One of the passions of my life is that Christians learn how to think well. Consider the following quote from Al Mohler:

While this is very much true of the population at large, this ought not to be among Christians. Unfortunately, the facts are that most Christians look just like the world in this area of their lives. They form opinions and have perspectives that they shouldn't just because they have not learned to think well.

In some ways it is difficult to blame Christians for not thinking well. We have been so programmed by the world and so affected by our culture that we feel that our actions are ours to decide. "It's my life, I'll live it how I want" is a mantra that even some professing Christians adopt. Although this perspective is profoundly unbiblical, it has infiltrated even our churches.

Someone may say, even if we should not live certain ways, certainly our thoughts are ours to choose for ourselves. However, this is not how the Bible represents our thought life. Jesus said that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his heart, because that is what reveals his inner iniquity. The inner man is where true godliness is determined. Actions are simply the outworking of our thought processes. Thinking is in the moral realm. It is something that is inherently ethical. Paul speaks on this topic clearly:

Therefore one of the great goals of our lives is to think in such a way that honors and glorifies God. As Christ is our elder brother and the perfect image of the living God, there is a very real sense in which we should ask What Would Jesus Think? Truly going a step further, many have said that the great goal in the thought life of the Christian is to "think God's thoughts after Him." This perspective is especially explicated in the writings of Cornelius Van Til:

How are we able to think God's thoughts after him? This seems to be quite a tall order. It is indeed, but it is a task that we must commit ourselves to. I'll leave you with some practical advice on how to think God's thoughts after him.

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1 Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2012), 59.
2 Cornelius Van Til, Essays on Christian Education (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ, 1979).
3 Kenneth O. Gangel and Howard G. Hendricks, The Christian Educator’s Handbook on Teaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 65.
4 A. W. Tozer and Ron Eggert, The Tozer Topical Reader, vol. 2 (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 1998), 236–237.

"And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him." Mt 17:2–3.

The transfiguration is a very special event in the life of Jesus and the disciples who were following him. The event itself had several significances that are important, especially for the disciples to understand. However, something struck me about this text that is not really the main point. The transfiguration gives us a small peek, a special glimpse if you will, into the afterlife - particularly of Moses and Elijah.

While the appearing of Moses and Elijah are for a particular purpose and by design of God, note one small fact that may not have hit you right away: Moses and Elijah in their full personalities and consciousness are actually here appearing in history per God's redemptive plan. Far from being simple "tools" accomplishing God's purposes, Moses and Elijah get the opportunity to speak with the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.

What's more, look at their manner of speech. The same account in Luke 9 tells us that they were speaking about Jesus going to the cross. However, these men are actually simply standing and speaking to the king of the universe. One gets the impressions that this is a somewhat regular occurrence for saints who have gone to glory. Moses and Elijah aren't falling on their faces or weeping before the Lord, they are chatting with him about the great plan of redemption.

I don't mean to diminish the content of which they were speaking, nor the importance of their appearance and help, rather I simply strive to get at the fact that speaking with our God and maker and our Lord Jesus Christ is something that Moses and Elijah seem fairly accustomed to; and is likely something we will do regularly in the afterlife. Sometimes I get the impression in my head that heaven is a vast gathering of people, and God is still somewhere far off beyond the throngs of saints. Maybe I will get to see him one day in eternity, but I'll probably have to wait in a very long line. I would submit that this isn't a correct perspective. I don't know exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that I will be closer to my God and the saints than I have ever been on this earth. I think J. C. Ryle gives a great closing thought for us to ponder on this text:

"Now we have in the transfiguration the clearest evidence that the dead will rise again. We find two men appearing on earth, in their bodies, who had long been separate from the land of the living, and in them we have a pledge of the resurrection of all. All that have ever lived upon earth will again be called to life, and render up their account: not one will be found missing. There is no such thing as annihilation. All that have ever fallen asleep in Christ will be found in his safekeeping: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, down to the humblest servant of God in our own day. “Though unseen to us they all live to God.” “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38). Their spirits live as surely as we live ourselves, and will appear hereafter in glorified bodies, as surely as Moses and Elijah on the mountain. These are indeed solemn thoughts! There is a resurrection, and men like Felix may well tremble. There is a resurrection, and men like Paul may well rejoice."

