hearts against the sometimes subtle attitudes and actions of denial. Let us pursue our confession of Christ with boldness, actively seeking to make Christ known – for He is worthy; it is our calling; and there is a lost world that needs to hear of the glories of Christ, either unto their salvation or unto their condemnation, but all to the glory of God.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

An Apicoectomy Update

For any who are concerned, my wife's apicoectomy is done and over with. Our oral surgeon is a model of efficiency. My wife went into the procedure room at 9:01 am and came out at 9:13. It was amazing how quickly it all went and then how much pain ensues. In about 24 hours she should be feeling much better. Thanks for your concerns and prayers.

It was interesting to hear my son pray for her this afternoon saying, "...and Lord, please heal mom's mouth..." I trust that such was said only in reference to the dental procedure (as I know it was). Barring any new discovery, we are hoping that our dental woes have come to an end.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

A Glorious Hope - and a New Poll

It wasn't as though there were vast numbers in last week's poll, "Your favorite time for Bible study" - but it is time to move on. The final results were as follows:

What time of day do you most utilize for Bible reading and prayer?

Answers Percent
1. Morning 78%
2. Afternoon 11%
3. Evening 11%
4. Late night 0%

We will see what kind of data we can retrieve on this new poll.

Some of you are still waiting for the post "Dental Joys" - I have not forgotten, its just that we (my wife and I) continue to enjoy the process to get to the joys. My wife is having another "apicoectomy" this morning. Just about a month ago I did not even know what an apicoectomy was and now we have had three between the two of us. It would be my hope that that would be enough of an experience.

Theologically, I might suggest again that the term "Dental Joys" is an oxymoron. I must fall back on my only hope for joy - the beauty and sufficiency of Christ. How's that for sounding all spiritual? All of these thing serve to remind me how fail the human body is, that my wife's and my dental "sufferings" are, in the grand scheme of things, nothing, but they do help us long all the more for the day when this body of death will be clothed with immortality, no longer ravaged by the devastating effects of sin, enable to worship and glorify the Lord without the presence of sin.

I may have posted this before, but I will share something I learned from a message I heard by John MacArthur several years ago (paraphrased and adapted). Our salvation is three-fold:

1. From the power of sin (at conversion, it is no longer to control the believer - Romans 6:6-7)

2. From the penalty of sin (Romans 6:23)

3. From the presence of sin (Revelation 21:27; 1 John 3:1-6 - expressing our hope and expectation to be free from sin when Christ returns)

What a glorious hope and expectation! This makes any dental woes nothing in light of such a hope.


Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

The answer to "Who Said This?" - from March 24

My congrats to my friend 4given who correctly identified the one from my March 24 post who said -

“I'm a 'grace' Christian, not a 'law' Christian. The Second Commandment--do unto others--is the basic tenet of my faith.”

It is/was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Of this statement Phil Ryken wrote:

"I expect Huckabee's formulation quickly to become a media reference point for politicians who identify themselves as Bible-believing Christians but want to distance themselves from the Christian Right. But I am less interested in the politics of Huckabee's statement than in its theology.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The dichotomy Huckabee makes between law and grace is a false one. There is a distinction between law and grace, of course, but they are coordinated in the plan of God. Even under grace, the law continues to have its right uses, both privately and publically, in both the church and the state.

The dichotomy Huckabee makes between the two great commandments is also false. Jesus said that the Second Commandment is like the first; that is to say, these commandments go together.

Still, if used as a distinction rather than a dichotomy, Huckabee's statement may help to explain why Christians are less persuasive in the public square than we ought to be. People are hearing the First Commandment more than they are seeing the Second Commandment in action."

That last statement is profound, that people are hearing the First commandment more than they are seeing the Second in action.

Just a reminder of the first (or greatest) and second commandments as given by Jesus:

Matthew 22:37-40
37 And He said to him, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Perhaps Mr. Huckabee was not trying to make such a distinction between the first and second commandment, but as noted above, we cannot love our neighbor as ourselves or "do unto others" without a right, healthy and high view of God - His holiness, His righteousness, His perfection and our great need for the regenerative and restorative power of God to cleanse us of our sin and enable us to rightly walk in His ways (ie. - love our neighbors as ourselves).

Huckabee's statement seems compatible with the vast majority of contemporary Christian thought - a pick and choose approach to person and precepts of God. If we believe in the sufficiency of the Word of God, then rather than "second commandment Christians" we need to be "full teachings of Christ Christians" (Matthew 28:20); or "full counsel of God Christians" (Acts 20:27). Let us not be content with pick and choose Christianity.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

A Sunday Invocation

Good Sunday Morning! I thought I would post a simple invocation - a prayer - that ought to be the desire and expression of the heart that seeks to worship the Lord in the midst of His people this day.

Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty,
who are and were, and are to come:

We, who are not worthy of the least of your mercies,
humbly present ourselves in your presence.

We come to you, our Creator and Redeemer,
with honor, adoration, and praise.

Enable us by your good Spirit

to attend with undistracted minds,
with reverence and awe,

to the holy duties to which you are calling us today.

Allow us, we pray, to come with humble boldness

into the holy of holies,
by the new and living way into your presence
Christ has made ready for us through his sacrifice.

Teach us from your word.
May we read it with wise and understanding hearts.

Prepare us to sing your praises with music in our hearts,
and to offer you acceptable worship.

Teach us to pray; inspire us with a spirit of devotion;
enable us to exercise faith in every moment of our worship.

And let all we do be done to the Glory of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
one God; and graciously accept us,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May we be enabled to worship aright, in Spirit and in Truth. To God be the glory!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

ps - I know I said that I would answer Saturday's post - "Who said this?" today. But I am going to give it one more day (just to torment everyone).

The above invocation was adapted from the Synod of New York and Philadelphia's 1787 proposed revision of the Directory for Worship

Simple Saturday - Who said this?

Does anyone know who recently made the following statement:

“I'm a 'grace' Christian, not a 'law' Christian. The Second Commandment--do unto others--is the basic tenet of my faith.”

What do you think of this statement, what exactly does this mean? Is it me or is there a feeling of somekind of false dichotomy here?

If you want a clue as to who said this (I hate to give one), I have posted it below in very small print. Don't just go and google the answer. I will post the answer tomorrow:

hint: He is a presidential hopeful.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

What do you laugh at?

I have always enjoyed following baseball. I am not some kind of huge fan or even a fanatic. I can’t tell you some long string of stats. Even as I write this (and it is early), I can’t even tell you who won the World Series last year. Nevertheless, I grew up in Orange County, in the Long Beach, CA area and so I began a “California Angels” fan (now of course more simplistically – the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). At least if this pastor is going to follow a team, that team should be the “Angels” (okay – it doesn’t matter). My point is, that while I will listen to some games and watch even fewer (not a big demand in Arkansas for Angel’s games), I simply like the game in a generic sense.

