“Lord . . .”
artwork and article by Michael Meulstee (click for larger image)
I sit down to write as a way to reflect. At this very moment in my life when there is no other thing to be certain about besides your provision and grace I cling to that and I pray that my sin will not cause me to mishear what you’re doing to shape and mold me into something better than myself.
I feel a sense of Déjà vu; this time last year when I needed your help, your wisdom, more than anything I needed your comfort; you came through in only ways that you can. You took my lack of trust, my discomfort, my fear and blew it away. Took it away and returned with trust that all the promises I made in those prayers; in those talks where I talked at you rather than talked with you… you trusted me, you trusted I would keep my word. You trusted that all of those fearful, manipulative and selfish things that I said would ultimately be used for your good. I said and promised so many things; if you would just come through for me on this one thing… if you just helped me once more I would be a better believer; I would read more; I would pray more; witness more; serve more; do. more.
Decision-Making Non-Answers
“To seminary, or not to seminary?” That’s the question for our newest Contributor, Katie Olmstead, as she navigates the ambiguities and nuances of that most frustrating of mysteries: the Will of God.
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Last February, the decision was made. Everything would change come August. I would leave my home in Phoenix for Philadelphia; continue to work for Food for the Hungry part-time remotely while going back to school. My cross-country road trip was charted, housing scouted out, mental shift made and farewell gifts purchased. I was ready for the adventure of a new city, new friends, classes, books, changing seasons, green and rain (so not the desert), wealth of history and arts to explore, another step towards my long-term dream….blah, blah, blah.
It is now October, the decision deferred for Spring maybe Fall. All my plans were unexpectedly postponed (or maybe canceled, ugh). Although convinced it was the right conclusion in light of changed circumstances, I am still filled with disappointment, anxiety and confusion; faced again with the decision of what is next. I catch myself daydreaming about avoiding it completely: driving my Rabbit, jumping on a plane or catching a train until I’ve explored every new interesting place and escaped this suffocating suburbia. Yet adventures offer no solution and I wake up to reality, decisions still far from clear. (more…)
Turning the T.U.L.I.P. On Its Side
Can the classic Five-Points of Calvinism, notorious for inspiring complacency and judgmentalism, actually cause relationships that are gracious, self-sacrificing, and long-suffering?
by Stephen Hess
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[Editor's Note: For those unfamiliar with the historical Five-Points of Calvinism (a.k.a. "TULIP"), click here for a quick guide, or here for a full article on it]
At Chapel time recently (every Tuesday and Friday at Covenant), I got the privilege to hear from Dr. Robert Petterson, a Covenant graduate and the Senior Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL. Out of John 13:34-35, he gave a message entitled, “Turning the Tulip on Its Side: The Sociology of Soteriology.” This was the first chapel message for the year (my first ever as a Covenant student). This message was perfectly timed for me (and I am sure, for many others). Not to mention the passage that Pastor Petterson focused on was the biblical motivation for myself and four (then five) other brothers in Christ to meet together in college weekly. To this day, despite the changes over time and the different post-college locations, these guys are still my closest brothers in Christ.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Pastor Petterson’s main point: A soteriology of grace without a sociology of grace is illusionary.
In other words, “turning the TULIP on its side.” The biblical soteriology of Reformed theology is often captured in the acrostic TULIP. Dr. Petterson described the five truths in these ways: (1) there’s not a single molecule of my being that is not corrupted by sin, (2) God has chosen to love me unconditionally, (3) he loves me specifically, (4) his love for me is irresistible, and (5) his love will persevere to the end.
When Jesus says, “so you must love one another,” he is saying that it is not enough to have a vertical relationship with God. That same love relationship must become horizontal in the same way with others.
After such rich beautiful description of this soteriology, he went on to explain about an angry, old Dutch Calvinist that he recently counseled. This man had memorized the five points as a child in catechism classes. He would pound anyone who would listen with the doctrines of Sovereign Grace. But this man had been estranged from his daughter for over five years. His wife could barely tolerate him–they slept in separate rooms. And he kept blowing through churches that weren’t reformed enough for him–creating controversy all along the way.
