The Better Covenant

Cent,

thanks for posting Piper's quote. I'm going to "reprint" your post here, and my comment, because i just can't say it any better. thanks.

"One of the most edifying and personally-challenging series of sermons I have been listening to recently has been the Desiring God Radio series through Romans, particularly as Dr. Piper has been advancing through Romans 9. I commend it to you no matter who you are or what you believe if you want to get a grasp of the Gospel and its implications for real assurance regarding the goodness of God.

However, there is a real gem in the introductory remarks to today's installment which is not necessarily in the body of the sermon. The excerpt that struck me as especially powerful goes like this:

Surrounding that sacrificial system was a system of cultic practice of clean foods, and certain keeping of certain holidays, and circumcision. Those three things in particular – the food laws, the circumcision laws, the festivals – those are all gone, and wiped away by Jesus' decisive work. [also] Israel was a political, ethnic entity, governed, therefore, by a constitution laid down in the Torah which had the death penalty for several dozen things. You curse your parents, you're dead. You sleep with a woman, you both are stoned. Those things have gone. Jesus didn't require the death penalty for these kinds of things – in fact, he pointed the other direction. And the reason they're gone is because the church is not an ethnic, political entity located somewhere in the world with a capital: the church is permeated through all governmental structures, and all societal structures so that it isn't governed, per se, the way the Old Testament people were with statutory laws that govern all of our legal repercussions to misbehaviors. Rather, we live under various regimes, we operate there, and we show, we teach, the Biblical morality but we don't exercise, as though we were a political entity, the right to do capital punishment.

It is interesting that Dr. Piper here underscores that what is evident in the church ought to be something which transcends the merely political and ethnic..."

amazing isn't it, when the clarity of Scripture is spoken into one's life by someone as gifted as Piper? amazing not because it's Piper or Cent or whomever, because that's just the person who God is using at that moment. but because God's word is just like this: sharp as a sword -- piercing yet discerning. Transcending the culture in which you & i live; how cool is that, that God knows so much about us (duh, like everything) yet called us out of His grace. To live for Him who saved me, doesn't get much better than that.

This comes to my mind, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:12-16 ESV)

An Inconvenient Truth . . . for Al Gore & GW "Truthers"

Is there really a consensus among scientists re: “global warming”?

Increasingly, the answer appears to be “no.” Does that mean global warming is not happening? No. Does it mean we should steward well the resources we have been given by God? Yes.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=c47c1209-233b-412c-b6d1-5c755457a8af&k=23365

No, really, it's ok to lie . . .

Sick.

Twisted.

Your tax dollars at work, as reported by Michell Malkin & CNSNews

Statement of Faith

Ok, i didn't write it, and those who did didn't consult me, but looking it over, it's pretty good.

This is pretty cool

Used to be i'd think that if it went faster than the other guy's, or if it was more technologically advanced, or made me look/feel better about myself to myself/others, it was cool.

But not anymore.

See, God did something really cool, and it's not deniable in any plausible sense. And since i found out about it and since God invited me, hey, stuff that used be cool to me, just is irrelevant.

How's that going with you?

Train up a child in the way he should go . . .

Recently discovered this blog, and want to share a post from it. Be warned that if you watch the video, there is some errrr . . . not-good language.

But the post? Well that's a different thing; here you go:

A teenager sits down in front of his mother, and announces to her that he is an Atheist. Her reaction is to announce that, henceforth, the family will start attending church every week.

The boy reiterates his disbelief, to which his mother counters that he was "confirmed" in the presence of "the Bishop" as some sort of irrefutable claim. As a Protestant, I cannot help but find a small theological amusement in this.

"A lot can happen," the boy responds and seems to start to explain something of what led him to this view - when his mother angrily interrupts with a rather clumsy attempt to belittle her son's stance. "All of a sudden you can just quit believing in God?" she asks.

Yes. Yes you can. Especially if the depth of your faith consists of a brief catechistic rite that took place when you are barely old enough to think and reason.


I do not wish to make light of this episode, and I do not feel any of the raucous mirth that accompanied the sending of this video to me by a familiar of mine.