All that said, there have been a number of things that disturb me about Baseball and professional sports in general, one of the chief of which is just the utter greed - outrageous salaries that make attending many sports out of reach of the general population. But another thing that has bothered me lately is even in light of drug abuses by players and coaches; the general sports population not only tends to ignore such abuses, but even applauds it.

The latest case in point is St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. I have no bone to pick with the man. I have always appreciated him as a baseball manager, and while it has taken me some time to tolerate being a Cardinal fan (because that is the team that is big around here, and there are many ex-Angels on the team), I cannot believe the response to La Russa’s faux pax. Did I say faux pax? How about gross negligence and sin? According to Yahoo News, “manager Tony La Russa was arrested Thursday on a drunken driving charge after police said they found him asleep inside his running sport utility vehicle at a stop light.” “La Russa had a blood alcohol content of 0.093 percent, Jupiter police said in a statement. Florida's legal driving limit is 0.08 percent.”

Okay, let me set this straight. I don’t think that La Russa makes any claim to be a follow of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I would not seek to hold him to any standard of Christian behavior that he is, by nature, unable to pursue. It was a gross mistake; potentially dangerous to both himself and others and thankfully nothing more than his falling asleep at a stop light was the result. But what really got to me when I heard the story was that the next day, when he showed up at the stadium in Jupiter, Florida, it was reported that the “players stood behind their manager, and fans at Roger Dean Stadium received La Russa with a warm ovation prior to Thursday's game.” Another source reported, “when La Russa walked onto the field before Thursday's game, many fans stood and applauded.”

I know that the fans just wanted to “support” La Russa. But what are they supporting? Drunken driving. Would they have done this if he had hit and injured or kill another person? I don’t know exactly what is appropriate, by the world’s standards, as his punishment for such behavior, but what a twisted world to give an ovation to a man who purposely got himself intoxicated and then was dumb enough to get behind the wheel of a car.

Now, in case you think there is not a spiritual point to all this – let me quote from Isaiah 5:20 which declares:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil ; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

The word “woe” expresses great grief and lamentation. It is a terrible thing for a people to call evil good and good evil. Not that any of this should surprise us, but in a world where a teacher in Oregon was fired for interjecting some Bible references into a Biology class while discussing Evolution; in a world that is seeking to make it a hate crime to publicly declare homosexuality is a sin, I guess it should not surprise us when people will applaud a man who intoxicated himself and then got behind the wheel of a vehicle. We live in some interesting times that call for much courage and discernment.

I close with a paraphrase of a statement I once heard. I am sorry I cannot site where I came up with this, but consider it well:

“Nothing reveals the character of a man more than what he laughs at.”

What do you laugh at? What do you approve? Do we either knowingly or even inadvertently call evil good and good evil?

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

So What?

What is knowledge? How would you define it? What is wisdom? How would you define it? I think we might all readily agree that there is a subtle yet important distinction between knowledge and wisdom.

Some might define knowledge as the accumulation of facts and data, perhaps in some organized fashion. In this sense we might conclude that the Encyclopedia Britannica is filled with knowledge. But what of wisdom? In my understanding, wisdom is the practical application of knowledge. In other words, it is one thing to know something and yet quite another to do it or do it well.

I have spent much time over the past couple of weeks studying, gaining knowledge on the dental procedure I was to have done on me called an “apicoectomy” which is a fancy way of saying the amputation of the tips of the roots of a tooth. But, with this knowledge has not come the wisdom to perform the surgery. After I had it done and it was learned that my wife also needed the same exact procedure, she did not say, “Ed, why don’t you go ahead and do this to me yourself.” Why not? Because I had no wisdom or practical experience in such a matter.

I have been impressed lately of the great responsibility of the preacher to communicate the absolute truth of God’s word to the people. But what is the end or goal of preaching? Do I want the people to simply know the facts about the Bible? Is it important to know thing like that in the book of Hebrews there are thirteen chapters; that the theme of the book is the Superiority of Jesus Christ; that it speaks of the inability of the Law of Moses to transform a heart and the provision of the New Covenant promises to those who follow after Christ? Is it important that we learn the great doctrinal truths of man’s inability and Christ sufficiency in salvation? We do well to say, “Yes” and “Amen.” But is there something more – something beyond knowledge - that I as a preacher of the Word of God should be aiming and hoping for? To this I say yes, something much more. For as good as the knowledge of the Superiority of Christ is, it is of little value to anyone who does not know how to apply it to his own life, to his own situation and circumstance. To put this an other way, to rightly know the gospel truth as contained in the book of Hebrews or any book of the Bible, is to have such truth make a radical impact upon your life.

Would we not agree that it is possible to know facts about the gospel and yet not ever know (by experience – or wisdom) the gospel? There is a need to apply the truths in such a way that they radically impact our lives. This is what the apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote these words to the Philippian believers:

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge (what is important) and all discernment (application of that knowledge), 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless (radial change) until the day of Christ…

I certainly don’t know where you are in your “walk with Christ” but I pray that you are seeking daily opportunities to put your “knowledge” of Christ into practical usage; always asking the question, “so what?” If I believe these things, then “so what?” “How are these things to impact my everyday life?” May we not be content with mediocrity and half-hearted devotion. Let us wholly belong and demonstrate our devotion to Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

The Sequel - Revenge of the Blog

Well, it seems I am still on this "beware of the blog" kick. In addition to what I said yesterday (click here), there is so much that needs to be said; to encourage believers to approach the blogosphere with discernment as well as with love and humility.

I am not one to reinvent the wheel so when I was sent a link to a blog site concerning the “redefining of the church” and followed it, I was most surprised and refreshed at a different article, published by an SBC pastor, concerning conduct and attitude in the blogosphere, particularly among believers. Please bear with me as I quote from some of the thoughts of Trevin K. Wax, minister of Education and Missions at First Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN.

“(I sometimes wish I weren’t Southern Baptist…) when I see the arrogance of some bloggers who assume that because they have a high speed internet connection and strong opinions, they are God’s chose instrument to bring renewal to the SBC (what better way to break up a power base than replace it with a new power base)”

Now, I would have to say that what was seen in the SBC is really a problem in the entire Evangelical movement – too many see themselves as God’s chosen instrument to bring renewal to Evangelicalism simply because they have an internet connection.

