I think it’s pretty clear that I am not a fan of Dispensationalism.  I simply cannot arrive at ‘Dispensational’ conclusions when I read Scripture.  That said, there are many things I appreciate about Dispensationalism.  Here’s a list…

1. Literal approach to Scripture.
2. Emphasis on the Inspiration of Scripture.
3. Godly lives of many Dispensationalists (produced by view of the imminence of Christ’s return).
4. Mission-mindedness (produced by view of the imminence of Christ’s return).
5. Distinction between Law and Gospel.

But probably the one point of Dispensationalism that I am most thankful for is the system’s approach to the Gospel of ‘grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone’ that saves.  And let me be unequivocalwhen I say this, most Dispensationalists believe and preach the true Gospel.  All of the Dispensationalists that I know have always believed right about Forgiveness of sins, Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification.  They have all believed that Christ’s work on the cross was God’s way of saving all who come to Him in faith and repentance.

Perhaps that’s why I get worked up when I read that a church feels the need to bar Dispensationalists from membership.  Or why another church feels to need to bar Covenant Theology guys from membership.  Or why both of those churches feels the need to bar New Covenant guys from membership.  These are matters of difference, yes, but which of them has rejected the Gospel?  Did MacArthur ever preach ‘another’ Gospel?  Did Sproul ever preach ‘another’ Gospel?  How about John Reisinger?  None of these men ever preached a Gospel that the other would condemn as ‘not the gospel’.  To be sure there are other things that would keep these men from being members in the same church.  MacArthur and Reisinger believe in believer’s baptism by immersion while Sproul does not.

But now take me and my fellow Elders at our church for example.  I lean more towards the New Covenant understanding of Scripture while another leans more towards a Dispensational understanding.  Another can’t really even be pinpointed to that degree.  But here is where we agree, the Bible is God’s Word, it should be preached as He inspired it, and we should take each word seriously.  So in the end our messages sound a lot alike in the sense that we are studying and preaching the same Bible.  And as long as we keep this expositional method of preaching we will become closer and closer in our understanding of Scripture.

Unity does not exist in conformity to one another’s particular views in this regard.  Unity exists in our conformity to Scripture as the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to mold us into the image of God’s Son.  Unity does not exist in our particular understandings of the Second Coming of Christ.  Unity exists in our belief that Scripture says that Christ is returning, that He will resurrect the dead, and that believer’s will have glorified bodies while unbeliever’s will be punished for their sins.  Unity does not exist in our views on Law, but in the Gospel of Christ.

If Jesus does not exclude Dispensationalists, or Covenantalists, or New Covenantalists from the Body of Christ, then neither should we exclude them from our local extension of the Body of Christ.  To do so is to divide the Body of Christ and to fall under the condemnation of Christ as His Word is revealed to us in Scripture through Paul when he says,

“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” Titus 3:9-11

And this will blow your mind…You don’t even have to be a Calvinist to join our church (although you will get it preached to you whenever it comes up in Scripture).  Calvinists and Noncalvinists can worship God together in harmony.  And each will be united in the same way we all are, through the Gospel and the ministry of the Word.

So who can’t join our church?  Unbelievers because we believe in regenerate church membership, the unbaptized because we believe   immersion upon profession of faith is prerequisite to church membership, the unorthodox because we believe the Trinity matters, and the ungodly because we believe that all true Christians will be sanctified.

Somewhere in a jungle in Africa a small tribe worships a snake.  Sometime past in Israel children were sacrificed to the pagan deity, Molech.  Everywhere I turn I think  the things of this world are of more consequence that God.  This is idolatry, and it’s not just bowing down and worshiping graven images.  It is a heart that treasures the things of this world above the God who creates, preserves, and redeems us.

“No other gods”, is a commandment that is not taken very seriously by many Christians today.  Mostly because we think that we have the problem licked.  But Greg Dutcher’s book, You Are The Treasure That I Seek…: But There’s a Lot Of Cool Stuff Out There, Lord, takes aim at this growing menace among even the most fundamental among Christians.

The book begins with examples of idolatry from Africa, then middle-class America, and then from an Evangelical, Bible-believing Pastor.  The point is that idolatry is alive and well, and it springs up day after day in life after life.

Following the opening chapter, Dutcher continues on with the bad news of our sin of idolatry as he shows us the penalty for this sin, and then explains further how idolatry is deeply rooted in the fallen nature of man.  Then we get the good news, Jesus Christ came to save idolaters.

