New Link Desitination

I was getting way to frustrated with all the broken links on the reformationink website, so I changed the destination of the Reformed Theology link to the right. The new destination is monergism.com. It's an awesome website! Check it out.

Approaching Scripture Humbly

Today as I was reading I was reminded about how much we desperately need humility as we approach Scripture. The passage I was studying had nothing to do with humility per se. The passage, Matthew 24, is a very difficult eschatalogical passage in the midst of Jesus' Olivet Discourse. As I was reading, I was reminded of my theological drift from a hardcore pretribulational dispensationalist, to a post-tribulation premillennialist (historic premill), to an amillennialist. At each stage there were times when I, in my arrogance, believed people must be insane or heretical or both for disagreeing with me. Real humble, huh?

There are issues where I haven't changed my opinions, and don't anticipate changing them (ie. the deity of Christ, justification by faith alone, the inerrancy of Scripture, etc.). However, I am praying that even on these more essential issues, God would give me a spirit of humility and not of pride. I will still believe that those who deny the inerrancy of Scripture are wrong, dangerously wrong, and yet I must learn to disagree with charity and humility.

Colossians 3:12-14, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (ESV).

one more thought from psalm 124

As I was thinking more about Psalm 124 and all the graphic imagery, I was struck again by what a deficient view of sin we have. We do not treat sin as though it were the great enemy of our souls, as though it was about to entrap and devour us. We coddle it, stroke it and call it anything but sin (bad habits, shortcomings, personality quirks, etc., but not sin). Anyway, as I was thinking about it, the metaphors of Psalm 124 seem to play a crucial role in our battle against sin. It is an enemy that poses as a seemingly harmless pest, or even a friend, but it is always working to destroy us. To fight against it, we must first realize it hostile intentions and then arm ourselves for the fight with the joy of the Lord (Nehemiah 8:10 "...for the joy of the LORD is your strength", ESV)

Relating to the Psalms

Last week I have been studying Psalm 124. To be honest, in the beginning I had a difficult time relating to all the talk about being destroyed, swallowed up, chewn alive, swept away by the enemy armies, etc. Clearly David was thinking about military campaigns and national survival.

However, to understand and relate to these psalms, it is helpful to remind ourselves of the continuity between Israel and the Church. God's people, whether in the Old Testament or the New, have always faced pressures. They may look different for national Israel than they do for the church, but God's people have always been under attack. Sometimes the armies have been physical, other times they are unseen.

The point of Psalm 124 is to remind us and call us to give thanks that God has rescued us. In many ways, we have been rescued from dangers far worse then enemy armies who would kill or enslave our bodies. We have been delivered from sin and Satan and death - spiritual enemies that would not only destroy our bodies, but seek to enslave and destroy our souls.

Thanks be to God! "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 2:15,ESV).

A Personal Update

Hello all. I hope things are going well for you. I thought I would take a minute to update you on what we have been up to recently. With a lot of help, we packed up the moving truck on Thursday night and Friday morning. We watched all our earthly possessions roll away on Thursday afternoon, and camped out in a very empty house Thursday night. We got ourselves on the road Friday morning and had a great trip. We stayed in Indy on Friday night and had a lot of fun in the hotel swimming pool. Saturday we got up early and finished the trip to Bloomington. We were met with a swarm of people to help us unload our moving truck, and we are very grateful. We finished unloading in about 45 minutes. We spent the rest of the day shuffling boxes and getting to know some new friends. Sunday we enjoyed going to our new church and celebrating my 31st birthday (I got a really awesome new coffee pot with great coffee to go in it!). Yesterday, Monday, was my first day in the office and I am so excited, and overwhelmed, by the new ministry opportunities. Tuesday morning I am writing this and am getting ready to dive in to the days work.
Please know how much we appreciate all those who lent us a hand packing, unpacking, watching the boys and so much more. We love you and will be in touch. Thanks.