Here is a bit lengthier quote, but one that does us well to consider. Remember to simply inject “Evangelicalism” for “the Southern Baptist Convention” and “believer” for “Baptist”

In the Southern Baptist Convention, the blogosphere is both promising and threatening. To have a voice in Convention life ten or fifteen years ago, you had to climb a ladder of committees, be in a prominent parachurch ministry, pastor a growing church, or be a seminary professor or author. Not today. Any Baptist with internet access can start a blog, publish their thoughts, cause controversy, and gather a following.

Blogs feed egos. The more brash, bold, arrogant you can be - the better. Of course, there are some really great, growing blogs that haven’t followed this path. But generally, arrogance and pride is the way to get a base of readers.

After visiting some different Baptist blogs and reading the self-righteous rhetoric and outright mockery of other believers, I feel compelled to ask: And who are you? What have you done for the Kingdom that gives you the right to criticize so heartlessly your brothers and sisters in Christ? Furthermore, bloggers overestimate their importance.

He then ends one of his posts with these words:

The missing ingredient in the blogosphere today is humility. We need a good dose of reality. Just because see ourselves as hip and technologically savvy does not mean we automatically deserve a platform for whatever ideas we have or pronouncements we make. Godly influence cannot be manufactured. It comes with maturity and wisdom. And usually, the people who most deserve to be heard are the ones who refuse to participate in biting criticism and attacks on other believers. The blogosphere is here to stay. Now let’s hope humility makes a comeback.

Truly the blogosphere is here to stay. I am not sure how the Christian community can effectively keep this thing accountable and humble. On Wax’s blog he did site from another individual who gave the following items as his advice to would be bloggers. Such advice may not be new to some, but yet very relevant and needed to hear again and put into practice:

A. Bloggers need to regularly pray about their blogs. Pray that God will help them to blog with integrity. Pray that God will bring sinful motives to light. Pray that God will use blogs for his glory.

B. Bloggers need not assume they are smarter or godlier because they are more tech-savvy.

C. Bloggers need to guard against negativity.

D. Bloggers need to admit that Bobby Welch is right… Bloggers need to not let their hobby take the place of things that really matter, which includes evangelism.

E. Bloggers need to remember that sometimes the better part of wisdom is not posting about everything you know.

F. Bloggers need to remember that if this little revolution ever becomes about SBC political power, they will become the very thing they gripe about the most: a power base.

G. Bloggers need to remember that blogging communities are only pseudo-communities; as fun as it is to dialog in the comments, real community can only exist in real, face-to-face relationships. [i.e. a local fellowship].

H. Bloggers need to remember that change will only come to the convention as local churches change. Even the most influential blogs ultimately play a small role in convention life.

I. Bloggers need to be willing to quit.

If you would like to read the entirety of Wax’s posts on this matter, please click here.

May we put into practice the art of “encouraging” – parakaleo – “of coming along side to promote godliness.” This is certainly an imperative of Scripture:

Hebrews 3:12-13
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:24-25
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

May our attempts to “stimulate, provoke, egg-on” one another to love and good deeds be a positive experience to the glory of God. Just some more "food for thought."

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Beware of the Blog!

The title seems almost self defeating – does it not? BEWARE OF THE BLOG. And now, I want you to read the rest of this blog – go figure.

I have been blessed by the proliferation of the blogosphere. So many avenues to gain insight and understanding on important issues. And yet, I warn that we must be careful when reading through blogs and their comments. I have recently been watching a couple of different blogs where the people making the comments are not really engaged with true subject of the blog itself and the whole thing degenerates into some kind of shark-feeding frenzy where people get misrepresented or maligned. And if the original author of the blog was not correct in his or her presentation of the subject – well, things get out of hand real fast.

The following is something I read in an article by Phil Johnson concerning Arminianism. Without getting into the particulars there – I thought that Phil said some interesting things in light of the way some people build their case or even their theology via the comments on a blog rather then through more careful research and study. Phil Johnson wrote:

With the rise of the Internet it’s easier than ever for self taught lay people to engage in theological dialogue and debate through internet forums. I think that’s mostly good, and I encourage it. But the Internet makes it easy for like minded but ignorant people to clump together and endlessly reinforce one another’s ignorance. And I fear that happens a lot.

How easy is it to simply “clump together and endlessly reinforce one another’s ignorance”? Again, Phil Johnson wrote:

My advice to young Calvinists is to learn theology from the historic mainstream Calvinist authors, not from blogs and discussion forums on the Internet. Some of the forums may be helpful because they direct you to more important resources. But if you think of the Internet as a surrogate for seminary, you run a very high risk of becoming unbalanced.

Now the principle is true regardless of whether we are talking about Calvinism or about the latest thing said by an Evangelical Leader. My advice is that we do our learning from the sources, not from blogs and discussion forums on the internet. I too believe that some of the forums are helpful, particularly as they direct us to the more important resources (particularly the Word of God). So, do use the blog but also beware of being too influenced or too dependent upon it.

Just some food for thought:

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Mountain Top Experiences and Trials

You always hear about “mountain top” experiences – those times of spiritual refreshing and restoration that leave you in awe of God and encouraged to take on with new passion and effort the tasks that God has for you.

You have probably also then had the humbling experience of coming down from the mountain, to face “real” life along with all its trial and triumphs, its difficulties and its joys. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was off the mountain. Not that anything horrific or tremendously negative has taken place – its just that life has a way of creeping in and sapping new found energy. What a reminder not to depend upon my own experiences but to look daily to God for grace and mercy – pleading for the divine enablement to accomplish His will with the desire of His glory alone being my motivation.

As I came back to this “real world” – I was immediately reminded of some of the difficulties many of the members of our congregation are going through – trials that make even my wife’s and my dental woes look like nothing more than stubbed toes. To consider a beloved one who must come to grips with God’s purpose that she may not walk again, or another who, while prospects look good, must face the big “C” (cancer). We have a number of people moving into our area, coming clear across country, leaving families and congregations that they loved dearly. The daily grind of life, particularly when we are faced with any type of hardship, can quickly rob us of our joy and sometimes leave us wondering what are God’s purposes.

While at the Shepherd’s Conference, I was reminded of the final days of one of my favorite preachers, Dr. James Montgomery Boice. In May of 2000, Dr. Boice was diagnose with an aggressive form of liver cancer. Unknown to him at this diagnosis, Dr. Boice would tarry on this earth for just six more weeks, dying in July 200 at the age of 61. I would like to share with you his last comments to his congregation as they so aptly remind us of trusting in God’s working in our lives, even in the hard times. Our God is not subject to “accidents” or taken by surprise when “bad” thing happen to us. Boice’s comments ring with such an assurance of God’s hand and gives us lessons as to how we ought to pray for one another – again, particularly in times of difficulty.

