Sanctification and Reformation

Three minutes in the history of thought: This is a prequel to another post that is coming soon. Here, I simply lay out the terms pre-modernism, modernism, and post-modernism. They are not terms a lot of folks are familiar with and it helps to understand a little of where they came from. So history is divided into three large sections of thinking and knowledge. There are other ways to break up history but this is the division that makes the most sense to me. The pre-modern era : This is all of history leading up to the reformation of the 16 th century. God was seen as the principle center who created us to know him and the world around us; which he also created. The thinking of man followed a line of reasoning: I believe, in order to understand. I believe in God and he grants me understanding in matters for which I would not have been able to comprehend before. In other words, truth is revealed to me by God and defined by God in his word. The enlightenment p...

Oldest lighthouse in Scotland OMNIPOTENCE Several decades ago there was an epic show called Star Trek. It was widely viewed by millions every week as the space ship Enterprise would go boldly where no man had ever gone before.   As with many shows, they get misquoted and then the misquote receives the most attention in history – but it didn’t even happen… One of these quotes occurs in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" where actor Jim Carrey speaks into the camera saying, “I can’t do it Captain. I don’t. Have. The power!” Supposedly this was a rip off from ship master Scotty in Star Trek but interestingly Scotty never made the quote. However, Jim Carrey’s misquote retained all the attention. What does this have to do with God’s omnipotence? Not much – but that the simple sentiment is something we can all relate to.   There are many things we wish we could do but for which we lack the power.   We’d like to cure poverty, hunger, war, disease, and Washington DC...

Part 2 (of 2) In part 1 of this post we covered the first four characteristics of the omniscience of God. We covered how God has perfect self-knowledge, perfect knowledge outside of Himself, that His knowledge is eternal, and that His knowledge is immediate and instantaneous. Today, we'll cover four more aspects of this amazing attribute of God. 5) His knowledge is exhaustive . He numbers and names all of the stars (which are incalculable). Not even a sparrow falls without His knowledge. He numbers every hair on your head. These are excerpted from verses which all use this language to help the reader grasp how complete His knowledge is. A sparrow was worthless in that day – yet God does not allow even one to fall to the ground without His complete knowledge. He has numbered the hair follicles on your head – which isn’t a particularly useful thing to know.  So if He perfectly knows these things which are not valuable, then He definitely knows what going on with and in y...

Have you ever made a mistake or been caught in a lie? It’s unnerving to know that someone else knows your sin.  But have you had that experience and then thought, “If they only knew the half of my sin they’d disown me.” If someone were to look into my heart or watch a film of my secret decisions, motives, and desires, they’d most definitely run from me. But I imagine I would run from you too because we’re not that different from each other. Sin has infected us like the worst type of spreading cancer; affecting every thought we have. So this attribute of God can be a little unnerving. It can actually cause us to try and block it out as silly and ironic as that is.  God’s omniscience means that he is all-knowing. So in running we quickly resemble Jonah who ran from the Lord and found Himself being held against his will in the belly of a whale. I encourage you, as I study and share my thoughts with you, to think like a follower of Christ. This attribute is incredibly en...

Many of us are frustrated by our kids or friends of ours who check their phones at dinner time.   They’re physically present but they’re mentally somewhere else. My wife lovingly points this out to me when I check Facebook or text messages and I’m supposed to be giving her my attention instead of my social media notifications. But unlike my easily distracted mind, God is laser-focused on everything and everyone, everywhere, at all times and in all places. That’s a hard thing to comprehend… This attribute of God, if I’m honest, was the biggest surprise to me as I studied. I knew God was everywhere but I’m not sure how much time I’ve spent dwelling on it, especially the implications of it.   In other words, God is omnipresent but why does it matter? I hope to whet your appetite so that you will look into this more.   Maybe pick a morning, go for a hike, and meditate on these passages of scripture and what they mean for the believer’s life. The puritan R...

“Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders" Exodus 15:11 The throne room of heaven is a fantastic scene. It is richly depicted in Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6. The visions give a glimpse of God in a light that is critical if we are to understand Who He is in a right way. Today, that attribute is God’s holiness. In these scenes of the Old and New Testaments, we are treated to imagery of creatures that declare God’s glory without ceasing. But there is only one attribute that is being eternally declared around that throne in heaven: God’s holiness. They are not crying out ‘ love, love, love’ or ‘ truth, truth truth’ despite being good and right attributes of God’s character. Holiness, however, is the attribute that proceeds from the mouths of those beings which were created for the express purpose of glorifying God for all eternity. Ask yourself when the last time you heard a pastor called his...

Here's an attribute that you rarely hear about with any careful study. It's the single-most misunderstood quality, the one that angers and divides believers, and splits up denominations. Rather than tackle the arguments or play the debating game, I simply want to let the magnitude of what God says about Himself to shape our understanding. It is also likely to be the single most important attribute for the comfort and hope of God's own people. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “ There is no attribute more comforting to his children than that of God’s sovereignty. In the most adverse circumstances, through the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. ” We talk about trusting God all the time but if He is not sovereign over everything, then we are left with God who is limited and finite.  There can be nothing that operates independent of God's almigh...

Some time ago I attended a worship service and they administered communion toward the end. As I approached the table an elder stood behind it and held the plate of bread out to me. We took the broken piece of bread but there was no cup to drink from. We were to dip the bread in the juice and consume them together. As I took the bread the elder said, “This is Jesus’ body, broken for you.” This is a unique ceremony where we recall our sin which necessitated the Savior to die. We communally eat the bread remembering the immense sacrifice He gave. We drink the wine/juice celebrating the new covenant Christ has made. Two things stood out to me and I do not make mention of this in judgement of anyone but simply as something to consider being followers of Christ.   Dipping the bread in the juice rather than taking them separately; and referring to Christ’s body as ‘broken’. Intinction The Doctrine: Communion is a sacred thing. It is more than ritual, although...