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J. C. Ryle, Matthew, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 149–150.

Church History is a vast repository of information for us today. There are so many fellow believers who have gone down before us, and it can be very helpful to learn from them. In a positive sense, we truly stand upon the shoulders of giants. I know that when I was first saved and examining the Bible for myself I really felt like I was blazing a new trail. All of these discoveries seemed new and exiting to me; surely I was the first one making these connections! It is only after I began reading material from early church fathers and systematic theologians down through the centuries that I began to realize that I am not the only one who has walked this path. That information is extremely helpful, as oftentimes many of my brothers and sisters in the faith have already done some of the "heavy lifting" for me.

In a negative sense, there truly is nothing new under the sun. So many of the errant religious viewpoints and heresies that we deal with today are simply recycled from the past. Gnosticism and Deism run rampant among liberal theologians in our day. Cults recycle old Arianism and Sabellianism and simply attach their names to it instead. Having a working knowledge of what people have erringly believed in the past can do much to inform us as to the battles we are fighting today. Today I want to point to examples of some of those who have gone down before us from whom we can learn in both the positive and negative sense.

Bernard of Clairvaux lived from roughly from 1090 - 1153 AD. He was born in eastern France outside of Dijon in the Burgundy province. His writings are insightful and touch on such important doctrines as the love of God. He is referred to by some as the “honey-tongued doctor.” Unfortunately, this man lived during the crusades, and the influence of that culture can be seen in his life. "The Abbot of Clairvaux . . . exercised great influence in ecclesiastical and political affairs. He was a supporter of the Second Crusade and preached throughout Europe to raise money for the military campaign."

Living during the early to mid 1500's, the reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin brought about great return to the true gospel of God and the reading of the Bible. However, they lived during a time period when heretics were routinely killed for their beliefs. Calvin interacted by letter routinely with a heretic named Servetus. When Servetus showed up in Calvin's city - Geneva, Calvin had him arrested by the secular authorities and he was subsequently tried. Servetus was found guilty by the authorities. Calvin tried to get them to reduce the sentence to no avail. Tweedie notes: "Thirty-five years thereafter Calvin delivered up Servetus to secular justice. Melancthon congratulated him for it, and publicly sustained the thesis 'that the magistrates of Geneva did well to burn the heretic.' . . . The Word had produced the Reformation; but to defend itself, it preferred the scaffold to the Word. The execution of Servetus was at once the fruit and the remedy of this fatal inconsistency."

Robert L. Dabney lived from 1820 - 1898 AD. He was an excellent theologian and confederate army chaplain. His work has been some of the most influential in recent Presbyterian history. Unfortunately he also wrote the following: "Our system is represented as oppressive and cruel, appointing different penalties for crimes to the black man and the white man; depriving the slave of the privilege of testifying against a white in a court of justice; subjecting him to frequent and inhuman corporal punishments, and making it a crime for him to exercise the natural right of self-defence, when violently assailed by a white man. The reply is, that the penal code of Virginia was properly made different in the case of the whites and the blacks, because of the lower moral tone of the latter."

From all of these men we have something to learn, both in a positive and negative sense. Positively, I want you to recognize the following: All truth is God's truth. So many times I have heard Christians tell me "I don't read Calvin, he was a murderer," or "Dabney was a racist, the only thing to learn from him is how NOT to do theology." Such statements are misguided at best. On that same argument I should not read Moses because he was a murderer, nor David because he was an adulterer. One of the beautiful things about the Bible is that it is honest and up front about the sins of the saints. It meets us where we are and where we live. Fellow saints down through history are no different. We need to have the biblical and theological acumen to recognize how to separate wheat from chaff ourselves when we read church history; not write off wholesale those whom we have deemed to be unworthy in advance. Really, this principle applies to all of life. We can glean special insights from Hume and Kant, Thoreau and even Oprah. All human beings are created in the image of God and as such they cannot escape his truth no matter how hard they try. Sometimes God has gifted even the most wretched unbeliever with special insight; how much more a fallible saint in history. All truth is God's truth.