Remember then that these are Dr. Boice’s final words to his beloved congregation given in May 2006. He made these as a prelude to his giving the “Call to Worship.” I don’t know if he knew these would be his last public words, but I pray that I would so speak whether I have six weeks, six years, or sixty years left on this earth. Boice’s words are in italics and where you see the bold type, these are simply words that struck me particularly. Be blessed – and – if your are a member of Hope CBC, please know that you may hear this again on Sunday as our call to worship. I have shortened it a little bit

- - - - - - -

I do want to bring the call to worship this morning. But before I do that, I thought you might be interested—and it might be helpful to all of us—if I took a moment to fill you in on some of these medical problems. There are several reasons for that. You need to know it, and I covet your prayers. But also all kinds of rumors have been circulating around and, in fact, around the world. We’re getting e-mail from practically everywhere, and some of the reports are quite bizarre.

Let me just give you a summation of what has happened. I had been feeling quite good until recently. But about the time of the PCRT’s, I was not feeling well. And when I came back from Chicago, I went to the doctor and had a number of tests. And the bottom line of that is that they diagnosed liver cancer.

Then it takes a little while to figure out exactly what kind of treatment you need. . .I’m in the care of a man named Dr. Paul Engstrom. And what I am receiving at the moment, beginning last Thursday, is standard chemotherapy for cancer. It’s hard to tell where that comes out. Liver cancer is a very serious thing. They do get response from treatment in a percentage of cases, but it’s relatively small. And as far as I can tell, we’re doing the best thing we can.

A number of you have asked what you can do, and it strikes me that what you can do, you are doing. This is a good congregation, and you do the right things. You are praying certainly, and I’ve been assured of that by many people. And I know of many meetings that have been going on.

A relevant question, I guess, when you pray is, pray for what? Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles—and he certainly can—is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So although miracles do happen, they’re rare by definition. A miracle has to be an unusual thing.

I think it’s far more profitable to pray for wisdom for the doctors. Doctors have a great deal of experience, of course, in their expertise, but they’re not omniscient—they do make mistakes—and then also for the effectiveness of the treatment. Sometimes it does very well and sometimes not so well, and that’s certainly a legitimate thing to pray for.

Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying himself in history and you say, where in all of history has God most glorified himself? He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have. Jesus said, “Don’t you think I could call down from my Father ten legions of angels for my defense?” But he didn't do that. And yet that’s where God is most glorified.

If I were to reflect on what goes on theologically here, there are two things I would stress. One is the sovereignty of God. That’s not novel. We have talked about the sovereignty of God here forever. God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It’s not as if God somehow forgot what was going on, and something bad slipped by. It’s not the answer that Harold Kushner gave in his book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. God does everything according to his will. We’ve always said that.

But what I’ve been impressed with mostly is something in addition to that. It’s possible, isn’t it, to conceive of God as sovereign and yet indifferent? God’s in charge, but he doesn’t care. But it’s not that. God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything he does is good. And what Romans 12, verses1 and 2, says is that we have the opportunity by the renewal of our minds—that is, how we think about these things—actually to prove what God’s will is. And then it says, “His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Is that good, pleasing, and perfect to God? Yes, of course, but the point of it is that it’s good, pleasing, and perfect to us. If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you’d change it, you’d make it worse. It wouldn’t be as good. So that’s the way we want to accept it and move forward, and who knows what God will do?

I do want to say one thing about my symptoms. My chief symptom is fatigue. I'm very, very tired. And what I’m trying to do is retain as much strength as I can. And the reason I mention that right now is that I’m going to slip away during the middle hymn and go home. So if I do that, don’t think, “He's passing out.” It’s something that has been planned beforehand.

Now our call to worship: I'm going to read from 1 Chronicles chapter 16: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among the peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy is his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, O family of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him and worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth!”

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Shepherd's Conference 07 - the Final Days!

As I am writing this I am sitting in the terminal at LAX. Counting today, I have been away from home and family for six days. Yesterday (Saturday) was a bit unique in that no services or meeting were planned in order to let the men that needed to get home for Sunday get home and others, like Jase and I, to have some time to see the sites. So, that’s what we did.

Our Saturday morning began with Mary making us a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, juice and Starbucks coffee. It was a great way to start the day. From there we set out to the church so that I could post on the blog Friday’s events. Now the tour began as we put over 200 miles on our rental car. Good thing it got us about 32 mpg. Our first stop was Hollywood. For some reason we felt it necessary to at least say we had been to Hollywood Blvd. We saw Gramun’s Chinese Theater and walk a way down, took some pictures of the stars and then determined we had seen enough. Lots of strange characters down there.

Our next stop was further south, in Pico Riviera. My grandmother passed away in September of 1987 and my mom and I buried her at Rose Hills Cemetary. Neither of us have been able to get back there since then. We hadn’t even seen the marker. The Cemetary was huge and after getting some directions, I found where my grandmother was and took some pictures of the marker so my mom could it.

From there we headed even further south, to Yorba Linda to visit the birthplace and library of Richard Nixon. Jase and I truly enjoyed about two hours looking at all the history. There was a large collection of art, including an earthenware pot from Masada (Southern Israel) from 73 AD, just a few years after Peter, and the author Hebrews had written their letters.

From the Nixon Library, we head back west, toward Anaheim and took a street that I have traveled many times as a boy. We saw Anaheim Stadium (home of the Angels) where I saw baseball greats like Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan and Rod Carew. Further on down the road we passed the Los Alamitos Rack Track (horses) where my grandmother had taken me as a young boy. Yes, Pastor Ed used to bet the horses. Our tour of the area included passing the apartments my grandmother lived in, as well the McDonald’s where I enjoyed my very first Quarter Pounder with Cheese (important stuff for a young boy).

Having not eaten lunch and it being about 3:30, we decided we had better eat. So to continued in our nostalgic vein and found a Shakey’s Pizza, which neither of us had eaten at for about twenty years or so. We wondered if it would be as good as we both remembered. We prepared for a let down and were therefore not disappointed. The pizza was good, but it and the atmosphere was not just the same as we remembered. But at least we did it.

Being about 4:30 pm and wanting to get back to the beach before sunset, we determined to drive up to Santa Monica to visit the world famous Santa Monica pier. After fighting much traffic, actually waiting in line to turn left into the beach parking lot for about 30 minutes, we made it. We walked down to the ocean and took some great pictures just before sunset as we made our way toward the pier. The pier was busy and bussling with people and peformers. It was a circus of sorts, but very much a popular spot to be in. The younger ones were busy with the carnival, rides and activities while the older ones and couples (Jase and I were the older ones – not the couple) enjoyed watching the sunset.

