tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98913742024-03-13T06:56:49.865-05:00Still ReformingInspecting the world through the lens of the Word
and trying to live each day bringing more of myself under submission to Christ.Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.comBlogger596125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-74152007579138715982013-10-31T06:00:00.000-05:002013-10-31T06:00:14.496-05:00Martin Luther on God's Righteousness<p><em>In honor of Reformation Day, I decided to share some Martin Luther with the youth Sunday School Class. I chose two passages that were instrumental in his thinking: Romans 1:16-17, and Romans 3:21-26. I read some Luther, and we talked about the passages. The following are the Bible texts we discussed and Luther's comments on them. Luther's quotes from Augustine are pure gold.</em></p><hr /><p>Martin Luther called Romans "the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel." But he didn't always believe this. He hated the phrase "righteousness of God," because he saw it only in terms of God's justice and judgment on sinners. That was, until he came to understand what this passage meant. Listen to what he says about that time<sup><a href="#fn1" class="footnoteRef" id="fnref1">1</a></sup>:</p><blockquote><p>Meanwhile in that same year, 1519, I had begun interpreting the Psalms once again. I felt confident that I was now more experienced, since I had dealt in university courses with St. Paul's Letters to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the Letter to the Hebrews. I had conceived a burning desire to understand what Paul meant in his Letter to the Romans, but thus far there had stood in my way, not the cold blood around my heart, but that one word which is in chapter one: "The righteousness of God is revealed in it." I hated that word, "righteousness of God," which, by the use and custom of all my teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically as referring to formal or active righteousness, as they call it, i.e., that righteousness by which God is righteous and by which he punishes sinners and the unrighteous.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>But I, blameless monk that I was, felt that before God I was a sinner with an extremely troubled conscience. I couldn't be sure that God was appeased by my satisfaction. I did not love, no, rather I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners. In silence, if I did not blaspheme, then certainly I grumbled vehemently and got angry at God. I said, "Isn't it enough that we miserable sinners, lost for all eternity because of original sin, are oppressed by every kind of calamity through the Ten Commandments? Why does God heap sorrow upon sorrow through the Gospel and through the Gospel threaten us with his justice and his wrath?" This was how I was raging with wild and disturbed conscience. I constantly badgered St. Paul about that spot in Romans 1 and anxiously wanted to know what he meant.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: "The righteousness of God is revealed in it, as it is written: 'The righteous person lives by faith.'" I began to understand that in this verse the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the righteousness of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive righteousness, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: "The righteous person lives by faith." All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>I exalted this sweetest word of mine, "the righteousness of God," with as much love as before I had hated it with hate. This phrase of Paul was for me the very gate of paradise. Afterward I read Augustine's "On the Spirit and the Letter," in which I found what I had not dared hope for. I discovered that he too interpreted "the righteousness of God" in a similar way, namely, as that with which God clothes us when he justifies us. Although Augustine had said it imperfectly and did not explain in detail how God imputes righteousness to us, still it pleased me that he taught the righteousness of God by which we are justified.</p></blockquote><p>Here is how he came to understand the righteousness of God later on.</p><p><em><strong>Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)</strong><br />For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”</em></p><h2 id="comments-on-1162">Comments on 1:16<sup><a href="#fn2" class="footnoteRef" id="fnref2">2</a></sup></h2><p>The Gospel is a power which saves all who believe it or it is the word which is powerful to rescue all who put their trust in it. This indeed is through God and from God! ...</p><p>The Gospel is called the power of God in contradistinction to the power of man. The latter is the ability by which he, according to his carnal opinion, obtain salvation by his own strength, and performs the things which are of the flesh.</p><p>So, then, the verdict holds: He who believes the Gospel, must become weak and foolish before men, in order that he might be strong and wise in the power and wisdom of God, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 1:25ff:</p><p><em><strong>1 Cor. 1:25-29 (ESV)</strong><br />For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.</em></p><h2 id="comments-on-117">Comments on 1:17</h2><p>God's righteousness is that by which we become worthy of His great salvation, or through which alone we are righteous before Him... Only the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God, that is, who is righteous, or how person becomes righteous before God, namely, alone by faith, which trusts the word of God.</p><p><em><strong>Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)</strong><br />But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.</em></p><h2 id="comments-on-321">Comments on 3:21</h2><p>St. Augustine writes in the ninth chapter of his book <em>Concerning the Spirit and the Letter</em>: "He does not speak of the righteousness of God, by which God is righteous, but of that with which He clothes a person when He justifies the ungodly." Again in the eleventh chapter he comments: "But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested: that is, God imparts it to the believer by the Spirit of grace without the work of the Law, or without the help of the Law. Through the Law God opens man's eyes so that he sees his helplessness and by faith takes refuge to His mercy and so is healed." The Apostle therefore does not describe the righteousness of God, by which He is essentially righteous, but the righteousness, which they can obtain only by faith in Christ.</p><p>St. Augustine says in the thirteenth chapter of his book <em>Concerning the Spirit and the Letter</em>: "What the Law of works commands with threatening, that the Law of faith accomplishes through faith." In the nineteenth chapter he remarks: "The Law was given, in order that we might seek after grace. Grace was given, in order that we might fulfill the Law. It was not the fault of the Law that it was not fulfilled, but the fault was man's carnal mind. This guilt the Law must make manifest, in order that we may be healed by divine grace."</p><div class="footnotes"><hr /><ol><li id="fn1"><p>This lengthy quote is taken from a translation made by Bro. Andrew Thornton, OSB, for the Saint Anselm College Humanities Program, © 1983 by Saint Anselm Abbey. It is used by permission. The words "righteous" and "righteousness" were changed from "just" and "justice" in the translation, in keeping with the translator's statement that they are synonymous.<a href="#fnref1">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn2"><p>Luther's comments are excerpted from his <em>Commentary on Romans</em>, translated by J. Theodore Mueller, and © 1954 by Zondervan Publishing House. I have omitted the parenthetical comments that were added by the translator, so that the text is only Luther's.<a href="#fnref2">↩</a></p></li>
</ol></div>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-58873778782721020262013-06-28T20:55:00.001-05:002013-06-28T20:55:33.473-05:00Excerpt from Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening"—Morning, July 28<h2>Excerpt from Spurgeon’s <em>Morning and Evening</em> – Morning, July 28</h2>
<p>Remember, therefore, it is not <em>thy hold</em> of Christ that saves thee–it is Christ; it is not <em>thy joy</em> in Christ that saves thee–it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument–it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.</p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-44538282230506095982013-06-28T05:44:00.001-05:002013-06-28T05:44:24.370-05:00Charles Spurgeon - Evening, June 26<p><em>“Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”</em><br />
2 Peter 1:4 </p>
<p>Vanish for ever all thought of indulging the flesh if you would live in the power of your risen Lord. It were ill that a man who is alive in Christ should dwell in the corruption of sin. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” said the angel to Magdalene. Should the living dwell in the sepulchre? Should divine life be immured in the charnel house of fleshly lust? How can we partake of the cup of the Lord and yet drink the cup of Belial? Surely, believer, from open lusts and sins you are delivered: have you also escaped from the more secret and delusive lime-twigs of the Satanic fowler? Have you come forth from the lust of pride? Have you escaped from slothfulness? Have you clean escaped from carnal security? Are you seeking day by day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the ensnaring vice of avarice? Remember, it is for this that you have been enriched with the treasures of God. If you be indeed the chosen of God, and beloved by Him, do not suffer all the lavish treasure of grace to be wasted upon you. Follow after holiness; it is the Christian’s crown and glory. An unholy church! it is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell’s laughter, heaven’s abhorrence. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God’s priest: act as such. You are God’s king: reign over your lusts. You are God’s chosen:do not associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion: live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there be holiness in the life.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lord, I desire to live as one<br />