The rest of the book then is aimed at the sanctification of the believer through learning to identify idolatry in our own lives and then go on the offense against idolatry.  The best defense is a strong offense, the best way to root out idolatry (loving, trusting, or fearing things other than God), is by focusing our love on God through Christ.

The book is very practical in it’s content, but then Dutcher takes practicality to a new level.  The end of the book includes two appendices, Idolatry Syndrome Study Cases (illustrations of what idolatry looks like in different situations) and A First-Aid Kit For Recovering Idolaters (Scriptures, Prayers, and Quotes for fighting idolatry).  At the end of each chapter and the first appendix questions for further study invite us to go further in our study and think more deeply about idolatry in our own lives.  The study questions would make the book ideal for a book discussion group.

I highly recommend this book to be read by Christians who believe that they have idolatry defeated, or those who realize that they don’t.

Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting, and life-engaging is how I would describe this book.

If you would like to accept John Calvin as your personal theologian, repeat this prayer (often called the Arminian’s Prayer);

“Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire.”

If you said that prayer and really meant it in your heart, then John Calvin now lives in your head.  Write this date in the front of your Bible so that you’ll always remember that you have asked John Calvin into your head.  And remember, once a Calvinist, always a Calvinist!

Happy Birthday, John Calvin!

In case you missed it, and you probably did with all of the celebrity death media frenzy, Chris Leggett, a Cleveland TN native, and member of First Baptist Church in Cleveland, was killed last week by Al Qaeda in Mauritania on June 23rd.

The funeral service and burial is today at First Baptist Cleveland.

While the world mourns the losses of its heroes, Heaven takes special note of this martyr who died because of his Christian witness in NW Africa.

May God bless the family of Chris Leggett, and may our brother, Chris Leggett, rest peacefully in the arms of Christ.

We should pray with all the Christian martyrs,  “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10.

In case you missed it with all of the hoopla over Michael Jackson’s death, Billy Mays died yesterday morning.  This is far more traumatic to me as his new Discovery Channel show, Pitchmen, was quickly becoming one of my favorite shows on TV.

Apparently, Mays ws hit on the head  by some baggage in a plane as it made an emergency landing when the front tires blew out on Saturday.  He went home in in apparent good health and was found dead in the morning.

I don’t know if Mays was a believer or not, and I don’t know about you, but Scripture’s words, “Prepare to meet your God” ( Amos 4:12), seem appropriate.

We saw in the previous post that Obadiah is inspired and is profitable for study today.  In this post we will look at the first two verses which tell us what it is that God has to say through Obadiah to Edom.

The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!” Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. (Obadiah 1:1-2)

The message couldn’t be more clear.  God has sent a message among the nations to turn on Edom, to fight against Edom, and to ultimately destroy Edom.  This is surely not good news if you are an Edomite.  But it is if you are Israel.  Without getting into too many details that we will address later, since the days of Esau’s (Edom) and Jacob’s (Israel) conception there has been a rivalry between the two.  At times they seem to be friendly towards one another, or at the least, respectful, but the vast majority of times Edom is a huge stumbling-block to Israel.  They try to prevent Israel at every turn.  This is sibling rivalry at its worst.  But God has a message for both Edom and Israel, Edom will be utterly despised not only among Israelites, but among all the nations, and all the nations will rise up against her.

This is God’s message to Edom, “Judgment is coming.”  But with the same words he says to Israel, His chosen people, “You will be vindicated.”  So this is where this short book is heading,  God is loving Jacob and hating Esau.  And in the end, Esau, the older brother, will serve Jacob, the younger brother.

These are God’s words, and words to be heeded even in our day.  God loves the people He has chosen from before the foundation of the world.  He loves Christians, and even though we are mistreated at every turn, God will turn our enemies wickedness back on themselves.  He will show us His unchanging favor, and our enemies will endure His unending wrath.

Obadiah, as you may well know was an Old Testament Prophet.  His prophecy was spoken mainly to Edom, but Israel would have also been counted among his audience.

We don’t know who Obadiah was, there are anywhere from 11 to 13 ‘Obadiahs’ in the OT, but most don’t believe that Obadiah the prophet can be identified with any one of these ‘Obadiahs’.  So here is someone we know virtually nothing about, he doesn’t tell us who his father was or even who the king of Judah or Israel was at the time he announced his prophecy.  But here is what we do know, Obadiah had a vision from God (Obadiah 1).

