Keeping Pure

Posted on 25 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

I’ll occasionally disagree with Mez McConnell, but I’ve appreciated his writing since I stumbled on his blog a few months back.  Yesterday he wrote about moral purity, particularly for men.  I strongly encourage you to read it, and I’ll add a few comments here.  Lord willing, I’ll return to my Bibliology posting tomorrow.

Mez mentioned Covenant Eyes (which our family uses). Personally, I believe every Christian man who has the Internet should use it or something similar. I don’t care if you aren’t tempted in that way. Your wife (or your future wife) will be thankful that you protected her by putting temptation protection in place.  Others will have greater confidence in you as well, especially if you are in the ministry.  One of the best ways to protect yourself and your reputation is to put in place something that will guarantee you get caught if you sin.

If you want people to trust you,
make sure they don’t have to. 

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“In Every Thing Give Thanks”

Posted on 23 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

I Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Looking for that mystical “will of God” for your life so you can plan out your future?  His will for you is more immediate — “in every thing give thanks.”

Not “After” Every Thing, but “In” Every Thing

It isn’t God’s will for us to wait until we can see why He allowed the things He does, and then decide we’ll give thanks for them.  If I do that, I am setting myself up as the judge over God.  I might as well be saying this:  “OK, God, now that I can see what you were doing, I’ll give thanks for it.  You’ve earned my thanks by letting me see what You were doing, so NOW You match up to my standards of what a God should be.  Thank You, God for being good enough to deserve my thanks.”

It’s better to give thanks later than to never give thanks at all, but God’s will is to give thanks in everything, and even if it doesn’t say it explicitly, that suggests “now,” not “later.”

Not Just the Good Things, but Every Thing

Those “alls” and “everythings” in Scripture are tough.  But there it is, and we can’t run from it.  It needs no elaboration, really.  If you are reading this, you know what “every thing” means.

It would be easy to give thanks “in every thing” if we really believed this:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We don’t really believe it very well, so we don’t give thanks.  We hate “every thing” in the prior verse, but we like “all things” here.  Here, it sounds so much better.  We can vaguely hope that it will work out for good, but to actually respond as if we believe it and give thanks?  That’s a little too much to expect, isn’t it?

“You’re pushing it there, Pastor.  Just back off a little.  Make your lofty statements about all the good things God is going to do, and I’ll sit here thinking hopefully it is going to work out the way you say, but DON’T expect me to actually give thanks and act is if it WILL work out the way the Bible says.  Do you think I’m crazy?”

Let’s connect our “all things” and our “every things,” today, tomorrow, and every day.  For those who celebrate it, may the Lord give you a blessed and truly thankful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.

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The Scriptures — Moved by the Spirit (part two — the Words)

Posted on 23 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“That Book in Your Hand”

My first sermon on Bibliology (the study of what the Scriptures are, and how they came to us) focused on the inspiration of the Scriptures, from II Timothy 3:16.  In  writing on that sermon, I focused extensively on the divine nature of the Scriptures.  My second sermon (introduced here) was on how that divine nature came into being, from II Peter 1:19-21:

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

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The Scriptures — Moved by the Spirit (part one)

Posted on 22 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“That Book in Your Hand”

My first sermon on Bibliology (the study of what the Scriptures are, and how they came to us) was on the inspiration of the Scriptures, from II Timothy 3:16.  If you’ve been following this blog, you know I spent a lot of time on that subject, with the summary post here.  In that discussion, I focused extensively on the divine nature of the Scriptures. 

In my second sermon, we looked at how that divine nature came into being, the divine origin of the Scriptures, and some of the things the Bible tells us about God’s work in the giving of the Scriptures.  We’ll start with II Peter 1:19-21:

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

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Likewise, Ye Husbands

Posted on 17 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Continuing the summaries of my series of sermons on I Peter.  This sermon, for husbands, is the companion to the one I posted yesterday from 3:1-6.

Tried With Fire — I Peter

#6 LIKEWISE, YE HUSBANDS (3:7)

7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

“Likewise” — this verse is the continuation of the section that began in I Peter 2:11. We are to live as “strangers and pilgrims” — we are to be different from the world. In the preceding verses we looked at how wives are to be different, how they are to live. Peter gave six verses to wives, and only one to husbands, but that one verse contains more than enough to set apart Christian husbands as far different from the world.

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Likewise, Ye Wives

Posted on 16 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Continuing my series of sermons on I Peter (I’ll return to Bibliology, Lord willing, in a couple of days).  This sermon, for wives, and the next, for husbands, brought more comment and discussion than any other sermon summaries I have written down through the years.

Update: For husbands.

Tried With Fire — I Peter

#5 LIKEWISE, YE WIVES (3:1-6)

Introductory comment #1: Though this passage is for wives, it should have something for everyone. For husbands, it gives some guidance on what you should be helping your wife to be. For young women, it tells what you should be working to become, that you may be the kind of wife God would have you be if He gives you a husband. For young men, it tells the characteristics you should seek in a wife. For older women, it gives guidance in teaching the younger women, and for older men, it gives guidance in counseling younger couples and husbands.

Introductory comment #2: “Likewise.” These verses are a continuation of the section that began in 2:11, where Peter exhorts us to live as “strangers and pilgrims”. Our lives are to be different. We are to be different from the world in our response to governmental authority, to employers/masters, and in our marital relationships. Our standards are not to be the standards of this world, for we are strangers and pilgrims.

The first word of chapter three connects the exhortation to wives inextricably with the exhortations that have come before. And as those exhortations find their force in the example of Christ (3:21-25), so also does the exhortation to wives. Thus, Ephesians 5 makes Christ’s love in going to the cross the example for husbands. I Peter 2:21-3:6 makes Christ’s obedience in going to the cross the example for wives.

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The Scriptures — Inspired or Expired?

Posted on 15 November, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“That Book in Your Hand”

The first of my sermons on Bibliology (the study of what the Scriptures are, and how they came to us) dealt with the inspiration of the Scriptures, from II Timothy 3:16.  I have been writing for about a week on thoughts related to that sermon.

This series is more academic/technical than my usual writing, and some readers may be wondering why, and why I have spent so much time on the Greek word theopneustos (“given by inspiration of God”).  This post may provide some explanation.

An unfortunate teaching began in the 1880s and has spread through the theology department of seminaries and Christian universities and colleges, whether reformed, evangelical, or Christian fundamentalist.  Most pastors with theological training have heard this teaching, and many have been influenced by it.  It is essentially a problem of definitions, but it can cause confusion and have significant pastoral ramifications.

My primary purpose in the sermon I preached and in this series of posts is to lay down a marker for our church fellowship as to what we believe and teach.

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