Foolish, irresponsible, and painful - yes, but hardly the stuff of playful jest. I can only wonder at what would follow such an exchange between a mother and a son...

...and what of the man who sits so idly by while all this is taking place? Surely he is not the father, to have so little control over his own household. 'Tis curious.


Despite the exaggerated tone of this display, which would incline one into thinking it a clever parody, I find it all too true to form - consonant with my own experiences as well as those with whom I have known.

We would think that we can barter with the Almighty, that we would negotiate Grace and force His acquiescence to a covenant of our own devisings... but it is now as it has always been: the Just shall live by Faith.

What do you think?

Nothing to see here, folks

Want to see something fun? Read this article by Jim Wallis and then read this article by Frank Turk.

See what i mean?

One has depth of feeling and thought, and an admonition ("Don't waste your life."), while the other . . . has pretty much none of those things.

Remember those tests in elementary school, "...One of these is not like the other . . ."


Heh.

A Thought to Think

While at one of my now more-frequented blogs, i saw that Centurion had posted about Jerry Falwell, and the amazing thing is that he (Centurion) can express so eloquently thoughts on living as a Christian (or on others who live well the Christian life), not just wearing the t-shirt. Thanks for using the gift God has given you, Cent; certainly it has spurred me to think about issues more deeply, and from the perspective of a Christian - something I am convinced we should all be doing more of.

As I said yesterday, I wasn't a fan of Jerry Falwell, but in reviewing the responses toward him through the media, I am struck by two really amazing things:

[1] The shear volume of people who despised him -- so much so that even at his death they cannot say anything about him but nastiness.

[2] The response of Larry Flint toward the death of Rev. Falwell, which I site here:

The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in.

It's probably not so remarkable that Flynt took this opportunity to exemplify himself as a maker of history, but there is something extraordinary about this statement: somehow, Jerry Falwell was able to reach across the moral divide to the pornographer Larry Flynt.

There is a lesson there for those who are heaping hatred on Rev. Falwell: they are clearly wrong about who he was and what he was intending to do in this world. Megalomaniacs and demagogues don't make friends with people who hate everything they stand for. They don't imagine that there's a redemption for the "other side". But there is a lesson for the rest of us as well.

Listen: the viciousness with which some circles are saying "so long" to Rev. Falwell ought to be considered against the fact that Jerry Falwell spoke the truth -- insofar as he spoke it -- and also extended himself as an ambassador even to someone as diametrically-opposed to God's law as Larry Flynt.

This is a lesson in apologetics and evangelism, folks. Jerry Falwell was a flawed human person -- but guess what? So am I. And for the record: so are you. If, upon our deaths, there are none of the unsaved in the number who will say, "this one was my friend," perhaps we have wasted our time here.

Don't waste your life.

[emphasis added]

real judgmental. . . not

Hey LD, Thomas, John, and everyone else,

Cling to your faith for dear life is right -- because without faith and Jesus' saving grace, me, you, all of us are hopelessly lost, and doomed to eternal punishment.

It seems that my previous comments were perceived as being judgmental, or condemning, and for that, I deeply apologize. It was not my intent nor motivation to come across as condemning or harmful.

I never have said that God magically takes away the sinful desires of the natural man, nor do I believe anything approximating that! God has said that He will not take us out of this world, but rather that His grace is sufficient to see us through any situation.

Constant, or at least consistent, prayer, is a must. Without it, none of us can actually claim to have a walk with God, and no matter how "right" one is with God, none of us has a right to judge others' intentions, or look down on our Christian brothers & sisters, or whether their claims to salvation are legitimate -- that's for God to judge.

One thing that is so awesome about Christ is that despite the sinful, evil, nasty creatures that we are (including me, John), Christ is willing to get down in our mess with us, and help us up by His grace, to lead us into salvation. Such a gift as that is beyond measure, to be treasured and desired above all else.

What you don't know is that i've been praying for Jesus to create in you a desire for Him that is stronger than anything else in this world, not because you need that more than me or anyone else, or that i need it less, but because we all are sinners and fall short of God's glory.