(more…)
Is God Done with the American Church? Perhaps Not.
Does an ever increasingly secular and post-Christian America necessarily mean a smaller and weaker Evangelical Church?
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Christianity is growing numerically around the world! With books such as The Next Christendom and Theology in the Context of World Christianity we are reminded of the work of the Holy Spirit in communions in third-world countries and even nations like China. However, we are reminded of the decline of Christianity in North America. Not only are mainline churches shrinking (as they have been since the 1960s) but even the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest of conservative Protestant denominations, will be half it’s size by 2050.
So the question facing American Christianity now is, Are we good as dead? Is there no sign of renewal, reform, and revival for American Christianity? Before any verdict is announced, I think it would be most beneficial to ponder about recent events regarding two very dissimilar conservative evangelical denominations and see if our prayers might be more motivated to prayer for a move by the Holy Spirit in American evangelicalism.
Two of the bigger stories from this summer’s plethora of synods, assemblies, and conventions have come from the biggest denomination and one of the smallest. Both the Southern Baptist Convention and the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church witnessed historic decisions and events within their assemblies in June. The evangelical empire itself saw the rise of young pastors in the SBC call for a Great Commission Resurgence and for a task force to examine how the largest denomination in America might be more efficient (and more biblical) in being intentionally missional and Great Commission-friendly.
Independence Day?
Is it really the fact that “both sides are right” on the whole Sovereignty question?
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“There is another and worse evil which springs from this basic failure to grasp the radical difference between the natures of the two worlds. It is the habit of languidly “accepting” salvation as if it were a small matter and one wholly in our hands. Men are exhorted to think things over and “decide” for Christ, and in some places one day each year is set aside as “Decision Day,” at which time people are expected to condescend to grant Christ the right to save them, a right which they have obviously refused Him up to that time. Christ is thus made to stand again before men’s judgment seat; He is made to wait upon the pleasure of the individual, and after long and humble waiting is either turned away or patronizingly admitted. By a complete misunderstanding of the noble and true doctrine of the freedom of the human will salvation is made to depend perilously upon the will of man instead of upon the will of God. ” – A.W. Tozer
(more…)
Stephen Hess on GoingToSeminary.com
by Reform & Revive
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One of our Guest Writers, Stephen Hess, recently wrote about his journey to seminary on the wonderful website, GoingToSeminary.com. Stephen is about to start his first year (of four) at Covenant Theological Seminary. Here’s the article:
“God-honoring Reluctance” – GoingToSeminary.com
We at Reform & Revive want to congratulate Stephen and wish him the best on the years to come. Hopefully we’ll see some more of him on the site.
red as crimson, yet . . .
painting by Sarah Stevens
How a winter ride home from church taught me more about the Gospel than the service itself.
by Stephen Hess
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I was raised in a nominally Catholic family. By nominally, I mean that church was seen as an obligation, that somehow going to church meant you were a moral person. We would dutiful attend mass on Sunday mornings or occasionally Saturday nights, but an actual faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior was absent and frankly inconsequential the other six days of the week. I left college and experienced the reality of my own sin and received the free gift of saving grace through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. But when I am back in Rhode Island over holiday breaks, I attend mass with my parents, setting aside the banner of my reformed theological views in order to spend time with them.
As I was in the passenger seat of my mom’s car on our way to the 5pm Christmas mass at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, my eyes were fixed upon the cold landscape. For the very first time, it occurred to me that the look of the snow in New England was the perfect metaphor for the depraved state of the world that the second person of the Trinity entered into in the form of a helpless and vulnerable infant. When the snow first falls, it is absolutely picturesque. The pure, clean, white snow covering everything remains one of the most breathtaking and beautiful images that I have seen first-hand. But the purity of the winter snow is fleeting. Driving, just a few days after the first snow falls, one does not glance out onto pristine snow, but blackened, dirt-filled slush lining the roads–a product of cars and SUVs travelling up and down those very roads.
