My son and the repentance of God

I am working at home today and my son came down and asked if he could ask me a question. Sure.

"I am reading 1 Samuel 15 for Omnibus today and I read that God regretted that he made Saul king over Israel. Since God ordained everything that takes place, how can this be real regret?"

What does a father say? With a big, thankful gulp, I offered a silent prayer of gratitude to a God who would bless me with a son who thinks while he reads and is not afraid to ask hard questions.

I grabbed my Bible and turned to 1 Sam 15. I then pointed out not only the verse at 1 Sam 15:35, but also 1 Sam 15:29. "Son, how can God not be able to regret and regret six verses later?"

Blank stare. The dawning recognition of a deeper complication. "I don't know."

I would have loved to just tell him what I believe. But I wanted him to go read it somewhere. Maybe that is still telling him, but it would be good for him to read someone other than me.

I sent him here.

Praise God.

True Freedom

"True freedom before God is the freedom to do what is right as God defines what is right."

This quote is from Doug Wilson when discussing Augustine's definition of freedom and free market systems. It is an excellent quote quite apart from that.

I have an old tape where R.C. Sproul called this Royal Freedom.

I find it very interesting when people argue against the sovereignty of God over the salvation of men by saying that God is somehow restricting their freedom. What kind of freedom do you want, for goodness' sake? Freedom to sin, or true freedom?

Praying for Salvation?

Years ago I led a Sunday school class through the doctrine of election. I had wonderful Christian friends in that class who really struggled with accepting the doctrine. One of the issues that was very difficult for them to accept is whether God can overcome someone's "free will." This felt very obtrusive to my friends. Yet, I noticed an inconsistency in their belief, because at the same time they did not like the idea of God electing people unto salvation from before the foundation of time, they had no problem praying and asking God to save a particular person now.

Can we hold a position where on one hand we don't want God to choose or elect someone unto salvation, and on the other ask God to save someone presently?

Cry Out to the Lord

I had the pleasure of preaching at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN last Sunday. My sermon on Psalm 107 is available for listening. Right click to download.

That which is to be, already has been

I realize that there is a lot more going on in Ecclesiastes than meets the eye. Is there one writer or two? Is it Solomon or not?

Yet, there are nuggets of truth in Ecclesiastes that are beyond profound and require serious thought. So many of the arguments of our day wrestle around the doctrine of God's sovereignty. I have believed in God's absolute sovereignty for years now, and while I still wrestle with the ramifications of that belief, I find it very comforting.

Here is a nugget from Ecclesiastes that is worth our time pondering:

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15: I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Loose Threads

One of the things that makes a story a good story is when all the loose threads are tied up in the end. A story that weaves an intricate tapestry but leaves many threads untied at the end is not satisfying. When all loose ends are tied up and everything is accounted for, then the tapestry (or the story) is that much more beautiful and satisfying.

If one considers all of history -- redemption history -- a story, then it seems reasonable to hope that all the threads of human history will be tied up nicely a the end. I believe that God, as the premier storyteller, will make sure that all the loose ends are tied up. In other words, the reason for cancer, wars, car accidents, theft, betrayal, tsunamis, hurricanes, plane crashes, crib death, drugs, and a million other sufferings will be beautifully explained and satisfying by the time we read the last page.

To live this life believing in anything else would lead me, at least, to despair.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:8-11)

Help me, O Lord!

The first eleven verses of Psalm 74 are a cry out to the Lord for help. The “enemy” of the Lord, the Lord’s “foes” are destroying the meeting places of God. They are breaking down the carved wood, they are setting the sanctuary on fire. In the beginning of this psalm, Asaph sees this as God’s anger toward his people. He attributes the suffering of God’s people at the hand of the Lord’s enemies as the Lord’s anger at his people, “O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?” This is a pleading cry, not an angry accusation. Asaph understands that God is ultimately sovereign over the enemies.

There is an interesting word at the beginning of verse 12. In the ESV and NASB the word is “Yet.” In the Hebrew it is a waw used in a concessive manner. Despite the fact that God is angry toward us, nevertheless, “God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.”

This is an intriguing response to the situation that the people of God were in. Asaph and the people of God are suffering. They are being put down by God’s foes and enemies. They are crying out to God for help, for defense, for deliverance. Yet in the midst of this horror, Asaph recognizes, remembers, believes, holds-on to the fact that God is making salvation or working salvation from ancient times in the land. God is doing something bigger in the midst of the terror. God is working salvation in the land, despite the fact that everyone is at a loss. God is doing something deeper than what Asaph and people see. He is working salvation.

Asaph then spends several verses (13-17) extolling the sovereignty of God over the earth, clearly describing again the power of God over all things, which is the basis of his belief in verse 12. Then, from v. 18 to the end of the psalm Asaph returns to his pleas for salvation from God. Verses 12-17 are the ground for Asaph’s pleas to God for deliverance both in the beginning and in the end of the Psalm. Without that middle section, Asaph has no real basis for crying out to God. It is the fact that God is sovereign over everything - the sea, the sea monsters, the springs and brooks, the day, the night, the stars, the sun, the boundaries of the earth and its seasons - that enables Asaph to confidently cry out to the Lord for help.

O that I would believe and trust in the sovereignty of God the way that Asaph did. O that I would cry out to my God, my king who is ancient of days, with the sheer confidence in his sovereignty for his deliverance of me from my troubles.

Four Funerals in Ten Weeks

Between July 14 and September 26, we attended four funerals. The first funeral was for Wendy’s dad, killed by an incredibly rare form of cancer. The second funeral was for the mother of Wendy’s friend Heather who was also killed by cancer. Both of these adults were in their sixties and died entirely too young from a disheartening enemy that relentlessly pursued them. The third funeral was for a young man, 24 years old, who had committed suicide. The fourth funeral was for a full-term infant who died in her mother’s womb two days before the due date, apparently by strangulation from the umbilical cord.

It is no small thing to see this much death in so short a period. These four deaths spanned the spectrum of age, from the very youngest to the gray headed. The forms of death were heartbreaking: cancer, suicide, and unfortunate accident. What can be said to the spouse (of either couple) whose marriage was ended just shy of their fortieth anniversary? What do you say to the mother and father whose brilliant but depressed son completely lost hope? What do you say to the expectant mother whose baby isn’t moving any more, yet still has to give birth? What do you say to the baby’s father as he carries – by himself – the coffin out of the funeral/worship service into the waiting hearse?

This summer God displayed to Wendy and me, in a unique way, that God is the giver of life. And even more distinctly that he is the taker. Job, upon hearing that all ten of his children were killed in a horrendous wind storm worshiped, saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:20). Job attributed what to him was a natural disaster to God. God had taken away his children. Not the wind, not bad construction, not fate, but God.

Some of you might be incensed at what I am writing and say that God didn’t kill Job’s kids, Satan did. Yes, but I am still ultimately saying that God killed Job’s children. However, I am only repeating to you what Job said. He said, “The LORD has taken away.” What else could that mean, but that God killed Job’s children? Now, before you throw this newsletter away, read v21, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” That is an astonishing sentence. That sentence should rock your world and change your understanding of God forever. God is not a pansy God who is not in complete control of all things. God, who created all things through Christ and for Christ, will do whatever is necessary to display his glory the brightest and give his children the greatest joy – even unto death.

Do you believe in Job’s God?

I watched Abraham Piper carry his baby down the aisle, after having worshiped with him for the last hour. With tears rolling down my face, I asked myself, what would my reaction be if Wendy or one of the kids or both were in a coffin? Would I be angry with God? Would I walk away from my faith? Would my faith deepen? Would I be able to say, with Abraham Piper, Jesus does all things well?

It is impossible for me to predict how I would answer those questions. I am not facing those situations now. Someday I will face something similar. Right now, I believe God will give me the grace to face whatever situation will someday occur. It will not be easy. It will be brutally hard, and will shake my faith to the core. Lord willing, he will bring me through with faith intact.

When we try to contemplate a God who gives and takes away, we must remember that this very same God gave his only son for a people who had utterly abandoned him. This God willingly sent his son to his death, but more than that, he crushed his own son so that his justice would be fulfilled and we might go free. Isaiah wrote about this very thing:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:4-6).

The rest of this story is contained in the reaction of those closest to the four deceased. All four families worshiped. Wendy’s mom worshiped. Heather and her family worshiped. The parents of Luke worshiped. Abraham and Molly worshiped. They all worshiped the God who gives and who takes away. I know they have questioned and struggled and wept and were angry. So did Job. But none of them faltered. They are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Cor 6:10).

Job’s God is enough.

My First Sermon...

Clicking on the link below will play the very first sermon that I ever preached to a congregation. I had taught in Sunday school situations for over five years, but had never preached. Various circumstances, including our decision to leave Vancouver, WA for seminary, led to this opportunity. On June 6, 2004, I preached this sermon to a total of about 650 people spread across three services. I believe this audio is from the second service. If you listen to John Piper often, you will recognize much from this sermon.

Quest for Joy

Despite my inexperience, it is my prayer and hope that my passion for the Glory of God is apparent.

Calvinist Resurgence

Mark Dever (and others!) have noticed a resurgence in the Doctrines of Grace (or Calvinism), especially among younger Evangelicals. In an effort to analyze this movement, Dever posted 10 blog entries detailing where all these Calvinists have come from. The following is a lengthy quote from his tenth post:

My point in this already too-long entry is not how much Arminianism changed, but how incomplete their labors were. They said God hadn’t predestined and elected the way most earlier Protestant theologians understood Scripture to teach, but they didn’t say God couldn’t. In a nominally Christian culture, Arminianism may appear to be a satisfying explanation of the problem of evil—“God’s good; it’s our fault”. But as the acids of modernity have eaten away at more and more of the Bible’s teachings and even presuppositions about God, that answer is proving woefully insufficient to more radical critics. It appears merely like moving the wrinkle in the carpet. A backslidden United Methodist may be satisfied with such teaching, but a Deist, a Buddhist or an atheist would have no reasons to be. A. C. Grayling, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and their like will not for a moment be satisfied with someone saying “Well, God could have made this world without suffering, but in order to be loved with dignity by free beings, He decided He must allow such sin and suffering as we experience.”

Really? Then hang being loved with dignity! Forget the whole experiment! It costs too much! Furthermore, what kind of God NEEDS to be worshipped? What kind of deity is this?!

And it’s this line of questioning that I think has quietly, deeply, perhaps subtly been re-shaping the field into one in which the half-measures of Arminianism are not even beginning to be satisfying. They are attractive to fewer and fewer people. Their adherents average age will grow even as their numbers shrink. They will be recruited mainly from the churched, and perhaps even those who’ve nurtured grievances against God, for allowing this or that to happen.

Reformed theology, on the other hand, teaches about a god who is GOD. The kind of objections that seem to motivate Arminianism are disallowed by the very presuppositions Calvinism understands the Bible to teach about God. This God is sovereign and exercises His sovereignty. This God is centered on Himself. And this God is understood to be morally good in being so Self-centered. In fact, it would be evil, wrong, deceptive for Him to be centered on anything other than His own glory. There is no apology about this.

I highly suggest you read all ten posts. Here are links:

Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 10 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 9 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 8 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 7 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 6 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 5 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 4 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 3 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 2 of 10
Where'd all these Calvinists come from? 1 of 10

God is Sovereign...Down to the Details

On Wednesday afternoon, August 1, 2007, at approximately 6:05 PM, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi river collapsed. It was also my first day of full-time work at Bethlehem Baptist Church after a 21-year career in civil engineering. I put in a full day, and due to some emails, I left later than I would have normally. I had told Wendy I would be home at 6:00 PM, but noticed the clock in the car was 5:52 PM when I drove out the parking lot. I navigated the downtown traffic and merged onto I-35W. I called Wendy to tell her I would be late as I crossed the bridge. I looked at the clock, 6:00 PM. I drove home, had dinner with my wife and kids, and did not know of the tragedy that happened moments behind me until around 8:30 PM that evening.

How can we not believe in a sovereign God who causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on both the just and the unjust? He knows the numbers of hairs on our heads and a sparrow doesn't fall apart from him. He ordains fish to swallow wayward prophets and worms to eat the roots of shade bearing plants. He stores snow and controls whirlwinds. He keeps bushes from burning and brings empires down with plagues. God is an awesome God.

The number one question that I should ask is why did the bridge not fall while I was on it? I am a sinner just like everyone else on the bridge. This is, as Jesus says in Luke 13:1-5, a warning call for repentance. O my Lord, I repent. Thank you for sparing my life and giving me a few more days. Please, in your sovereignty, cause them to be glorifying to you.

Please read what my pastor wrote about the bridge collapse. It is worth your time. You can read it here.