From the pier we were not that far from the Howard Hughes Center – Promenade, an outdoor mall, which we toured and then stopped at a Marie Calendars for a piece of Lemon Cream Cheese cake. Again, we found many interesting characters.

By now it was getting late (about 8:30 pm and the spring forward in time yet to come) so we headed north back toward Grace Community Church. We stopped along the way to pick up a gift certificate to Sizzler, as Mary and George like to go there, to express our appreciation for their hospitality. By now it was about 9:00 pm, but there was one thing left undone that we talked about last year and again this year. Every night, on the way home from the church, we saw this big trailers parked on the side of the road selling tacos and such to the locals. We had to try this. So, at 9:15-9:30, we pulled over and got out. Boy, did we look out of place. Two “gringos” in a sea of Hispanics. We got some looks, but we figured it must be good. Jase asked me to give him a lesson in ordering in Spanish (the blind leading the blind) and he ordered three tacos. There were only a dollar a piece. Now, our number was diez (10) and cinqo (5) was the first one called. It took a while as some there were ordering large quantities. Soon, the cook yelled out “Ocho” (8). No one came. “Ocho” he said a second and third time. We checked our ticked, it said (10) – diez. After the fourth time, some Hispanic there must of thought we were totally gringo (to be sure, we were 99%) and came up to me and said, “He called number 8” as if we didn’t know that. I guess we really were out of place. I told him, “No, we are diez, but thank you.” He smiled and went on. After about 20 long minutes, the tacos came and we took them to the car. While there, I took a picture of Jase eating the tacos. I think some there must of thought we were INS and got a bit nervous so we made hast and left.

It was now about 10 pm, not including time change, when we arrived at George and Mary’s. When we walked in the door, Mary asked if we were hungry. We told her what we had done and then she said, “But would you like some pot-roast, mashed potatoes and cabbage. How could we refuse. So like some kind of Hobbits, we had second and third dinner (rather than breakfast). It was good. After this, we packed up our belonging, turned the clocks ahead, and went to bed.

Morning came quickly and we made way to Grace Community for our last opportunity to enjoy the ministry there and the teaching of John MacArthur. We were not disappointed, being blessed with the singing, the special music and the preaching. But, as soon as the service was over, we were ready to head south. We did stop at what is called the Getty Museum, which was high-brow, but interesting and then we headed toward the Airport. We made one final stop for lunch at - - - you guessed it - - - “In and Out Burger” – then turned in the car and we are now waiting to board our plane home. It has been a blessed week and again, I am so grateful for a church family and for individuals who made my being here possible. I pray that all will benefit from this as I have been recharged, renewed and refreshed in the things of God. I am looking forward to being with my wife, my family and my church.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Off to Sight See

Just thought we would let everyone know that we have the day off to sight see. We are heading south to Hollywood (we want to see if we can be discovered - maybe not) and then we will head down to the Nixon Library. Perhaps today I can get some good pictures and post them. Anyway - here we go.

By the way, we do miss and love our families. We will be home soon!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Shepherd's Conference - Day Three

I can’t believe how quickly these past three days have gone by. From a worldly point of view, this must seem like a death sentence – to be confined in a large room with no windows for over a hour, listening to a man speak on the greatness of God and to do this four or more times in a day! Well, if this is punishment, what a blessed one it is.

This morning’s message was delivered by Mark Dever of Capitol Hills Baptist Church in our nation’s Capitol. Mark’s message was given from the first six chapters of Daniel. So often we view the book of Daniel as a picture of a man’s faithfulness to God, in spite of his circumstances and how God blessed him for it. While it is true that Daniel was faithful and that God did continue to reward him throughout his life – the real message of Daniel is not about the faithfulness of him as a man. Rather, the message of Daniel is What God does with the Faithful – namely that God is and gives us Himself as our only means of hope in all times of life; that there is then a message of hope to be proclaimed as ultimately this is not a hopeless world – there is hope in Christ; and finally that believers must know that in this world we will face opposition. Fallen man is hostile to the Gospel and will always be so. We live in days that “seem” hospitable to Christianity, but even now laws of intolerance toward Christianity are circulating in the U.S. Congress. It is only a matter of time when it will be illegal to speak out against homosexuality, or to condemn another religion as false. It has already happened in other places in the world and most of Christianity, on a global speaking, is already under opposition. Are we prepared? This reality is not grim, but great, as we know that God wins – He will defeat all opposition. In a word, this was a message of POWER.

The next session was a Q & A time with Mark Dever, Steve Lawson, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan and John MacArthur. Pastor John asked the men a number of questions concerning the church in general as well as more personal matters (like how these men spend their relaxing time). Truly the most prolific and well read of these men is Al Mohler who reads approximately 7-10 books a week. The man is a walking library. As Pastor John likes to say, “I am glad this man is on our side.” One question asked is what these men see as the most problematic issue coming down the pike for the church. These men think that issues of the definition of along with the sanctity of marriage and the greater acceptance of homosexuality is going to cause major problems for the church as our culture, rather than the church, will be determining the meaning of marriage and sexuality.

Lunch consisted of hot dogs and chips – nothing fancy, but filled the void and then we prepared ourselves for a seminar with Phil Johnson, who spoke on how true Arminian Theology (which denies the doctrines of grace in favor of exalting the free will of man) really and logically presupposes the doctrines of grace. For example, whenever a person who believes that the will of man is free enough to choice God on his own and yet prays for God’s sovereign intervention to change the heart or open the eyes of a particular unbeliever, that Arminian has effectively become a Calvinist, believing that apart from the intervention of God, that unbeliever will not believe. Phil Johnson used the simple text of 1 John 4:19 – “we love, because He first loved us” as that which demonstrates man’s need for God to initiate and bring about our salvation. I will include his outline, which I firmly believe could be applied to other passages to prove that even those who claim to deny the doctrines of grace actually presuppose them.

1. 1 John 4:19 presents the perverseness of our fallen state
This text indicates that there was a time that we did not love God. There is nothing more depraved than a heart that does not love God.

2. 1 John 4:19 presents the priority of God’s electing choice
This text indicates that He loved us first, not due to “foreseen” faith; not because God saw that we would first love Him, so then He determined to then love us. God choose us and loved us independently of anything we did or did not do.

3. 1 John 4:19 presents the particularity of God’s saving work.
God has done something special on behalf of believers that He has obviously not done for all. He loves particular people with a greater love than His general love for mankind.

4. 1 John 4:19 presents the power of God’s loving deliverance
That we love God at all is the result of God’s effectually loving us. He has delivered us from self-love and love of the world and enabled us to love Him.

