The Goose of Truth- A Historical Look at John Hus

April 19, 2009

The other day when I was looking on Southeastern’s podcast to find the recording for Dr. Akin’s “Axioms” message I stumbled upon another message whose title caught my eye.  It was called “John Hus: The Defender of Truth.”  I was intrigued by this title because not too long ago I myself first came into contact with the person of John Hus and spent some time reading through biographical information about him and just why he was considered by the first president of Czechoslovakia to be the greatest Czech man to ever live.

As it turns out, John Hus was a reformer who preceded the well-known Reformation (led by Calvin and Luther) by 100 years.  Living and teaching in Prague, Hus was a Bohemian at the height of Bohemia, when Prague served as the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.  Yet Hus was influenced not so much by the Catholic clergy in his homeland, but instead by the work of British Bible translator John Wycliffe.  During his ministry, Hus saw to the translation of the text of Scripture into Czech, to the preaching of Scripture to all kinds of people in the Czech language, and to the open rebuke of the sins of Catholic clergy among the Czech people.  For awhile Hus enjoyed protection through the loyalty of the Czechoslovakian ruler, but as time wore on, the power, money and influence of the Catholic church won out and Hus was excommunicated, exiled, and eventually burnt as a heretic.  His legacy however lived far longer than he did in things such as the Moravian church (who started the modern missions movement) and his prophetic statement about Martin Luther.

In the faculty lecture from Southeastern that was delivered by Professor Solc, the life of Hus is expounded on in greater detail than I have done above, with the importance of looking back to Hus being exemplified for us in the postmodern context of today.  This lecture may be a little dry for some of you, but for serious students of Christian history or those who are interested in learning about the lesser-known players in God’s work in the church, this is certainly a message well worth catching.  You can check it out here.

(By the way, the ‘goose’ refernence in the title has to do with Professor Solc’s observation during his message that the name ‘Hus’ actually means ‘goose’ in  Bohemian and that this led to a specific, somewhat comical remark in Hus’s prophetic statement looking forward to Luther.)

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Posted by Todd Burus

The Raleigh Rallying Cry- Danny Akin and the 12 Axioms of a Great Commission Resurgence

April 18, 2009

I know that many other SBC bloggers have already posted on this event while I was busy off fighting the Driscoll-MacArthur war once again, but I finally did get a chance to listen to Dr. Danny Akin’s chapel message entitled “Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence” and yes, it is worth the hype.  

So often today we hear this phrase “Great Commission Resurgence” (or GCR) bantered about, but it seems like it’s just another one of those ideas that everyone wants to claim they are working on, but no one every wants to bother to define.  Well, in an attempt to avoid such infamous ambiguity for the GCR, Dr. Akin sat down, penned out a sermon, sent it to his good friends and colleagues Johnny Hunt, Al Mohler, and Thom Rainer, and then delivered the final product to his students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the rest of the world through podcast.  This was a really good message, maybe even a pivotal moment in our generation, but of course it is too early to tell.  What it certainly is is a more descript call to arms for Southern Baptists than we have seen in a long while, and, thanks to the glorious interweb, blog fodder for all of us starving keyboard theologians.

In an effort not to add too much commentary to an already waterlogged happening, I am simply going to point out the axiom of the 12 that I found most novel, that being number 8, recognizing the need to rethink our convention structure.  In the end I had heard all 12 of these ideas expressed individually at one time or another, but this was the first time I had ever heard someone of Danny Akin’s stature bring up this axiom in such a prominent setting.  Discussing it he listed six questions in particular that we should focus on in  restructuing the SBC:

  1. Is there not a way to have annual meetings on the national and state level that are attractive, inspiring and worthy attending?
  2. Is the name “Southern Baptist” best for identifying who we are and what we want to be heading into the future?
  3. Do we need all the boards and agencies we have, or could there be healthy and wise mergers?
  4. Do we have a healthy stricture and mechanism for planting churches that will thrive and survive past a few years?
  5. Do we have a giving program that fairly and accurately reflects the gifts many SBC churches are giving to the work of our denomination?
  6. Are we distracted by doing many good things but not giving our full attention to the best things?

