We are all terrorists before God

25 February 200925 February 2009 TBLeave a comment

“… After the blast, there’s this inferno of fire moving from the rear to the front. And so this terrorist rolls out of the car waking up from the incredible heat and he starts to roll away. I’m just thinking to myself, there’s enough time for me to save this guy’s life but other thoughts are coming like what if he has a pistol, or he’s got a knife or he somehow tries to wrestle me and I don’t make it? I’m not going to risk my life for my enemy so I just decided to watch him die. The car bomb erupts and the blast rips him apart and after the dust settles I jump off my tank and I sprint over to where his body is and I see crimson just filling the sand. …”

In yet another powerful video from I Am Second, Chris Plekenpol describes how God can exist amidst terror and war and how his experiences in Iraq helped him see that we are all like terrorists before God.

Click on the image to view the video of Chris Plenkenpol as he describes his experience in Iraq. — Click on the image to view the video of Chris Plekenpol as he describes his experience in Iraq.

Being second is a good thing, just ask Jason Castro

23 February 200925 February 2009 TBLeave a comment

This past weekend, my wife and I had the opportunity to help at a youth retreat that our two children attended with other kids from our church’s youth group. Like most events involving teens and preteens, there was a lot of activity, food, laughter and little sleep.

But the important part of the weekend, the meat in the sandwich, were a series of lessons we did together about how to put Jesus Christ first in our lives. Now, these are church kids and youth group kids, so this is a message that shouldn’t be unfamiliar to them. But, they’re just like us adults in that a simple message can often get confused when you’re living in the everyday world of U.S. culture.

So, it was very helpful when our youth pastor, Mat Ingram, went over passages like the story of the rich, young ruler in Mark 10:17-27 or how we will reap what we sow as it talks about in Galatians 6. It was good to sit there knowing all these kids were hearing these things without the distractions of everyday, normal teen life bearing in on them.

Along with the messages, we would also watch testimonies from various people called “I am second.” The idea was that instead of striving to be the most important person in their lives, these people had seen the light and made Jesus No. 1 in their life. It was good for these kids — all of us, really — to see that everything this world has to offer is never going to be as satisfying as what Christ has to offer us.

Here is what Jason Castro, of American Idol fame, had to say about being second to Jesus Christ:

Lots of people in life have their ideas of what’s real and what’s not and sometimes they think faith isn’t real and I feel bad for them. But there were times on the show when I wouldn’t laugh at a joke and they were like, “Are you really that religious?” And I would tell them, “I just don’t think it’s that funny. I don’t think it’s right or something to laugh about it.” It is a challenge to stand up for what’s right, especially when it’s not cool, but being cool is overrated. Cool is a joke, cool is a perception and I don’t think it’s real. What is real? God is real, God is cool. I wish more people knew the real God and how cool it really is. Just imagine something bigger than you like your dad when you were a kid, you just want to know about him, and he can do so many things you can’t, and there’s something very cool about that.

Click on the image to see video of Jason Casto explaining why he is second. — Click on the image to see video of Jason Castro explaining why he is second.

And there are more great testimonies of the way God does great things for humble people, including Darrell Waltrip, Brian Welch (formerly with Korn), Greg Ellis and Stephen Baldwin.

What are the basics for the gospel?

20 February 2009 TBLeave a comment

For those in protestant circles, many have had the opportunity to share their testimony before they were baptized. When you think about it and, if you’ve ever heard one given, it often starts with the person and how they came to faith. But that isn’t the whole story, whether they realize it or not.

In this message to a Children’s Desiring God conference, John Piper explains that it goes much further than an individual’s own life if you want to explain how they were saved. It’s obvious, really, if you believe what the Bible says. Since no one saves himself, you can’t tell your story without going back to the Person who saved you, namely Jesus Christ. And, if you do that, it effects what kind of person you will be and how you live your faith.

What’s Next

19 February 200919 February 2009 TBLeave a comment

This is next.

To spank or not to spank?

16 February 2009 TBLeave a comment

You should, and it’s biblical. That it, if you believe verses like Prov. 13:24, which says: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” And, if Jesus believed the Bible, then I think we can to.

Still squeamish about? Then maybe you should check out this post by John Piper, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

What does physical attraction have to do with marriage?