Negatively, we are given an example of how not to act. I don't mean this in an elementary manner either. All of these saints have something in common: they capitulated to the society and worldview of their day to the point of compromising their Christian walk. Surely if Dabney were born during our day, he would not have turned out to be racist. Bernard of Clairvaux likely would not have supported evangelism by the sword if it were not already happening during his time. We are affected by our society and culture much more than we would like to admit, and each of these men are shining examples of why we must not compromise. There are not one, but two major issues that we must stand firm on during our day and age even in spite of great pressure and opposition from the culture. Those issues are evolution and homosexuality. Christians are defecting left and right, compromising because they have not examined the Bible closely enough on the topics, lack the understanding to effectively defend the biblical position, or have lost the spine to stand up under the pressure. Beloved, please learn from the examples of these men. We must stand firm despite what may come. These are defining controversies during our day and age, and while I would like to deal with each of them in more depth in the future, I hope today you will take the charge seriously to stand firm in the face of the opposition, even if the entire world may assail us. "Let God be true though every one were a liar" - Romans 3:4

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Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, “Introduction,” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 202.
Gregg R. Allison, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 739.
W.K. Tweedie, Calvin and Servetus: The Reformer’s Share in the Trial of Michael Servetus (London: John Johnstone, 1846), 224-225.
Robert L. Dabney, A Defence of Virginia, and through Her, of the South, in Recent and Pending Contests Against the Sectional Party (New York: E. J. Hale & Son, 1867), 220.

The doctrine of General Revelation is one of the most important to understand correctly in our day. A particularly insightful passage regarding this topic is Romans 1:18-32. Paul makes many things about general revelation explicitly clear which deserve our attention; particularly the fact that God exists, that we are accountable to him, and that he will judge us for disobeying him – both in this life and the next.

                The first thing that general revelation teaches us is that God exists. Although this fact is something that the atheistic camp may not want to hear, Paul makes this very clear in our text. “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God . . .” Note first of all the strength of Paul’s language. All people know God. It is not simply that they know of him in some sort of hearsay fashion. They haven’t simply heard about God from others. No, every human being, even unbelievers, know God himself. This is not to say they all know him in an intimate or salvific fashion. Rather, this sort of knowing is exactly what Calvin speaks of when he discusses the fact that knowledge of God and knowledge of self are inextricably intertwined. Paul makes it clear that this knowledge of God is grounded in general revelation; that is when we are confronted with ourselves and the created world around us we are immediately struck by knowledge of God. Note also, that this knowledge is not a general idea or vague understanding of a god. Paul states that God’s particular attributes are known through this general revelation. The god who is revealed in this fashion is particularly THE biblical God, not just a general deity out there somewhere in the universe.

                Secondly, general revelation tells people that they are accountable to the biblical God. Paul makes several allusions to this concept in our text, but he cannot be more clear than verse 32: “Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Paul’s indication is not only that all people know God through general revelation, but that we are aware that we are accountable to him and know his commands. How can we know what God requires of us? While Paul will expand on this concept later, it is primarily through the conscience that God communicates his righteous requirements to us.  Paul will later state that our conscience either accuses or excuses us based upon what we do. This internal “moral monitor” is placed in us by God and indicates to us his righteous demands upon our lives. Although people often try to suppress this knowledge and argue their way out of these truths, they are never successful in fooling themselves. Everyone knows that they are accountable to God and one day stand before him, whether they want to admit it or not.