(more…)
Redemption’s Song
I’m mostly a listener of the older hymns, but the lyrics of this song by Israel Houghton have grown on me…it’s like my life in a verse…everything from depravity to God’s Sovereign grace…I attempted to add scriptures to the parts of the verse…may God be glorified in the Redeeming work of Jesus Christ…
- I was lost.
- (Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 6:5; Luke 15:24; Ezekiel 34:6; Romans 3:12,23)
- I was desperate and broken.
- (Genesis 8:21; Jeremiah 2:13; Psalms 51:5; John 3:19; Ephesians 2:1-2)
- Wounded heart.
- (Jeremiah 17:1,9-10; Ezekiel 36:26; Psalms 51:10,17; Mark 7:21)
- And the wounds were still open.
- (Ephesians 2:4-6; Romans 5:8, 7:5)
- That’s the way You found me.
- (Colossians 1:12-13; Romans 5:8; Luke 19:10; Matthew 9:13; John 10:16)
- Turn the page. By Your hand.
- (Romans 9:15-16; John 1:13; Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 1:4-5; John 15:16)
- Yesterday washed away as You write in the sand.
- ( John 8:1-11; Isaiah 53:4-5; Ezekiel 36:25; Romans 4:24-25; Hebrews 10:22
- My accusers.
- (Job 1:9-10; Luke 22:31-32; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Romans 8:1)
- Where are they?
- ( Romans 8:1-2; 31,33,34,35-39)
- One by one in the silence they all walk away. ..
- (Isaiah 54:17)
- And I will worship You
One Thing is Needed
How can the Bible’s statement of our need be our greatest offense and greatest joy? Some thoughts on “Humility” by someone who did doctoral research on it.
by Jen Justice
For those who might have been wondering: yes, I am still alive. I started the below article back in April, maybe even March… and then life happened. =) But here I am.
I love that the necessity of humility was brought forth so early here at Reform and Revive. If the gospel is to intersect with our lives and our culture, humility is a necessary ingredient in that process. Why? Because God’s ways are not our ways and to walk in His ways requires that we surrender our drive to live “reasonable” lives. (Perhaps Paul’s comments on our “subnatural” state will help us with this…)
The first step toward walking in God’s ways is acknowledging Him as the eternal Sovereign Lord, which requires more humility than most of us possess (as was pointed out by Whit via Tozer in a previous post). It requires that we admit to being creatures—and subservient creatures at that. As Michael Casey puts it in his book on humility, you will often notice those of our race having trouble forgiving ourselves for any slowness of mind or ineffectiveness of will—essentially, for being human. We refuse to see ourselves as the created subjects we are; we forget that we are not gods. We need to accept the fact that we are humus; our origins are in the earth and not the heavens.
But when we do come to terms with our creaturehood, we find ourselves in a stance to accept God as He is. A wholly Other, uncreated, divine, eternal being … And to recognize our position relative to Him. Mainly, as our Creator, He is the best authority on how we are meant to live.
There are many aspects to the life God calls us to, but in this article I choose to highlight what our Lord described as “the one thing that is needed” in Luke 10:38-42. In this passage, Jesus tells Martha that her sister, Mary, has chosen the one thing that is needed, the thing that will not be taken away from her. What is that One Thing? Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.”
So how do we choose the one thing that is needed?
As always, I think it is a matter of faith—believing that God is right when He tells us that the most important thing we can do in this life is to sit in His presence, to listen to His words, to gaze on Him, to know Him. This is the one thing that will bring the freedom, acceptance, and significance we are all seeking. This is the One Thing that will fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts and transform us into the image of our Savior and King. I don’t know about you, but too often, I just have a hard time really believing this. My faith is weak. I think, surely I must need to be productive and successful in some things and have the love and approval of some men and have my own way in a few matters at least to experience all that I desire of life. But no, we cannot believe it, beloved. Only when the Perfect, Holy, True God is our heart’s pursuit and desire are we free.
Can you believe this? Will you choose to believe? If so, I’d like you to consider all the different ways your life could look when only this One Thing really matters—sitting at the feet of Jesus, meditating on His word, seeking His presence, beholding His beauty and wisdom, listening for His voice, obeying His loving direction. If you choose to believe the words of your Lord, what would this mean for your life? Where could you live? What job would you need? What people would you need around you? What would demand your time?
When considering the possibilities, on the one hand, having only one need is incredibly freeing, but on the other, it wounds our pride and offends our reason. But this is the price we pay, this is the cost we count when we choose to follow God’s ways and not our own, when we submit our lives to the lordship of Another. But be assured, child of God, that He rewards those who diligently search for Him (Hebrews 11:6) and that He is greatly pleased and honored by your faith in His wisdom in spite of how strange it may sound to your creature ears.
I know that I have listened so long to the ways of the world that I have failed to recognize that things such as professional success or personal dreams or the respect of men are expendable in God’s Kingdom. These are the lessons I have been learning lately, and so I ask you what the Spirit has been asking me:
What reasonable things in your life are keeping you from knowing intimacy with God as the one thing that is needed?
And will you humble yourself enough to let Him show you?
It’s worth it, my friends. How do I know? In part because I have tasted the sweet fruits of forgoing what I thought was reasonable, right, and good for more of Him, but more so, I know simply because He says it is so.
Will you believe Him?
What pollen taught me about sanctification
(disclaimer: Whit and Paul are much more qualified to write a post about sanctification after John Owen’s book. The following is only a tiny way that God made this topic real to me, again.)
I park under the trees. Not a fun place to park this time of year. A layer of sap, a layer of pollen, the morning dew, and repeat. Some birds contributed a few decorative elements to the yellow-green blanket.
My favorite time to drive is at sunset. In my opinion, the sunset is one of the most obvious displays of God’s glory and common grace.
I drove at sunset quite a bit this week. I noticed only one sunset.
I’m sure they were there. I’m sure they were beautiful. The pollen and sap and bird crap impaired my ability to see the eight-o’clock-glory-of-God. I was too busy being disgusted at the yellow-green film that covered my windows and was spurting through my air vents.
That is gross. I need to clean it off.
I’ll wait till it rains.
Or till the pollen stops dropping.
Or at least till after school is over.
So I missed sunset
after sunset.
Sin builds up like pollen.
(in my life)
I hate it. It disgusts me. but I’m so busy. And so the film of sin grows until I can no longer see the beauty and love of the Savior.
I’ll deal with that attitude later tonight. Or after finals.
I’m just reacting to the pressure I feel right now. It’s only a phase.
The fight of sin is a fight to see His glory, to experience the joy of experiencing His beauty. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” (Matt 5:8)
Maybe my heart is extra wicked, but when I am overwhelmed by my sin, “Honor God” provides weak incentive to change. I want some benefit.
and there is a benefit! There is a promise, a motivation to strive for holiness:
The sight of His beauty. (Matt 5:8)
The treasure of His friendship. (Ps 27:4)
Fullness of joy in His presence. (Ps 16:11)
Although total righteousness is achieved only through faith in Christ and the fullness of salvation from sin has not yet arrived (the “already but not yet”..?), let us, with the apostle Paul (in Phil 3), clean our windshields of the pollen and press on towards the prize: the sight of His glorious face. (Rev 22:4)
[Contributed by Amy Roberts]
intelligent design–the new intellectual mccarthyism (intro)
For my term paper in RELG 362: Religion and Its Critics, I (as mentioned in an earlier post) am writing about the controversy over Iowa State University’s decision to deny tenure to Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, who supports Intelligent Design. The paper will not (at least at the moment) come down on a particular side, but instead will discuss the relationship between intelligent design supporters, namely the Discovery Institute, and “modern” naturalistic science within academia.
Intelligent Design theory suggests that the biological aspects of life are too complex to have evolved randomly, but must have been produced by an unidentified (supernatural) intelligence. Contemporary Intelligent Design is an extension of the teleological argument for the existence of God, asserted by William Paley’ in his “watchmaker analogy” found in Natural Theology (1802).
The controversy–this potential “intellectual mccarthyism” (this is not my “official” stance on the situation, but an interesting statement that I have read recently)–does not merely stem from Dr. Gonzalez pro-ID stance, but also his expertise in his field of study, Astronomy. This would not be such an issue if Dr. Gonzalez was not so learned in the discipline. Dr. Gonzalez has the highest ranking among the entire I.S.U. faculty, according to the Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS), which calculates the scientific impact of scientists in astronomy. The ranking system is devised on how much a scientist impacts other colleagues’ research. The more times a person’s papers are cited in other scientific articles or research, the more weight that person receives. The citation index is normalized so there is a greater weight placed on papers that have a single author as opposed to several. Based on 2001-2007 publications, Dr. Gonzalez received a 143 on the normalized index. The next closest I.S.U. professor staff has a score of 103, and the next best tenured astronomer scored 68.
The Discovery Institutes website quotes Dr. John West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture (CSC) saying, “In other words, Iowa State denied tenure to a scientist whose impact on his field during the past six years outstripped all of the university’s existing tenured astronomers according to a prestigious Smithsonian/NASA database.”
Gonzalez, who has written 68 peer-reviewed journals (53 more than the 15 required by his department to meet its standard of excellence in research) does not teach ID in class, however, and that it is purely outside research.
Well, I previously mentioned that I would not come down on a particular side, but it seems that I have–with substantial empirical evidence of his contribution to astronomy.
On June 1, 2007, Gregory Geoffroy, President of Iowa State University, rejected Gonzalez’s appeal and upheld the denial of tenure. In making this decision, Geoffroy states that he “specifically considered refereed publications, [Gonzalez's] level of success in attracting research funding and grants, the amount of telescope observing time he had been granted, the number of graduate students he had supervised, and most importantly, the overall evidence of future career promise in the field of astronomy” and that Gonzalez “simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy — one of our strongest academic programs.” Geoffroy noted, “Over the past 10 years, four of the 12 candidates who came up for review in the physics and astronomy department were not granted tenure.”Gonzalez appealed to the Iowa Board of Regents and the board affirmed the decision on February 7, 2008.
This should be an interesting situation to research.
[Contributed by Stephen Hess]
When the moon blinds my eyes with its radiance in comparison to the deepness of the blue-black sky, and I attempt to fathom the vastness of the Milky Way and the galaxies beyond…
O for a thousand tongues to sing/My great Redeemer’s praise!
The glories of my God and King! The triumphs of His grace!
But how can I call for a thousand tongues when this one wretched soul cannot even bid every ounce of her being into focus on the praise of His name?
I identify with David when he cried, “Praise the Lord, O my soul!”
Soul! Praise His Holy Name!
Considering the beauty of the sky and stars that sing magnificent harmonies to the Creator, how can this sinful woman praise you?
…You, the King of the Universe.
I know the story. I remind myself daily. The Glorious God, lacking in nothing, chose to create a race of ultimately inglorious men and women.
We are told it was for His glory that we are created (Isaiah 43:1-7, 48:9-11)
With one of our first exercises of will we rebel. We aspired to become God.
Made from the dust of the earth (gen 2:7), with a lifespan like that of a blade of grass (ps 103:15-16), carrying the status of a maggot or worm (job 25:6) when compared to the majesty of God.
A worm! A worm attempted to become God!
Yet we are worse than maggots, more filthy than worms! Have worms rebelled against their Creator? Have they ever strived for autonomy? Have they disdained God by behaving as if He were inconsequential in their lives?
No.
So how can such a rebellious, despicable race as we bring glory to the Creator of the stars?
Listen: He will transform us. He will cleanse us from our sin. He will deliver us from our uncleanness. He will give us a new heart and a new spirit. He will put His laws within our hearts and cause us to obey His rules. And we will be His people and He will be our God. (Ez 36:21-32)
We are the benefactors of His glorification of Himself. Let us be ashamed of our iniquities. Let us not seek to be more than we are! Let boasting cease. Let us be nothing but a reflection of glory of our King.
