For Webb “going beyond” the Bible means “be willing to venture beyond simply an isolated or static understanding of the Bible.” In a footnote Webb explains what he means: “A static understanding is reading the words of the Bible only within their immediate literary context, up and down the page.”[1] This is the historical-grammatical method well defined. Also, going beyond the Bible is progressing “beyond the frozen-in-time aspects of the ethical portrait found within the Bible.”[2]
Read moreTen Steps for Calling a Pastor to Your Church
When a church has need of a pastor they should go courting a potential candidate. Here are some brief suggested guidelines that certainly can be modified according to the need and policy of the church.
Read morePluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism: Which Is It?
Tim Keller writes a book defending the faith entitled The Reason for God. Keller addresses seven objections, which skeptics fire at Christianity.
Exclusivity is the first objections. This objection has been thrown at me when discussing religion with unbelievers. The objectors usually say, with rising blood pressure, something like: “You are arrogant and intolerant to think you are right and all other religions are wrong,” or “Your superior thinking about your religious views is dangerous and detrimental to world peace.”
Read moreThe Bible and the Sexual Revolution
Here is how Kevin DeYoung identified different homosexual groups in What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality.
Read moreThe Prayer Life of Jesus
Luke who in his Gospel emphasizes the humanity of Jesus stresses the prayer life of Jesus.
1. Jesus SHOWED us how to pray (Luke gives 9 examples of Jesus praying)
1) Jesus prayed before important occasions (Luke 3:21-22).
2) Jesus prayed after a hard day’s work (Luke 5:16).
3) Jesus prayed before important decisions (Luke 6:12, 13).
4) Jesus prayed at ordinary times (Luke 9:18).
5) Jesus prayed and was transformed (Luke 9:28-29).
6) Jesus prayed and provided an example (Luke 11:1).
7) Jesus prayed for others (Luke 22:32).
8) Jesus prayed for strength (Luke 22:39-46).
9) Jesus prayed before his death (Luke 23:46).
2. Jesus TAUGHT us how to pray
A. Jesus taught us one lesson on prayer (the Model Prayer) (Luke 11:1-4)
1) We first focus on God in worship (Luke 11:2)
2) Then we focus on Man’s needs (Luke 11:3-4)
B. Jesus taught us four illustrations on prayer
1) The Parable of the Importunate Friend (Luke 11:5-10)
God answers our intercessory prayers for others.
2) The Parable of the Human Father (Luke 11:11-13)
God answers our personal prayers for our spiritual needs
3) The Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8)
God answers our prayers for vengeance
4) The Parable of Two Prayers (Luke 18:9-14)
God only answers the prayers of the humble
(See Prayer in the Book of Acts)
A Biblcial Theology Argument against Abortion
In early 2019, the state of New York passed a new abortion bill that effectively legalized abortion right up until the moment of live birth. The new “Reproductive Health Act” even removed abortion altogether from the state’s criminal law, meaning that the murder of a pregnant woman and her unborn child is now, in New York, only a single homicide—the murder of the unborn child is not considered murder at all.1. The Scriptures addresses this legislation in New York.
Read moreThe Sinlessness of Christ
Bruce Ware in his book Bruce A. Ware, The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Questions on the Humanity of Christ (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013) teaches the impeccability of Christ, i.e., that Christ in His humanity could not have sinned because of His deity. Bruce A. Ware says Christ could not sin because His divine nature dominated His human nature but Christ did not sin in His humanity totally depended on the Word, the Holy Spirit, and His Father. This is a departure from the way the impeccability has been defended in the past. Before we examine this new defense of Christ’s inability to sin, let’s ask, “What has this theological debate have to do with my struggle with my particular nagging sin?” I mean, you might be saying, “Just yesterday, I lost again the battle with this sin. Today, I am guilt ridden. I need help not a theological discussion of whether Jesus was peccable or impeccable.” Good point. Let’s back up and get a running start on this problem and make it personal.
Read moreReview of Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Chapter Two: A Redemptive-Historical Model by Daniel M. Doriani)
One way to go beyond Scripture, according to Daniel M. Doriani, is to go beyond biblical language as with words like Trinity and substitutionary atonement. Another way to go beyond Scripture is to ask questions that the Bible never addresses such as stealing “intellectual and digital property.”[1] Doriani provides a summary of the RHM: “The Bible doesn’t have narratives; it is a narrative.”[2] This view has different meanings. “If narratives present paradigmatic individuals whom the faithful should emulate or avoid, then we have guidance for proper conduct in areas that direct teaching never covers. This is going beyond the Bible. For example, can a Christian work for the government? is not directly addressed in Scripture. But from the narratives of Scripture we have the examples of Joseph, Nehemiah, and Daniel.[3] There are NT exhortations to practice this principle as in 1 Cor. 10:6-10.
Read moreHow can Pastors Follow the Example of Nehemiah by Tim Stallings
This is the second of two posts by two of my D.Min. students’ Discussion Board responses to the question “How can Pastors Follow Nehemiah’s Example” that he set in Nehemiah Five. The first was by Heath Faircloth and this post is by Tim Stallings.