In the interest of transparency, honesty, and full disclosure, please note that in your comments on my blog, you called me a liar, you claimed that I placed myself in authority over you. None of these things you said about me are true. you said i should examine my heart, and get real. well, i did examine my heart and get real 2 years ago. And then Christ came into my heart and redeemed me; he's still got a ton of work to do, too. i do know the extent of my sin, and it does make me sick to witness my own sin. That's why i almost continually ask him to search my heart and reveal to me any hidden sins that need to be confessed.

should anyone be interested enough to discuss what i have written tonight or any other time, my email address is agoodplacetobe@gmail.com and my blog (on which John posted some rather nasty comments) is http://liveasif.blogspot.com

perhaps you can turn over some of your rage to Christ -- it would be far more beneficial for you than directing it at me. Please examine your own heart and turn over anything that is not of God to Jesus at the Cross.

In summary, i claim that Christ is perfect. i claimed, and here do claim again, that i am imperfect, a fallen sinner prone to dishonoring Christ as much as anyone else. Of course i'm a sinner; a pretty good one, too. Which is exactly why i need Christ.

sigh

well he's still at it, complaining about my supposed "judgmental" comments while leaving nasty ad-hominem arguments on my blog, while seeking sympathy from my awful onslaught of evil words. interesting, what some people find really important.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
(Galatians 4:7-9 ESV)

oh really?

As of late i've been reading some of the articles on James MacDonald's blog and tonight decided to post a comment to the article listed above.

"John" got bent by my comments, and proceeded in an anonymous post to attack me on my own blog, in a most un-Christian like manner.

So let's address some of his comments, starting with

I was really offended by your post on James Mcguires blog

it's James MacDonald's blog. i'm sorry you were offended; that was not my intent or desire or goal.

You place yourself in authority

No I don't. i claim that Jesus redeemed me and cleansed me through His blood.

You (basically) inferred that you are living in a state of perfection

No, i did not. i have never made such a claim about myself. i openly admitted to you my struggles, past and present. Perhaps it was just more convenient for you to forget that?

You claim the perfection of Christ, which makes you a liar. You are a sinner, and you will be, until God calls you home.

Let's address your claims. i claim that Christ is perfect. i claimed, and here do claim again, that i am imperfect, a fallen sinner prone to dishonoring Christ as much as anyone else. Of course i'm a sinner; a pretty good one, too. Which is exactly why i need Christ.

Examine your heart and get real! You may not know the extent of your sin, but God does! Ask him to search your heart! It will (or should) make you sick!

i did examine my heart and get real 2 years ago. And then Christ came into my heart and redeemed me; he's still got a ton of work to do, too. i do know the extent of my sin, and it does make me sick to witness my own sin. That's why i almost continually ask him to search my heart and reveal to me any hidden sins that need to be confessed.

perhaps you can turn over some of your rage to Christ -- it would be far more beneficial for you than directing it at me.

Just Like Me . . .

So i was reading a Christian blog site the other day and saw this article.  It's really a bold and uncompromising statement of our sinful state before God written in light of the recent VA Tech tragedy and honestly, i am not sure yet what my complete reaction to it is.  My first sense was "no way," but then as i went to Romans 3 to read again the Scripture quoted in this blog article, the overwhelming sense of just how fallen i really am.  But its not just me -- it's you too, and while i "know" that i have fallen short of the glory of God, to be confronted with the sinfulness and awfulness of sin is . . .  Discomforting.  What do you think?

God bless,
Lawrence

Thinking about moving to Vista?

Heh. You may want to think again after reading this. It becomes a fairly long and complex read, actually.
I've read the article, so this particular link is safe. Peter Guttman's pretty smart, and this is really discomforting stuff; suddenly Windows XP seems like utopia.

Was blind, but now, I see

Blindness to the gospel is an awful thing. I'm currently reading John Piper's "When I don't desire God, the fight for Joy" and encountered the reference of II Corinthians 4:3-6 and was reminded of the words from "Amazing Grace."

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4:3-6 ESV)

Heh. See, God rocks!

Go and sin no err .. some more

Timmy Brister wrote about Anna Nicole Smith's life and death, from a gospel-oriented point of view.

Here's the full article:

“Go and sin no some more.”