Who bears a blood-bought name,<br />
As one who fears but grieving Thee,<br />
And knows no other shame. </p>
</blockquote>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-41997227326802245502013-06-16T16:26:00.001-05:002013-06-16T16:26:04.039-05:00Blogging with Byword<p>So the latest upgrade of the <em>Byword</em> iOS app supports posting to blogs. I have been looking for a simple, one-step solution for using <strong>Markdown</strong> for my blog posts, and thought this might work.</p>
<p>So I’m trying it out. </p>
<p>Happy Father’s Day, by the way.</p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-80254748244314683762013-04-28T12:35:00.000-05:002013-04-28T12:35:27.225-05:00Partial Transcript of Rob Bell and Andrew Wilson on the Unbelievable Radio Program (from 04/20/13)<i>Justin Brierley hosted Rob Bell and Andrew Wilson on his radio program 04/20/13 (you can download the MP3 file for the program <a href="http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/95508bc9-2055-4aa0-be99-01d2e4a12cc4.mp3">here</a>). What follows is a partial transcript of that broadcast, starting from the point where there was some, shall we say, disagreement. <br />
<br />
I use the word "transcript" somewhat loosely. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to convert conversational speech to written text--and to be both accurate and comprehensive--and my hat is off to those who do this regularly. For myself, I've tried to produce something which is representative of the discussion, but I don't warrant that I've reproduce everything. <br />
<br />
So, for instance, Justin Brierley uses lots of pauses, ums, and other things that I used to get dinged for in Toastmasters. I've included some but not all of these, primarily when they are used to to change the subject. Likewise, Rob Bell is one of those people who actively participates in conversations with noises of acknowledgement, and while those happened throughout this interview, I have not tried to capture each and every one of them, particularly when they occur during a section of another person talking. Emphasis is lacking, except in the pauses, and even there it is difficult to capture. <br />
<br />I anticipate making comments at some point, but I like having a post where the discussion can speak for itself.<br /><br />
I am licensing this work under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>, should anyone want to use this.<br />
</i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[45:05]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: I think one of the major things that came through in this book what we talk about when we talk about God was this, this thing you culminate with which is that God is always ahead of us--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Mmm, hmm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: --and us being the Church very often, um, doing things and sometimes it's actually God's in the culture already making things happen, um, and the church is kind of lagging behind, you know, taking time to catch up, um, you--you--in fact, I'll just read a, a quick section of what you you describe as clicks (sp?) to make it really clear and simple let's call this movement across history we see in passages like the ones we looked at from Exodus and Deuteronomy clicks and you've been talking about how God moves that culture beyond where it was even though for us it can still look backward it was actually a big leap forward for them. And you say what we see is God meeting people at the click they're at and then drawing them forward; when they're at "F" God calls them to "G." When they're at "L," God calls us to "M." And all of it is taking place on a continuum, a trajectory, a God-fueled movement within and through human history. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, I don't think it's, um, you know, a lot of people are aware that you've recently made statements on gay marriage and gay relationships.And although that wasn't explicit in the book, it then suddenly dawned on me as I read that--with that in mind--that you've sort of affirmed, uh, you know, monogamous, um, uh lifelong partnerships and so on, that this might be an area where you see God ahead of where a lot of the church is, as far as you're concerned, that we're being called now to move from "M" to "N" in this area, perhaps. Is that kind of what you're hinting at is--do you believe that this is where actually God's ahead of the church, that affirming same-sex partnerships is actually a God thing, and that we will all eventually get to see that in the course of time?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I think it will happen. I don't know, uh,--you're asking several different questions there, but--yes, I think it's, time for the church to acknowledge that we have brothers and sisters who are gay--and, want to share their life with someone--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm, hmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --and, this is a part of life, in the modern world, and, that's how it is, and that cultural conciousness has shifted--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm, hmm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL:And--that's, this is how the world is, and, that what's happening for a lot of people is they want nothing to do with God and Jesus, because they can't see beyond that particular issue--so, "Is God ahead?" I hadn't thought about it in those terms, of ahead or behind--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Okay. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --but I think it is time for the church to acknowledge this is how the world is, and things have changed, or at least we're more honest about them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Now this is--up to this point, there's been a lot of agreement between guys (chuckles), but I suspect you take a different view on this--and--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: (interjecting) Well can I ask a--some questions--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Please do. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --cause what I don't know is the grounding for that--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --that statement that I find interesting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: So would you say "I don't think that a guy having sex with a guy is sinful?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I would begin with--I am for monogamy, I am for fidelity, I am for commitment. and I think the world needs more of that. And I am--I--think that promiscuity is dangerous, and promiscuity is destructive, and some people are gay and want to share their life with someone, and--they should be able to. And that's how the world is and we should affirm that, and we should affirm monogamy, fidelity, and commitment, both gay and straight. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Is that a yes or a no? As in, do you believe it--so what I'm trying to get my head around is, do you think it's sinful but we need to lump it because the world's changed, or do you think it's not sinful, and if so, do you think the--Bible doesn't think it's sinful and that--Jesus didn't think it was sinful, that's--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I'm not aware that Jesus mentions it. I think you have about five verses that can be read a number of different ways--and there is a large Christian tradition that sees this as--there are Scriptures that speak to this, but I don't think you can make an overwhelmingly--case against it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: So--but is your position, which I know is, you know--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --so, your position would be, "No it's not sinful," right? It's not sinful for a guy to have sex with a guy, that's not a problem--for God, it never has been, it's just--at times he had to move people towards--forward in history, but that's not a problem--if you understand Paul properly, you understand Jesus properly, they genuinely don't have a problem with guys having sex with guys--is that--I'm just trying to--is that what you believe, cause I don't wanna critique--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[49:50]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I think Paul--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --a position you don't have.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --had, I think Paul had his answer to that question tied up in worship of all sorts of other deities--I think it was all one giant hairball in Paul's day, and that, for him, there was the temple, and there was the temple of other gods who were opposed to the God of Israel, and that went on in there. So I think when Paul was talking about this issue, for him it's tied up in all sorts of idolatry, it's all sorts of rejection of God, so I would wanna like--pull the various issues apart, and I don't think they--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: So but your--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --had a cultural--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --but so your--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --conception.[50:25]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON:--then you've got, so if, Paul is looking at--there's two gay men in the church in Corinth--the want--they're having sex together, they're not worshiping idols, Paul's gonna say "That's great guys, go for it, we need more of that, not less." Is that you're--is that what you believe is true of Paul?