Beyond these six questions Dr. Akin also questioned the necessity of having so many levels of bureaucracy inside Southern Baptist life.  By this he meant, Do we need to have state and local associations?  This is such a pertinent question.  I see it in my own area, where the local association entertains ideas of ordained women, fully open communion, and militant anti-Calvinism more and more with each passing meeting.  This is both unhelpful and unnecessary.  It would be much better to dissolve this local association and to let the churches work more closely with the state and national conventions which, though not perfect, tend to avoid such wildly useless fruitless (and heretical?) ventures.  Still, to stand up and say this does take some courage, and I am glad that Dr. Akin decided to do it.

So, anyways, if you have not already heard it, here is a link to this message.  It is well worth the time it takes to listen to, and as I said, it may be that several years done the line we look back on this as the message that led a revitalized SBC (or whatever I name may be then) into action.  Enjoy!

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Posted by Todd Burus

And in this Corner . . . – MacArthur Throws Heavy Punches at Mark Driscoll

April 17, 2009

The other night my good buddy Keith posted a comment enlightening me to a series of posts which Dr. John MacArthur was starting to deal with his views on Mark Driscoll’s ministry, particularly focusing on  a mysterious sermon Driscoll delivered in Scotland in 2007 over the Song of Solomon.  Well, this series has just concluded and I thought I would post links to all four parts for you guys to read through (1, 2, 3 and 4).

Now, in order to not have PETA coming after me for beating the same old horse, I will refrain from commenting much on this series (though if you are really interested in what I think you can read the comments after MacArthur’s above posts).  I was glad to finally hear from MacArthur himself on what he feels since his silence following a set of 2006 remarks has been particularly bothersome to me.  I will also say, I think a much better job of dealing with this topic was done by Southern seminary president Al Mohler on his radio show back in September.  If you want to listen to that it can be linked through a previous post of mine here.

This debate is far from over.  Driscoll has not yet responded, and I do not know if he will, but with the weight of John macArthur being put behind these words we are sure to see  them quoted over and over again in the fundamentalist literature just like his 2006 remarks.

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Posted by Todd Burus

What We Believe- Article XII, Education

April 15, 2009

As we get further into the Baptist Faith & Message we are starting to tread upon articles that deal more with the day to day practicalities of Baptist living and not so much with doctrine as the earlier articles were centered upon.  This week’s article is concerned with how the Bible informs our beliefs on education:

XII. Education

Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people.

In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.

Deuteronomy 4:1,5,9,14; 6:1-10; 31:12-13; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff.; 119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff.; 4:1-10; 8:1-7,11; 15:14; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Matthew 5:2; 7:24ff.; 28:19-20; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3,8-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17; Hebrews 5:12-6:3; James 1:5; 3:17.

I’ll be honest right up front: I don’t really know what to do with this.  There are parts I agree with, but there is also so much that I feel is either redundant or implied that goes over-and-beyond what is biblical fact and is more of personal opinion.

I will say that I fully agree that, “Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  Both Scripturally and historically, Christianity has always promoted enlightenment and understanding.  The forced ignorance that the Catholic church promoted for so many years was thankfully corrected during the Reformation to return us to a place where we encourage and see poor, uneducated Galilean fisherman become powerful public figures overflowing with the wisdom of Christ (cf. Acts 4.13).  The empowerment and freedom that have come to so many through the ability to simply read the Bible is an astonishing testimony to God’s purpose for all men to be one in Christ and to benefit from the Holy Scriptures (cf. 2 Timothy 3.14-17).  Thus, when the BF&M speaks of “the cause of education” being “co-ordinate with the cause of missions and general benevolence,” I concur and support that statement for the above reasons.