As a pastor and leader in the church, we are constantly being observed in our approach to leadership. One of the areas to show unselfish leadership is to humbly be transparent and vulnerable about our own personal journey of faith. One of my favorite verses for ministry is 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." I believe when a pastor/leader is transparent/vulnerable and shares about his own personal struggles and how he has received comfort, the congregation can see his humility and he can make a connection with the congregation.
In Chapter 5 Nehemiah was firm in his leadership but showed compassion and care for his people as they worked on the wall. He confronted the nobles and addressed their wrongdoings. He provided comfort and care for those who had been harmed.
Another area that a pastor/leader can be unselfish is by occasionally sharing his pulpit with others and allowing them to speak before the church. Personal testimonies from our congregation can be a powerful addition to our preaching. God uses these times greatly. Revelation 12 states that the enemy "is conquered by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
How can Pastors Follow Nehemiah's Example? by Heath Faircloth
The next two excellent posts are by two of my D.Min. students’ Discussion Board responses to the question “How can Pastors Follow Nehemiah’s Example” that he set in Nehemiah Five. The first is by Heath Faircloth and the following is by Tim Stallings.
Admittingly, this topic isn’t quite as easy as one might suggest. On the one hand, as a pastor, I desperately want to be an example for others to follow in my life, but, on the other hand, there is a fine line between wanting others to see Jesus in me and being prideful in what Jesus is doing through me. Pride is a dangerous sin. Pride has been the downfall of many men in ministry and in the business world. No one is immune from its evils. Augustine said that “Pride is the commencement of all sin.”[1] However, it is equally as prideful when I am more concerned about how others view me than I am in helping them become more like Jesus. Bloom has well stated, “However, if there is something in my life that is exemplary that might help you, but I don’t say anything because I’m more concerned with how you view me than with helping you increase your joy, that’s just pride borrowing humility’s clothes. I love me more than I love you.”[2] Therefore, as long as my heart is pure, I must help others by being an example.
One way I have challenged people in the pulpit is through sacrificial giving, specifically for special offerings like Lottie Moon. While I do not share the amount that my family gives, I will often give the parameters by which we base our giving: no one gets a single gift bigger than what we give Jesus during our Mission’s offering. For several years, we gave more to this particular offering than all other Christmas gifts combined.
Secondly, I can tell stories of how I am serving others. It could be my neighbors that do not know Jesus. It could be something that happened at a particular outreach event or service project, but remind people that you are there and allow your example to be a way of leadership in these areas.
Next, and this may not always be in the pulpit, but I am a firm believer that the pastor is the worship leader. He may not be the one leading the singing, but he needs to set the example of worship. If he does exemplify a spirit of worship, it is doubtful that those he leads will either.
Finally, I can be an unselfish example by confessing my sin in an open, transparent way when I mess up. I’m not advocating for every Sunday to be an open confessional time, but from time to time, I need to remind my people that I mess up and am in need of repenting of my own sin. Hopefully, this will be a reminder to them that they too need to repent when they mess up and be an avenue that will help them to take sin serious in their own hearts.
[1] “Sin of Pride,” All About God, accessed at https://www.allaboutgod.com/sin-of-pride.htm
[2] Jon Bloom, “Imitate Me: Laying Aside the Weight of False Humility,” Desiring God, September 22, 2017, accessed at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/imitate-me
Review of Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Chapter One: A Principlizing Model by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.)
Chapter One: A Principlizing Model by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. (Colman M. Mockler Emeritus Distinguished Professor of OT and Ethics and President Emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts).
Kaiser advocates applying specifics principles from the ancient text to the contemporary culture. Kaiser provides lists and defines six principles that expose euthanasia as wrong. Kaiser draws principles from different text in his opinion to justify women praying and prophesying. The next issue Kaiser deals with is homosexuality. Kaiser states that no one needs to go beyond the Bible to see that homosexuality is condemned in seven passages. Kaiser believes there are principles in the Bible, such as found in the book of Philemon, that teach slaves should be freed. Kaiser teaches that there are adequate principles against abortion and embryonic stem cell research that no one needs to go beyond the Bible.
Read moreReview of Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Introduction)
Gary T Meadors, general editor (Professor of Greek and NT at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan), notes that “moving beyond the Bible” is based on I. Howard Marshall’s Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology.
Read moreDon’t Waste Your Life (Psalm 127)
Solomon in the only Pilgrim Psalm (Psalm 127) he wrote, challenged us three times in two verses, not to live a “vain” or empty, worthless, or wasted life. John Piper wrote a book entitled Don’t Waste Your Life. In chapter three, he wrote of two women who some might consider to have wasted their lives. In April 2000, Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards were killed in Cameroon, West Africa. Ruby was over eighty. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing eighty years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon. The brakes failed, the car went over a cliff, and they were both killed instantly…. Was that a tragedy?
Read moreGod’s Protection (From everything that is not His will) Psalm 121
David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) the famous missionary and explorer of the continent of Africa, read Psalm 121 and which praises God for his protection as we journey doing his will. Livingston read Psalm 121 to his father and sister before setting out for Africa in 1840. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Moffat, wrote him at that Psalm 121 was always in her mind as she thought about and prayed for him.” (James Montgomery Boice).