Those were the words that continued to ring through my head as I listened over and over again to all the news reports on the life and death of Anna Nicole Smith.

It was in 1983 when she quit high school at the age of 16 to work as a waitress and a cook. Shortly thereafter she married Billy Wayne Smith, another fry cook, and together they had a son, Daniel Smith VIII. The marriage lasted less than a year, and Anna Nicole, then known as Vickie Lynn Hogan, moved back to Houston to work at Wal-Mart, a restaurant, and a topless strip club as a dancer. It was there at a strip club in 1992 where she would meet her second husband, billionaire oil-tycoon, J. Howard Marshall II. In less than 10 years, she when from a high school drop-out and hometown waitress to the verge of marrying into billions (even though he was old enough to be her grandfather).

But the prospect of billions was not enough. A year later she made it on the cover of Playboy magazine, and Hugh Hefner made the public statement that Anna Nicole would be the next Marilyn Monroe. It is reported that throughout her life, indeed, she considered it her ambition to be just like Monroe, and tragically, her short-lived life ended in a very similar fashion.

The last chapter of her life began with a reality show (”The Anna Nicole Smith Show”) where cameras followed her life story. In between reality shows and bankruptcy, Anna Nicole’s life was constantly in the courts, trying to get the millions from the Marshall family after the death of her husband. And just last year, with the birth of a baby girl, her son overdoses and dies there in her hospital room. Mourning after the death of her son who apparently was the love of her life, she became more and more depressed and found new court battles to face, in particular over who was the father of her newborn baby. And just five days ago, Anna Nicole collapses and dies in her hotel room at the age of 39.

This is a brief summary of a woman who, for 39 years, heard the words “Go and sin some more.” She had everything this world could possibly offer: beauty, riches, sex, fame, etc. Coming from a small town in Texas a high school drop-out, this looks like the American dream. After all, what was it that America could offer that she did not receive?

Yet over the past week, I heard testimony after testimony from her friends, family, and associates about how lonely, depressed, and empty Anna Nicole was her entire life. One of her closest companions shared that Anna Nicole felt no one loved her and that no man cared enough to pursue her, so much that her last husband, her lawyer, came by default since he was her closest friend. This woman, having walked the red carpet, lived in mansions, and posed before thousands of cameras couldn’t look at herself in the face and accept who she was.

I hearkened back to Scripture and more specifically to the life of Jesus Christ to think about a couple of Anna Nicole’s in Jesus’ day. I recall a woman of Samaria who had many men in her life (John 4:1-42), a woman of the city who was characteristically known as “a sinner” (Luke 7:36-50), and a woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Like the Samaritan woman, Anna Nicole had experienced many men in her life. Like the woman of the city, she prostituted herself for riches. Like the woman caught in adultery, she knew what it was like to be in a courtroom, being judged by others. Jesus was no stranger to the Anna Nicole’s of his day.

But Anna Nicole was a stranger to Jesus Christ. She had not met the man who “told me all that I ever did” (John 4:29). She did not hear the question, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7:49). She did not hear the words “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). No, she heard the opposite from the world around her. At every point in her life, whether as a stripper, a Playboy Playmate, an unfaithful wife, or wrapped up in drugs, sex, and fame, she heard the words, “Go and sin some more.” And ultimately, such wages of sin lead to her death (Rom. 6:23).

Everything that she wanted she had, and everything that she had led to her death. Such is the story of a life wasted by the world, ruined by its supposed benefits, duped by its fleeting promises. What did Anna Nicole need?

She needed the gospel.
She needed forgiveness of sins.
She needed a man who could tell her all that she ever did.
She needed to hear the words, “Go and sin NO more.”
She needed Jesus.

The money, the sex, the riches and the fame, were all broken cisterns which could hold no water (Jer. 2:13), leaving a thirsty soul parched, barren, and empty. She drank of the water which made her thirsty again and again, but she never drank of the water that would be a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). She knew many men in life, but she didn’t know the Son of Man who died so that we might live. Until her dying day, Anna Nicole fought up to the U.S. Supreme Court for $474 million only to find that riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death (Prov. 11:4). Having succumbed to death, an even higher court she must face as she stands before the Judge of the earth on that day of wrath where the wealth of the world cannot vouch for a bankrupt soul.