As well, it is not that I don’t support what the BF&M says about “[a]n adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people,” or that “[t]he freedom of a teacher in a Christian [setting] is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ;” what I am fearful of is the broader application that the vague statements here can be used to make.  There are two ideas about education, particularly as it occurs in America, that I inherently reject.  The first is that Christians should be engaged in strictly Christian learning environments.  The second is that the public school environment should be friendly to Christian ideals.

First, as a father of an 8-year old, I find it to be a disturbing trend among many Christian parents to immediately choose to abandon public or secular schooling and instead place their child(ren) in private Christian and/or home schooling.  This is the sexy thing to do right now, but I am just not fully convinced that it is the best (or even a beneficial) practice.  First of all, very few parents are capable of providing the well-rounded education that a child needs to be able to succeed in the larger society once they reach college and beyond.  Teaching may look easy, but unless a student is incredibly gifted to start, there are often many bumps in the road that even trained teachers will struggle accomodating for, so much less will a minimally-trained, personal biased parent be able to deal with adequately.  Second, no matter what parents say or do, the non-sterile environment of the public school system is crucial to spiritual formation and is unable to be replicated by a bunch of kids meeting at the park or in church.  So many parents say that the child is not safe and receives too many harmful influences in the public school setting, but that’s real life lived in a fallen world.  The problem with kids growing up in the Christian fairytale land that we often create is that they don’t truly come to a full understanding of the horror of sin until they are old enough to get in real trouble with it.  A 10 year old coming home and saying the F-word for the first time is much better than an 18 year old drinking away their freshman year of college because they’ve never been out from under the guise of their Christian upbringing.  Of course this is hyperbole, but it is not so far from reality in most cases.

The second idea that I reject is that the public school setting should be more friendly/promoting of Christian ideals.  Parents kick and fight to keep “In God We Trust” in the pledge or to ban evolution from the classrooms, but often times these are just empty rituals that assuage their consciences to see performed and have very little bearing on what God actually requires of us.  The world is fallen, we should expect it to be fallen.  The arrogance of evangelicalism is that we assume the whole world should live up to the extra-biblical standards of perfection that we shout out from a bullhorn and yet suck at following even ourselves.  The ideal is not that our kids should be placed in a “Christ”-lined bubble; it is that we should be real parents, shepherding our children, living transparent lives in front of them, and demonstrating what the Christian life exercised in a fallen world really looks like.  Too many children are having to learn how to live as Christians on the fly as adults (or even worse, are simply abandoning the faith) because they grew up only seeing cookie-cutter, phony bologna “Christianity” practiced by their parents and the church, and so when the feces and fan interface, they are left totally unsure of what to do and doubting everything that they had always believed.  Parents rarely do their children any good by trying to “protect” them from the world.

Sorry to rant.  As you can see, I feel passionately about this.  The point of the matter is, as Christians we should be about education, but we need to be open enough to understand that God gave all knowledge and wisdom and all things worth knowing reveal the glory of the one who established them.

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Posted by Todd Burus

When Leaders Screw Up- A Biblical Look at Making Online Accusations Against Elders

April 14, 2009

Yesterday I posted on Rick Warren’s recent news controversy and offered a little more than candid take on how I feel about it.  Since then I have received a couple of comments concerning these views.  One of them came from my friend Jonathon who offered encouragement/instruction to make my frustrations known to Pastor Warren personally.  The other one came from someone who had read my comments online and who opined with the quip of “Who needs non-Christians to tear us apart? We seem to be doing a pretty good job of it ourselves.”  Viewing these two thoughts together, which if you can’t tell express opposing ideas on what was said, got me to thinking about what my role is, and really the role of all bloggers, in reporting on items such as this?  

The question really turns into an existential question for most bloggers who seem to fancy themselves the Mr. Fix-it writing theologians of the Christian community.  Now, I hope that doesn’t too much characterize myself, though I know that some times I do come off pretty strong in my opinions about certain issues.  The point is, it is very symptomatic of the Christian blogging community to serve as Monday morning ministers, correcting and criticizing the moves of the more visible and active servants of Christ among us.  Yet, the question must be raised, is there any biblical command that we are in violation by doing this?

I think particularly when it comes to an issue like Pastor Warren, the text we must turn to is located in 1 Timothy 5.  So, let’s do this and I will try and analyze my actions in light of that:

Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. (vv.19-21)

In this passage we see that Paul instructs the church “not to admit a charge against [a pastor] except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.”  The first question then is, should what I have done be considered a “charge against” Rick Warren?  This word is also translated as “an accusation,” and truthfully speaking I would say that, Yes, what I have made is an accusation against Pastor Warren.  Namely, I have accused him of delivering contradictory statements for the reason of political/personal expediency and then trying to fudge the details instead of admitting that he did so. 

Second, it must be asked I am even in a place where I could consider making this charge?  What I mean by that is that I know there are many people out there who will argue firmly that this passage is an instruction given to the local church for the discipline of their local leaders, and so since I do not belong to Rick Warren’s local church and he is not my pastor, then I do not have the standing to raise an issue with him.  This is a strong position, and I do not doubt that this may even be a death blow to my argument in some peoples eyes, however, I believe that the call to biblical accountability is universal across all believers, as demonstrated by such things as Paul’s rebuke of Peter in Galatians 2 or his words for the transgressor in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5, and so any Christian should be accountable to any other Christian, regardless of local affiliation, just as long as the proper channels are maintained, such as those prescribed in 1 Timothy 5.  Therefore, Yes, I do believe that I have the standing as a fellow Christian to consider raising such a charge against Pastor Warren.

Then, we must ask, do I have the “two or three witnesses” necessary to substantiate my charge?  Well, this is tricky.  No, I do not have two or three people standing alongside me saying, “I concur that this is Pastor Warren’s transgression.”  However, I do have accessible video evidence to corroborate my charge, at least to the extent that his statements were contradictory.  Thus, I do believe that this would be satisfactory evidence to present before people in order to raise this charge, and so, all things considered, my charge against Rick Warren has meet all the necessary criteria to be admitted.

But then the question of manner and intent comes up.  Because, as I have demonstrated, I certainly have a charge against Rick Warren, and to my belief, I also have warrant for having that charge admitted, and thus it would seemingly be lawful for me to do.  However, is this really a charge against Rick Warren? i.e. Is this bringing a charge against Warren as Paul intended, or should I, as my buddy Jonathon suggested, take my charge personally to Pastor Warren?  What is the purpose of the charge in 1 Timothy 5?  It is to either “rebuke them in the presence of all” as described in v.20, or it is to allow them to repent and be forgiven, as is implied as the opposite to the conditional, “As for those who persist in sin.”  And since the passage closes with “I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality,” this means that we should make the charge with the intention of allowing repentance.  Therefore, this does seem to imply that any charge that is to be admitted against an elder (and thus be biblically grounded) is a charge that is brought personally to the elder being accused.

So, what does this mean to myself and my fellow bloggers?  At the bare minimum I am convinced this means that when a blogger raises a charge against an elder, and for that matter against any fellow Christian, they should not do so using the internet to mask their own accountability. Anonymous or pseudonymous posting of accusations should never take place.  But even beyond that, it does appear to be the best idea, and the most in keeping with biblical teaching, to make sure that any charge a blogger makes on his site or elsewhere online, he also presents to the person aginst whom the charge has been made.  Of course, based on my own conclusions, this means that I should get on sending an email to Pastor Warren right now.  

Be sure to leave a comment if you have further discussion/instruction/disagreement with the claims I have made, as I’m sure it will strike a chord with someone out there.

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Posted by Todd Burus

All Christians are Hypocrites (Especially Megachurch Pastors)- Why Christians Can’t Try and Please the World

April 13, 2009

Dang-it, Rick Warren!

It never fails that every time someone gets to be well-known as a “Christian” leader they inevitably make us all look like freakin’ imbeciles!  Case in point, Pastor Rick Warren of Southern Baptist megachurch Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA.  

It’s hard to imagine that any person in touch with Christianity in America is unaware of who Pastor Warren is, either through his best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life or his nationally-televised 2008 presidential forum or his invocation during the Obama inauguration.  In fact, saying that Warren has replaced Billy Graham as the most well-known pastor in America is probably not a stretch.  

And of course, wherever one finds fame, one is bound to find critics, and Rick Warren certainly has his share of those.  Of late Warren has had to deal with criticism over his position on gay marriage/Proposition 8 in light of the aforementioned inaugural prayer he performed.  On April 6 he was able to address these critics during an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live.  Here is what was said:

KING: No matter what you may think of Rick Warren’s opinion on things, he’s an extraordinary guy and always a great guest and it’s always good to have him.

He’s pastor of the Saddleback Church. He’s the number one “New York Times” best-selling author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.” He delivered the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration. He comes to us from Irvine, California.

How did you handle all the controversy that resulted about the president selecting you?

PASTOR RICK WARREN: Yes, you know, Larry, there was a story within a story that never got told. In the first place, I am not an anti-gay or anti-gay marriage activist. I never have been, never will be.

During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never — never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.

Ummm?  Okay.  So, apparently, as it turns out, Pastor Rick was just a poor victim of circumstances with mean people misrepresenting him.  In fact, he “never once went to a meeting [or] issued a statement” concerning Proposition 8.  Wait…. hmm….

What about this statement from the good Pastor prior to the November vote:

PASTOR RICK WARREN: Now, let me just say this really clearly: We [Rick Warren and Saddleback Church] support Proposition 8.  And if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8.

So, “really clearly” Rick Warren wanted to make it known that Bible believing Christians should support Prop 8, and yet apparently this was not a statement or endorsement?  Right.  

Congratulations, Rick.  Obviously these statements are in contradiction, and the evidence is available to only about 3 billion people.  

Now, Warren has since had chances to make a third “really clear” statement on this, amidst many people calling his error (Al Mohler said, “I was extremely troubled by the way he appeared to be so anxious to distance himself from the same-sex issue and to make clear he was not an ‘activist’ and that he’d only addressed the issue in a very minor way”), but alas all his attempts look like a person running scared from something.  His biggest opportunity would have come during a scheduled appearance on ABC’s “This Week, however at the last minute (literally) Pastor Rick backed out.  Isn’t there some stuff in the Bible about accountability and integrity, particularly among leaders?

The larger problem here is not the gay marriage issue though, or Warren’s supposed support for/against/neither Proposition 8.  What is the issue is a man who got too big for his God.  I mean, Rick Warren is a superstar:  SBC megachurch pioneer, world-recognized author, confidant of our rock star president.  Rick Warren is the man, at least as long as he can keep everybody happy.  But that’s exactly what didn’t happen, and for the reasons Christ told us long ago:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money [Gk. mammon, possessions or money] (Matthew 6.24)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8.34-38)

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (John 15.18-20)

Pastor Rick, so eager to please any- and everybody, to keep the circle around him as big as possible, found himself at a fork in the road, a highly polarized place where it is not possible to reconcile the two divides, and yet he still tried to do it.  This is a perfect illustration of what happens when Christians are more interested in saving their own face than in shining the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” out to a world which has been blinded by sin (2 Corinthians 4.4-6)– they sacrifice their witness on the altar of popularity and public approval.  

A lost and dying world will never die to self and live for Christ like God calls them to if those of us who have been called already can’t stand on the Word of God.  The gospel we preach is meaningless if we aren’t preaching it from a transformed heart, refusing to censor ourselves because someone might call us a name or write us a nasty email.  We are to be taking up our cross daily, not searching for time to fit another White House dinner into the social calendar.  Let’s learn from the failure of Pastor Warren on this.  When it comes to pleasing God or pleasing men, we need to make the only choice that will be of eternal importance, for “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.12) than that of the man whose friends denied him and whose people crucified him: Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

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Posted by Todd Burus

Resurrection Sunday 2009

April 12, 2009

[For Easter this year I would like to republish two old posts containing sermons by Mark Driscoll.  The first includes his sermon on the Day of Atonement from Holy Week 2008 and the second includes his sermon on teh resurrection from the Vintage Jesus series.]

Redemption- The Purpose of Good Friday

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” -1 Peter 2:24

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” -1 Peter 3:18

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” -Leviticus 17:11

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” – Hebrews 9:22

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” -1 John 4:10

On this day, that which we celebrate as Good Friday, the day that we placed Jesus Christ upon the Cross to die our death so that we may live, I wanted to just share with you two pieces which I have gone to in order to place this day in perspective for myself. The first is a sermon by Mark Driscoll describing the Day of Atonement and how it is a picture of Christ’s sacrifice for us. The second is a song by Johnny Cash about the wonderful meaning of the blood that was shed for us on the Cross. I pray that you may take these and listen to them as you reflect upon the central importance of this day for everything that we believe and that the crucifixion is not just a flippant event for us speak vainly about, but was instead a brutal day of agony for the only one who was righteous in order that we may be forgiven of our horrible lives.

“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.” – Isaiah 53:5

The Day of Atonement- Mark Driscoll

Redemption- Johnny Cash

————————————————————————————————————————-

Without the Resurrection There is No Hope- The Importance of Easter

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” -John 10:17-18

“Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” -John 20:6-9

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” -1 Corinthians 15:17

“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” -Acts 2:24

“And was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” -Romans 1:4

“Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” -Romans 4:25

As a non-believer looking in at Christianity it would not be much of a stretch to think that the most important part of Christianity is what we celebrate at Christmas. That is the holiday full of decorations and presents and songs and movies. And yes, the coming of God in the form of man was a glorious thing, but the reason it was so wonderful is specifically for what was accomplished 33 years later in the event we celebrate by Easter.

It is with Easter that we remember and rejoice at the resurrection of Christ. The same Christ who three days earlier gave up his life on the cross in order to pay the penalty of our sins, now takes his life back up to show that death no longer has hold. It is because of this that we are able, as it says above, to be justified, or made clean and righteous before God. This is important because unless we are righteous we have no hope of living eternally in the presence of the Holy God. As the apostle Paul says, if Christ were not raised then we are totally hopeless. However, knowing that he has been resurrected we should celebrate all the more, for this is the only power which can free us from our sins!

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?- Mark Driscoll

In Christ Alone- Newsboys

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Posted by Todd Burus

What to Do?- A Brief Confession for Easter

April 11, 2009

It’s hard every year to approach the cross and the resurrection in a new and refreshing way.  It’s like it is something that is always before us as Christians and yet it is before us to the extent that we almost become immune to it.  So when we stop for one week a year to really focus on it it’s hard to know just what to say.  It is the deepest and most necessary part of our entire faith and yet there are sometimes when it feels like the most theologically trivial.  And it is about the resurrection of a dead man!  How nontrivial is that?   

Thinking on this I was struck at the events recorded in John 21:

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. . . . This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. (John 21.1-8,14)

Notice what is happening here.  Several of the disciples are out fishing, not having much luck, when the risen Christ comes by, unidentified by the fishermen, in order to perform a miracle.  Once the miracle is completed John recognizes the man speaking to them as Jesus and tells this to Peter, who unceremoniously grabs his clothes and dives off the boat, rushing ashore to Christ.  Old enthusiastic Peter is spazing out again, splashing through the water, impatient to be with Jesus on the land.  