                Finally, as indicated in verse 32 we are aware that God will judge us for disobeying him. Paul states: “that those who practice such things deserve to die.” The knowledge of God’s judgment over our actions is placed in the center of all human beings. The fact that man’s inherent religiousness so often manifests itself in works-based worldviews abundantly demonstrates this fact. How many religions have been created that emphasize so strongly living a moral life before God so as to earn his favor? It seems that all men everywhere, even those who have not had the light of God’s special revelation, know that God has “appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.” However, this knowledge of God’s judgment always meets with works righteousness or suppression in man’s natural state. While the creation and conscience bear witness to these things, man’s continuing efforts are exhausted in trying to either appease these standards that are too high, or suppress any knowledge of God from memory. Ultimately the sinful soul does not want to be accountable to anyone but themselves. It has been the same sin of human autonomy that has plagued man since the garden. We may have gotten more complex in “hiding our nakedness,” but ultimately all men know deep down that they will be judged by the God of Scripture.

                While general revelation can tell us much about God, man fights against it until the bitter end. Unless the Spirit of God moves sovereignly on a sinner’s life, they will in no wise submit to their Creator. Thankfully God has given us even more than general revelation, in the special revelation of his Word, that ultimately “takes on flesh and dwells among us.”

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Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite preachers of all time. There is a reason they called him the "prince" of preachers. His style was not always "correct," but it was always passionate. He didn't always get the expository thought dead-on, but he always illustrated his point with skill and made strong application to his hearers' lives. Between his strength and force of style, and his ease of painting a word picture; I can think of no preacher alive today who preaches as Spurgeon did.

On May 9, 1858 Spurgeon preached a sermon titled "The World Turned Upside Down." The text Spurgeon chose was Acts 17:6 - “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” Spurgeon spends much time in the sermon endeavoring to show how the gospel of Jesus Christ turns the world upside down. He speaks eloquently of classes of men, maxims, and religious notions all being flipped on their head by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and illustrates each point abundantly throughout. Then, in typical Spurgeon fashion, he applies the text to his hearers by appealing to idea of whether or not their worlds have been turned upside down by the gospel.

"If any of you would be saved, your hearts must be turned upside down. I will now appeal to you, and ask you whether you have ever felt this—whether you know the meaning of it?"

Regeneration is one of the most important and special of Christian doctrines. It states that those whom God saves he also changes. Scripture speaks of being a "new creation." This is what Jesus was speaking about when he told Nicodemus that he must be "born again" before he could even see the kingdom of God. This isn't to say that Christians become perfect. Rather, they experience a radical altering of their desires that ultimately affects their lifestyle choices. Spurgeon explains in vivid detail:

“Again, it is a complete upsetting of all your pleasures. You loved the tavern once; you hate it now. You hated God’s house once; it is now your much-loved habitation. The song, the Sunday newspaper, the lewd novel—all these were sweet to your taste; but you have burned the books that once enchanted you, and now the dusty Bible from the back of the shelf is taken down, and there it lies, wide open, upon the family table, and it is read both morn and night, much loved, much prized and delighted in . . .

. . . Every thing is upside down there. The children say, ‘Father is so altered.’ They never knew such a thing. He used to come home sometimes drunk of a night, and the children used to run up stairs and be in bed before he came in; and now little John and little Sarah sit at the window and watch till he comes home; and they go toddling down the street to meet him, and he takes one in his arms, and the other by the hand, and brings them home with him.

can you now say, ‘Although I am in the world, yet am I not of it; its pomps and vanities I do eschew; its pride and its glory I trample under feet; these are nothing to me; I would follow my Master bearing his cross, through evil report and through good report?’ If such be not the case, if you are not changed, remember, there are no exceptions; one truth is true for all—‘Except ye be born again, ye cannot see the kingdom of heaven.’”

Spurgeon affirms what Jesus affirmed, when God saves, he also changes.

Has your life been changed? Reflect on your current state this morning. Are you a different person than you were before you learned of Christ? Perhaps you see little to no difference. I would encourage you to pursue God on the matter in prayer. Assurance of salvation is possible, and it is a gift that God grants in his Son. Seek out Christ while he still may be found.

To the Christian: you see a change in your life. You know that God has moved and you have tasted of his grace and mercy. However, you are constantly discouraged and beset by your apparent lack of progress and struggles with sin. The solution for you is the same. Seek out Christ, and God will grant the victory. However, take heart in the fact that God has caused you to be concerned with holiness. The more Christ becomes to you, the more the carnal world and its lies will fade away. Make much of Christ in your thoughts and dogged pursuits, and he will become precious to you.