Obadiah just gets down to business.  “Who I am isn’t important, but what is important is that God has spoken to me and shown me His truth.”  The first words of Obadiah are simply, “The vision of Obadiah.”  They are followed immediately by, “Thus says the Lord GOD…”  Obadiah’s few words give us a glimpse of what he understands his role to be.  He is the eyes and ears of Israel and Judah.  God has shown him something glorious and has spoken truth to him.  He is adamant about the fact that these are the words of God and not his own invention.  In fact, three more times in Obadiah’s short prophecy (4, 8, 18) he lets us know that it is God who speaks and not himself.

So here’s the point, Obadiah is often neglected, probably because of it’s length, the uncertainty concerning the author, and because the bulk of the prophecy is directed at Edom and not God’s people.  But here is the main reason Obadiah should not be neglected, God has spoken.  These are God’s words, and they too, are “…profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16).

So, I’m going to do my part by blogging through Obadiah.  I also reently preached a one sermon overview of Obadiah’s prophecy.  So if you want to hear that , here’s the link: The Older Shall Serve The Younger: Brother Edom, Election, and the Vindication of God’s Kingdom.  Sorry about the sound quality, our recorder messed up.

If you want to hear something shorter, but better, here’s a link to John Piper’s overview of Obadiah: Eagle Edom Will Come Down.

If that’s not enough for you, then listen to Mark Dever’s message: Does God Have Enemies? The Message of Obadiah.

When was the last time you heard someone say that they were saved by hearing the Gospel implied?  I don’t think I’ve ever heard any testimonies like that.

So when you preach, just go ahead and take the extra words to spell out the Gospel connection to your point.

A new paper has been presented by Helen Goltz for discussion.  In this paper she proposes (pun intended) that the term of marriage contracts should be shortened from lifetime down to either five or ten years.

Immediately, Bible-thumping Christians such as myself will quote Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (ESV) The Bible is unmistakeably clear on the issue, one man, one woman, one lifetime.  And, just as Jesus and Paul let us know, besides death, there are only two ways for this contract to be dissolved, unfaithfulness and abandonment.  And even in those cases we should seek restoration first.  Divorce is always the very last option.

However, there is more to Helen’s paper than just an attack on the duration of marriage.  The objectives would be;

1) A fixed-term to the marriage which could be renewed by choice.

2) Mutual renewing of vows and for the celebration of this act.

3) Remove the shame and stigma associated with the failure of marriage by divorce.

4) Encourage partners to work towards maintaining a good relationship.

While two of the objectives are admirable, the renewing of vows, or at the very least a reviewing of marriage vows every few years would be healthy for couples, and encouraging couples to work towards making their marriage last, the other two would not be very helpful at all.

Why is renewing the contract by choice more desirable than understanding the concept of a commitment for life?  In a sense, every day that a man gets out of bed to go to work to love, protect, and provide for his wife and family, and a woman wakes to provide her husband with all the things that women do (caring for the children, caring for the house, loving her husband, putting her hands to work to bring in extra money), we are renewing our commitment to one another daily.  And, what better motivation is there for maintaining a healthy relationship than the lifetime commitment?

But the third objective gets us to the root of the matter, Goltz wants to remove the shame and stigma of the failure of marriage.  I, too, see this as my goal, but the path to my goal is through the strengthening of the lifetime commitment so that divorce itself becomes obsolete, not by making marriage easier to get out of.  Goltz’s plan would require no action at all on the part of couples seeking to dissolve their marriage.  At the end of the five or ten year term the contract expires.  The only requirements in her plan puts the burden on committed couples who want to renew their contract.

Finally, and most disturbing, is that Goltz’s plan assumes that children are negotiables in marriage, citing research from Families in Australia: 2008 she says,

“By 2026, couples without children are projected by the ABS to be the most common type of family in Australia (44% of all families);”

Children are becoming increasingly viewed as a burden, a burden to parents, to the environment, to the health-care system, and now to the health and vitality of marriage.  Yes, it is true, children do burden us in many social situations, but at the same time, children are a gift to be treasured. “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” (Psalm 127:3 NASB)

If we are to live in a society that values the propagation of human life, and the sanctity of marriage, then we must not entertain ideas such as Goltz’s.  We must not make marriage easier to get out of, but harder in many cases.  Children must be viewed not only as integral and necessary parts of marriage, but also as gifts from God, who gives life to all things, and who has created man and woman for one another.

HT: Dave Foulk, Newsman extraordinaire.