Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist.
We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water.

Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen,
will be made evident to others from the love which He imparts to us."

~Sadhu Sundar Singh~

I'm thinking of the persecuted church and even (a little bit) of where most of us are. Salt is a good thing - it's good for flavor and it's good for preserving things. But (think of the water again) if there is too much salt, we don't like it very much.

A couple of years ago my class made ice cream and we needed rock salt. One of the students was determined that he wanted to taste the salt and finally the teacher let him taste it. He was also determined that he was not going to let on how bad it tasted and how badly he wanted to spit it out. So he just sat there with a very funny look on his face until it all dissolved; then (and only then) he went to get a drink of water.

2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

As Christians, we should not expect an easy life! We are the salt and if we get to "salty" the world will want to spit us out. We don't see much of that in most of the places that we live. We see some of it, and most of it on the part of peers, not the government.

As salt, Christians can function as both a preservative and a flavoring. And we can be "too strong" for the world's taste in both ways.

Unbelievers can feel "uncomfortable" when a Christian walks into a room - the Christian doesn't have to say anything, but the jokes or stories stop...this is preservative. If the Christian is "too salty", the group will just leave and the Christian may feel downright unwelcome.

As flavor, it's the same way - our saltiness can lose friends! A while ago I had a friend who was doing some things that were causing "issues". I spoke up and it was a long time before we spoke again.

But this is a good thing!   It is through these trials and tribulations - persecutions - that we are assured of our ability to stand.  God provides these opportunities for growth.

So I'll leave you with this "salty thought" - keep being the salt, we are the salt of the earth!

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

1 Chronicles 6:32
They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order.

I am musically inclined and my selection of music is "interesting". One of my co-workers was in my car and looked in my CD holder and told me that it's "just not right" that I'd have John Cash, Flatfoot 56, and Klezmer Madness all in a row. Not to mention Patsy Cline and Mercy Me.

The reason that I have orchestral music, Jewish party music, bluegrass and celtic punk is that music has the ability to put you in a "mood". Music can bring you deeper into a mood that you're already in, or it can bring you out of one mood and put you in another.

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Music in church is that way also - I've been in churches where all of the music feels like "party music" - it doesn't put me in the right "spirit" to come closer to God.

I've also visited a church where the congregation didn't sing - they just listened. That felt like I was being "entertained"; I wasn't worshipping.

Psalm 47:1 Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

Music should make you want to participate! Clap - all peoples! Shout to God!

But there's another side - a side that I miss...the side that brings us to a greater intimacy with our Lord.

Stop and consider - the church is the bride and Christ is the bridegroom...

Stop and consider - the human experience that makes the Christ and His bride example work.

When a couple is dancing, what sort of music brings them closer?

Psalm 77:6 I said, "Let me remember my song in the night;let me meditate in my heart."

Music has the ability to bring us to a place of quiet worship, with hearts and hands uplifted. I can sing praises, "Clap, Clap Your Hands..." and I praise God.

But when I sing "A Mighty Fortress" or "How Great Thou Art" - I don't clap, I raise my hands in the sanctuary; those are the songs that open my heart to worship.

Those are the songs I can't listen to as I drive because when I think of all that God has done in my life, I find tears in my eyes - good tears.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

A portion of this essay by John H. Armstrong is available online here.

THE QUESTION IS NOT:

• Is all that Christ taught written in Scripture? Nor is it
• What is Scripture?

THE QUESTION IS:

• Should oral traditions, creeds, church fathers, or writings of an extrabiblical sort ever be allowed to stand alongside the Holy Scripture as equal authority?

Herman Ridderbos (Studies in Scripture and its Authority; Eerdmans) says:

"The authority of the Scriptures is the great presupposition of the whole of the Biblical preaching and doctrine."

Again, I want to define what "Sola Scriptura" actually is (and is not)

• Sola Scriptura is NOT the teaching that Scripture is the source of all truth. It is not a science text or a math text. There are sources of learning truth outside of Scripture.
• Sola Scriptura is NOT the teaching that the Written Word is the only form of God’s Word that has ever been brought to His people
• Sola Scriptura is NOT the teaching that the church (and her people) are not valuable in understanding the Word.