5. 1 John 4:19 presents the perfection of God’s redemptive plan
God’s perfect love for us (1 John 4:17-18) is the only guarantee that we will one day perfectly love Him.

There is so much more to this, but this is just a sampling.

You will never guess what happened for dinner. No, we did not eat at the mysterious Italian restaurant. We were again invited to join the Texas group to go to a posh place up in the foothills called the “Odyssey”. This place was far more upscale. We sat down, our table overlooking the entire San Fernando Valley, and were given the menu. The first thing that caught my attention was the fresh Australian lobster tail – at a mere $43. Ouch! I looked for something manageable – Prime Rib for $29. Then, to my relief (and Jase too) there was an early bird special that consisted in Prime Rib, Salad Bar, and dessert all for $18. That’s what all ordered (with one exception for one Salmon). It was great and I actually got to buy my own meal. Notice that I said I – not Jase. One of men paid for the meal with his credit card and then we all owed him $22, but Jase had only one penny to his name (which I had given him earlier in the day). He had no cash. So Jase is still looking for someone who will allow him to pay for his meal.

The evening meeting was truly a spiritual extravaganza consisting of wonderful corporate singing, choirs, small ensembles and then the preaching of the Word by Dr. MacArthur, who challenged us from Luke 18:9-14 – the Pharisee and the Publican. He brought wonderful insight and exhortation. Honestly, I am simply too tired to try to explain it any more than that. It was a blessed week.

Jase and I found out that there were no meetings planned for Saturday this year – this was so that men that needed to get home could without missing anything and that men who wanted an opportunity to sight see would be able. So, tomorrow Jase and I are planning to visit the Nixon Library down in Yorba Linda as well as see some of the other sites.

We are missing our families and our church. We will truly miss the familiar worship with our fellowship, but are looking forward to worshiping at Grace Community. May we all continue to long for God’s glory.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Sheperhd's Conference - Day Two

Another blessed day has come to an end. With day two under our belt, Jase and I are as encouraged and fire up as ever. Four God-centered, Christ-exalting, man-diminishing yet absolute joy producing messages have been committed to our souls and now we submit ourselves to the mighty, operative power of the Holy Spirit to work within us, change us and prepare us for the ministry at Hope Community Bible Church.

Before I recount the basic content of the messages heard, I did fail to share one humorous and yet somewhat humbling experience. I failed to mention that when we went to “In and Out Burger” on Tuesday that I was met with somewhat of a dilemma. If you never had an “In and Out Burger” it is fairly thick. Tuesday marked the two-week anniversary of my oral surgery, and as some of you may or may not know, I have not been able to fully open my mouth without pain and eventually a headache. So here I am, having ordered this burger and I bring the silly thing up to my mouth only to realize – it doesn’t fit! I kept smashing it into my lips, trying to squish it flat enough so that I could enjoy it. Don’t worry, I did it – it just took some time and effort (and a couple of pain relievers afterward). I am glad we don’t have any pictures of that. And by the way, guess what we had for lunch today – yes, In and Out Burgers.

Jase and I have still benefited from being adopted into the Tom Pennington and Countryside Bible Church crew, having not problem having a decent seat. The first session was taught by Ligon Duncan who taught, from all places, Numbers 5. Now some of you have recently read Numbers 5 in the church’s Bible reading. Do you remember what it was about? The great majority of it is concerning the law of jealousy, when a husband suspects his wife of adultery. Now, how do I summarize this without getting into all the details? What does Numbers 5 have to do with a pastoral/leadership conference? It must be noted that the Apostle Paul makes reference to the fact that all that happened in Exodus and Numbers was given as an example to the church, that we would not act as Israel acted. And how did they act? Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 says that they were idolaters, they were immoral, they were presumptuous concerning the Lord and they grumbled against the Lord. Let us not think we are somehow exempt of these things. I recall Mahaney who said last night something to the effect, “it is not if there is pride in your life, it is simply a matter of where pride will show up in your life.”

The big picture of this message (without much needed detail) was that God’s people would understand that infidelity is incompatible with God’s people. Sexual sins, sexual preferences, sexual deviations cannot and must not be tolerated among God’s people. The sexual purity of God’s people matters to the whole people of God. One member sexually deviant, promiscuous, or loose affects the whole body, as seen in Numbers 5. It is a public matter for the church as the husband is not given the right to deal with the issue on his own, but is to bring the issue to the priest and ultimately to the people of God (sounds a bit like Matthew 18). There is a sanctity in marriage that is to be recognized and honored among the people of God. Duncan’s message was THOUGHTFUL.

The next session was a Q & A with John MacArthur, who dealt with questions ranging from Premillennialism, to Dispensationalism, to how to prepare for delivering a message to qualifications of leaders. It would be well worth hearing the mp3 when we get it.
After our “In and Out Burger” lunch (at which we received a handful of wonderful books) we attended a seminar on prayer in the church by Andrew Snider. I found this to be very helpful as the Elders have recently been discussing the issues of our public prayer for morning services and how to think through these issues Biblically. In other words, expect some subtle but needed changes as we seek to approach God corporately in prayer.

Now the highlight of the day for me was the second seminar we attended, Steve Lawson teaching on the person and preaching of John Calvin. So much of Christianity’s picture of Calvin is that of a hard, stoic, high-minded academic man that ruthlessly governed the city of Geneva. Nothing could be further from the truth. Calvin was indeed and incredibly gifted man intellectually (he wrote the Institutes at age 26) and academically, but his preaching was purposeful, powerful, passionate and very much addressed to the common person. Calvin’s preaching used familiar words and vivid expressions. He painted pictures upon which the truths of God could be seen. He loved provocative questions to reel in and challenge the thinking of his flock. He employed the use of simple restatements to insure that the people of God understood the meaning of the text. Calvin was not apt to insert quotations of others. He was very much influenced by the early church fathers and would paraphrase from memory what they said without specific reference to them. His goal was to point people to Christ. What most surprised me is that Calvin never went into the pulpit with any prepared notes or outlines. He wanted his messages to be natural and flow and he was skilled at his craft. So much could be said, but I was inspired by the expository preaching of Calvin, who truly brought verse-by-verse teaching into the forefront of the preaching of the Protestant Reformation. This seminar by Lawson was INSPIRING. I was literally torn inside, wanting to hear more, learn more and simply soak all this in, while at the same time was longing to read Calvin’s sermons and ultimately to preach with the passion and dedication of Calvin.

Somehow, Jase and I managed to have dinner again with the Texas group and guess where we went. If we had to have “In and Out Burgers” twice, then by all means we must have needed to eat at the same Italian Restaurant as the night before (remember that I cannot divulge the name as this is seemingly and “insiders” locale). Tonight I had the Lasagna and it was great. And if I failed to mention this last time, our dinner was graciously picked up for us last night as well as tonight. Boy, are we spoiled or what? My thanks to the graciousness and generosity of these men.