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C. H. Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 4 (London; Glasgow: Passmore & Alabaster; James Paul; George John Stevenson; George Gallie, 1858), 225, 231-232.

God’s attribute of blessedness is one of his least discussed attributes in churches today. Many in the vaguely nondenominational evangelical camp have too deficient a theology to account for any of God’s attributes other than his love and even that attribute is reduced and stripped of much of its meaning. Many in the conservative and traditional camps are so busy reacting against what they see as an overemphasis on and misrepresentation of the love of God that they spend all of their time stressing his holiness and justice. Consequently attributes such as God’s blessedness receive little to no explication. This is unfortunate, as God’s blessedness provides us with an important lens through which to view God’s motivations towards man; both is his creation, and his redemption.

In 1 Timothy 1:11 God is referred to by Paul as “the blessed God.” The term used here is also applied to Christ later in the book (6:15), and its primary connotation is one of being privileged or happy. Quite simply, our God is a happy God. Is that thought or attribute one that often crosses our minds? Often times we think of God as being the very opposite. He is always angry and upset with the world, ready to pour out his judgment at any moment. Or perhaps our image of God is a bit more charitable, looking out for opportunities to bless his people and show his love to them. While both of these perspectives are true in some sense and emphasize others of God’s attributes rightfully, they both fail to account for God’s blessedness. In a very real sense, God takes real and emotional delight in himself and in his creation. God truly is a happy God.

We must first note that God’s blessedness is fully sufficient within himself. As the Triune God, He has always been perfectly blessed and happy to take delight in the other persons within the Trinity. God shows love because God is love, and God is love precisely because he is Triune. It is within the context of this inter-Trinitarian love that God’s blessedness is fully realized and sufficiently satisfied. This means that God does not “need” anything or anyone else in order to be happy or satisfied. With that said however, we can now explore how God’s happiness is extended to us.

Have you ever wondered why God created everything? Some have tried to explain God’s creation of the world and humans by saying he was “lonely.” Not only is this perspective terribly shallow, but it is also theologically incorrect. As we have seen, God has always been perfectly happy and satisfied in the communion he has within the persons of His Triune nature. Instead, it is better to view God’s creation out of the superabundance of His love and glory. Though He did not need to, God created us so that we could enjoy his blessedness and ascribe glory to Him for it. Jesus brings this out in his high priestly prayer in John 17:20-24: "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."

Our perception of God’s blessedness does not end with creation, however. It pursues us into the realm of our redemption as well. God was not content to allow His creatures that rejected him to persist in their lost and tragic state. Instead, he devised a way to bring them back into communion with him so that they might enjoy and partake in his inter-Trinitarian blessedness as he originally intended. So the Scriptures tell us that Jesus went to the cross “for the joy that was set before him” and that “it was the will of the Lord to crush him.” It was God’s good pleasure to chase after sinful mankind and bring them back to himself.

God takes great delight in himself and his perfection. He is right to do so, as he is the very definition of goodness, love, and perfection. However, God’s self-delight is not some narcissistic ego trip. There is so much blessedness within the Godhead that he saw fit to share himself with his creatures. The Bible is a book of redemption, and it is important to view that redemption in light of all of who God is. God takes great joy in us! He is a happy God who delights in his people and desires to share loving relationship with them. It will do much for our relationship with him if we keep in mind his blessedness as we continue to look forward to the day when we will see him face to face.

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Hello, everybody and welcome to my website and blog! This website aims to be nothing more than my personal repository. Here I will post my sermons, bible studies, and general thoughts about various topics. Blog posts will run the gamut of apologetics, theology, politics, etc.

While you will find the bent of my writing to be particularly religious as I am a committed Christian; I hope also to make occasional posts regarding some of my hobbies and past times.

I hope you find the information available here helpful. Please feel free to use the "contact me" page to send me a personal e-mail. Also, feel free to comment on any blog posts you'd like. I will endeavor to answer them both in an expedient manner. Thanks, again!

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