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I think Paul didn't have that cultural framework or conception operating around him. I think he had men and boys, I think he had temples--I did not think he was talking about what we're talking about in 2013, which was two committed people of a same-sex relationship. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Okay so you--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I would start there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --you don't think there's any--you don't--your position would be this is not sinful, this is righteous, it's a good thing. God says, "Way to go guy--I--from my throne in heaven, I'm blessing that, I'm saying that's wonderful, it's not--it's a beautiful thing--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: The (INAUDIBLE)--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --to pursue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --the theologian Cornelius Plantinga defines sin as "culpable disturbance of Shalom," so any way in which I'm guilty of destroying the Shalom that God intends for all things. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I don't think a healthy, monogamous same-sex relationship destroys or is destructive to the Shalom God intends for all things. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: So you don't think it--you don't think it's sinful, yeah, so, so--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Although some things are really destructive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Yeah, sure. So, so for you, gay sex isn't sinful at all, and if we understood the Bible properly we'd all get that, so actually we are--we're--when Jesus talks about sexual immorality flowing from within the heart and refers back to Leviticus 18 with all of its prohibitions, you would say, that's--that's a time-specific thing, that's just--Jesus was--was Jesus wrong on that, did he misunderstand what God had (INAUDIBLE)--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Well in Leviticus, I mean--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --was Jesus just a step forward, or--what's the--cause obviously he's just--he's talking--in the same passages he says "all foods are clean but from the heart come"--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --sexual immorality among other things, and sexual immorality in the Jewish world, as you've read a lot about it as I have, is--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: A big deal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --understood very much in terms of (INAUDIBLE)--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah yeah. Yeah yeah. A big deal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --so--so, the--so if it--again, I'm trying to get at, would you say--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Right, right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[52:14]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --you say, Paul didn't have a problem with it, so you don't--you don't think Paul or Jesus were referring to any of those prohibitions from the, from the Old Testament, and they weren't really talking about anything like what we're seeing today. Or would you so say, no, Jesus did say that, but he was a child of his time as Paul was, and therefore we can move beyond it now because the world's changed? It's just which of those two--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: That's a great question. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --positions you're in. [52:34]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: That's a great, deep, think, complicated question--I'll have to think about it more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: It's like--is it a question of hermenuetics or is it a question of exegesis? So it it that you and I would disagree about--it's obviously--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, right. Great question. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --about Paul, or about Jesus, or is it--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, it's a great question. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --that (INAUDIBLE) about how that fits into God's story, and you'd say we go beyond that now. [52:51]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Well, when Jesus is referring to Leviticus, tied up in Leviticus is two different kinds of fabric, being woven together, so you have lots of questions about Jesus' understanding of Leviticus based on--because--wait, wait, wait, wait, is he--calling people to two different kinds of fabric, and can we do that now, and--I think when Jesus quotes Leviticus that's--opens up a whole series of questions about exactly where in Leviticus we say that's timeless, that's not timeless, that's cultural, that's not culturally bound. That's a whole longer discussion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Well, yeah, but--when he talks about sexual immorality it's quite--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --in that sense--I'm just saying, if it--you know--Jesus is--I understand--is a Jewish--first century Jew whose understanding of sexual immorality Torah-shaped, right, so he--he has a view of what is and isn't acceptable, so when he says that's one of the evils that comes from the heart, um, he--he's not whistling in the dark, he's not saying that in a vacuum--people--his hearers understand him--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc., Paul understands him--obviously I would disagree with the way you're understanding Paul's use of the words in as well, but--and we probably won't get time to get to that--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Well, we--we are running out of time just in the section, folk, and so let's--let's go to another quick break--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Sure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: --we've just got ten minutes to kind of wrap things up, and I think--I think this kind of gets us to the point of talking about where--where the difference does come in terms of the outworking of what--what it means to--to look at God and to--to talk about God in today's culture--because I'm getting from you Andrew that, in certain areas, you feel Rob has, perhaps, gone too much down the--the way the culture if kind of steering these issues, in this area at least, and perhaps Rob you're feeling no, this is--this just is the way as you say the world is, and we've got to understand how people are going to best approach God in the world that we live in today--um, so we'll come back to this in a moment's time. You're listening to Unbelievable with me, Justin Brierly--fascinating discussion today between Rob Bell, he's a bestselling author, former pastor--uh, you know him well, probably for things like the Nooma DVDs, the book Love Wins a couple of years ago. Also with me Andrew Wilson, tossing Rob some of the tough questions on this issue of homosexuality, but also a lot of interesting discussion on resurrection and how to reach people with Christ, so--come back for the third part of today's program, in just a moment's time. [55:06]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[BREAK OMITTED]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[58:29]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Welcome back to part three, and as we just conclude this conversation with Rob Bell--it's been quite wide-ranging--been questions on both sides today between Rob and our other guest, Andrew Wilson, and again if you want to get hold of the new book, it's called "What We Talk About When We Talk About God." And we sort of--have veered off into a particular area about how this works out--because at the outset, Andrew, you--one of the concerns you voiced is, well I like a lot of what you're saying here Rob, but what does it look like practically, and what are some of the maybe--the differences we might have about how that works out, and we've obviously identified one pretty clearly here that, um, you take a very different view on Rob to--the legitimacy of Christians engaging in homosexual activity. Um, Rob says that boat has sailed kind of thing--we live in a culture, and we've gotta affirm, um, what is good--you know--uh--people staying together, um, people, uh, being with one person and so on. For you though, the Bible is presumably clear on this, Andrew, that that is not part of what it means to live a Christian life, and so for you--do you feel that in some way Rob is selling people short if that's not kind of--the answer that he comes to if--if that issue is raised at some point in what it means to be a Jesus follower. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Yeah, I--I do, um, because I think it's a misunderstanding--to me it represents a misunderstanding of new creation--I think it's--to go back to the garden and see one man, one woman, permanant, faithful, exclusive, other--you know, different from one another--go all the way through--Moses, all the way through the Old Testament, what it says about same-sex relations--not about gay people, love gay people, lots and--lots and lots of gay--we baptized a number of gay men in my--in our church recently, it's just wonderful, but each one of them is saying, but now when I get baptized, I die to the old me, and I rise again to a new me that's Christ-shaped--this eschatologically informed and transformed--they might not use that language--a resurrection life which is actually a completely different type of creature, which means that a lot of the desires that I have had--a lot of the things which I've wanted to do, I--like Paul did, certainly in the season he wrote 1 Corinthians and like Jesus did--I put on hold sexual desires--I say actually I die to a lot of things I want in order to follow Christ, that's what it means for me to rise again to new life, and I do that as per Jesus's comments about sexual immorality, Revelation's comments about sexual immorality, Paul's comments about arsenokoitai and malakoi, which are these two words for the active and passive in homosexual sex, and--Romans 1 and elsewhere, and--and so you--we look and say, well what is--what is Christ-shaped new creation look like and we've got, as I say, gay guys in our church, and women as well, who've said for me, I know dying to my old life, and being risen again to new life in Christ means dying to all the acts of the flesh, including some of the sexual things that, yes, I wanted to do them, just like lots of people want to have sex with lots of people--some people might want to have sex with three or four people simultaneously but--that doesn't mean that I'm okay to do that, um--it means that I just--like anybody else, greed or--desires to slander or to swindle or any number of other sins, that we just say those things die with me, I--I repent and I get baptized. And I suppose that for me, to--to not put that in front of somebody--is at risk of saying, you can have the kingdom, you can inheirit the kingdom, um--but if it costs too much, we'll just--we'll just lower the asking price we get people to buy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Okay, so--so is this--are you lowering the--the bar, as it were, I mean--I know I've heard you talk about the cost of discipleship, Rob, but for you, this particular issue isn't one that's kind of, um, an issue in discipleship as far as you're concerned--this isn't the big issue for you--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Correct. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: --of what--I mean--how do you--how do address Andrew's concerns then, that--that this is the, you know--part of what it means to be a follower of Christ, is denying certain aspects of your life including, if you experience same-sex attraction--that acting on that has to go--you just don't see that--same way--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: I've met lots of people who are gay and had the exact experience he's talking about--who said I choose to be celibate, I choose to not engage--and they do it out of a deep sense of conviction--that can be a beautiful thing. I also have friends who have had long-term partners and they have--they have had somebody to share their life with, and they're serious followers of Jesus, and they're serious members of their community, and they give and serve together, and they don't want to live alone--they want somebody to share their life with--they feel, like, wired to share their life with somebody, and I don't see any reason to say to them you can't do that, or you can't be a part of the church, or you can't be a contributing member--doesn't make any sense to me. [63:26]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: I mean obviously a lot of people who, who disagree simply with your, your view on what Scripture has to say in that regard, how we--exegete it, the hermenuetic perhaps that you're bringing to it--will say well it's--it's like you did with Love Wins, Rob, you know, um--you've--you've gone liberal, basically--that they'll say--um--now--I'd just be interested in knowing what--what it is about--that--that makes you feel confident that--that this isn't just Rob Bell going liberal, this is actually Rob Bell being true--to Christ, being true to the Scriptures. [63:59]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Well, I--I think the better question is, what does it look like when it's lived out, and I've been in lots and lots and lots of settings with lots of friends and lots of people who--have same sex relationships and--it's not destructive, and it's not evil, and it's not--it's a part of how churches are, it's a part of how life is, and--it's fine. [64:24]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: That's the--that's surely to be the question, though, isn't it--to say I've been in lots of friends--relationships with people who are who are doing this, and it's not destructive or it's not evil--surely God gets to define that, doesn't He--over and above--not to speak about the individuals concerned, but--God gets to provide that definition rather than my observation--it's like--you can imagine people in the period of 1 or 2 Kings, which I'm going through in my quiet times at the moment, going well actually, I know lot's of people who--who worship at the high places and--and they still follow Yahweh--that's great, and the--the Scriptures don't seem to have that attitude--they seem to be saying no, no, no, there is--there are moments--a lot of them where Jesus said if anybody wants to follow me, he needs to hate, in the sense of lesser love these--all of these things that you might have to otherwise lose if you follow me, and of course Paul was like that--it cost him his life--it cost Jesus his life, obviously--it cost him sexual relationships--neither of them had those things, so--is, sort of--doesn't God get to draw that line rather than--I shouldn't say you, I know that there's others who are doing it to, but--why isn't that--why isn't the fact that Scripture speaks that way, and the fact that Paul, Moses, Jesus speak that way, why isn't that the end of the conversation in terms of defining what something might--to be evil and destructive--what something looks like?[65:27]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Your--interpretation of verses?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: My interp--no, not my interpretation--well, of course it is--we're all doing our own interpretation of verses--but it's not only an interpretation of verses, it's an understanding of the sweep of Scriptures, starting from the very beginning, where you have one man, one woman, in permanent relationship--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Your understanding of sweep--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --and you go all the way through the rest of--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --your understanding of the sweep of Scriptures? [65:49]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --well understanding of Genesis 1, understanding of Genesis 2, understanding of the Torah, understanding of the Prophets, understanding of Jesus, understanding of Paul--Revelation--of course, that's always what we're talking about, but I think to say, oh, but that's your understanding--of course, that is my understanding, just like yours is yours, but--yours, unlike mine, is obviously in the--in the face of--apparent meanings of lots and lots of texts supported by almost every scholar and is also in the face of 2,000 years of Christian tradition in which that hasn't been the way people have read any of those texts, so--with Justin I'm sort of saying--if you move the goalposts, isn't--isn't the--I was gonna say maybe the--the humilty of orthodoxy is to say I'll stay where the church is unless I'm sure that the church has always been wrong about this, and in that sense, I want to understand what arguments are you bringing to the table to suggest that the church had always been wrong about it, um--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --as much as I agree with the desire to win, and I want to--I want to see people liberated and free and everything as well, but I think, unless the definition of what freedom looks like is clearly established, we're--we're both going to be on very different pages about how to go about it. [66:46]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: I mean--this kind of strikes me as kind of a fundamental thing--that's kind of been--symptomatic of what you've been doing lately, Rob--is a lot of people saying, are you giving up a kind of an orthodox position--what sort of--and what basis can you claim to be speaking now the truth about God--you know--you've titled your book "What We Talk About When We Talk About God," and while there's a lot that you and Andrew have been happy to agree on, on that front--obviously, when you get to these particular issues, and this is a particular issue, and it--I don't want to frame this as the only issue out there by any stretch of the imagination, but--you know--what--how do you, kind of say, no, I'm really firm that this is--is it--cause you--what you've talked about is essentially experience, I think--that you've seen that there are people who are gay who are in relationships, and they're living out a true life of Christian discipleship--is that the kind of--the defining thing--that if you see that happening then that for you is enough to say, we did get it wrong for a long time on this--on this issue.[67:55]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: You have the witness of the community, you have your own experience, you have--lots of, um, scholarship, um--you have lots of things that inform why you think the way you do. You draw on lots of sources. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Hmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: That's how we all do it. Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: And people will disagree with you, obviously--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: What--I mean what--I suppose--what do you do with that diagreement? Do you just say it's just--it's just a kind of an impasse we're at--are you, are you kind of confident that people will come round to--in this issue--your way of looking at things?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Well, Andrew's my brother--like if we got out the bread and wine, we'd both take it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: That's right. So I don't--I understand it one way, I read it one way--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm, hmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --he reads it another way--is that it, then? Do we just part ways? Or do you take the bread and wine and does Christ hold us together--is there something that trumps whatever differences we have? Like that's the question. Like, literally you're asking--and this is part of, like, sort of the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] that really, really, really pushes people away--is when, you have a particular conviction, and all of a sudden--your orthodoxy or your faithfulness to Jesus is all of a sudden called into question. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: So, when I get into an interview like this, and--it inevitably comes around to whether I'm not on a--and you didn't say whether or not I'm a Christian, but it's the same, like--have you gone liberal, have you given up? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Um, you haven't said what about--like--the--you, you haven't like, asked a series of Andrew about--what about this, what about this, what about this--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --it comes back to me. This is why so many people don't want to be a part of the church.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: Mmm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: This is why so many people--is literally--if you are--a particular issue--cause you have just defined this as a particular issue--if you see it this way and not this way, then--your whole thing is called into question--Rob, are you even--um--this is just why so many people just give up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: I mean--I can tell that you're--you're fed up with that--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Well, it's just part of--I think it just speaks to the stuff that so many people are so tired of, and this isn't an issue of taking God seriously, this isn't an issue of--God's holiness, isn't an issue of worship, isn't an issue of discipleship--it's an issue of--the tent might be a little bigger, and when it becomes--so you're not even the tent, um--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Well, it might--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: It just sort of goes--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --I understand that, but it might be an issue of God's holiness, mightn't it, and--can you see that if you saw the text--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Sure, sure, sure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --the way I do, it would be an issue of God's holiness--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Sure, but--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --so you can see why it's--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --but even then, the whole framework for him was, on this particular issue, so we have a wide-ranging discussion about--resurrection all the way across, we come down to one issue, and it's not nuclear weapons, it's not immigration, it's not--the--addiction to technology, and e-mail, and all of the ways are fed--are, overwhelmed with stress and worry, where Jesus did say don't worry--you know what I mean, like, like--you have a wide range of issues--somebody comes along, and this issue apparently--there's an issue with them on this particular issue, and instantly--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: Can I--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --it becomes the whole thing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --if I just pitch--I think the reason--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: So that's why I think, for me it's sort of--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BRIERLEY: We're gonna have to, just, wind things up, guys, so I'll--if this--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: --that's why, that's why for me it's part of like--seriously--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: The question is why is--why is the issue there, isn't it? So I think with--the-I think it's not just a randomly chosen issue--what are your views on this issue--that's the buzzword for the day--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, sure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --so we'll catch you out on that. It's how you got to that position, and I think--in some ways, what I'm trying to establish is if--if you got to the position of saying, I affirm this because I genuinely don't believe that anything in the Bible indicates that it's sinful, and therefore I think we should celebrate it because the--because God does, because Jesus does, because the apostles did, because the prophets did--this is just a great thing, and 2000 church--2000 years of church history have been wrong, they've been reading it wrong, and here's a whole bunch of scholarship to support that position. If that's how you got there, then I'd say, well I'll disagree but I'd love see the evidence--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --love to work it through. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Sure. [71:59]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: If you're saying, the world's moved on--God's gonna get left behind if we don't change it--even though to be honest I've got a sneaking feeling that there might be a lot in Scripture that speaks against this, but I just don't think we can afford to keep sticking with that because it looks boring and retrograde and backward and intolerant, then--so we will drop what I think Jesus, or Paul, or the apostles, or anybody else was saying, in order to make ourselves more adaptable to the modern age--that doesn't mean you're not a Christian, of course it doesn't--it doesn't mean you've even gone--in my understanding, liberal is, resurrection-denying, and you're not doing--close to doing that--but it does mean that there's something quite fundamental that might be switching--which is saying I don't think that I can hold this text as being a high standard for behavior and morality anymore, and that's a big enough deal to people like me--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, I understand what you're saying. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --that we would want to say this is a--do you see what I mean--and I think you would--if you shared my view on those texts, you'd probably feel similarly, so it's really, which--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, yeah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WILSON: --which way have you got to that conclusion, I guess is the question I'm wanting to--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BELL: Yeah, yeah. That's well said. </span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-24710704676270050042013-03-31T22:48:00.001-05:002013-03-31T22:48:20.677-05:00End of monthNot to be confused with end of line (for all you Tron fans out there).<br />
<br />
It turns out that learning a new job really does take awhile, and between it and domestic responsibilities, the spirit remains willing, but the flesh still weak.<br />
<br />
There is no regular schedule to return to, but the hope remains...Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-79427673605606350572013-01-14T07:00:00.000-06:002013-01-14T07:00:14.007-06:00Crossway/ESV.org SaleIt's not too late to take advantage of the Crossway/ESV Sale. Until 01/15, ebooks at Crossway and modules for <a href="http://esvbible.org/">ESVBible.org</a> are on sale for $5.99.<br />
<br />
I was originally particularly excited about the <a href="http://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-online-1671-regkey/?utm_source=Crossway+Web+General&utm_campaign=19b92c6b5b-2013_Ebook_Sale_CWAYGEN_1_7_2012&utm_medium=email">ESV Study Bible</a> and <a href="http://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-greektools-regkey/?utm_source=Crossway+Web+General&utm_campaign=19b92c6b5b-2013_Ebook_Sale_CWAYGEN_1_7_2012&utm_medium=email">GreekTools</a> modules. I think the Study Bible module is definitely worth the price. While the GreekTools has a lot of interesting functionality, especially the interlinear options, it is unfortunately display only; you can't copy the Greek text, making it a disappointment.<br />
<br />
An interesting alternative in the original languages is is the <a href="http://www.crossway.org/books/greek-english-parallel-new-testament-ebook-ebook/">NA27-ESV parallel e-book</a>. I was a week early, so I paid $9.99 for my copy. But it installs nicely into Apple iBooks. It displays correctly, but so far won't export it fully (there's a diacritics problem with the file, not the program, I believe).<br />
<br />
I took the time to go through all of Crossway's ebooks, because for $5.99 you get both an epub and a mobi version of the book, and both are unecrypted. There are even a few that include a PDF version.<br />
<br />
I think this is a <a href="http://www.crossway.org/search/?csrfmiddlewaretoken=T9ldvQsc3rNRjd2ptpzSekkvKA4qGlkX&q=ebook&models=crosswayshop.ebook">complete list</a> (the site doesn't appear to have a way to just <em>list</em> ebooks; this is a close approximation). Titles that caught my eye (and plundered my wallet) are listed below.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.crossway.org/books/the-most-important-thing-youll-ever-study-ebook/">The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study: A Survey of the Bible<br />
</a> by Starr Meade<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.crossway.org/books/the-theology-of-b-b-warfield-ebook/">The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary</a> by Fred G. Zaspel<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.crossway.org/books/preaching-christ-in-all-of-scripture-ebook/">Preaching Christ in All of Scripture</a> by Edmund P. Clowney<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.crossway.org/books/gods-glory-in-salvation-through-judgment-ebook/">God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology </a> by James M. Hamilton, Jr.Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-24934153946041614632012-12-31T07:00:00.000-06:002013-01-02T22:59:46.953-06:00Bible Intake for 2013As you consider a Bible reading plan for 2013, consider these words of wisdom by Don Whitney:<br />
<blockquote>