The evening session was taught by Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary and he is truly one of the most deep thinkers of our evangelical movement. He taught on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and ultimately how the preacher is not to come to the pulpit with any self-wisdom, or any intentions of employing what the world thinks is important and necessary for communication. All Paul wanted to know among the Corinthians was Christ and Him crucified. The illustration was used of a winepress; a winepress for the words of the preacher. If all the words of my messages were forced through a winepress for words, what would be left, what would come out – would the very essence of the gospel remain or would there be some meaningless, mindless dribble that communicates nothing essential of Christ and His cross. Pray for me that when I speak, I will speak of the Cross, the Cross that embodies the whole council of God in the salvation of sinners. Paul said that he did not come with some slick message, some styling advertising, some polished oratory – no, he came in “weakness” – seemingly a reference to a physical, tangible illness or disability that would clearly reveal that the power of Paul’s message was not of Paul but of the Holy Spirit. I think of our dear sister who is right now struggling with such a “weakness” in her flesh, and yet how I have seen and heard that she is, despite her our failing, frustrations and difficulties, a marvelous testimony of trust in Christ to her family, her church family and those around her, doctors, nurses, therapists, patients and workers. May God be glorified in our weaknesses. May we rejoice in them that through them the power of the gospel may be clearly communicated, that it is not of us, but of God. Only God saves, not some eloquent preacher, not some vainly promised prosperity peddler, only God, through Christ. In a word, this message was CHRIST-FOCUSED (okay, two words).

It is now late and I need to get some rest. Please know that all of you are in my thoughts and prayers. All you men who will fill in on Sunday, please know that you have my full confidence – but take seriously the solemn tasks you undertake – trust, depend, cry out, plead with and call upon Jesus for all strength, guidance and power to minister to minister to God’s people.

Good night!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

An Early Post for Day Two of SC

This is a new song/chorus that we sang during for our morning session. I loved the words as a prayer just prior to hearing the Word of God preached. I hope to bring this home and sing it in and with our congregation. For now I would submit to you the words and ask you to make it your prayer for yourself and our church. May God be praised continually among us. My regular post for day two will be posted tomorrow.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Shepherd's Conference - Day One

Day one is now complete. What a special day, full of reunions as well as a total rekindling of the fire and passion of the Word of God. Jase and I caught up with a number of men from Countryside Bible Church, Southlake, TX, including Rocky Wyatt (my mentor and a Pastor at CBC), Bryan Chandler (some of you remember that he preached at our church several years back and is an Elder at CBC), as well as Tom Pennington (Senior Pastor at CBC). We also saw Brian Murphy (the best man at my wedding and Pastor at Riverlakes Church in Bakersfield, CA).

The old adage, “Its not what you know, its who you know” really played out here. Pastor Tom served with John MacArthur at Grace Community for many years and had access to the Worship Center before they let the general masses in (a most chaotic event). Pastor Tom as been graciously keeping seats for his group as well as these two little servants from Arkansas (that would be Jase and me).

Day one had three general sessions, each of which were blessed with three completely differently yet passionately committed to communicating with these 3500 plus church leaders the truth and importance of the Word of God.

John MacArthur taught the first session. I really don’t know how to put into words the significance of his message. It was truly most provocative and there is no doubt that he lovingly and yet without any reservation, stepped on some spiritual toes (perhaps more like swift kicks to the shins). If I were to try to explain this at this time, I fear that anyone reading this who comes from a different eschatological position (future – end times) would be put on the defensive. As John began, we thought he was kidding when he announced, somewhat humorously, that the title of his message was, “Sovereign Election, Israel and Eschatology” or, as he later subtitled it, “Why Any Self Respecting Calvinist Should Be Premillennial.” Please realize that there are many, many men who come from Amillennial and Post-Millennial points of view to this conference. To begin with such a provocative and forthright treatise on Premillennialism was bold but also refreshing, particularly for Jase and I as we have wrestled through this past year and half concerning the importance of Premillennialism to Hope Community Bible Church. This is one the best one-hour plus messages to explain and adequately defend Premillennialism I have heard. In fact, it is my thought that anyone who comes to Hope CBC and wants to know how and why the leadership of the church believes in Premillennialism, that he/she/they be given a copy of this message to listen to. It is simply that good. In a word then, I would say that John MacArthur’s message was CONFIRMING.

The second general session was taught by Steve Lawson, former pastor of the Bible Church at Little Rock (where Bill and Anita Thomas attended) and currently pastor of Christ’s Fellowship Church in Mobile, Alabama. I came to so appreciate this man last year with his message from Nehemiah entitled, “Bring the Book!” I was no less blest this year as once again Steve brought a message encouraging boldness and passion in the pulpit. His text was Acts 2:14-41, “The Passion and Power of Apostolic Preaching” and served as a call to pastors to preach as the apostles, the confidence, conviction and power. Steve noted that 25% of Acts is recorded sermon or defense of the faith by Peter, Stephen, James and Paul. Acts could rightly be titled, “The Sermons of the Apostles” and gives great insight then as to the content and style of biblical preaching. I will simply share here the outline of his message:

I. Bold – Authoritative Preaching (2:14-15)
II. Text-driven Preaching (2:16-21)
III. Christ-centered Preaching (2:22-36)
IV. Heart-piercing Preaching (2:37-441)

Steve as become one of my favorite teachers to both listen to and read (Jase and I are currently reading his book, “Foundations of Grace” which is a tracing of the doctrines of grace through the Bible. In a world where pastors are easily prone to offer a congregation nothing more than a “data-dump” of theology, this message called the men to preach with passion, with fire and with a view to see lives changed. In Acts 2:41 we see that God honored Peter’s preaching by adding 3000 souls to the church. To put that in perspective in my mind, just over 3000 men in the Worship Center surrounded me – it was an awesome thought to think of that many coming to the Lord at one time. In a word, I would describe Steve’s message as “PASSION”.

The final session of day one was unique. It was unique because John Piper was scheduled to preach, but just a couple of days ago, John Piper’s father went home to be with the Lord and so John and his family need to be in South Carolina. Pastor John MacArthur asked the C.J. Mahaney to step in, which he did, humbly and with some trepidation. I had never heard C.J. before. I must say that he is a most personable fellow and speaks with such easy and humor – quite different and refreshing. His text was on Isaiah 66:1-2 and spoke to the men about pride and humility. One thing he said really stuck with me: “It is not a matter of if pride is in you, only where it is in you.” The root of every sin is pride and God hate pride above all sin. Therefore, we were exhorted to mortify pride and cultivate humility. C.J. style, as I noted, was far more casual than I am used to, but it was nonetheless a message needed to be heard (by this prideful, sinful man) and much appreciated. In a word I would call C.J.’s message, APPLICATIONAL as he sought with earnestness to drive home ways in which pride, by the grace of God, might be daily defeated in our lives.