Turning to myself, I have to ask, “Who are the Anna Nicole’s in my life?” No, I am not talking about strippers or playmates or Hollywood superstars with millions to spare. I am talking about those who, like Anna Nicole, have never come to treasure Jesus Christ as the all-satisfying Savior and Lord of their life. Have I so presented Jesus to them that they would be lead to reply, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (John 4:15)? Or have I become a modern-day Pharisee who would tell Jesus, “If you were a prophet, you would have known what sort of woman this is who is touching you” (Luke 7:39)? Do I find my hands filled with stones or does my life reflect that I am a debtor to sovereign mercy?

The fact is that I am not better than Anna Nicole or the men who she stripped for, save the grace of God. What I most desperately needed was forgiveness of sin, for I am all the more a worm, wretched and blind, rotten and wicked. Yet, having become a debtor to mercy and a child of God, it is my privilege to go to the Anna Nicole’s with the love of Christ and say, “Go and sin no more.” It is my lifelong calling to call sinners to repentance who long to be like the Marilyn Monroe’s to long to be like Christ. It is my earnest prayer that, whether in life or in death, Jesus Christ would be on display, that words would be spoken of Him and His great salvation, and that all would be gain because I have treasured Him.

I tremble to think that my world might hear the words, “Go and sin some more” with the way I live my life. I shutter to think that the Anna Nicole’s in my world would find a Pharisee in me, questioning the worth of their alabaster box rather than kissing the feet of my Savior. May God spare me the horror of such disgrace and use these recent events in the death of Anna Nicole Smith to awaken me to the tragedy of a wasted life and the glories of treasuring the excellencies of Jesus Christ.

It may be that you may be reading this, and you can relate to Anna Nicole. You have tasted the bitter water of this world and find that it does not satisfy. You have bought into the bad deal of goods this world has to offer, only to find yourself restless all the more. To those weary, restless, and thirsty, come to Jesus and be satisfied in Him alone. Turn from your wretched ways and trust in Jesus to save you, and His promise is true and faithful, that He will accept you no matter where you are or what you have done. The only hope of God being satisfied with us is in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the death he died was once and for all for sinners like you and me, so that we might be accepted in heaven because of His sacrifice and taking our place on the cross. The message the world tells you is to go and sin some more. Yet such sinful living has an eternal price tag to pay, and that is everlasting separation and punishment in hell. Jesus tells you to go and sin no more because He came that we might be forgiven of our sin through His victory over it on the cross. Flee to Him today, and treasure Him for a lifetime, yea for eternity.

Your thoughts?

(Re)united, cuz it feels so good?

Read this development online today, and so far I just can only hang my head in wonderment. How hard can it be to unite under the banner of Scripture? Obviously, very hard indeed.

Article follows:

Churches back plan to unite under Pope

Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.

In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.

The statement, leaked to The Times, is being considered by the Vatican, where Catholic bishops are preparing a formal response.

It comes as the archbishops who lead the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion meet in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in an attempt to avoid schism over gay ordination and other liberal doctrines that have taken hold in parts of the Western Church.

The 36 primates at the gathering will be aware that the Pope, while still a cardinal, sent a message of support to the orthodox wing of the Episcopal Church of the US as it struggled to cope with the fallout after the ordination of the gay bishop Gene Robinson.

Were this week’s discussions to lead to a split between liberals and conservatives, many of the former objections in Rome to a reunion with Anglican conservatives would disappear. Many of those Anglicans who object most strongly to gay ordination also oppose the ordination of women priests.

Rome has already shown itself willing to be flexible on the subject of celibacywhen it received dozens of married priests from the Church of England into the Catholic priesthood after they left over the issue of women’s ordination.

There are about 78 million Anglicans, compared with a billion Roman Catholics, worldwide. In England and Wales, the Catholic Church is set to overtake Anglicanism as the predominant Christian denomination for the first time since the Reformation, thanks to immigration from Catholic countries.

As the Anglicans’ squabbles over the fundamentals of Christian doctrine continue — with seven of the conservative primates twice refusing to share Communion with the other Anglican leaders at their meeting in Tanzania — the Church’s credibility is being increasingly undermined in a world that is looking for strong witness from its international religious leaders.

The Anglicans will attempt to resolve their differences today by publishing a new Anglican Covenant, an attempt to provide a doctrinal statement under which they can unite.

But many fear that the divisions have gone too far to be bridged and that, if they cannot even share Communion with each other, there is little hope that they will agree on a statement of common doctrine.

The latest Anglican-Catholic report could hardly come at a more sensitive time. It has been drawn up by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, which is chaired by the Right Rev David Beetge, an Anglican bishop from South Africa, and the Most Rev John Bathersby, the Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia.

The commission was set up in 2000 by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, and Cardinal Edward Cassidy, then head of the Vatican’s Council for Christian Unity. Its aim was to find a way of moving towards unity through “common life and mission”.

The document leaked to The Times is the commission’s first statement, Growing Together in Unity and Mission. The report acknowledges the “imperfect communion” between the two churches but says that there is enough common ground to make its “call for action” about the Pope and other issues.

In one significant passage the report notes: “The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ministry of the Bishop of Rome [the Pope] as universal primate is in accordance with Christ’s will for the Church and an essential element of maintaining it in unity and truth.” Anglicans rejected the Bishop of Rome as universal primate in the 16th century. Today, however, some Anglicans are beginning to see the potential value of a ministry of universal primacy, which would be exercised by the Bishop of Rome, as a sign and focus of unity within a reunited Church.

In another paragraph the report goes even further: “We urge Anglicans and Roman Catholics to explore together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our Communions to grow towards full, ecclesial communion.”

Other recommendations include inviting lay and ordained members of both denominations to attend each other’s synodical and collegial gatherings and conferences. Anglican bishops could be invited to accompany Catholic ones on visits to Rome.

The report adds that special “protocols” should also be drawn up to handle the movement of clergy from one Church to the other. Other proposals include common teaching resources for children in Sunday schools and attendance at each other’s services, pilgrimages and processions.

Anglicans are also urged to begin praying for the Pope during the intercessionary prayers in church services, and Catholics are asked also to pray publicly for the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In today’s Anglican Church, it is unlikely that a majority of parishioners would wish to heal the centuries-old rift and return to Rome.

However, the stance of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the present dispute dividing his Church gives an indication of how priorities could be changing in light of the gospel imperative towards church unity.

Dr Rowan Williams, who as Primate of the Church of England is its “focus for unity”, has in the past supported a liberal interpretation of Scripture on the gay issue. But he has made it clear that church unity must come before provincial autonomy. A logical extension of that, once this crisis is overcome either by agreement or schism, would be to seek reunion with the Church of England's own mother Church.

What do you think of this development?

The best defense is, well, a good defense

Ok, i'll admit it -- i love the word of God. all of it -- even the parts that overwhelm my senses and understanding... which means that i chose to believe the implicit truth of even the parts that overwhelm me. let's face it, God's smarter than i am. This comes to mind:

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:11-18 ESV)

Used to be, i'd read some parts of scripture and be like Thomas Jefferson, picking and choosing. But after being saved, one day the thought occurred: if Jesus were alive and walking the earth and preaching, teaching and healing, and if when he read from the old testament scrolls, which would have been in the form of the Septuagint, he did not say to the priests and teachers "Hey, this stuff here is wrong, and here, and here! Let me correct it for you!" then it must be all good.

But the Septuagint, like the Geneva, King James, et al., is a translation. And as with almost any translation of any amount of source material, the end may not well represent the beginning; or, it just might.

And because accuracy of scripture is so important, I choose the ESV or English Standard Version of the Bible.

And the good folks at Mars Hill have posited an excellent defense of, and declaration for, using the ESV.

John Piper has many good reasons to use the ESV, too.

Take up and read!

Politics and Strange Bedfellows

Over at Get Religion, dpulliam has written an illuminating article about Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

So besides the obvious parallels between him and Bill Clinton, what else do they have in common?

They're both Baptists.

But after reading this article's analysis of Huckabee's interview with Tim Russert, it would seem that there is more diversity to celebrate between Huckabee and Clinton than there is homogeneity to mourn. And that's a good thing.

Check it out. Good stuff to consider.

Amazing . . .

This is an amazing post, i first noticed it on Centurion's site (thank you) and it is worth saving the mp3 and hearing it in its entirety.

Really.

But here's a summation:

Why am I a Christian? I can give you lots of reasons why the Bible is word of God; I can give you lots of reasons why I believe Jesus rose from the dead; I can … I can argue all those things, but fundamentally, why am I a Christian? Because I believe fully by God’s grace, as a very young person, I recognized that if God is good, if God has all power, then if I break God’s rules, if I rebel against the one who made me, there are dire consequences to doing that. I was a very young child, so I – I couldn’t use real complex language to describe that, but I do remember to this very day, realizing that because I was who I was, I had done things in God’s sight that were wrong. And from the world’s perspective I was a good little boy, but I knew in my heart of hearts that I did things that I knew were wrong. And I knew if God was truly good that he would have to punish me. And I didn’t like that idea. And I thankfully had heard the Christian message, and talked to my parents, and I said, “I don’t want to be punished by God. What do I do?” And they explained to me that there is only one way of escaping the punishment of God. It was – Jesus took it in my place. Will you believe in him, follow him?

And as a child, I said, “yes, I will.”

Now, you need to understand one more thing. When you say, “why are you a Christian?” There is a very real sense in which the reason that about 4 decades have gone by in my walk with the Lord that I’m a Christian today. It actually has nothing to do with me. What I mean by that is, that faith which expressed itself as a very young child in fear of punishment from God and the desire to know who Jesus was and to know how he can save me, that faith has continued not because of anything special about me but because that faith comes from God. It’s by something we call grace.

Grace is God’s way of working with people who don’t deserve anything from him, in fact they deserve his wrath, but instead for reasons that glorify him and him alone, God is gracious to people who don’t deserve anything but God’s wrath. And so the reason that even that day my heart was opened to understand the danger of the situation that I was in as a sinner, and why to this day I continue to believe, it all goes back to that one word “grace”. God has sustained me; God has kept me as a Christian. He’s done what I could not do in and of myself.

And so, why am I a Christian? On the one hand you might say it’s because I have seen all of these things, and I’ve agreed that these things are true. And in another sense, the reason I’ve done all of those things is because God in his grace has been merciful to me.

And so I ask a question of you: if you are not a Christian, why are you not? You know that God is holy. You know that God is your creator. You know that he is there; you’ve always known that he is there. Every time that you have sinned, every time you have gone your own way, there has been the sense that you’re being watched. Even when you were alone, you felt that guilt. You know God is there. And you know that you’re not at peace with him. So why aren’t you a Christian? Have you found some other way that can actually give you true peace with God? Is there truly any foundation that you’ve found to believe that by doing something in some religion you can buy peace with God?

Isn’t it obvious that the only way that you could ever have peace with God is if God is the one who provides it? And that in a very special way?

You say, “what am I supposed to do?” Cry out for mercy. Cry out for mercy!

You say, “that’s all?” The person who cries out for mercy is the person who has already confessed, “I need mercy. I’m justly condemned. I need mercy.” I can tell you this: God has never ever ever rejected one who has come to him in the name of his son seeking mercy. And he will not reject you.

So one last question you might ask is, if you’ve told many people this, why aren’t everybody Christians? Because sometimes you can tell this to someone and they’ll honestly look you in the eye and say, “I don’t care. I love myself. I love my life. And I’m not going to give it up for anything.”

Which one are you? If you realize, if you sense, if you know, if you recognize, “yes, I have broken God’s law – I – I know what’s right and wrong, and I know, I know the only God who makes sense is a God who must punish sin.” Does that make you numb? Does it make you want to run away and have nothing to do with it? If in your heart of hearts you desire to cry out for mercy, remember he will always, always be found in mercy for those who cry in mercy.

Just a thought, but . . .

Is it possible that grumbling at our circumstances can actually short-circuit God's will for us at that point in our lives, or cause Him to choose someone else (when He'd wanted us) to carry out His will? More on this later . . .