Seeing this, one might think it is recounting the first time that Peter had seen Christ since he rose, but look what it says in v.14: “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead(!)”  Peter knew Jesus had risen, he had already seen him resurrected (twice actually!) and yet seeing him again the third time Peter is so filled with joy that he quite literally goes overboard with emotion trying to get to him.  This may seem overdramatic, but in looking at it, that is where my heart needs to be this Easter– thankful that Christ is risen and that I am able to draw near to him just as Peter did.

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Posted by Todd Burus

Good Friday- An Event 1400 Years in the Making

April 10, 2009

This past week I taught on Isaiah 53 in my Sunday School class and about how it is the bridge for us between two very important texts regarding our salvation– Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9.  

Leviticus 16 describes for us the Day of Atonement, that day that the people of Israel came together and had their sins atoned for by the intercession of the high priest making sacrifice for them and sending out the scapegoat to remove their iniquity.  This chapter ends by saying,

And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. (Leviticus 16.29-34)

Continuing into Isaiah 53 we find the picture of the suffering servant, a man afflicted by God, and here is what we are told of him:

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. (Isaiah 53.4-6)

Finally, Hebrews 9 shows us that in dying on the cross, Jesus Christ, our great high priest, served to fulfill the requirements of the Day of Atonement and to make an end of the sacrifices necessary for us to be justified and able to stand in the presence of the Almighty God.  It tells us that, 

[W]hen Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9.11-14)

So, we see, just in brief, the story told to us throughout the Bible, of a need for sacrifice, of a suffering servant who is to come and bear our iniquities, and finally of the one who completed this work.  This Good Friday let’s celebrate the greatness both of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and of a God who loved us so much he orchestrated the whole of history to lead to our redemption.  

Glory be to God forever!  Amen.

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Posted by Todd Burus

The Cause for the Pain- Seeking Repentance in the Shadow of the Cross

April 9, 2009

Right now in my personal Bible study time I am going through the minor prophets with the help of commentaries by Mark Dever and James M. Boice.  In reading Boice’s commentary on the prophet Joel there came the following paragraph ending out the chapter on verses 1.1 through 1.20.  I found it incredibly pertinent for our situation as a country right now and thought it worth sharing in light of that and my recent discussion on corporate repentance (1 and 2):

This brings us to the bottom line, which is the point of Joel’s prophecy.  Both the delays in God’s judgment (the periods of grace) and the previews of judgment in such catastrophic events as locust plagues and earthquakes are for out good, that we might repent.

In America we have not seen many disasters of this magnitude.  But few would deny that times are not good and that even worse times may lie ahead.  We have not had earthquakes of the size of the one at Lisbon [in 1755], but our cities have been ravaged by blight and riot, by corruption and other forms of decay.  We have not been destroyed by locust, but we have seen our economy weakened by the declining value of the dollar, an intolerable balance of payments deficit and shortages of oil and other necessities.  We have had droughts.  Are we to make light of such things?  Are we to dismiss them and then merely go our normal way until even greater judgments overtake us?  Are we to say, “Such things just happen”?  Are we to blame Russia or communism or Iran or Islam?  No doubt God does use causes, and the opposition of these or other countries may be among them.  But the wise will see these things as having come from God and lead us in personal and national repentance. (The Minor Prophets: Vol. 1, James M. Boice, pp. 126-127)

Is this where we are right now?  Are we seeing the current economic and social strife lead to personal and national repentance?  Should we?  

I get scared because I think the church in America is experiencing all of this negative stuff, a poor economy, the war on terror, domestic disasters of flooding and fire, and we are deflecting it off of ourselves and onto others whose “sin” must be causing us.  Pain and suffering and death occur because of all our depravity and watching it go on in our own backyard should not cause a time of moralistic posturing; it should compel us to face up to the sin in our own lives, both individually and corporately, and repent of it to the glory of God.  

What better time than in the shadow of the cross, the weekend we celebrate the death and resurrection of the one who died for those sins, than to find ourselves on our knees asking for forgiveness of them.

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Posted by Todd Burus

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