Before the final session, we were invited to dinner with Tom Pennington and the Texas group. Again, it is not what you know, but who you know, as we were directed to a restaurant not listed in our program. It was kind of an “insiders” place, a great little Italian restaurant. I can’t name the place for I was sworn to secrecy (not really) but most of the restaurants right near Grace Community were swamped with 3500 plus men. We walked right into this place, sat down and had a wonderful meal and fellowship.

I wish I could be more descriptive and hope that in the days ahead, as I return home and begin preaching again, that you all will benefit from the time I am having here hearing the Word of God. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate the generosity and sacrifice of my church family for sending me here. C.J. noted that pastors make a lot of sacrifices in the ministry – however, coming to the Shepherd’s Conference is certainly NOT one of them. I say, AMEN!

You all are in my thoughts and prayers. I know that life continues on, sometimes with joys, often with difficulties and the ever present mundane. While I am basking in the sweet fellowship of this multitude of men who simply love the Lord and have a passion to share it, please know that I am grateful for a church family that seeks that same thing, to have a passion for the Lord and to share it effectively. May God allow us all to continue to grow in His grace and knowledge. Please keep loving one another, being patient with one another and stimulating one another on to love and good deeds. Remember that our enemy, the devil, is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist Him, firm in the faith. Do not let the petty and the trivial rob any of you of your love of God and your love for His people. If you are able, will you go out of your way to love the saints this week? Know that I will express my love for you all in my prayers as I continue to meet with God and tremble at His Word.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Shepherd's Conference - the Day Before

Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

God is indeed good. Now I know you didn’t need me to travel from Rogers, Arkansas to Chicago to Los Angeles to know that, but I thought I would begin this way. Our trip started off with a bang. We arrived at XNA about 7:10 am with a departure of 7:40 am to Dallas, TX to pick up our connecting flight to LAX. We had not but checked in when we heard an announcement over the PA system calling for us to immediately check in at the gate. I said my goodbyes to my family and then Jase and I proceeded through the TSA security check. And boy, did I make a mistake. I had a bottle of water attached to my backpack. I saw the security people taking a hard look at it in x-ray and call attention to it. I was reprimanded, being told that I could not have it on the flight and that I would either have to drink it right there in front of them or throw it away. Hey! Its just water. We threw it out and proceeded to the gate.

Upon arrival at the gate, we were told that our flight to Dallas was arrive too late for us to make our connection and that they were holding the flight to Chicago for us (it was supposed to leave at 7:20 am and it was already 7:25 am. So the rushed us on the jet and off we went to Chicago, without really knowing what was going to happen. We were not even sure that our luggage was going to make it with us.

About an hour and 15 minutes into our flight, we were told about our connecting flight in Chicago. Boy, did they help us out. Our flight to Chicago was to arrive about 9:00 am and our departure to LAX was 9:35 am. Only thing is, we did not get off the Arkansas flight until 9:15 am and had to hoof it to a different concourse (which we did in record fashion). We made it to our next flight just as the attendant was calling for final notice for boarding. Whew! We just made, getting on the jet (a big 767) about 9:30 am. But then we were told that maintenance had to fix a water gauge before we could leave. We sat in the plane until 10:15 am. Then, off to LAX.

The flight was smooth and uneventful. Mostly we slept because the “complimentary” movie was “Happy Feet”. While the movie was complimentary, you had to pay $2 if you wanted a head set to hear the movie. What’s up with that? So I just listened to my MP3 player, closed my eyes and occasionally looked up to see some penguins (in the movie) dancing (not to my music).

LAX was busy as ever but we had no problem and much to our surprise, our luggage had made it! We were shuttled over to the rental car facility and were soon on our way. Our first destination was to Long Beach, CA to visit my Aunt and Uncle. First we stopped at a Southern California classic eatery, “In and Out Burger” and then made our way to my Aunt’s – having a nice visit, catching up on things and getting some directions to our next stop – Seal Beach.

For those of you that don’t know, I was born in Long Beach and lived my early years in Seal Beach. Jase and I walked down Main Street and on down to the Seal Beach Pier. We made a beeline straight for the sand and the ocean. I got very nostalgic and before long, one of the Elders of Hope CBC along with its Pastor were getting their feet wet in the mighty Pacific Ocean. This was a first for Jase and a seemingly long overdue trip down memory lane for yours truly. We called our families, took some pictures and then walked up to the pier. At the end of the pier we met a man who had just reeled in a fish (not a huge one) and began talking to him. Don, we soon learned, was a believer (attending Greg Laurie’s church – Calvary Chapel). Pretty cool.

After the pier we looked up one of the homes I used to live in. We found it, but it had been radically updated with a huge addition. But it still brought back memories. From there we proceeded to a little Greek Café recommended to us by my Uncle Jimmy (who is Greek). We had a great meal (had to splurge a bit – after calling Laura for permission). Jase had stuffed Salmon and I had Greek Style Lamb Chops. We began the meal with a traditional appetizer called “Saganaki” – or “Flaming Cheese” and ended it with a piece of Baklava and Greek Custard. It was so good.

It was now about 7:45 pm (9:45 pm to our bodies) and so we made our way up to Northridge where we would be staying with Katie W’s parents. They were expecting us and had everything wonderfully prepared. After getting settled, Jase read a bit while I uploaded some pictures and typed this review of the day. It is now about 10 pm here (Midnight CT) and I need to get rest for tomorrow and the Shepherd’s conference. I will keep you all posted on the events. For now – good night!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Ed (and Jase)

ps - pictures may be a while in coming as it takes a long time to upload in the Grace Community Church sanctuary.

Off to the Shepherd's Conference!

The teeth are healing - I still have a numb lip, half-tongue and my bottom right jaw, but at least it doesn't hurt as much.

I am getting ready to head out to California for the Shepherd's Conference. Assuming that I can access the internet, I will keep everyone posted and post some pictures.

Our flight (Jase - Elder and me)leaves at 7:40 am. We will first head to Dallas, TX and then out to LAX. Our plan today is to visit some of my family in Long Beach before heading up to Northridge to stay with the parents of one of our members (thanks Katie!).

But right now I am trying to eat breakfast and make sure everything is ready. Again, I will keep you posted. May God be praised!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed