The Life Look

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absolution, Gospel, prayer, repentance

Christ, Sustainer and Redeemer of all that is:

I want no other rock to build upon than I have in You.

Forgive me if I have tried to add anything to the one foundation.

Forgive my hesitancy to carry out the good works You have given me to do.

Give me absolution through Your Word and by Your Spirit: tell me that my sins are so far removed from me that they have no power over me.

Grant that I would serve my friends and neighbors well, even in the midst of hope or despair, to the glory of Your Name.

Amen.

Reigning Sin

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baptism, Gospel, John Chrysostom, John Murray, Paul, prayer, repentance, Romans, temptation

There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and the unregenerate complacent with sin. It is one thing for sin to live in us; it is another for us to live in sin.

–John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Eerdmans 1955), 145

I am baptized into Christ’s death, John Chrysostom tells me, by virtue of dying as Christ did.

What Christ Says about What I Do in the Bedroom, part 2

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assurance of pardon, confession, experience, Gospel, homosexuality, insecurity, loneliness, repentance, sanctification, sexuality

Repentance.

Not a self-punishing ritual, but a ritual of turning away from sin and turning toward Christ.

Whether I sin while sleeping alone or if I sleep with someone else out of wedlock, I need repentance to mark my life.

I need the grace of forgiveness which comes from Christ’s sacrificial death to be applied to me on a daily, hourly basis.

Even my thoughts about others–my bitterness, my lust, my anger, my judgmentalism–need to be subjected to this repentance. God’s kingdom extends even to my bed…and fornication is not the only sin that can happen in one’s bed. Not by a long shot.

What Christ Says about What I Do in the Bedroom, part 1

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Gospel, homosexuality, repentance, sexuality

I toyed with a couple of different titles, but settled on this one despite its being too narrow for the first installment. It does, however, get at the punch-line of what I’m going to try to say.

This installment will be brief, but I want to begin with a quote from Robert Gagnon because I think he is unusually clear…not on behalf of himself, but clear in comparison to many other well-meaning theologians from all sides of this debate. It’s from the Introduction of his 2001 book, The Bible and Homosexual Practice:

“The whole of what we do and who we are should proceed from a desire to please the sovereign God who created humankind and is working to redeem it. …To love God with one’s whole being and to pray for the coming of God’s rule entails submitting one’s pursuit of sexual pleasure to the revealed will of God. To suppose that God does not have much interest in regulating the human sex drive, one of the most powerful and potentially destructive human impulses, is both counter-intuative and in direct conflict with Scripture. From a Judeo-Christian standpoint, it is a truncated vision of reality to accept various forms of sexuality merely because the participants involved give their consent to a given sex act.”

–Robert Gagnon, “The Bible and Homosexual Practice,” pg. 33. Emphasis mine.

You see, I have several friends who have said to me that a pastor making pronouncements on this or that is fine, but the pastor “needs to keep out of my bedroom” or private life. That sounds all well-and-good for our modern and American sensibilities, but it doesn’t have a lot to do with the overall story of Scripture.

Exodus’ Leadership and Gagnon’s Response

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Alan Chambers, Gospel, homosexuality, repentance, Robert Gagnon, Scripture, sexual sin, sexuality, temptation, theology

Something for your consideration. I’ll have up an analysis by Tuesday, but I thought I’d let my readers hit the ground running.

Alan Chambers’ interview in The Atlantic

Robert Gagnon’s lengthy response

At the present time, I have only read the first link of the two. Gagnon’s article is on my slate for this afternoon since I’m leading worship this morning and need to get going.

Found to be misrepresenting God?

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culture, deception, false teaching, leadership, Paul, psalms, repentance, Romans, sin, teaching, temptation, Thomas Brooks

To get this book from Amazon, click on the book cover.

Thomas Brooks’ book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices talks about various ways the Christian is dissuaded from the life Christ wants him or her to live. One such idea is to present God as made up entirely of mercy, to the exclusion of other things which can be said about him.

One way the Christian can fight the urge of our time to view God this way is to consider that the people of God who have gone before didn’t consider God’s mercy as an excuse to sin. The psalmist wrote,

³ For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.

⁴ I do not sit with men of falsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
⁵ I hate the assembly of evildoers,
and I will not sit with the wicked.

–Psalm 26:3-5, ESV

Gospel Ministry in a Less-than-awesome Environment

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church discipline, experience, Gospel, leadership, prayer, relationships, repentance, Scripture, teaching, theology

In light of my previous post about an abusive church environment, at least one person has rightly pointed out that no one forced me to stay as long as I did. One of the reasons I stayed as long as I did was that there was work to do for the sake of the Gospel…and most of the work, I did alongside the very people who didn’t particularly want me there. But they, and I, wanted to see the Gospel go forth. They and I are creatures of inconsistency, and I have at least as many idols as most people–but probably more.

Should the Church ask for forgiveness from gays?

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assurance of pardon, confession, forgiveness of sin, homosexuality, repentance, sexuality, theology

Much of what passes as “Christian love” irks me…and worse yet, most of it is stuff I’ve done. From telling people ambiguous statements like, “Gay is a choice” to “Jesus is the answer,” the American evangelical church has made some colossal blunders in the past 70 years.

But the guys over at One Minute Apologist have done a video with renowned Christian apologist, Dr. Michael Brown, asking the question this post centers around: should the Church ask for forgiveness from gays? (Spoiler alert: the answer Dr. Brown gives is yes.

Savagery

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Dan Savage, false teaching, homosexuality, politics, repentance, Scripture

Savagery, \ˈsa-vij-rē\, noun.  An act of cruelty or violence.

Dan Savage made some comments recently which posted to YouTube. Certainly, as an American, he has the right to say whatever he pleases under the first amendment. He has issued what may be considered by many to be an apology subsequent to the public outcry against his posture to religion and adherents thereof.

Discontent

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contentment, experience, friendship, insecurity, loneliness, Martin Luther, relationships, repentance, sanctification, sexuality, temptation

"For I am content..." (Philippians 4:11)

Sometimes I fear how God will teach me this lesson.

Today, a friend expressed a desire to move on to the next phase of life and ministry, saying he was tired of being a student and couldn’t wait to be done. I was frustrated because seminary is where God has called us. Why would we want to hurry God’s work? I sure don’t. And when I tried to point that out, it wasn’t well received. Maybe I said something wrongly.

I was sitting at a coffee shop a few days ago and really struggled to keep my mind on my work. Will temptation always be this strong? I wondered. I was sitting at another coffee shop today and thought, Yeah…if today is any indication, it will be.