Read less (if necessary) in order to meditate more<sup><a class="footnoteRef" href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9891374#fn1" id="fnref1">1</a></sup>…spend at least 25% of your time in the Word of God meditating and not just reading<sup><a class="footnoteRef" href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9891374#fn2" id="fnref2">2</a></sup>.</blockquote>
You can read more <a href="http://www.lifeway.com/ArticleView?storeId=10054&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&article=spiritual-disciplines-gospel-bible-intake-reading-scripture-time-word">here</a>. Monergism also has <a href="http://omahabiblechurch.org/uploads/AudioFiles/20071020dw1.mp3">an entire MP3 on meditation</a>.<br />
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Donald S. Whitney, <em>Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life</em> (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991), P. 55.<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9891374#fnref1">↩</a></span></li>
<li id="fn2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1151290335"><i>Do You Thirst for God?</i> (Seminar mp3, 53:15)</a><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9891374#fnref2">↩</a></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-65972346328562124992012-06-24T20:40:00.000-05:002012-06-24T20:40:47.008-05:00A Psalm<i>We've been studying the Psalms in homegroup, and for fun I challenged everyone to write a psalm. Here was mine.</i><br />
<br />
<b>A Psalm</b><br />
<br />
Lord, your people know you and give you thanks<br />
For you marvelous care;<br />
Lord, your people know you and cry out<br />
For you enduring love.<br />
<br />
You are mighty; <br />
Your right arm is strong, strong to save.<br />
<br />
Save me, Oh God, from my enemies;<br />
The enemies without, who care nothing about you;<br />
The enemy within, who'd rather do without you;<br />
Lord, make your triumph my triumph<br />
And all of the enemies as nothing, a footstool.<br />
<br />
Then all will proclaim your care,<br />
Your love,<br />
Your victory.<br />Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-54040773195542702152012-03-25T22:42:00.000-05:002012-03-25T22:42:00.089-05:00Hymn for Sunday - O for a heart to praise my God<i>I hate to admit it, but I have always sold this hymn short. I think it's because I've always heard it sung to the same tune as "O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing" (which I heard first and more often) that I have considered it something of an also-ran. <br />
<br />
But recently, there's been a personal reason to reconsider it. As I am beginning to see ever more clearly God's teaching on the importance of the heart throughout Scripture, the lyrics of this hymn are transformed from a set of disembodied words to a personal prayer. </i><br />
<br />
<b>O for a heart to praise my God</b><br />
<br />
<b>Words:</b> Charles Wesley, 1742<br />
<b>Music:</b> Stockton, Song 67, Holy Cross, Wetherby, Kilmarnock<br />
<b>Meter:</b> CM<br />
<br />
O for a heart to praise my God,<br />
a heart from sin set free,<br />
a heart that always feels thy blood<br />
so freely shed for me.<br />
<br />
A heart resigned, submissive, meek,<br />
my great Redeemer's throne,<br />
where only Christ is heard to speak,<br />
where Jesus reigns alone.<br />
<br />
A humble, lowly, contrite, heart,<br />
believing, true and clean,<br />
which neither life nor death can part<br />
from him that dwells within.<br />
<br />
A heart in every thought renewed<br />
and full of love divine,<br />
perfect and right and pure and good,<br />
a copy, Lord, of thine.<br />
<br />
My heart, thou know'st, can never rest<br />
till thou create my peace;<br />
till of mine Eden repossessed,<br />
from self, and sin, I cease.<br />
<br />
Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;<br />
come quickly from above;<br />
write thy new name upon my heart,<br />
thy new, best name of Love.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Taken from an <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/o/o137.html">entry</a> located at the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a>. This work is in the public domain.)</span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-84921806284861089642012-03-21T07:00:00.000-05:002012-03-20T11:22:46.891-05:00How People Use the Bible on the InternetSpent a little (too much) time yesterday at <a href="http://www.openbible.info/">OpenBible.info</a>. Some interesting stuff. Think about the creativity of Google, and mash it up with the web-awareness of the Crossway folks, and you'll have some idea of what you'll find there. <br />
<br />
They have a <a href="http://www.openbible.info/realtime/">page</a> that uses Google data to look at Twitter and Facebook to see how people are quoting the Bible. Fascinating technology. <br />
<br />
There are other interesting pages as well. There's one that <a href="http://www.openbible.info/labs/translation-share/">estimates the translation share on the web based on web searches</a>. I'd love to see the companion to this--what translation people use when they are quoting. <br />
<br />
Another one has visual cross-references. Since we're studying Romans at church, I <a href="http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/visualization?from=Rom&to=Bible">compared Romans to the Bible as a whole</a>. Not sure what I'm looking at, but I do think there's a future for this kind of thing--computer analysis of texts based on input from users. See, for example, <a href="http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/visualization?from=Heb&to=Lev">a comparison of Hebrews and Leviticus</a>. Or <a href="http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/visualization?from=Song&to=Bible">this one</a>, comparing Song of Solomon to the Bible. (By the way, you can click on the graphic, and it links to a picture that you can download.)<br />
<br />
Definitely something to watch for the future. <br />
<br />
Projects like this redeem the internet. I love it.Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-17374153241852702672012-03-11T22:01:00.001-05:002012-03-11T22:01:16.842-05:00Hymn for Sunday - Just As I Am, Without One Plea<i>Going through Romans on Sunday mornings at church, and also reading through John Stott's book "The Cross of Christ." God keeps bringing me face-to-face with what I bring to the table in salvation, which is nothing. I don't mind, because I need the reminders, and the more I wrestle with my own sinfulness, the more I can love my wonderful savior.<br />
<br />
Those thoughts are what led me to this hymn.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Just as I am, without one plea</b><br />
<b>Words:</b> Charlotte Elliott, 1841<br />
<b>Music:</b> Woodworth, Saffron Walden, St. Crispin, Misericordia<br />
<br />
Just as I am, without one plea,<br />
but that thy blood was shed for me,<br />
and that thou bidd'st me come to thee, <br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, and waiting not<br />
to rid my soul of one dark blot,<br />
to thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, though tossed about<br />
with many a conflict, many a doubt;<br />
fightings and fears within, without,<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;<br />
sight, riches, healing of the mind,<br />
yea, all I need, in thee to find,<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, thou wilt receive;<br />
wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,<br />
because thy promise I believe,<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, thy love unknown<br />
has broken every barrier down;<br />
now to be thine, yea, thine alone,<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
Just as I am, of that free love<br />
the breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,<br />
here for a season, then above:<br />
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Taken from an <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/j/j257.html">entry</a> located at the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a>. This work is in the public domain.)</span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-39604882564558624082012-03-08T07:00:00.000-06:002012-03-08T07:00:10.132-06:00Bible Translations Revisited<p>I've been thinking for awhile about writing a series of articles about the Bible. Specifically, Bible translation. It's been a longtime passion of mine, and I've written snippets about it previously, but several things have coalesced that have made me want to revisit it more systematically. (Series are much easier to do now that blogs have tags available.)</p><p>With that said, since this is the kingdom, not competition, I'm thrilled to find out when someone is already working on this, especially when it is someone I know. I stumbled across my friend Kim Shay's <a href="http://philippians314.squarespace.com/journal/2012/3/5/training-in-righteousness-6.html">blog entry about Bible translations</a>, and it is just the sort of thing I'm thinking about writing. I commend it to you. </p><p>I am also working on revising my listing of bible copyrights into a full-blown discussion of them. Until it is finished, my original listing is available on my blog's <a href="http://stillreforming.blogspot.com/2006/01/blog-copyright-page.html">copyright page</a>, or as <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/79716906/Quoting-Scripture">a downloadable PDF on scribd</a>. </p><p>More to come...</p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-83936064566794811332012-03-04T21:28:00.000-06:002012-03-04T21:28:22.035-06:00Hymn for Sunday - Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty<i>One of the things I've noticed recently in going through the Psalms is the <b>pervasiveness</b> of praise. <br />
<br />
Consider this excerpt from Psalm 103:</i><br />
<blockquote><i>Bless the LORD, O my soul, <br />
and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.<br />
<br />
Bless the LORD, O my soul,<br />
and forget not all his benefits.<br />
<br />
Bless the LORD, you angels of his,<br />
you mighty ones who do his bidding, <br />
and hearken to the voice of his word.<br />
<br />
Bless the LORD, all you his hosts, <br />
you ministers of his who do his will.<br />
<br />
Bless the LORD, all you works of his,<br />
in all places of his dominion; <br />
bless the LORD, O my soul. <br />
<br />
(vs. 1,2,20,21,22)</i></blockquote><br />
<i>This picture, of God's praise coming from everywhere—from within the psalmist, and from creation, high and low—reminded me of a stanza in the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty," where earth, sky, and sea all praise God. <br />
<br />
The lyrics below were obtained from the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a> online, which lists more than 40 separate Anglican hymnals that contain this particular hymn.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Words:</b> Reginald Heber (1783-1826), 1827<br />
<b>Meter:</b> 11 12 12 10</i><br />
<br />
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!<br />
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.<br />
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,<br />
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.<br />
<br />
Holy, holy, holy! All saints adore thee,<br />
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;<br />
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,<br />
which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.<br />
<br />
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,<br />
though the sinful human eye thy glory may not see,<br />
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,<br />
perfect in power, in love, and purity.<br />
<br />
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!<br />
All thy works shall praise thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;<br />
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,<br />
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Psalm quote adapted from <i>The Book of Common Prayer</i> of the Episcopal Church, 1979 edition, obtained from <a href="http://bcponline.org/">The (Online) Book of Common Prayer</a>. Lyrics for the hymn are from an <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/h/h297.html">entry</a> located at the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a>. Both of these works are in the public domain.)</span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-57883175844407330132012-02-29T22:29:00.001-06:002012-03-04T16:58:10.096-06:00What is the Christian Life?<p>One of the other things I decided to in learning about Lent was to get the Anglican Church’s Lent app, which has daily reflections. The following quote, which I think is a very nice summing up of the Christian life, is excerpted from the 02/28 entry.</p><blockquote><p>The Christian life is not a set of principles that can be quickly learnt and swotted up on, and the exam then passed. It is a life of growth, pruning, development, commitment, wisdom, maturity, chastening and encouragement. It is, in short, learning and growing through a living relationship.</p></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Quote taken from the <i><a href="http://www.aimermedia.com/LentReflections">Reflections for Lent app</a></i>, Published 2012 by Church House Publishing. It is Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2011.)</span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-4459045410519750912012-02-24T07:00:00.000-06:002012-02-24T07:00:00.598-06:00Lent 2012<p>There seems to be lots more activity than normal surrounding Lent this year. I could be wrong, or it may simply be that I'm paying more attention since I've decided to participate. </p><p>My wife and I have decided to celebrate Lent for the first time this year by making it a priority to pray with each other every day. We are both excited about it, and hopeful that God will use this time to grow us closer together, and help us make a habit of this important practice. </p><p>One of the most interesting things I found in my readings was written by Michael Horton of White Horse Inn. <a href="http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2012/02/22/thoughts-about-lent/">This link</a> brings together an article he wrote entitled <strong>Lent—Why Bother? To Lead us to Christ</strong>, which defends the idea of Lent without condoning the superstitious practices surrounding it, and a brief discussion of why he doesn't think the practice violates the regulative principal. </p><p>I'm not a fan of the regulative principal anyway—I think it is misused and arbitrary at times—but its use in this case seems to bring it into conflict with Scripture. I think Horton nails it when he talks about Paul allowing feasts. </p><p>That's not to say that Horton couldn't be wrong; he could. I could, too. But I hope that, far from celebrating something superstitiously, we are actively working to redeem the time, doing something to strengthen our marriage and devotion to the Lord. </p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-16952498932342326432012-02-19T07:00:00.000-06:002012-02-19T07:00:09.703-06:00Hymn for Sunday - O Love that wilt not let me go<i>A few years ago Bryan Duncan put out an album called "Quiet Prayers," tied to the "My Utmost for His Highest" anniversary celebration. It is by far some of my favorite music, wonderful for background, contemplation, and the <b>right</b> kind of meditation. Highly recommended, and although out of print, it is available used and download. I really need to track my copy down.<br />
<br />
One of the songs on it was "Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go." I was thrilled when I stumbled upon this hymn at the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a> this week. Between the words themselves and the ABAAB structure of the stanzas, this is a nice selection.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>O Love that wilt not let me go</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Words:</b> George Matheson, 1882<br />
<b>Music:</b> St. Margaret, Consecration, Wyke<br />
<b>Meter:</b> 88 886 </i><br />
<br />
O Love that wilt not let me go,<br />
I rest my weary soul in thee;<br />
I give thee back the life I owe,<br />
that in thine ocean depths its flow<br />
may richer, fuller be.<br />
<br />
O Light that followest all my way,<br />
I yield my flickering torch to thee;<br />
my heart restores its borrowed ray,<br />
that in thy sunshine's blaze its day<br />
may brighter, fairer be.<br />
<br />
O Joy that seekest me through pain,<br />
I cannot close my heart to thee;<br />
I trace the rainbow through the rain,<br />
and feel the promise is not vain,<br />
that morn shall tearless be.<br />
<br />
O Cross that liftest up my head,<br />
I dare not ask to fly from thee;<br />
I lay in dust life's glory dead,<br />
and from the ground there blossoms red<br />
life that shall endless be.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Taken from an <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/o/o478.html">entry</a> located at the <a href="http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/">Oremus Hymnal</a>. This work is in the public domain.)</span>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-43247882158807455412012-02-12T14:51:00.000-06:002012-02-12T14:51:00.034-06:00Hymn for the Day - I Sing the Mighty Power of God<i>We are just getting started in Romans at church, and as we’ve come to Romans 1:18-23, we read that God’s invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—are clearly perceived since the beginning through the creation itself. This was one of the hymns we sang today, and our pastor reminded us that we should be inspired to praise God even just by looking at what we see around us.</i> <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>I Sing the Mighty Power of God</b> <br />
<b><i>by Isaac Watts</i></b><br />
<br />
I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,<br />
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.<br />
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;<br />
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.<br />
<br />
I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,<br />
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.<br />
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,<br />
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.<br />
<br />
There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,<br />
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;<br />
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;<br />
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-89870061553240386312012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:002012-02-08T07:00:10.112-06:00The Character of God's Law<p>"There can be nothing... in the demands of the law, and the severity of the law, and the condemnation of the law, and the death of the law, and the curse of the law, which is not a reflection (in part) of the perfections of God. Whatever is due to the law is due to the law because it is the law of God, and is due therefore to God himself." </p><p>Nathaniel Dimock, <em>Doctrine of the Death of Christ</em>, p. 32, quoted in <em>The Cross of Christ</em>, by John Stott, p. 118 (IVP, 2006). </p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-41368401357049556032012-02-05T23:32:00.000-06:002012-02-05T23:32:56.691-06:00Hymn for the Day - Isaac Watts on Psalm 90<i>Isaac Watts was not merely prolific in his hymn writing, in terms of quantity; even a brief glance at a hymnal reveals that lasting impact he has had on the faith. Here is <b>one</b> of his adaptations of Psalm 90.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Psalm 90</b> (v. 1-5)<br />
<br />
Our God, our help in ages past,<br />
Our hope for years to come,<br />
Our shelter from the stormy blast,<br />
And our eternal home.<br />
<br />
Under the shadow of thy throne<br />
Thy saints have dwelt secure;<br />
Sufficient is thine arm alone,<br />
And our defence is sure.<br />
<br />
Before the hills in order stood,<br />
Or earth received her frame,<br />
From everlasting thou art God,<br />
To endless years the same.<br />
<br />
Thy word commands our flesh to dust,<br />
"Return, ye sons of men:"<br />
All nations rose from earth at first,<br />
And turn to earth again.<br />
<br />
A thousand ages in thy sight<br />
Are like an evening gone;<br />
Short as the watch that ends the night<br />
Before the rising sun.<br />
<br />
[The busy tribes of flesh and blood,<br />
With all their lives and cares,<br />
Are carried downwards by the flood,<br />
And lost in following years.<br />
<br />
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,<br />
Bears all its sons away;<br />
They fly, forgotten, as a dream<br />
Dies at the op'ning day.<br />
<br />
Like flowery fields the nations stand<br />
Pleased with the morning light;<br />
The flowers beneath the mower's hand<br />
Lie with'ring ere 'tis night.]<br />
<br />
Our God, our help in ages past,<br />
Our hope for years to come,<br />
Be thou our guard while troubles last,<br />
And our eternal home.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Taken from <i><a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts/psalmshymns.toc.html">Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts</a></i>, located at the the <a href="http://www.ccel.org/">Christian Classics Ethereal Library</a>. This work is in the public domain.)</span><br />Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-7636862199213638652012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:002012-02-01T09:49:12.597-06:00No More Death to Die<p>We sang <a href="http://stillreforming.blogspot.com/2012/01/hymn-for-sunday-crown-him-with-many.html"><em>Crown Him With Many Crowns</em></a> a couple of weeks ago at church. I remember it well, because it was just after my grandmother's funeral, and the following stanza struck a particular chord and stuck with me.</p><p><em>Crown him the Lord of life,<br />
who triumphed o'er the grave,<br />
and rose victorious in the strife<br />
for those he came to save.<br />
His glories now we sing,<br />
who died, and rose on high,<br />
who died, eternal life to bring,<br />
and lives that death may die.</em></p><p>At Grandma's memorial service, we were given the opportunity to say something. I decided to try to find something from or about a Scripture passage on death, and after doing some research, I found what I wanted in a sermon from Charles Spurgeon, quoted in the book <em>We Shall See God: Charles Spurgeon's Classic Devotional Thoughts on Heaven</em>, by Randy Alcorn. (If that book sounds familiar, you may have previously read <a href="http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/07/alcorn-and-spurgeon-on-heaven.html">this review</a>.)</p><p>Preaching on 1 Cor. 15:3-6, Spurgeon said this:</p><blockquote><p>In the heathen part of the catacombs of Rome, the inscriptions over the place where their dead were buried are full of grief and despair. Indeed, the writers of those inscriptions do not appear to have been able to find words in which they could express their great distress, their agony of heart, at the loss of child or husband or friend. They pile the mournful words together, trying to describe their grief. Sometimes they declare that the light has gone from their sky now that their dear ones are taken from them.</p><p>"Alas! Alas!" says the record. "Dear Caius has gone, and with him all joy is quenched forever, for I shall see him no more." But when you come into that part of the catacombs which was devoted to Christian burial vaults, everything is different. There you may constantly read these consoling words: "He sleeps in peace." There is nothing dreadful or despairing in the inscriptions there; they are submissive, they are cheerful, they are even thankful. Frequently they are victorious, and the most common emblem is not the quenched torch, as it is on the heathen side, where the light is supposed to have gone out forever, but the palm branch, to signify that the victory remains eternally with the departed one. It is the glory of the Christian religion to have let light into the grave, to have taken away the sting from death, and in fact, to have made it <em>no more death to die.</em></p></blockquote><p>Our dearly departed loved ones who have died in Christ now have no more death to die, and it is all thanks to the Lord of life.</p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-91483358837173676472012-01-29T20:33:00.001-06:002012-01-29T20:38:23.656-06:00Hymn for Sunday - Crown Him With Many Crowns<div><p><a href="http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh327.sht"><strong>Crown Him with Many Crowns</strong></a></p> <p><em><strong>Text:</strong> Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894, and Godfrey Thring, 1823-1903</em><br />
<em><strong>Music:</strong> George J. Elvey, 1816-1893</em><br />
<em><strong>Tune:</strong> DIADEMATA, <strong>Meter:</strong> SMD</em><br />
</p> <p>Crown him with many crowns, <br />
the Lamb upon his throne, <br />
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns <br />
all music but its own. <br />
Awake, my soul, and sing <br />
of him who died for thee, <br />
and hail him as thy matchless King <br />
through all eternity. <br />
</p> <p>Crown him the Lord of life, <br />
who triumphed o'er the grave, <br />
and rose victorious in the strife <br />
for those he came to save. <br />
His glories now we sing, <br />
who died, and rose on high, <br />
who died, eternal life to bring, <br />
and lives that death may die. <br />
</p> <p>Crown him the Lord of peace, <br />
whose power a scepter sways <br />
from pole to pole, that wars may cease, <br />
and all be prayer and praise. <br />
His reign shall know no end, <br />
and round his pierced feet <br />
fair flowers of paradise extend <br />
their fragrance ever sweet. <br />
</p> <p>Crown him the Lord of love; <br />
behold his hands and side, <br />
those wounds, yet visible above, <br />
in beauty glorified. <br />
All hail, Redeemer, hail! <br />
For thou hast died for me; <br />
thy praise and glory shall not fail <br />
throughout eternity. <br />
</p> <p><em>Lyrics obtained from <a href="http://www.hymnsite.com"><a href="http://Hymnsite.com">Hymnsite.com</a></a></em></p></div>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-90875815524279783912012-01-25T09:51:00.000-06:002012-01-25T17:56:50.472-06:00Trying To Be More Trinitarian<p>One thing that I have been challenged on recently is my overall lack of Trinitarianism.</p><p>It's <a href="http://www.reformation21.org/blog/carl-trueman/">Carl Trueman's</a> fault. The guy is an absolute menace to a comfortable pew-sitter like me. I was listening to his lectures on <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/medievalchurch/id430337027">medieval church theology</a> (which are worth listening to, despite the audio problems, which I think are due to a less-than-successful transfer from cassette), and he mentioned on several occasions that a pet peeve of his is the functional unitarianism of the evangelical church.</p><p>And doggonit if he isn't right. I mean, when was the last time you included all three members of the Trinity in your prayers?</p><p>I think prayer is where the whole thing intersected for me, because I was already feeling the weight of not praying as I should, and then to have this added to it, was really the tipping point for me.</p><p>There's more that could be said--more that I could go into--but now isn't the time. Instead, I'll just say that I'm working on all of those things, and a part of my inspiration is by looking at published historical prayers.</p><p>The <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/">Book Of Common Prayer</a> is one of the most obvious, but not the only one by any means. But there are other things as well, like <a href="http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=omOqqHQ4ZEkC">this book</a> on Presbyterian Liturgy (I'm currently reading through Calvin's prayers), and <a href="http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=APUCAAAAQAAJ">this book</a> of prayers and meditations by Anselm (that last was recommended by Trueman in his lectures, BTW).</p><p>The point is this: I'm trying to make progress in thinking Trinitarian, so that I will pray more Trinitarian.</p><p>What about you?</p>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-39013598306578457222012-01-22T07:00:00.000-06:002012-01-22T07:00:10.742-06:00Prayer for Afflicted PersonsThis comes from John Calvin's Liturgy of the Church of Geneva.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">God of all comfort! We commend to you those whom you are pleased to visit and chasten with any cross or tribulation; the nations whom you do afflict with pestilence, war, or famine; all persons oppressed with poverty, imprisonment, sickness, banishment, or any other distress of body or sorrow of mind: That it may please you to show them your fatherly chastening them for their profit; to the end that in their hearts they may turn to you, and being converted, may receive perfect consolation, and deliverance from all their woes. </blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Taken from <i><a href="http://www.archive.org/details/eutaxiaorpresby00bair">Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies: Historical Sketches</a></i> by Charles Washington Baird, which is in the public domain. Spelling is slightly modernized.)</span><br />
<br />Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9891374.post-28668658475746369792012-01-15T21:53:00.001-06:002012-01-15T21:55:32.454-06:00A Prayer for Today<div><p>Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Your Spirit, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.</p> <p>Amen</p> <p><em>Adapted from the Episcopal <strong>Book of Common Prayer</strong>, which is in the public domain.</em></p></div>Matt Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698469400042045105noreply@blogger.com0