And let us look to the Savior with Isaac Watts:
Alas and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree
My God why would
You shed Your blood
So pure and undefiled
To make a sinful one like me
Your chosen precious child
Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut His glories in
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man the creature’s sin
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear Cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt my eyes to tears
-amy
[Contributed by Amy Roberts]
“Knowledge” of the Holy
I thank Whit for leading us off here at R&R. I think it rather appropriate for us to start off in humility, understanding that God far surpasses our ability to fully comprehend His nature and ways. What we have comes from revelation in the Scriptures and the words that the Spirit moves on our hearts and minds. I simply want to pick up on some thoughts from “I am who I am” and add in some more general ideas floating through my mind right now. I want to briefly unpack that word “knowledge,” focusing on how it relates to faith and our own ideas of R&R’s mission. This will virtually be a copy and paste job from a recent post on my own blog (see the list of contributors for a link):
Tonight, I attended a performance of “Rebirth of a Nation,” a film created by Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky) that seeks to deconstruct and remix the 1915, W.D. Griffith film, “Birth of a Nation,” a highly acclaimed cinematic venture and historical one of the most controversial films in America. The film led off with a clip of two gentlemen sitting down, each smoking a cigarette and talking about the original film, “Birth of a Nation.” The gentlemen to the left of the frame asked the other man, Griffith himself, creator of the film, “Do you believe ‘Birth of a Nation’ to be truth?” It is what Griffith responded with, what was later affirmed by Paul Miller, that has me most irked and desperate to release these thoughts. Griffith quoted Pontius Pilate’s words to Jesus before allowing him to be crucified, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). This question is the central question of postmodernism as well. What is tragically ironic about Pilate’s statement was that he was looking at Truth. One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that Truth is not a set of principles, or morals, or facts to be ascertained; Truth is a person, Jesus Christ. That is not something that can just filed away–that is a thought that begs for contemplation and that ultimately humbles this college student holding knowledge as supreme, and yet constantly mistakes knowledge in the heart with mental propositions. God truly surpasses any attempt by such a finite being to comprehend without revelation. Oh, how far has cultural Christianity erred from this awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping idea into morality!?!
Our American culture has a habit of ridiculing the French, but I think their language (among others) has more to offer in terms of expression, especially when it comes to types of knowledge. In the English language, we are limited to the phrase “I know this/that,” but in French (and Spanish and other non-English languages), there are distinctive meanings to “knowledge” — savoir and connaitre. Savoir refers to knowing “something,” some fact, or how to do something. Connaitre is used when someone knows someone else, another person. Did I get a stellar score on the AP French exam in high school–no! But I think this distinction has actually been the most valuable piece of knowledge I have received from those required language classes. It is a distinction that many of us, me being the worst, fail to understand in the way we approach our faith! Knowing God is about connaitre, not savoir. But in our Western “enlightened” culture, we continually think of our faith by way of savoir. As if knowing enough scripture or reading numerous “Christian” texts gives eternal life. What we need is to know (connaitre) a person, or rather Three Persons in One, the Holy Trinity. Jesus explains the difference to the Jews around him at the time [John 5:39-40]:
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Study without prayer (a common pattern in my life) becomes a shallow intellectual pursuit. Jesus shows the futility in pursuit for that knowledge. My hope is not (well should not be) founded on a scientific proof of God, but rather the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, son of God the Father. How often have I reduced my “relationship” with Christ to some combination lock of scripture and pedantic intellectualism?? The knowledge that God speaks of is always a matter of the heart!
My prayer for both us as contributors and for any and all that may comprise our audience is that we would be firmly resolved to proclaim Christ as supreme in all things. I pray that we would have a conviction that the all of the Scriptures testify to Christ, with his name exalted from Genesis to Revelation. For those of you that have not come to know the Lord, I pray that you would not see these words as another argument, but rather a humble attempt to contextualize the Scriptures to our current moment. At the end of the day, our hope is that you would have a real encounter with the God of the Universe and come to know the indescribable love of Christ in your heart.
This is not about more book knowledge to file away somewhere, this is about knowing Christ intimately.
~Stephen Hess