7 February 2009 TB1 Comment

Well, if you’re trying to think biblically about your marriage, it shouldn’t be a focus. That is how John Piper explained it recently:

The word “biblical” in this question is perhaps intended to take me to a text. And of course the text that comes to mind is, when it speaks to beauty, 1 Peter 3:3: “Don’t let your beauty be the outward beauty of the wearing of gold, and the braiding of hair, and the wearing of clothes.”

It doesn’t say “fine clothes.” It’s just “clothes,” so you know it’s not an absolute, as though not wearing clothes is good thing. It means the jewelry, the hair, and the clothes are not the focus. And our culture needs to hear that unbelievably. Marriages need to hear it, men need to hear it. That’s not the main focus of beauty. The focus should be the inner spirit.

So women should ask, “What kind of spirit should I cultivate for my man?” as well as, “How should I eat and dress and exercise for my man?” And the man should do the same: “What kind of inner spirit makes her flourish?” because there is a kind of spirit in a man that kills a woman or frightens or bores her.

And a man shouldn’t mainly be pumping iron. Because, frankly, most women could care very little about what their husbands look like, unless they’re just making fools of themselves. They want a spirit, a strength, a humility, a nobility. They want someone to pick them up and sweep them away.

In their worst moments women don’t look at pornography, usually. Mostly they read novels about exciting romances, because their husbands are so boring!

And so it cuts both ways. I think we husbands should labor not so much with the outward man, and the women shouldn’t labor so much with the outward woman. Rather, we should all cultivate the kind of beauty that we all deeply long for in relationships.

A marriage is a relationship. When you’re old, gray, wrinkled, overweight (or underweight), squinty, bent over, and hobbling along, maybe you’ll be holding hands at 85 because of the inner beauty.

How do we help the poor?

18 December 2008 TB1 Comment

There is a divide in this country, and you can almost discern it based on the question, “How do we help the

poor?” Politically, there is a divide for sure, but even within the church there is divergence on this question. To be sure, the Bible instructs us that we are to care for the poor, but even that point is debated as one group emphasizes responsibility and another justice.

Because faith without works is dead, we need to understand just how it is we should care for poor and downtrodden in our society. Tim Keller, writing at Thermelios, has written a thorough and helpful essay on the subject, “The Gospel and the Poor.” Keller is senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, N.Y., and an adjunct professor of practical theology at Westminsters Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Among the books he has written are “The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism” and “The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith.”

In his essay, Keller explores from the position that the church is commanded to help the poor, yet this is not the primacy of the gospel:

So what does it mean to be committed to the primacy of the gospel? It means first that the gospel must be proclaimed. Many today denigrate the importance of this. Instead, they say, the only true apologetic is a loving community; people cannot be reasoned into the kingdom, they can only be loved. “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.” But while Christian community is indeed a crucial and powerful witness to the truth of the gospel, it cannot replace preaching and proclamation. Nevertheless, the primacy of the gospel also means that it is the basis and mainspring for Christian practice, individually and corporately, inside the church and outside. Gospel ministry is not only proclaiming it to people so that they will embrace and believe it; it is also teaching and shepherding believers with it so that it shapes the entirety of their lives, so that they can “live it out.” And one of the most prominent areas that the gospel effects is our relationship to the poor.

It is a lengthy read, but well worth your time. For conservatives, it is a good reminder that merely proclamation of the gospel while failing to help the poor and needy shows a lack of understanding of the gospel. For liberals, it is a good reminder that giving aid is not an end in itself.

Breath of Heaven

16 December 2008 TBLeave a comment

Thanks to Tony Cortes

Three questions on Newsweek’s “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage”

15 December 200815 December 2008 TBLeave a comment

Greg Koukl, who does the Stand to Reason radio broadcast — also available as a podcast — gives three questions we should ask when reading Newsweek’s “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage”:

1.    What do they want you to believe?
2.    What are the reasons they offer in support of this idea they want you to believe?
3.    Are the reasons good ones?

Koukl reviews the article and goes through these questions on the podcast.

A Christmas warning: Learn to love (the world) less

14 December 2008 TBLeave a comment

To me, it seems awesome when you can take the truths of God’s word and the preaching of John Piper and somehow put it in a rap song. And it really works. This, of course, is through the artistry of Shai Linne and the the grace of God. This is a powerful message, especially this time of year when we start to turn the things that we love in this world (family, friends, what we love to eat, play, our hobbies) into little idols. Love the things of this world less. Love God more.