“The Protestant position, and my position, is that all things necessary for salvation and concerning faith and life are taught in the Bible clearly enough for the ordinary believer to find it there and understand.”

QUESTION: Does the Bible every claim authority?

The Bible writers claim, "The Lord says..." That claims authority.

Throughout the Bible the terms "the Scripture says" and "God says" mean the same thing. Scripture is written about as if it WERE God:

• Romans 9:17 "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
• Galatians 3:8 "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."

The New Testament writes don't give the impression that they're giving their opinion!

• 2 Peter 3:2 "that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles..."

The apostles were given authority by Christ to preach the Gospel and from the earliest writings of the church fathers, the apostolic texts were placed on a par with the Old Testament writings - they were quoted as authoritative.

The authority of Scripture is not located in human witness. It is not found in the words of the apostles and prophets.

The authority of Scripture is found in God Himself!

...continue reading →

Four words:

FIND IT: WATCH IT

Spoiler alert: If you don't want to hear about the show, don't read the comments.

At only 28 pages long, this very little book gives a lot of information on the basics of "infant baptism" and why most "Reformed" denominations baptize their babies.

Sartelle starts at the beginning - with the history of the "sign of the covenant" and explains how the sign of the covenant does NOT save; Romans 4 makes it clear that Abraham was saved by faith, not by circumcision..

After the crucifiction and resurrection of Christ, we have a new covenant sign: baptism.

Even if you don't believe that infant baptism is right and proper, I recommend reading this book - the overview that it gives is one that I never recognized until I "reformed".

Consider these questions from this book:

1) When a person believed the God of Abraham and trusted in Him in the Old Testament, what happened?

He was circumcised

2) What was the outward event that represented the clean heart in the Old Testament?

Circumcision

3) What was the outward sign that marked a person's entrance into the community of believers in the Old Testament?

Circumcision

Now, ask the same questions, replacing the words "Old Testament" with "New Testament".

1) When a person believed the God of Abraham and trusted in Him in the New Testament, what happened?

He was baptized

2) What was the outward event that represented the clean heart in the New Testament?

Baptism

3) What was the outward sign that marked a person's entrance into the community of believers in the New Testament?

Baptism

For centuries, covanent families understood - were commanded by God - to apply the sign of the covanent to their children - as well as adults to turned to the faith. What would Hebrew families who had followed Christ have felt at the sight of a new believer being baptized, when their own child was denied?

I feel uncomfortable posting photos of children who are not mine...so I'm going to turn again to one of my favorite places...

and one of my favorite sculptures.

The sculpture is called "Children of the World" and was done by Kirk Newman in 1995.

This group of statues truly catches a glimpse of all the world's chidren

...continue reading →

I am in the process of listening to a sermon by Kim Riddlebarger. The text is Romans 7:14-25

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Paul writes of this struggle with sin as being very intense; speaking of evil almost as though it's a power or force that takes hold of him, making him prisoner - even though (in his heart) he loves the Law of God.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

There are a couple of different ways that this short passage can be interpreted:

I can truly and genuinely relate to Paul as I read this passage. I can relate in my own struggles - that Paul, an apostle, struggled with sin can be a great relief! When I want to do right - the harder I try, the more I seem to fail. There are things that are so tempting!

Or I can see it as a warning; if I am experiencing this sort of struggle, I need to move on to the "victorious life" that Paul will describe in chapter 8. To read it this way is frustrating. If even Paul struggles - how much more so I? If Paul, an apostle, has these "issues" - how hard am I going to have to work at being "good"?

How I interpret this passage will affect how I live my life. It will affect how I view justification, sanctification, my expectations of the Christian life and how I choose to live it. It will affect the preaching and teaching that I hear in my church, how I deal with my own conscience, and even how I pray.

How I look at these few verses has a very real impact on My life as a Christian.

Questions

Is Paul writing about his present experience?

Or is he writing about that period in his life before he because a Christian?

Or is he even describing somebody else? ...continue reading →

Thirteen Bible Verses to memorize

1. Philippians 1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4. always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
5. because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
6. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
7. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
8. God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10. so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blamelessfor the day of Christ,
11. filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
12. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
13. so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

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1. eph2810
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4. Pass the Torch
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6. carmen
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