Read moreReview of Pastoral Preaching: Expository Preaching for Pastoral Work by Richard Caldwell
Richard Caldwell contends in his book “that these two subjects (preaching and pastoral work) must be joined in our thinking.” He calls this “pastoral preaching.”[1] Caldwell supports his thesis with a quote from Charles Jefferson who wisely observed “When the minister goes into the pulpit he is the shepherd in the act of feeding, and if every minister had borne this in mind many a sermon would have been other than it has been. The curse of the pulpit is the superstition that a sermon is a work of art and not a piece of bread or meat… Sermons, rightly understood, are primarily forms of food. They are articles of diet. They are meals served by the minister for the sustenance of spiritual life.”[2]
Read moreBook Review of First Theology: God, Scripture, and Hermeneutics by Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Kevin J. Vanhoozer is Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Chapter One: First Theology: Meditations in a Postmodern Tool shed
Vanhoozer states that doing theology includes God, Scripture, and hermeneutics which he calls first theology or “theological hermeneutics” (9). This chapter introduces “the post-modern challenge to theology” which is deconstructing the Bible of authoritative meanings behind the text, such as, patriarchy. Chapter one seeks to answer which should come first in our study of theology, theology proper or bibliology. Vanhoozer state that both should begin our study. The first chapter introduces “the notion of Scripture as a diverse set of divine speech acts.” This chapter introduces “the importance of learning wisdom by indwelling the biblical texts.” Vanhoozer’s strong contention is that “wisdom is more than information.... It is lived knowledge” (39). Vanhoozer concludes “there is no more vital task facing Christians today than responding faithfully to Scripture as God’s authoritative speech acts---not because the book is holy but because the Lord is, and because the Bible is his Word, the chief means we have of coming to Jesus Christ” (41).
Read moreA Biblical Goal for 2021
What day of the year are more goals set than any other day of the year? This coming Friday or New Year’s Day. Michael Hyatt in a video series called 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever says that traditional goal setting doesn’t work. He backs up this statement with these facts:
1. 95% of those who lose weight on a diet plan regain it and some gain more than they originally lost.
2. 25% of people abandon their New Year’s resolution after one week and 60% after six months.
3. The average person makes the same New Year’s resolution 10 times in a row without success.
I read about a recent medical study that reported nearly 600,000 people undergo heart bypass surgery each year in America. Because the procedure is a temporary fix, afterwards patients must make lifestyle changes by eating healthier, quitting smoking, exercising, reducing their stress. It becomes a life or death issue! But the study revealed a shocking result. Ninety percent of heart patients don’t change. They continue the same path prior to their surgery. They know change is important and consequences are life-threatening, but they stay the same
(Reginaldi, Paul; Dodson, Amanda (2013-08-20). Revitalized Church, How To Leave A Legacy Church (Kindle Locations 1316-1322).
Review of The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God by Alva J. McClain
Review of The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God by Alva J. McClain (1888-1968) who was the founding president of Grace Theological Seminary and Grace College from 1937-1962.
Part One---Introductory Considerations
I. The Greatness of the Kingdom
McClain contends that “The Kingdom of God is, in a certain and important sense, the grand central them of all Holy Scripture.”[1] He adds that “the Kingdom as set forth in Biblical revelation, with its rich variety and magnificence of design, may actually blur the vision of good men to other matters of high theological importance to Christian faith.”[2] Michael Vlach agrees: “When you study the kingdom you are examining the grand theme of Scripture and the solution for all that’s wrong.”[3]
II. Various Interpretative Ideas about the Kingdom
McClain explains briefly eight different views on the Kingdom. The seventh, The Liberal Social-Kingdom Idea is the view that Walter Rauschenbusch and other Social Gospel advocate held to. McClain notes that according to this view “the Kingdom of God is the progressive social organization and improvement of mankind, in which society rather than the individual is given first place. The main task of the church is, therefore, to establish a Christian Social Order which in turn will actually make (next McClain quotes Rauschenbusch) ‘bad men do good things.’”[4]
Read moreThe Three Kings of Christmas
"Larry King, the former CNN talk show host, was once asked whom he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'" (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998. Cited by ChristianAnswers.net).
We already have the answer to that question in God’s Word and the virgin birth of Jesus did define history. Luke the historian documents this defining moment in Luke 2. Jesus is one of three kings in the history of the Biblical account of His birth.
Read moreAngelology or Angel Mania
At Christmas, we simply think more about angels. We sing Christmas carols like Hark the Herald Angels Sing. We have angels adorning our Christmas trees. We send and receive Christmas cards with angels on the front. Ladies wear angel like jewelry. We watch our favorite Christmas movies with angels such as Jimmy Stewart’s It’s a Wonderful Life with Clarence the 2nd class angel who is trying to win his wings.
Most of us have heard angel stories from our childhood. Billy Graham in his 1975 Angels: God's Secret Agents told this angel story about his wife’s grandmother’s death: “The room seemed to fill with a heavenly light. She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, ‘I see Jesus. He has his arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier], and I see the angels.’ Then she slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord.”
Read more